At the 2010 General Election David Cameron made a Contract with the British people. He said the Contract was his “side of the bargain: the things I want to do to change Britain”.  Two years on, Swindon Labour marks his progress card.  Pledge: No more top-down reorganisations of the NHS “With the Conservatives there will [...]

Youth unemployment is now one of the greatest challenges facing the country. Youth unemployment is the highest since records began.  Nearly 1½ million young people are currently not in education, employment or training –   over 1 in 5 of all young people. Swindon has been particularly hard hit – identified as a youth unemployment hot [...]

Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, talked to Swindon Labour Party members in Broadgreen last night following an afternoon meeting with representatives of business and local Councillors. Rachel emphasised how important Swindon was for the economy – and how much she was looking forward to Labour retaking the Council in May 2012, and the [...]

Mass unemployment destroys the social morale of communities and forcing young people who have completed their training for work to remain idle is Tory politics of the vilest nature. It leads to disillusionment and rings true of Thatcher’s “laissez faire” leave it to the market approach. In Swindon young people need know that Tory policies [...]

Ed Miliband said yesterday “David Cameron should be building alliances. The UK went into the summit without them and the outcome showed we lacked influence.“ Douglas Alexander added:  “David Cameron’s isolation is a sign of weakness not of strength. Britain this morning is more isolated than at any point in the 35 years of British membership [...]

The Government is planning the biggest re-organisation of the NHS since it began in 1948. It is unnecessary, unwanted, wasteful and damaging and threatens to end the NHS as we know it. Only last year, the Government promised people they wouldn’t do it. Many thousands of people have already called on the Government to stop. [...]

Pensions, well it’s not really about pensions! That is the main issue. As nurses our pension scheme is reviewed every three years. Following a review in 2008 it was found the payments going in would not meet the cost and hence a pensions choice exercise began. With this we have all been asked to stay [...]

As the controversial NHS bill reaches a crucial stage in the Lords, Labour’s new Health spokesman Andy Burnham has called on the Government to drop the Bill. I hope the Coalition heeds his warning that the NHS is now in the danger zone. The Tories and Lib Dems have failed to build a consensus around [...]

On Wednesday the House of Lords makes a choice. They could wave the government’s dangerous NHS plans through to the next stage. Or they could insist on proper scrutiny and big changes to protect our health service. It could come down to one or two votes. Together we can help tip the balance. If we show the [...]

  Pulse, the publication for general medical practitioners, talked of attempted influence by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to require GPs to play a role in the dismantling of the welfare state in the UK. In a story last week it reported that the General Medical Council – which regulates doctors – is to [...]