It was great to join the inspiring Frank Rothwell last month at Boundary Park for a celebration of his stunning achievement rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic (for the 2nd time!!) in aid of Alzheimer’s Research UK, raising over £1.3 million with his latest magnificent effort.
Though we didn’t secure a win at home to Kidderminster, it was a great day for the community with the highest attendance in 16 years at over 11,800!
Great to see another local hero in Professor Brian Cox, together with Council Leader Arooj Shah and many others in support.
I put on record my amazement at Frank’s achievement yet again and asked the Government to commit to debate the very real issue of the near million people who are affected by Alzheimer’s in the UK and the need for more funding and early diagnoses.
This budget revealed that the British contract is broken.
Working people are being failed, the idea that if you work hard you can get on in life and you can build something for yourself and your family has been taken away from people.
This hits at the heart of our country on a fundamental level. The economy is broken and we need a rewritten contract. We need a General Election where Labour will deliver the change Britain needs.
In my speech to the House today I spoke on the state of the economy & how Labour will fix it, how Oldham has been left behind by the government and how co-operative ideas will help spearhead our economy into the future.
It’s time to end the sticking plaster politics and have a long term plan for all of our communities sakes.
Local councils and communities are on the brink due to decisions made in Downing Street. Funding has been slashed, the fair funding review delayed, business rate reset postponed, reserves are depleted, community assets sold off and accounts go unsubmitted.
More and more councils are lining up for emergency support amid concerns of bankruptcy.
The government have no plan, it seems they are doing as the country is and waiting for a Labour government.
Yesterday evening, Labour moved a motion demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, mirroring calls from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, alongside the release of hostages and the supply of aid.
The humanitarian crisis engulfing the nation has led to the deaths of around 30,000, including many children. As civilians were displaced to the south, Rafah is now home to 1.5m people, 600,000 of whom are children. With nowhere to escape, and Israel looking to expand the offensive, it presents an immediate and grave threat to innocent civilians at a scale not yet seen.
We must demand the same value of life for every child. No if’s, no buts, the UK must not support the offensive into Rafah.
The motion also called for the recognition of a Palestinian state as a foundation of a lasting two state solution, an end the illegal settler expansion violence in the West Bank and urges Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures.
The Tory government, who sought to water down the demand and push back a ceasefire, eventually withdrew its amendment allowing Labours motion to go through unanimously, replacing the much weaker proposal submitted by the SNP, and ensuring for the first time the UK parliament spoke with one voice in demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Labour’s full motion agreed by the UK Parliament reads.
“believes that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences and therefore must not take place; notes the intolerable loss of Palestinian life, the majority being women and children; condemns the terrorism of Hamas who continue to hold hostages; supports Australia, Canada and New Zealand’s calls for Hamas to release and return all hostages and for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7 October 2023 cannot happen again; therefore supports diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire; demands that rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief is provided in Gaza; further demands an end to settlement expansion and violence; urges Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures; calls for the UN Security Council to meet urgently; and urges all international partners to work together to establish a diplomatic process to deliver the peace of a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state, including working with international partners to recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to rather than outcome of that process, because statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.”
The local government finance settlement proves to be just another example of the sticking plaster politics we have come to expect from this government.
Council’s are at the forefront of our communities. They provide the local services that we all rely on in our daily lives. From waste management to road maintenance to housing and supporting businesses. Councils allow our communities to thrive and realise their full potential and for 14 years they have done this admirably, even with their hands tied behind their backs.
Today could have been the day the government, after 14 years in power, finally fixed the crisis in local government.
And after a lost decade, today should have been the day to begin turning the tide on the unsustainable and growing crisis in adult social care, children’s services, and homelessness services; and to end the postcode lottery in the vital services which create the communities working people deserve to live in; ones which are clean, green and safe, in return for the now record taxes they pay.
But on every test the government have failed. Councils, of all political stripes up and down the country, covering cities, towns and counties are being forced to the edge.
Labour will ensure that, should we be privileged enough to be elected to government, we will oversee a radical transfer of power out of Westminster and into the hands of the British people through a landmark Take Back Control Act. But we won’t wait, where we can accelerate improvement, we will.
We want a new relationship, between central and local government as genuine partners in power.
We want to see the right powers in the right places.
Our communities are resilient, and so are the Councils that represent them. It is time for Labour to be in government, and ensure that this is finally respected.
After 14 years of Tory rule, Dentistry in the UK is in decay.
8 out of 10 dentists in the UK are not accepting new patients, people have no option but to suffer along or attempt dangerous ‘DIY dentistry’ which can cause serious long term issues.
The collapse of NHS dentistry has left millions of patients unable to get an appointment when they need one. Analysis of patient survey data suggests that last year, 4.75 million people were either told there were no appointments available or the practice wasn’t taking on new patients, when they last tried to book an appointment.
In Oldham, 64% of reporting practices were not accepting new adult patients last year.
It is a crisis of health and we need action now to save our country’s dental health.
Labour has committed to a fundamental reform of the Dentistry contract and our plan to rescue NHS dentistry provides 700,000 appointments for urgent treatment.
Today I spoke in the Chamber during Education Questions regarding the Newman College in Chadderton and the issues they are facing with their roof & heating systems.
The school is a PFI build and in 2016 it was sold to Amber Infrastructure, who have taken out approaching £80 million in shareholder dividends in the last five years.
The roof is leaking, effecting over 30 classrooms, with 2 temporary classrooms in use by students due to the badly damaged rooms.
The heating system malfunctions, rendering the school unable to make food or produce hot water.
I told the government, if the money is there to take out such dividends, the money is certainly there to fix the roof.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 