We know by now that the Tory budget is leading to job cuts, holding back economic growth and damaging the public services we all rely on.  The Tories have broken their promise to be fair –  with tax increases and benefit cuts that will hit hardest at the people who can least afford it.  Their cuts also hit Swindon much harder than neighbouring authorities.

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This weekend I had the pleasure of joining thousands of others at the Swindon Mela. It was great to see so many local residents from such different back grounds come together to enjoy the varied entertainment on offer, not to mention the mouth watering food! I had the privilege of meeting some fantastic people including several ex-Ghurkhas who had fought bravely for this country in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a number of locals who organise groups which do vital work supporting some of our most vulnerable and excluded groups. As an English born Asian, it was a great feeling to see so many people come together and the fact that it afforded me with an opportunity to wear my first turban made it all the better! The day really underlined the sense of community cohesion that exists in the Swindon, and although there is still more work to do, it shows how we can be proud of our town.

This weeks (admittedly gaffe strewn) visit by the Prime Minister to Southern Asia really highlighted the growing importance of the area in global terms and events like the Mela go a long way to underpin the spirit of understanding and co-operation that exists between ourselves and the countries in the region. At a time of large cuts in Local Authority spending, Local Councils need to remember the value of events like these for bringing the community together.

Victor Agarwal

Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for North Swindon, May 2010

Caption: Victor Agarwal with Jas Grewal, Trustee of the Swindon Gurdwara

So election day has come and gone, North Swindon has chosen its new MP.

With a Tory Goverment, Tory run Borough Council and a Tory MP there are no excuses anymore, I hope those people who voted Conservative see there faith repaid with improvements in the area.

I thank all those who helped, supported and voted for me.

Swindon is a great place and I am already looking forward to the next election.

Before the election I wrote a post on how voting Lib Dem would bring the Tories to power.  It gives me no pleasure to have been proven correct,  but I would suggest that Lib Dem voters who are worried about this move to the right should consider joining Labour and helping me win back North Swindon for the only remaining UK progressive party. And if you join now you get to vote in the Leadership contest!  To join click on the link to the right of this post.

Victor Agarwal, Labour Candidate North Swindon

I have never believed that young people are apathetic. They campaign on issues like jobs, hunting, climate change, green power, safer streets, global trade and world poverty.  Labour will continue to listen to young people’s opinions and deliver real support to help them get on in life.

I have been talking to young people all over Swindon in the past few months and am confident that they will reject the selfishness and rashness of the Conservative Party,  and support Labour’s “Future Fair For All”.

Labour has delivered change on the issues that matter to the under-25s and will continue with specific policies to help them.

Labour is offering a GUARANTEE to today’s young people:

• Everyone aged 18 to 24 will, with Labour, be guaranteed a job, training or work experience place if they are unemployed for more than six months.
• There will be a guaranteed place in education or training for all 16 and 17 year olds.
• We are offering more apprenticeships – we have an ambition of creating 500,000 apprenticeships starts a year across the UK by 2020.
• And we are offering 20,000 extra university places starting in 2010-11 so there will be places for those who want them.
• We are committed to increasing the number of people going to university and we continue to aim to ensure that 50 per cent of young people get a chance to go to university by the time they are 30.
• We are making a further pledge to Britain’s young people that, by the age of 30 we want 75 per cent of young people to have been to university or completed an advanced apprenticeship or equivalent technician level qualification.

The National Minimum Wage, opposed by the Conservatives, has lifted a generation of young people out of poverty and it is Labour’s Child Tax Credits, Child Trust Funds and Sure Start centres that are helping give young families the best start in life.

Even with recent house price falls many young people are still priced out of housing in many areas. To remedy this, we have now set about delivering a rapid increase in affordable housing, including shared ownership schemes to give people a leg-up on to the property ladder. And to give first time buyers an extra bit of help we have announced a two-year Stamp Duty holiday on properties up to £250,000.

Young people are more likely to experience crime than adults. So we will clamp down on antisocial behaviour, we will protect frontline policing and give new guarantees on minimum standards from the police – including guarantees on response times.

We are expanding high quality youth provision, particularly in areas where there are high levels of antisocial behaviour. We are focusing particularly on extending provision on a Friday and Saturday night. Extended schools offer young people a range of out of school activities – sports, music and other clubs. And through our Youth Community Action scheme, we are creating the expectation that every young person should contribute to their local community and put something back into society.

