I get a few queries from time to time from people to see that I'm listed as a "Labour/Coop" MP. The Labour bit they know - but "Coop"? Well, of course it means Co-operative - and it shows that as well as being an MP for the Labour Party, I'm also an MP for the Co-operative Party. The Co-operative Party - what's that? Well, a bit of history. In the early part of the 20th century, just like the trade unions who decided they needed their own political voice in Parliament, and formed the Labour Party, so too did the then powerful co-operative movement decide it needed a voice, and formed its own political party. For a while, it put up its own candidates - but pretty soon, it became obvious to both the Co-operative Party and the Labour Party that they had a lot in common (and depended on the support of the same type of people), and they came to an agreement that a number of Labour MPs (up to 30) would also be Co-operative MPs, and I'm one of them. What that means in practice is that I am fully fledged member of the Labour Party, but I also take part in the meetings and conferences of the Co-operative Party, which broadly speaking has a similar relationship to the Labour Party as do the trade unions.
In effect, the Co-operative Party acts as a pressure group within the Labour Party. In the last few years, it's become very effective at doing that, in pushhing not just the co-operative agenda, but also other issues with which the co-operative movement has closely supported. One of these is the environment, and the Co-op Party was a strong backer of my Private Member's Bill, the Climate Change & Sustainable Energy Act (as it now is, having become law), and last weekend was able to speak about that at the Co-operative Party's Annual Conference in Sheffield. The other is the Fair Trade movement, where again the Co-op has been leading, both in putting fairtrade products in co-op stores, and also in supporting local fairtrade campaigns (a good example being Scotmid Co-op's support for the Edinburgh Fairtrade City initiative, which I helped to set up a few years ago). Yesterday, the Scottish Co-op held an event in Kirkcaldy to promote the fair trade idea in Fife, and invited me along to speak. There was a lot of enthusiasm, and it's good to see the Co-op active in these issues at grass-roots community level.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Remembering 11th September...
I watched the extremely moving TV pictures last night of the commemoration services held for the 5th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. That was one of those horrible events which I imagine will remember for the rest of our lives where we were when we heard the news. In my case, I was working in my constituency office that day, and the first I heard about the attacks was when the nephew of one of my staff phoned us up from Australia to tell us that something had happened. I can remember that the first press report I saw was that a "small plane" had crashed into the Centre - and then gradually the full scale of the disaster became apparent.
For me, the memory that still sticks in my mind, apart from the awful picture of the plane crashing into the second tower, was the picture of the crowds leaving New York that day. That might be because it's a memory that was reinforced for me by the London bombings - I was in London that day, and I remember clearly what it was like to be on one of the trains leaving the terminus that evening - all of us jammed in like sardines, everyone calm - but very apprehensive about what might happen next.
This does remind us that the threat of terrorism is a reality, even though there's obviously room for a lot of debate about its causes and how to respond to it (and for anyone who is interested, I've got a couple of speeches and articles on my main website about it).
For me, the memory that still sticks in my mind, apart from the awful picture of the plane crashing into the second tower, was the picture of the crowds leaving New York that day. That might be because it's a memory that was reinforced for me by the London bombings - I was in London that day, and I remember clearly what it was like to be on one of the trains leaving the terminus that evening - all of us jammed in like sardines, everyone calm - but very apprehensive about what might happen next.
This does remind us that the threat of terrorism is a reality, even though there's obviously room for a lot of debate about its causes and how to respond to it (and for anyone who is interested, I've got a couple of speeches and articles on my main website about it).
Sunday, September 10, 2006
About the Labour Party leadership
I said a couple of days ago I would say something about the current controversy over the leadership of the Labour Party. I've been quite busy (including an interesting visit to Sheffield, which I'll say something about tomorrow), and, to be frank, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to say. Partly that's because there's been so much media about the situation over the last few days - and more importantly, because these are issues I prefer to talk about within the Labour Party, rather than publicly. I feel that even more so at the moment, when even a few comments by a backbench MP like me, which noone would normally notice, might on this occasion end up on the front pages of all the newspapers!
On the other hand, the issue of who will be the next Prime Minister of the UK, as the next Labour Party leader will be, is obviously a matter of great public interest - and as I've said before, if I'm really trying to make this blog a place for a debate with people in Edinburgh North & Leith, it would be odd if I didn't say anything at all about this issue which is clearly the big political news of the moment.
