I have been following this and as I am on the Council of Reference of Christian Solidarity Worldwide I do what I can to raise human righs issues across the globe in the Commons and in public.

15th November 2009

Claims that Council Tax has gone up because of reduced subsidy from central government is wrong. Local government has been given over 40% increase in real terms (ie above inflation) increases in grant from central government. The main reason Council Tax has risen is increasind demand for local servies like social services, education, planning, roads etc.

I supported the ban and fought for the Labour government to introduce it. I will not vote to repeal the ban unlike the Tories who are promising to re-open this issue.

November 2009

I understand that times are hard for many working families. The global recession has hit millions of people.

So it has been our priority to help these families. We introduced and have increased Child tax credits and working tax credits. For children we have improved Child Benefit an introduced the Child Trut Fund.

I have received numerous approaches about this mater and so have taken it up with the Minister. As soon as I have response I will post it here. Thanks

12th November 2009

Before becoming an MP I worked in Economic Development and regeneration and I have used these skills throughout my time as an MP.

It may be worth taking a look at a few recent examples of how I have been able to help:

Intelligent Energy a spin out company from Loughborough University has grown with support from the government and private sector cash. With government help which I supported the company have not only been retained in the town but will be increasing staff numbers from 85 to 120 as a consequence of that support. These are the sort of high tech green jobs we need and I have been proud to be involved.

The energy and green jobs are important for our long term prospect and so I was pleased o help lead the lobby in parliament to bring the £1bn Energy technology Institute to the town and university.

I have played a key role at vital moments in the development of SportPark. Leading negotiations for support from EMDA Sport England and local authorities for example. SportPark will eventually bring up to 600 jobs to the town.

On a smaller scale I have helped companies deal with Export licenses; help match them with training for apprenticeships and taken on banks on their behalf. I have helped them lobby for government contracts and in the last few weeks been leading on the AstraZeneca taskforce to make sure we ratain jobs in the town. I have helped with the Bell Foundry too.

I was helping and leading bringing the Institute of Sport to the University along with £40m of investment in new facilities to train our elite athletes.

The regeneration of the Eastern Gateway by the railway station is underway - and this investment too will bring new housing, new job opportunities and a new road - improving the lives of local residents in Ratcliffe Road and Burder Street.

These are just a few examples of initiatives i have worked with that have come to fruition in the last few months and delivering new opportunities for jobs and prosperity in Loughborough.

As always the BNP tell lies at every opportunity. One of their worst is that immigrants get priority housing over locals. This is absolute rubbish and they know it.

Recent headlines have suggested that Labour is responding to the rise of the BNP by addressing the issue of Immigration again.

This link highlights the thinking in No 10.

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page21301

As you can see the further tightening of the points based work system is being used.

Personally from my experience of dealing with immigration and asylum cases over the last 15 years there has never been a soft approach to people coming into the country. In fact we too ofetn appear hostile to visitors who may simply want to come and visit family or even just attend a wedding. In a globalised world there will be increasing population movement and we need to have a proper grown up debate about what that means for us. It seesm fine to the Daily Mail that millions of Brits go aborad to live!

17th November 2009

This is our policy

Controlled migration brings undoubted benefits to our country but we also recognise people’s legitimate concerns about the impact it can have on communities. Net inward migration to Britain as measured by the Office for National Statistics has fallen for the last three years. We are delivering the biggest changes to our immigration, citizenship and border security systems for decades – we are bringing in a new Australian-style points-based immigration system which allows us to be more selective so that only those with the skills that we need to build a stronger economy can come here, and to ensure that as growth returns, we will see rising levels of employment, skills and wages not more immigration. We have brought in 100 per cent biometric visas, are rolling out ID cards for foreign nationals with 170,000 already issued, and electronic border controls will count people in and out of the country by the end of 2010. To build on this we will introduce a points-based system for permanent residence and citizenship clearly spelling out the rights and obligations of legal migrants to Britain, as well as the requirements for earning British citizenship. These requirements will include learning English, paying tax and obeying the law– because we believe those who look to build a new life here should earn the right to do so. Our Earned Citizenship plans for newcomers, together with the points-based immigration system will reduce overall numbers of economic migrants coming to Britain and the numbers awarded permanent settlement. We recognise that the impact of migration is felt differently by different communities; and how rapid change can place pressures on local public services – the Migration Impact Fund, paid for by contributions from migrants has over the last two years has contributed £70 million to services in local areas experiencing rapid population change. We have reformed housing allocation policy, empowering local authorities to give greater priority to local people, and to those who have spent a long time on the waiting list.

