Issues - Let's Make a Change

Christian Aid and Climate Change On climate change, I agree this is one of the main challenges we face nationally and globally, particularly in its impact on the world's poorest people. That is why Labour is committed to ambitious global and UK action which will keep global temperature increases within 2 degrees Celsius – and why we will continue to work actively for a fair and legally binding international climate change deal to be agreed under the UN.   Domestically, Labour remains committed to achieving UK emissions cuts of at least 80% by 2050. We have led the world in passing a Climate Change Act to ensure this happens – and this also commits us by law to a 34% cut in emissions on 1990 levels by 2020. In concert with high ambition from other developed countries we want the EU to move from a 20% to a 30% reduction by 2020, under which Labour is committed to a UK cut of around 42%.   I am proud that we are also committed to help the world's poorest countries both cope with the impacts of climate change they are already experiencing – and to helping them find sustainable and low-carbon development paths. We will do this through a range of ways, including significant funding for mitigation and adaptation measures, and tackling deforestation. We have committed to provide our fair share towards the global goal agreed in the Copenhagen Accord - to mobilise public and private financial flows of at least $100bn per year by 2020 for these purposes, including finance which is additional to our existing 0.7% aid (ODA) commitment from 2013, and that no more than 10% of our ODA commitment should be counted as climate finance. The Tories have yet to make any such commitment.

 

On tax, thanks to the campaigning of organisations like Christian Aid, and the efforts made by Labour Ministers, we have probably achieved more on this issue in the last nine months than the last nine years. I am proud that Labour has led efforts internationally to clamp down on tax havens and secure progress on the issue of taxation, following our championing of this issue at the London G20 summit in 2009.

 

We have called on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to look at the feasibility of introducing multinational guidelines on Country-by-Country Reporting and we welcome the work of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in exploring country by country reporting within the extractive industries. I am also pleased that Labour has already launched a process to be one of the first countries to sign a multilateral tax information exchange agreement (MTIEA) - enabling developing countries and developed countries a more low cost means of securing tax information exchange. We aim to have this in place by end of 2010 – and will encourage other countries to do the same. We acknowledge that the future of tax information exchange will need to be automatic exchange.  We have also supported initiatives like the African Tax Forum and have also significantly contributed towards supporting developing countries to improve their own taxation arrangements and ability to raise revenue.

 

Please keep up the campaigning.

 

Yours sincerely,  Eileen Driver

 

 

PS You might also want to visit www.globalpovertypromise.com and sign up to our campaign on the 0.7% aid law, and for action to clamp down on vulture funds.

On the Buses

 

If we had missed the 10.06am out of Kildale on Wednesday, we would have had to wait until Friday for the next bus. On a raw(why didn’t I bring my gloves? ) April morning Labour Candidate, Eileen Driver, and Labour activists campaigned before ascending the first bus for 5 days out of the village to Northallerton. We were travelling from the eastern edge of the constituency to Hawes in the West- a journey  entailing  4 buses, whose purpose was to listen to users’ views on public transport in the constituency. Two friendly Kildale ladies got on the half-ful bus that had travelled from Whitby and we scooped more passengers in Ayton & Stokesley making the bus almost full. One couple explained how “Our lives are transformed by the free bus passes for pensioners. ”  Labour’s free bus pass policy must be retained as this point was echoed by many others along the route to Hawes . We met people who were unable to drive or couldn’t afford  a car for whom the free bus travel was essential. A large proportion of our fellow travellers were local pensioners and, as we moved towards Hawes, a few groups of visitors joined us with bus passes.  We speculated on how the bus system has benefited from extra bus pass income. Would it be able to provide as much as it does without the extra pensioner support? Of the passengers to whom we spoke, most seemed happy with the service.  Some of the younger passengers who depended on the bus system in the Northallerton to Hawes area didn’t own cars and were totally dependent on buses in order to reach doctors, work and nurseries. Delays, especially in winter were miserable, especially at the stops that had no cover or no side-cover for these people. Some connections need to be adjusted. We were awed by the skills of our drivers who dealt with some tricky, narrow corners & single –track roads with Yorkshire modesty . Our journey reinforced the Labour view that buses are a lifeline, having doubled investment since 1997. We did meet a few passengers who had had problems with buses arriving late which our manifesto is dealing with by promising punctuality data on all bus routes. We want greater use of powers to regulate bus routes where local services are not serving communities well & we will work with the Competition Commision to ensure that bus companies do not make excess profits at the expense of passengers. Good local buses are a challenge: how to reconcile personal mobility for all, one of the foundations of social justice, with tackling climate change in our generation. Bus transport is already green in reducing the number of cars on the roads and has been helped by Labour’s recent £30million fund for Green buses. We recommend that constituents sample the delights of bus journeys and consider offering feed-back to the County Consultation which is accessible on the North Yorks County Council website. I will be campaigning for more bus shelters and using the services as much as I can. Anyone wanting to join me  can contact me on eileendriver.co.uk   Eileen Driver

