|
|
 |
| |
Will a million Londoners miss out on their vote?
• THE mayoral and London Assembly elections are taking place on May 1, yet around a million Londoners could miss out on their chance to vote unless they register now.
London has the lowest voter registration in the country, with nearly one in five residents missing from the electoral roll in inner London boroughs and one in 10 in outer London.
I would urge all London constituents to register so they have the opportunity to vote and shape the future of our unique city.
Young people, students, some ethnic minorities and new European Union citizens are less likely to be on the electoral register, but may well be eligible to vote.
People who have recently moved house or who rent from a private landlord should also make sure they are registered at their current address.
As well as the election for the London mayor, Londoners will also be able to vote for their London Assembly members who can influence and hold the mayor to account on decisions over transport, policing, fire and safety, housing, the environment, economic development and arts and culture.
These are crucial elections for London and every vote really will make a difference.
It’s quick and easy to register.
Simply contact the borough council or go to www.londonelects.org.uk The deadline for registering to vote is 16 April.
Jean Lambert
Green Party MEP for London
Timely warning
• BILLY Bragg is absolutely right to warn of the dangers of the BNP at the London Assembly elections (Bragg sounds a warning over mayoral elections, April 3).
I’m partial – I’d like everyone to vote for Ken Livingstone, London Assembly candidate Nicky Gavron, and vote Labour on the list. But it’s far more important that everyone votes – full stop.
If turnout is low, we run a very real risk that the far-right party will win a seat on the assembly.
They came perilously close last time – just 0.2 per cent short.
Given the history of vibrant multicultural living in Camden, we cannot allow this racist party the legitimacy and publicity of a seat at the table of London government.
As Billy Bragg says, we can stop them by raising turnout.
Parties have to win at least 5 per cent of the vote to be entitled to a seat from the top-up list. We know that only a hard core of supporters ever votes BNP, so the more everyone else votes the less likely it is that their share of the vote will exceed this 5 per cent threshold.
Make no mistake – this will be an uphill task, with many commentators saying the BNP will win at least one seat.
So let’s not sleepwalk into this. Whichever party you support – or even if you support none – please do vote on May 1. It could make all the difference between rejecting racist politics and letting the BNP into City Hall.
Mike Katz
Chair, Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party, NW6
Preferences will count
• BY most accounts, the 2008 elections are proving a tight race, and the votes of second preferences could decide the outcome of the race. With Sian Berry’s Greens formally asking their supporters to back Ken Livingstone in a progressive alliance, the decision could rest on the second choices of many Liberal Democrats and which way they vote.
Boris Johnson’s carefully controlled campaign, devised by Michael Howard’s guru Linton Crosby, has steered him away from proper public scrutiny of his record and what he stands for.
As a former Lib Dem, I know that a Johnson administration would not reflect our city’s liberal values and traditions.
He would be at the mercy of a clique of Conservative Town Hall leaders who want to see higher charges for public services and less-stretching affordable housing targets for Londoners.
Ken’s investment in green transport, bobbies on the beat and youth services all chime to a progressive agenda which those minded to vote Labour, Green or Lib Dem can sign up to.
Cllr Jonathan Simpson
Labour, King’s Cross ward
Grasping reality
• WITH so much coverage being given, particularly in this newspaper, to Boris Johnson’s latest joke, or Ken’s private life, isn’t it time that some facts were analysed in preparation for this crucial election?
Thanks to our incumbent mayor, my three children travel free on buses, and at phenomenally low prices on tubes, saving me thousands of pounds a year.
London continues to grow year on year as a major financial and business centre, thanks to numerous initiatives inviting investment into London.
Thousands of affordable homes have been built, providing housing for low-income families.
Despite the press coverage to the contrary, this is still very much a two-horse race.
The choice couldn’t be clearer, and every vote will seemingly count.
Mikey Franklin
Chalcot Gardens, NW3
More police on streets?
• INTERVIEWED on television, mayor Ken Livingstone said the only way to cut crime on the streets was to have more police on the streets.
But didn’t he say crime had gone down?
Very recently he told us he had put 600 more police on our streets. Where are they? Or did he mean the decorative community support officers?
Only a couple like Ken and Peter Hendy could waste money on burdening us with those bendy buses.
Designers obviously thought it a fun idea when they placed the senior citizens’ seats so that if you are on an aisle seat you are going to fall off if the bus suddenly brakes.
If two of these ugly monsters pull up at your bus stop and then your double decker pulls up behind, you are extremely lucky if you can get to it before it pulls away.
To say nothing of their worsening the congestion!
Blanche Mundlak
Oakley Square, NW1
Come clean on post office pledge
• KEN Livingstone made the startling commitment in Camden that he would keep open all the London post offices threatened with closure – “we will run them subsidised by City Hall”.
This pledge does not feature in “Ken’s commitments for a third term” on his website, nor has he issued a press release on this commitment, which is curious as you would think an incumbent in his perilous position would be anxious to publicise this news across London.
He should come clean on whether this pledge is for real, or whether it’s simply something said in desperation in Camden to buy off local opposition until after the election. He might also tell us what he estimates the cost of this subsidy would be, which may be difficult given Post Office Ltd’s insistence on commercial confidentiality, and what it would add to the GLA precept we all pay.
Given his profligacy as mayor, people will be concerned to understand how he would manage such a major commercial operation. Camden Council is actively opposing, on a cross-party basis, the post office closures being undertaken by the Labour government and the council is researching the potential options which may be available, but we are not going to make promises before we have established all the facts.
Can Ken Livingstone please confirm if this is a commitment or not?
Cllr Andrew Marshall
Conservative Group Leader
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