The Tories have now rejected the option of having a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty breaking their 'cast iron' guarantee.

There is now no option to have a referendum anyway.

I have written extensively elsewhere on this site why a referendum on a Treaty is both constitutionally wrong and unnecessary. The key point is that this is a TREATY and not a constitution.

I am a firm supporter of greater international cooperation in all areas - both European and globally at the UN.

16th November 2009

• The Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, launched the White Paper, Building the National Care Service. The White Paper sets out how we will achieve our vision - what people can expect, and how we will deliver a National Care Service.

• This White Paper charts a course for the fundamental reform of the care and support system in England. It commits the Government to building a new National Care Service for all of us, offering high quality care and support for all - whoever you are, wherever you live in England, and whatever condition leads you to need care and support.

• The National Care Service will have fairness at its heart. This is the same principle that has underpinned the NHS for decades. Everyone’s homes and their savings that they have worked hard to build up will be protected from catastrophic care costs.

Why we need to Change

Despite improvements over recent years, we know that people’s experience of the current system is not always good. And, for the large numbers of people who make provision for themselves, with no help towards the costs of care and support, the current system can seem very unfair.

We estimate that over the next twenty years 1.7 million more people will have a care need than do today. People are living longer with complex conditions and their expectations of what care and support they should be able to receive, are rising. The current system of care and support for adults in England is not equipped to meet these challenges

We must transform our current system so it is fair, simple and affordable for everyone and sustainable for the future.

Key Messages

• Today, we are launching a National Care Service that is fair for all.
• Like the NHS, everyone will contribute and everyone will get their care for free when they need it.
• The National Care Service will give individuals high quality care, more choice and control and help you to stay in your own home if you want to.
• The National Care Service will give you peace of mind and help protect your savings and homes.
• This is a huge change that will affect every family. It’s a radical reform and, like the NHS, it will take time to build. So we are introducing it in three stages.
• The whole of society will benefit. You will have choice and control over your care. It supports families, carers and communities for generations to come.

Six founding principles

• Be universal – supporting all adults with care and support needs.
• Be free at the point of use – based on need, rather than the ability to pay.
• Work in partnership– with all the different organisations and people who support individuals with care and support needs day-to-day.
• Offer choice and control – treating everyone with respect and dignity, offering control and choice.
• Support family, carers and community life – recognising the vital contribution families, carers and communities play in enabling people to realise their potential.
• Be accessible – easy to understand, helping people make the right choices.

Key Facts

• Over the next twenty years 1.7 million more people will have a care need than do today

• 85 per cent of women aged 65 today, and 68 per cent of men aged 65 today, can expect to have a care need at some point in their life.

• Compared with today, we expect 70,000 more working-age adults to need care and support by 2014 and 300,000 more over the next 20 years.

• Total number of people receiving support from local authorities (including residential care, community care and adaptations) in 2007/08 – 1.8 million

• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will need care in a residential care home.

• The current system will not provide sufficient support to those with higher level needs: we expect that, by 2026, around 400,000 over 65s with high needs will experience some unmet need – i.e. they will not be getting the levels of care that they require.

The National Care Service will out an end to this unfair system. It will be built on strong foundations of recent reforms and will overhaul the way care and support is paid for and provided. It cannot be built overnight and will be phased in three stages:

Stage One

Building on the best of the current system through reforms that are already underway and delivering the Personal Care at Home Bill. We are already on the path of completing this stage – the Personal Care at Home Bill will provide free care to the 400,000 people who most need it and intensive help or “reablement” when they need homecare for the first time.

