A new direction for Bury South

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and tonight I will be attending a service at Radcliffe Civic Hall.  We must never forget the holocaust nor those whose lives were taken.  This feature by Michael Gove MP in this Monday’s Daily Telegraph explains so clearly why we must never forget.

Yesterday morning I went along to the Farmers’ Market at the Longfield Centre.  Although it was raining slightly it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the shoppers and it was a packed market square.  We are hoping to hold one in Whitefield next month.  The range of products on sale were amazing and some looked really mouth watering it is important to support local traders and this is an ideal way in which to do so.

Much has been in the news the past week or so about the terrible torture of two boys in Doncaster.  This case underlines the problems which spring from failing to publish Serious Case Reviews in full.  A series of  Serious Case Reviews were written in Doncaster in the year immediately preceding this tragedy but the appropriate lessons clearly were not learnt because we know from what we have read that this case was indeed preventable if only Children’s services had been operating properly.  I know as a parent myself I felt a profound sense of pain and loss when I read this and I am sure that all of feel that we want to trace back the patterns of neglect, the fractures in family life and the drug and alcohol abuse which have contributed to tragedy after tragedy.  However as long as the full story is kept untold we can never learn all the lessons we need and tragically history may repeat itself again and again.

Yesterday after work I went along to meet the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, who was attending St Andrews Church in Hillock.  I had the opportunity to talk to him for a while and we discussed amongst many issues faith schools which he had met with the Rabbi of my synagogue to discuss on many occasions.  Last week when William Hague MP was in Bury South he was asked about the Conservative Party’s commitment to faith schools and he reiterated how important they are to the community and how successful faith schools of all faiths are.

Taking advantage of the dry and slightly warmer weather to go out and about tonight to meet residents in Prestwich.

Oh and last but not least – happy 22nd birthday to my son Marc!

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of meeting with two Shadow Cabinet Ministers.  I went along with Philip Hammond MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to meet with 6^th form politics students at King David High School.  Philip spent about 40 minutes with the pupils who asked some very in depth questions on a whole range of subjects ranging from university tuition fees to anti terrorism proposals.

Later that day I welcomed William Hague MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, to Whitefield Golf Club where he met with over 70 local residents and supporters.  William spoke briefly and answered questions but spent most of his time going round to meet guests personally and answering their questions on a one to one basis.

Yesterday afternoon made me realise how precious life really is as I attended the funeral of a once very close friend, Sue Ellis.  Sue lived only 5 doors away from me and our oldest children are the same age and were very close.  We drifted apart when our children went off to different secondary schools but still saw each other occasionally.  Sue was a bubbly, full of life person and fought her cruel illness to the very end never giving up.  Yesterday brought back all the happy memories of when our children were young, our relaxing Friday afternoons with the kids doing jigsaw puzzles and getting them to eat their tea.  It all seems so long ago now!  My heart goes out to Phil, Vicky and Debbie who will miss not only a great wife and mother but a great friend.

As the tragedy unfolds in Haiti our thoughts must also go out to all the families there who have lost friends and relatives.  The pictures we can all see on the news look devastating and I know that aid from all over the world has been flown in to help but we urgently need to get food, shelter and medicine through to the survivors.  There is growing frustration over the time it is taking to get these supplies through and there is an urgent need for proper co-ordination.  The British response has been magnificent and we always pull together in a crisis when our help is needed.

As many children struggle into school this week in the icy conditions to sit GCSE modules the latest set of figures released show that some 50 per cent of pupils failed to get at least five A* to C grades last summer, including the key subjects of English and mathematics, it was disclosed. For all Ed Balls’s talk of class war, after twelve years of Labour he oversees an education system where there is a gulf in achievement between independent schools and state comprehensives. We want to close the educational gap between the fortunate few and the rest. That’s why the Conservatives have outlined plans to improve the quality of teaching, give heads proper powers to crack down on bad behaviour and allow educational providers to open a new generation of independently run state schools. Only then will we reverse the widening gap which currently acts as a block on opportunity for the poorest.

On Friday I attended the funeral service of Vera Dickinson the first female mayor of Prestwich.  Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet her but from hearing about her life she certainlywas an amazing lady.  As well as being a Conservative Councillor she was a JP.  She moved to the Lake District in her later years returning to Bury shortly before her death at the end of December.  I joined the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Peter Ashworth, to the service.

This morning I was on the Andy Crane lunch time programme on GMR Radio which is broadcast live from The Lowry Theatre at Salford Quays.  We discussed a whole range of topics including gritting, well no surprise there, 3D films and the 150th birthday of the fish and chip shop (although this particular birthday was disputed by many older shops). It was the second time this week I have been on the radio as I was on Jewish Citizen on Monday night talking about the Nicky Alliance Day Centre where I work.  The cold weather looks like it may be coming to an end and the temperature gague in my car actually showed a positive today +3.   I know that thousands of school children across the UK are concerned about the fact that they may not be able to take their GCSE and A and AS modules this week but hopefully they will be able to and I wish them all good luck.

On the first working day of 2010 I was delighted to welcome Baroness Sayeeda Warsi back to Radcliffe to launch the 2010 General Election campaign on a cold, icy morning in Radcliffe with freezing temperatures well below zero.  David Cameron has pledged to be the party of the NHS and has launched his draft manifesto on healthcare which you can see here.  Click on to this link and take a look for yourself – you also have the opportunity to ask David Cameron a question.