Guardian: is Meg Hillier "a dreary knuckle-dragging authoritarian?"

Hackney's MPs have been bathed in an unfavourable light in the last 24 hours.

First Diane Abbott was targeted by the Daily Mail.

Then a Guardian blog about ID cards asked if Meg Hillier was a: "bright New Labour high-flyer... or a dreary knuckle-dragging authoritarian"...

Meanwhile an independent candidate for Hackney South and Shoreditch - 36-year-old Denny de la Haye, who lives in Hoxton/Shoreditch has a piece in Open Democracy: Why I'm standing to be an e democracy MP.

Yesterday you could have seen his story in more than a dozen versions of Daily Mail "localpeople" sites from Ely People to Exmouth People - including Dalston People and Stoke Newington People - (some background on these sites from Stokey Talk: http://stokeytalk.com/daily-mail-stoke-newington-website/836/)

Denny's story was also in a blog called Virtual Economics by Seamus McCauley. Seamus, in his own words, is the: "Head of Publishing for localpeople, part of FTSE-250 listed Daily Mail and General Trust. My work for localpeople involves managing the Community Publishers who do the actual work of researching and writing the news in each town."

His piece ends with this: "Disclosure: I know the candidate personally, a bit"

Daily Mail says Diane used public cash to silence employees

A story in the Daily Mail claims Diane Abbott spent £1,300 of public money on legal advice to impose a 'gagging order' on a former employee. The paper claimed she had taken similar action with three other former employees.

The Mail said: "Four members of her staff have left in the past two years, and Parliamentary sources say she used taxpayers’ money to ensure the silence of three of them. Some Westminster officials believe the use of public money for this purpose should not have been allowed by the fees office."

This comment, which appears later in the story, makes the claims look a little less sinister: "A Commons source tells me: ‘She uses compromise agreements as a formality. Staff agree to sign them because they would get a good reference from her and to prevent any bad-mouthing."

In case the story isn't easy to access later (it doesn't seem to have a web address of its own)- here's Diane's response published by the newspaper:

"Diane, a mother of one, denies any impropriety and, blaming disgruntled former employees, adds: 'MPs' offices commonly have a high staff turnover given that many people wishing to work in an MP’s office are straight out of university.

"Many of my staff have been with me and serving my ­constituents for as long as 12 years, and all MPs' staff sign confidentiality agreements as a matter of course."

Lawyers claim Meg misled parliament

According to Morning Star newspaper, a firm of human rights lawyers representing women at Yarl's Wood detention centre have accused Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, of misleading parliament.

It is not a new claim. Some of the issues are discussed or linked to in this piece: Meg Hillier defended by the Telegraph.

I interviewed Meg Hillier on Monday and will post something later this week. We didn't talk much about Yarl's Wood though - more about whether her ministerial responsibilities impinge on her role as an MP and other Hackney related subjects.

Cameron rally in Hackney South - why?

Tory blog: London Spin, then the Hackney Post (the newspaper of City University post graduate students - which is now back in action after a year off?) and Press Association - reported the appearance of David Cameron in Hackney South.

But why Hackney South? The last time David Cameron and Hackney were so closely linked was back in January when when some of his giant posters were defaced: Hackney responds to David Cameron

Otherwise, as far as I can see, Hackney's Conservative group hasn't got any South Hackney-based councillors and its been a Labour seat since it was created in 1974.

May be it has got something to do with Hackney South Conservative candidate Simon Nayyar: http://www.simonnayyar.com or was it just a suitable venue?

Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney, answers Blood and Property questions

Blood and Property: What would happen to Hackney if the Conservatives win the next election? How much less money would the borough receive?


Jules Pipe: Whoever wins the general election, the next public sector spending round will be tight. From the noises Conservative shadow cabinet ministers have been making, I think that it’s clear it will be far worse under the Conservatives. The experience of the 1980s and 90s suggest that the Conservatives have a great capacity for taking decisions that are particularly tough on communities such as Hackney. Over the last 4 years of the last Tory government there was a 7% cut in real terms in local government spending, but in Hackney it was worse with a real terms cut of more than 20% which saw absolute cash reductions in total grant.

Over recent years, Hackney has made huge efficiency savings that have been recycled into covering cost inflation (pay and prices), demand-led service growth (eg adult community services), service improvements (eg street cleaning, recycling), and capital projects (eg Lido, Clapton Library, schools) so avoiding borrowing, cuts, and having to transfer additional costs onto the taxpayer – allowing us to freeze council tax. Naturally, if reductions were made in funding, backfilling such shortfalls in grant would have the first call on funds generated by future efficiency savings.