Rural Issues Letter

22^nd March, 2010-03-23

Dear Editor,

                    How many Richmond Constituency readers must have been puzzled by the Lib Dem candidate’s lack of research in his letter of last week. Let us hope that he is not misleading voters about the many ways in which constituents have been helped by the present government.  Good examples of our housing policy can be seen in the new affordable homes in Chop Gate, Battersby and Great Ayton. Through the recession, Labour took the decision to invest an EXTRA £1.5 billion in building more affordable homes and protecting jobs and skills in the construction industry. We’re making government money available to councils & now have the biggest council house building programme for two decades. Last year the Tories launched a planning paper that the Chief Exec of the National Housebuilding Federation said could mean losing “up to 64,000 affordable homes(nationally) over three years.”

Labour has set the target of building 8,500 homes in small rural communities between 2008-11. As further help for those of us living here, Labour introduced regulations from last September for shared ownership homes in 13,000 small protected rural areas which will be retained as affordable housing in perpetuity.

Another help for our rural constituency is Labour’s consultation on banking at Post Offices and new financial services that they can offer. We have also recently set up a 12 point action plan to give practical support for community pubs, to retain pubs in rural & urban communities. Meredith’s fears about broadband provision are untrue. Labour is guaranteeing that superfast broadband will be accessible everywhere in the UK by 2012 and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in this process.

The hard-working farmers in our region, through Defra,  have been helped with the successful blue tongue vaccination, our stand on pesticides and administering support policies agreed in Brussels which have given £3bn to British agriculture.

I wonder if Meredith has been on local buses as I was last week, travelling from Stokesley to Northallerton, chatting to local people who found the service good and adequate to their needs. Better provision of Sunday services have been one of my campaigning issues to the local council.
Voters mustn’t risk voting Lib Dem for “cuts, cuts that are savage and bold” which Nick Clegg promised in his annual conference. Better to give an approving vote to a party that has protected our beautiful and characterful constituency.

 

Eileen Driver  Labour candidate For Richmond(Yorks)

Education Funding Put in Perspective!

Not True! The Tory  Council are unfairly exploiting a  political time & covering their own miscalculations in saying that they cannot organise  Formula for funding schools in rural areas.  Eileen Driver, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Richmond Constituency  fears  that North Yorks County Council is not acknowledging the expertise of the Review on School Funding that the Government established to create  socially- just education finance for our County .  

Eileen said,”As soon as Labour recognised problems in funding schools in rural areas, they  established this immense Funding Review, which  they guaranteed was informed by a wide spectrum of local government officers& members; governors, teachers, parents; education experts etc. These experts have made the recommendations in the most fair and scrupulous way and, the Government is obliged to implement their findings.  The Review has included Transitional arrangements for authorities such as ours which will substantially increase funding.

“There are other rural authorities who solve some of the curriculum problems for small secondary schools by sharing subject provision.

“ I was disturbed by the simplistic comments from Thirsk & Malton’s Lib Dem candidate about the funding. There will never be enough money for schools. Mr Keal needs to acknowledge Labour’s judicious investment of 42,000 more teachers & 123,000 teaching assistants(across 12 years) & its huge benefit to students’ learning in this country.

“I do pay tribute to the commitment and  concern of Cynthia Welbourn and the Education Department but disagree with them about this issue. As a teacher in a North Yorkshire secondary school for almost 20 years, I saw the pressures on finance but I also experienced many innovative, cost-saving solutions. The government has ensured that School funding will be distributed fairly because of the Review. We need to rely on North Yorks County Council to present this complex issue to voters in the true context and not a distortion.

Eileen Driver(PPC Richmond Yorks)

Letter to William Hague about Lord Ashcroft

                                                                                                  March, 2010

 Dear William Hague,

Voters in our constituency are shocked by your close connections with your Deputy Chairman, Lord Ashcroft, the man bankrolling your party. You confirmed that you have known about his tax status for “a few months.” When exactly did you discover he was a non-dom? Why did you not immediately publicly clarify Ashcroft’s status which both you and he had pledged would be that of a permanent UK resident? Why did you not immediately tell Cameron about Ashcroft’s true status?  By his own admission, Lord Ashcroft has given millions to the Conservatives and may be the largest single donor of all time. His company, Bearwood Corporate Services, is at the centre of a major investigation by the Electoral Commission.

