My response to the treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar

LIKE ME YOU will have been troubled and angered by the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. The response from the Oldham community has been to come together to raise funds to support those fleeing into Bangladesh, and I pay tribute to those efforts.

Maxine Peake backs our call to honour local Suffragette hero

IT WAS an honour to have local actress Maxine Peake attending our Annie Kenney fundraising dinner at the weekend. Maxine is very vocal on the importance of raising women’s issues and fight for equal rights everywhere. So it was great to hear Maxine backing calls from Oldham campaigners for a statue honouring Annie, our local bornContinue reading “Maxine Peake backs our call to honour local Suffragette hero”

Let’s welcome Royton investment

I very much welcome the announcement by Oldham Council to invest £2m in the modernisation of Royton’s historic town hall to form a new community hub. Royton Town Hall was opened in 1880 and holds a commanding position on Rochdale Road greeting visitors from Rochdale and Oldham along the main road. Established as the homeContinue reading “Let’s welcome Royton investment”

I asked the Government to disclose the scale of the teacher shortage in Oldham. Their answer was shocking.

IT WOULD be an understatement to say that Oldham’s schools are being unfairly treated under the Tory government. Oldham schools are receiving blow after blow, from failed experiments like Collective Spirit Free School, which those in charge have simply walked away from; to funding cuts of £480 per-pupil.

We’re taking the fight against the pay cap straight to the Tories

IT WAS INSPIRING to see hundreds of protestors gather on Parliament Square today to take the fight against the cap on nurses pay straight to the Tory Government. It was even more inspiring to speak with nurses and others from across the health sector, and to be joined by many of my colleagues from the Labour Party.