Letter from Parliament - Jim Dobbin MP

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Jim Dobbin MP

I congratulate all those candidates who were successful in last weeks’ local elections.

It was good to see that the electorate across the Borough of Rochdale, and especially in my constituency, overwhelmingly voted Labour.

Interestingly many Conservative voters failed to vote and that was the pattern across the country. I would have thought that David Cameron and his co-partner, Nick Clegg would have learned from those results and offered a more ‘people based’ Queen’s Speech. There was very little in the Speech that offered hope to the increasing numbers of young people who are unemployed. Families under severe financial difficulties hardly got a mention. The growing problem of Care of the Elderly was highlighted by its absence. Instead, the Liberals insist on including Reform of the House of Lords as a priority. The substance of the entire Speech was weak and should have been radically in favour of children, families and the elderly.

As I write, the Police are marching in London against changes to their pension rights. It is also an opportunity to highlight the cuts to police numbers which will reach 16,000 front line police and 16,000 police support officers. I noticed that Liberal-Democrat M.Ps, who are also Ministers in the Government, were putting out leaflets against the cuts that they themselves supported! It’s the usual line, say one thing and do another.
The Murdoch sleaze refuses to go away, doesn’t it? Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks have both been linked directly into David Cameron, George Osborne and Jeremy Hunt. It provides an interesting relationship. They most certainly will become the subject of a film in future years. Corrupt politics and links with the newspaper world makes great cinema.

The austerity programme across Europe is getting a kicking at the moment, with the election of a new French President. Governments need to realise that deficit reduction, although important, needs to be handled differently. I think we are beginning to see that outside of the U.K. Here in the U.K. there is still no sign of Plan B. Come on George, show us that you get it!

I enjoyed a visit to Baerlocher U.K. on Moss Hill road, Heywood and was impressed with the whole production plant. I thank Graeme Knox and his team for explaining to me how important the Plastics Industry is to this country.