 

Instead of paying tens of millions of pounds in tax-money that could have helped pay for schools and hospitals - Lord Ashcroft chose to spend the money on David Cameron's campaign instead. 

 

Instead of paying fair taxes, like everyone else has to in our constituency, he has been channelling millions into the Conservative Party to help them buy this election.

 

So  people in our constituency have a right to feel these expensive Tory campaigns have come at the cost of a new school or a new hospital wing.

 

I have some more very simple questions for you in relation to Lord Ashcroft:

 

1. Why did you take more than nine years to establish Ashcroft’s status when you had offered written assurances to both Blair & the honours committee that Ashcroft would become a permanent UK resident?

2. Will you repay any money that has come from Lord Ashcroft or one of his companies directly or indirectly via Tory central office?

3. Will you rule out taking any donations from Lord Ashcroft or his companies in future?     

4. Why have you allowed Lord Ashcroft to accompany you on so many official foreign policy visits? Why is a man who hasn’t paid tax on his foreign holdings being granted a seat at the Tory top table for foreign affairs?

Voters need their Mps to be scrupulously honest & to be good judges of character.

Yours sincerely,

                       Eileen Driver(Labour Candidate for Richmond)

May 25^th   No reply as yet.

 

To describe new public housing as 'slums' is nothing but a smear

 

Housing Minister JOHN HEALEY’s ‘response’ article in today’s Guardian to a recent opinion piece on the government’s housebuilding record

We are investing in mixed communities with high design and environmental standards, says John Healey

Lynsey Hanley accuses the government of wanting to push through "acres of new housing that will look good for the books in the short term but fail miserably in terms of sustainability and the wellbeing of residents" (The slums of tomorrow, 3 February). She's wrong to dismiss so lightly the importance of building more homes now, and wrong to say that we are indifferent to housing quality.

Britain has had a shortage of homes for decades. Too few homes mean that house prices spiral higher, so first-time buyers find it harder to get their own home, and too many people are living in homes that don't meet their needs - in England around one million children are still in overcrowded homes. We're not delivering "unfit-for-purpose housing", but building homes that meet the needs and aspirations of British families.

Before the recession we had the highest level of house-building for 30 years. When the recession hit, private building collapsed by a half, while the need for housing increased further. That is why the government stepped in with an extra £1.5bn to build more new affordable homes and help private house-building. I make no apology for giving priority to sites where we could keep people in their jobs, where new homes could be built quickly, and where a majority of the sites meet higher environmental standards than the open market generally builds, despite what Hanley argues.

But this support to private developments is not a government "housing delivery programme" as Hanley states. It is one element of Labour's housing investment. The public sector will also build 112,000 new affordable homes over this year and next, and - central to this - I've launched the largest council-house building programme for two decades.

Far from "pushing through inadequate housing schemes", for public housing - provided by housing associations and councils - we demand mixed communities with higher design and environmental standards than planning and building regulations require.

On the government's legacy, Hanley asks: "Where's the commitment to usefulness, to durability, to delight?" One place is in our commitment to new ecotowns, designed and built to the highest-ever standards for green, high-quality and sustainable living. Hanley exhorts us to talk about housing in "epic terms" and ally ourselves with Nye Bevan's "use of political power for democratising ... ends". We do, and to Bevan's maxim that "we shall be judged for a year or two by the number of houses we build, we shall be judged in 10 years' time by the type of houses we build", I add: "And we will be judged in a generation by the environmental standards of the homes we build."

Hanley and I agree on one thing - housing should be treated with "fundamental seriousness" by any government. The credit crunch shows we can't just leave things to the market. But describing new public housing as "slums" is a smear that simply plays to the worst stereotypes. It's also a gift to the Conservatives, who believe that the state should play little or no role in housing. That's something that Hanley, author of Estates - a book that acted as a wake-up call to politicians and public policymakers alike - should understand.

John Healey MP is the housing minister. healeyj@parliament.uk

Lynsey Hanley’s initial article can be found at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/the-slums-of-tomorrow

Jobcentres Celebrate 100 Years

 

 

Eileen Driver, Labour Candidate for Richmond, Northallerton & Stokesley areas was talking to unemployed people in Northallerton. Eileen said, “I was struck by the gentleness of the people I spoke to today. Young men like Terry Connolly from Brompton, has not had a job for 2 years; spends his days on the Internet and is registered with many talent pools. He is now hoping to get an apprenticeship. He is very keen to be employed as was Michael Goddard, an older man, who has been jobless for 4 months after being made redundant. Michael told me how “brilliant “ the Jobcentres are. Coincidentally, it is exactly 100 years since the first Labour Exchange – the precursor to today’s Jobcentres.

