Letter from Parliament – Jim Dobbin MP

Jim Dobbin MP

The death of Nelson Mandela, undoubtedly the political icon of the century, has rightly been the media headline this week. His outstanding legacy of tolerance and forgiveness will be remembered forever. What is also evident is the change of heart from those, publically supporting the apartheid regime in South Africa, who called for him to be hanged as a traitor. He taught the world major political lessons that should never be forgotten.

Osborne’s Autumn Statement this week was a tricky piece of camouflage which has since been rubbished by expert financial groups like the Institute of Fiscal Studies. The IFS have judged that the Chancellor has lost £12 billion in his finances and according to their analysis it would be necessary for a Tory Government to bring in a further £12 billion of spending cuts after the next election.

The hard working family therefore picks up the bill again. Nothing changes, give to the rich and soak the rest of us.

His previous projection of solvency by 2015 has been pushed back to 2019. The forecast is: wages down by £1,500, energy bills up by £300, A&Es with 5,000 fewer nurses, the slowest recovery for 100 years, a million young people out of work and, of course an income tax cut for those earning over £150,000.

Budget aside, there is really very little legislation going through Parliament at the moment which is probably the nature of coalition Government who are stymied by political conflict between the two parties.

As Chairman of the All Party Group on Child Health and Vaccine Preventable Diseases, I was honoured to meet Dr Seth Berkley, who is Chief Executive of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, to discuss Vaccine programmes against HIV, aids, malaria, polio, rotavirus and pneumonia. The outlook was promising for child health across the globe.

Locally, I was able to judge the Christmas window displays in Heywood and Middleton on Saturday 7 December which was nationally declared to be ‘Small Business Saturday’.

It was also great to be asked to open the Middleton Town Team ‘Pop up shop’, a pilot attempt to revitalise the Middleton business community.

After my usual Heywood surgery in the Civic Centre, visits to All Saints and Martyrs Middleton, Birch Village and St Michael’s Bamford Christmas Fairs completed my weekend.