Letter from Parliament - Tony Lloyd

Tony Lloyd MP

The big event in my diary this week was the Labour Party Conference.

Tricia Ayrton gave a very good speech about housing, which will strike a chord with many people in Rochdale. We need to allow extensions onto existing homes if they can’t afford to move.

It was a good debate, and we have not seen much change in the housing sector in recent years. Young people are finding it harder and harder to get onto the property ladder,  and we need appropriate new builds and to improve our existing housing stock.

Water companies have put their prices up by an astronomical amount recently with dividends of £18 billion.

However, water leaks are equivalent to a third of this country’s water use and they are not doing what they ought to do. Labour are committed to bring water back into public ownership and protecting the needs of the consumer.

Policing cuts formed another large part of the conference. Greater Manchester has lost a quarter of its officers and the picture looks pretty similar nationwide. Labour are committed to an extra 10,000 officers nationwide, which would go some way in getting us back to where we once were.

A report came out last week stating that ambulances are wrongly deployed, but the way they are managed comes down to funding.

I met with the general secretary of the Train Drivers’ Union, which was very helpful to see the issues as the drivers see them. It was a useful insight, and we do have a significant way to go.

Closer to home, I visited Tetrosyl, which is a great success story for Rochdale as they are an example of an expanding business which employs local people. They started out small but are now a global trader on the cutting edge of scientific research, and whilst people may not have heard of them, they will surely have heard of many of their household products.

It was great to see the youth exchange in Rochdale, with many like-minded individuals from Estonia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

This week, I am visiting Pakistan on a self-funded trip with several other local delegates, including the Council Leader and Mayor, to help build links overseas.