I have always believed that aside from my parents, it was the early influence of my primary school teachers at Moreland Street that helped set me on the path made me into the kind of person I am today; and I hope that those who know me would consider me an honest, hardworking and decent chap, always ready to lend a hand if somebody is in trouble. 

 

If we get it right at school, all our children can grow up to be happy, well-adjusted individuals, ready to work and contribute as taxpaying members of society rather than just sitting back and sponging off the state.

 

If we get it wrong, we all pay the price for our children receiving a poor education - I wanted to help ensure we get it right and that is why when my kids attended St Lukes Primary School I volunteered as a Parent Governor and why, after a gap of almost 18 years,  I have volunteered again to serve as an LEA (Local Education Authority) appointed Governor, so that I may not only continue to support the excellent work done by our teachers, but also to keep them on their toes and striving for excellence through continuous improvements.

 

 

 

Note:

The role of the school governor is to be a "critical friend" to Headteachers and their staff, so if you are concerned about Education, not afraid of speaking your mind and tackling issues head-on in a sensible manner and can also spare a few hours per term to attend meetings, then please contact me for further information about how to volunteer as a School Governor in Islington, or follow this link to find out more about the work we do. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/SchoolLife/DG_10038366

   

The world now consumes far more than it produces - something made possible only by burning fossil fuels which have taken millions of years to lay down in the form of coal and oil deposits - as a result, our carbon footprints are trampling all over our children’s future and I am passionate about trying to protect the earth that they will inherit from us.

 

I will therefore support any sensible scheme that will make my great-grandchildren proud of what we have done save their planet ! I want to be able to say to my children and grandchildren, "one day kids, all this will be yours" and I want to be proud of what I have left them - not ashamed !

 

We have some wonderful greenspaces and parks in Islington but I would like to see more. I also want to ensure we can all enjoy them without fear of treading in dog's mess or being intimidated or annoyed by anti-social behaviour. We need to do all we can to protect our environment and beautify it by "greening-up" as much of the grey concrete as we can; just because we live in the city it doesn't mean we can't encourage wildlife like small birds, butterflies and bees. I don't want to live in a concrete jungle, which is why I have trained as an amateur beekeeper and help look after two hives in the wildlife garden I helped to create on my estate, and if we can all do a little bit to improve and green-up our own local areas, then residents of the whole borough can enjoy a better quality of life.

 

It IS possible for each of us to "do our bit" to reduce pollution and carbon emissions and I will support all schemes that are fairly and sensibly aimed at achieving those goals. I know it's a pain, but surely we should ALL be recycling and reducing our carbon footprints as much as we can and, if we ALL did it, we could make a MASSIVE difference to the planet we leave behind for our kids. 

 

I promise that, if elected, I will do my very best to ensure that our children will inherit the earth - and in a much better condition than it is now

 

I never used to be very good with recycling until I saw the excellent Leonardo DiCaprio film/ documentary "The 11th Hour" - I watched it once and it changed the way I treat the environment - if you have time, please watch it too - it could make all the difference !  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_11th_Hour_(film)

Housing, Immigration, Jobs and Taxation.

We are living longer than ever before and with continual improvements in modern medicine, this trend is likely to continue. My mother Florence is 88 and now a victim of Alzheimer's, but thankfully in a really excellent NHS funded care home near the Angel. I feel we were fortunate to get a place for mum there, but in 10 years, around a quarter of our entire population will be retired so how on earth are we going to fund the medical care for this growing population of senior citizens ?

 

Ever felt depressed ? Ever known anybody who suffers from depression ? Ever drank too much or become dependent on drugs. Many poor unfortunates (AND THEIR FAMILIES) spend years in cycles of despair and misery when undiagnosed mental illnesses are "self-medicated" with drink and drugs. The results of which we see all around us in the form of drink/drug addicts who are often mentally ill, living on the streets of London in a vicious circle from which few escape without help or intervention.

 

The NHS are hard pressed to deal with these poor people effectively - I know some people will say that these addicts simply choose to abuse - but there are just as many who, through no fault of their own, have ended up on the streets or in our prisons with little hope of breaking this vicious circle of offending to feed their habit. I have seen first-hand how mental illness can make matters even worse and how very often, the results can lead to self harm and suicide.

 

I believe we can do better and could be doing much more to help these poor people, in a more effective and cost efficient ways than we seem to now . I also don't want to leave a massive burden for my children and grandchildren to bear in looking after me in my old age.

 

I thnk we need to do more now to prevent our NHS being overloaded in the future - so I promise that, if elected, I will do my very best to ensure that our hospitals remain open, are properly funded and staffed, with waiting lists brought under control and no post code lotteries for new medicines. 

 

I am furious that this Labour Government has negotiated away some of the hard fought rights and privileges of our citizens by, for instance, making unfair and unequal extradition agreements with the American Government which allows them to extradite British citizens to stand trial in the USA, but where we cannot extradite US citizens to stand trial in the UK. Remember the case of Gary McKinnon ?

If you are also outraged by this governments lack of backbone and their continual, spineless, caving in to the US Government, then please support Gary by joining his supporters at... http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2263327633).

I am an IT professional and have spent many years working with firewalls and software systems that are designed to keep unauthorised people out of "mission critical computer networks" and frankly, I feel that if the US defence networks are so poorly defended and vulnerable to an amateur like Gary, he should be applauded for highlighting a weakness in their systems, not put behind bars !

 

If the USA are our allies and truly value our "special relationship" they ought to show us the respect we deserve and treat us as equals - we have to stop letting them treat us as though we were their Aircraft carrier in Europe !

 

I am all for upholding and defending human rights wherever they are threatened and working with the Americans to do it if needed, but not by becoming the world's self-appointed policemen and certainly not by sending our brave servicemen and women, ill-equipped and poorly supported, to prosecute an illegal war based on a pack of lies about weapons of mass destruction that were never found - especially without a proper UN mandate ! 

 

I promise that, if elected, I will do my very best to ensure that we get a government with a backbone and that we never again allow our troops to be dragged into fighting illegal wars, especially ones we just can't win !  

 

Liberal Democrat Policy, government of the people, for the people, by the people.

But here below, you can see what, to me, are the most important LibDem principles taken from the first few paragraphs of the Liberal Democrat Constitution and I have highlighted the points which particularly inspired me to get involved by standing for election as ward councillor;