Progressive London: latest
Cuts to Police numbers in London
Thursday, 04 February 2010 12:54
London MP Clive Efford has tabled the following parliamentary motion against Boris Johnson's cuts to police numbers in London.

POLICE NUMBERS IN LONDON

Efford, Clive

That this House recalls that the Mayor of London promised prior to his election that `it is important for the Mayor to take a public lead, so I will chair the Metropolitan Police Authority'; further recalls that he promised in his manifesto that `I will take personal responsibility,' and that `no offence will be too trivial to demand my attention' and that he claimed that `no challenge will be so big that I shrug my shoulders and pass the buck'; notes that on 27 January 2010 the Mayor broke all of these pledges to Londoners by resigning as the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority; further notes with concern that the Mayor's draft budget contains a proposal to cut the number of police in the capital by 455 officers; further notes that the net effect of his four budgets will be that the Conservative Mayor will preside over a reduction in police numbers in the capital; is reminded that police numbers in the capital fell under the last Conservative Government; contrasts this policy with Labour's record in London; believes that the Conservative Mayor's election rhetoric on crime is not matched by adequate investment in the police service; further believes there are now serious questions over what the Mayor is delivering for the capital; and urges the Mayor to reverse his policy of squeezing the budget for the fight against crime at the expense of Londoners.

Click here to see if your local MP has signed it.

 
Conference Report: Young people and the economic crisis
Thursday, 04 February 2010 09:47

This dynamic and interactive session brought young leaders from the world of politics, the media and music together to discuss a progressive way forward for young people in the midst of the worst economic crisis for over half a century.
 
Young people in Britain have been particularly hard hit by the recession. Almost 1 million young people are currently unemployed and students continue to face record levels of debt, averaging over £20,000 upon graduation.
 
Noel Hatch, Chair of Compass Youth, chaired the session in which number of concrete progressive policies on how to assist young people in the economic crisis were discussed - which will be taken forward by Compass Youth and Progressive London in the coming months.
 
Mercury Music Award Winner Speech Debelle struck the tone of the session when she said “now is the perfect time to invest in people that have high ambitions and high goals.” 

Read more...
 
Conference speech: Five lessons from MyDavidCameron
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 15:58
By Clifford Singer

On 30 January I spoke at a packed session on "new media and the election" at the Progressive London conference, alongside Alex Smith, Helen Gardner, Sunny Hundal and Andy Newman. There were strong contributions from all my fellow speakers and from the audience. This, more or less, is what I said.

MyDavidCameron is the third of a trio of websites I've set up in the last 18 months which try to do politics a bit differently. The first, Bubblewrapped, was a response to the banking crash, and its entire audience comprised of two economists in Canada.

The second, the Other TaxPayers' Alliance, is still doing a pretty good job of annoying the TaxPayers' Alliance and other neoliberals hiding behind the banner of neutrality. It mixes more serious political commentary with an element of mockery, such as an online generator which supplies journalists with realistic TaxPayers Alliance quotes, because they always say the same thing anyway.

But MyDavidCameron has gone much bigger. In the three weeks since it launched, it's received 160,000 unique visits and, more significantly, its reach has extended beyond the usual politicos into countless discussion forums such as Mumnets, all sorts of football supporters networks, music and clubbing websites, and mainstream entertainment sites like Popbitch.

One way in which MyDavidCameron differs from most political sites (besides the fact that it's funny) is that it has a limited shelf-life. Drag it out too long and it will become the Oasis of viral campaigns. With this in mind I've distilled five lessons learned from creating the site, which may help others launching websites and campaigns.

Read more...
 
Round up: Conference tweets
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 15:38

Thanks to everyone who came to the Progressive London conference on Saturday and making it a massive success. The energy, enthusiasm and level of debate are reflected in the hundreds of comments on Twitter from dozens of you. 
 
 
AN INSPIRING DAY  
 
@pennyred Had a great day at #prolondon, feeling really energised and inspired for the first time in ages. Bonnie Greer blew me away.

@daf_adley really enjoyed @ProLondon Conference today - politically exhilarating and very inspiring :)

@politic_animal: A fun day at #prolondon with some very good speakers. Good to have Ken on barnstorming form for the grand finale.

@8minstosunrise ProLondon Conf a huge success700 people gather to discuss stopping the right in 2010. It can be done!

@laurenivory hello @noelito how did you find @ProLondon ? Some good tweet vibes coming through... :)

@amishaghadiali Had an inspiring day @ProLondon Especially impressed by @Bonnie_Greer @johannhari101 @Rowenna_Davis ,Cllr Serge Lourie ,Mehdi Hasan, and Ken.

@liannedemello On way to mate's birthday party, contemplating day at #proLondon. Was brill to put faces to names, and to feel galvanised about new media.

@pickledpolitics: #ProLondon conference is packed out. Lots of ppl interested in where the left is headed.

@kerrabel I am doing the cloakroom at #prolondon. People just don't want to leave.#
 
WHILST....
 
@AnnieGoss Had a great time volunteering @ProLondon on Saturday. I was especially impressed by @AdamBienkov and @EdMilibandMP, as always. 
 
SUPPORT FOR THE CONFERENCE EVEN EXTENDED TO THOSE WHO COULDN’T MAKE IT 
 
@garydunion Going out for lunch in Perth wearing my "Don't blame me, I voted for Ken" badge in solidarity with #prolondon.

Read more...
 
Bonnie Greer at the Progressive London Conference
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 12:21
 
Johann Hari at the Progressive London conference
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 12:18
 
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