Maidstone Weald Labour Party

Maidstone Weald Labour Party have a number of active members, and from our West branch Leslie Turner he has an extensive hostory with the Labour Party ,in fact he joined Maidstone Party when I came here in 1960 and before that he was over 10 years with the Lewes, Sussex, Party and before that in the mid-1930s he had joined the Labour League of Youth of the Chichester, Sussex Party and was a member until 1939 when he was conscripted for nearly 7 years in the Army. He regularly writes letters and here is his latest.


To the Letters/opinion Editor KM

Dear Editor,Councillor Garland in his letter of Oct 27 (Making good the ills of the Past) is quick to claim credits for : unspecified 'immediate savings', and for 'working towards' reductions in expenditure for next year; and for continuing an existing all-party social programme; and for 'overhauling' a Planning System which has defied the best minds certainly since the 1947 Act, and he has expressed hope to 'win investment' (sounds like a gamble) via the KCC during the run-up to their Elections next May which will undoubtedly be fought for a lowering Budget.

Perhaps he will please tell us how his Administration is progressing specifically towards his own stated Vision recently published in the press (and I quote) : "to raise the average wage in the Borough; reduce deprivation; secure high quality jobs/housing in a sustainable fashion;ensure appropriate infrastructure to meet growth; to reduce congestion and increase public transport".

Thank you.Sincerely, Leslie Turner.

The Labour Government has signed a Public Service Agreement to ensure that 95% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSI ) are in the best condition possible by 2010.

Did you know that 82% of the beaches in the South East have met the "excellent" standard required for the prestigious Blue Flag award.

Did you know that the Environment Agency's Regional Director recently said that " bathing waters in the South have improved dramatically, over the last few years.

Waterwise a new organisation set up last November aims to develop new supplies, manage demand and promote the social and environmental benefits of water conservation and here's the link http://www.waterwise.org.uk/

Your Environment correspondent

Patrick Coates

Labour's Health Minister Andy Burnham responding to Andrew Lansley's interview today on The Daily Politics, has written to Andrew Lansley to correct misleading figures currently being circulated by the Conservative Party.

Andy Burnham MP said:

'The Tory health campaign is unravelling.

'Yesterday in Parliament, David Cameron asserted that '20,000 jobs are being cut'.

'But today Shadow Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, was asked by Andrew Neil:

'Are you saying these are job cuts, that there are 20,000 people currently in jobs who are going to lose their jobs?

'And he replied:

'No I'm not.'

'He further clarified the matter by saying:

'20,000 individuals are not losing their jobs, no...

'This clearly contradicts what David Cameron said yesterday.

'Moreover, it is clear that the figures currently being circulated by the Tories on NHS job losses are misleading and wrong.

'For example, the Tories list Bolton Hospitals Trust as having suffered 130 job losses but the BBC reported today , having spoken to the Trust, that there has been the loss of two administrative jobs.

'The Tories also list Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust as having suffered 250 job losses, however once again the BBC, having spoken to the Trust, reported the loss of three jobs.

'So today I am writing to Andrew Lansley to give him the opportunity to both correct David Cameron's assertion of yesterday, and to withdraw the misleading figures the Tories have published.

'If the Tories refuse to do so, it will be clear to everyone that the current campaign being waged by the Tories is dishonest and misleading.'

Work/ Life Balance

This is one green issue you may not have heard about

What is it :

In the past we've perhaps thought of work as just paid work. Of course it's much more. Unpaid domestic, caring and voluntary work should be properly recognised and valued.

What can we do :

• say 'paid work' if that is what you mean.
  
• show and assert that you value unpaid work at every opportunity.
  
• contribute to developing local indicators that recognise and value unpaid work.
  
• ask the Borough Council or Kent County Council if they could give more support to voluntary and community groups.
  
