For the Many Not the Few
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The Sedgefield C.L.P. Newsletter November 2017 VOLUME 1. ISSUE 3 From the Chair It is always very humbling to see the hard work and generosity of our constituents and our comrades in our sister constituencies. Earlier this month the Labour North Gala Dinner was held, and it was a privilege to share an excellent, if expensive, evening with so many people who give For so much back. Our constituency was well represented, and it was noted by many that we were able to fill two tables with our constituents. the The outstanding speakers included Laura Pidcock, Ian Lavery and our Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn. Jeremy asked that I give all members of the constituency a many personal message of thanks for your continued efforts and hard work as Labour activists. The party is strong because of its members. not I also had the pleasure of meeting Angela Rayner at the NASUWT Regional Conference. As a teacher, her insight into the problems facing children and education was the a breath of fresh air. She has really listened to teachers, Trade Unions and school leaders, as well as children and their families. The plans for a National Education service, where every child and every adult matters, are inspirational. She also wanted to pass on her best few wishes to the members of Sedgefield CLP and her thanks for the part you played in the campaign, and what you continue to do. Angela is convinced that, with your help, we are on the brink of power. Back to the real world of CLP business, there has been mixed news this month. Standing Orders were approved, and the branch boundaries are in the process of being finalised. I hope for good news for our new branches soon. On a less positive note, due to unforeseeable circumstances, we had to move the November CLP meeting away from the intended venue of Trimdon Station Community Centre. Having announced this venue at the last CLP meeting, we were given only seven days’ notice that there was a potential problem with accessibility for two members. It is our full intention to tour the constituency and we were excited to visit the Trimdon and Thornley Branch region this time. Luckily we were able to secure the Oakleaf Sports Complex in Newton Aycliffe again, which we are very grateful for, but this is a long journey for some members who may have been looking forward to attending a local venue. If you want the CLP meeting to be held at a venue close to you, as always, your suggestions are most welcome. We also encourage car sharing and our Facebook page is an excellent way to do this. https://www.facebook.com/pg/SedgefieldCLP/posts/?ref=page_internal Finally, I would like to say what an excellent atmosphere it was at the recent CLP Nomination Meeting where we nominated our very own Mike Dixon, in addition to Yasmine Dar and Rachel Garnham. It was touching to hear so many constituents pay tribute to Mike’s contributions and, although he did not make the national ballot, Mike has shown us that we should stay positive and stand to represent our grassroots members at a national level. There are so many talented people in this constituency and, as always, I am very proud to represent the CLP as Chair. All Labour Party Members and Supporters are Welcome to Attend our First Christmas Social Event! ** Tickets are selling fast - call Jacqueline on 0776 338 0393 today to reserve yours** Phil’s Blog Spot At the time of writing, the Chancellor has just delivered his Budget Statement. And one thing is certain, with predicted growth of less than 2% for the next few years and a further £3 billion to cope with Brexit, things are not looking too good. The total set aside for Brexit now totals £3.7 billion, with more to come. But the Chancellor has only committed an additional £2.8 billion of funding for the NHS between now and 2020. And nothing extra for social care, which is a crisis set to explode in the coming years. The top line from the Budget as far as the Government is concerned is the money set aside for housing, a total of £44 billion over the next 5 years, of which only £15 billion will be new money. The Government aspires to build an average of 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s. This is a modest target. The first time buyers’ Stamp Duty cut is small and is dwarfed by the £10 billion in the Help to Buy Scheme which has helped to pour money into big builders’ pockets. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has given the Stamp Duty cut a ‘high’ uncertainty rating. The OBR estimates the costings will only cover a small number of first-time buyer purchases. They provide a figure of only 3,500 first-time buyers and expect the scheme will only put up house prices. The Government has moved slightly on Universal Credit after coming under a great deal of pressure, but recipients will still lose 63p in every extra pound earned. It is time for the Government to reconsider the taper rate at which benefits are withdrawn as claimants make their first steps back into the workplace. Although the Chancellor announced that any pay rise for nurses will be covered by extra resources and not taken from existing NHS budgets, there was no news on a similar offer to other public sector workers including teachers, police officers and our armed forces. And look out for the small print on any pay rise deal for nurses. As usual, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors in the Budget. But the main take away for me is the growth figure. Without growth, we can’t fund our public services in the way we would like. We all want to see the end of austerity, but after Brexit, extracting our economy from the EU Single Market will have major consequences for our economy and will make an anti-austerity agenda more difficult to implement. The Tories said they would balance the books by 2015. They have now pushed that target back to 2025. It seems to me to be a target which gets pushed further and further back after every budget. The purpose of this Budget was to hide the Government’s weaknesses, but it has only revealed the long-term impact of the financial crisis we still face and the great uncertainty about the impact of Brexit. If anyone wants to raise any issues with me, you can get in touch by email via [email protected] or by telephone on 01325 321602 to arrange an appointment. 2 I’m told it took my sister 2 days of One day I filled it in and said I begging to get me to eat and drink didn't do a work search because something. I had shut down. I I was feeling suicidal. They didn’t was in extreme shock, but I never quiz me about that. Another day told anyone what happened, it was I used Google Translate, and I only six weeks ago I finally told filled it out in Hungarian. I was someone what went on. The never asked about that either. Doctor signed me off work with severe depression and anxiety and On January 13 2017, I was able my nightmare with the DWP to lodge my ESA appeal with the began. courts, leave the job centre and claim ESA again. I knew I was in Dear Friends I was awarded ESA and after a for a wait before the appeal while, I got the letter saying I was would be heard but I never Universal Credit is a hot topic right to attend a Work Capability imagined how long I would have now, so I'd like to share my Assessment. I vaguely remember to wait. I am still waiting today! experience of the current so- the day although at this point, I still called Benefit System, but first a little was unable to drive my car due to My court appeal date has come background. fear, so my mother took me. I through, it is January 30 2018. remember before I went I took 3 That is 54 weeks after I making Throughout my adult life, I have Valium. I remember trembling the appeal. This means that suffered sporadically from through the assessment and from July 2016 to the end of depression. I used to be able to stuttering a lot. I had never January 2018 I will have been combat this by throwing myself stuttered before but after the near surviving on £73.10 a week, or into my work until it passed and to accident, I developed a stutter. I to put it another way £3,801.20 be honest it never caused me any told of the pills I was on, how I now a year. real problems. Sadly in 2016 things struggled to leave the house for went drastically wrong. I was a self- fear of something bad happening. If I hadn’t had a small amount of employed HGV driver earning I told them how close I had come savings I would have been in a £300+ a week and life was going to suicide and how day to day lot of trouble. However, the very well until one afternoon in living was a constant struggle for savings I have been living on will June. I was driving my lorry in a me.