Letter from Parliament - Jim Dobbin MP

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Jim Dobbin MP

The man who forgot he was Deputy Prime Minister and was meant to deputise for David Cameron when he went on for a jaunt to the Middle East to sell arms and pay back some major contributors to the Tory Party coffers got a real thrashing at the Barnsley Central bye-election. The result begins a pattern of further heavy losses in the local elections in May for Nick Cleggs party.

I was sent to work in the bye-election and it was clear on the door step that voters were asking,

“What is the point of the Lib-Dems? What do they stand for?”

Across our own locality we have two Lib Dem parties, one called Lib Dem, the other Independent Alliance pretending not to be Lib Dems, but really they are all the same gang with the same irrelevant policies so be careful how you vote on May 5.

David Cameron’s judgement is now being questioned and his inexperience is beginning to show. The pattern of indecision is as follows. First comes the hastily thought through announcement, next the chorus of opposition from those who understand the dangerous consequences of the policy and finally comes the humiliating u turn. Some examples of this pattern have been u turns on the Housing Benefits, the u Turn on David Cameron’s personal photographer, the u turn on school sports cuts, the u turn on Bookstart cuts, the u turn on school milk being scrapped and the u turn on debt advice cuts.

The Government’s mishandling of the Middle East policy plus David Cameron’s mistaken call for a no fly zone have seriously made him a laughing stock across the western world.

On Friday March 4 I began the day with a visit to Middleton Heartline at Middleton Arena to meet vice Chair Bill Paterson and see for myself what an active movement we have in the town. I was impressed by the range of activities and social mixing that occurred. This was the real Big Society in action.

I then went on to meet Julie Roberts, the School Sport Development Manager at Cardinal Langley Sports College to discuss developments across the education sector in the town.

My next stop was the Petrus Homeless Unit on Long Street which I had opened 10 years ago in 2000. This facility is another excellent example of the Big Society that already exists in our area but sadly, a voluntary sector facility that could be affected by future government cuts.

My final port of call was a meeting with M.D.W.S UK Ltd based at Heywood Distribution Park. The company designs and manufactures specialised modular units for both the public and private sectors and looks like an exciting job opportunity for local people.

After my Heywood surgery it was back to London for another week in Westminster.