News, sport and information for Hendon, Finchley, Barnet, Potters Bar, Edgware and Mill Hill
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Matthew Offord »
Matthew joins the celebrations of the opening of The London Jewish Family Centre
Posted on 8:29am Saturday 1st May 2010
After another full day campaigning and meeting constituents, we head over to Golders Green to celebrate the opening of The London Jewish Family Centre. The invitation only came in late that afternoon but I certainly want to show my support for the work which is being completed on behalf of the whole community and to make the point clear that a Conservative Government will continue to fund Surestart centres, such as this one.
Matthew Offord »
Bhaktivedanta Temple, Colindale, Ganges and Woodland burials
Posted on 8:21am Saturday 1st May 2010
I heard that Gordon Brown recently visited this constituency but instead of meeting local people or taking part in a public question time (as David Cameron did when he last visited) the Labour high command locked him away so that members of the public could not get near him. He visited The Edge, a new housing development near Edgware hospital. As we campaign in the area I notice there is not a single Labour poster as a result of the visit. We do speak with a younger guy who says that he is definitely voting Conservative and is eager to read our leaflet. At the right of the development there is a cul-du-sac which I cannot believe Gordon Brown went down – Cameron Close.
Matthew Offord »
Shop keepers are asking for more Conservative posters
Posted on 8:12am Saturday 1st May 2010
The first street stall of the weekend was very positive. The sun was shining hard and people on Watling Avenue were pleased to see us. One man enthusiastically came up to me and said, “I have emailed you to say I am supporting you”. Two of the shop keepers came out and asked for more posters from us to put up in their shop windows and I spoke with the guys in the butcher’s shop who were all giving me the thumbs up. Another man told me that he thought it was despicable that any London MP had a second home when Parliament was so close.
Matthew Offord »
Canvassing on St George’s Day
Posted on 1:45am Tuesday 27th April 2010
Matthew Offord goes out and about on St George's Day
Matthew Offord »
We want to make sure public sector pensions are fair and affordable
Posted on 1:40am Tuesday 27th April 2010
Speaking to pensioners at a day care centre, I explained my Party’s policy on helping pensioners. The first, and arguably the most important, is our proposal to raise the basic state pension in line with earnings to help stop the spread of the means test. At the same time, we will reinvigorate occupational pensions - working with employers and industry to support auto-enrolment into pensions and look at how we can simplify the rules and regulations round pensions. We will: • Give people more control over their retirement income by ending the effective obligation to buy an annuity at 75.
Matthew Offord »
The economy, cutting expenditure and the Leaders’ Debates monopolise hustings
Posted on 1:31am Tuesday 27th April 2010
After a breakfast meeting with campaign supporters we continue with our canvassing programme until the late afternoon, only stopping for a quick sandwich at the Rising Sun in Mill Hill. It is a very warm day and I have taken the precaution to wear sun block, so I don’t look like I have been cooked on the campaign trail.
Matthew Offord »
My final speech at Council
Posted on 8:17pm Saturday 24th April 2010
After campaigning today I went to our campaign office to speak directly with my Agent. The office is very busy with local activists completing tasks that will contribute to us winning this election. I remain ever grateful to all those people who work so hard on a voluntary basis – none of my team is paid for by the taxpayer.
Matthew Offord »
Canvassing with the Shadow International Development Minister
Posted on 4:59pm Wednesday 21st April 2010
After early morning delivery, we meet with the Shadow International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell. I have known Andrew for many years, since he was the Member of Parliament for Gedling in Nottinghamshire. I remember the first occasion we met, a by-election for a council seat on the County Council. I had spent the day pounding the streets and in the evening, as everybody else went to the count, Andrew and I sat watching the evening news in someone’s front room.
Matthew Offord »
Since the cold weather over 4,000 potholes have been fixed
Posted on 4:47pm Wednesday 21st April 2010
The weather during this campaign has been amazing and is in complete contrast to the difficult winter we have had. People have brought up the issue of pot holes with me and this has allowed me to explain the truth about what has happened. It is possible to detect an election in the air as the Labour Party has been playing politics with this issue. Labour councillors have repeatedly called on the Conservatives to cut our local road resurfacing budget and continually attacked the Conservative council for being too ‘car friendly’. Driving around I know only too well the difficulty that potholes are causing but every possible effort is being made to fix them quickly whilst not squandering taxpayer’s money.
Matthew Offord »
Nick Clegg effect? This is not what I hear at Mill Hill's doorsteps
Posted on 1:11pm Wednesday 21st April 2010
After a fantastic breakfast in a Mill Hill coffee bar, we head up to St Paul ’s church on the Ridgeway in Mill Hill. A 'Blue Plaque' on the west wall commemorates the building of the church, in 1833, by the Evangelical Christian politician William Wilberforce, who was one of the leaders of the campaign to abolish both the slave trade and slavery. The Verger also showed us the East Window by Charles Muss, which is a copy of the painting in the National Gallery ('The Dead Christ Mourned') by Annibale Caracci. The church was refurbished a few years ago and it is now a wonderful, bright space that has a meeting room down below which is used by many parts of the community.
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