The progress made so far with medium term planning forecasts for the end of 2011/12 to 2013/14 show prudent, cautious assessments of current and future spending pressures. These regular assessments will of course continue, and continue to be revised as the situation becomes clearer in time.


Blood and Property: Do you think that the main opposition in Hackney is the Conservative Party or the Orthodox Jewish councillors who make up its majority?


Jules Pipe: The Conservative Party. As well as in Hackney North, they are also the main electoral challenger in the mayoral and both parliamentary contests, as well as council seats in Hackney South.


Blood and Property: You had a run-in with Councillor Steinberger last year over his actions as head of scrutiny, do you believe that he put the planning needs of his community above the financial needs of the rest of the borough? (Reference: 23,000 Hackney tenants used as bargaining chip)


Jules Pipe: I believe that it was the adopted principle of the entire Hackney Conservative group to oppose the Council’s clarification of planning policy regarding residential extensions. In my opinion, in attempting to negotiate the removal of the item from the Cabinet agenda in return for his acquiescence to allowing an urgent item that lowered council housing rents, he put furthering his group’s political position above operating correctly as Chair of Overview and Scrutiny. I believe that Cllr Steinberger has offered a different explanation of events.


Blood and Property: How do you react to claims by some members of the OJ community that the Labour Party in Hackney is anti semitic?


Jules Pipe: I would refute such claims entirely, whether this is a reference to the political party in the borough, or the Council’s political administration.


Blood and Property: Do you think it is odd that Orthodox Jewish councillors so rarely stand against each other - would it matter if there was some kind of agreement within the community not to do this? (Reference: Democracy problem in Stamford Hill)


Jules Pipe: As you have acknowledged, it is not completely unknown for members of the Orthodox Jewish community to stand against one another. Hackney Labour wants all political parties in the borough to be representative of all of Hackney's diverse communities. We have reached out to the Orthodox Jewish community (as we do to all communities) and that's why Cllr Joseph Stauber joined us.

It's a matter for the individuals and communities concerned whether they stand as candidates and how they vote, but personally I think communalism is very unhealthy. People should be looking at the manifestoes and candidates of the different parties and voting for the ones who seem to have the best ideas, qualities and relevant experience. It is unhealthy for democracy if people vote for candidates from their own community for that reason alone and not on merit. It is also unhealthy for community cohesion – whilst there are specific communities within Hackney, we are all part of one wider civic community.

However, it should be noted that the maths of recent borough election results suggests that the Orthodox Jewish community in Stamford Hill must have been perfectly happy to vote for Muslim candidates (and vice versa) and I think that is very healthy and says something very positive about community cohesion in Hackney.


Blood and Property: How important do you think religion and an understanding of religion might be in Hackney. Do you think that it will become more or less of an important factor in Hackney politics in the future? (Reference: Hackney Christians: Money, power, demonic possession) and the orthodox jewish community is said to be growing fast and has specific requirements.


Jules Pipe: As I’ve said before, this is a proudly diverse borough and a place where government surveys have consistently found that residents are of the view that people of different backgrounds in Hackney get on well together. I don’t think it’s up to local politicians to talk about religion in any other context than that we welcome the diverse mix that people of all backgrounds bring to Hackney and the contribution they make to life here. Of course, the elected members of a council should reflect the population it serves, and so in that respect I’d welcome more people of different backgrounds standing to become local councillors. Hackney has a pretty good record on this, but there’s always room for improvement everywhere – here, in parliament, and in council chambers across the country.


Blood and Property: Do you think it is healthy that so many of the boroughs schools are now academies - and does it matter that these schools are not subject to the freedom of information act? - (Reference: Hackney academies: too good to be true?)


Jules Pipe: My priority and that of local parents is that the standard of education for Hackney school pupils keeps on improving, and that they can access better training and jobs than a number of years ago.

In Hackney, we have a range of secondary schools, Voluntary Aided, Community and Academies. The fifth new Academy will open in September 2010. The five mixed, non-denominational, non-selective academies will provide 1,800 new secondary school places in the borough. Mossbourne Academy, rated by Ofsted as 'outstanding in every respect', was the first to enter pupils for GCSEs in 2009 and saw 84% of pupils gain five or more good grades. Nearly all of our secondary schools are now graded as good or outstanding by Ofsted and the significant improvement of results from our existing schools, together with the first set of GCSE results from Mossbourne Academy, have all contributed to Hackney's outstanding GCSE results of 2009, which are now above the national average for the first time ever.

