On Monday 12th December, I attended Fircroft Primary School for another Christmas Card assembly. The winning design was by a pupil at Fircroft – Anjali Garg in Year 5.

After the assembly, I had an enjoyable task of giving an assembly to Al Risaalah Girls Secondary School in Tooting High Street on the Pakistani earthquake. The pupils asked many searching questions about the relief effort and whether enough was being done. They also presented me with a cheque for £233 towards helping the victims of the earthquake, which I shall pass on to one of the charities doing excellent work in Pakistan.

In the evening, I chaired a meeting organised by the Access to Justice Alliance. More details here. DCA Minister Bridget Prentice, Conservative spokesman on Constitutional Affairs Oliver Heald MP and the Lib Dem spokesman David Heath MP also spoke. The meeting was well attended with a number of contributions from lawyers who undertake publicly funded legal aid work.

On Tuesday 13th, Cllr John Farebrother, Mark Thomas (from the Furzedown Labour Team) and I handed in a petition to Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Joe Royle asking for a full Safer Neighbourhood Team for Furzedown ward. A photo is here.

I am fortunate in having been chosen to be on the Standing Committee for the Work and Families Bill. This originates from Labour’s manifesto commitment to help working parents find a better balance between their busy home life and work commitments. It creates a modern framework of employment rights and responsibilities for employers and employees while minimising the impact on businesses. Maternity leave will be extended to nine months from April 2007, The Bill will also provide for fathers to have more opportunities to spend time with their children. An employed father will have an entitlement to a further 26 weeks leave. As a working father, I appreciate how important these measures are.

I was extremely pleased and flattered to be asked to open a recently refurbished dental practice in the Furzedown part of the constituency. The One One Nine practice is on 119 Mitcham Lane and the expansion means that they have plenty of capacity to take on NHS patients.

In addition to undertaking my normal parliamentary duties, I also had the pleasure of attending a charity concert in aid of victims of the Pakistani earthquake held at the Royal Albert Hall. The highlight for me was a monsoon fashion show.

On 14th December, I gave an assembly at Furzedown Primary School as part of the Christmas Card competition.

I also met with the Chair of Battersea and Tooting Amnesty International to discuss human rights in the “War on Terror”; notably, torture and secret detention of detainees by USA administration.

Remarkably, this was the second week in a row where I was able to ask a question at PMQs.

I also had a meeting with the Prime Minister and Ruth Kelly along with other colleagues to discuss the Education White Paper: Higher Standards: Better Schools for All.

The Public Accounts Committee examined Tax Credits. In 2004/05 the Government paid out £15.8 bn of tax credits. In Tooting alone, more than 10,000 families benefited from this. Across the country, 6 million families, including 10 million children received tax credits. The PAC looked at whether there were ways of improving the payments with particular regard to overpayments.

Today was also the day of the Westminster Kids Club Christmas Party where I was able to bring Anisah and Ammarah into the Commons for a party. Guests of honour were Scooby Doo and Father Christmas. The kids had a brilliant time and spent the evening face painting, making masks and jumping on the bouncy castle (inside the House of Commons!).

In the evening, we had our end of term office do at the award winning Mirch Masala on Upper Tooting Road.

On 15th, I met with the Chief Executive of UNITE. This organisation is the oldest and the largest occupational pensioner organisation in the United Kingdom, and campaigns to improve the lives of its members. One of their campaigns is on transport and we discussed the need to make railway stations more accessible, including my Earlsfield campaign. You can see details of my Earlsfield campaign here.

On 16th, I participated in the Daily Politics Show Review of the Year. As the winner of the quiz, I am now the proud owner of a Daily Politics mug!

I also visited the Streatham alcohol treatment centre which is in Furzedown ward for their Christmas get together. The SATC have recently been given a Charter Mark (from the Cabinet Office) and are doing some brilliant work with their clients who suffer from alcohol addiction.

I had my final Christmas Card assembly – this time at Sellincourt School.

