STAR TREK

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM EDINBURGH!!!

I am now back in Edinburgh for the Christmas and New Year break with my family and having a good chance to unwind and relax in my home City!

I have been going to the Edinburgh Winter Wonderland after a few trips to the London version to soak up the atmosphere of a German Christmas Market and Fair

Hibs went down 1-0 to Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday to a spectacular overhead kick from Kris Boyd. We had a bit of criticism in the press for playing so defensively which is not our usual style but I really dont know what they expect when palying away to a team with players each one virtually more that the value of the entire Hibs team (except Fletcher!) put together.

For the first time in ages I wont be able to catch a Hibs matches they have 3 matches away from home on the trot!! Really unfair to returning ex pats like me!! I wonder if Celtic or Rangers would ever be timetabled for 3 away matches over the Christmas/New Year Holidays? Somehow I think not!!

A quieter time in the Town Hall but yesterday I spoke to over 50 14 year olds at Walworth Academy about being a Councillor.
It is part of their citizenship studies and they certainly asked all the right questions! I really enjoyed it and hope to do more in the future! The image is of the new school and how it will look by 2010.
Tomorrow I am attending the Southwark Violent Crime Summit with some of the Key players so that should be interesting to see what arises and develops for the broader Community Summit in January!

The rest of the past week has been Christmas Dinners and parties at London Met and the Labour Group and of course another visit to the Winter Wonderland Festival in Hyde Park with Clair, Shauna, Sophie and Charlie!!










Hibs had another comfortable home win on Saturday beating Hamilton Accies 2-0 and look like they are on a good run of form with confidence high! Rumours abound about Fletcher and even Dean Sheils going in the January window but at the moment all is looking good and the 3rd place spot is a real possibility this season!!

Council Assembly, a Campaigning Weekend, Camberwell Green Park and Hibs great Victory over the "Lesser Greens"!!!

We had a heavy night last night with a full OSC Committe starting at 5pm moving on to an Extraordinary Council Assembly straight after to discuss our no confidence motion in the Executive Member for Health & Social Care.

The Lib Dem/Tory coalition stood shoulder to shoulder on this describing it as "party political" and a "personal attack" which of course was exactly what the motion was not!

It was about the way in which information was shared and it is clear that if the SLP had not revealed that they were going to go with the story there would not have been the hastily released council statement and that was wrong!! And much as we all like and respect David Noakes it was under his watch and "with great power comes great responsibility!"

And true to Lib Dem from it did not take Stanton or Noblet long to conclude who was really to blame....you guessed it the horrible Labour Government!!!
Tonight is a night of lighter relief with the Labour Group Christmas Dinner at Caravaggio's in Camberwell and I will, as ever, be on Facebook Photo duty!

I had a very good Campaigning weekend with an excellent session on the Brandon Estate in my own ward on Saturday and a positive session in Chaucer Ward on Sunday as part of the Borough wide Campaigning programme.

Sandra Rhule and I went to Kings to see our friend and colleague Tony Squires and the good news is that he is recovering well and should be home this week! We were there for a visit from the salvation Army band so it was a very Christmassy time!!

I am working hard to get as many people as I know to vote for Camberwell Green Park to receive the £400K award from the Mayor and we are now down to a shortlist for the 10 awards.

Whilst absolutely not the right way to go about it, he and his staff are paid to make decisions based on research and need, not on a public vote based on how well people can lobby!

The Banner is up on the Green and we need to work as hard as we can over the next couple of months to get the votes in for Camberwell Green!!

The Link : Vote for Camberwell Green Park

Hibs had a fantastic 2-0 victory over Celtic at Easter Road on Sunday with John Rankin scoring a quite extraordinary goal from 45 yards, he was in the centre circle when he hit it!!

The ball bounced right in front of Boric and over him into the net!

A great team performance all round with an unusually solid looking defence so long may it continue!!

Burgess, Peckham Rye and Camberwell Green Park, Winter Wonderland and Hibs get Hearts in the Scottish Cup!

I will be Chairing Scrutiny A tonight and signing off the Peckham Rye Park Scrutiny and taking evidence on Burgess Park.
I hope that rumours are true in that Burgess Park is the front runner for the £2M Mayor's award as it will really make a difference to the whole area!
I have also been encouraging everyone to vote for Camberwell Green for one of the smaller £400,000 awards so it would be fantastic if both came in so here's hoping!!
I took Shauna to the Winter Wonderland Festival at Hyde Park on Saturday and a good (but expensive!) time was had by all!!
My big mistake was taking her to Hamleys afterwards!!! Oh my Lord that was not fun!!!

It was a good way to kick off the Christmas season and the lunches and parties kick off with the Labour Group Dinner at Caravaggio's next Monday!


Hibs got a last minute equaliser against Falkirk away at the weekend but the big news is that we have drawn Hearts in the first Round proper of the Scottish Cup !