Stage Two

Putting the building blocks of the National Care Service in place and extending the offer

• From 2014 extend the coverage of free care so that anyone staying in residential care for more than 2 years will receive free care after the second year.
• There will be better information and advice and everyone will be offered a personal budget, giving them control over their healthcare as is appropriate for them.

The first two stages are focussing efforts on those that need the most help now – those vulnerable people with the highest care needs.

Stage Three

The introduction of a comprehensive National Care Service that is free when people need it for all adults with an eligible care need. This final stage will be brought forward after the next parliament – a fully fledged National Care Service where care is free for everyone at the point of use.

Fair Funding

To achieve our vision we need to reform the funding of the care and support system.

People have consistently told us that the current system of care and support funding is unfair and confusing. People receive very different levels of support depending on where they are in the country; they have to have relatively high levels of need before they are eligible for funding; and the state will only help people if they have spent down any savings that they have accumulated over the course of their lifetimes.

The Government has set out plans to today to establish a National Care Commission to decide the best way of achieving fair funding.

• We believe it is right that everyone should have to contribute and in return they would get all of their care and support for free when they needed it.

• We are committed to providing everybody with choice and control over how they pay for their care through a range of funding options

• We will introduce a universal deferred payment system for accommodation costs, so no one has to sell their homes in their lifetime in order to pay for residential care.

• We will keep the current system of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance, which will remain a fundamental part of the National Care Service.

We have been increasing police numbers steadily over the last decade and introduced neighbourhood policing - or Bobbies on the Beat - in response to public concerns about seeing police on the streets. It has only be achieved with increased public spending on policing.

When I am out and about in the constituency I do see local beat officers doing their rounds on foot on a regular basis. I see them at community events, parish meetings, visiting school amd businesses. I do believe this is working well and will continue to improve.

I do hear residents still saying they don't see their beat officer enough, so there is still more work to do to ensure that visibility increases and greater community support is given to their work.

I do support the increased numbers of Police Community Support Officers and other uniformed community wardens who give people a visible presence in their area.

I have a page on this website under 'Local Issues' where I have been posting my thoughts and copies of the letters of objection I have sent to County Hall. I have also been posting comments and offering help on the SAIG facebook group to oppose the Incinerator.

We are all aware of the damage caused by the severe winter conditions on our roads. The freeze/thaw action causes break up in vulnerable areas of the road surface.

The government recongnised this problem in the Budget in April and allocated an additional £100m for local councils to catch up with the backlog of work. I have seen many areas improved recently but as there are so many it will take time for the Highways authority to get round all of them.

Whilst outside my constituency I have been approached by locals about the future of St Mary's Birthing Unit, Melton to be kept open.

I have taken this up with the local health authorities and will do what I can as an MP if re-electd to keep this open.

I am aware of the problems that the traffic flow at the expanded Tesco is causing from personal experience. The backing of traffic around the island is particularly a problem. Local Labour councillors did raise these points at the planning stage.

I will ask Highways planners to look at the traffic flows again and see if there is a better way to manage traffic at these junctions.

I have posted more extensively on the rest of my site on the announcement of the new review. I oppsoed Top up Fees and won't support any additional fees above the rate of inflation. Worth searching my site for more details.

11th November 2009

I have an excellent relationship with Loughborough University and have been proud to see its development during my time as the MP for the town. Increased investment has transformed the campus and the reputation of the University. Elsewhere you can see what I have been doing to work on the impact on the town of so-called 'studentification.'

Government support for Universities has grown by some 33% in real terms in the last decade. It will be seen as a good time for the HE sector. Whilst Universities have been asked to make efficiency savings in the next financial year I was pleased to see Loughborough continue to get cash increase in its budget.

I do believe that we should protect education budgets if the government feels it needs to balance the deficit. I personally believe we should 'manage the deficit' and grow our way out of recession. I don't believe the Tories plans for savage cuts in public expenditure will do anything but harm our long term economic future. I will argue and vote in favour of continued public investment in education and public services ahead of cuts. I believe we should target cuts in budgets like Trident renewal rather than education and health for example.