In the evening, I accompanied the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Tooting ward on their regular beat. After a briefing at the Police Station, and putting on a protective vest, I accompanied them around Tooting, meeting local retailers, publicans, pedestrians and local residents. The time spent with the SNT has confirmed my admiration for the hard work that our police do on our behalf, and the tremendous value the SNTs are adding to our community.

On Saturday, I held my usual surgery at Tooting Library. In the evening, I attended the Christmas celebration organised by the South London Tamil Welfare Group. Other guests included the excellent MP for Mitcham and Morden Siobhan McDonagh, councillors from Merton and the Mayor of Kingston. The event was a huge success with more than 200 members of the local Tamil community in attendance.

Yesterday, I had my normal surgery at Balham Community Centre on Bedford Hill. I also met with Mr Zafra Khan, Chairman of the Limbless Association at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton to get an update on the progress of the work being done to help amputees in Pakistan, caused by the earthquake.

At Department of Culture, Media and Sport questions, I was able to ask a question about how to increase grassroots participation in sports due to the Olympics. This gave me an opportunity to highlight the development at Ernest Bevin College of a Dojo and Sports complex.

The Public Accounts Committee yesterday examined the increasing numbers in prison. At the end of September 2005, prisons in England and Wales, held their highest ever recorded population of 77,300. We hold more prisoners per 100,000 head of population than any other country in Western Europe. The session allowed me to highlight the huge problems facing Wandsworth HMP and the challenges that the new Governor, Ian Mulholland is trying to grapple with.

I am on holiday, out of the country, from 20th December until 5th January 2006. The office will be closed from December 23rd until 3rd January 2006.

My office and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a fantastic Christmas, and enjoyable break, and a successful 2006!

Sadiq

The Public Accounts Committee looks not just at Government expenditure, but how efficiently tax payers money is being spent. The topic we examined on the 7th December was tackling the complexity of the benefit system. The Department for Work and Pensions aims to relieve poverty by helping people find work, provide assistance during sickness and disability, and helping people support their children and plan for retirement. It is a highly complex organisation with millions of customers and a wide range of responsibilities. We looked at the benefits system and its development, the causes of complexity, the effects of complexity, and tackling complexity. The DWP have already published a five year strategy looking at future simplification.

On 8th December, I attended a meeting at Ernest Bevin College (my former school) which had been organised by Cllr Stuart King (Tooting ward Councillor and leader of Labour in Wandsworth) where senior staff at the school, local Safer Neighbourhood Team police officers, Stuart and I discussed various ways we can improve even more relations between local residents, the school and the Police, and devise a strategy for working together. The meeting was extremely productive, with many good ideas being suggested and accepted, including for example, a regular meeting between senior staff and co-ordinators of local Neighbourhood Watch teams, regular meetings between the school and local residents and the distribution of newsletters produced by the school, about the school to local residents. The school does a great deal of community work and it is a shame that a lot of this goes unnoticed.

I also attended a briefing organised by CIBSE (Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers) on climate change and the role of building services in consuming energy. CIBSE are a national organisation based in Balham (within my constituency!).

On Friday 9th, I met with Earlsfield pensioner Winston Gordon who was keen to meet me to tell me how he had benefited as a pensioner recently as a result of the Government’s various initiatives. A photo is here. He pointed out that many of his pensioner friends were not aware of the benefits that they are entitled to. I have just launched a Guide for Tooting pensioners about the range of entitlements that they can claim. You can download this here.

I also went to Trinity St Mary’s Primary School on Balham Park Road to give out certificates and prizes to the pupils who had entered my competition to design my parliamentary Christmas Card. The Head Teacher, Helen Quintrell gave me a tour of the school before the assembly with the children. I had a little surprise for Ms Quintrell and the staff which was a framed photograph of the Prime Minister and myself holding the winning entries from the school.

In the evening, I had the pleasure of opening the Fircroft Primary School Christmas Fair. I have been coming to the Fircroft Christmas Fairs for the last 25 years, but this year has to be the best as it was the first time I had been given such an honour. We also exceeded previous records by raising more than £3000 during the 2 hour fair.

