Our trip began in Cairo on the day a new government – with the same limited powers – was sworn in as the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Council came under fire from the revolutionaries who refused to leave Tahrir Square.

The trip ended with news that Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip had executed two men who were convicted of collaboration with Israel, reminding us all that it was as much a war as a siege that had yet to resolved.  
 

Autumn is about to set in and this will mean that many of us will be switching on our heating systems for the first time probably since about April. However, the big difference between now and then is that Londoners will be heating their homes in the face of record energy price hikes.  The reason for this is that the big 6 energy companies have all announced average prices rises for this coming winter of up to 18 per cent. This will drive many London households into fuel poverty for the first time when we already have 1 in 4 households there already.

So what can be done? Well better energy efficiency for our homes is a good start, which is why we welcomed the Mayor’s home energy efficiency programme “RE:NEW” designed to make it easier for London householders to improve the energy efficiency of their homes through retrofitting their homes. It started with the lofty target of 200,000 homes to be treated during this Mayoralty.  This figure has since been revised down to 55,000 with only 10,678 homes actually having been retrofitted to date.  When you consider this in the context of 3.3 million homes in London and the fact that London is the region which gets the least assistance from the energy companies through their energy efficiency drives, then it builds a picture of how far we actually are from helping Londoners keep warm despite nearing the end of this Mayoralty term. So to get through autumn and winter, Londoners will have to take matters into their own hands and insulate their loft, walls and windows themselves which will reap benefits in the form of lower energy bills. This has always been the low-lying fruit option in terms of optimising a household’s energy use and is at least something that we can try and sort out for ourselves.  In the meantime, it may also be an idea to hope for a mild winter.

Instead, they will largely be staying in upmarket hotels to the west of the city – including the five-star Dorchester – and are set to make their way to the action through the ­capital’s busy streets.

Euston Road and Southampton Way are among areas in Camden that will be partly sectioned off to make room for official Olympic traffic during the Games and regular users of those roads were reminded this week that they should plan now for the disruption that will be caused.

London Assembly member Murad Qureshi said the volume of cars heading across town could have been reduced if organisers had used hotels around King’s Cross including the new St Pancras Grand.

He said: “I don’t think it’s too much to ask that IOC [International Olympic Committee] officials and their sponsors stay near good transport links to the main Olympic site rather than where they will cause most inconvenience to Londoners.”

Mr Qureshi said that sponsors and officials could easily have taken the dedicated Javelin train service between St Pancras International and Stratford.

Shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell – a former Camden councillor – told the House of Commons on Tuesday that there was a risk of people resenting a “two-tier” traffic system that was being set up in London with the “Games Lanes” for designated Olympic traffic.

The system has already been severely criticised by Conservative London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden Brian Coleman, who said: “The exclusive Olympic lanes on Euston Road and Southampton Row are only being created because the international media is staying in swanky Bloomsbury hotels.”

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The banning order prohibiting the holding of all public processions in five London boroughs for 30 days was made in response to the English Defence League’s plan to march through Tower Hamlets last month.

A Cable Street commemoration march is due to be held on October 2, marking 75 years since anti-fascist Jews, socialists and trade union groups clashed with police protecting a march by Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists.

Labour Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said the commemoration march was "very, very important for the unity of the area". He has written to the Met to urge them to reconsider the blanket ban. "This unnecessarily draconian application of the legislation failed in any event to prevent the EDL from holding a "static" demonstration…and posed no less of a threat of ‘serious public disorder’ as defined by the Act."

A Met spokeswoman said: "It was always our intention to review the prohibition order to ensure that this response was proportionate. We have carried out that review and we will be applying to the Home Secretary for a variation."

David Rosenberg, a member of the Cable 75 organising committee, said he had no doubt that the march would take place. "We contacted the police straight away after the ban came out and were told there were exceptions in place for commemorative and cultural events. But there was some confusion initially. I supported the ban on the EDL march, there was a clear case for it, but it should not have been coupled together with all other kinds of public events."

The commemorative march will begin in Aldgate and end at the Cable Street mural, and will include Jewish groups, trade unions and Bengali organisations.

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The Mayor this week announced that fares will soon rise by as much as 8 per cent – the third significant hike since Boris Johnson was elected in 2008. A single bus fare has now gone up by 56 per cent.

A zone

1-2 travelcard will now cost commuters in Westminster £29.80 – an increase of 8 per cent

A tube journey in zone one will cost £4.30 (£2 with Oyster).

Murad Qureshi

"Boris should spend less time campaigning for tax cuts for the richest 300,000 people in London and more time keeping fares down for the other seven and a half million."

Fare rises since 2008

Single bus ticket up 56%

· was 90p in 2008

· will be £1.40 in 2012

Costing Londoners £260 a year more

Weekly bus and tram pass up 47%

· was £13.00 in 2008

· will be £19.10 in 2012

Costing Londoners £317 a year more

Weekly zone 1-4 travelcard up 23%

· was £34.60 in 2008

· will be £42.60 in 2012

Costing Londoners £416 a year

 Weekly zone 1-2 travelcard up 23%

· Was £24.20 in 2008

· Will be £29.80 in 2012

Costing Londoners £291 a year more

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Labour London Assembly member.

Details of Boris Johnson’s latest fare rises can be found here

For further information please contact

Alison Marcroft on 0207 983 4363

Premiership football will always attract big names from overseas

There are rumours afloat that one of Boris’s aides was behind the letter in the Financial Times last week which was signed by a group of Economists calling for the 50p rate of tax to be axed in the UK. The letter has successfully reignited the “50p” tax debate and has continued to rage in its letter pages.  It was also picked up by the Sunday papers last weekend.  Boris even managed to weave it into his Daily Telegraph column this morning when writing about the proposed Thames super sewer, gleaming that the 50p tax debate “seem to be moving in the right direction”.