 

The first Labour Exchanges were opened by Winston Churchill in 1910. In those days, Labour Exchanges had separate entrances for men, women, children and employers, and advertised for ‘girl confectioner packers’ and ‘piano regulators’.

 

Since then, the service has transformed. When Labour came into office, jobseeking and benefits support were brought together in one place: Jobcentre Plus. There are now 750 offices across the country, helping customers into the right job from 10,000 new vacancies received every day. No more Full Monty-type screens and queues - but an integrated, personalised service that provides one-to-one advice, training and financial support to help people back into work. Despite the recession, Jobcentre Plus continues to help more than half of new claimants off Job Seekers Allowance within 3 months and around 70% within 6. And unemployment has fallen by 7,000 in the last month.

 

“Congratulations to Jobcentre Plus for 100 years of getting people into jobs. And congratulations for their determination and hard work during this recession and during the recent difficult weather.

 

“Extra investment by the Labour government has helped keep unemployment round here  lower than  in the 90’s recessions.

 

“Back then the Tory Government walked away, saying unemployment was a price worth paying.

 

“And they would do so again – by refusing to back our £5 billion investment in getting people back into work and by making cuts that would risk the recovery and double unemployment.

 

“But the lesson is we’ve got to do more through the recovery. That’s why I am backing more youth jobs round here and why I am challenging local Tories to back the Future Jobs Fund, creating 170,000 new jobs nationwide, which David Cameron wants to slash. People like Michael & Terry need supporting into work through Government initiatives.”

 

Labour Candidate backs plans for 3Rs catch-up support in schools

 EileenDriver, Labour Candidate  for the Richmond, Northllerton and Stokesley areas, has backed plans for guaranteed catch-up support and one-to-one tuition for children falling behind in the 3Rs and stronger discipline through tough home-school agreements.

 The measures are part of the Labour government’s Children, Schools and Families Bill, which Labour Mps voted  but was opposed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs.

 A series of new ‘guarantees’ to pupils and parents include:

o   catch-up support in the 3Rs for pupils falling behind in English and maths, including one-to-one tuition;

o   online information for parents on their child’s behaviour, progress and attainment;

o   the right to learn triple sciences at GCSE;

o   and the opportunity for every primary pupil to learn a musical instrument .

The guarantee of one-to-one tuition for children falling behind in literacy and numeracy has already been backed by £2,667,922 of extra funding this year for schools across North Yorkshire.

 Eileen Driver, who taught in North Yorkshire for 19 years said:  “Schools in North Yorkshire have been transformed over the last twelve years. Exam results are up, there are more teachers and teaching assistants and school buildings have been revamped.

“But we now need to go even further with a new ‘3Rs guarantee’ of catch-up support, including one-to-one tuition, for children in primary school and in the first year of secondary school who are falling behind in English and maths. Every one of the reluctant learners that I taught always responded positively to one to one tuition. This investment will have a huge impact on education. Improvements in behaviour, confidence and a greater keenness to learn will be seen in reluctant learners as a result of one to one tuition.

“Parents also tell me they want their children to learn in an orderly school where discipline is tough and the bad behaviour of a few, which disrupts the learning of the rest of the class, is not tolerated. So I support plans for tougher home-school agreements, with all pupils and parents accepting the school’s rules when they apply for a school place – and clear consequences if they are broken.

“That’s why this week I’ve supported the government’s Schools Bill, which passed through Parliament despite David Cameron’s Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats voting against it.

“We can only keep school standards rising and support the aspirations of all young people in our area by continuing to invest in our schools. And while Labour has guaranteed real terms rises in funding for schools for the next three years, the Tories would make immediate cuts to local schools if they win the election this year.

“That’s because they have decided to prioritise an inheritance tax cut, which would give £200,000 to the 3,000 richest estates, instead of frontline services like schools and families which thousands of families in our area rely on. This will mean fewer teachers, fewer teaching assistants and bigger class sizes, which is the last thing I want to happen to our local schools.”

 Support for Pensioners in Pre-budget

Eileen welcomes the Pre-Budget Report and the Government’s continuing support for pensioners.

 The Pre-Budget report announced a 2.5% increase in the basic state pension. Eileen said:

“I warmly welcome the action taken to help pensioners in the Pre-Budget Report – including the 2.5% rise in the basic state pension from April 2010.

“We are also making sure that pensioners need never worry about heating costs.

“We have extended the increase in Cold Weather Payments to £25 a week to this winter. And this winter, pensioners will also receive an extra £50 alongside their winter fuel payment – and an extra £100 if they are over 80.”

