The London Assembly today threw its weight behind government proposals to allow same-sex couples to have civil marriage ceremonies.
Building on the Assembly's long-standing record of support for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, members approved a motion calling for the introduction of legislation in parliament to make same-sex marriages a reality.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, who proposed the motion, said:
Writing in 31st August's Liberal Democrat News, Caroline says:
The 15th Paralympics is now underway.
4,280 athletes, from 166 countries, participating in 20 different sports. Just as with the London Olympics these athletes will dazzle and often inspire us as they demonstrate excellence in so many different sports.
However, it is worth remembering how the Paralympics is in so many respects a new development. The first Paralympics to be held in the same city as the Olympics were held in Seoul in 1988. The very first Paralympics were held as recently as 1960, (although their genesis was of course the International Stoke Mandeville Games held eight years earlier).
In so many respects the development of the Paralympics marks the rapid change in attitudes towards disabled people. Within the lifetime of anyone barely over the state retirement age so much has changed. Just sixty and seventy years ago our society routinely excluded most disabled people.
Caroline has responded to a national public consultation on proposed changes to the Thameslink train service, raising concerns that it will severely hit thousands of people in south London, especially in Sutton, Lambeth and Southwark.
At present the Department of Transport is consulting on the specifications for the new rail franchise that will see Thameslink and Southern services operated by a single company. A key element of the consultation involves the suggestion that trains which run through Sutton on the Wimbledon loop, and then through south London, should terminate at Blackfriars, rather than continuing on through central London to St Pancras and beyond. Such changes would create havoc for many people in south London wanting to travel to north London every day.
Commenting on the news - revealed in a Freedom Of Information request - that the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford has contributed nothing to the cost of cycle hire stations in Shepherd's Bush, Caroline Pidgeon said:
Westfield have had a year of favourable publicity from the bike hire scheme, yet incredibly have not yet coughed up a penny towards supporting it.
The Surveyor magazine assesses London cycle hire's scheme, pointing out that its failure to reach some of London's communities, and cost overruns that have resulted in borough councils having to pay towards the scheme.
Surveyor says: