A weekend of campaigning and football

I’m just taking a quick break from a hectic bank holiday campaigning weekend. I’ve been out with our brilliant campaign teams throughout the constituency, talking to voters and delivering Labour’s message for the final few days of the campaign; fighting for your future.

When the media feeding frenzy about leaders’ debates, personalities and other campaign trivia dies down, the fact remains that this election is about your future and the future of your family and your community.

As Peter Mandelson said yesterday, if David Cameron walks into Downing Street next week he will immediately start implementing his plan to shrink our economy by £6bn at a time it needs continuing support. The implications for jobs, living standards and public services are dreadful.

But enough of politics. Following a morning campaigning I was at a packed Horsfall stadium yesterday afternoon to watch Bradford Park Avenue’s heartbreaking defeat in the final of the Unibond Premier League play-off. Having finished runners up to Guiseley in the league, Avenue won their play-off semi final last week to ensure a place in the final against Boston United. Despite taking the lead Avenue couldn’t hold on an finally lost 2-1 in extra time.

Victory would have seen Avenue promoted to Conference North, and only two promotions away from re-establishing themselves back in the Football League. I know the club are still very ambitious and I’m sure they will bounce back even stronger next season.

Sticking with football, on Wednesday evening I attended an election debate about football issues organised by the Bradford City Supporters Trust. It was a really good evening with a great discussion of the key issue facing the sport. The panel was made up of myself and representatives from the Liberal Democrats and Green Party. The Tories were invited to send a representative but they declined the invitation. Says it all really.

The mask slips…

So, finally, we get to see some flesh on the Tories policies; and what frightening reading they make for local communities in places like Bradford. Cameron’s slick PR mask has finally slipped and revealed the true nature of his Thatcherite agenda; savage cuts to public services and tax breaks for the wealthy.

Firstly, we had Cameron telling the BBC that his £6 billion spending cuts would be targeted at regions outside of London and the South-East, just like the Tories did in the 1980s.

Then we discover that the Tories would end Labour’s policy of free nursery places for all 3 and 4 years olds by allowing childcare providers to charge parents top-up fees. This would be a real blow to many families in Bradford South and could put childcare out of their financial reach.

Next up we had this story. A number of senior Tories criticising their own policy on so called ‘free schools’ and admitting that the only way to pay for them was to cut the budgets of existing schools. Whilst Labour has doubled pupil investment and launched the biggest school building programme ever, the Tories would look to reverse this policy and take money from our schools.

Be afraid, be very afraid….

Happy St George’s Day

A happy St George’s Day to you all from everyone here at the Bradford South Labour HQ. We’ve been out on the doorstep already this morning, following another school gate campaign session in Queensbury. It’s going to be another busy weekend for me and all of our local campaign teams throughout the constituency.

As well as the general election, May 6th is also the date of the local council elections in Bradford. Labour has a great slate of candidates in Bradford South and I hope you will support them with your vote. They are

Great Horton – Joanne Dodds
Queensbury – David Allen
Royds – Val Slater
Tong – Alan Wainwright
Wibsey – Lynne Smith
Wyke – David Warburton

For those of you living in Tong ward it will be a chance to vote for local man Alan Wainwright. Alan was selected to fight the seat for Labour following the announcement by long-serving Councillor Tony Cairns that he was retiring. Tony has served the people of Tong with distinction for 26 years and he will be sorely missed, but I know Alan will make an excellent Councillor.

Eddie Izzard - Brilliant Britain

Enemy at the Gates

Apologies for not posting for a while, but I’ve been busy out on the campaign trail as you would expect. In fact, I’m just in between campaign sessions at the minute. Me and the team have just been leafleting and talking to parents outside a primary school in Wibsey, and next up it’s a door knocking session also in Wibsey.

These ‘school gate’ events are a great way of meeting some of those who have most benefitted from a Labour government; young families. We have seen real progress over the last 13 years in policies that give real help to families: Sure Start, tax credits, a doubling of investment in spending per pupil, an increase in paid maternity leave to 39 weeks, paid paternity leave, the right to request flexible working, the Child Trust Fund, free childcare for all 3 and 4 year olds, an 80% increase in Child Benefit since 1997 – these are all policies that have really helped families in Bradford South.

Yes, they are all achievements that will be under threat if we wake up on May 7th with a Tory government. The Tories have said they will cut Sure Start, cut tax credits for many families, axe the Child Trust Fund. David Cameron and the Tories voted against the increase in paid maternity leave, against the increases in Child Benefit, against the right to request flexible working, against our extra investment in education.

The Tory agenda is one of abandoning communities like those in Bradford South. The Tories are a change we can’t afford.

But don’t take my word for it; watch Labour’s new short campaign video featuring the brilliant Eddie Izzard above, or by clicking on this link www.labour.org.uk/brilliant-britain Well worth a watch.

Lost and confused

Voters in Bradford South might be forgiven for being slightly confused by our Conservative opponent’s election leaflet. In it he refers to taking his campaign, “to the streets of Guisborough and Saltburn.” The team here at Gerry HQ have a pretty comprehensive knowledge of the neighbourhoods and streets of Bradford South, so we were a little surprised that the Tory was campaigning in an area we had never heard of. A quick search on Google Maps reveals that Guisborough and Saltburn are in the constituency of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, approximately 85 miles from Bradford South!!

