Joanne Cash

FORMOSA STREET - The fight goes on

We are all tremendously disappointed that the Post Office has decided to close our branch in Formosa Street.

Many of us have campaigned hard to demonstrate how important Formosa Street is to our community and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who gave up their time to get involved.

Sadly, local opinion has been totally ignored and Labour's policy of closing down Post Offices is rolling on regardless.

We will not give up.  I will continue try to find a positive solution by working with Westminster's Conservative Council, who are as keen as any of us to keep Formosa Street open.

But I need your help.  One of our most persuasive arguments is that the Formosa Street Post Office can operate as a profitable business.  It is vital that we make it so.

Please, whether it's for a few stamps or to renew your tax disk, continue to use Formosa Street and encourage friends, family and fellow residents to do the same.

The Formosa Street Post Office plays a vital role in our local community and we must do all we can to protect it.

If you have any other suggestions, thoughts or ideas please contact me at joanne@westminsternorthconservatives.com

42 Days - Where is the Evidence?

This week, Members of Parliament will vote on proposals to extend the period of detention without charge to 42 days.

I would be happy to support this measure if there was a shred of evidence that it is needed. There is not.

Senior lawyers, including the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, and the former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith are clear that there is no basis for extending the current detention limit of 28 days. Such an erosion of individual liberties, a cornerstone of our society for 800 years, will do nothing to bolster our collective security.

Even worse, Gordon Brown's apparent concessions on the issue are a con. A Labour minister recently promised a series of 'Mickey Mouse' amendments, designed to whip potential back bench rebels into line, and that is precisely what we have been given.

Labour's MPs are being bullied into supporting this proposal. 'Vote against 42 days on Wednesday and you get David Miliband on Thursday,' they have reportedly been told by their party whips. This is an issue of high principle that Labour have reduced to a test of party loyalty.

This is yet another example of Labour's gesture politics and it must be opposed. Once again, Gordon Brown is feeding his own ego, fighting for something we don't need, while neglecting the vital issues.