Andy Burnham – reconnecting Labour. A leader that you and Britain can believe in.

Well the ballot papers have finally started to arrive; and all the candidates – and their backers – are urging us to vote for their favourite.

Over the last few months I have been lucky enough to attend a hustings with all the candidates; and events to meet or hear from four of the candidates individually. The exception being Diane Abbott, who does not seem to have ventured much north of Watford Gap.

In that time the race to become Labour Leader has been cast as a battle between two brothers – this is grossly unfair on the other candidates. Not surprisingly both Milibands have pulled in a large number of famous and influential backers – individuals and organisations.

But since the campaign started I have become less and less satisfied with what I have heard from them. By contrast, Andy Burnham, has slowly, quietly and without a lot of fuss or fanfare built up his case.

He is the only candidate to have produced his own manifesto – Aspirational Socialism – with solid, practical ideas to take the Party forward for the future – and to win the next election. His feet seem to me to be firmly on the ground, not lost in an idealistic world. Policies based on his own life experience, not formed by think tanks or focus groups.

He sounds different – literally – but it’s not just his voice, more importantly it’s the words: “Labour is more than a Party, it is a cause, seeking a fairer spread of life chances for all. We have a responsibility to give each other that opportunity.”

He is right too when he says Labour has been in the grip of a political elite, which is why I may not now vote for either Miliband. A conclusion I had reached before I heard Andy Burnham utter it on Monday evening in Manchester.

“Labour must be the People’s Party, with its feet on the ground. We need to move beyond old Labour and New Labour. Labour has been in the grip of a political elite – I want to end that. I stand for true Labour – the heartbeat of the Party, fighting the Labour cause for ordinary people – because it’s our cause too.”

So if you’ve not made your mind up yet, take a look at his website – I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. http://andy4leader.com/

Anxious times & exam nerves

Like many parents and students I am anxiously awaiting exam results this week – and trying hard not to listen to the usual chorus of people saying that the exams are not as hard as they used to be.

This year there is even more cause for concern. As a parent I have always fought for what was best for my children. Until May 6, I was hopeful for their future; now I am fearful.

The Coalition government has reduced by 10,000 the number of university places available in England despite increased demand. To make matters worse the cut was made AFTER most students had received offers, albeit conditional on their exam grades.

This has led to the absurd situation where universities are already saying they are full, even before the results are announced – and that students with very good grades, who for example get two As and a B, instead of three A grades – may not get a place.

Some will choose to defer hoping for better luck next year, perhaps returning to College to see if they can improve their grades.

Others may choose to look for work – not that there is much around, and thanks to the Coalition there is no Future Jobs Fund to help them or their friends who chose to leave school after A’ levels.

Then there is Government talk of replacing student loans with a graduate tax but isn’t this just sleight of hand; little more than a name change?

The real issue is whether the cap on tuition fees is lifted – that could mean students, on a traditional three year degree course, having to pay back £21,000 to £30,000 – rather than the current £10,500. And that’s before accommodation fees and living costs are included.

I am not sure that this is what many LibDem voters expected when the Party – from Nick Clegg down - fought the election on a promise to abolish tuition fees.

The Labour Government sought – and succeeded in –opening up universities to a wider range of students. When I was at school, my friends on the council estate left school after O’ levels, they did not even consider staying on to do A’ levels, never mind university.

Today that barrier has – or had – been removed. Many more young people have been going to university and gaining valuable experience and jobs after they graduate.

Whatever the results bring, I wish you ‘Good Luck’.

IFS: "we are looking at the longest, deepest sustained period of cuts to public services spending at least since World War II”

So our new MP thinks Labour should apologise. I, however, beg to differ, indeed I think the boot is on the wrong foot and that it is the Conservative Party and their Coalition partners the LibDems who owe the British public an apology for misleading people during the election campaign .

Since the General Election in May there have been a series of economic indicators showing that the economy was growing and that unemployment was falling. Even forecasts from the Tories own think tank the Office of Budget Responsibility have backed Labour’s approach to the economy.

Affordable housing programmes have been cut along with free swimming for under 16s, while older people will now have to wait until they are 65 for the bus pass – not to mention the VAT hike, that will hit lower income and pensioner families disproportionately.

Derbyshire County Council has just announced that it is to end its free home help service, and make it more difficult for people to qualify for the home help service. If that was not enough it is to close a two-thirds of the care homes that it runs in Derbyshire – leaving perhaps just one county run care home in High Peak.

Only last week High Peak Borough Council’s Executive accepted that it’s 2010/11 revenue budget was around £178,040 in deficit, largely as the result of the loss of government grants; while for 2011/12 a £655,160 deficit is projected.

The report – the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan – says: In total, the cut in public services spending as a share of national income now planned by the Coalition Government is expected to more than reverse the entire increase under the Labour Government. To quote the Institute for Fiscal Studies…”we are looking at the longest, deepest sustained period of cuts to public services spending at least since World War II”.

