Letter from Parliament - Jim Dobbin MP

Date published: 18 October 2011

1. As I write this letter the announcement of Liam Fox’s resignation appears on BBC news. Liam Fox must have thought people are fools and should have accepted his best man’s 18 global trips, his presence at high level defence meetings and his links with right wing Conservative funding groups. His abuse of their friendship was an affront to the democratic process and an unbelievable level of arrogance. Fox should have resigned immediately. He demonstrated a serious lack of judgement and put the security of the armed forces and the entire nation under threat. Fox is unfit to hold high office in future.
   
   The next piece of BBC news shows Oliver Letwin dumping official papers in a public park on five separate occasions. Letwin is David Cameron’s chief government policy minister. This has not been a good week for the Government.
   
   An increasing number of groups affected by Coalition cuts are lobbying Parliament on a daily basis. On Wednesday last week the disabled workers of Remploy were in Parliament. Their factories are being closed because of lack of support from the Coalition who is failing to back the rescue package of the last Labour government. We have a Remploy factory on the Heywood Distribution Park. Remploy workers are highly skilled and need your support.
   
   Many workers from Derby arrived to seek support for Bombardier who build trains. They have lost their contract to Germany because the coalition refuses to help keep these jobs in this country. Thousands of jobs across the country will be lost because of this decision. The shop workers union Usdaw came to support the police and ask the coalition not to cut police numbers. As you may be aware, 16,000 police officers are to go and shopworkers are afraid they will be threatened or abused and even assaulted if they have no police protection. We need to retain the levels created by Labour.
   
   This is a really worrying time for families struggling with higher food and energy prices and worried about their job security and their children’s future. Far from being a safe haven, Britain’s recovery was choked off last autumn, well before the Eurozone crisis. Our economy has stagnated for nine months, unemployment is rising again and only Japan has grown more slowly in the G7 over the last year. David Cameron’s austerity plan is hurting but not working. In fact the Government is now set to borrow £46 billion more than planned. The IMF is now saying the coalition will need to change course to get the economy moving again.
   
   The NHS Bill got through its second reading in the Lords with the support of the Lib Dem Lords, whose opposition collapsed under pressure from the coalition ministers and whips. If this Bill is agreed and the NHS is destroyed then you know where to point the finger. There isn’t long to save the NHS. Write to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing St London demanding a change of course.