Time for Ipswich to stay strong

"We must all share our responsibility to stop the knife violence- parents, schools, police, councils. Young people need to know that carrying a knife makes them MORE likely to be a victim- we need zero tolerance of knives and maximum support for vulnerable young people"

This was a tweet from our Labour MP for Ipswich, Sandy Martin after the fatal stabbing of Tavis, a young lad from the Racecourse Estate in Ipswich.

Just over 2 weeks ago Tavis was murdered in South East Ipswich and since then the town has seen two further stabbings with the latest incident also in South East Ipswich when a young lad was stabbed in front of diners at a McDonald's.

We have known for a while that we had young people involved in the drug trade that was helping fuel a gang war between at least two groups of teenagers, we had seen the warning signs and we knew action was needed to be taken. Some may say we must have failed after the murder of Tavis and the two further stabbings but the plan we have put into practice is no short term fix, it will take more than a few months to solve the drug fuelled problems that our town is experiencing. It may take years.

The problems we suffer from are not just an Ipswich problem, towns all over the county are experiencing the same issues, villages to cities, all over the UK are seeing an increase in youth violence related to the selling of drugs.

That does not mean Tavis and his friends have not been let down by many of us, education standards in Suffolk are not good enough, aspiration seems a dirty word for many of our younger residents. Academies have worked in some places and failed in others however what is certain is the increase in the amount of academies has seen the County Council lose any close links they had with many in he education system.

But we can't just turn this into a blame game, that wail not help the people of Ipswich, as Sandy stated we all have a responsibility and it has been good to see the Police, the County Council and ourselves at the Borough work together to help in the short term make our residents feel safer but also to put into action plans that will see our communities build up their own resilience and enable them to run schemes that they want which will help them, their children and their neighbours.

Some will see this as an opportunity to score cheap political points or push forward their own agendas, every day I hear people calling for the scrapping of 'Stop and search' whilst others are calling for an increase in it, both should leave the operational decisions on the use of 'Stop and search' to the police, they know more than any of us that in the past it has not worked and that it can alienate a community and that if you do need to use it, must be backed up by very good intelligence.

I am the portfolio holder for community safety so I am very concerned with the situation , I have been working hard to push forward our action plan to combat gang violence however I do ask myself if I could have done more, was I taking it for granted that the problem would not escalate out of control? One local Tory did accuse me of being in control of a 'crumbling' portfolio, the comment was not unexpected, but I was disappointed for our Council staff who have been working hard for a long time to improve community safety and for the last two weeks have been putting in very long hours to help our communities. Most of them are Ipswich residents, fellow parents who are also worried about their own families and friends. I have total faith in them to continue their good work, which will help make our residents safer. they certainly are no part of a crumbling 'portfolio'.

I of course wonder how we have got into a position where young people feel they have no future, I remember joining the army and watching a lad from Priory winning  the Army boxing championship, in the seventies many young lads (and to a lesser extent girls) left Ipswich to join the forces, spending from 3 to 22 years away from the town but returning in most cases a better person and in most cases then setting a great example to their friends and siblings  of what you can do if you get the chance and if you put your mind to it. Unfortunately the forces recruiting is down, the process is too long and minimum educational requirement's means that many of our young people who would most benefit from time in the army will never get that opportunity.

The last two weeks have been hard for our town, but we must stay strong, for each other and for all Ipswich residents, there is an obvious desire for all groups to work together, to regain the trust of our constituents and make sure we ensure Ipswich is a safe place to live a place where aspiration should be something all our youngsters have rather than a word to describe others.

Ipswich Tories - more hypocrisy over building homes

A couple of weeks ago I found myself writing a blog after reading an Ipswich Tory leaflet. The blog post can be found here.

The leaflet was certainly not factual but it was their comments on house building that really angered me, the Tories wrote;

“House building in Ipswich has stalled and more needs to be done. Ipswich needs family homes yet this council is failing to provide them. We would make building quality family homes – and the infrastructure accompanying them – one of our top priorities.”

My post highlighted the fact that it was Ben Gummer, Nadia Cenci and both the local Tory Councilors (and  Lib Dems) and the Tory  County Council who were putting obstacles in the way of us getting more homes built in Ipswich.

Then this week I was given even more proof that it is the Ipswich Tories who do not want to see homes built. I received a copy of the Tory leaflet for Priory Heath Ward and it included the same paragraph blaming Ipswich Labour for stalling house building but then in a classic piece of Tory hypocrisy the  Tory candidate  takes credit (!!!) for stopping Labour run Ipswich Council of building homes on Ravenswood (on land that is already designated for home building)

So we now even have a Tory candidate admitting it is not Ipswich Labour that has caused home building in Ipswich to become stalled but it was the Tories - including himself!

Jack Dromey MP out campaigning in Ipswich

Today saw a large number of Labour volunteers and candidates out campaigning in the Priory Heath and Holywells Wards in Ipswich. We were joined by Jack Dromey MP, not just for the photograph! Jack spent the next two hours talking to residents on the Racecourse Estate.

We started the morning off in Bader Close where Ipswich Labour plan to start building over 100 family homes, the decision to start building council houses again has been welcomed by many of those we have met on the doorstep.

Promoted by John Cook c/o Ipswich labour Party, 33 Silent Street, Ipswich, IP1 1TF on behalf of Alasdair Ross and the Labour Party Candidates, . Hosted (printed) by Blogger.com (Google Inc) of 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts

Bus leaflets in Ravenswood

I actually enjoy getting out, delivering leaflets, knocking on doors and meeting people. some members of the party do not like it, each to their own. But they are missing out on what is a vital part of local politics and also on what can be a quite enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. I also enjoy working in different wards in the town, many have the same problems as Rushmere. it is often the same faces out each Saturday, but results in St Johns and Bridge Wards in Ipswich last year show that the more work you do the better the result will be.
Today over 10 of us were in Priory Heath, whilst other members also held a surgery in Westgate and Sue Thomas our Rushmere County Councillor was holding her own surgery at the Selkirk Road residents shop.
I was fortunate to be in Ravenswood (a new housing development on the old airport site) with Phil Smart. on top of meeting local people, whilst delivering it also give you the chance to discuss local and national political events. Phil is our "Mr Bus", who has been at the front of our campaign to stop possible cuts to the Ipswich Bus Service. This week the campaign took a nasty turn as the Tories (with Lib Dem support) ousted Phil as chairman of the Ipswich Bus Company. But as an Ipswich Party member told Phil, when it turns nasty and personnel you know you have won the argument.
The people from Ipswich have a great sense of pride in their bus service and it is up to us to get the message over that every Tory and Liberal on the council voted for a budget that will lead to a reduced bus service in the town.
We managed to get most of Ravenswood delivered, as it is a new build it can be slightly more difficult to deliver than the older estates but as well as being a fountain of knowledge on bus routes, Phil also is the ideal man when it comes to sorting out delivery routes, the use of a pincer movement was even thrown in to appeal to my military background.
Another good thing about going to Ravenswood it reminds you of what a Labour run Ipswich council achieved whilst in power, as Ravenswood is a great example of what a go ahead council can achieve with a builder if they get a chance or have the inclination to do so.