News from March 2009

Wednesday, 25 Mar 2009

Debate on Inquiry into Iraq War

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The Government promised that there would be an inquiry into the Iraq war at the appropriate time. Now that the Prime Minister has announced that British troops are to be withdrawn later this year MPs are debating today whether the inquiry should now be timetabled. This inquiry is aimed at revealing what exactly happened in the run up to the decision to take this country to war and to discover at long last the truth behind the decision making in Government. As someone who opposed the war and was sceptical about the Government’s motives I welcome an early inquiry. I believe that this inquiry is long overdue. I interviewed Jeremy Corbyn MP who has been an ardent opponent of the war and has called consistently for an independent inquiry.

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North Hyde Road Problems with Heavy Traffic.

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This morning I visited North Hyde Road in Hayes to meet local residents who are concerned about the heavy traffic on this road. This has been a real problem for some time with an increasing number of heavy lorries using this road as the access point to the southern end of the Hayes Bypass and M4.

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Wednesday, 18 Mar 2009

Support for Bill in Parliament to Improve Redundancy Payments

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Last week I supported a Private Members Bill in Parliament to improve redundancy payments. Under the private Members Bill procedure an MP who is chosen in a ballot can bring forward a proposal for a new law and ask the House of Commons for support. These Bills rarely become law unless they have alot of support and the Government gives way and supports the Bill.  Lindsey Hoyle MP brought forward a BIll to ensure that each year redundancy payments are uprated in line with the increase in earnings or inflation, whichever is the higher.

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Friday, 06 Mar 2009

£1 million Government Grant to Improve Local Children’s Play Facilities

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The Government has awarded Hillingdon £1million to improve local play facilities. This grant is aimed at encouraging local children to enjoy playing in our local parks and community areas. The grant will be spent on the basis of what local people, especially local children, say is needed to improve play facilities in the area. I am really pleased that the Government has given us this golden opportunity to improve and create new local play areas.
6 years ago I convened a meeting of all the local organisations in Hillingdon that were interested in children’s play. At that meeting we set up the Hillingdon Play Network and a few years later we became Hillingdon Play Association and gained a lottery grant of £500,000 to encourage improvements in play in Hillingdon. We have developed a play strategy and have a team of playworkers based at Barra Hall. Thanks to the lobbying of the government by play associations like ours we now have a national programme for investment in play and Hillingdon has gained this new £1 million opportunity to build and enhance new and existing play areas.

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