Coalition cuts are making our streets less safe

Coalition cuts are making our streets less safe

A properly funded police force is vital to keeping our streets safe but the Government is taking the wrong approach to law and order. Instead of cutting of crime, they are cutting the police. There are already 4,000 fewer police officers on our streets than there were in 2010 and half of London's police stations are set to close by by 2016. Many of these cuts will be counter productive, leading to more crime and higher costs for the police.

Cutting the number of police on our streets is not the only damage that the Government is doing, they have also taken money away from community projects. As a former community worker myself I know the importance giving young people a place to go and something to do can be, in preventing them from falling in with the wrong crowd.

When I was head of the Halkevi community centre I worked to establish sporting and youth projects projects for teenagers, keeping them out of criminal gangs and helping them to stay in school. Cuts to the Communities and Local Government budgets mean that councils don't have the funding to support projects like these anymore, meaning vulnerable young people are at risk.

Happy Birthday NHS

Happy Birthday NHS

A few weeks ago the NHS celebrated a significant milestone – it's 65^th Birthday. It's a fantastic achievement and made me prouder than ever to be a member of the party which created our health service.

Our health service has a special significance for me. During my time as a community worker in London I was shot during  a violent attack by local criminal gang members. Fortunately, thanks to the fast response of the ambulance service and the excellent treatment by surgeons, I made a full recovery. Like so many people in our country I know the importance of the NHS because it has quite literally saved my life. It's because of this experience that I'm a passionate defender of a healthcare service for all, free at the point of delivery.

That's I'm proud of what the last Labour Government did. We invested record amounts of funding, recruiting 89,000 new nurses, 44,000 new doctors and opening 118 new hospitals. The results of this were clear: the shortest waiting times in history and patient satisfaction levels at an all time high - a high quality health service  provided on the basis of need, not ability to pay.

These achievements are even more remarkable when you think about the NHS we inherited from the Tories in 1997. Back then the system was close to collapse, with crumbling hospitals and hundreds of thousands of people forced to wait over six months for treatment.        

Unfortunately right now it looks as if history is repeating itself. David Cameron has broken his promise to protect our health service. Instead since the election there has been £3bn wasted on a needless top down reorganisation, 4,000 nurses have been cut and A&E is in crisis.

That's why to mark the NHS' 65^th I helped to organise a street stall here in Enfield Southgate, collecting signatures for a petition against what the Government is doing to our NHS. Unlike the Tories who want to dismantle the NHS Labour wants to create a joined up health service, with the needs of patients at the heart of it. You can find out more about our plans for whole person care and take part in our policy review here.   

Meeting with Shadow Secretary of State, Caroline Flint

Meeting with Shadow Secretary of State, Caroline Flint

Earlier this year I met with Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Caroline Flint MP to discuss rising energy bills.

The average household duel fuel bill now costs £1,400, up more than £300 since the last election and many people are struggling to meet the cost of keeping their home warm in winter. Many of the big energy companies are making huge profits, while at the same time raising prices for their customers. Yet despite this injustice the current government has done nothing to stand up to them and to fight for hard pressed consumers.  

I spoke to Caroline about my fears for all those struggling to cope with the rising cost of living in Enfield Southgate and my disappointment at the lack of action from the Tory-led coalition. She shared my concerns and she told me that the next Labour government would act to secure fairer energy bills for the public.

She told me that if elected the Labour would get tough with the big energy companies, by creating a new watchdog with the power to force them to pass on price cuts to their customers. We would also require energy companies to put all their customers aged over 75 onto the cheapest tariff, which could save as many as four million pensioners up to £200 a year from their annual energy bills. 

You can find out more about Labour's plans for a fairer energy market and how you can get involved with the party's policy review at the Your Britain website.