For me, the letter would have had a lot more gravitas if any of the signatories to the letter had been economists who’d predicted the financial crisis. However, like the vast majority of the profession, most had little to say when it came to foreseeing the evolving financial crisis. How then, or more to the point, why then, should we invest any faith in their prediction about the effect of marginal taxation on the rich? Moreover, it would be interesting to know how many of the signatories are themselves paying that rate?

Contrast, Warren Buffet in the USA and the rich in France signing up for more taxes on the grounds of national interest and equality. It seems that the UK’s calls for a scrapping of the top rate of tax is not indicative of a wider universal revolt by the super rich against higher tax. (The Boris camp must be asking where the self-publicity seeking Richard Branson is when you need him?)

Take also one part of the economy which has seemingly not even blinked an eye during the financial crisis – premiership football.  There are still a plethora of top international players keen to ply their trade in England. One does not hear many of them complaining about the top rate of taxation when they arrive at their new club.  In fact it would a story in itself if we heard about any top player leaving because of the 50p tax!  Player’s decision to leave are often football related, on the hunt for more trophies, prestigious clubs or sometimes personal family reasons.  A 50p tax regime has never even been mentioned. 

So, I think the Mayor should start speaking up for all Londoners, most of whom would delight in being in the privileged position of pay a 50p rate of tax and stop flying the flag for his banker chums.  He would also do well to take note of the rest of the world’s super rich on this issue, not forgetting the foreign footballers clambering at our door. 

Qureshi has highlighted three "major navigational concerns" relating to the project, which include whether the Thames will continue to allow two-way traffic along the river.

Other concerns include whether the proposed floating walkway will be able to withstand the impact of a vessel and whether barge access will be secured between Southwark Bridge and Cannon Street.

Qureshi said: "Unfortunately, the mayor was not able to reassure me and the many others who have serious concerns about the safety logistics of this plan."

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The list of ticket offices proposed for closure is buried in the small print of the ‘McNulty Report, the government’s plans for the future of rail services in Britain. London and the south-east have been hardest hit, where 265 stations could be left unmanned.

In Ealing the following stations could be left without a ticket office and staffed for only part of the day:

Acton mainline railway station

Castle Bar Park railway station

Hanwell railway station

Northolt Park railway station

South Acton railway station

West Ealing railawy station

According to the Office of Rail Regulation, as many as 759,796 people a year use West Ealing station.

Local London Assembly member, Murad Qureshi, described the plans as bad news and said stations would become more inviting for criminals and less inviting for passengers.

Murad said

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Labour Assembly member

A full list of stations earmarked for closure can be found

Office of Rail Regulation station useage figures can be downloaded

For further information please contact Alison Marcroft, 020 7983 4363.

here: "This is more bad news for passengers. Not only are fares under this mayor and government rocketting but now we’re being told ticket offices could be closed and stations left without staff. I’m really worried that stations that can already feel less than safe will become more intimidating places for passengers and more inviting places for criminals."here

Like many before the EDL march in Tower Hamlets, I’d argued for its banning but after last weeks show, l found myself  being put in my place by a local Bengali boy, off Brick Lane.  He simply said to me ” What EDL march ban? They were still able to come and make their presence felt and insult my families faith”.   lndeed he was right given, the static march which did take place  involved some 3,000 policemen to marshall and also drew out the anti-fascists out as well. This young boy’s perspective has had me thinking ever since.

Many like myself welcomed the ban by the Secretary of State, Teresa May, however, we did not appreciate the severity of the 30 day ban across several boroughs in East London.  the result has been the curtailment of other demos and rallies like the East End Pride march on the 24th September and most importantly the Cable Street commemoration march on the 2nd of October.

So I’ve written to the acting commissioner of the MET, Tim Goodwin stating that the orginal application of the ban under Section 13 of the Public Order Act should have specified the particular class of public procession in the area.  This distinction is clearly permitted by statute and would have avoided the “blanket” ban which has ensued.  The blanket ban has been denounced by many as a serious attack on civil liberties.   Martin Bright in his Spectator blog has put it well when he writes ” the whole point for those of us advocating a ban on the EDL was that there was a specific threat of violence associated with their extremist view.  Such a measure suggest the police and government are suspicious of all protests…. And while l accept that these are particular difficult times for the MET in the aftermath of the riots, l can’t accept all street protest should be off limits.”

So not surprisingly, I’ve asked the commissioner to reconsider the MET’s position on this issue by applying for the current order to be revoked or varied so as to bring to an end this unnecessarily far reaching ban. I await his response and trust that both the East End Pride and the Cable Street commemoration march can go ahead without the threat of a banning order hanging over their heads.

The City of Westminster’s police force spent £107,746,387 last year. But figures released by the the Metropolitan Police under the Freedom of Information Act reveal their proposed budget for next year (2011/12) has been reduced to £104,373,734.

In addition to the reduced Borough policing budget, the Royal Parks’ police force will be losing over £2 million next year, down from £8,914,525 to £6,769,857.

Local London Assembly member, Murad Qureshi, described the cut as deeply worrying. The recent looting, arson and riots in London should make the mayor and government think again, Murad said.

Murad said: "I’m deeply worried that slashing our local police will affect their ability to keep us safe and keep us feeling safe. We saw in August how important it is to have police on the streets when trouble hits. The mayor and the government should take note and reverse their police cuts."

According to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), London is set to lose almost 3,000 uniformed officers by 2015 – 1,907 police officers and 902 police community support officers.

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Labour London Assembly member.

Details of the budget shortfall for each borough can be found

HMIC’s report detailing the cuts to Metropolitan Police officer numbers can be found

For further information please contact Alison Marcroft on 0207 983 4363

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