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FocusCrofton Park

tam@lewishamlibdems.org.uk April 2010

... Liberal Democrats working for you in Blythe Hill, Brockley, Honor Oak and Stanstead Road ...

World champion and Olympic silver

medallist boxer, Amir Khan, created

a real stir when he recently visited

Double Jab. The boxing gym, based

in Forest Hill, is devoted to cutting

crime and supporting young people

by teaching them discipline and

respect along with high standards of

boxing training.

The club, which runs under the motto

jab, dont stab, was saved from

closure thanks to the work of Forest

Hill Lib Dem councillor, John Russell.Double Jab is now one of the best

attended youth clubs in the borough

and has been widely recognised

for the quality of its work and the

success that it is having with local

young people.

Amir Khan said during his visit to

Double Jab, Clubs like this one keep

kids out of trouble ... Its wicked to

see all these kids so enthusiastic

- hopefully this gym can produce a

world champion, theres no reason

why not.

Michele McClarren said, Double

Jab is a great example of how thecommunity can come together to cut

crime. It is amazing what our young

people are capable of achieving given

the right opportunities and support.

The club has received funding from

the Forest Hill Ward Assembly and

from Lewisham Councils Youth

Opportunities Fund. The funds

allow the club to provide free boxing

training on Friday nights. Double Jab

is located close to Forest Hill station

at 15 Davids Road, and is open 7

nights a week.

Labour: Geta bus, us?Labour councillors have beencalled out of touch after

they defended taxi bills of

1,300 charged to taxpayers

by the Labour councillor for

Crofton Park ward.

Chair of Lewisham Labour councillors, Alan Hall, shocked local

residents when he said at a council meeting on 1st March, What are

the Lib Dems proposing? That people ... should go on the 185 bus?

Local Lib Dems have claimed nothing for taxis, and have proposed that

councillors instead use their basic allowance from the council to pay

for their transport to and from meetings.

Amir Khan with local Liberal Democrat

candidate Michele McClarren, and Liberal

Democrat councillors for Forest Hill ward,

Philip Peake and John Russell

Yes we Khan!Amir Khan joins local crime fighters

You can always find John

Bowen easily when hes out

campaigning. Just listen for his

laugh and youll find him.

I love helping people thats

why its great to knock on

peoples doors and find out

their problems, John says.

John Bowen has always

worked with people, whether

selling houses or running a

shop that sold wheelchairs.

Ive learnt that people can

overcome the most incredible

adversity, if you have the right

attitude, John adds.

John moved to London in

2006 to do a degreeat Goldsmiths.

He now lives in

Brockley with

his girlfriend Jo

and their four

Jack Russell

dogs.

John says

that university

changed his life,

Rather than

sitting at home

and getting angry

about problems,

I can change

things in my community

and give back to the

area that has been so

good to me.

John has already made

a visible difference

in our area, whether

its helping sort out

dumped fencing

on Brockley Rise,

planting trees on

Blythe Hill or getting

potholes sorted

out around Crofton Park.

Im loving every minute of it out

meeting people locally so many

people are saying that its time

for a change, John says, Weve

talked to thousands of people

locally so far, and well talk to

thousands more. Its great to think

that in six weeks time, we could be

giving Lewisham a fresh start, after

38 years of Labour.

Meet JOHNBy Rob Blackie, Focus reporter

John Bowen tells us why he is running for election as a local councillor

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Lewishams new

executive

Mayor, to be

elected on

6th May, will

inherit a crisis

in primary

school places.

It has been

clear for some

time that ashortage of

school places

was developing

across London

due to a rise

in the birth

rate and other factors. Lewisham councils

response to this growing pressure has been

wholly inadequate.

Within the last few weeks new figures have

been released showing that there will be a

gap of 543 reception places this year in our

borough. This is the equivalent of 15 new

reception classes across the borough. It

is difficult to believe that all these childrenhave suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

Poor planning by the Labour mayor means

that children starting at Lewisham schools

will be in overcrowded buildings and will

have to share limited facilities. What is

more, the government have turned down

the mayors request for extra finances

to address this. The credit crunch and

government debt burden make it unclear

where the extra resources needed to sort

out this crisis will come from.

