What's the difference between the LGA and the GLA?

As already reported - I have had a bit of a week. It started on Sunday when I met with a fellow blogger (guess who) who advised me that my blog had to die. On Monday I went to a Polish reception at the LGA................except that no one at the LGA knew what I was talking about! I called Fiyaz and Meral, no reply, Nick and Simon, no reply. Now what? A flash of inspiration - Nick's office must know where he is speaking. Yes, they did. It was City Hall......GLA not LGA.............

I jumped in a cab with no money and asked if he would accept a card, yes, but could he swipe it? Er.........declined. Next card? Declined. The cab driver, Darrell, kindly dropped me at Westminster and told me to take the tube to Tower Hill and cross the bridge. Could I find the bridge? No. I set off in the wrong direction and jumped in another cab telling him he would have to go via a cash point. Then the traffic was so bad I said I would jump out and walk.

I finally arrived, an hour later, just as Nick Clegg was finishing his speech. Thankfully Jeremy, sorry Jonathan Fryer was there to record the event. I did get to hear Simon (is there any country in the world he hasn't visited?) Hughes and enjoy supper with Fiyaz, Iman and Jeremy er Jonathan, afterwards.

The following morning I went into panic mode, my Blackberry was missing! All you Blackberry owners will understand my distress (by the way do read Who Moved my Blackberry - hilarious!)........but I had been in work less than half an hour when Darrell called. He had found my Blackberry in his cab. Thankfully it displays my name and where I work, so he had kindly phoned the FSA and asked for me. What a darling, he then made a detour in the evening to drop it off at the Sanctuary pub where we had all gathered after FPC. How lucky am I???!

Can you be a gay Muslim? Fiyaz Mughal reflects.......

Our party may be fewer in number than others, but what we lack in quantity we more than make up for in quality. To my mind one of our great assets is Haringey Councillor Fiyaz Mughal. Fiyaz not only carries out his duties as a councillor, but also beavers away, often unnoticed, promoting interfaith dialogue and working with others to tackle extremism. He kindly sent me this reflection on a meeting he attended earlier this week -

On Monday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the IMAAN annual conference in Euston. Imaan is a group that focuses on informing and campaigning on issues affecting gay and lesbian practising Muslims and I was invited on the basis of my interfaith work and as an elected politician who happens to be Muslim.

I am proud to have spoken since for me, there is no contradiction in being gay or lesbian and wanting to practise Islam. Many Muslims make reference to the Sura (chapter) on Lout ( Lot ) in the Quran, yet there are numerous examples and references to respecting individualism and in protecting the integrity and honour of people. Islam also makes clear that people are different and that difference is a gift from Allah (God) or the Almighty. I therefore see no conflict and whilst this may be unsettling to many, the very fact that someone classifies and wants to be identified as a Muslim means that they should be respected as so.

On Monday, I saw many young Muslims who practised their faith and who also felt at ease with their sexuality. In fact, I heard about how Islam teaches them to be truthful and for many, they will not marry simply to live a double life so that they are not seen as 'bringing shame on their families.' They would rather not ruin the life of a woman and live a lie as their faith gave them a strong moral compass. This resounded with me greatly.As a heterosexual man who happens to be Muslim, it is very clear that a space is needed for these young men and women. Not only do they suffer from homophobia, they also suffer from Islamophobia outside and within gay and lesbian communities. This double whammy is not lost on them and in fact, it makes that space for their voices even more important. I for one will support their work and within Haringey, I am sure that there is a large gay and lesbian Muslim community, bearing in mind that Muslims make up over 40,000 residents in the Borough.

Women and BME members - should be seen and not heard in the Lib Dems?

Thanks to Jo Christie Smith for highlighting the issue from conference that had me most apoplectic. No, not the way the amendment to Make it Happen was misrepresented and thrown out (more about that later) tho that came a close second, it was the TOTAL misrepresentation of the diversity of the party in the debate. I am excluding the interventions since people self select, however, interesting that in self selection there were 3 BME members speaking and 2 women. I understand that 11 women and 56 men put in cards, ethnicity is not recorded but I know of at least 1 BME member who put in a card and was not called. Apparently in order to "balance the debate" we ended up with 26.79% of the men who put in cards and 9.09% of the women speaking. This would be laughable if it weren't so serious. The main underlying issue allegedly being argued over in the debate was how best to support those on low incomes. Now, earlier that day I had heard how twice as many young women as young men are living in poverty - and I would hazard a guess this is true across the adult age spectrum. If you are from a BME community, or are disabled, you are also far more likely to be living in poverty. So, I think we have established that this is an issue that disproportionately impacts on women, BME communities and those who are disabled. Right..........so let's yet again get a bunch of white middle class men deciding the best way forward!!!!

After the debate I was chatting to two white male friends who had the grace to admit that until I mentioned it, they hadn't noticed the lack of women or BME members........the exact same thing happened when I made the same complaint in the Meeting the Challenge debate (incidentally with the same chair, who clearly hasn't remembered). Then along came another apoplectic female PPC who shall remain nameless, who had put her card in 7th and still hadn't been called.

In the evening I was chatting to another BME female PPC, who said she hadn't put a card in because she didn't expect to be called - exactly - that's what happens, we get into the why bother? syndrome. What is the point of spending hours writing a speech knowing that your chances of being called in an important debate appear to diminish in direct relation to your gender and ethnicity? So whilst of course as women we perhaps need to be bolder in putting our cards in, the system, skewed as it is, has to take the bulk of the responsibility.

