Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

See my old sparring partner Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, has a pop at the LibDems on the Assembly and at me in particular in his new column in the Ham & High today! I love it when Ken gets his knickers in a twist about me. Reading the politics of this - for Ken is always about votes - he is bigging up the Greens on the Assembly (who sold out to him long ago) and worried about the success of the LibDems in London coming up to the local elections. I will be in his sights as we have a fair chance of taking over Haringey Council from Labour. So the man's a complete dirty street fighter - and this is his way of reaching out to my neck of the woods.

I used to be rather more of a fan of his in the early days of London government where, as Chair of Transport in London, I stood shoulder to shoulder with him supporting the first Congestion Charge and against Labour’s PPP for the Tube. But wow he's Labour's man at City Hall - not a peep about the Tube and particularly us poor Northern Line sufferers.

It's no good Mayor Livingstone trying to have a go at me just 'cos I didn't like or support his West London Tram plans. He did a consultation and the people didn't like it. As for residents in Haringey – don’t forget that Ken supports the concrete factory against local residents wishes. He also supports having tower blocks plonked in Wood Green without infrastructure – again against local wishes.

As for the Labour government's commitment to the environment - the Government just moves the targets every time it sees it is going to fail miserably. Charity starts at home Ken. Have a go at your mates in Whitehall rather than trying to dabble in the politics of Haringey!

Later on, film crew arrive from the Dimbleby Show to film a little intro to the live interview they will be doing with Chris Huhne tomorrow. I hope it came across that he is a human with a hinterland. I think Chris is a modern man and understands the pressures of real life. He has a proper hinterland. And he has had the balls (although I think I used the word guts) to rise to this challenge. He can take on Gordon (I still don't think Cameron has it in the longer term). He is tough, decisive - but also warm and friendly - and clear about direction. So - hope they edit kindly and big him up!

Labels: chris huhne, ken livingstone