I’m puzzled by the accusation that this rise in results should be the result of the disproportionate use of equivalent vocational qualifications at Academies. Not only am I sure Mossbourne would be willing to provide evidence to the contrary, it is the first and only Academy to contribute results to the aggregate figure. Furthermore, Mossbourne results contributed to the aggregate for the first time this year – the previous year-on-year increases in results have relied entirely on Hackney’s existing VA and community schools.

The Freedom of Information of Act should indeed apply to Academies. They are not currently subject to the FoI Act, however, under section 5 the Secretary of State has the power to designate as a public authority a body that appears to exercise functions of a public nature, or that provide public authority services under contract. A consultation last year considered to which bodies this should apply. Academies are now being proposed for inclusion, along with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Financial Ombudsman Service, and UCAS. The Ministry of Justice has consulted with these organisations about their potential inclusion and is considering their responses.


Blood and Property: Although crime in Hackney has fallen, other boroughs complain that Hackney has more policemen. On top of that, Hackney seems to be able to rely on outside agencies like Operation Trident. Do you know how much support Hackney's police get in fighting crime and whether this might no longer be available either if the conservatives win or if the government has to cut police budgets? References: Hackney has too many cops say Waltham Forest and Croydon and Hackney is second biggest customer of Operation Trident


Jules Pipe: Hackney Police are able to draft in services provided by serious crime operations such as Operation Trident and Operation Blunt, but they don’t get any extra funding or long-term resources for these operations to keep down crime. Support from the two operations are triggered by serious incidents in Hackney, which can then allow Hackney Police to access short-term resources and support from officers of other London boroughs, as and when we need it. Rather than budgetary constraints resulting in reduced support, it is the fact that serious crime is on a downward trend in Hackney – and therefore may no longer meet the requirements to get extra support from these operations – which might result in a reduction.


Blood and Property: The BNP wants to stand in the Hackney Mayoral elections this year. How do you think this will affect the elections in the borough? (Reference: BNP to stand in Hackney mayoral elections)


Jules Pipe: Hackney is one of the country’s most ethnically diverse boroughs, and also one that is renowned for how well its residents get on together. Without the community tensions that the BNP would seek to prey upon, neither they nor the National Front have contested Hackney for many years. If the BNP were to field a candidate in 2010, overwhelmingly Hackney residents would see through their pretence at respectability, and reject their racism at the ballot box. An enthusiasm to reject the BNP may lead to an increase in turnout, with or without a specific campaign, but this is likely to be masked by any increase resulting from the council and general elections being coincident.


Blood and Property: How much has the borough changed in the last 10 years - demographically (Reference: 50% of people in Hackney North have degrees) - do you think this will change the make up of the voting patterns in the borough?


Jules Pipe: Hackney North and Stoke Newington has a high density of people with degrees, at 50.5%, but according to the ONS Annual Population Survey in 2008, Richmond Park is the highest in the country, with 63.6%. Regardless of the level to which someone was educated, and as I inferred previously, I would hope that they will vote for who they think has the best vision for an area and can continue to improve local services. (This answer contained a long list of parliamentary constituencies showing what percentage of residents had degrees. If it would be helpful to see this, please let me know.)


Blood and Property: To what extent do you think that changes in the borough are related to property prices and new people moving here - how easily do you think that this process could be reversed (i.e. do you think that many hackney residents see their homes as investments or just as homes?)


Jules Pipe: Hackney is a very popular borough for a variety of reasons, including its improving transport links, its vastly improved schools, popular leisure facilities such as London Fields Lido and its many parks, its status as a vibrant arts and cultural hub, amongst many other reasons.

The Council’s research suggests that many of those moving into the borough since 2003 have been young, childless households on higher incomes than the current borough average, who rent privately. The impact of rising property prices in Hackney - as for London and the whole country - means that while owner-occupiers who bought during the past few decades will have benefited considerably from capital gains or opportunities to rent out their homes, the market has become very expensive for first-time buyers. This would suggest that the driving factor for today’s incomers is the desire to live in the borough, rather than seeking investment opportunities.

The Council is committed to ensuring high quality, affordable housing for all Hackney residents. Right now across Hackney construction work is taking place to build hundreds of new social-rented and affordable homes, including council housing, after the Council lobbied the Government and received a total of over £43million in Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) funding since last September.