We are investing in nationwide, next generation high-speed broadband coverage so that no young people are left behind.

Labour is in tune with modern Britain on such issues as civil partnerships and backing young people in the fight against the BNP and far-right extremism. And Labour understands that the internet – Twitter and Facebook – used by the Tories as a gimmick, is an important means of communicating seriously with young people.

The Conservatives offer a gamble not a guarantee for young people. They won’t match Labour’s guarantee to protect investment in frontline schools and refused to support our £5 billion investment to help people back to work. Instead, they have shown where their priorities lie by continuing to prioritise an inheritance tax cut for the wealthiest.

Victor Agarwal, Labour Candidate, North Swindon – vote Labour in the local and national elections on May 6th.

Caption:  my campaign team in St Philips with local candidate Joe Tray (right).

Its as simple as that …

I greatly enjoyed Gordons speech last night to Citizens UK. Listen to it yourself and you’ll realise why this man has the experience, vision, compassion and honesty which the UK desperately needs.  Its easy to forget what Britain was like in the 80s and early 90s – with mass unemployment and businesses and jobs going to the wall every week.

Check out what Labour has achieved in the past 11 years, and our vision for the future.

Look at what Eddie Izzard says about brilliant Britain.

Look at my pledges for Swindon and those of the Swindon Labour Group …

… but whatever you do:  don’t risk the recovery,  don’t risk all the measures Labour has taken to buffer the effect of the recession,  don’t risk major cuts to education and police services,  don’t risk your job and that of others,  don’t use your vote to bring the 1980s  back,  don’t vote against the minimum wage and tax credits, don’t risk losing Labours help to the unemployed, don’t let the newspapers tell you who to vote for and, above all, don’t fail to use your vote.

Victor Agarwal, Labour Candidate, North Swindon

The Lib Dem vote in North Swindon in the 2005 General Election was only 15%.  Given this small base- support they cannot win this seat and I hope their potential supporters will agree with me that a Lib Dem vote here is effectively a Tory vote.  The last thing that Swindon needs is a Tory Council and Tory representatives in Westminster who risk the recovery and dont fight for local jobs and services.

However, Labour and the Liberal Democrats share a lot of progressive ideals, and the Lib Dems agree with Labour in many areas.  Labour is committed to having a referendum on introducing a form of proportional system.  This will certainly benefit the Lib Dems, and is fiercely opposed by the Tories.

So in both the national and local elections on Thursday can I ask all progressive voters to put their cross beside Agarwal and other excellent local labour candidates like Laura Baker in Penhill – shown here  leading the Canvassing team….  SO on Thursday …..

Vote for JOBS – remember there is 2% less unemployment in the UK than in Europe and the USA.

Vote for the RECOVERY –  remember that the OECD forecasts that next quarter the UK economy will be growing 2nd fastest in Europe.

Vote for FAIRNESS for the working man and woman – remember the Tories are committed to giving a £200,000 inheritance tax break to the 3,000 wealthiest families in Britain.

Vote for Victor Agarwal,  The Labour Candidate for North Swindon

Caption:  Laura Baker, Labour Candidate in Penhill and a canvass team.

Today (Wednesday)  I visited Swindon College – indulging my passion for training and leaving a promise to come back for a post-election haircut!

The visit began with an excellent lunch in the college restaurant which is staffed by the catering students.  The meals are prepared by the Gordon Ramsey’s of tomorrow and guests can watch the food being prepared in the kitchen via the TV screen in the dining room.   I was extremely impressed by the delicious food and professionalism of the students, and thought the bread and butter pudding was the best I’ve ever tasted.   Then I was given a tour of the college facilities.  Including the art vocational training centre.   I saw first hand the great work that the college does with apprenticeships – particularly plumbing and engineering.

Many courses will benefit if the Labour Party is returned to government and can deliver its manifesto target of having 75% of young people going on to higher education or completing an advanced apprenticeship by the age of thirty.   I was pleased to hear that the college had signed a contract with Job Centre Plus which arose out of the Labour Party’s commitment to provide a either work, training, education or an apprenticeship to any 19-24 who has been unemployed for more than six months – a policy opposed by the Conservative Party.

