I want to discuss three very important areas in brief in this month's column - each of them strangely interlinked.

Firstly, I want to congratulate Navin Shah for winning the Brent and Harrow GLA seat. I have known Navin for a long time and can assure readers that he will be the most assiduous of GLA members and will do Harrow proud at the Assembly. I will work as closely as I can with him to ensure the interests of Harrow are fully reflected at a London level. I would also like to congratulate Boris Johnson on his Mayoral victory and I know that, despite the florid rhetoric of the campaign, there is again, more that unites us in terms of public policy than divides us - not least in the key areas that matter so much to the people of Harrow such as crime and policing, transport and the environment. I pledge to work closely with the new Mayor in the interests of Harrow. I would also like to congratulate Councillor David Ashton and Councillor Susan Hall for their election to the leadership roles of the Conservative Group in Harrow. I have always found both very easy to work with and they share my view that we can work better together in the interests of Harrow than we can if we are attacking each other. When I think they are wrong and not working in the interests of Harrow I shall say so as loudly as I can - but where we agree, I will do all that I can to secure success.

Secondly, readers may know that much of my time over the past few weeks has been consumed by the Counter-Terrorism Bill as the Minister in charge of it. I regard the safety of the public and national security as one of the paramount responsibilities of any politician and I profoundly believe that the contents of this Bill are necessary to add to the safety of every individual in Harrow. As we saw on July 7, 2005, the terrorists do not discriminate in their actions and seek to kill as many people as possible regardless of religion, colour or background. I am clear that the changes we are making to the legislation are not only right, but proportionate and rooted in our democratic values. On the most contentious issue, pre-charge detention - the Government's line is the permanent provision for this is, and should remain, at 14 days. The provision for 28 days is temporary and subject to annual renewal by Parliament - and we are not seeking to change this - it is used in exceptional circumstances. The new proposal is for an exceptional reserve power that allows the courts to extend up to 42 days - but only in times of grave, exceptional threat.

Thirdly, I am very disappointed that the council has resisted the challenge to plan for a Harrow town centre for the 21st Century that we can all agree with. With the advent of considerable interest and applications to develop the town centre in a way that we could all agree with, the council had the chance to consider all of the applications in a strategic way - rather than one by one. I have said that I think the development on Gayton road is too dense, overdevelopment and too high. While I welcome the development of the Lowlands Road site and want the college to flourish, again it is too much in too little space and needs to be rethought. With so much interest in the town centre, would it really have been too difficult to stop, take stock and work out how each of these developments related to each other and to the wider town centre? The council has done the people of Harrow a gross disservice and missed a real opportunity to build a town centre that we could all be proud of. Is it really too late to do this? And is it really too much to ask?