Emma Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, responding to today’s statutory homelessness figures which show a rise in the number of families accepted as homeless, said:

“These figures show the scale of this Government’s failure to tackle the housing shortage which is central to the cost-of-living crisis. It is a tragedy that so close to Christmas thousands of families are without a home.

“David Cameron has broken his promises to tackle homelessness.  Rising housing costs and low pay have made it more and more difficult for people to stay in their family home and the Government’s failure to build the affordable homes we need and policies like the Bedroom Tax have made things worse.

“Labour is committed to raising living standards for all by building more homes, raising wages, getting a fairer deal for private renters and abolishing the unfair Bedroom Tax.”

Bach handed shadow attorney general role | News | Law Society Gazette

Bach handed shadow attorney general role | News | Law Society Gazette

Congratulations to Willy Bach!

Many congratulations to Willy Bach of Lutterworth Branch on his recent appointment to the post of Shadow Attorney General.

Amanda Hack, Labour PPC, meets local people of Lutterworth

Amanda Hack, PPC for South Leicestershire, and Labour party members met locals at Lutterworth town hall on Saturday, 29th November for coffee and a chat.

Coffee morning with Amanda Hack, Labour PPC for Lutterworth

On Saturday, 29th November, the CLP held a coffee morning at Lutterworth town hall, where our PPC, Amanda Hack, was able to meet and chat to constituents. There was a good deal of interest, and people were keen to discuss issues such as housing, rents, jobs and pay. We all wish Amanda the very best in her campaign to become the MP for Lutterworth.

Dismal failure of Customs and Revenue

I found an interesting snippet in the report of Margaret Hodge's Public Accounts Committee for September 10 2014.

I'm sure we've all heard reports that HMRC is doing much better at making the tax-dodgers cough up.  Well, not quite,

It turns out they made a trivial error of a mere £1.9 billion when setting the baseline against which their performance could be judged.  Thus in 2012, 2013 and right up until this summer, they were boasting they had exceeded their targets by miles when in fact they only just about scraped past the line.  As a result George Osborne and the Treasury team have repeatedly misled parliament.  Usually, I'd relish the chance to berate George for telling whoppers, but in this instance he was lied to first.  And if you can't trust HMRC to do a simple adding up exercise...

We all know that Farage and UKIP want to privatize the NHS because he has publicly said so.  David Cameron and his on-the-run Tories aren't so upfront.  But they want to privatize just the same.  They want to flog off the last of our national crown jewels for a short-term gain and long-term pain.  And the rubbish Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) is their vehicle for doing so.  Never heard of it?  No, Tory newspapers like the hideous Daily Mail and media like Sky haven't exactly been headlining it.

For the avoidance of doubt, let's be clear: Labour is pledged to repeal HCSA.  It really is that simple.

Labour's vision

Labour’s vision is one where everyone who works hard is rewarded and where broken markets are reformed so that vested interests serve the public and not the other way round. We want to ensure that the next generation does better than the last and that wages are protected and not undercut by immigration. 

Like every country round the world, Britain is susceptible to waves of change which create opportunities as well as challenges. The question is who is best to control these forces on behalf of everyday people. The answer is Labour. 

We're Britain. We're better than this."

"We are talking more about immigration as a party and it's right that we do so.  But it will always be on the basis of Labour values, not UKIP values.  Unlike David Cameron what will never do is try to out-UKIP UKIP.

"I think it is time we levelled with people about UKIP.  It is time we had a debate about where they really stand.

"They think that working mothers aren't worth as much as men.  Life was easier when there wasn't equality for gay and lesbian people.  The NHS would be better off privatised.  Rights at work, whether they come from Europe or from here, are simply a barrier to economic success.

"We're Britain.  We're better than this.  You can't build a vision of the future if you don't believe in equal rights.  You can't succeed as a country if you try to close yourself off from the world.  You can't make a fairer country if you try to destroy our National Health Service."

Ed Miliband, November 2014

Wine tasting raises election funds!

Lutterworth BLP had a most enjoyable evening tasting a selection of wines chosen by Branch member and wine expert, Leigh Jones. 6 different wines were tasted from Italy, France, Spain and South Africa. They included red, white, rose and a sparkling white first made by medieval monks in the foothills of the Pyrenees. All were of modest price, so affordable even in these tough Tory times! It was a very pleasant way to raise funds, with live music, great raffle prizes and it made a change to chat with members after the recent wet canvassing sessions!

Leigh displays a fine wine!