 The Pre-Budget Report:

• Increases the full basic state pension by £2.40 to £97.65 a week in April 2010.

• Increases the full couples pension by £3.85 to £156.15 in April 2010.

• Boosts the pension guarantee – from April 2010, a single pensioner will be guaranteed an income of £132.60, a rise of £2.60, while a couple will be guaranteed £202.40, a rise of £3.95 a week.

• Extends the increase in Cold Weather Payments to £25 a week to this winter.

Support for Small Businesses In Pre-Budget Report

Eileen Driver welcomes the Pre-Budget Report and the Government’s continuing support for small businesses.

 The 2009 Pre-Budget Report extended the freeze in the rate of corporation tax paid by small businesses, while maintaining a raft of measures to support small businesses through the recovery.

 Eileen said: 

“I welcome the extension of the tax rate freeze for small businesses, the ongoing action to encourage lending by banks and other measures, like the help with deferring tax bills. These measures will make a real difference to small businesses and those who depend on them in our constituency”

The Pre-Budget Report:

• announced that the lower rate of Small Companies Corporation Tax would remain frozen for another year until April 2011. This will save £500 million for 850,000 small and medium-sized companies across the country, supporting them during the recovery.

• the Prompt Payment Initiative would continue. The scheme has ensured almost £73 billion of payments are made within a 10-day target since June  2009, helping businesses to plan their cashflow.

• confirmed that the Business Payments Support Scheme would continue as long as it is needed. The scheme has helped more than 160,000 companies employing over 1.2 million people to defer paying more than £4 billion in tax. In [REGION HERE] it’s helped x companies to defer £x m worth of tax, helping to support around xxx jobs.

• confirmed that the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, which helps small businesses to access finance, would continue for another year. Offers totalling £1 billion have been made to 9000 SMEs nationally.

For full details of this Business Support package, please visit the Treasury website – www.hm-treasury.gov.uk or the HMRC website – www.hmrc.gov.uk

50 Labour Achievements

1. A rising National Minimum Wage - the annual up-rating benefits 1 million people a year.

2. The shortest waiting times since NHS records began.

3. Three million more operations carried out each year than in 1997, with more than double the number of heart operations.

4. Over 44,000 more doctors

5. Over 89,000 more nurses

6. Over three quarters of GP practices now offer extended opening hours for at least one evening or weekend session a week.

7. All prescriptions are now free for people being treated for cancer or the effects of cancer, and teenage girls are offered a vaccination against cervical cancer.

8. The NHS can now guarantee that you will see a cancer specialist within two weeks if your GP suspects you may have cancer. Whatever your condition, you will not have to wait more than 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of hospital treatment – and most waits are much shorter than this.

9. 22 million people are benefiting from real tax cuts to boost their income this year.

10. 12 million pensioners benefiting from increased Winter Fuel Payments

11. 900,000  pensioners lifted out of poverty

12. 500,000 children lifted out of relative poverty and measures already in train will lift around a further 500,000 children out of poverty.

13. Free TV licences for over-75s

14. The New Deal has helped over 2 million people into work

15. Over 3 million Child  Trust Funds have been started

16. Nearly 3,000 Sure Start Children’s Centres opened, reaching 2 million children and their families

17. Over 42,400 more teachers and 123,000 more teaching assistants than in 1997

18. There have been approximately 3,700 rebuilt and significantly refurbished schools; including new and improved classrooms, laboratories and kitchens.

19. A free nursery place for every 3 and 4 year old.

20. Doubled the number of registered childcare places to more than 1.5 million, one for every four children under eight years old

21. More young people attending university than ever before

22. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships starts, with figures for 2008/9 showing 234,000 started an apprenticeship this year compared to 75,000 in 1997.  

23. In 1997 more than half of all schools saw less that 30% of their pupils fail to get 5 good GCSEs including English and Maths. Now only 270 schools fail this benchmark and we are guaranteeing that no school should fail this mark after 2011.  

24. We have increased school funding to support the delivery of higher standards. Between 1997-98 and 2009-10, total funding per pupil has more than doubled from £3,030 in 1997-98 to £6,350 in 2009-10 in real terms, an increase of 110%

25. The Northern Ireland peace process

26. The UK is now smokefree, with no smoking in most enclosed public places.

27. The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 21% below 1990 levels, beating our Kyoto target.

28. Over £20 billion invested in bringing social housing to decent standards

29. Rough sleeping has dropped by two thirds and homelessness is at its lowest level since the early 1980s

30. Free off-peak travel on buses anywhere in England for over-60s and disabled people

31. Since 1997 overall crime is down 36 per cent; domestic burglary is down 54 per cent; vehicle related crime is down 57 per cent; and violent crime is down 41 per cent.

