Not standing up Britain in Europe is unacceptable

Last week anonymous foreign diplomats described as 'natural allies' of the UK, have briefed the British press that Cameron was "scaring everyone off", and that his inability to control the frothing backbenches of his own party was making the UK a "dangerous partner". He is making it harder, not easier to reform Europe, and that is because he has political not national interests at heart, and it

44 Years on from when Labour Passed the Equal Pay Act

44 Years on from when Labour Passed the Equal Pay Act and women in the North West still get paid on average around 17.6% less than men.  It seems extraordinary in an age when girls are outperforming boys at school, going to university in greater numbers and running FTSE 100 companies that pay inequality still exists, but it does, and more worrying still things are going backwards on David

Haslingden: Official opening of the ViC Centre

Last week was the official launch day for Veterans in the Community in the Mary Hindle Centre, Haslingden. Following our successful campaign to regain the building from Agapao International it is fantastic to see what Veterans in the Community have done with the building since November 2013 and what an effect they have had on local veterans.

The launch event was well attended with

Summary of this week in the House of Commons:

· Opposition Day debate on the Office for Budget Responsibility (Manifesto Audits)
· Opposition Day debate on the Private Rented Sector
· Phone Hacking (PMQs)
· Government Statement on the Jimmy Savile investigations
· Disability benefit delays (DWP Orals)
· Government Statement on Student Visas
· Wales Bill, Report and Third Reading
·

DWP telling severely disabled DLA claimants to reapply is wrong

Double click to see clearly

I recently met with some constituents whose daughter has cerebral palsy – a condition which unfortunately has no cure and requires round the clock care.

Due to the severity of the condition, she is in receipt of the highest level of Disability Living Allowance – it provides vital support to help her and her family get by and to make the most of this terrible

The First World War Centenary Partnership, led by IWM now has 2,908 member organisations...

The First World War Centenary Partnership, led by IWM now has 2,908 member organisations from across 49 countries and their collective programme of events and activities can be found at www.1914.org . The Partnership is made up of educational and cultural not for profit organisations with plans to commemorate the centenary, in a way that is meaningful to them. To date there are 2,112 events

Todmorden Curve. Av wages in Manchester at least £5,000 more than Hyndburn

I recently received another letter from the Department for Transport regarding the lack of trains for the Todmorden Curve. The Department's view is that the area will have to wait until December before second-hand trains from elsewhere on the network. It is my firm view, as well as that of everyone I speak to on this matter, that it is farcical that we have a brand new train line which isn't

Following concerning in the trade media and Sunday Telegraph on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter...

Following concerning reports in the trade media and Sunday Telegraph, I am pleased to have received this response from the Ministry of Defence which makes it clear that it is not the position of the US Department of Defense or USAF that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is militarily redundant, and that it is not their position that they will be scrapping their procurement of the aircraft.

As I made

Alerts for the blind on traffic lights

I have received an enquiry from a gentleman who caught me in the street about the lack of any audible bleep on the 4 way traffic lights on Eastgate near Tesco Express/Esso petrol station. These lights have just been upgraded.


Linda Irving from LCC has just replied to my enquiry. She's been to look at the traffic lights at the junction at the top of Abbey Street. She says that there never are

My Observer Column

It’s been a hectic time locally with the elections. I know voters often say they don’t see anyone but the Hyndburn Labour Party alone spoke to 12,000 people during the last two months and I’m sure the other parties also wore out plenty of shoe leather too on the campaign trail.

With a zombie government and lightweight Queens Speech it has been a period broken only by elections and things not

Labour will change the system so young people are in training, not on benefits

People in Hyndburn and Haslingden have told me they are fed up with the lack of opportunities under this government and not being able to find a decent job.

It says a lot about the Tories’ inept approach to running the economy that they are celebrating the recovery when 850,000 young people are still unemployed and millions more are feeling the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis.

The Tories

Summary of this week in the House of Commons:

· Situation in Iraq (Government statement and PMQs)
· Opposition Day debate on passport applications
· Opposition Day debate on Energy Prices
· Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, Report and Third Reading
· Government statement on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict
· Consumer Rights Bill, Report and Third Reading
· Urgent Question on

The Government must stand up for victims of knife crime

Along with my
Labour colleagues I’ve called on the Tory-led government to do more to tackle
knife crime.

On Tuesday,
Labour voted in Westminster to protect local communities by introducing minimum six-month jail sentences for those
repeatedly committing knife crime.

This is an important issue for many people in Hyndburn and Haslingden and I wanted to show my support for
victims and

Labour Motion on Passport Fee Refunds

Today I will vote for a
motion calling on the Government to provide a refund for people who
have had to pay additional fees to have their passport applications
to be upgraded as a result of the crisis in the passport office.