Leighs Mum, Edna, who supported and did lots of organising for the event

Chair, Sandra, says a few words

Peter on piano

Members enjoying delicious wines

Labour and wildlife policy

On Nov 13th, I attended a brilliant talk by Dominic Dyer, the CEO of the Badger Trust. A Party member, he previously worked for Tony Blair, as a Young Labour organiser in 1995, when he and TB discovered how passionately young people felt about the environment and wildlife. TB recognised this, and put a whole range of wildlife protection and animal welfare policies in his manifesto. During the last Labour government, there was also an extensive scientific study carried out into the value of culling badgers in the fight against bovine TB in cattle. The evidence was clear that badger culling did not work.
Compare this to David Cameron`s "Greenest Government ever" which continues culling despite the evidence that it is inhumane, ineffective and hugely expensive. He can only be persisting with this for political reasons, and siding with land owners and the shooting and fishing fraternity rather than protecting our wildlife.
There is massive public antagonism to the cull of badgers and lack of protection of our wildlife, as shown in the huge petitions to the government, masses of letters sent to MPs, people taking to the streets in towns and cities in marches, and challenges to these government policies in the high court.
Ed Miliband needs to make wildlife protection a key issue in his manifesto - stopping the cull, not allowing hares to be shot during breeding time, banning the use of snares and stepping up the fight against wildlife crime. It would be hugely popular with both first time voters and the wider electorate.
Read more about wildlife issues in Dominic`s article in the November issue of Labour`s "Progress" magazine

Dominic Dyer with members of Leicestershire and Rutland Badger Group

Talk about vested interests!

• HEDGE FUNDS GIVE CONSERVATIVES OVER £50 MILLION

  -       Latest figures from the Electoral Commission reveal that in the last quarter (Q3 2014) hedge funds gave the Tories £1.34 million in donations, which means donations from the hedge fund industry to the Conservative Party now total £51.1 million.
  -       Hedge funds were given a tax cut worth £145 million by George Osborne in 2013.
  -       Analysis of Conservative Party donations shows that almost £3 million of donations in the last quarter came from donors who have attended exclusive private dinners with David Cameron and other senior Ministers, taking the total to £7.7 million from dinner donors in 2014.
  Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister said:
  “David Cameron’s Tories are the party for a privileged few.
  “The Tory election campaign will be funded by those who dine exclusively at the Prime Minister’s top table and a select few in the hedge fund industry.
  “David Cameron’s hedge fund backers and millionaires have been given tax breaks while hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet.
  “The Tories are standing up for those at the top at the expense of working people across the country. Whether putting private profit before patient care in the NHS or siding with the energy industry over consumers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, David Cameron stands up for the wrong people.”
  Background on hedge fund donations
  

  • The Conservative Party relies heavily for its funding on individuals and companies associated with asset management and hedge funds.
  • According to Electoral Commission figures for the most recent quarter alone, Q3 2014, hedge fund donors have given £1.34 million either in their own names or through their companies.

JON ASHWORTH

Leicester South MP and Shadow Cabinet Minister

You can never again trust the LibDems

Nick Clegg likes to try and distance himself from his record and his Tory coalition partners. But the truth is that he has backed the Tories all the way, and broken the promises he made at the last election. You can't trust Nick Clegg, and you can't trust the Lib Dems:

• They promised to scrap tuition fees and then trebled them.
• They promised not to increase VAT, warned against a “Tory VAT bombshell”, but then voted through a VAT rise on hardworking families.  
• They promised a fair tax system with the wealthiest paying more but have cut taxes for millionaires. 
• They promised to be on the side of working people but hardworking people are £1,600 worse off since they joined the Tories in government.

You can’t trust them – they say they are holding David Cameron back but Nick Clegg has been weak and backed the Tories all the way:

• Nick Clegg backed the Tories’ wasteful and damaging £3 billion top-down reorganisation of the NHS, while cutting nurses and seeing waiting lists rise and operations rationed.
• Nick Clegg backed the Tories’ hated Bedroom Tax, even though two thirds of the people hit by it are disabled and 60,000 are carers.
• Nick Clegg backed Michael Gove and allowed schools to recruit unqualified teachers, putting school standards at risk.

UKIP - more Tory than the Tories

UKIP want to take billions out of the NHS, subsidising the better off to go private. Their health spokesperson favours introducing charging in the NHS for “non-emergency” cases and to allow people to pay to jump the queue.

