The Weekly Bundle: Last week's articles and speeches from the Front Bench

Articles and speeches, delivered by members of the Labour Front Bench in the last week:


- Rachel Reeves' article for Politics Home ahead of this week's vote on the welfare cap http://centrallobby.politicshome.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/rachel-reeves-mp-why-labour-will-vote-for-the-welfare-cap/


- Speech and PLP Briefing from Vernon Coaker on Labour's vision for

This week in Parliament

· Budget Debate: Conclusion and Welfare · Welfare Cap (Motion relating to the Charter for Budget Responsibility) · Budget Debate: Housing and Local Government · Government Statement on Energy Market competition · Hunting Act (DEFRA Orals) - Government Statement on Workplace Pensions · Government statement on High Speed 2 (HS2) · Decriminalisation

The Warm Home Discount - fuel poor failing to claim the £135 allowance

In Hyndburn in the Winter 4,340 children could be living in a home that cannot afford to turn the heating on, according to The Children’s Society which has carried out extensive research into the condition of homes where children live in poverty. The cost of keeping a home adequately warm for an average family of 2 parents and 2 children is now estimated by the Society to be £1400 a year. Many

Mother's Day

Mother's day is the day we say thank you to our mums for everything they do. Talking to mums in Hyndburn and Haslingden I know that now more than ever mums need a break. When the cost of everything from energy bills to childcare keeps going up and up while wages stay the same, suddenly mums are facing difficult decisions to make ends meet.One of the biggest problems that parents talk to me about

New FOBT levies must be used to help problem gamblers

In this
week’s budget George Osborne announced that the Government would increase taxes
on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals from 20% to 25%. This may seem on the face of
it as if the Government is taking action against what has been described as
‘the crack cocaine of gambling’.  However a reliance on treasury revenue
from such addictive gambling machines risks creating a perverse incentive.

Last week's articles and speeches from the Front Bench

Shadow Frontbench team from this week relating to the Budget:   Ed Miliband's speech in the Commons on Wednesday in response to the Budget.   Ed Miliband's article in the Guardian on Monday ahead of the Budget: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/17/ed-miliband-osborne-budget-for-priviliged-few.   Article from Ed Balls following the Budget in the Mirror:

Hollow promises aren’t enough to solve the biggest housing crisis in a generation.

What we heard at the Budget this week was totally out of touch with hardworking people facing a cost of living crisis. David Cameron says the economy is recovering, but for most people, there is no recovery at all.

On housing for example hard working families really needed the Government to take action and build more homes. The growing housing shortage is central to the cost of living crisis

Working parents are worn out by the cost of living crisis, whilst the government confirms no help with childcare in this parliament

This week’s Budget announcement on childcare confirmed that David Cameron has no plan to help parents with the rising cost of childcare before the next election. This is not good enough for hard-pressed families who have seen the cost of childcare spiral by 30 percent since 2010 – five times faster than wages.

David Cameron has cut support for children and families by £15bn since he came to

This budget showed you are worse off under the Tories with no action to deal with the cost of living crisis most of us face

This week’s Budget did nothing to help hard working families deal with the cost of living crisis people face.

The Chancellor boasted about how well things are going, but it was a totally out of touch Budget for hardworking people in Haslingden and Hyndburn who are facing a cost-of-living crisis.

After nearly four years of the Tories, wages are £1,600 a year lower and as a result

Electricity North West have won a top national award for their crackdown on metal theft

After leading the campaign in Parliament to change the laws alongside the Energy Networks Association I am delighted that the toughness of the new legislation shows that taking a robust, no nonsense approach to crime works.

Electricity North West have scooped a national accolade for our successful fight to crack down on dangerous metal theft in the region.After trialling new pioneering

Summary of the week in Parliament.

· Budget Statement
· Government Statement on Pensions Strategy
· General Debate on Ukraine
· Pensions Bill, Lords amendments
· Prison numbers (MOJ orals)



Budget 2014 and Budget debate

On Wednesday the Chancellor announced his Budget.

We needed a Budget that would make the long-term changes our economy needs on jobs, in housing, banking and energy to

Two opportuities for young people ..