32. A new flexible points-based system to ensure only those economic migrants who have the skills our economy needs can come to work in the UK.

33. Police numbers up by 16,000 since 1997, alongside more than 16,000 Police Community Support Officers

34. Every community now has its own dedicated neighbourhood police team, easily contactable by the people who live in that community and working with them to agree local priorities and deal with people’s concerns.

35. Equalised the age of consent and repealed Section 28.

36. Through the introduction of civil partnerships, Labour has for the first time given legal recognition to same-sex partners. Gay couples now have the same inheritance, pension and next-of-kin rights as married couples.

37. More than doubled Britain’s overseas aid budget. UK aid helps lift an estimated 3 million people out of poverty every year

38. Cancelled up to 100 per cent of debt for the world’s poorest countries

39. Britain now has more offshore wind capacity than any country in the world. Wind last year provided enough electricity to power 2 million homes

40. Launched the £1.5 billion Housing Pledge to speed up the delivery of new affordable housing and embarked on the biggest program of council house building for twenty years

41. Launched the Swimming Challenge Fund to support free swimming for over 60s and under 16s

42. Banned fox hunting.

43. Led the campaign to win the 2012 Olympics for London. Today the programme remains on time and on budget with over 40% of the construction programme completed and all major venues under construction.

44. Free admission to our national museums and galleries.

45. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, an elected Mayor and Assembly for London and directly-elected mayors for those cities that want them.

46. Created a new right of pedestrian access to the English coast, so that every family has the opportunity to enjoy the length and breadth of our coastline

47. In the last 4 years Labour’s work overseas has helped over 7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa access clean water and sanitation

48. In Europe we signed the Social Chapter and introduced measures including: four weeks’ paid holiday; a right to parental leave; extended maternity leave; a new right to request flexible working; and the same protection for part-time workers as full-time workers.

49. We led efforts to agree a new international convention banning all cluster munitions.

50. We introduced the first ever British Armed Forces and Veterans Day to honour the achievements of our armed forces – both past and present.

Labour leads in Climate Change!

Eileen driver, Labour’s candidate for Richmond Constituency, is concerned about The Tory-controlled North Yorkshire County Council’s irresponsible rejection of the Labour Government’s 10;10 campaign. This gives individuals, schools, businesses and local authorities the chance to do their bit to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions by working out how they can cut the amount of CO2 they produce by 10 per cent in 2010. Out of all the 41 councils that have either passed a motion to join10:10 or are waiting to do so, only six of them are Tory-led. Shamefully, North Yorkshire  immediately declined to join. Doesn’t this alarm voters who want their local council to be pro-active about climate change?

Alexis Rowell, the 10:10 coordinator for Councils, claims, “When10:10 was launched Cameron & the Tory shadow cabinet were quick to get on board. But there’s a disconnect between the shadow cabinet and Tory-run councils. On the ground, we’re getting the sense that the Tories don’t give two hoots about climate change.”

Eileen said, “I appreciate that 10:10 is ambitious but we must aim high. If such a proportion of Labour councils commit to 10:10 and such a low percentage of Tory councils, isn’t such a lesser commitment scandalous? This is not representing the concerned electorate who want effective emission cuts.

The Labour Government has insulated 5 million houses between 2002 and 2008. By regulating the energy companies we are insulating 6 million more homes between 08 and 012. In the teeth of a recession we found £1.4bn for new investment in developing a low carbon economy. More than 20 per cent of public investment since last November has been on sustainable and green projects. Unlike the Tories who Talk Green but Act Blue,  our system of carbon budgets ensures active green policies by government departments and the public sector to deliver long term sustained CO2 reductions.

If you would like to add your voice to the campaign to achieve a fair, ambitious and effective deal at Copenhagen, please sign up to edspledge.com   The more people who sign, the more Ed Miliband can proudly say that he has the people of North Yorkshire behind him.”

 Eileen Driver(Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Richmond(Yorks)

Eileen keeps the Red Flag flying

Labour/Co-op MP for Portsmouth North, at the Co-operative Party conference in Edinburgh

A FORMIDABLE task awaits Eileen Driver at the next gen­eral election. She is standing against William Hague in the rock-solid Tory constituency of Richmond. Chosen in May 2008, the ex-schoolteacher has no illusions about the odds of displacing the former Conservative leader. But she says she is absolutely determined to keep the Labour flag flying in this remote rural constituency, which has the largest geographical area in the country. Eileen said: "It's terribly important to keep a voice for Labour going and I hope over time that we can build up our support."