UKIP claim to be on the side of working people, but the truth is UKIP is made up of senior figures with a history in the Tory party. UKIP relies more and more on Tory funding and UKIP shares a Tory policy agenda. The only difference is that UKIP is an even more damaging prospectus for Britain’s future than the Tories.

UKIP are even more right wing than the Tories. A vote for UKIP is a vote for:

• Higher taxes for working families 
• Huge tax giveaways for the rich
• Even deeper cuts to the public services you rely on
• Charges to see your GP
• Scrapping your rights as a worker  

And then, of course, there's our own dear UKIP MEP.

A future for the many, not the few

The Tories can't build a better future for working people because they stand up only for a privileged few.

 

Under the Tories’ failing plan too many people are treading water, working harder and harder just to stay afloat, and worried that the next generation are finding it harder to get on than the last.

• Working people are an average of £1,600 a year worse off under the Tories
• Family energy bills have been allowed to rise by over £300 since the election.
• The average age of first time buyers has now reached 33.

David Cameron claims this economy is fixed, but their plan has seen a recovery which is benefiting a privileged few far more than most families.

• David Cameron has cut tax for people on over £150,000 a year while raising it for everyone else.
• Hedge funds have been given a tax break worth millions.
• Families with children have been hit hard, with childcare costs up 30%.

And despite promising to protect the NHS, under David Cameron it is going backwards with people struggling to see their GP and waiting lists rising. You can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.

• One in four patients are waiting a week or more for a GP appointment.
• Waiting lists for treatment are at their highest level for six years.
• Thousands of frontline NHS staff have been lost while £3 billion has been wasted on a damaging reorganisation they promised wouldn’t happen.

The Time to Care Fund

The NHS is one of our greatest achievements but it’s struggling under a Tory-led government which wasted billions on an unnecessary top-down reorganisation. Even the Tories themselves see it as their biggest own goal.


That’s why Ed Miliband has announced that the next Labour government will create a £2.5 billion a year NHS Time to Care Fund to save and transform our health service.

We’ll support 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, 5,000 more careworkers and 3,000 more midwives. By appointing these additional staff, our doctors and nurses will have the time they need to care properly for patients, as well as transforming services in communities and at home.

The Time to Care Fund will not be paid for through more borrowing or by raising taxes on everyday working people. Instead, the money will be raised from a tax on houses worth over £2 million, a co-ordinated crackdown against tax avoidance, and by ensuring tobacco companies contribute towards the costs they impose on the NHS.

The Tories haven’t just destabilised our health service; they’re holding it back from meeting the challenges of the 21st century as well. We need a world-class health and care service that is equipped to address the modern challenges that come from an ageing population, more people living with chronic conditions, the rise of mental health, and a higher premium on preventing illness.

The NHS is going backwards under the Tories so there has never been a better or more important time to care about its future. 

Only Labour can be trusted to protect the NHS and with the Time to Care Fund, we’ll ensure we have a health service fit for the 21st century.  

Boosting the Minimum Wage

LABOUR WILL HELP BRITIAN’S LOWEST PAID BY RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE

The introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in 1999 was a great achievement of the last Labour Government.

This policy ended the exploitation of millions of Britain’s workers and increased productivity without job losses. But the challenge we faced 15 years ago is different to the one we face today and the one we will face in the coming years.

That’s why Ed Miliband has announced Labour’s plan to raise the NMW to £8 an hour by 2020.

One in five British workers find themselves struggling on low pay, often relying on benefits or tax credits to top up their wage so they can simply afford the essentials, even though they often work long, hard hours. This can’t be right. If you work hard you should be able to bring up your family with dignity without relying on the taxpayer to make up the difference.

But under David Cameron and George Osborne often people are not getting the rewards because the Government’s recovery is only benefiting a privileged few.

So the next Labour government, working with businesses and the Low Pay Commission, will raise the NMW to £8 by 2020, a move that will put an extra £3,000 a year in the pockets of Britain’s lowest paid workers.

This is an important move that will end the scandal of five million Brits struggling to make ends meet because they are on low pay. But Labour understands that businesses need time to adjust their models to support higher wages. That’s why we will raise the NMW over the five years of the next Parliament so businesses will have enough time to plan for the long-term goal of £8 an hour by 2020.

The Tories are boasting that the economy is fixed but we’ve seen a recovery that is working just for the few. Labour’s plan for Britain’s future will ensure we become a country that rewards hard work again. That begins by guaranteeing that everyone in Britain should be able to live on the wage they earn.   

The real choices - the Labour alternative

As the Labour Party meets for its annual conference up in Manchester there are less than nine months to go before Britain is faced with a choice.