For almost 30 years, affordable housing across the country often only got built as a spin-off of new private developments, and the downturn in the housing market threatened to bring even that to a halt. The commercial marketplace cannot be left as the only force to drive how housing is delivered. The Council has been working with the Government and its agencies and has successfully strengthened their confidence to give Hackney their social housing investment directly, so that we can deliver homes that are much needed by local residents.


Blood and Property: Do you think that Hackney has suffered the worst effects of the financial crisis? Why is Hackney's employment situation improving more slowly than other boroughs? (References: Feb 2010: Hackney Unemployment deteriorates fastest Jan 2010: Hackney slowest employment recovery )


Jules Pipe: I think it’s very difficult for anyone to say with confidence whether we have suffered the worst. There’s a very diverse mix of people living in Hackney, whose employment prospects in a recession can be affected to different degrees and at different times. The fluctuation of employment rate will naturally be determined by the nature of the work (part time, casual, employment sector etc) and when that sector experiences the effects of the downturn.

The figures to which you refer are relatively short-term and relate only to those claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance and should be seen in context of the Office of National Statistics data, which shows that employment has risen from 55.4 per cent in 2005 to 68.7 per cent in 2009, putting Hackney very close to the London average. Nevertheless, Hackney has been putting significant resources into getting the long-term unemployed into work, from job-readiness programmes through to apprenticeships. In the longer term, Hackney has concentrated on preventing a future skills gap in its young population by prioritising investment into schools and raising educational attainment.


Blood and Property: Can you rule out speculation that you might stand for a parliamentary seat in the next general election?


Jules Pipe: I can rule it out entirely. I have never approached a parliamentary constituency, or even expressed an interest in standing in a parliamentary constituency. I can say the same for the European parliament, the GLA (both list and constituency) and the London Mayoralty. I have absolutely no intention, desire or even vague thought of doing so now, and have no plans to do so in any future election. I am personally committed to continue leading the Labour administration in the borough in which I live.


Blood and Property: How many Hackney Labour councillors are in the process of trying to become labour parliamentary candidates in the next general election? And if there's more than Nargis Khan and Sophie Linden - it would be great to know who they are.


Jules Pipe: I am aware that both Nargis and Sophie have entered constituency contests. Beyond the Cabinet, there is no expectation for councillors to keep me informed of such intentions, so I wouldn’t be aware of a definitive list. Furthermore, if there were any, it would be a matter for them to disclose to you directly.


Blood and Property: Do you think it matters that Hackney's legal department was 25% understaffed during a major development period - Olympics, Bishopsgate Goodsyard, Dalston development. (Reference: Hackney legal department recruiting crisis)


Jules Pipe: All major and high profile schemes have been fully supported by Legal Services with appropriately experienced lawyers advising as necessary. There have been no instances of work being externalised because Legal Services has not had the capacity to deal with it.

The Corporate Director has had the opportunity to review Legal Services and a restructure is under way with recent permanent appointments made to senior manager and senior lawyer positions. The recruitment process will continue until all vacant permanent posts have been filled.

DIANE ABBOTT ANSWERS BLOOD AND PROPERTY QUESTIONS

Apologies: The Mayor was answering those questions

This afternoon at 2pm today a very long reply to all of Blood and Property's questions arrived via email from Hackney Council. It is clear from the level of detail that these questions were being answered all the time. Due to the length of time it was taking I thought these questions weren't being answered at all - I was wrong.

Apologies. I'll post the full set of answers tomorrow morning.

Will Jules Pipe ever answer these questions?

It started off so well but after months of waiting and several broken deadlines, Jules Pipe has yet to answer a set of questions sent by Blood and Property back in January.

A GOOD START:
15 October 2009:
Blood and Property asked Jules Pipe: "Do you believe in Ghosts?"

16 October 2009:
Jules Pipe replies: "I am happy to confirm that I have never felt the need to attribute any event to ‘supernatural’ causes...." (Do Hackney Politicians believe in Ghosts?)

A BAD END:
11 December 2010:
Blood and Property asks for an interview with Jules Pipe.

22 December 2009:
Polly Rance, head of Hackney's media and external communications, wrote: "Thanks for your request for an interview with Mayor Pipe. I am sorry but things have been very busy in the run up to Christmas and we have not been able to fit this in before the holiday season. Jules might be able to manage something in the new year. Perhaps you could send over the list of topics you would want to talk to him about and we can try to find some space in the diary?"

19 January 2010:
Blood and Property sends a list of questions to Hackney's press office having been told this is the correct way to approach the Mayor.