After the delays and
problems at the passport office in the last few weeks, I will call on
Theresa May to make a one off goodwill refund of fees for people who applied

New taxi licensing regualtions will undermine public safety in Hyndburn.

Next Monday Parliament will be discussing and voting on the De Regulation Bill and in particular the deregulation of taxi licensing.

The days of a safety vetted, Council enforced Taxi and Private Hire services are under threat if the amendments go through.

Currently the law limits private hire vehicles to operate and take passengers booked from within the borough in which they are licensed

Carer's event in Westminster

Last week at the Carer's event in Westminster I spoke with carers at the ‘speed networking’ Carers Week event. I spent time listening to the issues which affect Age UK and Parkinson's carers.

Photo with Donna O’Brien and Amy Dilley from Parkinsons UK

Passport chaos shows government is out of touch

Virtually every Member of Parliament I have spoken to this week has constituents who have paid for holidays or business trips, put passport applications in on time, but are still waiting for their passports to come through with just days to go.

The Government has been in total denial about the chaos they have created over the passport backlog. Only at the eleventh hour this week did David

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

You may be
interested in the following articles and speeches, delivered by members of the
Labour Front Bench in the last week:

For the last three weeks I have had brought to my attention the changes in the Deregualtion Bill which would compound the problems surrounding private hire vehicles in Hyndburn. Notably relation of regulations and watering down or in the worst cases removal of any local enforcement.

Hyndburn councillors and I oppose these changes to taxi and private hire

Labour will control immigration in a fair way

The Tories have broken their promises on immigration. They promised to reduce net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ but they are failing to reach their target. It is going up not down and the Government isn’t tackling those who exploit immigration to undercut local wages and jobs.

The last Labour government got some things wrong on immigration - including not putting proper controls on

ANTHONY NOLAN – How many stem cell donors do you have in your constituency?

From: Rebecca Gladstone
To: JONES, Graham
Subject: ANTHONY NOLAN – How many stem cell donors do you have in your constituency?




Dear Mr Jones,



Here at Anthony Nolan we are calling on our MPs to become superheroes. How? By helping us to find more 16-30 year olds to join our register of heroic individuals willing to donate their blood stem cells or bone marrow to blood cancer patients

Only Labour will make the changes this country needs

The recent local and European elections showed the depth of discontent with the direction of our country, which people increasingly feel does not work for them.

Britain needs a change of direction - a plan of action equal to the scale of the challenges our country faces. But this week‘s Queen’s Speech, David Cameron’s legislative programme for the year, only offered more of the same.

Labour

Rental Car Insurance: Buy or Not Buy

During the summer our agency receives a lot of phone calls from clients who are sitting at the airport getting ready to sign up for a rental car. The rental car employee has just asked them if they wish to purchase the “extra” insurance from the rental car company, and they are not certain if their personal auto insurance protects them on rental cars or not. So they pull out the cell phone and call Fey Insurance Services. Our answer is always this, “It is not a black or white answer.

Unfortunately it is a gray answer so we recommend you purchase at least the “Collision Damage Waiver”. Normally the client is somewhat confused on what the “gray” answer is but the beach is calling and they want to get on their way. So, I thought with this blog article I would hit on two reasons why it is a “gray” answer when it comes to purchasing insurance from the rental car company on a rental car.

The first reason is contract language. Two contracts would be involved if you did not purchase rental car insurance from the rental car company. The contracts would be the one between you and the rental car company (the one you sign in order to rent the car) and the contract between you and your personal auto insurance company. Each of these contracts can be different depending on which rental car company you are using, which state you are in and which personal auto insurance company you have. Because of this there are all kinds of possible gaps in insurance coverage. An example gap is “loss of use”. A number of rental car companies will charge you for the loss of use of the car while it is in the repair shop after you caused an accident that damaged the vehicle. This means that if it takes a week for the car to be repaired they will charge you a week of rental. Some insurance companies do pay this extra cost and some don’t. Gaps like this can be avoided by just spending the extra money on “Collision Damage Waiver”.

A second reason we feel it is a gray topic and you should just purchase the extra coverage is that often times you drop off a car after your trip and no one from the rental car company is present to help you check for damages to the car. We have had a couple of cases where our clients received a letter from the rental car company seeking money for a ding or scratch. They swear they never caused any damage to the car. Unfortunately, when they turned the car in there was no one to sign off that the car was returned undamaged. So, when another vacationer in an unfamiliar car at an unfamiliar airport (who is late for their flight) pulls in next to you to drop off their rental car, and they bump into the car you had just dropped off twenty minutes ago, you have no way of proving you where no longer responsible for the vehicle when the damage occurred.

So we recommend you play it safe next time you rent a car and purchase at least the “Collision Damage Waiver”.

This week in Parliament