I believe that the focus that the Labour Party has excellent policies on higher education.  It has given a boost to vocational training – which is crucial for a town like Swindon with a strong manufacturing base, and the Labour Party’s promise to fund 70,000 advanced apprenticeships is going to be vital to protect our economy and attract new well paying jobs in the future.

Then I spoke to a number of hairdressing students in the new enrichment centre, and was able to agree with them on the importance of the political process and the need to reinvigorate politics by taking steps such as the reduction of the voting age down to sixteen.   I also promised to return after the election to see the hairdressing facilities and would be delighted to try out a haircut!

My tour concluded with meeting Andrew Miller, the College Principal, who thanked me for highlighting the College’s important work and raised a number of issues which Victor I promised to pursue if elected as MP for North Swindon.

It’s great to see the progress being made at places like Swindon College.  Education and training are vital for our future and it is clear to see the benefits of labour’s investment in the sector.   If elected I would do everything in my power to ensure that we continue to improve funding in order to guaranty good jobs and a strong economy.

Victor Agarwal, Labour Candidate

Wow, Tuesday 20th was a big day:  the Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to Swindon with his wife Sarah and Ed Milliband also.

It was good to meet them and discuss some of the issues affecting the area.  Anne Snelgrove the South Swindon candidate was his PPS and knows him well.  It was great to have a tour of the Drove Peoples Campus with the Head-teacher and see for ourselves the difference Labour’s investment has made to the community.

Drove is not just a primary school, the staff, led by Nick Capstick, really push the envelope when it comes to running the school and trying out new things. The Campus also offers adult learning courses, health groups, family groups and even has its own radio show.

Anne and I welcomed Gordon before taking him on a tour of the Campus. We also met with around 70 people in the main hall to discuss issues ranging from healthcare in Swindon to citizenship.  It was very interesting to hear real people putting their questions to Gordon, Anne and I.

What Drove shows is that education in Swindon really has been revolutionised over the past 13 years. Not only have many schools been rebuilt or are completely new, but importantly, the funding per pupil has increased by a life-changing £1,000+. With this investment exam results have improved and we can be proud of our children and teachers that have worked so hard.

Labour will continue to invest in children’s education with things like one-to-one tuition for primary school pupils who need help to catch-up, raising the education leaving age to 18, and protecting Sure Start Centres.

What Gordon made absolutely clear was that Swindon’s economy is dependent upon securing the recovery. To risk it all by cutting support as the Tories want to, would send Swindon back and risk thousands of jobs. The choice is clear, Gordon Brown who handled the economic crisis and is securing the recovery and the Tories who have called it wrong throughout the recession and are wrong now on the recovery.

Victor Agarwal, Labour Candidate, N Swindon.

Today while campaigning in Moredon I met a Sun reader who repeated the things his paper is saying constantly about Labour.   They attack on 5 main fronts:  schools (‘standards are plummeting‘),  health (‘billions spend on clipboard-ticking managers’),  immigration (‘illegal migrants and bogus assylum seekers pour in’), benefits are too high (‘creating a huge idle underclass for whom work is a dirty word‘) and crime (‘smirking criminals routinely walk free in the name of political correctness‘).

OK – LETS LOOK AT THE FACTS… and there are a lot of them…

£25m Government investment in Swindon Academy

Schools

• Spending per pupil in frontline schools spending has risen from an average of £2,970 in 1997/98 to £6,130 in 2009/10 –  more than doubling in REAL terms.
• There are 42,400 extra teachers and 212,000 more support staff than in 1997 – including an extra 123,100 teaching assistants.
• We have some of the best ever school results at every age;
• At primary school the percentage of pupils achieving level 4 (the expected level) or above in 2009 was in English 80 per cent compared with 63 per cent in 1997,  in Maths 79 per cent compared with and 62 per cent in 1997,  and in Science 88 per cent compared with 69 per cent in 1997.
• Around 100,000 more children now leave primary school secure in the basics than in 1997.
• 64.8 per cent of pupils achieved 5 or more grades A*-C at GCSE or equivalent – an increase of 19.7 percentage points since 1997. Over 129,000 more pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent than did so in 1997.
• 47.6 per cent of pupils achieved 5 or more grades A*-C including English and mathematics at GCSE or equivalent – an increase of 1.3 per cent percentage points from 2006/07.
• This means just over 78,000 more pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English and maths than in 1997.
• In 1997 half of all schools did not achieve 30 per cent of pupils leaving with five A*-Cs at GCSE, including English and maths now it is just 1 in 12. We are investing £400m in our National Challenge to ensure that every school will have at least 30 per cent by 2011.
• Record numbers of young people are achieving their goal of going to university, 392,000 more than in 1997 – now over 2 million.
• Ten years ago there were no Sure Start centres at all. Now there are now 3,500 round the country, benefitting more than 2.7 million families. Nine out of ten parents using children’s centres are happy with the services they receive.
• In 1997 there was no free childcare entitlement. Today all 3 and 4 year olds have at least 12.5 hours and all will have 15 from this September.