Next year's hustings will be the first which Eileen has faced as a Parliamentary candidate. For 25 years she was a full-time teacher with three children to raise, which meant her time for political work was pretty limited. She lives in Stokesley, originally an old market town which in recent years has expanded significantly with more mod­ern housing developments. An active member of the Co-op Party for some years, Eileen is a member of the North Yorkshire Area Committee. Originally from Middlesbrough, Eileen lived variously in Birmingham, Hertfordshire and Cambridge before moving back north – spending 19 years as a teacher at a local comprehensive. "I retired two years ago, which means I now have a lot more time to devote to politics and campaigning.

Issues

"It is sometimes a bit of a struggle on the doorstep and William Hague is of course a popular MP with a lot of support but I'm enjoying getting out and meeting people because there are lots of issues to talk about. The Richmond constituency is a beautiful part of the country and it may look like an affluent place to live but there is a lot of rural poverty. Low-cost housing is very difficult to come by and for a lot of the local farmers it's a difficult life."

Recently, Eileen arranged a meeting with local farmers to talk over issues of concern. These include problems for tenant farmers, bureaucratic processes for approving pesti­cides, supermarket pricing of milk and problems related to crop-spraying. She has also been aided in her campaign by a visit from DEFRA Minister Hilary Benn, who met local farmers and was guest speaker at a recent Labour Party supper. Ed Miliband has offered moral support and Eileen was also thrilled a while ago to meet veteran left-winger Dennis Skinner, who sent her a personal message of solidarity.

Eileen has been a Labour Party member for over 25 years so is used to varying political fortunes - but in her part of the world, Labour has taken a particular hammering. There is currently just one Labour representative on North York­shire County Council. Undaunted, Eileen is quietly getting on with her campaign and also enjoys her work with the Co-op Party and Area Committee. "One of the things I most enjoy about that is the work we are able to do to help in the local community by considering and deciding on applications for grant funding. That means we can allocate money to all kinds of local groups and good causes like hospices and I'm glad we are able to help. The values of the Co-operative Movement are very important to me. We have a lot of small businesses where I live and if they could all be run on co-operative lines that would be my idea of utopia."

As a PPC, Eileen has enjoyed the chance to meet others standing for the first time at various training events and at the Brighton Labour Party Conference she will be lobbying on the things she cares about most. "There are several issues of particular concern to me and one is how we treat carers for the elderly. Another is mental illness, an area which is often ne­glected although the Government has made some excellent efforts in the right direction. There is still a huge amount of stigma around mental health. Many employers still regard it not as an illness but a weakness. They need to have a lot more understanding and at the conference I hope I will have the opportunity to talk to Ministers about it."

Eileen concedes that her chances of a place at Westmin­ster may be small - but regards her opportunity to cam­paign in the past couple of years as a real positive. "For many years, I was unable to stand as a candidate because of my family and teaching commitments, but I decided to give it a go and whatever happens we have acquired lots of new campaigning strategies and I hope my experience will be helpful to other candidates in the future.

"Things are not easy for us at the moment but in my view politics are a constantly evolving situation and though there are areas that need reflection, Labour has done a good job. Throughout my life, I have always had a fierce sense that I don't regret anything. I feel enriched by everything that I have done and it's been a great experience getting out, meeting people, and being able to raise issues in my local community."

Social Care Green Paper

Eileen Driver, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Richmond Constituency, strongly welcomes the Government's launch of the Social Care Green Paper. In Stokesley, Eileen was talking to people such as Irene Bailey(88)about the new radical vision for a National Care Service. Eileen said,"Most of us are living longer and advances in medical science mean that people with a disability are living longer. This is worth celebrating but does mean that we need to deal with the challenge of changing the way care is provided and paid for.
The government is crafting a system that is fair, simple and affordable for everyone.
Everyone will come into contact with the Care system at some point so it must be shaped by the people who will use it so we want everyone to tell us what they think. I have already begun discussions with local providers and people like Irene Bailey but everyone can join the Big Care Debate today."
Eileen is working with a wide variety of Care groups to ensure that the debate is thoroughly informed by local services and people who are using the services in the Richmond, Stokesley and Northallerton areas. You can contribute on www.eileendriver.co.uk

Labour delivers a better, stronger deal for Britain’s consumers

The Labour Government has recently launched its Consumer White Paper: A Better Deal for Consumers, which sets out the real help the Government are providing now to people facing difficulties with debt and their finances. It also includes longer term measures to boost consumer confidence - including the creation of a Consumer Advocate to champion consumer interests with new powers to protect consumers.

