Islington North People’s Forum at the Brickworks Community Centre on September 17

ISLINGTON North MP Jeremy Corbyn’s latest People’s Forum took place at Brickworks Community Centre.

Each table in the room last Thursday was focused on a different theme, from health to transport to housing, and residents broke off to discuss the topic and come up with a question to ask their longstanding MP.

Mr Corbyn discussed the “bizarre” installation of prime minister Andy Burnham, the issue of civil liberties posed by the thousands of people charged under the Terrorism Act for supporting Palestine Action, and Ed Miliband’s announcement that the UK would levy sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Although Mr Corbyn argued the foreign secretary did not go far enough and that the country should be sanctioning “Israel as a whole”, he called Mr Miliband’s move a “massive change” in the government’s position.

He also celebrated the new prime minister’s commitments to end homelessness, but warned the promises had not been thoroughly thought-through or costed.

Mr Corbyn commended Islington Council on its efforts to control the private rental market and provide more council housing, while noting that some homes in the Andover Estate have been left empty for three years.

School closures and special educational needs funding, North Sea drilling, the rise of racism and healthcare cuts were additional matters of interest.

Shirley Franklin from the Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition raised the issue of mental health services provision across the constituency and in the NHS more broadly.

Another group of participants asked about the prospect of creating a national adult care service free at the point of use, akin to the NHS.

Bus accessibility and the absence of digital boards at many stops in Islington North was also on the agenda.