Domestic Extremism

It appears the Labour Government has decided that peaceful protesters are now a threat to national security. Last week they passed laws that allows restrictions on where and when someone may go out what they mat wear or what pet they may keep. Apparently these injunctions are similar to terrroist control orders except that you don’t actually have to have done anything criminal other than be viewed as in a ‘gang’.

So if you don’t believe new nuclear power stations should be built and decided to hold a placard on a grass verge near a site you can now be arrested under the new Serious and Organised Crime Act for up to 51 weeks and/or be fined up to £5,000.

Crazy. I could imagine such laws in a fascist regime, or dictatorship in the 3rd world. But Britain. Now. Deeply saddened.

Saying that. It wont stop the family attending the Climate Chaos march in two weeks time. Hopefully we wont each be fined £5,000 for attending!

London Bridge Station

At the last full council assembly we finally put in place in the new Southwark Planning bible – the Core Strategy – that London Bridge Station should prioritise links to buses and trains station in Southwark. Amazing that we’ve had to state what should have been obvious. But with so many proposed changes such as the South London Line being cancelled Network Rail have to be reminded.

I’m now much more hopeful that when Network Rail has a need to amend or apply for future planning applications to London Bridge station that changes will have to ensure changes make matter no worse for Southwark residents and usually better.

It is quite ridiculous that the huge barriers the railway viaducts and cutting in Southwark, yet the state operator of railway infrastructure Network Rail has to be reminded that the communities these obstacles carve up should actually see some benefit to hosting them.

What do you think?

Passive drinking

The World Health Organisation has produced a draft global strategy on problems caused by alcohol.

It was a roundabout way for me to read the UK government’s chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, chapter of his 2008 annual report covering “passive drinking”, the damage that heavy drinkers wreak on others. To illustrate the extent of the problem in the UK, he reported that in 2008, there were 125,000 “alcohol-related instances of domestic violence”, that an estimated 6000 babies are born annually with fetal alcohol syndrome and that in 2006, 7000 people were injured and 560 killed as a result of drink-driving, not including the drivers.

The term passive drinking is new to me. But blimey that 125,000 would equate to around 30 instances of domestic violence every year in East Dulwich ward alone.

“Teenage smokers face badly wire brains”

Fascinating reading a report that prenatal and adolescent exposure to tobacco smoke have been found to be associated with changes in brain pathways to relay ear signals.  Most pronounced with teenage smokers.

Other research reports teenage exposure to smoking resulted in reduced auditory and visual attention with boys being most affected. Quite possible that such teenager’s hear and understand less.

No research yet to establish whether the affects are reversible.

I’d always understand it was bad for your health. But it now appears quite convincing that smoking is bad for your brain development.

Mayor Boris closes HGV cycle unit

London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced the closure the Commercial Vehicle Education Unit. This group of 3 Police sergeants and 9 Police constables specialise finding defective lorries and taking them off the road and working with haulage companies to reduce collisions with pedestrians and cyclists.

Not enough was being done to reduce such collisions. HGV lorries are the number one killer for cyclists in London. Even less will be done going forward.

The announcement was almost exactly nine years to the day when a previous treasurer of Southwark Cyclists, while I was the chairperson, Brigitte Robinson, was killed by a left turning lorry whose driver had a young child in the cab and had been working 12+ hour shifts 7 days a week for many months.

Loosing a close cycling friend was incredibly distressing. How many more people have to die to HGV’s before the few exempt from sideguards are no longer exempt and the limited resources are withdrawn from educating lorry drivers and cyclists.

How green is your pet?

New Scientist 24 October issue has an eye opening article about “How Green is your pet?”.

Apparently a medium sized dog has twice the eco footprint of a 4.6Litre Toyota landcruiser (including building and drive it 10,000km every year).

A typical cat is reported as having very nearly the eco footprint of a Volkswagen Golf. This doesn’t take into account the wild animals cats kill each year.

They concluded that if you must have a pet, have one with a dual purpose such as egg laying hens, or rabbits….as long as you eat them!

I’m amazed.

Tessa Jowell and Labour MPs vote down climate change action

Tessa Jowell and Labour MPs vote down climate change action

Yesterday evening, Southwark MPs Tessa Jowell and Harriet Harman together with hundreds of Labour MPs voted down Simon Hughes’ Liberal Democrat motion that would have committed the House of Commons, the Government and the entire public sector to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent during 2010.

Lib Dem led Southwark Council has committed itself to making a ten percent cut in emissions – why can’t the Government?

In Parliament and in the town hall, it is the Lib Dems who lead on the environment.

The full shameful voting list is on the House of Commons

Southwark – 10th most overflown London borough

Every year we have around 155,100 Heathrow flights and 9,900 London City Airport  flights going over Southwark at less than 8,000 where noise becomes increasingly disturbing.

Every day in my house I can tell when 6am is reached as a torrent of flights start overflying us.

Around 4am several flights come over and about 1 in 5 chance every day my 7 year old will be woken. Boy, does that spoli his school day with tiredness. And we have double glazing.

Fingers crossed this Labour government stops standing out by being the only political party in favour of a 3rd Heathrow runway.

Fingers crossed the Tories and Labour stop supporting a 50% increase in flights at London City Airport. I sometimes fly on business from this airport and I really don’t wont it to expand.

Air pollution – rubbish

London has the worst air quality of any UK city and one of the worst in Europe.

It’s so bad that its causes OVER 3,000 premature deaths each year and so we breach European laws. It costs a fortune in all the ill health this causes such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, etc.

Road transport is a major contributor causing 41% of NOx and 67% of PM10’s. London already has a Low Emission Zone which only applies to HGV’s, buses and coaches to Euro III emission standards. From 1 October it was meant to be extended to cover large vans and mini-buses but Tory Mayor Boris Johnson decided to postpone this and subject it to more public consultation. A duplicate repeat. I guess those 3,000 people don’t have names so easy to politically ignore them and delay anti air pollution.

What the Lib Dems at the GLA have proposed is to introduce a more stringent inner London Low Emission Zone focusing on  the 1 million Londoners living and working where the air pollution is worse. That this should happen before the Olympics arrive and the world is told how rubbish our air quality is. That would be humiliating for Londoners.