For those who missed what I said during FE questions (since the BBC mysteriously lost the sound!) my point was that there was no point publishing stats about diversity when one of our most public forums, namely the televising of the most controversial debate at conference, reinforces an image of a white male middle class party, something pointed out to me by a non Lib Dem female friend who had been watching at home. Simon Hughes in his speech earlier in the day had rightly been bemoaning the fact that we still only have 1 in 6 women MPs, but if our first priority in important high profile debates is to have the "big hitters" namely parliamentarians, who are yes, predominantly male and almost entirely white, getting the first bite of the tiny cherry, WE WILL NEVER EVER CHANGE ANYTHING!!!!! If we always do what we have always done, we'll always get what we always got. Now, credit to Simon, who in my view has done far more than anyone in our party to improve our diversity, but there is only one of him, the responsibility falls to us all. And credit to Nick Clegg, who I know takes the issue very seriously which he has demonstrated by appointing Meral Ece and Fiyaz Mughal as special advisers. But, this has to be a root and branch approach. It is insulting and disrespectful in the extreme to Nick and Simon to allow such a travesty of all we say we believe in and stand for, to take place.

A couple of years ago when walking into the conference hall before the leader's speech with Fiyaz, we were asked to go and sit near the front. This was apparently to be in the eye of the camera, to demonstrate our diversity as a party. Now, frankly, of course we need to be SEEN to be diverse, but please, are we to be treated like Victorian children, wheeled out in our pretty clothes, perpetually SEEN and when it counts never HEARD?

Simon is asking Duncan Brack as chair of FCC to produce a report of explanation to FE, I welcome this. I trust (and will be writing to Simon as chair of FE to ask) that this will result in REAL and meaningful change. If this ever happens again in an important debate I give due warning that I will mount my own one woman demonstration from the floor - as Laurence Boyce would say, don't forget I used to be in the army!

Nick Clegg - 150% RIGHT!!!!

I have to confess that I have not been best pleased with Nick's public musings on tax. I knew this was something we were unlikely to ever agree on, although I hadn't expected it to be elevated to such a defining issue for those of us who regard tax as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. So credit IN SPADES where it is due. Today Nick has announced the appointment of two new advisers, Fiyaz Mughal and Meral Ece. Both are well known in the party, both London councillors, Meral was a candidate in the GLA elections and Fiyaz stood as our candidate for London mayor. Both have contributed enormously to the party over the years and each has their own particular expertise that will be invaluable to Nick and the wider party. Nick has clearly put his money where his mouth is, diversity in the party as far as I am concerned is one of our MOST pressing issues. Fiyaz and Meral are well placed to ensure we actually begin to make progress. Here is the press release in full: Nick Clegg announces new BME advisors Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today announced the appointment of two personal advisers on black and minority ethnic issues. These appointments are part of Nick Clegg’s commitment to build even greater links with the UK’s minority communities. The new team will engage with minority groups on a variety of issues, and will report their concerns directly to Nick Clegg, as well as to other senior party figures. The two new advisors are: · Cllr Meral Ece, who has been appointed the Leader’s Adviser on Community Cohesion (Ethnic Minority Communities and Minority Rights) · Cllr Fiyaz Mughal, who has become the Leader’s Adviser for Interfaith Work and Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism Commenting, Nick Clegg said: “I am proud of the links that already exist between the Liberal Democrats and minority groups across Britain. However, I am very conscious that we have to do more to engage with minority communities and this team will help us do that. “For over a decade, Labour’s clumsy and heavy-handed approach to issues such as immigration, detention without trial and income inequality has alienated minority communities. “Meanwhile, it seems clear that David Cameron’s Tories are still set on blaming struggling families for their problems rather then helping them. “I know from travelling around the country that there are so many members of minority ethnic communities who share Liberal Democrat values, and I’m delighted to have such a talented group focusing on the crucial issues which affect them.” Liberal Democrat Leader’s Adviser for Community Cohesion, Meral Ece, said: “Nick Clegg is committed to making the Liberal Democrats far more representative of the communities we serve. “I am very proud of and committed to supporting those efforts, using my experience of working for many years with ethnic minorities in the inner cities. “The Liberal Democrats are the only party who have the vision to take community cohesion seriously, by taking the lead on engaging with minority communities.” Leader’s Adviser for Interfaith Work and Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, Fiyaz Mughal added: “The Liberal Democrats have a vision of community safety and tackling extremism and radicalism which does not isolate certain faith communities, but actively tries to engage with them. “Labelling or isolating communities merely exacerbates feelings of alienation that can feed radicalisation. I am proud of the vision and leadership that Nick and his front-bench team have shown on these issues.” FIYAZ MUGHAL Fiyaz Mughal was part of the Working Groups that made up the Extremism Task Force which was convened by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, after the 7/7 bombings. He is an accredited national Peer Mentor with IDeA on preventing violent extremism. An Oxford City Councillor in 2002-2004, Fiyaz is now a Councillor in the London Borough of Haringey and was also the Chair of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats from 2002-2006. He was also appointed as one of a number of Deputy Presidents for the Liberal Democrats in 2006 and was one of the party’s Prospective London Mayoral candidates in 2007. Fiyaz founded Faith Matters (www.faith-matters.org.uk) in 2004 and works on interfaith, conflict resolution and Preventing Violent Extremism programmes within faith communities in the UK and internationally. MERAL ECE Born in London, Meral Ece is second generation Turkish/Turkish Cypriot. A community activist and a much respected and high profile figure in the Turkish speaking communities in the UK, Meral was one of the first women from her community to be elected as a local councillor. She served 8 years as a councillor in Hackney, and has been a councillor in Islington since 2002, where she was Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care between 2002 and 2006, and is currently the Chair of the council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee. Meral is Chair of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats, and is a member of the Liberal Democrats Federal Executive Committee. She currently works as a consultant working with charities and local government. In May 2008, Meral was appointed by Minister for Equalities, Harriet Harman MP to the Government's Taskforce for increasing the number of ethnic minority women councillors across the UK.