Scribblings from Afar

Labour of the future?

conn1231 — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:27:06 +0000

What I want is a Labour party what does the things it was created to do, Builds social housing, spends money on the children of the country, builds schools, and sure start centres. Cares for the old and those in need with a National Care service, and a modern but true to the Spirit of Nye Health Service. A party that believes in everyone, not just those at the top or the middle. A Party that wants to not bring the top down, but bring the bottom up. A Listens not to the media, but to where its Ideals take it and a party that believes in aspiration. It shouldn’t be blue, or purple or progress, it should just be Labour

HS2? No not yet

conn1231 — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:53:39 +0000

There is a lot of talk today about High Speed 2 after the transport secretary Phillip Hammond has launched a public consultation for the route between London Euston and Birmingham, with extensions to Manchester and Leeds. Its a laudable exercise that both him and his predecessor Adonis have clearly been enthusiastic about.
Me not so much, a High Speed link between London and the “North” is a great idea, and one that i have nothing against. Im just of the view that before we start on the big schemes like Hs2 we should massively increase both the standard and capacity of regional services in both the North as well as Wales and West of Reading. Two carriages on principle routes is not enough not nearly enough.

As well as stock improvements, electrification of at least the Midland Main Line and Transpennine routes should come before Hs2.
It won’t happen though because its not a grand scheme.

Paris Really?

conn1231 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:19:58 +0000

I’ve just done something i’ve never done before, and complained, to Cllr Patrick Karney my Labour Councillor in Harpurhey, about this quite honestly hilarious idea in the Manchester Evening News. Article Here, my email to him is below, and truth be told I’m not really holding my breath for a reply…

I email you as a constituent of yours and a resident of Harpurhey, and would like to express my utter dismay at your comments regarding the “twinning” of Harpurhey with Paris, my comparisons would be more nuanced than your hyperbolic one certainly was.

Coco Channel vs. Cash Generator. Does the Champs Elysees have as many potholes as Fernclough Road? I wonder if there are as many queues outside Raymond Blancs restaurants as there is outside Greggs in the morning… boat rides down the Medlock vs the Seine. The “Stalls” of

the Thursday flea market compared to the Parisan markets.

You may think that your comments to the Manchester Evening News view your constituency in a good light but they don’t, not against a back drop of unemployment, and a quality of living that is still far below other more affluent areas of the city, never mind the bright lights of central Paris, maybe you should focus more on fighting the massive cuts that services in Harpurhey are going to receive instead of making ludicrous comments?

It wouldn’t sound as stupid if Harpurhey wasn’t one of the most deprived places not only in Manchester but in the country, and more than that how is a chimney stack with one blue light, anything like the Eiffel Tower anyway?

New Dawn

conn1231 — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:00:41 +0000

I’ve not blogged – nor even logged into WordPress since the 31st of July, and a lot of things have changed since then.

The coalition has released its CSR.
There was cuts cuts and more cuts, BSF, Bookstart Film Council.
u-turn after u-turn, clearly this government is for turning.
Riots on the streets of London and more riots on the streets of London.

So since I’ve been gone 2010 has shaped up to be not a very nice year. weirdly though I’ve been still getting a fair few number of hits for a blog that’s not posted in nearly six months, about 300 if I get the internal maths right.

In that 300 there was some rather bizarre search terms as well, My personal favourite is “Paul O’Grady Works for First Transpennine Express” Not sure that he does!

Anyway what I’m trying to say in a style that clearly shows that I’ve been away from this for far far too long is that, I’m going to try to start blogging again in the new year!!

For now though, Many Happy Returns

Labour Leadership

conn1231 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:01:49 +0000

It was the Manchester Hustings (Or the #manchustings on twitter.) today, and several things occurred to me. We’re blessed with 5 candidates for the leadership that truth be told are all talented passionate and labour to the core, and as such I’d be happy to get behind whoever wins in September. All five of them are wonderfully talented in their own way. Andy Burnham on Health, Balls on Education, Ed Miliband on Climate Change, David Miliband on Foreign Policy and Diane Abbott is good on where we went wrong in the last 13 years of Government. Whoever wins were going to have a very good leader at the helm, a leader who will take the fight to the Coalition government, fighting against the unfair cuts and the anti-democratic agenda.

Yes electing a new leader is a vital thing that we need to do as a party, but I think there is something equally as important, the party activists, its councillors and unions, the Labour party isn’t just a typical Westminster Party, it’s a movement, a movement that should be both self-critical of the mistakes of the past while looking to change for the better in the future. As a movement we have sacred principles, the NHS and Comprehensive Education, Fairness across the board for example on Fair Pay, and together we should fight for them, and I have faith that we will do.

My Shadow Cabinet

conn1231 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:46:59 +0000

So a fair few people on twitter (Well @nathage and @SamCEllis are anyway) have made a list of who they would wish to see in the Shadow Cabinet. So here would be my take on it.

Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition

Ed Milliband

Deputy Leader and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister

Harriet Harman

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

David Milliband

Shadow Justice Secretary

Jack Straw

Shadow for the Home Department

Yvette Cooper

Shadow Secretary of State for Children Schools and Familes

Hilary Benn

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence

John Denham

Shadow Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills

John Cruddas

Shadow Secretary of Work and Pensions

Jeremy Corbyn

Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change

Louise Ellman

Shadow Secretary for Health/ Housing

Andy Burnham

Shadow Secretary for Communities and Local Government

Julie Hilling

Shadow Secretary for Transport

Lord Adonis

Sadiq Khan

Shadow Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Kate Green

Shadow Secretary for International Development

Rosie Cooper

Shadow Secretary for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport

Diane Abbott

Tom Watson

Shadow Secretary for Scotland

Tom Harris

Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland

Shaun Woodward

Shadow Secretary for Wales

Chris Bryant

Shadow Leader of the House of Lords & Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Lord Mandelson

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Gordon Brown

Opposistion Chief Whip

Stephen Timms

I warn you

conn1231 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:02:13 +0000

Most of this blog isn’t going to be my own work, I warn you now. But the words below are as apt for the “emergency budget” tomorrow as it did 1983.