The choice to elect a government that only represents the interests of a few or a Labour government that will take on vested interests and stand up for the many.

The Tories and LibDems will use every tool at their disposal to try and discredit us and blame us for their failure.

Remember, under this useless Coalition the use of food banks has increased tenfold, prices continue to outstrip wages and it's getting harder and harder to get an appointment with your GP.

Ed Miliband's Labour Party offers a real alternative.

A Labour Government elected in 2015 will axe the cruel Bedroom Tax, strengthen the minimum wage, introduce a cap on energy bills to reset the broken market, and stop the Tory privatisation of our world-beating NHS,

The Scottish Referendum showed that people will come out and vote in huge numbers (86%) when given a clear choice about issues that matter to them.

Should be a record turnout in 2015 then.

Lutterworth Labour party Summer BBQ

A big thank you goes to Mike Wailloo for once again hosting a BBQ in his lovely garden this July. He provided and cooked a delicious meal. Music was provided by Peter and Elaine, and the raffle was truly Socialist ensuring everyone won a prize! The prizes were great, and included donations from various local businesses. About 35 people attended, and we had a great day, and the weather was not bad either! £885 was made, which will help nicely towards costs of the forth coming General election.

Our next social / fund raising event will be a wine tasting on 25th October, tasting the delicious wines of Leigh Jones! Please join us!

Your Labour Candidate for South Leicestershire

AMANDA HACK

Labour Party members in South Leicestershire have selected a local councillor to take on sitting Tory MP Andrew Robatham at the general election.

Amanda Hack, a married mum of two, represents the Thorpe Astley ward on Braunstone Town Council. 

Professionally, Amanda works as Head of Economic Development for the Asra Housing Group – a leading housing and regeneration provider, managing 13,500 homes in the Midlands and South East England.

Speaking after her selection as Labour’s choice for South Leicestershire, Amanda said: 

I’m delighted that local people have backed me to take on the Tories and LibDems in South Leicestershire.

Independent figures reveal that wages are an average of £1,600 down in real terms since 2010 as prices and inflation continue to raise faster that pay packets.

Combined with an average increase of £300 on household utility bills, hardworking people in South Leicestershire find themselves in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

It needn’t be like this - it’s only because of the decisions David Cameron’s government has made that people who work hard and play by the rules are so out of pocket.

Living standards for the majority have fallen in 44 of the 45 months David Cameron has been in Downing Street – all whilst the out-of-touch Tory-led government hands a £3billion tax break to the top 1% of earners by cutting the 50p income tax rate.

People are playing by the rules but not getting any better off.

Ed Miliband has committed a future Labour government to delivering an energy price freeze and introducing a Jobs Guarantee to get the million unemployed young people back to work – a government who stands up for the many, not the few.

Amanda added: “I’m looking forward to getting out on the doorsteps of South Leicestershire and making the case for Ed Miliband’s One Nation alternative here.”

South Leicestershire Constituency Labour Party member Lord Willy Bach, who serves as a Shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister in the Lords, welcomed Amanda’s selection. He said: 

Amanda has a proven track record in standing up for local people – just the kind of advocate the people who have been left worse off by this government need. I look forward to working with her in the run up to the general election.

Follow Amanda's campaign on Twitter @hack4labour

Mending the Fractured State

Andrew Adonis's report on how to build a fairer economy and restore meaningful politics nationally and locally, was generally welcomed when it was published yesterday.  It certainly attracted very favourable comments at our Branch meeting last night.

Andrew identifies the problem:

• Big strengths and big weaknesses characterise the UK economy. We have world class universities and centres of research, and many of the world’s largest firms. Inward investment is high. London is a preeminent global city. Yet growth is unbalanced. The link between growth and living standards has been broken, exports are weak, young people widely lack the opportunities they deserve and inequality is vast, both between people and between regions.
• The report argues that government needs to become smarter and more entrepreneurial, nationally and locally. Working in intense collaboration with leaders across education, business, science and public services, it needs to facilitate innovation by promoting higher rates of business and export growth. 
• The report recommends giving city and county regions the powers they require to promote growth. Local Enterprise Partnerships – as the regional voice of business – need to be significantly improved. In partnership with local authorities at the city and county regional level, they should then be empowered with larger devolved budgets to promote better skills, infrastructure and economic development, in return for credible growth plans.

The overriding aim of the report by Lord Adonis is to promote a smarter, not a more expensive, state. It argues that we need to build on the best of Britain and be optimistic that the best is yet to come.