On Saturday 10th, I attended a Sri Lankan Yuletide Carol Concert organised by DABAL, Deaf and Blind Aid Lanka. The charity does some remarkable work with all Sri Lankans irrespective of their religion. The performers included highly trained graduates from the Royal Academy of Music as well as traditional Sri Lankan songs. If anyone wants details of this charity, they can contact the secretary on BeulahMendis@aol.com

On Sunday 11th December, I went canvassing with the Furzedown Labour team (Cllr John Farebrother, Mark Thomas and Judi Gasser), as well as other local residents. More than 370 Furzedown residents signed a petition in favour of a full Safer Neighbourhood Team in the ward. Crime has increased recently in Furzedown, and although the two existing officers do an excellent job, it is clear that a full team would be beneficial.

In the evening, I attended a Christmas celebration at the Samaj Hall in Tooting Broadway. This was organised primarily by Tooting Business Network, which is made up of local retailers and other volunteers. The highlight of the evening was a performance by a local jazz quartet from Graveney School, and a selection of carols and songs performed by Franciscan Primary School choir.

Sadiq

Fridays are Private Members days at the Commons, when MPs who have been successful in a ballot can put forward a Bill that they feel strongly about. There are good examples of Private Members Bills such as the recent ones by Mark Lazarowicz in relation to climate change which went through a couple of weeks ago (the Bill will place a requirement upon the Prime Mininster to report annually to Parliament about climate change, which would then be subject to a debate in the Commons. It also encourages more widespread use of microgeneration techniques for energy production). Unfortunately, last Friday (2nd Dec) Anne Macintosh MP (a Tory MP) introduced a Bill that would have caused chaos with our criminal laws around self defence and the use of force - the Criminal Law (Amendment) Protection of Property Bill. The transcript of the debate is here

I was quite keen to ensure that this Bill was properly scrutinised. I was pleased that fellow ex solicitor, Andrew Dismore MP felt as strongly about this as I did. When he stood up to speak, I thought I would get my chance to make my speech shortly after his. However, he stood up at 11:13am and did not sit down until the House was adjourned at 230pm. I have since discovered that both he and I broke records: Andrew for the longest speech this century and me for the most interventions (53)!

On Saturday, I did my usual surgery at Tooting library. In the evening, I went with my 2 daughters to the Diwali celebrations at Wandsworth Town Hall, organised by the Hindu Society (in Garratt Lane). The Mayor and Martin Linton MP joined the hundreds of local residents celebrating the evening of singing, dancing, plays and poetry. My kids and I enjoyed the entertainment and the food afterwards.

On Sunday morning I was a speaker at the Global Peace and Unity event at the ExCel centre in the Docklands. Other speakers included the Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, Ex cricketers Imran Khan and Saeed Anwar, Sir Iqbal Sacranie of the MCB and many many others. There were family friendly stalls, talks, poetry and recitations.

My afternoon was spent canvassing with Labour party members in the heart of Tooting. The response on the doorstep was very positive. However, some residents did make complaints about traffic issues and litter. These are the responsibility of the local Tory council and I am taking up all issues raised and continuing my campaign to clean Tooting up. Details and my survey are here.

On Monday, I had one of my usual drop in surgeries at Earlsfield Library. After this I attended the memorial service for the Right Honourable Robin Cook MP at Westminister Abbey. The service of thanksgiving for the life and work of Robin was really touching. In addition to readings from members of his family, there were reading and tributes from the former US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.

In the afternoon, Gordon Brown, was at his majestic best in the Chamber as he made his Pre Budget Statement. This is available online. There were some important announcements in the Pre Budget Report: an additional £53 million to expand Youth Opportunity Funds; an additional £300 million over three years to enable pensioners on Pension Credit who do not have central heating to have it installed free of charge, and to provide a £300 discount on central heating for all other pensioners; a package of reforms to raise the level of new home building and a series of steps to increase certainty of awards for tax credits claimants. Despite my best attempts to speak I was unfortunately not called by the Speaker .