Health

£100m Government investment in the Great Western Hospital

• 89,000 more nurses and 44,000 more doctors in the NHS since 1997 have helped to drive up standards and drive down waits.
• Waiting lists have fallen by over 500,000 and waiting times are now at their lowest level since records began.
• In 1997 284 000 patients waited more than 6 months for an operation. The figure today is almost zero.
• 3 million more operations are carried out each year than in 1997.
• The premature mortality rate for cancer is the lowest ever recorded, saving nearly 9,000 lives in 2006 compared to 1996.
• Premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases has dropped by more than 40 per cent since 1996, saving nearly 34,000 lives a year.
• The NHS has delivered the largest hospital building programme in its history, with 118 new hospital schemes opened and a further 18 under construction.
• Created new services to provide patients with greater convenience including around 100 new walk-in centres and over 750 one-stop primary care centre.

Crime

• Policing Teams for every community in England and Wales committed to spending 80 per cent of their time on the beat or visibly working in their community.
• 3,600 Neighbourhood Policing Teams now in every area of England and Wales through the Policing Pledge which sets out clear minimum standards for what people can expect from their local police.
• A new guarantee on response times – including 24 hours for non-emergencies.
• Overall crime down by more than a third since 1997 (that’s 6 million fewer crimes each year) – almost 1 million fewer homes burgled; and almost 1 and a half million fewer violent crimes.
• Wiltshire is the safest authority in England for serious violent crime – and close to the safest for many other types of crime.
• The risk of being a victim of crime today is the lowest since the British Crime Survey began in 1981. Crime did not rise in the recession – unlike the 1980s and 90s.
• Knife crime is falling, homicides are at their lowest level for a decade and there were fewer gun killings last year than at any time in the last 20 years.
• Highest use in Europe of DNA databases and CCTV networks.
• Anti-social behaviour tackled through ASBOS and new powers for police and local-authorities to deal with alcohol-related disorder.
• Family Intervention Programmes and new powers to reduce antisocial behaviour and other problems including drugs and alcohol, truancy, and domestic violence – which are expanding to reach every problem family in the country over the next 5 years.
• Communities empowered to address the problems that affect them, giving them more information and a greater say in decisions on crime, policing and justice and other factors that affect their quality of life.
• A new mandatory code for alcohol retailers banning the most irresponsible promotions like “drink all you can for a fiver” or “girls drink free” and regulations to prevent a persistent offender from drinking in public, going to a particular pub, club or off licence, or to certain parts of town at night.
• A ‘yellow card, red card’ scheme to shut down retailers found persistently selling to those under 18 – as well as supporting initiatives by responsible retailers like Think 21.
• A new right for communities to petition the local authority to end twenty four hour licensing where such problems arise.
• 26,000 more prison places since 1997, with plans for 96,000 places by  2014.
• Reducing the number of women and the mentally ill in prison, transferring more foreign prisoners to EU jails, and new approaches to cut reoffending.
• ‘Community Payback’ – with hard work for several hours a day not a few hours a month, in public wearing orange jackets, paying back through useful service to the communities they have harmed.
• National Victims’ Service – guaranteeing all victims of crime and anti-social behaviour more intensive support, care and attention, including seven days a week cover; and a named, dedicated worker offering one-to-one support, staying with them through the trial and beyond.

Immigration

Chicken Tikka Massala - Britain's national dish?

