March and Rally against Tory cuts- Ipswich Saturday 27th November

East of England Member of the European Parliament, Richard Howitt, joined with local Labour Party members to show his support for UNISON's campaign to save Suffolk County Council services from cuts and privatisation.

Members of Ipswich Labour Party have joined with UNISON and Trades Council colleagues to collect signatures against Suffolk County Council's "New Strategic Direction" of cutting jobs and services across the County. Next Saturday (27th November) there will be a march and rally in the town against the cuts, and Ipswich Labour members will be there in force to protect our local public services. Meeting at Endeavour House at 11am followed by a march to the New Wolsey Theatre (rally there at 12).

Please join myself and other Labour activists there - You will recognise us by the Ipswich Labour Party banner!

Military Covenant - Tories break it already

The Tories campaigned during the last election on how they were going to mend the Military Covenant. Britain has a 'duty of care' to its armed forces. This began as an unspoken pact between society and the military, possibly originating as far back as Henry VIII's reign. The pact was formally codified as a 'covenant' in 2000 (by the Labour Government). It is not a law but is reinforced by custom and convention.

The Tories accused the Labour Government of breaking the Covenant and told everyone how they were going to mend it - so what have they done!

Well they have not done much but they have told us what they are going to do - cut pensions to War Widows and injured soldiers - George Osborne the Tory Chancellor has announced the proposed changes, it has even caused the Head of the Armed Forces to say that 'War widows and injured soldiers must be protected against the "worst excesses" of the coalition's cuts to pensions'

I was fortunate to serve alongside and get to know two brave young soldiers who lost their lives in Sangin, Afghanistan in 2009 both were married and joined the tour late as they stayed behind in the UK for a few weeks as their young wives were both pregnant. A week after their babies were born they flew out to join us. This Tory Government is now saying if those young widows remarry, they will lose their War Widow pension. If that is not breaking the Military Covenant, I don't know what is: The Covenant states: " British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service."




I was also fortunate to work alongside Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who lost his life on bomb disposal duty, his wife Christina spoke eloquently after his death, and captured the feeling of many families who have lost loved ones. Now Osborne and the Tories want to cut her pension.

It is nothing more than a disgrace!

Ben Gummer - an apology

"Following receipt of a letter from Ben Gummer's agent, I can now let constituents know that Mr Gummer has, by his agent's account got a fully staffed office at IP City Centre on Wherstead Road. Hopefully he will soon have an active website and we can look forward to the day when his twitter account is updated to reflect he is now the MP rather than candidate for Ipswich. If anyone is interested in helping Ben get on top of managing these issues, he is currently advertising for an office manager."



Ben Gummer
@ben4ipswich Ipswich
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Ipswich
http://www.bengummer.com

The fact is that is it may be easy for the 'Evening Star' to find our MP, to ask him questions about the Iceni Project, Andrea Hill's pay (but very few questions about cuts planned by Suffolk County Council) It is far more difficult for Ipswich constituents to get hold of him compared to when Chris Mole was our MP.
With the planned reforms to the welfare state, it is more important than ever that our MP is readily available to constituents - an office that is easy to find, an up to date website plus surgeries where an appointment is not needed but where you can just drop into meet your MP. He could even share a surgery location with the MP for North Ipswich. Over to you Mr Gummer (and agent)

Ben Gummer- hiding from the Ipswich public?

Ben Gummer has now been our Ipswich MP for over 6 months and you can find him (if you look hard) a weekly column in the Evening Star, and now each Sunday you can find him riding round the streets of Ipswich (avoiding the numerous potholes) on a charity cycle ride. Well done Ben - But and it is a big but! If you need help- with housing, the law or the numerous other problems that Ipswich residents can have- he is harder to find. Six months and we have a temporary office hidden down by the river, a website that had been dormant since June and even a twitter site that has him as a candidate rather than the MP.

Whilst he is hiding away, the Ipswich Labour Party are still getting many residents call on them requesting help, where we can local Labour Councillors are taking the issues up and when it is an issue that the MP would be best to deal with we are handing them information on how they can contact Ben. But after 6 months it is about time Gummer had an office in the town, dealing with the numerous issues that effect an urban population. Before the election, Ben 'talked, the talk' now lets see him 'walk, the walk'

Save our Sidegate School Road Crossing Patrol

Today, I joined parents, grandparents , residents and more importantly children outside Sidegate Primary School in Ipswich. We were there to start our campaign to tell the Tory run Suffolk County Council that they are making a mistake in not replacing our Road Crossing Patrol when our current lollipop lady stops at half term.

One of the reasons our current lady is giving up is because the road is so dangerous. Over 170 people signed our petition in just the first 15 minutes.

Tory run Suffolk County Council and 200 grand a year Andrea Hill, you have got a fight on. We will not let our children's safety be put at risk for the sake of just £2,000!

People of Suffolk - wake up and smell the roses

For those who think the Tories will only make cuts where they really need to, you need to read the comments from a leading Suffolk Tory- Colin Noble, Tory Portfolio Holder for adult and community services has told the EADT that the cuts will be big - his own words are:

“But when people say you are only doing this to save money, they need to wake up and smell the roses. The cuts are coming and they will be big.”

His leader Pembroke said he did not have a clue what cuts are going to be made (said just before he jetted off on holiday)

Well we know one cut - no Road Crossing patrol person outside Sidegate School, well that's 2 grand saved (oh and the few extra quid George Osborne is going to save by buying his own Christmas Tree for Number 11)

Cuts before children's safety - never saw that on a Ben Gummer leaflet!

Childrens safety- cut it!

Just a short note but a full blog post to follow later in the week - just heard that the Tories are not going to replace our Road Crossing Patrol at Sidegate School in November. It looks like when a Crossing patrol man or lady leaves they will not be replaced, no risk assessment to see how dangerous the road is, just cut, cut, cut.
Sidegate Lane is one of the busiest roads in Ipswich,Sidegate is the biggest Primary School in the town, this will just make it more dangerous for pupils and their parents plus snarl the town up with traffic even more.
Children from at least 6 school's (plus at least 3 playschools) use this crossing. How stupid can the Tories get?
Judy Terry out Tory Councilor in the ward is on the County Cabinet who are planning these cuts, so don't let her try and blame others.
Over the next week I will be trying to get as much support from parents as possible and then I will be writing to the County Council.
Please support where you can, in the end we will have no Road Crossing Patrols in Suffolk.
The wages of all the Crossing Patrols in Suffolk will still be less than the Tories pay Andrea Hill, their County Chief Executive!