27 January 2010:
Hackney Press Officer: "Sorry for delay in getting back to you. I'll chase this up."

12 February 2010:
Diane Abbott answers a similar set of questions. (Diane Abbott answers Blood and Property Questions).
I resend questions to Hackney Press Office. A press officer replies: "This is fine. As I said, questions are quite wide ranging so may take us a little while to get back to you. Let me know if you need any of this urgently."

19 February 2010:
A Hackney Press Officer calls to say that efforts are being made to get a set of answers by Monday 22 February.

22 February 2010:
No news.

23 February 2010:
A press officer replies to an email saying that the matter was being looked into.

24 February 2010:
Any news? A Hackney Press Officer says the answers are "nearly there".

2 March 2010:
Replying to an email, a Hackney Press Officer says: "have already chased this matter this morning for you. Almost there…" We later spoke on the phone. The answers would be ready by Friday 5 March.

5 March 2010:
I asked if there was any news: not ready.

8 March 2010:
I asked if there was any news: not ready.

9 March 2010:
I asked if there was any news: no reply.

10 March 2010
I asked if there was any news. A Hackney Press Officer said: "Sorry about this… still waiting."


Sadly the questions are hardly worth the build up. The ones about the Labour Party's relationship with the Orthodox Jewish Community were added at the beginning of February which could explain some of the delay. Hopefully the answers are coming but I can't say much more than that.

QUESTIONS FOR MAYOR PIPE:

1. Do you think that main opposition in Hackney is really the Conservative Party or the Orthodox Jewish councillors who make up its majority?

2. You had a run-in with Councillor Steinberger last year over his actions as head of scrutiny, do you believe that he put the planning needs of his community above the financial needs of the rest of the borough? (23,000 Hackney tenants used as a bargaining chip, Mayor Claims)

3. How do you react to claims by some members of the OJ community that the Labour Party in Hackney is anti semitic?

4. Do you think it is odd that Orthodox Jewish councillors so rarely stand against each other - would it matter if there was some kind of agreement within the community not to do this?

5. Do you think it matters that Hackney's legal department was 25% understaffed during major development period - olympics, bishopsgate goods yard, dalston development.

6. The BNP wants to stand in the Hackney Mayoral elections this year: http://bloodandproperty.blogspot.com/2010/01/bnp-to-stand-in-hackney-mayoral.html
how do you think this will affect the elections in the borough?

7. How much has the borough changed in the last 10 years - demographically (there's some research claiming that Hackney North has the highest density of people with degrees in the country) Do you think this will change the make up of the voting patterns in the borough?

8. To what extent do you think that changes in the borough are related to property prices and new people moving here - how easily do you think that this process could be reversed (i.e. do you think that many hackney residents see their homes as investments or just as homes?)

9. Do you think that Hackney has suffered the worst effects of the financial crisis? Why is Hackney's employment situation improving more slowly than other boroughs?

10. What would happen to Hackney if the conservatives win the next election? How much less money would the borough recieve?

11. Do you think it is healthy that so many of the boroughs schools are now academies - and does it matter that these schools are not subject to the freedom of information act? - References here: Hackney academies: too good to be true?

12. Although crime in Hackney has fallen, other boroughs complain that Hackney has more policemen. On top of that, Hackney seems to be able to rely on outside agencies like Operation Trident. Do you know how much support Hackney's police get in fighting crime and whether this might no longer be available either if the conservatives win or if the government has to cut police budgets?

13. How important do you think religion and an understanding of religion might be in Hackney. Do you think that it will become more or less of an important factor in Hackney politics in the future? (There seems to be a lot of political activity in fundamental churches) and the orthodox jewish community is said to be growing fast and has specific requirements.

Is Hackney home to academy fat cats? Debate on 23 March

The Anti Academies Alliance will be holding a "great education debate" at the Round chapel in Lower Clapton on March 23. According to its website, the key speaker will Diane Abbott.

The blub says: "With a General Election looming there is a renewed debate about the future of our schools. Come to this meeting to ask your questions about what’s best for our children... Critics of Academies argue schools are being privatised and divided, and that competition between schools will mean there are winners and losers.
Others argue that the idea of a democratically accountable local authority providing good schools is finished and that ‘trust’ schools are the solution. There is an even more extreme version of privatisation and deregulation. The Tories are talking about creating new, ‘free’ schools which will allow any parents to set up and run their own school... So what do parents really want? Come and hear the debate. Come and ask your questions."