So I thought I would just outline my basic view on the issue, and in essence they're as follows:
1. The present uncertainty over when there will be a new leader, who it will be,
and all the debate surrounding these issues, will be very damaging to the Labour Party, and it won't be good for the country, if it goes on for too long a period;
2. Labour has seen a drop in support from the levels we had in 1997 & 2001 - and from the views expressed to me by people in my constituency, one of the main reasons for that has been the Iraq war and its aftermath - and I have to say that fall in support accelerated as a result of concerns about the government's policy on the Lebanon war;
3. Labour needs a new start, sooner rather than later, if we are to build up again the coalition of supporters that brought us to power in 1997;
4. If we don't start rebuilding that support well before the next election, we put at risk (through losing the election) all the successes we have achieved, under Tony Blair's leadership, since 1997. And there have been many successes; I believe that overall the government has had an excellent record, even though I have had deep concerns myself about the government's policy in the Middle East, and our relationship with the Bush administration (as can be seen from a number of articles and speeches of on my website). But we can't ignore what the public is telling us; after all, if we don't win at elections, then we do not have the ability to put our policies into practice.
The past week hasn't been good for the Labour Party, and if we continue to be divided we risk Cameron becoming PM, so I think everyone in the Labour Party should now accept what Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said last week, and now work to make that change work as smoothly as possible. And we should also focus on the policies we need for what is a very different political situation to the one we faced in 1997.
If you've comments, let me know - and have a look at yesterday's blog and comments for some other views.
On the other hand, the issue of who will be the next Prime Minister of the UK, as the next Labour Party leader will be, is obviously a matter of great public interest - and as I've said before, if I'm really trying to make this blog a place for a debate with people in Edinburgh North & Leith, it would be odd if I didn't say anything at all about this issue which is clearly the big political news of the moment.
So I thought I would just outline my basic view on the issue, and in essence they're as follows:
1. The present uncertainty over when there will be a new leader, who it will be,
and all the debate surrounding these issues, will be very damaging to the Labour Party, and it won't be good for the country, if it goes on for too long a period;
2. Labour has seen a drop in support from the levels we had in 1997 & 2001 - and from the views expressed to me by people in my constituency, one of the main reasons for that has been the Iraq war and its aftermath - and I have to say that fall in support accelerated as a result of concerns about the government's policy on the Lebanon war;
3. Labour needs a new start, sooner rather than later, if we are to build up again the coalition of supporters that brought us to power in 1997;
4. If we don't start rebuilding that support well before the next election, we put at risk (through losing the election) all the successes we have achieved, under Tony Blair's leadership, since 1997. And there have been many successes; I believe that overall the government has had an excellent record, even though I have had deep concerns myself about the government's policy in the Middle East, and our relationship with the Bush administration (as can be seen from a number of articles and speeches of on my website). But we can't ignore what the public is telling us; after all, if we don't win at elections, then we do not have the ability to put our policies into practice.
The past week hasn't been good for the Labour Party, and if we continue to be divided we risk Cameron becoming PM, so I think everyone in the Labour Party should now accept what Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said last week, and now work to make that change work as smoothly as possible. And we should also focus on the policies we need for what is a very different political situation to the one we faced in 1997.
If you've comments, let me know - and have a look at yesterday's blog and comments for some other views.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Letters to the Prime Minister
There has not surprisingly been a lot of coverage today on the issue of letters to the Prime Minister, and related matters. As I'm keen that this blog is an opportunity for a real debate on the issues of the day, it would be odd if I didn't say anything about it. I'll be putting up something on the blog tomorrow - but I thought I'd put this post up if anyone wants to say anything meantime. (It would be good if people gave some idea of who they were, and if you're in the constituency - even if it's only a nickname - instead of lots of comments from "Anonmyous"!)
(Incidentally, there was a problem with the website Wed pm - and the "deleted" comments were simply duplicates of the earlier comments, not ones I found unacceptable!)
(Incidentally, there was a problem with the website Wed pm - and the "deleted" comments were simply duplicates of the earlier comments, not ones I found unacceptable!)
What's happening at the Waterfront?
Had a meeting at the Pilton Partnership earlier this week to keep in touch with the community consultation that they are holding about the Waterfront developments. They've had a consultation with community members and community representatives, and they'll be presenting the questions from that to a meeting with public bodies, local councillors, MP and MSP in a couple of times. This is an important consultation, as I'm very much aware of the concern from many local people in the Pilton area that they are not getting much from the new developments.
