Letter from Parliament - Tony Lloyd
Date published: 29 March 2019
Tony Lloyd MP
This week was a significant week when Parliament began to take back control from the government to resolve their ineffective management of the Brexit process. This was a very radical step which I’ve never witnessed before in my many years in Parliament – but it was definitely needed. This led to the ‘indicative’ votes which took place on Wednesday – a process which was designed for MPs to vote on a number of options, in the hope of breaking the political deadlock – again, something I’ve never witnessed before.
None of the 8 options gained a majority – some I supported and some I opposed. However, there was strong support for a number of the options – including Labour’s alternative plan, which received more votes than Theresa May’s deal. The other strong option was for a confirmatory vote which would stop our country crashing out of the EU without the public being involved.
On Friday, Parliament will once again vote on Theresa May’s deal and I believe that it will once again be defeated. Then, on Monday we will return to look into the alternatives. If the Prime Minister loses again, she needs to reach out, not only to her own party but across Parliament. It’s time for her to put country before party. The whole country is disillusioned, and we need a solution to this shambles which she has allowed to continue for far too long.
Phillip Hammond delivered his Spring Statement this month. With the Brexit negotiations taking all the limelight, it’s shocking that such a huge government statement which affects us all was hardly picked up in the media. Hammond made it clear that austerity is far from over.
Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell pointed out a scandalous statistic that in Conservative Britain a child from Kensington in Liverpool will die 18 years earlier than a child in Kensington and Chelsea: the same is true of a child born in parts of Rochdale. He also pointed out that London will have £4,155 per head spent on transport compared to £1,600 for people in the North.
Austerity clearly isn’t nationwide; the Conservatives always seem to have extra cash to fund their wealthier towns.
One thing that did draw some headlines was the Chancellor committing a one-off nationwide £100million to tackle knife crime. Since 2010, in Greater Manchester alone we have lost over 2,000 police officers who, ironically, cost about £100 million. This one-off payment is hardly going to solve a nationwide problem. It is completely unacceptable that the Conservatives are trying to generate positive headlines out of a crisis of their making.
There was a positive in Hammond’s statement – Labour’s campaign on period poverty has been recognised and sanitary products will now be available free of charge in schools and colleges. This means that girls from poorer backgrounds, whose families sometimes can’t afford sanitary products will no longer need to miss school.
It was great to support Comic Relief in Parliament; Sir Lenny Henry & Richard Curtis CBE attended to speak about the fantastic work the charity has done over the years. But this work couldn’t be achieved without the incredible generosity of the Great British public who have together raised over £1 billion since 1985, helping to create a better healthier world through some amazing projects.
A report has recently been released, highlighting how much it costs to be disabled in our country. Essential goods and services such as heating, insurance, therapies and equipment cost disabled people on average £583 per month. The disability charity, Scope, held an event in Parliament where MPs could hear first-hand about peoples’ experiences. I met with one mother whose daughter is disabled, and the cost of a headrest for her wheelchair was £450, a lot of money for a low-income family. Such a vital piece of equipment to help a young teenager live her life in dignity shouldn’t break a family. Scope are therefore calling on the government to help tackle these costs faced by desperate families.
In Rochdale, using webcam I held a ‘digital surgery’ with students at Wardle Academy. It was a pleasure to speak to the students about issues that they found important – including Brexit and their concerns around increasing knife crime. They also asked me about why I was interested in becoming an MP - I hope more and more young people get involved in politics as it’s important that people from all backgrounds, ethnicities and genders get involved. Labour has made the way for more equal representation in Parliament but there’s still a way to go.
I visited Emmaus Department Store in the Exchange Shopping Centre. The old Beal’s store was given to Emmaus rent free by the Co-op in a wonderful gesture designed to give a new lease of life to an unused space. All funds raised at the store are used to support the people who work there, who were once homeless, to help them get back on their feet.
- www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/125242/coop-give-town-centre-store-to-emmaus
On 15 March, the horrific terrorist attack took place in New Zealand, taking the lives of 50 innocent people whilst they worshipped at Friday Prayer, and injuring another 50 more. My heart goes out to all those affected by this heinous attack, but I was pleased to join people across Rochdale coming together to mourn the victims of Christchurch at the vigil outside the Town Hall. People of all faiths came together and that’s what we must continue to do - we must all stand together in solidarity around the world to support everybody’s human right to practice their own religion. I also visited worshippers in Central Mosque to show my support.
At the weekend I was in Milnrow speaking to local people on their doorsteps, along with the local Labour party and I celebrated St Patricks Day at Sacred Heart Community Centre who put on a great St Patrick’s Day concert. It’s always a wonderful day and I hope people across Rochdale had a fun time celebrating.