Download your copy of MENDING THE FRACTURED STATE by clicking here.

Labour - Fighting for Britain's Future

Labour's Cost of Living Contract

Last week, Labour would have delivered a Queen’s speech to help Britain be better off 

Parliament should be making real progress to address the public’s discontent and chart a new direction for Britain. Labour’s Queen’s Speech would have included: 

 

• A Make Work Pay bill to reward hard work with a higher minimum wage.

 

• A Banking Bill that backs British business with a real British Investment Bank and new regional banks.

 

• A Consumers Bill to freeze energy bills until 2017 and reform the energy market

 

• A Housing Bill with long term reform to increase supply to 200,000 homes by 2020, and measures to end rip-off letting fees and make three year tenancies the norm.

 

• A Communities Bill to give people a say over pay day lenders and betting shops on their high streets.

 

• An Immigration Bill, to stop workers being undercut through enforcement of the minimum wage and banning recruitment agencies that only use overseas labour.

 

• An NHS Bill, to put a stop to its privatisation and improve access to GPs. 

 

To make that happen we need a different government, a Labour Government.

 

Labour will take immediate action to deal with David Cameron’s cost-of-living crisis:

 

• Freeze gas and electricity bills until 2017, as we reform the broken energy market to prevent customers being ripped off.

 

• Get the next generation into work, with expanded apprenticeships and a compulsory jobs guarantee for young people unemployed for a year or more – with a real paid job they’ll have to take or lose benefits.

 

• Introduce a lower 10p starting rate of tax to help make work pay and cut taxes for 24 million working people on middle and lower incomes – funded by a mansion tax on homes worth over £2 million.

 

• End the abuse of zero hour contracts and strengthen the minimum wage.

 

Labour will make big long-term changes so that hardworking people are better off

 

• Get 200,000 homes built a year by 2020, creating up to 230,000 construction jobs.

 

• Make work pay with 25 hours free childcare for three and four year olds with working parents paid for by an increase in the bank levy.

 

• Improve school standards, by guaranteeing that all teachers must be qualified, and transforming vocational education for the 50 per cent of young people who don’t go to university with gold-standard technical qualifications at age 18.

 

• Repeal David Cameron's NHS changes that put private profit before patient care – and we will give patients and the public a say when changes to local services are proposed.

 

Only Labour can make Britain better off, putting hardworking families first with a plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and earn our way to higher living standards for all.

Welcome ban on plastic bags at last!

The Government's crack down on plastic bags is welcome, but rather late compared to us locals!

Lutterworth Labour Party and friends were campaigning for plastic bag reduction many years ago: "Join blitz on plastic bags", Lutterworth Mail, 2008; "Recycling is in the bag", Lutterworth Diary, 2009; "Campaigners succeed in bid to cut plastic bags", Lutterworth Observer, 2009.

If only the Government would take up some other Labour party ethics such as build more houses rather than heating up the housing market; put effort into getting NEETs into work or education instead of playing down the numbers of young people in this difficult position; keeping the NHS in the public sector where it belongs and providing economic stimulus for manufacturing to get more people into work.

Well at least our suggestion regarding plastic bags has been heeded - lets keep hoping!....

Elaine Carter

 

Glenis and Ed out campaigning in Nottingham

 

Only two days to go and the Tories are desperately trying to get everybody to stay at home and not vote.  Of course they expect (and deserve) a going over on Thursday, but what worries them is coming third behind UKIP.  We have a special UKIP problem here in the East Midlands, of course.  The top candidate on their list, and thus the only one who stands a chance of getting in, is not going to serve.  He's already campaigning for the parliamentary by-election in the Nottinghamshire seat of disgraced Tory Patrick Mercer - where I understand he got involved with a disabled Labour supporter yesterday.  To round off a poor day for Mr Helmer, his own party leader, interviewed by Paxman on Newsnight, blamed some of Mr H's stronger opinions on him being over 70 and therefore presumably in Farage's opinion ga-ga.

 

 

 

Voting on Thursday is about more than ensuring embarrassment for Cameron and disappointment for Mr Helmer.  It's about standing up for the rights of ordinary people all across Europe - the rights to travel, the rights to be treated fairly at work, the right to live or work abroad if you chose, and the fundamental right to be treated by the elite as a human being whose opinion actually counts.

Labour guarantees

 

Labour will act to deal with the Coalition's cost-of-living crisis.