Was his Satnav broken that day?

This all makes Labour’s poster (right) very literal in Bradford South. “If you’re there for the Tory in Bradford South, he won’t be there for you.” He’ll be in Middlesbrough!

Cameron launches Tories ‘Doughnut Manifesto’

David Cameron this morning launched the Tories election manifesto and it had a dirty great hole in the middle of it, hence its nickname, the Doughnut Manifesto.

We cannot do anything we want for public services unless we first secure the economic recovery. This is Labour's priority. It's the great big hole at the centre of the Tories' manifesto.

Cameron used the dreaded phrase, “we’re all in this together”. When a multi-millionaire, old-Etonian leader of the Conservative Party says "we're all in this together", what he really means is "you're on your own".

Do-it-yourself public services of the sort the Conservatives are describing won't work unless the frontline is properly protected and properly funded and the Tories will have to cut spending very sharply to make all their promises and all their figures add up.

Everything we want to do in public services depends on a strong economy. Labour has led Britain from recession to recovery and has set out a credible, coherent plan to secure the recovery this year. You cannot build a strong society without a strong economy. There is a big hole in the Tory manifesto. It's called economic credibility.

A combination of their black hole and a sink-or-swim approach to public services shows that for all the PR blitz, David Cameron has not changed the Tory Party. This is not an agenda for empowerment - it's an agenda for abandonment.

Cameron poster courtesy of the brilliant http://www.mydavidcameron.com/

Out in sunny Wyke and Woodside

Another fantastic sunny day in Bradford South and I’ve been out and about in the constituency with some of the team enjoying the sun and talking to voters.

First stop was Sandale Community Centre in Woodside, where I was chatting to people at their Luncheon Club. The Centre is undergoing some improvement work, with a new Play Pod and a new secure play area. The Centre provides a valuable community resource and meeting place and is the base for the Woodside Neighbourhood Police Team (NPT), who hold One Stop Shops there on the second Tuesday of every month between 1.30pm and 2.30pm. As well as members of the NPT there are representatives from Housing to offer advice.

In the afternoon I was out with our fantastic Wyke campaign team, including Wyke’s 3 Labour Councillors, David Robinson, Sarah Ferriby and David Warburton, Labour’s candidate in the local election on May 6th. This picture of the 4 of us was taken at the Oakenshaw Fun Day last year.

This evening we’re back to Woodside for a bit of door knocking. For all the talk of the internet changing how politicians campaign, you can’t beat good old fashioned face-to-face contact on people’s doorsteps. Hope the weather holds for the rest of the campaign.

On the doorstep and the Grand National

I'm just heading out with the campaign team to Queensbury for a couple of hours knocking on doors. Obvioulsy we'll be finished in time to watch the Grand National later this afternoon.

I suspect that everything is going to become an election issue over the next 4 weeks and Britain's biggest horse race is no exception. Labour has launched a petition to keep the Grand National on free to watch TV. The Tories have confirmed that they would cut the list of sporting events, like the Grand National, which are reserved for free-to-air TV. By doing so they would give Pay TV operators like Sky Sports the opportunity to buy the rights to screen these important national events. Only those paying sports subscriptions would be able to watch them.

You can sign the petition by going to www.labour.org.uk/grandnational

UPDATE: I forgot to give you my tip for the big race. I'm backing Comply or Die, although I'm not overly confident!

Update on free laptops for kids

More than 130,000 families have applied for free laptops and broadband internet access for their kids - just three weeks after the Government launched its giveaway scheme.
Gerry is urging Bradford families who qualify for the scheme to get signed up as soon as possible.
To date 131,938 application packs have been requested and 14,671 filled in and returned, with 5,309 applications approved so far.
Each low-income family whose application is given the green light gets a Barclaycard, which can be used for a one-off transaction worth £528 specifically to buy the equipment at an approved supplier.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Schools Secretary Ed Balls launched the Home Access programme last month, and pledged that 270,000 laptops would be distributed by the March 2011 deadline on a first-come-first served basis.
For more information on how parents can apply for a Home Access Grant call 0333 200 1004 or visit the Home Access website to get more information and request an application form.

Cold weather help for pensioners

This winter our Labour Government has paid out more than £200 million in cold weather payments to help pensioners on Pension Credit and vulnerable people cope with the extra cost of heating their homes during the bitter weather.
Each cold weather payment this year is £25 per week, almost three times what it was previously, for every seven day period where the temperature drops below freezing (0°C). So far this winter four cold weather payments have been triggered in this area providing an extra £100 towards the fuel bills of those who need it most. This is in addition to the winter fuel payment of £250 (or £400 for the over 80s) for pensioners.
Labour now spends around 45 times more helping pensioners keep warm than the last Tory government spent. In the 1980s, Tory Minister Edwina Currie told pensioners to wear woolly hats and long johns in cold weather. Do you really want to go back to that?