Back in Parliament, I attended meetings about the current situation in Yemen. The country is on the brink of the worst famine in 100 years and is known to be the worst humanitarian situation in the world. 85,000 children have already died of hunger alone. This doesn’t include all the other risks they are exposed to – including bombs and disease. The situation for women and girls is also very bleak, as Yemen was officially listed as the worst place in the world to be a woman even before the current war began in 2015. The war has intensified these vulnerabilities and led to a huge increase in gender-based violence, including rape and sexual assault. I am therefore supporting Save the Children in their peace petition to the government – the UK must do more to push the UN Security Council to take decisive action.
Members of the ‘End our Pain’ campaign visited Parliament, calling for access to medical cannabis for severely ill patients. I was delighted to meet with Hannah Deacon again, who fought and won this battle for her son, Alfie. Alfie is now doing well but rightly Hannah wants the same for all those who need it. People who suffer from conditions such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis have long claimed that cannabis-based products help manage their conditions and medical cannabis was finally legalised last year, but many patients still can’t get access.
Transport for the North was discussed in Westminster and we talked about the plans to upgrade to our rail service. However, this does feel like déjà vu as we’ve heard it all before. Our current system belongs back in the 19th century and we now need commitment from the government to back up these ambitions with investment to move plans forward. Sadly, with Chris Grayling as our current Transport Secretary, I expect this not to be easy.
March is also Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Too many women die of ovarian cancer so we must act to ensure that more women know the symptoms to look out for, are diagnosed sooner and get the treatment they need. That’s why I was pleased to take part in this year’s Teal Hero event to support women with ovarian cancer and their families.
Awareness is alarmingly low in the UK, with figures showing that just one in five women is able to name bloating as one of the key symptoms of the disease. Target Ovarian Cancer works to raise the profile of ovarian cancer, spread the word about the symptoms, and train GPs in early diagnosis.
A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the Unison rally for workers from the Alternative Futures Group, who take care of vulnerable adults. It was great to see them recently in Westminster, taking the time and trouble to bring their case to Parliament and continuing their protest against unfair cuts in their pay.
Then back in Rochdale, I attended the opening of the new playground on Ings Lane. A lovely addition to the park for young children, it’s always great to see investment like this going on in the town. A big thank you to Phil and Rachel Massey and the volunteers who worked with them to make this happen.
I also visited visited Lancashire Farm Dairies – a great Rochdale success story. The brand manufactures yoghurt and yoghurt drinks under the names of Pakeeza Dairies and Lancashire Farm. Founded by one of Rochdale’s Asian community, they’ve gone from strength to strength, building up from a one-person business to now being one of Rochdale’s biggest employers.
Along with Liz McInnes and Steve Rumbelow, I met with Dr Duffy, the Chair of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group. We discussed a range of issues affecting the borough including the effects of budget cuts, the hospital reorganisation, transport services to local hospitals and pressures on local GP surgeries and shortages of doctors. It’s important that we keep the pressure on the government, highlighting the effects of austerity on our most treasured institution, the NHS.
23 March marked Pakistan Day, a national holiday in Pakistan to commemorate the Lahore Resolution of 1940, and here in Rochdale we held a flag raising ceremony at the Town Hall to commemorate.
I also spent time in Healey at the weekend, campaigning in the area and listening to local people’s concerns. Brexit was one of the key issues for many people: people have simply had enough and urgently require a resolution to our withdrawal from the EU.
Post offices are a vital part of our local communities and when they are franchised, they often lose their well trained and experienced staff and are replaced with minimum wage roles - along with a less reliable service. In Parliament, I met up with the CWU (postal workers union members) who are fighting against franchise proposals.
A debate was held to discuss the Police Ombudsman's role in legacy cases of police conduct during the Northern Ireland troubles. The overwhelming majority of those who served in the armed forces in Northern Ireland did so with honour. However, there were a small minority of service personnel who have had accusations made against them. Some 20 years on from the Good Friday peace process, too many victims feel that they haven’t received justice. These are victims of republican & loyalist terrorism as well as some who suffered at the hands of the army and police.
Labour believes that victims and their families deserve for their cases to be properly investigated, whoever was responsible and is calling on the Government to urgently legislate to implement the Stormont House Agreement legacy bodies so there can be an agreed and more transparent process surrounding investigations.
The Greater Manchester Clean Air Strategy was another topic of discussion in Parliament. We know that Greater Manchester and Rochdale in particular have air pollution hotspots – dangerous especially for children. Old buses and old heavy good vehicles contribute a lot to this. We are therefore looking for proposals which will concentrate on these biggest polluters.
However, one major sticking point is that of motorways, they are a major contributor but Highways England are under no obligation to reduce emissions, like that of local authorities. I will therefore be writing to the Transport Secretary again for this discrepancy to be corrected.
Bangladesh have just celebrated their 48th anniversary of independence on 26 March. This is an important day for Bangladeshi people across Rochdale and the UK who have their own family roots in the country and it’s been great to celebrate with them this week.
Members of the Campaign to Protect Rural England also visited Parliament, this was a great opportunity to discuss the current Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, the consultation of which closed on 18 March.
You can see my submission to the consultation here:
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