We are listening, we are delivering, but we know we need to do more

Thursday was not a great night, election wise for Labour - we get little satisfaction from knowing the Tories had an even worse set of results and the Green party also seem to hit the buffers. We would have wanted to retain all our County Councillors and added to our total, however we lost hard working councillors.

Why? Nationally we have have made mistakes - taking the fuel payment from pensioners certainly cost us votes- but our main issue may be communication, with a hostile press we need to be the people shouting out about all the good things we have done - workers rights, NHS Waiting times down, pay rises for many and we now have a Prime Minister who is helping set the international agenda rather than being laughed at, which is what was happening under both Johnson and Truss.

But we need to do more and as Keir Starmer stated- faster . More people need to benefit from the changes we are brining in.

Local, we are also delivering - and over the next year we will see more improvements to the town centre, from Lloyds Avenue make over to the reopening of the Grimwades building, we continue to build new council homes, all of a very high quality.

However, we are not just hoping that the Reform surge is just a protest vote, the Tories seem to think their voters will return, I think they are wrong and what they will see, is more Tory politicians jumping ship. As a Labour Party, we should not be scared of talking about immigration, we are already turning the Border Force into an organisation taht can get results, in particular tackling and taking action against people smugglers plus those who are willing to turn a blind eye and employ and house illegal immigrants. This is a good news story, a Labour plan that is getting great results but one that the national media would just rather ignore and that leaves a vacuum where both Reform and Tory MPs like Jenrick can fill and as opposition politicians they can say what they like as they do have to deliver.

Accepting our own short comings and understanding why many are turning to Reform, is just part of the story- I am also angry, we need to pint out that in many cases, Reform politicians are just fail4d Tories. The new MP in Runcorn, an ex Tory councillor, the Reform Mayor in Lincolnshire we a Tory Minister and made a Dame by Johnson. Closer to home the recent Reform candidate in St John's was a former Tory Councillor and 3 of the senior people in the Ipswich Reform Party were Tory councillors with one who was suspended by the Tories after he declared his support for Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.

Reform this weekend have been quick to say it will take them a while to sort things out as they have not been in power before, but the truth is a number of their councillors ( and future council leaders) were Tory councillors previously, the same people who failed to fill in pot holes, ensure SEND  pupils got the education they deserved or sorting out the care system.

Of course, and no one should be surprised, Reform have also got councillors who have a more 'shady' past, supporters of Far Right groups like Britain First, and many who have openly posted racist posts 0r promoted conspiracy theories.

Then you have their leader, Farage who man who seems to be happy to support both Trump and Putin!

But we cant just hope they will implode, we need to get our message over to voters - and with little help from the national press, we will have to do that on our own, so almost every weekend in 2025 you will Labour politicians knocking on doors listening t0 Ipswich residents, whilst the Tories will still be in hiding and the other 3 groups- Lib Dems, Greens and Reform will probably only make their first a appearance on Ipswich streets next April.

So plenty for the national Labour Party to do, as well as us local politicians, however I voted Labour last July to give Keir Starmer a 5 year mandate to do what ever is necessary to get this country back on the right track after 14 years of Tory chaos and a disastrous Brexit, i am not going to give up on him or my party after just 10 months! 

Never forget this generation

D day, 80 years ago - we must never forget the sacrifices this generation made to give us peace in Europe - We will remember them

I hold Rushmere Ward

 2024 Ipswich Borough Council Election result:

Result for Rushmere Ward:

Lib Dem - 146

Reform UK - 188

Green - 221

Tory - 626

Labour, Alasdair Ross - 1,163

Turnout - 38.2%

A great night for Ipswich Labour, with 5 gains off the Tories

Cutting out the truth

Slightly shocked this week to find a Tory leaflet arrive through my letterbox, normally we are lucky to even get one just before an election but to receive a leaflet in early March is a real shock.

What was less shocking was that the leaflet had very little to do with the truth. The main story (fiction?) was focussed on the reasons why the Tory County Council are now cutting our verges in Ipswich. Debbie Richards, our Tory candidate, decided to tell Rushmere residents that the Tories were now mowing our verges after we had refused because our a 'black hole' in our finances.

Our Tory candidate, Debbie Richards forgets to mention a number of things, including that it is their statuary duty to maintain our roads and verges. The County used to pay the Borough to do it for them, but each year they reduced how many cuts they would pay for, so the Labour run Borough Council had to subsidise the service. In the end we could no longer go on like this, so we gave the County 12 months notice that we would not continue with the contract. 

