Since Sadiq Khan has been elected...

It is only recently since the London Mayoral and Greater London Assembly (GLA) elections but one u-turn, one untruth and one borrowed policy have taken place!

We saw Sadiq Khan elected, but within days we saw him announce that it was going to be difficult to deliver the number of new affordable homes he promised. Being the Mayor of London is a privilege and was never to be easy, but to give up on possibly the most important policy area so soon is very sad for many residents who live in Ealing.

Sadiq Khan then reneged on his fares promise. He said: “Londoners won’t pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today.” But the truth of his policy has been uncovered recently when it appeared that he will only freeze part of the transport fares, excluding many commuters using travelcards. In the election Liberal Democrats said it was not possible to freeze the fares and so it is obvious that many Londoners have been fobbed off with a policy helping only some of those who were given the impression everyone would benefit.

Policy borrowed: Liberal Democrats welcome the announcement from Transport for London, that a one-hour bus ticket will come into effect in September. Though Sadiq Khan is happy lapping up the glory for the one-hour ticket, it was not his idea. Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Caroline Pidgeon campaigned on the policy since 2009.

Liberal Democrats want to see transport policies that make it easier for people to travel and cheaper for those who work on lower than average wages such as cleaners who have early starts before many of us have woken up.

It was great to see Caroline Pidgeon taking over as Chair of the Transport Committee. She is the most experienced GLA member and she has taken a great interest and solved many local issues in Ealing borough.

London Liberal Democrats will be pushing for more openness in City Hall, where the Mayor works. We have seen that the previous Mayor chose to hide a report which demonstrated that over 400 schools in London are located in areas that exceed EU limits for nitrogen dioxide. The Mayor and the Greater London Assemby need to make sure that they and Ealing Council take action to improve our air quality. Anything else and we are harming our children and the lives of 7 million residents.

Transport unions are shooting themselves in the foot

The recent two tube strikes and the two planned strikes are forcing many millions to use different methods of transport, to be massively delayed or feel obliged to take holidays to avoid the stress of a strike days.

The scenes at many of our rail stations shows that we both have a good and varied transport network but when the railways are loaded they understandably cannot fully cope. The loss to businesses in Ealing and London wide is very large because of strikes.

Many tourists who have visited Ealing and London for a short break will not return.

Chiswick Park tube station

I am a great supporter of unions, as history shows without unions many workers would have a poorer level of health and safety in their workplace. Many accidents have been averted and incidents of bullying, because of unions.

In a company I worked for previously, I was a Workplace Representative and a First-aider. My approach was not to be argumentative but raise issues that fellow employees had concerns about so that management could consider them and hopefully accept sensible ideas after discussion.

We have seen for many years that unions have worked with management effectively but in the transport sector there is a different situation. We often see those unions using language that is aggressive, calling for strikes using reasons that are not by many, seen as being fair.

General Secretaries seem to act as if they are in the playground shouting at Transport for London ‘teachers’. Calling each other names, refusing to talk despite what appears to be a fair deal for many workers who get paid much more than many teachers, bus drivers and other public workers.

No job should always be regarded as sacred. Companies and their employees need to adapt to what the world needs and what technologies exist. So the introduction of a night service is good initiative and the workplace needs to adapt. They appear to have been given a reasonable deal.

Caroline Pidgeon at Ealing Broadway station

I have twice been made redundant. I did not give up and complain, but adapted and successfully found work. Change can be unsettling but what is needed in all disputes is a grown up discussion.

Reforms are needed and some of this needs to take place to take the financial link between political parties and MPs with unions. Political parties’ policies should arise because it will solve the problems of the day and not because a union paid the political party like the Labour party millions of pounds.

I am not, however, in favour of there being a minimum requirement for the share of employees voting in a strike ballot. I think it is crucial that employees retain the right to strike but the key is to ensure that the union management do not strike for reasons that most would state as being unnecessary or unwarranted.

Some of the unnecessary transport strikes are essentially the unions shooting themselves into the foot. Like somebody ‘crying wolf’. When the next dispute takes place, which may deal with some very important matters, no one will care. People are turning against transport unions as they appear to only cause negativity to London.

Striking should be the last resort. I hope we can see everyone get around the table when the next Mayor of London is elected.

Success at last for the Piccadilly Line to stop at Turnham Green

The Mayor of London announced some good news earler today (at the Mayor’s Question Time) that Piccadilly line trains will stop properly at Turnham Green once modernisation work is complete. Although this may be a number of years off, he did make a commitment that tubes will stop all night when the Piccadilly line becomes part of the “Night Tube” in 2015.

Lib Dems back in 2010 at a demonstration

The Liberal Democrats have campaigned for ten years to get this good news for residents. It may not be happening straight away but we will be counting down until the tubes stop all day at Turnham Green station. Thank you to all the residents who completed the consultation forms on this subject or filled in our petitions. A nice end to the year!

So much work has been done by Caroline Pidgeon over the last number of years. We thank her very much. She has been in attendance for many meetings either at City Hall or more locally, where these issues have been discussed.

Some comments on Twitter I read gave thanks for the hard work that the team has spend over many years, some behind the scenes in meetings with Transport for London officials showing them the many reasons why this service will improve things for residents in Chiswick, Acton and the neighbouring areas.

