Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon and her colleague Stephen Knight recently caught up with their colleagues from the National Assembly for Wales. The day-long visit to Cardiff involved finding out how the National Assembly for Wales operates, as well as sharing of best practice between London and Cardiff.

Left to right in photo: Stephen Knight (London Assembly Member), Eluned Parrott (Welsh Assembly Member), Peter Black (Welsh Assembly Member), Kirsty Williams (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Group), Caroline Pidgeon (Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group), William Powell (Welsh Assembly Member)

Caroline visited the Bow Roundabout on Friday afternoon as part of a Transport Committee visiting looking at cycling in London and how to make it safer. Last year there were two tragic cyclist deaths at the roundabout. Transport for London has put in some new measures to try to make the junction more negotiable for cyclists.

"It was interesting to see the junction and see how it is being used in practice compared to seeing the computer modelling and the paper drawings. The innovation at TfL did not seem to work as well in practice and
pedestrians are all but forgotten at this junction. I hope we can put pressure on Department for Transport for more creative signalling solutions so that this and other areas can be made far safer for vulnerable road users," commented Caroline.

The London Assembly today threw its weight behind government proposals to allow same-sex couples to have civil marriage ceremonies.

Building on the Assembly's long-standing record of support for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, members approved a motion calling for the introduction of legislation in parliament to make same-sex marriages a reality.

Caroline Pidgeon AM, who proposed the motion, said:

Writing in 31st August's Liberal Democrat News, Caroline says:

The 15th Paralympics is now underway.

4,280 athletes, from 166 countries, participating in 20 different sports. Just as with the London Olympics these athletes will dazzle and often inspire us as they demonstrate excellence in so many different sports.

However, it is worth remembering how the Paralympics is in so many respects a new development. The first Paralympics to be held in the same city as the Olympics were held in Seoul in 1988. The very first Paralympics were held as recently as 1960, (although their genesis was of course the International Stoke Mandeville Games held eight years earlier).

In so many respects the development of the Paralympics marks the rapid change in attitudes towards disabled people. Within the lifetime of anyone barely over the state retirement age so much has changed. Just sixty and seventy years ago our society routinely excluded most disabled people.

Caroline has responded to a national public consultation on proposed changes to the Thameslink train service, raising concerns that it will severely hit thousands of people in south London, especially in Sutton, Lambeth and Southwark.

At present the Department of Transport is consulting on the specifications for the new rail franchise that will see Thameslink and Southern services operated by a single company. A key element of the consultation involves the suggestion that trains which run through Sutton on the Wimbledon loop, and then through south London, should terminate at Blackfriars, rather than continuing on through central London to St Pancras and beyond. Such changes would create havoc for many people in south London wanting to travel to north London every day.