Debbie Richards also declares that the County has purchased new equipment that will do the job of weed removal better, however one of her fellow Tory County Councillors has already declared the new procedure does not work.

Seems Debbie Richards may be great at cutting out the truth but has little knowledge on cutting out weeds.

I am sure Rushmere residents would have been more interested to hear why she has chosen to stand in Rushmere, rather than in either of the seats she represents on the County Council?

Just think, only 13 months till our next local Tory leaflet!!

Has he?

Homelessness is a big issue throughout the UK, and Ipswich is no different to other similar towns in having such a problem, made worse recently, by more people struggling to pay rent or mortgages and others unable to get the support for mental health issues or substance misuse.

In Ipswich, helping people keep off the streets is one of our key priorities and we have been very successful in not only gaining funding from central Government but then using that funding to assist many residents to gain accommodation.

Not that you would know that if you have received the latest email newsletter from our Tory MP, Tom Hunt. He talks bout other local authorities sending many of their homeless people they're responsible for to Ipswich. This is not something new, it has been happening for a number of years, we even had other neighboring authorities block booking bed and breakfast accommodation, even if they did not need all the rooms at the time. The local authorities may be seen to be shirking their responsibility, but they are doing nothing illegal - only people who could stop them doing this - are the Tory Government .Mr Hunt does seem to forget to mention that none of the local authorities sending people to Ipswich are Labour run. 

When we assist homeless residents, we do our upmost to keep them in Ipswich, that is not always possible and if we do have to accommodate people outside Ipswich, we ensure we speak to our neighboring authorities and explain why and where these residents are being housed. It is called working in partnership!

We currently have an old hotel in the town being used by others to accommodate those who otherwise would be without a roof over their heads, we do not use it as we do not believe it is the right place or that the accommodation is suitable, we have made sure other authorities area ware of our opinion about the location. 

According to Mr Hunt, we are not concerned about the situation and are doing nothing about it. Mr Hunt states: " The Labour led, Ipswich Borough Council are aware of this al and have done nothing to stop it. I have encouraged them to make their opposition clear to neighboring authorities, but they have refused to do so."

Now this is news to me - and I am the portfolio holder responsible for housing and assisting those who are made homeless, and i have never received any correspondence from Mr Hunt- so who has he spoken to? Not that I am surprised about his comments, he often made similar claims about the Borough response to fighting crime, when he had never spoken to me once, when I was portfolio holder for Public Protection. 

So if you are fortunate/unfortunate enough to receive a weekly newsletter from Mr Hunt, I would suggest you tale what is written with a pinch of salt as it seems Mr Hunt does not always have his facts correct and would rather use his newsletter to bash the local Labour run council than give residents the true facts about the situation.

What his newsletter fails to mention is that the Tory run County Council is proposing cuts to their budget that will see Ipswich lose over 300 bedspaces, those that are used by some of our most vulnerable residents, it may be that it will be the Ipswich council tax payer who will have to pick up the bill, and some of those 300 may find themselves without a home - maybe something Mr Hunt, would wish to take up with the failing County Council rather than bashing a council, doing their best to help those who are made homeless. 

A community remembers

Yesterday, I was given the privilege to speak at the unveiling of a mural to remember a Westbourne Academy pupil, and a  Whitehouse Estate, Ipswich resident, who lost his life in Afghanistan in 2007

Aaron McClure will be remembered by his comrades from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment, but also by his friends and family from this close knit part of Ipswich.

Well done to his mother, his friends, and the school for keeping his memory alive.

500th solar panel installed on council home in Ipswich

Ipswich Borough Council has this week installed its 500^th solar panel as part of its commitment to providing its residents with sustainable energy solutions.

 

Installed on a home in Maple Close, the news demonstrates the Council’s ongoing effort to use more renewable energy in the town, using local firms for the scaffolding and panel installation.

 

This initiative is part of Ipswich Borough Council's dedication to combat climate change, supporting carbon neutral ambitions, paving the way for a greener and more sustainable future for residents, whilst helping to reduce energy bills.

 

By reaching the 500 milestone, this shows the great strides forward being taken by the Council, harnessing the power of renewable resources on its housing stock in Ipswich.

 

Solar power offers numerous benefits, including decreased dependence on fossil fuels, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and cost-effective energy solutions for community benefit.