OBR - London Rising - with Eve Ensler, Thandie Newton and Stella Creasy MP

Eve Ensler (writer of the Vagina Monologues) comes to London on Monday 4th February  to be special guest at  LONDON RISING, part of the One Billion Rising campaign events. One Billion Rising is the Campaign to end violence against women and girls in Britain and across the world, and OBRUK is its UK arm (#OBRUK). Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, the Labour shadow Minister for Crime Prevention,  is helping to organise the One Billion Rising campaign in the UK

On January 16th a cross party group of MPs asked parliament to give time to a debate and vote on providing sexual and relationship education in all schools, as part of challenging the growing evidence of the violence and harassment of young girls in Britain. They  await the decision of the Backbench business committee of MPs committee.

Stella Creasy commented: ‘It is fantastic to see cross-party support for One Billion Rising – I hope all those who agree tackling violence against women should be a priority will also ask their MP to join us in this campaign. Women and those who love them are rising across the UK. Events are planned in places such as Bute, Brighton and Birmingham as well as Sussex, Swansea and South Yorkshire so its only right that the call for an end to violence against women is heard in Parliament too. Recent shocking events both here and internationally- whether in Steubenville Ohio or Battersea in London -show violence and sexual aggression is now an increasingly commonplace part of modern life for young people. To be a more equal society we need to challenge this in a way which empowers them all to make positive and healthy choices about relationships. Making sure this is on the school curriculum is a powerful way we can change the lives of future generations and challenge both boys and girls on their attitudes about what behaviour is acceptable- I hope the parliamentary authorities will listen and join this rising.’ 

V-Day officially began on Valentine’s Day (February 14^th) in 1998 when Eve Ensler organised a star-studded cast to perform her play, the Vagina Monologues, in New York City to raise money for local anti-violence organisations. She comes to London on Monday 4th February  to be special guest at  LONDON RISING, a one night fundraising theatrical dance party with music, dance, songs and film that celebrates women at Café de Paris.

Produced by New Voice Company and ONE BILLION RISING Campaign Directors Monique Wilson and Rossana Abueva the evening will feature 

• Eve Ensler performing her newest piece “Rising,” written in Kerala for the women in India who lead the way. V-Day board member, and  . . 
• acclaimed film actress Thandie Newton will perform a special piece called “Over It,” written by Ensler to launch the ONE BILLION RISING Campaign.

Tickets from £25 details - 

http://onebillionrising.org/page/event/detail/startarising/w5g

buy directly at - 

http://buytickets.at/newvoicecompanyonebillionrising/6752

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow this week

• On Monday 28^th January visiting Stratford Court to see the work they do in supporting the victims of domestic violence.
• On Tuesday 29^th January helping lead Labour in responding to the Government's Crime and Courts Bill in a parliamentary committee.
• On Wednesday 30^th January speaking at an event hosted by the Latin American Women's Rights Service as part of the #OBRUK campaign.
• On Thursday 31^st January taking part in further sessions on the Courts and Crime Bill in Parliament.

LBWF committed to maximum Lorry safety says LCC

According to the London Cycling Campaign:

Only two councils in London have committed to using the safest lorries and best-trained drivers, even though half of cyclist deaths in the capital involve lorries.

See your council's rating on our map

The shocking fact is that - while Islington and Waltham Forest councils have committed to the highest standards of lorry safety - a total of 10 councils have done almost nothing to protect cyclists from lorry danger:

Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth

We applaud Waltham Forest and Islington councils for committing to our Safer Lorries pledge, and hope your pressure can persuade many more councils to take our pledge too.

LCC chief executive Ashok Sinha said, "Our councils have a duty to only use the safest lorries and best-trained drivers.
"The inaction of the 10 worst councils stands in sharp contrast to the great work on lorry safety being done by the best councils and other major lorry transport users such as Transport for London."

• LCC has been in contact with all 33 councils in recent months, lobbying them to raise their standards of lorry safety.
• 2000 LCC supporters have already used our online letter-writing tool to write to their council leader calling on them to take our Safer Lorries pledge.
• 200 supporters have shared our letter-writing campaign with friends or on social media

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow this week

• On Saturday 19^th January I’ll be speaking at the Co-Operative conference in Torquay. 
• On Monday 21^st January holding an advice surgery for local residents in Walthamstow and then taking evidence as part of the consultation into a new domestic violence and sexual health board as part of theOBRUK campaign 
• On Tuesday 22nd Januaryparticipating in the committee sessions for the Crime and Courts Bill in parliament and then hosting an OBRUK discussion along with East London Fawcett Society. To join us please contact Rachel.  
• On Thursday 24th Januaryparticipating in more committee sessions of the Crime and Courts Bill and then attending Walthamstow Labour Party's monthly meeting at 23 Orford Road. 8pm 
• On Friday 25th January teaching a citizenship lesson at Edinburgh Primary School and then holding a further advice surgery for local residents. To book an appointment please call 020 8521 1223. 

Stella Creasy – LabourList’s MP of the Year

Adapted from the LabourList website:

The inexorable rise of Stella Creasy – LabourList’s MP of the Year

JANUARY 11, 2013 9:31 AM

Author:

Mark Ferguson

Tags:

MP of the yearMPsStella Creasy

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Stella Creasy is undoubtedly one of the most impressive members of the 2010 intake of MPs (from any party). Despite not being in the Shadow Cabinet (yet) she’s built a national profile both inside the party, in her community and in the media – especially on the issue of legal loan sharking.

Creasy has the rare talent of being able to make a high street issue a Westminster issue – and for that, and much else besides, LabourList readers have chosen her as MP of the year. The Walthamstow MP beat off strong competition from Andy Burnham and last year’s winner Tom Watson to claim the prize.

Congratulations to Stella – someone I’m sure we will be seeing at Labour’s top table sooner rather than later.

878 of you voted in our end of year survey. Thanks to everyone who took part

The complete post here

999 Cuts - Boris' draughty drafts

Jennette Arnold - London Assembly member has published a press release on 10th January. Below are some points relevant to our borough. You can get regular updates in her newsletter which you can sign up to at Jennettearnold.com.

Today the Mayor of London published his draft Police and Crime Plan for London. In it the Mayor claims that he will increase the number of police officers based in each borough. However, new analysis shows that compared to 2010 many boroughs will lose significant numbers of police officers, including:

 

Hackney losing 85 police officers

Islington losing 64 police officers

 

Current locally based Safer Neighbourhood Teams will have less dedicated resources. Each SNT currently has three PCSOs, two PCs and one sergeant. The new model will see each SNT having only one dedicated PC and a “named sergeant” - a move back to Sector-based policing . .  abandoned in the late 1990s as . .  ineffective and led to police having poor relations on a local level.

 

It was also revealed  . . .  Walthamstow Town Centre Safer Neighbourhood Unit, Walthamstow Police Station and Leyton Police Station will close. Jennette commented "this will make it harder for local people to report serious crimes and reduce the police's presence.

 

“ .  . . the Mayor will strip out our local Safer Neighbourhood Teams which are vital in fighting crime in London. SNTs build local knowledge and get to know their patch, the proposals  . . . .  will also see a loss of many experienced senior officers, which raises obvious concerns about the supervision of police constables.

 

“ . .  further evidence that the Mayor and Government are cutting too far too fast."