Less than two weeks ago Diane was beside PM Gordon Brown when he announced a new accreditation scheme at Woodberry Down Primary School. Is this the roll-out of the academy programme into primary schools? The full government press release is on Anti Academies Alliance website.

Is Hackney home to Academy fat cats?

One of the stories on the Anti Academies Alliance website is a Sunday Times piece from back in January. It reports that two academy heads are earning £200,000 a year salaries with 11 earning over £150,000 with additional consultancy fees added on top. How much are Hackney heads getting and will we ever know as academies are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act?

Blood and Property recently asked Diane Abbott: "Do you think it is healthy that so many of the borough's schools are now academies - and whether it matters that these schools are not subject to the freedom of information act? - References here: Hackney academies: too good to be true?

DA: I am concerned about the lack of transparency both in relation to academies and in relation to The Learning Trust itself. But there is no question that academies are hugely popular with Hackney parents and they are all massively oversubscribed. Every year I have to counsel parents who are upset because they can not get their child into an academy. Before the academies were built, the majority of Hackney parents sent their children out of the borough for secondary education. Since the academies program started, academies like Mossbourne have produced stellar results. And the number of parents keeping their children in Hackney for secondary education has risen year by year. This must be a good thing."

All sides set for spinning

PR Week reports on the activities of Hackney's two Conservative parliamentary candidates, Darren Caplan and Simon Nayyar (may still be contesting). Both PR men. B2L Public Affairs director and Citigate Dewe Rogerson Public Policy MD respectively. Both joined another PR man, David Cameron, as he delivered his keynote speech in Brighton.

They are up against former press officers Meg Hillier and Diane Abbott. And then there's Jules Pipe, former sub editor. Does this impressive media/communications headcount mean lots of spinning can be expected?

Interesting on Bethnal Green Conservatives

This was an interesting piece about how the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow was chosen. Public Interest.co.uk said: "Open primaries are ridiculous. I'm not saying it was a stitch-up. The same rules applied to all candidates, and most of the losers didn't appear to have brought anyone along. Khan just rounded up a few of his mates, and the gig was his. Fair dos, really. But why would the Tory party want to have their candidate elected by a non-member? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

2. Localism is key. All candidates are never happier than ambling down Columbia Road with a bunch of begonias bought for a fiver. It's a mere quirk of fate that has prevented them from actually buying a property here.

More Hackney UFOs

With pictures and movies - none of which are convincing.

Hackney Council used anti-terror law to spy on staff

According to the Sunday Express, Hackney Council used anti terror laws to spy on its staff to make sure they weren't misusing disabled parking badges. The Express asked 300 councils if they had invoked the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. 33 councils said they had. One of them was Hackney.

Meg Hillier defended by the Telegraph

Meg Hillier has been under fire from a number of MPs for her denials of poor conditions at Yarl's Wood detention centre - Diane Abbott is among her critics: Did Meg mislead parliament? and Hackney MP mums battle over motherhood.

Today a piece in the Telegraph claimed that stories about hunger strikes and abuse at Yarl's Wood detention centre verged on the fictional and that Meg's stance had been correct.

The Telegraph in support: "I don’t usually support the Government’s version of events – but this time, the evidence is pretty much overwhelming. There are CCTV cameras in Yarl’s Wood, and none of them has recorded “violence, mistreatment and racist abuse” involving any of the women in the “hunger strike”. But they have filmed the “hunger strikers” buying, and eating, items such as soup, noodles, crisps and chocolate from the Centre’s shop."

Versus Diane in the Guardian: "Junior Home Office minister Meg Hillier MP is my parliamentary neighbour and a friend. But she has never visited Yarl's Wood detention centre. If she had done, then I believe that she would never have signed off the letter, sent last week to every member of parliament, rubbishing the Guardian's report about desperate women detainees currently on hunger strike there."

Hackney Labour Councillors - Budget defence by blogging

Hackney Central's Labour councillors appear keen to crush their opposition as early as possible.

According to the Hackney Central Labour blog, the Greens offer "reckless proposals" in their alternative budget that will hit the poorest hardest.

The blog criticises the Conservative Party saying: "They have shown how unprepared they are and how little effort they have made in offering the people of Hackney an alternative. Right before our elections in May - the Tories have failed before the firing gun has even been set off."

The Lib Dems got off lightly with HCL briefly saying that their policies would be annoying and unhelpful if they were ever put into practice.

Hackney Central Labour sounded unworried. This may have more to do with a historically loyal electorate than any policies. The 2006 election results (with a 32% turnout) and the 2002 election results (31% turnout) in the ward both saw Labour win comfortably.