• Net inward migration to Britain as measured by the Office for National Statistics has fallen for the last three years.
• Delivering the biggest changes to our immigration, citizenship and border security systems for decades – with the  new Australian-style points-based immigration system which allows us to be more selective so that only those with the skills that we need to build a stronger economy can come here, and to ensure that as growth returns, we will see rising levels of employment, skills and wages not more immigration.
• 100% biometric visas, and ID cards for foreign nationals – with 170,000 already issued.
• Electronic border controls will count people in and out of the country by the end of 2010 (the Tories abolished all counting of this under Thatcher).
• Introducing a points-based system for permanent residence and citizenship clearly spelling out the rights and obligations of legal migrants to Britain, as well as the requirements for earning British citizenship (including passing exams in English, paying tax and obeying the law).
• The Migration Impact Fund, paid for by contributions from migrants has over the last two years has contributed £70 million to services in local areas experiencing rapid population change.
• Reforms to housing allocation policy, empowering local authorities to give greater priority to local people, and to those who have spent a long time on the waiting list.
• Chicken Tikka Masala is recognised as Britain’s most popular dish.

Benefits & Employment

New JobCentre Plus in Swindon

• Instead of doing nothing when the recession hit – Labour chose to act, with job-boosting measures and extra help for families on middle and modest incomes, including tax cuts, increased child benefit and tax credits, and expanded support for the unemployed.
• We also provided support to keep businesses afloat through a range of different schemes. Government support to help people move back into work have helped over 4 million people to leave unemployment benefit since December 2008.
• We have committed to halving the deficit by 2014 and are introducing a new 50p rate of tax for income over £150,000. But we will also continue to support families through these difficult times.
• We are giving a two-year Stamp Duty holiday for first-time buyers on residential property transactions up to £250,000 – funded by a new 5 per cent rate of stamp duty for transactions over £1 million from April 2011 (the opposite of what the Tories plan).
• Consumers will be given a new right to a basic bank account, and to encourage saving we will launch the Saving Gateway, where the Government adds 50 pence for each £1 saved by working age people on low incomes, in July 2010.
• A free nursery place is guaranteed for every 3 and 4 year old.  3,500 Sure Start Children’s Centres have been opened, reaching more than 2 million children and their families.  We are committed to eradicating child poverty by 2020, with a particular focus on reducing poverty amongst the youngest children and for working families.
• New mums now have 9 months paid maternity leave and maternity pay is up to £123 a week, while all dads now have the right to paternity leave. Parents and carers also have the right to request flexible working.
• We will increase the child element of the Child Tax Credit of £4 per week for families with children aged 1 and 2 years old from April 2012. From April 2010, there will be additional annual payments of £100 into the Child Trust Fund accounts of disabled children.  Severely disabled children will receive £200 per year. Over 4.8 million Child Trust Funds have been started.
• Labour has doubled the number of registered childcare places to more than 1.3 million, one for every four children under eight years old. The Working Tax Credit provides help with childcare, up to a maximum eligible amount of £300 per week (£175 per week for one child).
• We are guaranteeing a job, training or college place to every 18-24 year old out of work for more than six months – we do not wish to see the patterns of past recessions repeated where temporary job losses led to whole communities becoming long-term unemployed.
• We will continue to help those who have lost a job or income stay in their homes, for example, helping them with interest payments or through the Homeowners’ Mortgage Support scheme, which helps them reduce and defer mortgage payments until their financial circumstances improve. The decisions we have taken on mortgage protection and employment support have been welcomed by leading charities such as Shelter as necessary steps in the face of recession.
• We want to help people get on the housing ladder. So we are doubling the stamp duty limit for first time buyers from £125,000 to £250,000, for this year and next, funded by an increase on the most expensive properties.
• The Government will extend free school meals to primary school pupils in low income working families in England from September 2010. The Sure Start programme has been expanded – there is now a Sure Start for every area, 3,500 in total.
• As a result of the tax credit system, 4 in 10 families – over 3 million families – now pay no net tax.

Tonight I’ll be talking to party members in Even Swindon Community Centre,  Jennings St,  Swindon Swindon SN2 2BG.

The meeting will be open to members of the public from 8pm to 9pm and all are welcome.

Victor Agarwal,  Labour Candidate, North Swindon victor4nswindon@googlemail.com