 

With your support we will:

• Freeze gas and electricity bills until 2017 and reform the energy market to prevent customers being ripped off again in the future
• Expand free childcare to 25 hours for three- and four-year-olds of working parents
• Get 200,000 homes a year built by 2020
• Get the next generation into work with our compulsory jobs guarantee for young people who have been unemployed for a year or more

Read Glenis Willmott on Europe's role in beating the cost-of-living crisis by clicking here.

Housing Benefit - the facts

The number of working people claiming housing benefit has increased by 60 per cent costing taxpayers an extra £6 billion because of David Cameron’s cost-of-living crisis. 

400,000 more working people are claiming housing benefit costing the taxpayer an estimated extra £4.8bn in housing benefit over the course of this Parliament. 

Every single local authority in the UK has seen an increase in the number of people in work claiming housing benefit, the biggest increase in the country was in Croydon which has seen an astonishing 1100 per cent rise since 2010. 

The maths is simple: landlords profiting from ridiculous rents are likely to vote Tory; tenants paying those rents (and going without in other basics to make up the shortfall in benefit) are not.

Labour has pledged to limit rent increases, extend the length of tenancies and stop letting agents charging both landlord and tenants for their so-called services.  The rent-for-profit industry is up in arms.  Yes, in the country which built railways and cars and ships and wove fabric for the world, renting property now counts as an industry.

Euro Launch Leicester

Rory Palmer and Glenis Willmott launch Labour's Euro Election campaign at the Clock Tower in Leicester, Tuesday May 6th 2014.

Every picture tells a story

And this one tells the whole story - of why the Rabid Right (UKIP, Conservatives, and LibDems) hate Europe and why everybody who has or hopes for a job should vote LABOUR on May 22nd.

The Eurosceptic lie

The Eurosceptics claim the UK could be like Norway, which is not a member of the EU but has access to the single market.  What they don't tell you is (a) that Norway is a liberal social welfare state where people pay higher taxes in return for greater social benefits of all kinds, and (b) that in order to get its access, Norway has to obey EU rules and pay into the EU budget.

If the UK did the same we would have to implement the rules with no say of what they are, and continue to pay our dues without a say over how much.  I somehow don't think rabid anti-European Tory backbenchers would be keen on that arrangement!

Campaigning 4 Europe

The Labour Euro Team campaigning in the centre of Nottingham.

Rent caps will help limit the housing benefit bill

Rent caps will help limit the housing benefit bill

Click on the above link for more on yesterday's announcement of Labour's rent cap - from Lambeth Council cabinet member Sally Prentice.

Helping Generation Rent - a new pledge from Labour

The up-coming elections see Labour setting out plans to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. The message is simple: Hardworking Britain will always be better off with Labour.

David Cameron can’t solve the crisis because he stands up for a privileged few not working people.  The Liberal Democrats are part of the problem not part of the solution.

 

Take for example the spiralling costs of private rented accommodation which are draining welfare budgets, increasing homelessness and preventing an entire generation from saving enough money to get themselves on the housing ladder.

 

Generation rent is a generation that has been ignored for too long. Ed Miliband has today set about putting that right, with Labour’s fair deal for rented housing in Britain.  Labour will bring back long-term tenancies and stable rents so that people can settle down, know where their kids will go to school, know their home will still be there for them tomorrow.

 

That's the pledge.  Here are the facts:

• The costs of renting are part of the cost-of-living crisis: Renters are now paying on average £1020 a year more in rent than in 2010 and letting agents charge average fees of £350 every time someone moves house.
• The private rented sector has changed: 9 million people now rent privately including over 1.3 million families with children and almost 50% of private rented households are over the age of 35.
• The sector doesn’t work for these families: Under the current legislation renters are locked into short term tenancies with only 6 months of security and half of all families renting say that they are worried about unaffordable rent increases.
• Labour will act: We will introduce legislation to make 3 year tenancies with stable rents the norm in the market and to ban letting agents’ fees for tenants, saving families £350. 

The 'priority investors' who made a mint out of the Royal Mail

Government forced to publish list of ‘priority investors’ given lion’s share of Royal Mail shares - Chuka Umunna

Chuka Umunna MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, commenting on the list of priority investors in Royal Mail published by the government, said:
“Following repeated calls from Labour, and Ed Miliband’s questioning of the Prime Minister today, the government has been forced to publish the list of the ‘priority investors’ given the lion’s share of Royal Mail shares in its botched fire sale. This comes after ministers have dragged their feet for months.