This week, the Public Accounts Committee was looking into the Environment Agency and their efficiency in water resource management. This is particularly apt as last week a large main burst in Tooting resulting in floods and major disruption. The Environmental Agency spends £114 million a year in England and Wales monitoring water levels and regulating the abstraction of water by water companies, industry and farmers. In general, the Agency provides a well managed and professional service but we did identify areas where savings could be made.

My evening was spent in a reception given by the Speaker of the House, Mr Michael Martin MP, in honour of Liverpool FC for the remarkable achievement of winning the European Cup for a record 5 times. As a lifelong Liverpool fan, May was a special month for me. I have since been teased by friends as to what was my happiest moment in May - becoming MP for Tooting, Labour winning a record third term or the Mighty Liverpool becoming champions of Europe for a 5th time?! Unfortunately the current team were training in advance of their game with Chelsea and couldn't make the reception, however there were Liverpool legends present including Ian Rush and Phil Neal. A Photo is here.

Sadiq

As expected David Cameron was elected yesterday as the new Conservative Party leader. He beat his opponent and former Tooting resident David Davis by a margin of more than 2 to 1. Are the Tories finally getting their act together and will they present a credible challenge to Labour? Is Cameron the best thing to come out of Notting Hill since Hugh Grant?

Cameron has rightly been criticised for running a campaign that was very light on policy, although it could be argued that his opponent went too far the other way! As chief policy adviser to the former Tory leader Michael Howard, David Cameron was chiefly responsible for the Tories’ general election manifesto. However in recent weeks, he has distanced himself from the very same policies that he devised only months ago.

David Cameron will obviously continue to be compared with Tony Blair in the coming weeks and months. However in terms of experience, there is clearly no comparison to be made. Blair had been a Member of Parliament for eleven years and in the Shadow Cabinet for six years when he was elected Labour leader. In stark contrast, Cameron has only been an MP for four and a half years and in the Shadow Cabinet for about eighteen months. His prior political track record does not make great reading either. David Cameron was an adviser to the then-Chancellor, Norman Lamont, at the time of Black Wednesday. This was an economic crisis so catastrophic that the Tories have yet to recover their previous and undeserved reputation for financial management. Following this he advised Michael Howard in his work as Home Secretary and presided over a fall in the number of police.

Nevertheless, at first glance it does appear as though Cameron will offer more of a threat to the Labour Government than his three immediate predecessors. The Government cannot afford to be complacent about this new challenge. However Cameron must quickly prove that there is substance to support the slick media image he has successfully developed. Cameron has only appeared at the Dispatch Box on a handful of occasions to date and I have yet to be impressed by his efforts. Earlier this year he led a debate on special education provision. This is an issue where Cameron, whose son has special needs, has made his position clear. However as I highlighted in the debate, his concerns don’t seem to reflect those of Tory councils such as Wandsworth who have closed special schools.

Having seen him in action at his first Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this afternoon, I am not sure how long Cameron’s so-called policy of “consensus” will last. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, asked him specifically to confirm his support for the Labour Government’s policies on school admission, the New Deal and investment in public services. Cameron refused to support these important policies.

Prime Minister’s Questions also gave me the opportunity to highlight improvements at St George’s Hospital.

Sadiq

Am a bit late with the blogging this week, so I have done a round up of the last week and a half!

On Thursday 24th November, I attended a meeting at No 10 with the Prime Minister, Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn MP, Disaster emergency Committee Charities and other stakeholders to discuss the response to the earthquake in South Asia. There was a conference for donors in November, and President Musharraf reassured those present that the re-building work would not be blighted by corruption, and that the tendering process would be fully transparent. This is very welcome – I think some people have been reluctant to offer aid because they were concerned about how the money would be invested.

On 25th November, I attended a fundraising event organised by British Telecom Muslim Network in BT Tower. Despite being a Londoner all my life I had never been up the BT tower so was quite excited at the prospect. Of course raising funds was the priority but it was exciting seeing London from 158 metres high. I discovered that without the BT tower, we wouldn’t be able to see our favourite TV programmes or live news pictures of events unfolding around the world. The BT tower is the nerve centre of a vast broadcasting and communications network which is also a telephone exchange. Although we were only allowed to go 158 metres high, the highest point of the Tower is 189 metres above the streets of London.

