June 2009 - Newsletter from Margot James
Dear Supporter,
It has been a torrid month dominated by the scandal of MP’s expenses. We have been canvassing throughout the controversy and I have found the mood to be a mix of anger and despair. Most of all people find it incomprehensible that the system has been so lax and open to abuse.
On a positive note however, every single person I have spoken to about the issue has agreed that David Cameron has shown real leadership throughout the crisis; and has taken decisive action against Conservative MPs who have transgressed. Unlike Gordon Brown. I have issued a statement on the issue and a declaration of how I intend to behave I am elected to serve as your MP. Read more.
It has been a very busy month campaigning ahead of the European elections. I would like to thank everyone who has stuffed envelopes, knocked on doors, delivered literature and helped in numerous other ways. Also, a big thank you to our constituency organiser, Mike Wood, who has been working very hard to get all our material ready for distribution and entering all the data generated by our canvassing teams.
Campaigning
- We held a successful action day on Saturday May 9th with support from members of Bromsgrove Association. More than thirty of us canvassed homes in Pedmore and Norton.
- We have hand delivered letters to several thousand homes in the constituency urging people to register for postal votes in time for the European Elections. This will also be helpful for the General Election.
- I published a brochure containing my views on the economy, education and other issues which was delivered to 40,000 homes across the constituency. Download pdf (663k)
- We had a stall at the very successful party in Swan Pool Park on May 30th. Nick Herbert, Shadow Secretary of State for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs is leading a campaign for better and honest food labelling. At the moment chickens, pigs and other animals can be reared abroad in countries with significantly lower animal welfare standards than our own, brought in to the UK, re-packaged and sold as British. David Vickers, Angus and Julie Lees, Jo Baker, Liz Walker and I collected more than 250 signatures on a petition for better food labelling.
(Photo: Margot and Julie Lees petitioning for honest food labelling.)
Out and About
- Last month I took up the role of governor responsible for children with special needs at Redhill School. In that capacity I met with the director of the school’s service for children with special needs, Denise Benton. Read more. I also attended a Redhill board of governors meeting.
- Residents of Ryecroft in Wollescote approached me for help with environmental improvements to their green space. I got support from Dudley Council’s highways department, who are always very helpful if underfunded, and secured improvements, although there is more work to be done. Read more
- I attended a board of governors meeting at Stourbridge College. The College is funded by the Learning & Skills Council (LSC), one of the worst performing of all this Government’s quangos. Last year the LSC approved 34% more apprenticeship places than they had budget for. So this year swingeing cuts in the ‘Train to Gain’ budget are being made and Stourbridge College won’t be able to take on any new students, money only being available for existing students to finish their course. The College are of course searching for alternative sources of funding, but there is no guaranteed income. This at a time of soaring unemployment. Meanwhile the government continues to peddle the myth that it is investing in skills and providing apprenticeship places.
- I held a second meeting at the Stourbridge Jobcentre Plus, accompanied by Cllr. David Vickers, we saw the director responsible for helping particularly disadvantaged people in to work. We were briefed on the latest unemployment statistics that show unemployment in Stourbridge up 120% over this time last year. The highest increase of all bar one of the 14 areas measured separately west of Birmingham. Read more
Cllr Karen Shakespeare and I took part in a sponsored midnight walk in Blakedown to raise money for the Mary Stevens Hospice. Read more- I visited King Edward’s School and met the principal, Sharon Phillips for an update. I am very concerned that the Government’s new diploma for 14-18 year olds will dilute academic standards even further.
- I attended a meeting of the Stourbridge Decorative and Fine Arts Society meeting as a guest of Meriel Harris. It was a quite wonderful digression for me and fantastic to see the world of culture and art so vibrant in Stourbridge. Well over a hundred people listened to an excellent lecture on the history of tennis, football and cricket which have their origins in medieval jousting and battles. I rather liked the quote from George Orwell “Sport has nothing to do with fair play; it is war without the shooting”.
- I met Helen Ashby who is leading a campaign to stop anti-social behaviour in the Bell Street Car Park. I have had many complaints from residents being kept awake by young men racing cars and bikes around the car park and the ring road until well past midnight. I have also contacted the police twice about it. I cannot understand why the police have not been able to sort the problem out as they have a similar problem in Ross on Wye. Read more. Sign the petition.
Cllr. Pat Martin is the new Mayor of Dudley and I attended the annual meeting of the council and mayor making. This was a wonderful occasion and Pat made the most marvellous speech in which she traced the origins of the mayoralty of Dudley back to the late 17th century, providing a fascinating historical commentary on each holder of the office since that time.- I went to the Dudley Muslim Women’s Network conference at which our new Mayor, Cllr. Pat Martin and Cllr Liz Walker both spoke. Attendance was huge, some 500 women from across the borough. Some great speeches motivating Muslim women to achieve their full potential and contribute to public life.
(Photo: Margot with organisers Razia Choudhry and Tehmina Aftab)
- I attended a Police and Communities meeting for Pedmore and Oldswinford. Most of the issues raised related to speeding traffic.
The Stourbridge Conservative Association held a successful ‘Question Time’ event at the Stourbridge Institute. On the panel were myself, Mike Burnett, the European Candidate for the West Midlands, Mr Atiq-ur-Rehman, consultant at Russells Hall Hospital and Mark Rogers, regional director of Whitbread’s. We were grateful to Martyn Smith of the Stourbridge News for organising the questions for us and liaising with the Chairman, Ted Baker, so that the questioned were completely unseen by the panel.
Members might be interested to know that I met Stephen Eyre, former parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge, at a fundraising lunch for our European election campaign. Stephen spoke very well at the event, he has since taken up a Church position in the diocese of Coventry so will have to step back from political work for the time being. I am grateful to Stephen for all the work he did to make Stourbridge more winnable for the Conservatives during his time here.
Feedback
Please forward this campaign update on to any fellow Conservatives in our area who you think would be interested. If there is any further information you would like, or if there is something you would like to let me know about, please do get in touch.
If you would like to help the campaign in Stourbridge then please do contact me: margot@stourbridgeconservatives.com. We are always grateful for support.
