June 2010 Archives
Speaking following the Government's budget, Walthamstow's MP Stella Creasy said:
"This budget is bad news for thousands of families in Walthamstow who will see their paypackets shrink or even disappear as jobs are lost, and the costs of everyday items like electricity and gas rocket up as VAT rises. Nothing about these proposals is fair- from cutting child tax credit and support for families with babies and toddlers, to axing the support for families at risk of losing their homes through mortgage support. Londoners will be particularly hit by these proposals as the cost of housing and living here is already more expensive than in other parts of the country. Don't forget round here many people also work in the public sector too. David Cameron and Nick Clegg both spoke out against the VAT increase before the election but now we see their true colours in Government as they risk economic recovery and growth for their own ideological obsession with cuts."
Stella also committed herself to leading local action to help families manage the impact of this budget on their finances and urged other concerned residents to join her:
"I can't sit by and watch this Government make families, small businesses and pensioners in Walthamstow struggle to get by- the risk that this budget will push many locals into debt is too great. I will join others objecting to these cuts in parliament as we debate the budget. I also intend to lead local action to try to help those who find themselves at risk of debt as a result of these changes too. I'm asking other local residents who want to work with me to help our community withstand the impact of this Government's reckless budget and get in touch - our first community conference on this will be on the 14th July."
Residents and organisations interested in participating in this work should get in touch with Stella either on email at stella@workingforwalthamstow.
Ends.
Notes to Editors
- 1. R3, the insolvency trade body, estimate that there are nearly a million people in the UK struggling with debts who have not sought advice and 500,000 people with formal debt repayment plans in place. In the last year alone 26,000 people were declared bankrupt. The predominant cause of insolvency for both men and women is unplanned changes to personal circumstances including illness or job losses.
- 2. According to credit action.org.uk, total UK personal debt at the end of December 2008 stood at £1,457bn and the average household debt in the UK was £9,550 (excluding mortgages).
- 3. On the evening of the 14 July, Stella Creasy will be holding a discussion on personal debt in Walthamstow along with representatives of local community and voluntary groups in Westminster. This forms part of her ongoing work in addressing poverty within the Waltham Forest area.
- 4. The Budget today announced that VAT will rise from 17.5% to 20% in January 2011. Labour rejected a VAT increase as part of a deficit reduction plan, and chose to increase National Insurance Contributions instead, because VAT hits everyone, especially the poorest and pensioners.
- 5. Before the election, the Liberal Democrats warned that the Conservatives would raise VAT.
"Our plans do not require a rise in VAT. The Tory plans do. Their tax promises on marriage and jobs may sound appealing. But they come with a secret VAT bombshell close behind."
Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat press release, 8 April 2010
During the election campaign, the Conservatives repeatedly denied that they had plans to raise VAT.
"We have no plans to increase VAT."
George Osborne, The Times, 10 April 2010
Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy today stepped up the campaign to save Walthamstow Dog Track by calling on the Government to meet with her and Save our Stow to discuss the fate of the site whilst speaking in the House of Commons.
Speaking after raising the matter in parliament Stella said:
"L&Q have now said they won't even start to look at options for our dog track until 2012 - meaning the site could be left derelict for years. Meanwhile we know investors want to work with them to try to restore the site and include housing in their plans. Talks must start immediately to see if a deal can be done to benefit all concerned. I asked L&Q to name their price for the site in my maiden speech and now I'm asking Ministers to intervene because its time the people of Walthamstow got some answers about the future of our Dog Track. "
As part of this campaign, this week Stella also worked with other MPs to table an Early Day Motion calling for talks to take place and has tabled questions to the Department of Local Communities and Government to identify if London and Quadrant will secure public subsidy for their plans for Walthamstow Dog Track. The written answer given by the Ministers to question suggest that public funding for London and Quadrant for the site is not guaranteed given the delays the project has experienced.
Stella pledged to pursue this issue with the Ministers from the DCLG when she meets with them and continue to work with other MPs, Save our Stow, potential investors in the site and London and Quadrant to seek to secure the restoration of the Dog Track.
Ends.
