Monday, November 19, 2007
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SPEAKING UP "FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES"
The Annual General Meeting of Chingford & Woodford Green Liberal Democrats was held on Friday, 16th. November at North Chingford Methodist Church.
GUEST SPEAKER was Cllr. MERAL ECE, who is the Lib Dems’ London Assembly candidate for the elections next May in London North East. The constituency comprises Waltham Forest, Hackney and Islington. [She is herself an Islington councillor and has previously been a councillor in Hackney. She is currently Islington’s Chair of Overview and Scrutiny].
Addressing the meeting with an upbeat message, she stressed that this is a winnable seat.
She drew attention to the fact that that this is a very varied, diverse part of London with a mix of different communities and ages.
Particular concerns she referred to were Health and other public services, crime and policing, and the local environment.
She said “Sometimes there is the wrong culture in public services and there are also injustices. There is a need for someone to root for the people. I want to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.”
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
"-- not a popularity contest"
In his Chairman’s report, Cllr. John Beanse thanked all those who had helped in any way in the past busy 12 months. On the national stage he regretted the circumstances that had led to Ming Campbell standing down as party leader. He said: “People in Britain need to realise that politics is not – or should not be – some kind of popularity contest. The bottom line is that if either Gordon Brown OR David Cameron had been Prime Minister at the time, we would still have gone to war with Iraq. Ming Campbell was a politician of integrity who deserved respect – not the treatment he received in some of the media."
Cllr. John Beanse referred to the surge of support towards the Lib Dems in the Chingford Green by-election earlier in the year, where the Liberal Democrat candidate gained a creditable second place with over 1000 votes. He reviewed the ongoing work on the councils in Redbridge and Waltham Forest and in the different wards and expressed particular pleasure that Cllr. Sheila Smith-Pryor was the current Deputy Mayor in Waltham Forest..
Looking ahead, he referred to the Assembly and Mayoral elections next year and said : “we need to look forward now and advance the cause of Liberal democracy for a fairer and greener Britain.”
The Annual General Meeting of Chingford & Woodford Green Liberal Democrats was held on Friday, 16th. November at North Chingford Methodist Church.
GUEST SPEAKER was Cllr. MERAL ECE, who is the Lib Dems’ London Assembly candidate for the elections next May in London North East. The constituency comprises Waltham Forest, Hackney and Islington. [She is herself an Islington councillor and has previously been a councillor in Hackney. She is currently Islington’s Chair of Overview and Scrutiny].
Addressing the meeting with an upbeat message, she stressed that this is a winnable seat.
She drew attention to the fact that that this is a very varied, diverse part of London with a mix of different communities and ages.
Particular concerns she referred to were Health and other public services, crime and policing, and the local environment.
She said “Sometimes there is the wrong culture in public services and there are also injustices. There is a need for someone to root for the people. I want to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.”
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
"-- not a popularity contest"
In his Chairman’s report, Cllr. John Beanse thanked all those who had helped in any way in the past busy 12 months. On the national stage he regretted the circumstances that had led to Ming Campbell standing down as party leader. He said: “People in Britain need to realise that politics is not – or should not be – some kind of popularity contest. The bottom line is that if either Gordon Brown OR David Cameron had been Prime Minister at the time, we would still have gone to war with Iraq. Ming Campbell was a politician of integrity who deserved respect – not the treatment he received in some of the media."
Cllr. John Beanse referred to the surge of support towards the Lib Dems in the Chingford Green by-election earlier in the year, where the Liberal Democrat candidate gained a creditable second place with over 1000 votes. He reviewed the ongoing work on the councils in Redbridge and Waltham Forest and in the different wards and expressed particular pleasure that Cllr. Sheila Smith-Pryor was the current Deputy Mayor in Waltham Forest..
Looking ahead, he referred to the Assembly and Mayoral elections next year and said : “we need to look forward now and advance the cause of Liberal democracy for a fairer and greener Britain.”
# posted by John Beanse @ 2:17 PM 
