Letter from Parliament

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced more investments in vital public services in Heywood, Middleton, Castleton, Norden and Bamford.  He did this as part of the pre-budget report last week.  As ever on these big occasions, there was an electric atmosphere in the chamber of the House of Commons.  This is Parliament at its best.

It followed the controversy of the debate about the timing of a possible general election.  Alistair Darling made clear that Labour understands your aspirations by setting out an economic programme that will make a real difference to the lives of local families and pensioners. 

I think that it is vital that we continue to invest in our public services in my constituency.  Our area has come a long way over the last ten years and for it to continue to improve we need to keep investing.  That is why I am pleased these plans give more money to local schools so that all kids get a decent start in life.  

The extra investment in the NHS will mean that waiting times can be reduced to 18 weeks as Labour promised and we can have cleaner hospitals and better access to GP services.

There is guaranteed neighbourhood policing for every community and local police who can be contacted personally to respond to your concerns. 

We also need more and better housing in this borough and Labour’s plans will deliver them and the better links to support them.

The Government can set out these ambitions because Labour has built a strong economy over the past ten years with firm control over inflation and growing job opportunities.  What a difference from when the Tories were in power… inflation was nearly 10%, mortgages soared to 15% and unemployment hit 3 million people. 

I think we all realise that we have to pay taxes to pay for public services but what is important to all of us is that the tax system is fair. A lot of people tell me that they are worried that rising house prices mean that they won’t be able to pass on what they had hoped to their children.  So our new plans to change the way inheritance tax works means a couple will now be able to leave twice as much to their children before they pay tax… that’s £600,000 and from 2010 it will increase to £700,000.  This will help bring peace of mind to many home owners in Heywood and Middleton constituency. 

There is also more help for families.  Child tax credits will rise well above inflation and Pension credit minimum guarantee will rise to £124 for single pensioners and £189 for couples. 

The Conservatives have a £5.4 billion black hole in public finances and they will have to break their promise to raise inheritance tax or break a promise on investment in education or health.

As you can see the opinion polls are rather volatile at the moment. The only poll that seems to be constant is that affecting the Lib Dems  and Ming Campbell’s leadership is once again in question.  At 11% the indications are that the Lib Dems could lose in excess of 20 seats nationally to the Conservatives.  Many parliamentary candidates including my own opponent could lose their deposits.

The national picture mirrors the views I am hearing locally about the lacklustre performance of our Lib Dem Council who have seriously messed up the bin collection services, cut adult care and the voluntary sector and appear to be pretty incompetent all round.

As we come to the end of the parliamentary recess I had a number of diary commitments to honour.  Can I thank Peter, Joyce and Paul Chadwick from Gelderwood Caravan Park who organised a highly successful Garden Party to raise funds for the Myasthenia Gravis Charity.  I have two grandsons who have congenital myasthenia and they came up from Cardiff with their parents to join in the fun.  So many people and groups gave time and money to make this a special day.  Myasthenia is a severe and fluctuating muscle weakness that can be life threatening and requires constant medication.  It is a little known rare disease that does not merit much interest from large pharmaceutical companies in their research.  For that reason it was heartening to see the generosity and kindness of those who came along and the result was an amazing £1700 for the charity.  Congratulations to all who helped. 

I attended a church service to re-dedicate a stained glass window at St Gabriel’s Cof E church in Middleton.  The Scouts and Guides were present as the Bishop of Middleton officiated under the watchful eye of the Rev Ian Cook, parish priest. It was fascinating to hear the history of this beautiful window that dated back to 1924 when it was originally housed in the Scout HQ in Wade Street and great to see it now in St Gabriel’s.

My Select committee on European Scrutiny met on 2 October and I had to return to Parliament for a day. 

On Thursday 4 October I met with the Middleton Pensioners and after a short speech took questions.  Cllr Lil Murphy and Alex Gray do a great job as officers of the group.  It was good to meet up again with old friends. 

I then attended the launch of a Fair Trade stall on Rochdale Market on 6 October with the Mayor and Mayoress.  Good to see local people supporting Fair Trade.

Back to Westminster on 8th to meet with Archbishop Peter Smith from Cardiff to discuss progress on many of the life issues that are the subject of the impending Queens Speech.

I had a photo call to support the breast cancer campaign prior to a lobby of Parliament. 

I was delighted to open the new Langley Children’s Centre Sure Start in the grounds of furrow school.  Terry Piggott, Executive Director of Children’s Services shared the event with me.  The new Langley Library, Jobcentre Plus and other local services  will provide a one stop service from this facility. 

I then drove to Buckley Hall Prison for an open session to demonstrate the diversity of support for prisoners.  It took me an hour to travel from Middleton to Rochdale due to the congestion caused by the never-ending road works.  More frustration.  I enjoyed the event and fortunately I managed to get out without much trouble. Phew!

I have to travel to Lisbon on Sunday with the Chairman of the European Select committee to attend a meeting of all national parliaments to discuss progress in the Portuguese Presidency before the Slovenians take over later in the year. 

I’ll be back in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.