Community Union bursaries for young people into higher education



I
saw this tweet earlier this week from Community Union. I'd encourage any Union
member

This budget proved you’re worse off under the tories

George Osborne's budget has done nothing for families in Haslingden and Hyndburn. 



The Chancellor boasted about how well things are going, but it was totally out of touch with hardworking people in East Lancashire who are facing a cost-of-living crisis.



After nearly four years of the Tories, hard-working families are on average £1,600 a year worse off and not feeling any economic recovery

FOBTs; ineffective legislation & ineffective powers. My meeting with the Gambling Commission

Last week I met with the Gambling Commission. They are a statutory body with statutory powers to amend regulations and guidance which covers gambling in the UK.

The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) chaired by Sir Chris Kelly, are a quasi responsible charity set up by the Gambling Commission to advise on gambling strategies.

The work of that Board is undertaken and paid for by the

Fwd: People’s Millions 2014 is now open for applications

Dear Mr Jones,The People's Millions is a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund and ITV, where the public helps to decide which local community projects received up to £50,000 of Lottery funding. Since 2005 date the Big Lottery Fund has funded 599 projects through the programme and a total of £31.3 million. In this time over 3.3 million votes have been cast by the public and the programme

Letter to Helen Grant for the blog

David Cameron is putting his party before his country on Europe

David Cameron’s approach to Europe is putting his narrow party interest before national interest, putting at risk growth at home and British influence abroad. He seems to be spending more time negotiating with his backbenchers than negotiating with European partners to deliver real reform. David Cameron’s decision to isolate himself from the rest of the EU means he has no influence in Europe at

LOCAL PEOPLE SHOULD BE MORE INVOLVED IN THE FUTURE OF HOSPITAL SERVICES, NOT LESS

I’ve spoken to local people and many have told me they’re concerned about the future of health services in Hyndburn.

David Cameron promised he’d protect the NHS but worsening patient care and cuts to staffing show that the NHS is not safe in his hands..

Clause 119 of the Government’s Care Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, would give the Government in Westminster the power to

Update on EU Assisted Area Status for Hyndburn

I have been working closely with the local government in Lancashire to campaign for a widening of the Assisted Area Status for wards in Hyndburn. Assisted Area Status means that an area (defined by local authority ward boundaries) is exempt from EU rules preventing state aid – effectively meaning that the British Government can provide assistance to business and the local economy in deprived

Let’s tax bank bonuses to fund jobs for young people in Haslingden and Hyndburn

Too many young people in Haslingden and Hyndburn are struggling to
find work - and not seeing any economic recovery at all. The number of
young people aged 18-24 claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for over a year
has doubled under David Cameron, from 28,300 in May 2010 to 56,100
today.

We cannot afford to waste the talents of
thousands of young people and leave them stuck on the dole for years

Why cutting the ECO funding is another attack on housing and jobs in poorer areas like Hyndburn

Here is the transcript of the speech I made in the Commons on Wednesday regarding the Government’s cynical decision to the amount of money the energy companies have to pay to insulate people’s homes. The Government have essentially let the energy companies off the hook, allowing them to continue business as usual in a broken and uncompetitive market.



But this has real consequences on the

This morning I visited local specialist pneumatic engineering company, Pneumatrol in Oswaldtwistle.

The company employ 84 people locally and trade across the world with their specialist products. Anybody who has been on a London Underground train or even an SNCF train in France will have done so with the help of a Pneumatrol engineered product from here in Hyndburn.


The firm have a good track record with apprentices and work with Training 2000 to have at least 1 new apprentice each year,

Cameron has no answer to the 2000% increase in long term youth unemployment in Hyndburn

Bank bonuses are on the rise and the wealthiest in our country have been given a tax cut by David Cameron. But young people, who have been hit hardest by the recession, are being left behind.

Too many young people in Haslingden and Hyndburn are struggling to find work and not seeing any economic recovery at all. The number of young people aged 18-24 claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for over a

The Great Train Robbery! East Lancashire train line with no trains... (whilst PMs constituency is looked after)

Like many in the region I was incredibly disappointed to see the news that trains from the region are being taken out of service and sent to serve the Chiltern Rail in the South of England. I raised this in the House last week:

Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab): May we have an urgent Government statement on the great train robbery? In east Lancashire we have a brand new line with no trains on it,

This week in Parliament