Sunday 26 October 2014

My week ahead, 27 October - 1 November 2014

Monday – 27 October, 2pm – Meeting about car parking outside schools in East Ipswich
4pm – Labour campaigning in East Ipswich
6pm – Labour Group

Tuesday – 28 October, 10am – Social Media training with Labour County Group

Wednesday – 29 October, 10am and 2pm – Labour campaigning in Rushmere Ward, Ipswich

Another week of campaigning ahead as we get our message over to the residents of Ipswich. We know we have to work hard as unlike the Tories we do not have national newspapers willing able to print propaganda, thinly disguised as a new story. The recent serialisation by the Mail of news (?) items about the NHS in Wales is just one example. Fortunately the local paper here in Ipswich is far more neutral and thankfully did not go overboard with coverage of Gummer Island.

Talking of Gummer Island, it reminded of another farfetched scheme – Boris Island, the idea of an airport on reclaimed land in the Thames estuary, that seemed at the time to be just a plan to get news coverage (and votes) but with little chance of it ever happening – very similar to Gummer Island.

What would be more beneficial for Ipswich is if our two Tory MPs put pressure on the Government and the Tory County Council to build a northern by-pass – but as that would mean Poulter doing something for Ipswich residents it is unlikely ever to happen.

Saturday 18 October 2014

My week ahead, 20 - 26 October 2014

Monday – 20 - 24 October, North Wales, walking expedition

Saturday – 25 October, 10am - Labour campaigning, South West Ipswich

Sunday - 26 October, 11am - Labour campaigning, North West Ipswich

I have a few days away in Wales, near Cader Idris, a good opportunity to re-charge batteries before continuing the fight against the Tories.

Our Tory MP seems to be keeping a low profile, a number of strange leaflets coming from his activists, on transport and education both boasting of achievements but not all those seem correct.

Other than the leaflets, we have not seen much of Mr Gummer, maybe something to do with the problems facing the new care home in Chantry, the one that only a few months ago he was stating was the ‘best he had ever seen’ – seems he may not be the best judge of care homes in the county.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

More reasons why we need a Labour Government

Tory councilor comments "I have a number of mentally damaged individuals, who to be quite frank aren’t worth the Minimum Wage,"

We then have a Tory Minister stating that the Tory councillor is raising good point!!

Whilst here in Suffolk we have a Tory councilor light heartedly stating that a current Children's Centre (under threat of Tory closure) would make a nice wine bar!!



Sunday 12 October 2014

My week ahead, 13 - 19 October 2014


Monday – 13 October, 2pm - Campaigning on road safety in Rushmere Ward
6pm – Labour Group campaigning, South West Ipswich

Wednesday – 15 October, 2pm – Visit to youth activities at Copleston School

Thursday – 16 October, 10am – Labour campaigning, South East Ipswich
6pm – Scrutiny meeting

Saturday – 18 October, 10am - Labour campaigning, South East Ipswich

Sunday - 19 October, 11am - Labour campaigning, North West Ipswich

The results in Clacton and Manchester has lead many locally as well as nationally to focus on UKIP – Some on our side have even suggested that we mimic UKIP with a more anti immigration stance but I do not believe that is the way ahead – like Yvette Cooper we do not need to mimic them (leave that to the Tories) we need to fight them.

The UKIP support of most Tory policies at Suffolk County Council just highlights that UKIP are just the far right wing of the Tory Party. We need to show voters in Ipswich that they have supported the majority of Tory actions both on education and health.

We must also continue to fight the Tories and here in Ipswich (and Suffolk ) one area where the Tories have let down residents is the way they have handled education – their only project ‘Raising the Bar’ is a total failure and this week we have had the embarrassing (for Tory run Suffolk) state of affairs of Primary School Head teachers writing to the county to inform them they have no confidence in the Tory run education system – and the response from the Tories?

Almost total silence, no comments from the Tory Cabinet in Suffolk, a few anti teacher comment from local MPs and in Ipswich the Tory leader took to twitter to highlight issues in Dorset and Devon!!!


'Heads in the sand' attitude by the Tories, and at the same time as the letter from Head Teachers, Labour County Councillor, Mandy Gaylard was organising a pram push from Quayside Children’s centre to the Chatterbox Children’s centre, the Tories are planning to close a children’s cenre but are dressing it up as a merger. It took us 45 minutes to walk between the tow and we had to cross a umber of roads including the busy Foxhall Rd and it included a steep hill! The question I would like to ask has any Tory attempted to walk between the two – maybe Ben Gummer should push his own new baby in a pram between the two centres – he would then see how stupid the Tory plan is!

Sunday 5 October 2014

My week ahead, 6 - 12 October 2014

Monday – 6 October, 4pm – Culture Portfolio briefing
6pm – Labour Group campaigning, South West Ipswich

Thursday – 9 October, 10am – Labour campaigning, South East Ipswich
6pm – Area Committee Chairs meeting

Friday – 10 October, 10am – Pram Push – from Quayside to Chatterbox Children’s Centre

Saturday – 11 October, 10am - Labour campaigning, North East Ipswich

The usual mix of meeting and campaigning but also i have my first organised ‘Pram Push’ where I will join parents of the Quayside and Chatterbox Children’s Centres as they push their prams between the two centres. I am sure there are many ‘Pram Push’ events all over the country, often to raise much needed funds or to support some other charity. But this ‘Pram Push’ is to highlight the distance between the two locations as the Tory run County Council look to merge both centres and has been organised by parents and Mandy Gaylard the hard working County Councillor for the Waterfront area.

Now we all understand that the County Council needs to save money as they face further funding cuts from their fellow Tories at Westminster but what sticks in the throat about this cut/saving is that in 2010, Mr Gummer pulled a schoolboy type protest prank when he and fellow young Tory activists (where are they now??) ambushed Harriet Harman as she visited Ipswich. He was unhappy as nationally Labour were telling voters that the Tories would close Children’s Centres and as we have seen all over the country we have been proven right. Here in Ipswich we have already had one closure, but somehow Mr Gummer has dressed this up as not a closure but just the re-location of services from a purpose built Children’s Centre to a small room in a library.


Not sure parents are going to fall for the line’ this is not a closure, just a merger’ this time – but then again his paternity leave must be nearly over now or he could even bring his own pram along and see how difficult it is to push a/his pram from the Waterfront to the top of Foxhall Rd (hills included)