Here’s my latest Muswell Flyer article, also available here.

When I’m out on the doorsteps or at my local constituency surgery – I often hear awful stories from people who have been victims of burglary or fraud, for instance. Crime does unfortunately affect the vast majority of people at some point in life.

On the whole, crime is currently falling – but we must remain vigilant. Figures recently revealed the Muswell Hill area to be in the top 10 UK ‘burglary hotspots’ – and other types of crime in the Wood Green area remain a concern to local residents.

But there are some things we can do to help.

The Haringey Liberal Democrats, for instance, have put together a fully-costed plan to replace Haringey’s old street lighting with new energy efficient LED street lights.

As well as reducing the Council’s electricity bills and helping the environment through lower electricity usage, the new lights will help to reduce crime and the fear of crime by making our streets brighter at night.

The Haringey Lib Dems want to cover all of Haringey’s street lights – provided of course they win the local elections in May and get the chance to introduce it!

The local Lib Dems and I have also teamed up with residents to fight for a replacement police base in Muswell Hill.

Having a police presence back on or around the Broadway would certainly make people feel a lot safer, and we have been working hard to find a suitable property. We hope to have some good news on this front very soon.

Thirdly, the Lib Dems and I have just launched a campaign to give local Special Constables a 50% discount on their Council Tax.

This campaign has already been supported by hundreds of local residents, and our Borough Commander Victor Olisa.

He said: “I am fully behind the proposal to give our Special Constables a 50% Council Tax discount. I think it would be a good reward for the current Specials, and it would encourage more people to sign up and volunteer to fight crime in Haringey.”

Special Constables have the same powers and responsibilities as regular police officers, and spend up to 16 hours a month volunteering with the police – all without pay – in order to help make our community safer.

We think these volunteers deserve to be rewarded for their hard work and assistance in tackling crime. And, if the Council Tax discount helps encourage more people to become Special Constables – increasing police presence on our streets – all the better!