The huge shortage of reception places this

year will be repeated for the next year and

the year after. To make matters worse, notlong ago Labour closed Ennersdale primary

school. The Liberal Democrats and local

parents campaigned against this at the

time, pointing out that the places would be

needed going forward.

Liberal Democrats realise raising

educational attainment is key to improving

the opportunities available to the next

generation. We will have an emergency

plan to reopen schools, expand some

existing schools and build new schools to

ensure Lewishams four and five year olds

get the best possible start.

Maines4Mayor

Tam LangleyProspective MP for

Lewisham, Deptford07759 767238

020 7207 2256

Cllr Chris MainesLiberal Democrat

Mayoral candidate

07973 149846

Contact yourCrofton ParkFocus Team:

Michele McClarrenBarrie Hall

John Bowen

Crofton Park ward councilcandidates

croftonpark@lewishamlibdems.org.uk

Labour chase bigots votesLocal residents have

attacked Labours choice

of election candidates

in Crofton Park ward,

after one of

them wasinvolved in a

controversial

campaign in

Downham,

south

Lewisham,

last year.

Labour

politician Pauline

Morrison was criticised

after Labour ran a

campaign based entirely

on flying the Union Jack at

the town hall.

Downham had

a history of

BNP voting in

the

past.

She

was

defeated by Lib Dems

Jenni Clutten, and

Duwayne Brooks, who

said, Labour are so out

of touch. All the problems

that local residents have,

it was sad to see Labour

trying to base their

campaign on an appeal to

nationalist bigotry.

Shouldnt LabourconcentrateonexposingtheBNP

forwhatitisratherthanpanderingto thenationalism it exploits? DaveHill, TheGuardian, writingaboutthe Downhamcampaign

Duwayne Brooks & Jenni

Clutten attacked by Labour

Six to fixChris Maines, Lib Dem challenger for Mayor of

Lewisham, has announced his plan to fix the mess

Labour have got us into.

His Six to Fix sets out six clear Lib Dem solutions

to Labours biggest failures.

THE LIB DEMS WILL:

Freeze Council Tax for at least two years

Build our first council housing for a decade

Reduce waste and double the amount we recycle

Strengthen local police teams

Create new youth facilities and opportunities

Work to abolish Lewishams unaccountable Mayoral

system

UNDER LABOUR:

Lewisham has the highest Council Tax in Inner

London

There are almost 18,000 people waiting for a home

Lewisham has one of the lowest recycling rates in

the country

Violent crime in Lewisham has risen

There are not enough activities for young people

We have an unaccountable and all-powerful Mayor

OR

At the last election, Chris Maines came a close secondto Labour.

The Tories and Greens fell at the first round.

Labour have been in power in Lewisham for decades,Lewisham needs change.

Chris and the Lib Dem team need just a small swing todefeat Labour and change Lewisham for good.

Labour have failed to bring in

a simple scheme that couldcut knife crime by 40% locally.

The scheme, originally

developed at Cardiff hospital

by surgeon JonathanShephard, requires local

hospitals to collect information

(anonymously) about the

times and places that peopleare victims of knife crimes.

This information is shared

with the police, so that theycan improve their targeting of

hotspots of violence.

Since Cardiff introduced this

scheme in 2002, knife crime

has been cut by 40% and Cardiff hasbecome one of the safest cities in Britain.

Despite these great results, Lewisham

Hospital bosses, appointed by Labour,

have failed to introduce the scheme

here.

Tam Langley, Liberal DemocratParliamentary candidate for Lewisham

Deptford, says: If hospitals collect

information about stabbings then they canpass it on to the police. The police can then

use the information to target dangerous

places and times of the week. LewishamHospital is run by people appointed by

Labour, but Lib Dems want to make

hospital bosses more accountable to localpeople.

Councillor Chris Maines, Lib Dem Candidate

for Mayor added, Its almost a year ago

that I asked Lewisham hospital to collect

this information to help prevent knife crimes.Given the latest evidence on the Cardiff

model I hope they will now introduce the

scheme here.

Labour ignore simplescheme to cut knife crime