1. Walthamstow
Dog Track was initially sold to L&Q in the summer of 2008 and has since
been empty. 2. During
Business Questions on Thursday 10 June 2010 in the House of Commons Stella
Creasy put the following question to the Leader of the House: "Will the right hon. Gentleman agree
to a debate on the consequences of the moratorium on and eventual cuts in
social housing, which were discussed earlier, on urban regeneration, and the
practice that that encourages in registered social landlords to engage in
property speculation by sitting on land that they are not developing, thus
leaving it empty? Will the Leader of the House also ensure that his
ministerial colleagues agree, as a matter of urgency, to a meeting with me and
the Save our Stow campaign to ascertain what can be done to prevent the iconic
Walthamstow dog track from being left derelict, given the persistent commercial
interest in restoring it and the 500 local jobs that represents?" 3. The following Early Day Motion 187 The Walthamstow
Stadium was also co-sponsored by Stella Creasy and published this week: "That this House
welcomes efforts to reopen historic Walthamstow Greyhound Stadium in East
London; urges site owners London and Quadrant to not leave the site derelict
and instead to enter meaningful discussions with the S.O.S. organisation and
commercial operators who have vigorously campaigned to restore this, the UK's
most prestigious track; salutes also the hard work so far undertaken by the
myriad of representative groups in the sport to make this a reality; and calls
on the Mayor of London to fully support their hard work and commitment." 4.
The following question was also tabled by Stella Creasy and answered received
on Thrusday 10 June 2010 by the Department of Communities and Local Government Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary
of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department
issues to registered social landlords on the time period within which they must
begin development of assets after acquisition in order to qualify for public
subsidy for such development. Andrew Stunell: This Department does
not issue guidance to registered social landlords on the time period within
which they must begin to develop assets after acquisition to qualify for public
subsidy. This Department
provides funding to registered social landlords (RSLs)/registered providers
(RPs) of affordable housing through the Homes and Communities (HCA) who
administer the National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP). The HCA sets out
in their Prospectus and the Affordable Housing Capital Funding Guide (AHCFG)
requirements for obtaining funding from the NAHP. When seeking grant
through the NAHP RSLs/RPs must set milestones including start on site and
practical completion dates as part of their bid. HCA monitors the RSLs/RPs performance
against these milestones. Grant is paid to RSLs/RPs on start on site and
practical completion (i.e. when those milestones have been achieved). Where
projects are delayed, the RSL/RP must re-forecast the milestone and the HCA
will decide whether to accept the revised forecast. If delays are significant,
and might impact on delivery of the HCA's programme and achievement of targets,
it will consider withdrawing funding for the scheme.
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me the opportunity to make my maiden speech. I hope to have learned from my experience in local government when making this speech, in that it does not matter what someone says as long as they are brief, because then people will like them. I congratulate everyone who has made their maiden speech this evening, because we have heard wonderful contributions demonstrating real passion for the home territories of hon. Members, and I hope that my speech can do the same.
I wish to start by paying tribute to my predecessor as the MP for Walthamstow, because I know that I have a hard act to follow. In E17, we have a fine tradition of MPs who have embodied the best of my party and the best of our politics, not only in London but nationally. Just like another previous incumbent, Clem Attlee, our MP Neil Gerrard fought tirelessly for the ideals that brought him into political life with independence and with honour. I am reliably told that he is a man who was a Whip's delight, taking up the causes that others often shied away from. He was a tireless advocate for a better and more humane approach to asylum and immigration, for the need to support action on HIV and AIDS, and for prison reform. He has also been a powerful voice for my home of Walthamstow, and I have been honoured to work with him.
Neil and I have campaigned together for many years on local issues that matter to the future of our area and to the community in which we live. We have called on London & Quadrant Housing Trust not to leave our iconic local dog track derelict for six years and instead to name its price so that we can bring it back into use. We have called on the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God not to leave the beautiful EMD cinema derelict and instead to work with the McGuffin Film and Television Society and local residents so that we can have cinema in Walthamstow. We have fought for more investment in our local Whipps Cross hospital and for local school places. We have stood up for human rights in Sri Lanka, Kashmir and Palestine. The Whips may be horrified to learn that Neil has been an inspiration to me, and I promise in this Chamber to follow his good work for the people of Walthamstow.
