My week ahead, 23 - 29 November 2015

Monday 23 November, 4pm – Culture Portfolio meeting

6pm – Labour campaigning

Tuesday 24 November, 5pm – Culture/events meeting

Saturday 28 November, 10am – Labour campaigning in South East Ipswich

Sunday 29 November, 10am – Cyclo-Cross championship

Another week of meetings as we wait to hear what further cuts George  Osborne will impose on us, but we have already heard this week that County Councils will be able to raise council tax by a further 2% to help cover the cost of social care, wonder what will Tory run Suffolk will do? They have promised no council tax rise in both 2015 and 2016.

Then again not sure many of us have any confidence in the Suffolk leadership as one of their Cabinet members decided enough was enough and packed it in, what was interesting was that she stated she was not happy with the direction of the national party as well as closer to home in Suffolk. Colin Noble must now be concerned that he will not be able to hold onto the leadership of the Tory Group, not that you would know from his twitter feed (or the twitter feeds from SCC or SCC Cabinet) that anything was wrong!

But it also has not been a great week for the Labour Party, but we must stay united and keep fighting but I am concerned of the direction we are taking – but all is not lost and in Ipswich we are determined to work hard alongside our many new members to win another electoral victory in May.

But we must sort out our differences – but in meetings and with debate not on the pages of Tory supporting papers or via the world of twitter.

What I will say is that we could become the most middle class the Labour Party has ever felt, more a party of protects, more like an off shoot of the Green Party than a party of not just opposition but a party that wants to get back into power to make the changes that are need to help all of us in this country.

I expect our leaders to get a grip and drive us forward, do not write of our chances in 2020, still plenty of time to get our cat together.

My week ahead, 15 - 22 February 2015

Thursday 19 February, 7pm – Ipswich CLP meeting

Saturday 21 February, 10 am – Labour campaigning in East Ipswich

Saturday 22 February, 11 am – Labour campaigning in East Ipswich

Another week of Tory confusion here in Suffolk- the County Scrutiny Committee accepted the arguments of the Labour call in, over the decision to shut Children’s Centres in the county. This will now go back to the Tory Cabinet but then we had the County Budget setting meeting when they pushed through a 0% Council Tax rise even though they may now have to spend money to keep the centres open.

More criminal is the Tory plan to keep reserves high not raise council tax but at the same time preside over one of the worst education authorities in the country. Our children are being failed by a very selfish set of Tory councillors. These children just get one chance at education and are being let down by a council whose only wish is to bribe constituents with a 0% council tax rise.

Here in Ipswich, another Academy is under fire – our Tory MP has crwled out from somewhere and said the school has 7 days to sort the problem out. That is the same school and Academy Chain that he was so quick to praise when they started, and so happy to atke along Michael Gove to be photographed with the new building and meet staff. Not so keen now, hey Mr Gummer.

But it seems that the Academy Chain currently running the school – on Swedish methods has actually almost handed over the running to another chain already in everything but name. The situation at the Ipswich Academy/Holywells is a complete mess that Mr Gummer and Gove through the DfE were heavily involved in causing.

There are many reasons for us needing to get rid of this poor MP, but the state of education in the town (as he works for the Education Secretary) should be the one reason at the top of every voters list.

Mr Gummer also accused me of being a liar – and that some of my tweets were not only lies but aggressive – the term he used is not a common one as he attempted to show off his vocabulary but I asked him for evidence of these lies – he replied that he was busy to look through my time line to find them. I asked him again and this time he said that my blog showed I had little grasp of any real facts.

I asked for an apology for him calling me a liar – he said I would not be getting one. To be honest, I am not that bothered now and hope rather than having pointless arguments on twitter – he seems to have many – he is spending his time attempting to get the schools in Ipswich the help that is so evidently needed, because we know it will not come from the selfish bunch of Tory councillors we have in this county.

My week ahead 4 - 10 March 2013

Monday 4 March, 6pm – Labour Group campaigning

Thursday 7 March, 7pm – Ipswich and Suffolk Fabians meeting

Saturday 9 March, 10.30am – Labour campaigning in North West Ipswich

This week we have had the budget setting meeting of Full Council (more details of ‘Flyergate’ here) and we got to see how disorganised the Tory opposition is – and that was before their terrible result at Eastleigh on Thursday!

Much will be made by the Tories of how they have frozen Council tax at the County Council and also the neighbouring Tory District Council have also set a 0% rise. What they will not tell you is at the County they have made savage cuts including at a time when Suffolk schools sit at the bottom of the league table – a cut of £200,00 from the school improvement fund! In neighbouring District councils the same Tory Cllrs who voted for a freeze have put a rise to the tax claimed by Parish Councils- not something we can do In Ipswich and in Suffolk Coastal, they have put the rent up on beach huts- in some cases a 20% rise – and where do most beech hut owners live? Ipswich.