On Saturday 26th, I attended the 2nd anniversary of the Poppy Café in St Lukes Community Hall. The Poppy café is open once a month on a Saturday for the sufferers of Alzheimers and dementia and their carers and family. 5 local groups are involved in the running of this including the Furzedown project, Wandsworth Age Concern, Wandsworth Crossroads, Wandsworth Alzheimers Society and the local PCT. I met loads of users and their families. The staff and volunteers were all very enthusiastic and energetic. You can find out more about the Poppy Cafe here.

On Monday 28th I attended the AGM of the Tooting Graveney Day Care Centre in Lynwood Road in Tooting. The Centre is now open on Mondays and Thursdays and continues to go from strength to strength. The Centre provides a useful role in relieving the loneliness of the elderly, providing exercise classes to keep their bones and muscles flexible, provide two well balanced hot meals on a weekly basis, keep users informed about social benefits and housing, make provisions for continued learning in IT skills as well as arts and crafts, visit the housebound taking them a hot meal and generally having a good time! During my speech I paid tribute not just to the centre, staff, volunteers and users but to the Labour Government who had done and were continuing to do so much to improve the quality of life for our elderly. It was good to speak directly to local pensioners who were benefiting so much from our government.

The Tooting Labour Party annual fundraising dinner was, once again, the highlight of the CLP social calendar. Hilary Benn MP was our guest speaker, and he addressed local party members about his involvement with the Make Poverty History campaign and the Government’s response to the earthquake in Pakistan.

On Tuesday 29th I met the Transport Minister, Karen Buck MP along with a delegation of Earlsfield residents to lobby the Minister for improvements to Earlsfield station. We have been campaigning for improvements to the station for disabled access (more details on my campaigns page), and I am now trying to make sure that the sale of the land around the station will result in improvements for the station. We do not want to end up with a situation where the land is sold, and no benefits locally.

I also attended a meeting with the Borough Commander Joe Royle and Head of Wandsworth Council's Anti Social Behaviour team, Mr Warren to discuss my concerns at the lack of action taken by the local council and police on anti social behaviour. Although there is a partnership effort, it is up to the Council whether to request to the courts that an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) be made. Only fourteen ASBOs were issued in Wandsworth between January 2004 and March 2005, compared with 63 in Camden over the same period. You can download my survey on Anti Social Behaviour, as I would like local residents to let me know where the problems are.

I received assurances from Mr Warren and the police that the council were not being complacent in their lack of action on Anti Social behaviour despite the low level of ASBOs and ABCs (Acceptable Behaviour Contracts) made in Wandsworth. The team have agreed to keep me involved on progress of initiatives actively being worked on by the police to "nip in the bud" any problems from individuals and to work with local Youth Offender teams and Youth services to provide constructive outlets for our youngsters. It was good to hear that only a minority of the ASBOs made have been against young people. The Council and police were also able to confirm that there have been no occasions when the local courts have refused to make an ASBO on the request from the council.

In the evening I gave a lecture at the newly opened Human Rights Centre at Roehampton University in Putney. The topic of my lecture was ‘Human Rights, Citizenship and Muslim communities today’. I talked about issues surrounding integration, and how I believe that the debate about the definition of ‘Britishness’ is at risk of clouding a more urgent need to re-engage young British Muslims by addressing social and economic exclusion. It was a pleasure to go back to university for one evening! John Simpson has just been appointed as the new chancellor at Roehampton. Find out more on the University's website.

On Wednesday 30th I attended a reception by the Limbless Association in the House of Commons. The Limbless Assocation are based at the Roehampton rehabilitation Centre and do a brilliant job as I saw first hand in my recent trip to Pakistan.

I also attended a General Purposes Council meeting at Wandsworth Town Hall. One of the matters we agreed to do is to open a new family centre in Smallwood road in Tooting Broadway, which I was very pleased about.

Sadiq