Letter from Parliament

Jim Dobbin MP

Parliament is now in recess until 8 October. The media give the impression that MPs are now on holiday throughout this period but nothing could be further from the truth. Except for a short holiday, most MPs merely change their place of work from parliament to the constituency. It gives me the opportunity to work in the constituency and offer wider accessibility to my constituents. 

Of course Government work continues in Westminster. New Prime Minister Gordon Brown has certainly had a baptism of fire.  First it was the car bombs in Glasgow and Manchester, then the flooding and now Foot and Mouth in Surrey. It is no surprise to me that the Prime Minister has handled each issue with care, sensitivity and decisiveness. I forecast his strengths, both practical and intellectual, in these articles before the changeover. 

Gordon Brown has just returned from a successful series of meetings with President George Bush. The visit is generally accepted as being highly successful and it stressed the strong relationship between the UK and US and set a new business-like relationship between the two political leaders. Gordon Brown was influential in focusing the United Nations on the tragedy of Darfur with promises of a stronger and more co-ordinated effort to bring the massacre in Darfur to an end.  All in all, his American visit was a personal triumph. So far so good for Gordon.

As the Prime Minister’s popularity increases there has been much media speculation about the timing of the next general election. Gordon Brown is a very cautious man. He is renowned for his careful strategy planning. He is a long term planner. I will be surprised if there is a snap election. I expect the media hype on this subject will go on. 

I had a letter this week from the Chairman of the Environment and Rural Affairs Select Committee to prepare a report on the two serious episodes of flooding that affected Heywood, Middleton and Norden constituents over the last 2 years. He remembered the occasions when I raised the issue of these constituency floods in the House of Commons. I will highlight the need for faster co-ordination between the water companies, the local authority and the Environment agency, and a much clearer definition of their individual responsibilities.

The need for improvement of the existing drainage capacity and of course a much more frequent programme of grid cleaning, will also be recommended. 

My constituents’ experience highlighted the deficiencies in the planning system for new housing developments. There needs to be much stricter regulation covering the issues like drainage.

Floods, national and local, show the urgent need to tackle climate change. That is why I am backing proposals contained in the Energy Market Bill which would cut fuel costs for many constituents on low incomes and reward households that save energy by promoting renewables.

The extension of the Metrolink has had my support from the beginning. However I do not support the congestion charge that Rochdale Liberal Democrat Cabinet members voted for. The Heywood and Middleton councillors had no say in this decision as they were refused a vote. It is surprising therefore that despite 3 out of 4 townships opposing congestion charges, the Lib Dems through their Leader Alan Taylor ignored this, especially after he had made a public show of signing a petition on the front page of the Middleton Guardian before the local elections. After the local election he has changed his stance. It smacks of political opportunism of the crudest order. When asked in the council chamber whether Heywood and Middleton would benefit from Metrolink, he curtly answered, “No”. There is little or no concern by the LibDem Council for other townships. 
The imposition of the two weekly shambolic bin service on the people of Heywood is another example.

I am currently assessing the adverse effect of the LibDem withdrawal of Adult Home Care and their cuts to the voluntary sector. This Council is proving to be quite ruthless.

I was invited to present records of achievement to young people taking part in the Heywood Youth Improvement Programme at Woodlands Primary School. It was a pleasure and I congratulate all the participants and leaders for their success.

On Sunday it was the Carnival Day in Castleton – a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the fantastic floats and see all the people turning out in style. Congratulations to all involved in making it a special day for Castleton. It takes a lot of combined effort to organise such an event and it was a huge success.

In the evening of the 3 July I took part in the Bangladeshi Youth Society celebrations in Wardleworth Community Centre. It was good to see the Mayor and Mayoress, the Deputy High Commissioner and Labour candidate Simon Danczuk present at this event. Newly elected Councillor Farooq received a presentation and I met up with old friends from the Bangladeshi Association when I was on council, Mr Afzal Khan, Mr Mussabir and Dr Hussain.

My last engagement was the Fun Day at Milfield Care Home, again plenty of sun, good food and good music, a recipe for a great fun day.