“Well done to @CllrGaryMalcolm, who campaigned for the pic line trains to stop at Turnham Green all-day.”

“Pic Line to stop all day at Turnham Green tube station once line is upgraded. Well done to local campaigners especially @CllrGaryMalcolm”

As mentioned, the campaign has gone on for about ten years. Lots of residents have helped the campaign. Recently others have joined our growing band waggon. Thank you to all who have helped the campaign.

The Mayor needs to check his rise in travelcards

We get annoyed at this time of the year when Transport for London, run by Mayor Boris, puts up the price of many travel tickets.

It was good to see Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, welcoming the news that from January 2014 the average regulated train fare will now go up by only 3.1% instead of the planned 4.1%. Certainly Caroline Pigeon and the Liberal Democrats have campaigned for prices to be held down when other household bills are rising.

Councillor Andrew Steed campaigning for better services

For many years London residents who rely on train services, along with many commuters from outer London, have faced incredibly painful  fare rises. At a time when people’s finances are under so much pressure even a rise by the rate of inflation is still hard for people to deal with, but it is at least a step in the right direction.

After this check on regulated train fares the Mayor must now explain why he is boasting about ‘freezing’ fares when in reality on Tuesday he pushed up the price of travelcards by inflation plus 1 per cent from next year. This is disingenuous.

Following Coalition Government intervention, Boris Johnson must now bring down Travelcard fare rises to no more than inflation!

Turnham Green consultation will begin on 27th August

For many years local residents in Chiswick have campaigned for the Piccadilly line to stop at Turnham Green station on a regular basis. The Liberal Democrats are the only party to campaign for this, year in, year out. Like a terrier we will not give up until residents get what they deserve. The other parties tend to only raise the matter in and around elections.

Councillors Andrew Steed and Gary Malcolm with
 Caroline Pidgeon at a TG demo

This morning, we have received confirmation that the consultation will start on 27th August. Those to be consulted will include Piccadilly line customers, Turnham Green station customers, residents, businesses and commuters.

There will be an online link which we will inform residents of nearer the time. If you want to be updated about this please email us at   southfield@ealinglibdems.org.uk

For many years we have been supported by Caroline Pidgeon, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Greater London Assembly (GLA). She has been magnificent and with her assistance we have held meetings with Transport for London, who have not adequately explained why the wishes of Ealing and Hounslow residents have been ignored.

Councillors Rose and me petitioning

I have included some photos of the demonstrations we have held and the petition sessions organised to raise awareness of this important local matter.

The reasons for having the Piccadilly line stopping at Turnham Green are too many for a blog post but here are some:

• There have been a large number of developments (including the Chiswick Business Park and a lot of new housing) in this part of West London within twenty minutes walking distance, as well as housing developments that have been agreed by Ealing Council to proceed.
• It is too long to wait until the Piccadilly Line's major upgrade, given the state of the PPP review, to schedule new trains and new signaling. 

At City Hall with Caroline Pidgeon

And a few more reasons!

• The requirement to change trains for Piccadilly line users using Turnham Green means an increased journey time of up to 15 minutes. Many Chiswick residents drive to work because the journey time is quicker. The reduced journey time would make many leave their cars at home and use the tube. Public transport should have priority over cars given the need to reduce pollution.
• There are at least 6 million people who use Turnham Green station (Transport for London figures). This makes it one of the most used stations in the tube network outside Zone 1. Also many users of the Piccadilly line are tourists and whilst their needs should not be ignored, they should not take priority over workers in London.

And another set of reasons.....

At City Hall again, handing
 in our large petition

• Turnham Green has a narrow platform and forcing people to use the District line leads to serious congestion at rush-hour. 
• Late at night the lack of clarity as to when the Piccadilly line does stop at Turnham Green and drivers failure to make the appropriate announcements means that passengers sometime accidentally travel to Acton Town or Hammersmith.

Let's get the consultation started and ensure local residents' views are heard.

Read why the Mayor of London's plan to close fire stations is bonkers

In Acton, Chiswick and Ealing we heard some good news recently that our fire stations were not due to be closed but the Mayor of London's plan to close fire stations elsewhere. London Liberal Democrats inlcuding Caroline Pidgeon are clear in their opposition to these 'bonkers' plans.

At the London Assembly Caroline Pidgeon proposed an alternative budget that would have avoided the need for these cuts, paid for by cancelling trivial council tax cuts. Effective opposition.

Me with the local fire bridgade

I believe that Londoners would prefer to see their fire safety cover retained and improved in preference to tax cuts amounting to no more than 7p a week per household in 2013/14. The closure of 12 fire stations and the loss of 18 fire engines is an unacceptable deterioration in overall capacity of the brigade. It would lead to average first fire engine response times in some London boroughs increasing by nearly a minute  and average second fire engine response times increasing by as much as 1 minute and 20 seconds.

We have also expressed concern that the community safety and fire prevention work undertaken by the brigade will be cut back if 520 fire-fighters’ jobs are to go. Their contribution to reducing fires and deaths due to fire in London has been commendable and should be accelerated rather than reduced.

Let's hope Boris puts his thinking hat on agreed to the common sense view that we need our fire stations. Lives are clearly at risk!