Parliamentary News Update

Parliamentary news update Monday 28 June 2010

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat government has been hard at work recently, and Labour has been working even harder in opposition to try to stop unfair measures. This is an update of some important developments in Westminster.

The coalition government has commissioned a review into privatising more of the Royal Mail. Under the banner of ‘modernising’ the service, the government hopes to inject private capital and practice into this service. The same goes for local media, where the government is looking at relaxing the regulations on television broadcasting so that more private companies can operate local channels. Both of these measures could damage the services that people rely on if they are run purely for profit and are a cause of concern to me.

Michael Gove, who is Education Secretary, answered questions on his ‘Free School’ policy. These are to be privately-run enterprises that anyone can choose to set up. The government claims that such a system will allow greater teacher/parent involvement and will result in raised standards. When asked by Ed Balls, who is now Shadow Education Secretary, why Sweden has plummeted in international education rankings since introducing similar reforms, Michael Gove gave no answer. Again, I am seriously concerned that this will result in funding gaps for state schools and that it will be those who are poorest that will suffer the most under this government.

There was some welcome news last week, however, in that the Low Pay Commission reported to government that the minimum wage be increased from £5.80 to £5.93 and that the adult rate should apply to workers aged from 21. They have also recommended increasing the development rate (which will cover workers aged 18-20 years) from £4.83 to £4.92 and that the rate for 16-17 year olds moves from £3.57 to £3.64.The government has accepted these recommendations and intends to change the system from October 2010.

A fundamental part of the move to opposition is being vocal about the impact of cuts on constituents and alerting people locally to the changes coming their way. I will continue to fight against unfair cuts and always welcome constituents’ views on new proposals from this government.