The main concerns, not surprisingly, are the lack of affordable housing. There is "affordable" housing in the new development - but there are lot of concerns about how affordable it really is; and there are questions about how well the local waterfront recruitment centre is actually helping local people find long-term jobs. In particular, there is a feeling that there are not enough apprenticeships being created.
There's no doubt that politcians and government agencies have got to do something concrete in response - so I hope we get a good constructive discussion, with real commitments, when the follow-up meeting takes place later this month.
The main concerns, not surprisingly, are the lack of affordable housing. There is "affordable" housing in the new development - but there are lot of concerns about how affordable it really is; and there are questions about how well the local waterfront recruitment centre is actually helping local people find long-term jobs. In particular, there is a feeling that there are not enough apprenticeships being created.
There's no doubt that politcians and government agencies have got to do something concrete in response - so I hope we get a good constructive discussion, with real commitments, when the follow-up meeting takes place later this month.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Some thoughts on multicultural Edinburgh
I've made some comments in this blog a couple of weeks ago about the debate on migrant workers. This weekend, I've had the chance both to talk about, experience - and enjoy - multicultural Edinburgh today. Saturday morning, I went along to the Scottish Fabian conference looking at the gap between rich and poor, social inequality, and social cohesion - and what we do about all this. I was asked to speak at a session concentrating on the European dimension of these questions.
Very soon, our discussion ended up focussing on the questions of what is the right policy for Europe, and its member states, on migration and how to respond to it. I'm pleased to say we didn't get bogged down on the question of whether or not there should be restrictions on inter-European migration (although we certainly looked at that, with a wide range of views on what was the correct policy!), but looked also at issues of how do you promote social cohesion between migrants and immigrants, and the existing community - and we all felt both government, and "civic society", particularly trade unions, could be doing a lot more here. There were also a lot of interesting facts that came out in discussion; for example, the fact that the average migrant worker in the UK pays £112 a week in tax, £12 MORE than the average British resident worker - putting paid to the myth that migrant workers are a drain on the economy.
My own conclusion is that what we are now seeing is the idea of a single European market becoming a reality. In theory, all the European Union members signed up to a free market for goods, labour and services. So far, though, it's mainly been a free market in goods - but we're now seeing the beginning of a real European single market in labour. And it is not surprising that will mean a levelling of wage levels in those sectors of the labour market where a European-wide market is now developing. And for some workers, that will mean a levelling up - but for others, at least in the short term, that will tend to mean a levelling down. In the long run, all should gain - but there will be problems in the short term, and we have to make sure our policies on these issues recognise that.
From the Fabian conference, I rushed off to join the Edinburgh Mela. Along with my MSP colleagues Malcolm Chisholm and Sarah Boyack, we'd organised an information stall at this festival. The Edinburgh Mela is now a highlight not just for Edinburgh's Asian communities, but for people from throughout Central Scotland and indeed beyond. And it's not just the Asian and Chinese communities that now enjoy the Mela - one of the features is that you can see people from every community, Asian, Chinese, white Scottish - and Polish - in Edinburgh coming along to join the Mela. There's been a lot of debate in the UK about whether multiculturalism is an idea that can actually work. I know that's a big question, and it's an important debate, but it does seem to me that events like the Edinburgh Mela show that you can genuinely have events which are multicultural. It's an event which is based mainly in the city's South Asian community - but it's enjoyed by thousands from the rest of the Edinburgh community, who don't come along as "outsiders", but come along to enjoy it just like those from the Asian communities.
This year, unfortunately, the weather was awful for the first day, with almost constant rain - but by the afternoon of the second day, the day had warmed up, and the place was packed out. (In fact, the success of the Mela has itself become a bit of a problem, and I know that the organisers are looking at other, larger, locations which wouldn't have some of the problems with access etc at the present site in Pilrig Park.)
Very soon, our discussion ended up focussing on the questions of what is the right policy for Europe, and its member states, on migration and how to respond to it. I'm pleased to say we didn't get bogged down on the question of whether or not there should be restrictions on inter-European migration (although we certainly looked at that, with a wide range of views on what was the correct policy!), but looked also at issues of how do you promote social cohesion between migrants and immigrants, and the existing community - and we all felt both government, and "civic society", particularly trade unions, could be doing a lot more here. There were also a lot of interesting facts that came out in discussion; for example, the fact that the average migrant worker in the UK pays £112 a week in tax, £12 MORE than the average British resident worker - putting paid to the myth that migrant workers are a drain on the economy.