Controlled migration brings undoubted benefits to our country but we also recognise people’s legitimate concerns about the impact it can have on communities. Net inward migration to Britain as measured by the Office for National Statistics has fallen for the last three years. We are delivering the biggest changes to our immigration, citizenship and border security systems for decades – we are bringing in a new Australian-style points-based immigration system which allows us to be more selective so that only those with the skills that we need to build a stronger economy can come here, and to ensure that as growth returns, we will see rising levels of employment, skills and wages not more immigration. We have brought in 100 per cent biometric visas, are rolling out ID cards for foreign nationals with 170,000 already issued, and electronic border controls will count people in and out of the country by the end of 2010. To build on this we will introduce a points-based system for permanent residence and citizenship clearly spelling out the rights and obligations of legal migrants to Britain, as well as the requirements for earning British citizenship. These requirements will include learning English, paying tax and obeying the law– because we believe those who look to build a new life here should earn the right to do so. Our Earned Citizenship plans for newcomers, together with the points-based immigration system will reduce overall numbers of economic migrants coming to Britain and the numbers awarded permanent settlement. We recognise that the impact of migration is felt differently by different communities; and how rapid change can place pressures on local public services – the Migration Impact Fund, paid for by contributions from migrants has over the last two years has contributed £70 million to services in local areas experiencing rapid population change. We have reformed housing allocation policy, empowering local authorities to give greater priority to local people, and to those who have spent a long time on the waiting list.

• Further reading
• Tackling Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour
• Punishing Offenders
• Fair rules for the Immigration System

• Further reading
• Tackling Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour
• Punishing Offenders
• Fair rules for the Immigration System

This is the link to our position on immigration.

http://www.labour.org.uk/policies/crime-justice-and-immigration

I do take my party allegiance seriously and the efforts to deliver the manifesto upon which I stand. Most MPs would love to believe they would win without a party label - but it is very rare and in very special circumstances.

However, there have been numerous times when I have spoken out locally, and in Parliament about a particular policy or direction of travel.

At times I have even defied the Party Whip to vote against the government.

I have for example not supported the government on the last few days of parliament over the Digital Economy Bill - where I joined a small group of MPs voting against at 3rd Reading.

I have also voted against the Human Fertilisation Bill, not supported the renewal of Trident, and not supported the introduction of top-up Fees for students for example.

I was also the first MP to resign from a junior PPS role I held in government over Iraq.

I have voiced concern about Afghanistan - calling on the Prime Minister to set a shorter timtable for withdrawal of troops.

I have campaigned for us to bring forward legislation to bring in Proportional Representation at elections.

There have been numerous times on technical matters where I too have voted against or not supported government measures - on housing and the question of Houses in Multiple Occupation for example where a local issue overrides what the government is trying to achieve.

On the Climate Change Act I was one of those pushing for the government to go to 80% reduction by 2050 for example and was prepared to vote for this - which is one of the reasons Ministers moved and gave us this demand before it went to a vote. This is often how it works. We put pressure on Ministers - they respond by not putting forward certain controversial measures or agreeing to change their legislation during the passage of the Bill to reflect our wishes.

I am proud of the positive contribution I have made to many issues in Parliament speaking up on behalf of constituents. But I am not a serial rebellious type - keeping my rebellions for important issues. This means Minister know that of Reed is not happy it is a serious issue! This sort of approach has been of great benefit in changing legislation and getting a good deal for Loughborough You can of course visit the parliament website and see all of the questions I have asked and times I have spoken in the Commons.

www.parliament.uk

By looking through this website you will also see all of the campaigns and initaitives I have supported to get the government to do more.

Finally it is worth mentioning that on most 'moral' issues there is a free vote and you can check my voting record on these issues again via the above website.

To follow....

Yes we had already comitted to return the 'Earnings Link' by 2012. We will keep that commiment.