Heading for the seaside
September 1999
It’s that time of year again. The nights are drawing in, the leaves are falling and the politicians are heading for the seaside. This year it’s Bournemouth if you are Labour. Last year it was Blackpool. The year before that it was Brighton. Every autumn for the past 16 years I have spent the last few days of September and the first few days of October in some English coastal town. I would not miss it for the world.
The hotels are packed. The cafes are crammed. The streets are a mass of media vans, coiled cables, and people. People you have known all your life, people you have only ever seen before on TV, people who want to convert you, people who want to protest to you or force you to add yet another leaflet to the huge pile already in your bag. Then there are the people who have just come down for a quiet holiday by the sea and find themselves sharing a pavement with Cabinet Ministers or being interviewed by foreign television crews. They are the only ones who will not be exhausted by the end of the week.
That is because, behind all the hoop-la, there is much serious work to be done. Conference is where policy is translated into action. Where everyone, from party workers to the Prime Minister, discuss and approve detailed plans for the year ahead. The climax, at Labour Conferences, comes early – just after lunch on Tuesdays with the leader’s speech.
I have seen and heard four Labour leaders speak. Each in his own way moved me. I will never forget Michael Foot’s intelligence, Neil Kinnock’s fire, John Smith’s perseverance and Tony Blair’s passionate commitment. His speech at Blackpool last year was one of the best I have ever heard. I am looking forward to next Tuesday’s. We still have much to do and I know that he will have much to say.
Reporting back
My own Annual Report should reach you in the week after the Prime Minister’s speech. It is my second as Stevenage’s MP. I am glad to be able to report that unemployment in the town has fallen by 35% over the past two years. Stevenage schools have also done well. Ten now have an extra teacher to help them reduce class sizes and seven have new classrooms or science laboratories. All Stevenage primary schools received extra funding for literacy and numeracy programmes this year as well as £2,000 for books.
The Lister’s Accident and Emergency unit is being modernised with a £1-million government grant and the Region’s waiting lists have fallen by 19%. Money has also been received for the installation of a new, on-the-spot, system for booking hospital appointments.
There is good news for families with children too. There has been a record increase in child benefit. A new tax credit will guarantee £200 a week of take home pay to any family with one full time worker. In future no family with earnings of less than £235 a week will have to pay income tax. Maternity leave has been increased from 14 to 18 weeks and the right to paternity leave has been introduced in Britain for the first time ever this year.
Another first was the Minimum Wage which has helped just under one thousand low-paid workers in the Stevenage area since April. On the economic front interest rates are at their lowest for 22 years and mortgage rates at their lowest for 30.
All in all a good, steady start but there still some important areas where we need to do better. The benefit system is being reformed but the impact of the changes is slow. Getting our fragmented transport system into shape is another frustratingly lengthy task.
Nobody said it was going to be easy. But things have got better in Stevenage and I will do everything I can to make sure that they continue to do so. That, after all, is my job.
Shopping around
Congratulations to Stevenage for winning the first prize in the Anglia in Bloom competition. This is the third time our town has won this award for its flowers, shrubs and green spaces. The judges said that it was the most litter-free city in East Anglia and shows that, despite the knocks we have plenty to be proud of.
The real problem in Stevenage town centre is the lack of a good department store. The Council is doing all it can but the major retailers do not think that our catchment area has enough custom to keep one going. Without a department store it is very difficult to attract more shoppers. A real chicken-and-egg situation. All the experts I have consulted have only one solution – more customers living locally. Only this will make a real difference to the town centre.
Retailing plays a large part in Stevenage. For the past year, I have been doing a Parliament and Industry Trust fellowship with Tesco, the country’s fastest-growing supermarket chain. It is fascinating to see a well-established business responding to the myriad changes of modern life. Shopping by Internet and fax are now commonplace but how I wish that those special trolleys, baby changing rooms and loos had been around when I was a young mum.
Christmas card competition
Talking of shopping reminds me to remind you that my Christmas Card competition for primary schools closes on September 30th. Get colouring kids. You could win £250 for your school and £25 for yourself. Just in time for Christmas.
Barbara Follett MP
The 'View from Westminster' columns originally appeared in the Stevenage Mercury
Also see ...<< Columns for 2001
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