Minister for Consumer Affairs Kevin Brennan MP said: 

"Today we are setting out our strategy to give people the protection they need to shop with confidence in the marketplace, through the economic downturn and beyond.
“We’re announcing a package of measures including a new self-help toolkit for those in difficulty with their debts alongside measures to protect people from unscrupulous debt-collection agencies, the creation of a new Consumer Advocate with new powers to demand redress for consumers and a review into credit cards, credit repayments and high cost credit, a ban on unsolicited credit card cheques and a new focus on tackling e-crime, as people increasingly turn to the internet to do their shopping.” 

Eileen Driver,Labour Candidate for Richmond(Yorks) said:  

“This is great news for the people of Richmond, the Dales, Northallerton & Stokesley areas and shows that the Government is backing the British public when it comes to consumer rights.

“We’ve all experienced being ripped off at some time in our lives – experiences where so often the perpetrator goes unpunished and the consumer uncompensated – it’s excellent news that now the Labour Government’s creation of a Consumer Advocate means there’s a new, powerful independent voice with legal powers on the side of the public in those situations. 

It’s also important that those people trapped in debt have support to find a way back to a healthy financial situation. The Labour Government will transform some lives with this unveiling of a support package to give people a helping hand alongside a review into expensive credit, which the local Richmond  Labour Party and I will be campaigning on this summer raising awareness of the dangers of high cost credit and what families and individuals can do to avoid it.”     

Building Richmond Constituency’s future

The Prime Minister has published a plan for Building Britain’s Future. It is a radical vision for a fairer, stronger and more prosperous society. Public service entitlements will for the first time be guaranteed to parents, patients and communities. Things like seeing a cancer specialist within 2 weeks. We need to think of ways to involve communities in the fight against crime, further improve patient and parent power, fight unemployment and further  stabilise the economy  for the new industries that are round the corner.  With new measures to drive economic growth and create jobs. What I particularly support is guaranteeing what parents, patients and communities should get from their public services. This is about giving people more power and choice. This plan sets out the way forward.  I'll be contacting people in our constituency.

As a first step, the Labour Government has made a number of commitments to the British people.  In the coming months we will build on this plan by setting out more details in key areas, including: transport, infrastructure, financial services, social care climate change and energy.  I'll make sure I keep you up to date with what's happening.

Getting Britain back to work: We will not lose another generation to unemployment like in past recessions. Every young person who has been out of work for a year will have to take a job, training or work experience place.

Patient power: Patients will get enforceable entitlements to the highest standards of health care - like seeing a cancer specialist within 2 weeks, and free health-checks on the NHS for people aged 40-74.

Having a say on fighting crime: People will have more power to keep their neighbourhoods safe. Including the right to hold the police to account at monthly beat meetings, having a say on CCTV cameras and voting on how offenders pay back to the community - like cleaning graffiti.

More affordable homes:  An extra £1.5 bn will be invested in 20,000 affordable homes over the next two years. This housing investment package will also create an estimated 45,000 additional jobs in the construction and related industries.

1-1 tuition: Parents will be guaranteed an education individually tailored to their child, This will include a personal tutor for every pupil and 1-1 tuition for all those who need it.

Preparing Richmond, Northallerton & Stokesley areas for the new economy: It's vital that Britain can lead in the new industries of the global economy.   We need a world class modern infrastructure so that industries of the future in areas like low carbon, biotechnology, life sciences, digital, advanced manufacturing and financial services can prosper here. Doing this will mean the jobs and investment comes to our constituency. To do this we are investing in areas that are important to industry, like broadband access for all by 2012 and working towards a nationwide high-speed broadband network by 2016.  

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How Labour made a Change in Yorkshire and the Humber
 
Labour have made a real difference for the region since you elected a Labour government in 1997.
In Yorkshire and the Humber:Number of pupils getting 5 GCSEs A*-C has increased 19.7%pts from 37.9% in 1997 to 57.6% in 2007.

• There are over 1,200 consultants, 600 GPs and over 7,000 more nurses in the NHS in the region.
• Funding for the NHS in Yorkshire and the humber has increased from £4.6bn in 2003/04 to £7.5bn in 2008/09.
• There are 2,700 more teachers and over 10,000 more teaching assistants in Yorkshire and Humbers schools.
• Over 1 million pensioners are receiving the winter fuel payment, and this year Labour has provided an additional one-off payment the allowance with an extra £100 for the over 80s and an extra £50 for the over-60s to help with rising fuel bills.
• The New Deal has helped to cut long-term youth unemployment by over three-quarters since 1997.
• Neighbourhood policing rolled out accross the region.
• Recorded crime down 10% since 2004/05.

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