Labour & Co-operative | Serving the communities of Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton
I WAS delighted and honoured to host Dame Vera Baird QC, Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria in a visit to my constituency today. Dame Baird came to show her support for the Annie Kenney Project, an inspirational role model herself I was delighted to present her with a limited edition of an Annie Kenney print donated by Manchester based artist Stan Chow.
Vera Baird is now the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria. Vera, an Oldhamer herself I learned, used to live at number 95 Coalshaw Green Rd, in the Chadderton South ward of my constituency. Determined not to let the rain put us off, we enjoyed a lovely walk around Chadderton South visiting the home she grew up in, and Coalshaw Green Park whilst she shared some fond memories of her childhood.
YESTERDAY I asked the Secretary of State Sajid Javid a number of questions about the latest local government finance settlement. First, does it step up to meet the scale of the challenges facing local public services in England today?
Does it meet the challenge of 1.2 million older people who would have been entitled to social care in 2010 who no longer get the care they need?
Does it meet the challenge of huge increases in the number of child protection and looked-after children cases reported by the LGA?
After nearly a decade of Tory-dominated Government, does it begin to rebuild the essential community infrastructure that was taken away after the financial crash?
My view is that it fails on every one of those counts.
Continue reading “Again, councils barely get the crumbs from the table”
A CENTURY ago today the vote was extended to women for the first time in Britain. Although the act stopped short of giving the vote to all women, it paved the way for universal voting rights here in 1928.
The First World War was still raging across the globe when the act was passed in Parliament, but the role of women in the war effort had been recognised. So too had the long-fought and high profile campaign run by the Suffragettes – members of women’s organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who advocated the extension of the franchise, or right to vote, to women.
Continue reading “100 ago today women were first given the vote. What role did Oldham play?”
I was delighted to be asked to make the Opening speech for the Wayra Fair By Design acceleration programme.
Continue reading “Can technology and innovative business help low income households?”
HOW LONG can a crisis of your own making be left to grow before you start taking responsibility? The latest stats show that rough sleeping has increased again in the last year. In fact rough sleeping has increased every year under the Tories. The facts are that the Tories have done too little to repair a broken housing market of their own making, and cut too deep into the support available to help low income households.
Continue reading “Rough Sleeping is up, but it is only the tip of the iceberg”
NEW PLANS to give more young people a say in local democracy in Wales will be announced this week by the Welsh Government (Tuesday 30 Jan).
They reflect last year’s Welsh Government consultation on reforming the electoral system in Wales, which received almost 1000 responses.
RESEARCH FROM the End Child Poverty Coalition has revealed that Oldham West and Royton has the 10th highest rate of child poverty in UK.
Almost half (45.58%) of children in Oldham West and Royton are growing up in poverty under a Conservative Government. Continue reading “Almost half of children in Oldham are growing up in poverty under this Tory government”
