Letter from Parliament – Jim Dobbin MP

Jim Dobbin MP

The Tories claim the economy is fixed but for ordinary people daily living is getting harder.

As the cost of living runs out of control, debt is rising with families struggling to make ends meet. The privileged few are receiving huge tax breaks while, for everyone else, it’s a tax increase.

My first hope for 2014 is that we create a fairer society for all, locally, nationally and globally. Poverty is the prime cause of ill health, both physically and mentally and policies based on austerity only reinforce this present unfair system.

My second hope is for faster job creation, with proper jobs and a decent living wage.

My third hope in this New Year is to stop the creeping privatisation of the Health Service and education. That the recent suggestion by some GPs that there should be a charge for an appointment or to receive treatment at an A & E Department is sent to the dustbin where it belongs. Selection in education will only benefit the wealthy and should also be binned.

My fourth wish is for the success of the campaign against Pay Day lenders, which is ably led by Stella Creasy, M.P. for Walthamstow and also Shadow Competition and Consumer Affairs Minister. Good luck to her.

My fifth wish is that Members of Parliament take the time to understand the difficulty local councils have in delivering services following the severe cuts to their budgets by this Coalition Government. I hope to see a move from criticism to the support of good practice at a local and national level. Rochdale Borough Council will have my support as always when together we seek to move on from the bad publicity of 2013. Councils work well when the Local Authority and the local community are in unison rather than split. I would encourage open, constructive conversation as opposed to a culture of attacks and criticism. If we achieve this then Rochdale Borough will benefit. For my part in Parliament I will continue to work as positively as I can to support my constituents through what I think will be a difficult year.

Having worked for 34 years in the NHS before entering Parliament, I maintain an interest in health issues and will continue to pursue those interests here in the constituency and as part of my work as Vice Chairman of the Council of Europe’s Public Health Committee. As I have said before, disease spreads globally and must be considered within a world-wide agenda.

Over the Christmas period I attended a number of carol services, all of which I enjoyed, but it is always an experience to join the prisoners of Buckley Hall Prison for their special carol service.

Can I thank all those people who have supported me in any way over the past year, with special thanks to my local office staff and to the staff who run my office in the House of Commons.

Have a great 2014 everyone.