I warn you that you will have pain -
When healing and relief depend on payment.

I warn you that you will have ignorance -
When talents are untended and wits are wasted, when learning is a privilege and not a right.

I warn you that you will have poverty -
When pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a Government that won’t pay in an economy that can’t pay.

I warn you that you will be cold -
When fuel charges are used as a tax system that the rich don’t notice and the poor can’t afford.

I warn you that you must not expect work -
When many cannot spend, more will not be able to earn. When they don’t earn, they don’t spend. When they don’t spend, work dies.

I warn you not to go into the streets alone after dark or into the streets in large crowds of protest in the light.

I warn you that you will be quiet -
When the curfew of fear and the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient.

I warn you that you will have defence of a sort -
With a risk and at a price that passes all understanding.

I warn you that you will be home-bound -
When fares and transport bills kill leisure and lock you up.
I warn you that you will borrow less -When credit, loans, mortgages and easy payments are refused to people on your melting income.

Jobless

conn1231 — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:25:29 +0000

There are several questions that I ask myself everytime I go through the local shopping arcade, Where are all the jobs and why is there still massive problems with deprivation (and the problems that it brings) And why has nothing been done to solve the two previous questions. I always walk through going i’m going to write to someone asking – this time I actually am, I’m sending a slightly altered version of this to my four elected representatives, not that I particularly expect an answer.

Where are all the jobs though?

The local NHS hospital is the areas biggest employer along with a ASDA… Not really options that are great for careers post 16 are they? In fact at the last census there were more people unemployed than there were actually in work, and that can only have got worse as the economic downturn hit, you would expect then there to be lots of students etc? Well only 14% have at least one GCSE and only 5% make it to further education. Yes in recent years it has one got slightly better, there being a new Sixth Form centre opened, which is wonderful but even if it doubled the amount of people getting to A Level it’s still only 10% of students. Which everyone must see is bad.

The second question i think slightly more complex for clearly obvious reasons, but broadly speaking it is a mix of education, social problems, lifestyle and a lack of opportunities in some cases, this clearly isn’t the case for everyone, and it would be wrong of me to think it is. In fact the two questions are massively interlinked if only 5% of 16 year olds are making it into Further Education, then clearly the other 95% have to either find a job that they can get with their qualifications, which many of the 95% may do but the others then have to live meagre on meagre benefits, and then the spiral keeps going on. So if you some how solve the first problem then you can go someway to solving the second one.

The problem is, where are the jobs going to come from

I can see the massive investment and change we see that 13 years of a Labour government has given, I only have to walk across the road and I can see a new library and new college, police station and swimming pool. But they simply aren’t enough.

String

conn1231 — Sat, 29 May 2010 15:53:56 +0000

I’m getting slightly annoyed with my MP ( Quite what he has actually done for his constituents I don’t actually know. I’m racking my brain for things, but I can’t think of any. Ooo he got a sign removed. But I’ve been looking at how he votes in the commons, that is when he votes of course.

Ban Fox hunting – Yep he wants to keep the ban.

Crossrail, in Favour…You’re in favour of Crossrail, quite why I don’t know.

Elected House of Lords – Against… but for riding the Hereditary peers.

Id Cards – For there introduction

Lisbon Treaty Referendum -for.

Cross city Bus. – Against

Greater Manchester Congestion Charge – Against.

For Equal Gay rights but then bizarrely he’s only moderately for transgender rights…

Against the War in Iraq, and also against an investigation into the war in Iraq. But also against the seeking of a second UN resolution.

Strongly For introducing Student Top up Fees.

For “42 Days” without charge. Voted to increase that to 90 days…

He didn’t even vote in the Digital Economy Bill…

Oh and he didn’t really like Gordon.

Theres a fair few policy positions up there, and I agree with bits of two of them. He might be of the same political colour to me, but does he really represent what I believe in probably not, but at the end of the day I guess he’s a darn sight better than having a Tory in charge, for all his faults, and that thus means love him or hate him, i kinda do think he should still represent me.

The Fight Continues

conn1231 — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:01:30 +0000

So we have a Liberal/Conservative Government, I guess I should say congratulations to our new prime minister. We will see what happens with that.

What ever happens with that coalition (And I seriously hope it doesn’t last more than 6 months) there is still a job that needs to be done, we might have lost the electorates support but there is still a fight to try and protect the schools and hospitals, to fight for those at the bottom, and those at the top. To fight for those whos shouts for help get drowned out, and for those who’s shouts don’t. To fight for those who are perceived to be different. To fight for the fairness that we think is right.

We achieved a hell of a lot in the 13 years in which there was a New Labour government. Too many for me to actually mention in one blog! We should be especially proud however of Surestart and the Minimum wage, they underpin our core beliefs, a belief in fairness for not just the top but for everyone.

We may be in opposition, but that doesn’t mean that were going to go home and give up, its not what we do. I for one know that those who are in the Commons are going to fight tooth and nail, for the fairness that they believe in

We might not know when an election is going to be, but one thing is for sure, the fight has already started, were going to evaluate where we can do better, where we can achieve more. Were going to pound the streets and were going to get the message that I believe in, every other member of the Labour Party believes in, a message that whoever the next leader is will believe in.Because we share the same commitment we can succeed.