  Web sites;
  
  New ways to work www. new-ways.co.uk
  Families and Work Institute www.familiesandwork.org
  National Work-Life Forum www.worklifeforum.com
  
  
  Business in the Community www.bitc.org.uk
  Environment and Energy Helpline 0800 585794
  
  Patrick Coates
  Environment Correspondence Oct 2006

GREEN ISSUES

In his speech to the Labour Party Conference David Milliband said

“- one person half-filling their kettle when they have a cup of tea during the course of a year may not sound like much; but if a million people do, it would be the equivalent of taking 20 000 cars off the road- one family switching three light bulbs to low energy is hardly a revolution; but if a million people did it would be the equivalent of taking 100 000 cars off the road- cavity wall insulation costs about £150; at least that’s what I was quoted last Friday for my own home by the Energy Savings Trust; if a million of us have those walls filled it would be the equivalent of taking nearly 700 000 cars off the road.”

We agree and here is our policy is outlined below.


MAIDSTONE AND THE WEALD'S LABOUR PARTY CLIMATE PLEDGE

We are asking people to take 5 steps to change the world. *

1) DRINK UP : Pledge for a year to only fill up a kettle enough for the drink they are making, we could save almost 55,000 million cups of CO2 being released into the atmosphere.

DID YOU KNOW

One million species will be doomed to extinction in our lifetime.

2) BE BRIGHT : If one person replaced one normal light bulb with an energy-efficient one, we would save 88,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

DID YOU KNOW

One hundred million people will suffer from the effects of flooding by the end of the century.

3) SWITCH OFF : Pledge for a year to switch of their TV instead of leaving on standby, we would save 60,000 tonnes of CO2.

DID YOU KNOW
If we can get the Climate Change Bill passed we will save more than 3 Billion tonnes CO2, between now and 2050.

4) COOL IT : Each person who pledges to turn down their thermostat by 1 degree per year, could reduce the UK CO2 emission by 400,000 tonnes.

DID YOU KNOW

Government grants are available, to bring renewable energy, such as solar water heaters, to many consumers.

5) STEP OUT : If each of us could walk or cycle, whenever possible, we could save 760,000 tonnes per year.

DID YOU KNOW

Our 'carbon footprint' is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases we produce


* Based on 2 Million people only.

We are now beginning to realise that it is up to each of us to take responsibility for reducing our impact on the environment as well as putting pressure on the government and business to play their part in making a difference.

Patrick Coates
Environment Correspondent for Maidstone Labour Party

PRESS RELEASE 4TH OCTOBER 2006

HELP MAIDSTONE HOSPITAL GET BETTER FOR PATIENTS

Maidstone and the Weald Labour Party note with increasing concern the current situation with our local hospitals and its effect on patients.

We welcome the fact that maternity services will not be relocated to the new Pembury site for the next few years. We believe that there should be no significant changes until the new hospital is operational and hospital services should not be downgraded.

We note the vote of local British Medical Association members in which 129 doctors voted in favour of not transferring services from Maidstone to the Kent and Sussex hospital in Tunbridge Wells before the new Pembury hospital is operational.

We do though believe that we should remember that there is a discussion to be had about the changes within the NHS but our priority remains the patients and their healthcare needs.

We do not believe that the downgrading of services at Maidstone Hospital should occur until a new hospital is up and running.

Even at this stage we have grave concerns about the poor rail and road connection between the two sites. We believe that the costs of the journey will be a barrier to people attending out-patients appointments.

We should also note that some of our constituents do live near to the new hospital site, but others far away and we worry that some of the less well off and those that are more at risk will have difficulties with the journey, or the possible expense.

NO PARKING CHARGES FOR PATIENTS.

Given the only option for many will be to drive we would call that there be no parking charges imposed at this site for patients and adequate parking is available.

We will actively campaign on this platform to try and influence those making these important decisions. To that end this press release will be sent to the local press, and the Chief Executive of both the Primary and Secondary care trusts and to the Government.

THIS PRESS RELEASE ALSO COINCIDES WITH THE LAUNCH OF OUR WEBSITE WWW.MAIDSTONELABOUR.CO.UK OR WWW.MLP.ORG.UK AND ALSO OUR BLOG.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT JOHN HUGHES – 01622 745250 OR DR RAV SEERUTHUN - 07969192461 OR EMAIL INFO@MAIDSTONELABOUR.CO.UK