I know from my work with the people in Walthamstow that we are not a community short on ambition. We put our money where our mouth is, organising and mobilising for a better future for our families, wherever in the world they may be. Whether we are talking about the Senior Citizens Asian group, our local Somali, Anatolian and Tamil communities, the mum and dads in our Sure Start centres in Lloyd Park, Sybourn or Church Hill, our local toy library, or the many local youth projects with which I am proud to work, including the Active Change Foundation, Pak Cultural Society, the X7eaven Dance Group, the Woodcraft Folk or even the Scouts, Walthamstow is full of people with ideas and dreams about what they want to do and with the passion and commitment to each other to work together to achieve it.Indeed, I contend that because Walthamstow has always been full of people like that, our area has played a key and yet too often unacknowledged part in shaping the lives of everyone in this Chamber. I want to try to change that this evening. Hon. Members may not be aware that Walthamstow and the Lea valley were the original base of British aviation and motoring. Our area also has a proud history in the creative industries, which ranges from its being part of the original British film industry and having Turner prize winners as residents, to holding on to William Morris and even the grime music scene. We lay claim to helping put a man on the moon, to England football team greats, through David Beckham, to even the kinder Conservatives, through Disraeli, and to the best of British rock, through Ian Drury and the Rolling Stones. I am proud to share with Keith Richards' grandmother the honour of having served as mayor of Waltham Forest.
Yet for all that we have contributed to this country, we in Walthamstow know that we still live in a world in which too often it is where someone lives, rather than what they are, that defines whether they have the opportunity to realise their potential. I am so proud to represent Walthamstow, and therefore so determined that that situation must change. I know that it is worth our while. If we can unlock the talent of Walthamstow's residents, Britain will benefit even more than it has done already from the creativity of previous generations. That is why I wanted to speak in today's debate and why I want to draw the Government's attention to how their education plans will hinder, not help, young people in places such as Walthamstow.
Following on from what the Secretary of State said, I want to prick the Government's conscience: if they can find the money for marriage, they can find the money for the programmes that actually work for our families. Political leadership is about the ability to think long term. I urge the new Administration to rethink their proposals for child trust funds, and instead to recognise the investment in the future that this scheme represents. For the 8,000 young people in Walthamstow who have one, they offer the kind of opportunity that too many in previous generations have been denied. They are a launch pad for a leap into further and higher education; the start of funding for a down payment on a house; or money to help pay for training or start a business. Do not listen to me; listen to the 30% of poorer families topping up their child trust funds as we speak.
The same could be said of the future jobs fund. For many young people in Walthamstow this has been a lifeline, getting them into employment and on to the first steps of their career ladder. They are not the young people who have the networks and connections that mean that success is assured, but they have grabbed with both hands the start that this scheme offers. I also urge Ministers: if they say they care about social mobility, they should rethink their planned cuts for universities. I can attest that it is in places such as Walthamstow that those kinds of policies, over the past 13 years, have transformed the life chances of young people.
When the previous Government started to increase the number of places available in higher education, Walthamstow's children took the opportunity it represented. In the past 13 years, the numbers of young people from my constituency going to university have rocketed by 87%, and the evidence shows that they are the children from poorer backgrounds. Our young people in Walthamstow do not lack ability. We have the top-performing economics department in the country, at Sir George Monoux college, and we have pupils who have benefitted from the Building Schools for the Future fund, in schools such as Walthamstow School for Girls and Frederick Bremer school, and we are concerned about what will happen if we hang the axe over projects such as the one for Willowfield school in Walthamstow, because we see the difference that such investment makes.
I urge the Government to ensure that they will guarantee the Building Schools for the Future funds that have already been committed. Above all, this programme shows that these things happen not by accident, but by design. The Labour party understands that when we invest in the future of every young person in Britain, wherever they live, we all benefit. That is why I give notice to those on the Government Benches: on behalf of the people of Walthamstow and their families, I intend to fight for every place, every opportunity and every chance that my community wants and deserves; to challenge the Government's proposals that will mean a bleaker, not a brighter, future for them; to use my place in the House to be a voice for those who will be forgotten by the Government's proposals; and to argue that there is not simply opposition to the Government, but an alternative. The potential that we have in Walthamstow to contribute to the future prosperity of this country demands nothing less.