Over at We Love Stoke Newington the mood wasn't quite so aggressive - the only criticism from its Labour Councillor authors was for an unnamed free local paper - (might that be the Hackney Heckler?)

We Love Stoke Newington said: "There have been some misleading reports in a local free newspaper about budget cuts - we'd like to reassure you that this is not the case - these are different economic times, but due to managing the Council's finances well, we're able to freeze council tax and continue to invest in key services."

(Could this article in PR Week, by Hackney's head of Communications, Polly Rance, also be described as misleading too? "Talk of spending cuts in an election climate often sends a chill through communications departments. Comms teams know full well that their budgets are a prime target for cuts in manifesto pledges. Now is the time, more than ever, for us to prove our value, not just to our organisations, but to the residents we serve.")

Labour Councillors in Stoke Newington Central face a more real threat than their colleagues over at Hackney Central.

The 2006 local elections results for Stoke Newington Central show that Labour Councillors faced a threat from the Green Party - two Green candiates won more than 700 votes each while the poorest performing Labour councillor won around 900 votes.

The results for the 2009 by-election in Stoke Newington Central - to replace Labour Councillor Jamie Carswell - saw Labour with 48% of the vote compared to the Green's 32%.

The results for the 2002 elections in Stoke Newington Central showed a more comfortable lead for Labour suggesting that support for the Green Party in the ward has gained momentum since 2002.

Hackney council in new row with Orthodox Jewish community

The Jewish Chronicle reports a campaign by Hackney's Charedi community to prevent a former school being turned into residential property. Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks is among those supporting the campaign.

According to Abraham Pinter, former Hackney Councillor, headmaster of Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School, 20% of Hackney's under 16s are from the Charedi community.

The dispute could reignite debate over planning restrictions in Stamford Hill. Bad feelings still linger after a personalised row - back in April 2009 - when Mayor Jules Pipe said that Conservative Councillor Sime Steinberger - head of the borough's scrutiny committee - had been prepared to "withhold money from 23,000 households" in order to push the Orthodox Jewish call for looser planning rules in Stamford Hill. Pipe described it as an "incredible abuse of his position" and that "23,000 people could have had their rent decreases delayed and you used that as a bargaining chip."

Cllr Steinberger replied: "What Mayor Pipe said is not what happened. I got a call in the morning saying what about this item. I hadn't seen any paper work and I asked officers what it was about." He said that Pipe had not returned his calls.

Blood and Property recently stole another Jewish Chronicle story: Hackney Council tells Orthodox Jew to demolish his home - which illustrates how severe this planning issue has become in some instances.

Meanwhile should there be concern about the state of democracy within the Orthodox community?

Hackney property prices down and staying down

A story in the Times says: "In August last year the property consultancy Drivers Jonas published a blackly gloomy report showing that property prices in the boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Waltham Forest had fallen by more than 20 per cent, compared with the London average of 13.7 per cent."

A couple of paragraphs later the story says: "By January, however, prices were rising in every eastern borough except Redbridge and Hackney..."

De Beauvoir UFOs/unsuccessful Hackney candidate/Asians don't vote for black candidates?

UFOs in Hackney? Apparently the skies over De Beauvoir are full of them. Albert, if you ever read this, what was it you saw?

UNRELATED:

A piece from Operation Black Vote mentions Hackney Cllr Patrick Vernon's short-lived attempt to become Labour candidate for Leyton and Wanstead. According to OBV, Cllr Vernon was a favourite but didn't make it onto the shortlist. Another Hackney councillor, Sophie Linden, did make it onto the shortlist but lost in the end to John Cryer.

According to the OBV report, the fate of another black candidate later in the selection process suggested that there may be a divide between black and Asian members of Labour Party's BAME (http://www.bamelabour.org.uk/) - which is supposed to fight for more black MPs. OBV claims that Asian Labour Party members supported a white candidate over a black candidate once their Asian colleague was ruled out of the contest.

Operation Black Vote reports that supporters of the Asian candidate, Ahmed Shahzad - who happens to be head of BAME - "proved decisive in sealing the win for (John) Cryer, provoking dismay among supporters of (Terry) Paul who had won substantial backing among a cross section of rank and file party members, but significantly failed to win the second preference vote of Shahzad’s supporters, who were mostly of Asian origin."

