Visit to the local Mosque

I had a lovely visit recently to the Hounslow Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre on Wellington Road South.

Tony Arbour AM, Cllr Mark Bowen, Cllr Barbara Reid, Christine Quick and Fauad Hafeez from Hounslow Central and Ranjiv Godfrey from Hounslow Heath also joined me there.

We were given a tour of the Centre and met the teachers and children of the school that is within the Centre. It was really interesting to get an insight into a Community Mosque and hear about the work that they do.

My thanks to all those who invited us there and made us feel so welcome.

Photo: Mary (centre) with Cllr Barbara Reid, Cllr Mark Bowen, Tony Arbour AM, Dr Mobhin, Mr A Majid, Mr Riaz Butt, Mr Saleem and Mr Karamat Malik.

Government give go-ahead for Third Runway

Last week, the Government gave the go-ahead for a Third Runway at Heathrow.

This shows clearly that they have not listened to local people and that they do not care at all for the local environment. As Theresa Villiers, the Shadow Transport Secretary warned, “A third runway at Heathrow would inflict devastating damage to the environment and to the quality of life of millions of people and the Conservatives will fight them every step of the way.”

An increase of 222,000 extra flights a year will have a major impact of residents, and I, with Theresa, will continue to fight the Government's plans.

If you have been a Labour voter in the past but are against a Third Runway at Heathrow, please now vote for the Conservatives... so that we can stop these plans from being implemented.

Every child with £17k debt thanks to Labour

George Osborne has just launched a poster campaign to highlight that every child in Britain is born owing £17,000 because of Labour’s Debt Crisis.

The stark reality is that under Labour, Britain’s national debt is set to double to over one trillion pounds in just five years. This will have to be paid back. Families will have to work longer and harder as they are facing a bill of more than £2,000 just to pay the interest on this debt.

Gordon Brown promised us no boom and bust......but what have we now got? Exactly that.

As a country, we need change now. We need a change for the better... before Gordon Brown does any more damage.

Can we stop expansion at Heathrow....yes we can!

The government's latest plans for a rail link to Heathrow to serve a third runway appears as a last minute desperate measure to shore up their ill-conceived plans for expansion at Heathrow.

We already have proposed high speed rail as an alternative to a third runway. The government is now jumping on the bandwagon. It shows just how much trouble they are in with their expansion plans, which are opposed by 95% of local residents.

A third runway and mixed-mode operations would be disastrous for local people. There would be a 50% increase in flights and the respite that currently comes from runway alternation would be gone. It is immoral to expect people to live with that level of noise. I will continue to fight against expansion at Heathrow and to safeguard and improve quality of life for local residents.

I have invited Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon to visit the constituency before making his final decision but have not yet had a response from him. Wonder why?

Chiswick pensioners - not alone at Christmas

On Christmas Day, I went along to the 'Pensioners Alone at Christmas' lunch in Chiswick with Cllr John Todd and Cllr Gerald McGregor.

It was a superb event and wonderfully organised by Pauline Hart. Pauline (who has been doing this for over twenty years) and her team of volunteers collect pensioners in the morning from around the Chiswick area and then give them a fabulous Christmas dinner in the Bridge Street Chiswick Day Care Centre.

The pensioners, who otherwise would have spent the day alone, were thrilled to have a Christmas lunch organised for them and to get together with others to have a fun afternoon.

Congratulations to Pauline and the volunteers for yet again making the day really special for so many.

Photo: Mary and Cllr John Todd with some of the pensioners attending the lunch