My own conclusion is that what we are now seeing is the idea of a single European market becoming a reality. In theory, all the European Union members signed up to a free market for goods, labour and services. So far, though, it's mainly been a free market in goods - but we're now seeing the beginning of a real European single market in labour. And it is not surprising that will mean a levelling of wage levels in those sectors of the labour market where a European-wide market is now developing. And for some workers, that will mean a levelling up - but for others, at least in the short term, that will tend to mean a levelling down. In the long run, all should gain - but there will be problems in the short term, and we have to make sure our policies on these issues recognise that.
From the Fabian conference, I rushed off to join the Edinburgh Mela. Along with my MSP colleagues Malcolm Chisholm and Sarah Boyack, we'd organised an information stall at this festival. The Edinburgh Mela is now a highlight not just for Edinburgh's Asian communities, but for people from throughout Central Scotland and indeed beyond. And it's not just the Asian and Chinese communities that now enjoy the Mela - one of the features is that you can see people from every community, Asian, Chinese, white Scottish - and Polish - in Edinburgh coming along to join the Mela. There's been a lot of debate in the UK about whether multiculturalism is an idea that can actually work. I know that's a big question, and it's an important debate, but it does seem to me that events like the Edinburgh Mela show that you can genuinely have events which are multicultural. It's an event which is based mainly in the city's South Asian community - but it's enjoyed by thousands from the rest of the Edinburgh community, who don't come along as "outsiders", but come along to enjoy it just like those from the Asian communities.
This year, unfortunately, the weather was awful for the first day, with almost constant rain - but by the afternoon of the second day, the day had warmed up, and the place was packed out. (In fact, the success of the Mela has itself become a bit of a problem, and I know that the organisers are looking at other, larger, locations which wouldn't have some of the problems with access etc at the present site in Pilrig Park.)
Friday, September 01, 2006
More news from the community
Most of this week has been taken up with fairly routine work in the constituency office - letters, emails, and just generally catching up as people begin to come back from their summer breaks (and decide to get in touch with their local MP!). I've also been preparing for two big events this weekend, about which more on another day.
However, two visits to community organisations did stand out this week. One was a visit I made to the recently opened Lothian Autism Advice Centre . I learnt a lot about autism, and the information centre seems to be a very impressive operation with a lot of information for people with autism and their families. The other, doing very different work, was a meeting in the Kirkgate Comunity Centre of the Greener Leith group, of which I'm a member. This has been started by local people, interested in doing just what the title of the group says. They've already come up with a plan for a community garden on Leith Links, which I hope comes off. Talking about that led on to a discussion about Leith's history, because of course there are relics of the siege of Leith on Leith Links - and also in Pilrig Park, which is another of the areas where Greener Leith hopes to do some work.
And it then turned out that one of the main movers of the Greener Leith group works for the local energy conservation and advice centre, Changeworks. Out of that chance discussion I was able to make some good contacts to take forward my ideas about setting up a pioneering "community energy" initiative in Leith, and Edinburgh more generally, to get communities and individuals directly involved in sustainable energy and renewables. I'll be saying something about this in a future post on this blog - but the way that all these community initiatives link together, and the fact that there are so many people involved in them, gives me a lot of encouragement at a time when there's a lot about politics at the moment can get you down!
However, two visits to community organisations did stand out this week. One was a visit I made to the recently opened Lothian Autism Advice Centre . I learnt a lot about autism, and the information centre seems to be a very impressive operation with a lot of information for people with autism and their families. The other, doing very different work, was a meeting in the Kirkgate Comunity Centre of the Greener Leith group, of which I'm a member. This has been started by local people, interested in doing just what the title of the group says. They've already come up with a plan for a community garden on Leith Links, which I hope comes off. Talking about that led on to a discussion about Leith's history, because of course there are relics of the siege of Leith on Leith Links - and also in Pilrig Park, which is another of the areas where Greener Leith hopes to do some work.
And it then turned out that one of the main movers of the Greener Leith group works for the local energy conservation and advice centre, Changeworks. Out of that chance discussion I was able to make some good contacts to take forward my ideas about setting up a pioneering "community energy" initiative in Leith, and Edinburgh more generally, to get communities and individuals directly involved in sustainable energy and renewables. I'll be saying something about this in a future post on this blog - but the way that all these community initiatives link together, and the fact that there are so many people involved in them, gives me a lot of encouragement at a time when there's a lot about politics at the moment can get you down!
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