What price good health facilities?

Whilst I welcome news that Buxton’s new hospital plan is still on I cannot help feeling that the PCT may be burying its head, ostrich-like in the sand, because in reality the decision has already been taken out of its hands.

Why? Two reasons:

1. The Tory – LibDem Government plans to abolish PCTs.

2. The Tory – LibDem government has already axed not just planned, but committed spending.

The PCT is now a lame duck, whatever its September meeting decides will be largely irrelevant; the real decisions will be taken elsewhere.

Locally we have already seen the government claw back £244,000 from High Peak Borough Council – money that it had allocated to spend this year, the equivalent of a 5% hike in Council Tax. A further £948,000 towards affordable housing in Harpur Hill has also been axed, along with £310,000 for a scheme in Tintwistle. Across the county schools are losing out because of the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

As far as health services are concerned the Buxton Advertiser has reported that plans by four GP surgeries to create walk-in centres have been scrapped: “Due to the current national financial restrictions NHS Derbyshire County is unable to approve the building of any additional new health facilities.”

Surely there is some contradiction here. While improved health care in Chapel, Whaley Bridge and New Mills has already been abandoned; Buxton apparently remains on track even though the business case is still being worked on.

Meanwhile in Glossop a new health centre has opened on George Street - but many of its rooms are not being used, and it will not be able to treat minor injuries of carry out minor operations. I fear this is a sad sign of things to come.

Coalition cuts - the impact on High Peak, so far

Just a few examples of how Coalition cuts are already hitting the people of High Peak:

1. £5m - £8m lost to The Crescent development following the axing of East Midlands Development Agency.
2. £244,000 – lost Housing and Planning Delivery Grant, LABGI (Local Authority Business Grant Initiative) – included in HPBC budget for 2010/2011, the equivalent of approx 5% on the council tax.
3. £310,000 for five affordable homes on West Drive in Tintwistle.
4. £948,000 Kickstart funding for 30 affordable homes in Harpur Hill, Buxton.
5. Glossop’s new George Street Health Centre – will not perform minor operations.
6. Buxton's new Community Hospital – now seems unlikely to go ahead.
7. The Tintwistle-Mottram bypass - in all its variations.
8. Free swimming for u16s only on certain days during the summer holidays, normal charges to apply from early September.
9. From July 31 - free swimming for o60s ends.

All of these projects would also have been a boost for the local economy, for local builders and suppliers - and would have created jobs.

And then there is the individual impact on both people and businesses of the 20% VAT rise; changes to housing benefit, tax credits and job seekers allowance; the cuts in university places; the ending of the Future Jobs Fund.

The Crescent: what next?

Last week High Peak Borough Council issued a press release announcing all was well and that major progress had been made on plans for The Crescent.

Buried away towards the end of the press release was a seemingly innocuous paragraph about the abolition of the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) one of the key funding partners in The Crescent scheme.

Emda had been due to contribute at least £5million towards the scheme - possibly more.

I have been a supporter of this scheme for a long time and want to see it succeed. I understand the behind the scenes issues, and hope that these have now been sorted out.

But I do wonder now who will fill this funding gap?

The Heritage Lottery Fund has already increased its grant several times and said publicly when announcing its £12.5m contribution that no more money was available. Given the cuts to local authority spending I suspect neither High Peak nor Derbyshire County Council will have the necessary funds.

And let’s not forget the impact of the rise in Vat to 20% from January – which will also increase the costs of this important project.

And – as an aside, funny how the same press release also appeared on the website of High Peak Conservative Association. I am sure Mr Pickles, who has called for an end to Council produced newsletters, would be delighted to see taxpayers money being used this way.

What now for schools?

Fortunately no High Peak schools are affected by Michael Gove’s announcement about the ending of the Building Schools for the Future programme, although other schools in Derbyshire are not so lucky.

It’s bad enough that the list he published was wrong, but little has been said about the impact this will have on the school community: children, parents, teachers, classroom assistants.

It’s not just the new schools won’t be built; it has thrown carefully worked out school closures and re-organisation plans have been thrown into disarray. What will happen to the schools that were due to close in three weeks time?

One school was due to be replaced because it had burnt down!

Then there’s the impact on the local economy – builders and suppliers were lined up, jobs will be lost; some construction firms are already talking about taking action against the government.

This is a cut and burn policy of the worst kind, showing little regard for people - children, parents, school staff – but then perhaps that’s what we should expect from the Tories.

Accusations that the funding was not there were have also been exposed, with the permanent secretary at the Department for Education confirming that this is not true.

As Ed Balls says: “the true failure of the education secretary is not a failure of process or spin but a catastrophic failure of judgment. More from Ed at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/08/school-building-michael-gove-balls

You should also read this blog from Teacher Talks: http://thinkpolitics.co.uk/tpblogs/teachertalks/2010/07/08/theres-a-lot-to-learn-from-this-government/