Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

Met with OFCOM earlier today following my raising of the issue of pirate radio stations illegally broadcasting in my area and adversely affecting London Turkish Radio - which is in my constituency.

I can't go into details about the specifics of what they will be doing to act on this particular issue - but am assured that act they will.

I had a master-class in the issues around radio, bands, enforcement and so on. One issue that sticks up quite clearly is the complete nonsense of the difficulties of catching and raiding illegal stations and the costs involved therein - compared with the 'punishments' meted out when someone is caught and convicted.

The average fine is somewhere around £118. There's nothing wrong with the penalties that can be meted out - they are up to and including two years imprisonment - and other countries treat this seriously and apply such penalties. But for reasons I don't understand - here the judiciary doesn't to the same degree. No wonder they're raided one night and then start up again the very next day. It's financially still advantageous for them to do so as the fine and the cost of the equipment taken don't come to anything like the money they make per week - and clearly they have no fear that the court will lock 'em up.