The OBV report quotes one anonymous Labour Party member: "It’s an absolute disgrace. Totally shameful. He [Shahzad] has got his position in the party as a result of representing Black members, and what does he do? He stops a good quality Black person becoming an MP. I think his position as head of BAME Labour is now untenable."

Hackney 'Loony left' accused of cashing in on BNP

Terry Fitzpatrick sent this letter to Blood and Property. It is a response to a letter published in the Hackney Gazette last week. Whether you agree with him or not, there seems to be a long-standing division in the fight against fascism:

"Regular readers (of the Hackney Gazette) will remember an exchange of letters between myself and several members of Hackney Loony Left starring, amongst others, the SWP's Sasha Simic. I won the exchange and they all went quiet until this week when a bunch of them popped up in the letters page, (Unite in the fight to stop fascist vote 25th Feb).

"Using the SWP front Unite Against Fascism Hackney Trots are on a shameless money raising mission from people quite rightly concerned about the rise of the BNP vote. People may be asking why, some eight weeks before the elections of May 6th, we now see a call for " a broadly-based UAF organisation in Hackney. Our aim is to mobilise the broadest opposition to the BNP and (sic) provide a network of supporters for the anti BNP campaign in Barking."

"A campaign against the far right already exists and can be contacted on Hackneyunites@btinternet.com. In the GLA elections last year it distributed 50,000 copies of a special eight page tabloid paper printed especially for Hackney which I delivered to activists all over the borough. The group also organised a day of action when every railway station in the borough was leafleted. Where was UAF when all this was going on? Well, nobody knows as there was no sign of them.

"There is a national campaign which can be contacted at www.hopenothate.org.uk with daily updates on the national anti BNP campaign.

Terry Fitzpatrick.

(Who is he? Some links: Hackney Gazette, Searchlight, But for a flavour of the oddness/bitterness behind the scenes in the world of anti fascists, check out the comments section here: http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=2544. Or a life story/interview.)

Greens make Diane see red

Diane Abbott: "Oddly, everyone I have spoken to has never mentioned meeting Mr Sellwood nor any other of their prospective candidates."

Hackney North's Green candidate, Matt Sellwood, accused Diane Abbott of being "disinterested" in green politics and said her constituents were telling him:"These days we see Diane more on the telly than we do on the streets."

In his blog Matt reported that Diane didn't vote in a closely fought rebellion over Emissions Performance Standards for new coal-fired power stations in the UK.

He said: "Diane didn't bother to turn up. Having, apparently, told Friends of the Earth that she would be rebelling." He added "I can guarantee that when there is a vital, close-fought amendment, on which I have been lobbied and made promises about - I'll turn up to Parliament to vote!"

Blood and Property asked Diane for a comment.

She said: "It is not often I do not vote in Parliament but it is difficult when I have commitments in my constituency. On the Wednesday evening of the vote, I was helping congratulate students at Hackney Community College at their annual awards, which is why I was unable to be in the House. I then went to a tenants meeting on Woodberry Down.

"Both of these commitments were long standing in my diary and issues I felt to be very important. Having been an MP for 23 years, I have learnt how best to use my time and believe it is often best spent out in the constituency, attending meetings and helping constituents with their issues.

"Every week without fail I am out in the constituency and every weekend I and the local Labour party are out knocking on doors and meeting people. Oddly, everyone I have spoken to has never mentioned meeting Mr Sellwood nor any other of their prospective candidates."

Third accuser - has Meg misled parliament?

Yesterday (Monday) Diane Abbott wrote a piece in the Guardian which pushed a confrontation she'd had with Meg Hillier in Parliament - Hackney MP mums battle over motherhood - to a new level.

This time Diane came close to accusing Meg of misleading parliament in relation to Yarl's Wood detention centre: "Although the ministers might query the details of some of their cases, the overall picture is very different from the one painted by the minister in her letter to colleagues."

But she isn't the first. In 2008 this letter also accused Meg Hillier of passing incorrect information to Parliament: "It's come to my attention that on September 30th, a letter was sent out by Meg Hillier, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, at the Home Office. The letter was sent to several MPs, who had enquired on behalf of their constituents, about the treatment on Baby C in Yarl's Wood, in June 2008... In this letter, Meg Hillier assures MPs that Brian Pollett and Jeremy Oppenheim were reviewing this case personally... I have to inform you that this is factually incorrect...."

In January Blood and Property asked "Did Meg Hillier mislead parliament?" after a piece in Open Democracy (Roll calls, body searches and sex games by Clare Sambrook) which said Meg had perpetuated misrepresentations and created new ones about Yarl's Wood.