Over the next few weeks you will get the opportunity to tell councillors and activists your thoughts – well you will be able to tell members of the Labour Party your views, do not expect to see the Lib Dems wander far from the streets round Christchurch Park and the Tories may only be seen in 3 or 4 wards. But you will certainly be contacted by the Ipswich Labour Party, either on the doorstep or by phone or at the very least a leaflet.

Yesterday we had over 20 out in Westgate Ward plus small teams delivering in the South West and the best bit was that we had new members joining us out knocking on doors from an 18 year old 6th Former to a retired couple out for the first time. We also saw this at our final candidate selection meeting on Thursday, with far more applicants that seats available – a problem I am sure the Lib Dems and Tories in Ipswich do not have.

Most people do not use council services?

Yesterday Tory run Suffolk County Council, made their ‘big decision’ – as expected a 0% Council Tax rise for 2013/14 but then they went further and said that tax will be frozen for the next four years! At first you would think residents would be happy with this – but what about services?

How do they know what the Government will give them in grants over the next 4 years? We did not even know this year’s settlement till a few weeks ago. Of course the County is fortunate that they will not face the uncertainty caused by bedroom tax and benefit changes that District Councils will.

So will the County just drain the reserves over the next four years or is the truth that New Strategic Direction is still alive and that the County will continue to sell off/ close down and cut local services?

So we are at the bottom of league tables for Education, but Tory run Suffolk are not intending to increase education funding over the next four years?

Highways – the plan to hand over to Balfour Beatty is in pieces – but the County still know that extra funding for roads will not be needed?

Libraries – Community Groups are already struggling to find the £100,000 they need to keep the library service open – will there be even less county funding over the next four years?

Mobile Library service – down to just one stop in Ipswich (in Tory run Bixley ward) – sign of things to come?

But as leading Tory Suffolk county Council Jane Storey stated yesterday;

"most people don't use council services" so why should they pay council tax?


This epitomises Tory selfishness! So no residents drive on roads, walk on pavements, send their children to schools, call trading standards (horsemeat?), have elderly relatives in care homes?

Maybe we should just be glad that it is Borough and District Councils that empty our bins, look after council houses and even though it should be a County task – in Ipswich run the museum service.

They have decided on a 4 year council tax freeze – because they have an election in May – and are so happy with that they have sent a letter to Eric Pickles – to say ‘look at us, we are just like you’ – maybe they should write to another Tory Minister – Mr Gove – and tell him how they are going to improve education standards but at no extra cost to council tax payers!

Pembroke may no longer be leader, Andrea Hill may have gone, Mr Bee may be more PR savvy but that is just a smokescreen as Colin Noble, Judy Terry, and Guy McGregor are still pushing through the ‘New Strategic Direction’ and why not as Cllr Storey tells us – residents do not use council services!

My week ahead 28 January - 3 February 2013

Monday 28 January, 4pm, Culture Portfolio meeting,
5pm – Electoral Services Working Group
6pm - Labour Group meeting

Wednesday 30 January, 6pm – Full Council Meeting, Ipswich Borough Council,

Thursday 31 January, 7pm – North East Ipswich Area Committee meeting

Saturday 2 February, 10.30am – Labour campaigning in North West Ipswich

Full Council week and the issue of ‘Council tax’ will be discussed by many, the Tory Police and Crime Commissioner has set a 0% rise but only thanks to using his reserves and the County Council have also decided on 0%, but many will wonder what they will do next year when there is nothing left to get rid of/sell off – will the collapse of the deal to allow Balfour Beatty to take over Suffolk roads put a dent into their budget proposals?

With the cuts in grants being made to local authorities by the coalition government plus the uncertainty of how councils will receive housing benefit money it is hard for councils to not have to make cuts to their services, The bribes of extra grants and then the threats of having to use an expensive referendums to put council tax up leaves council with little room for movement.

Tories in opposition including in Ipswich are quick to call for 0% rise or even a cut but at the same time we had Nadia Cenci asking for the council to spend money by cancelling the contract (agreed to by the Tory/Lib Dem council) with a wind turbine firm. This would have cost every resident in Ipswich money but it seems they are happy to ask us to spend money but do not understand that this will mean having to put tax up or cut another service to pay for it!

The abysmal way the Tories and Eric Pickles are treating local authorities has even led to a number of Tory authorities to write to David Cameron and complain, counties like Essex leading the way in this protest but with Suffolk being led by the likes of Pickles ‘clone’ Colin Noble there is not much chance of Suffolk County Council rocking the boat.

The Suffolk Tory leadership – Cllrs Bee, Terry and Noble were quick to tell the public what a great job they have done and are doing and they still managed to set a 0% Council Tax but last week you would have thought the same three Cllrs must have been out of the country as they left Graham Newman to take all the flak for a second set of terrible educational results for the County.

I will leave the finals words to a Tory Suffolk MP when describing the Tory run County education service – “It is a mess”.