“Vince Cable’s claims to have prioritised long-term investors now lie in tatters, and the City has made a fast buck at taxpayers’ expense. This list includes both Lazard Asset Management, and a hedge fund with links to the Conservative Party.

“The full scale of the mishandling of the sale of Royal Mail by David Cameron’s government is now becoming clear and serious questions for ministers are mounting. Taxpayers have been left hugely short changed at a time when families are being hit by a cost-of-living crisis.”

The list of priority investors released by BIS in a letter to Chuka Umunna is as follows:

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
BlackRock
Capital Research
Fidelity Worldwide
GIC
Henderson
JP Morgan
Kuwait Investment Office
Lansdowne Partners
Lazard Asset Management
Och Ziff
Schroders
Soros
Standard Life
Third Point
Threadneedle

Labour pledge to reform zero-hour contracts

One of the ways the Coalition massage unemployment figures is by encouraging zero-hour contracts, which by definition offer no guarantee of work or income. 

There may be some advantages to these contracts - for example seasonal work or where it suits the worker - but the lack of regulation leaves the door wide open to abuse.

The next Labour Government will give new rights to people with zero-hour contracts:

• to demand a fixed hours contract when they have worked regular hours over six months with the same employer
• to receive a fixed hours contract automatically when they have worked regular hours over a year (unless they choose to opt out)
• to be protected from employers forcing them to be available at all hours, insisting they cannot work for anyone else, or cancelling shifts at short notice without compensation

This announcement underlines Labour's commitment to improve living standards and help businesses build a more productive, successful economy across the UK.

How much does Europe cost me?

It doesn't.  According to the CBI, every UK household is £3000 better off (that's £1,225 for those of us who aren't households) each year thanks to Britain's membership of the EU.

The UK pays money into the EU Budget just like every other EU country, but we also get money back through EU funding programmes and the British economy gets a massive boost from the EU single market.

So, in a nutshell, Euro sceptics are after taking money from us and UKIP are talking made-up nonsense.

Ed Miliband on the cost of living crisis

When ministers claim the cost-of-living crisis is over, it serves only to demonstrate they understand neither the reality faced by millions of hard-working people nor the scale of the generational challenge.

Ed Miliband writing in The Independent today.  He continues:

Millions of families are caught in the crosshairs of a cost-of-living crisis: a few people at the top scoop more and more of the rewards; markets  such as energy have become uncompetitive, allowing huge prices to be imposed on consumers; and many of the new jobs being created require fewer skills, pay lower wages and offer less security. 

This Government cannot deal with these problems because lying beneath its claims of being converted to full employment is an economic ideology built on low pay, low skills, low prospects and  low productivity.

A Labour government will make the big changes needed in our economy to  tackle this cost-of-living crisis. 

Read the entire article here.

It really is this simple

Why do Labour MEPs believe the UK is better off in the EU?

Labour MEPs believe Britain must grow its economy and earn its way to higher living standards.  To achieve this, British businesses need to export more.  The EU is vital.

As part of the EU, British businesses have access to the world's largest single market and can also benefit from EU trade deals with some of the world's largest economies.  With free access to the EU market, the UK is much more attractive to foreign investors too.

Already, 3.5 million UK jobs depend on our relationship with the EU.

With Britain deep in a cost of living crisis, we must not put at risk our access to the world's largest single market.
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The European Elections are on Thursday May 22 2014.  It is not too late to claim your right to a postal vote.  Harborough District Council doesn't make it easy - they haven't even put the election date up yet - but we can cut through that sort of thing.  If you want to claim your postal (or proxy) click here and scroll down the page.  Don't be put off by the bit about "are you unable to attend your polling station?"  It's rubbish.  Anybody can have a postal vote, for one election or forever.  No reason is required.  Any problems, email us at lutterworth4labour@outlook.com.

The truth about Universal Credit

Those who share my concerns with Ian Duncan Smith's repeated obfuscation in the Commons over what his so-called benefit reforms have and haven't achieved might be interested in this:

Secrecy over Universal Credit

Hospitals feel the pinch & Possible consequences of the pensions overhaul

David F saw these items on the BBC News site and thought you should see them (just click on the blue underlined text):

Like householders up-and-down the country, hospitals have been counting the pennies this week. The results make grim reading, says Nick Triggle.

A huge change in the way people fund their retirement is likely to occur owing to the Chancellor's plans for pensions, but what are the hidden consequences?

Labour's response to Osborne's Budget

Ed Balls says:

“George Osborne boasted once again today that everything was going well. Perhaps it is for the people he mixes with. But in the real world, people on middle and low incomes are still not feeling any recovery. And after today’s Budget, they still won’t be feeling it. Wages are down £1,600 a year since David Cameron came to office. And independent forecasts today showed people will be worse off at next year’s election than in 2010.

 

 

So it’s official: You’re worse off under the Tories. Yet there was no action in the Budget to deal with this cost-of-living crisis. No energy prices freeze to help pensioners and families struggling with soaring bills. No help for families with rising childcare costs this side of the election. And no action to get young people stuck on the dole into paid work. Despite all the hype, the Budget totally failed to deliver, except for the very richest who will still get a £3billion a year tax cut. And when Ed Miliband challenged David Cameron and the Chancellor in the Commons, they refused to rule out giving millionaires another tax cut.

Specifically...

 

Real wages are forecast to fall by 5.6% over the Parliament meaning people will be worse off in 2015 than when David Cameron came to power.

Three years of flat-lining and falling living standards has led to more borrowing than planned to pay for the costs of economic failure.

 Let's hope the measures in this Budget are better than the Government's Export Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme which helped just five firms before it folded.

 

It looks like the dear old threepenny bit.  Coincidentally, in real terms it will have about the same purchasing power.

The Budget failed to cap pension fees and charges which leave pensioners paying up to £230,000 over their lifetimes.



 

In summary...





More on Labour's Jobs Guarantee

* Bank bonuses are on the rise (again) and the wealthiest in our country are about to be given another tax cut by David Cameron.  But young people, who have been hit hardest by the recession, are being left behind. For tens of thousands of young people who cannot find work this is no recovery at all. Under David Cameron’s government the number of young people stuck on the dole for more than a year has doubled.

* Labour is determined to ensure that this is a recovery for the many, not just a few at the top. We cannot afford to be wasting the talents of thousands of young people and leaving them stuck on the dole for years on end. It scars their lives, weakens our economy and adds billions to the social security bill. We need to get young people and the long term unemployed off benefits and into work so we can all earn our way out of the cost of living crisis.

* The next Labour government will guarantee jobs for all young people on unemployment benefit for a year, and all adults aged 25 or over on unemployment benefit for two years. It will be a tough contract – those who can work will be required to take up the jobs on offer or lose their benefits. 

* This is a fully funded commitment, paid for by repeating Labour’s successful tax on bank bonuses at the start of the next Parliament and restricting pensions tax relief for people earning over £150,000 to the same rate as basic rate taxpayers.  After the global banking crisis and with bank bonuses soaring again this year, it’s fair to pay for our jobs plan by repeating Labour’s tax on bank bonuses.

If implemented today, Labour's guarantee would create 4,265 jobs for young people in the East Midlands alone.

It's common sense and simple fair play.  Irresponsible finance brought this country to its knees and crushed the hopes of an entire generation.  The financial sector has done nothing to put its house in order, so let's tax banker bonuses to fund jobs for young people.

New Page on credit unions

Following my talk at the last branch meeting, my notes are now available via the page link on the right.

Helping people into work

The Coalition's failure to tackle long-term unemployment, low pay, and insecure jobs is adding to social security bills as well as undermining the strength and future prosperity of our economy.

Nearly one in ten people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) lack basic literacy skills, and over one in ten lack basic numeracy skills. The lack of IT skills is even more of a problem, with over half unable to complete basic word-processing and spreadsheet tasks, and nearly half lacking even basic email skills.[i] Poor English, Maths and IT skills often hold people back from getting jobs, or trap them in a cycle between a low paid and insecure job and claiming benefits.

Under the Tories many job seekers only take up literacy and numeracy training three years after they first make a claim for benefits.

 Last month Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Rachel Reeves MP announced that a Labour government would introduce a Basic Skills Test to tackle long-term unemployment and low earnings.

 

 

Labour would make sure that all new JSA claimants are assessed within six weeks of a claim – those who need it would be offered training which they’ll be required to take up or lose their benefits. 

To get the long term unemployed back to work Labour would introduce a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee for young people out of work and claiming JSA for over a year, funded by a repeat of the bankers’ bonus tax, and those claiming JSA for two years or more, funded by restricting pensions tax relief for very high earners. Those who refuse to take jobs under the jobs guarantee would lose their benefits.

Labour’s Compulsory Jobs Guarantee and Basic Skills Test are key parts of Labour’s plan to earn our way out of the cost-of-living crisis by getting more people into work and helping them to earn a decent standard of living.