Never forget you have a choice.

Remember this from 2010? It proved sadly prescient. 

In the last 13 weeks of the Labour government, we added £15 billion to the economy, driving it to recovery. Since then, the recovery has flatlined. 

In the last 637 days of the Tory government, they have struggled to add £5 billion. 

In the seven quarters since Osborne took the helm of the economy, aided by the useful idiot Danny Alexander, the economy has gone backwards in four. The fantasy of an export-led recovery, as seen in Canada in the 1990s has been exposed as the pipe-dream it always was.

However, the problem isn't the technical recession - I can assure you that out there in the real world, it has felt like a recession for a long time. Perhaps even recession isn't the right word - we're just bouncing along the bottom. I'd expect a pickup over the summer, but not by much and ongoing sluggish growth and contraction.

As I noted here, the recovery - such as it is - has taken longer than in any recession on record, including that in the 1930s. A far better qualified economist than me, the Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, makes exactly this point - that this was a choice not enforced upon us by the bond markets or the European Central Bank and adds a warning:

The defense I hear from Cameron apologists is that the austerity mostly hasn’t even hit yet. But that’s really not much of a defense. Remember, the austerity was supposed to work by inspiring confidence; where’s the confidence? Basically, the expansionary aspect should already have kicked in; it’s all contraction from here. 

The private sector has not stepped up to the plate to replace the contracted state - and there are lots more cuts to come. 

The fact is, this is a depression manufactured in Downing Street by an utterly incompetent government. They try to shift the blame onto the Eurozone, ignoring the fact that up to 2010, the Eurozone and UK recoveries were tracking nicely together. After the May election, they diverged as the UK recovery stalled. 

The figures hide the fact that it is ordinary people and families that are suffering in this depression. I'm certainly not celebrating this awful news. 

However, we need to remember that in 2010, people had a choice about which road we would follow. 

You have a choice again on May 3. 


Time to change direction.

Where Labour leads...

Just a reminder that it isn't only on the campaign to save the police station in Yardley where Labour leads the way. You may recall that when the station was threatened, the Liberal Democrats ran a survey, but Labour took action and brought the key police authority finance chair down to the site to discuss it with him directly.

The same applies to the funding for Acocks Green station announced last year to improve access to the platforms for those relying on wheels. It was back in 2007 in an earlier campaign that I raised this with Roger Horton, then the vice chair of CENTRO and after that, Acocks Green was added to the list for work to be done under the scheme launched by Labour.

We may not see the fruits until 2014, but sometimes these things do take time.

Women and families hit hardest by Lib Dem/Tory cuts

Women are the heart of our family and society, but they have been hit hardest by savage cuts imposed by this Tory/Lib Dem government. And the Lib Dem MP for Yardley has supported the cuts all the way, calling them ‘necessary.’

Labour supported women and families – we doubled child care places, we doubled maternity pay, we toughened laws on domestic violence and removed discrimination from the pensions system. Labour showed that there is a different way – a better way.


With 96,000 more women out of work than in May 2010 - over 3000 of them in Birmingham, the figure is the highest in decades. Two thirds of public sector workers are women. They are the hardest hit by the 400,000 jobs cut from public services - jobs that often fitted in with families, school runs and term-time. 32,000 women have given up work as they can't afford childcare. The changes to tax credits have made over 1000 families poorer in Yardley alone - affecting over 2000 children, while the Liberal Democrats give £14,000 tax cuts to millionaires.

Labour thinks this is wrong. 

Estelle Morris back in Yardley

We had a really good day with a series of doorstep sessions across Yardley on Saturday and were delighted to have Estelle Morris join us. She's still held in very high esteem in the constituency, despite having stood down as the MP in 2005 - she is much missed by many and is always a popular figure on the doorsteps.

We're even picking up new members and helpers as a result of our campaigning in Acocks Green.

2300 West Midlands Police jobs face the axe

Under Labour, crime fell every year.

The Liberal Democrats promised 3000 new police officers. 

Instead, they are cutting 16,000 nationwide. 

West Midlands Police are being forced to make deep cuts by this government. A thousand jobs have already gone and more are at risk. These cuts cost us experienced officers with decades of vital crime-fighting knowledge.

Speaking for ordinary officers, the Police Federation said, 

“We have no doubt that cuts to police budgets will lead to more crime.”

In 2011, over a thousand years of police experience was forcibly retired. 


At the time, DC Tony Fisher said,

"I use the analogy, West Midlands Police are being a bit like the Villa, going down and very quickly... You can even see now the front-line policing is affected, burglary detection rates, robbery detection rates are down, robberies and burglaries are going up and to be honest it's been quite soul destroying to see these changes."

Does it seem fair that officers in the West Midlands are being forced out of work - and then asked to come back as volunteer Special Constables?

The Liberal Democrats and the Tories on the West Midlands Police Authority supported the moves towards privatising parts of the service - moves opposed by the Labour Group.

Some great photos of Acocks Green...

Can be found here.Some parts haven't changed in layout much in over half a century - others, more so!

Welcome to Acocks Green

This poster has appeared on the Yardley Road, just by the border into the ward.

There's only one party that cares. 

Campaigning Against the Granny Tax

Good to be out there, defending our pensioners against paying extra tax to allow the government to cut tax for millionaires.

Sadly, the elected member of parliament doesn't seem to mind hitting the pensioners in the pocket.

Runners and Riders

So we now know who will be the candidates on May 3....

Eight to watch:

Amanda Baker - Green
Joe Edginton - Conservative
Roger Harmer - Liberal Democrat
John O'Shea - Labour
Ben Rubery - Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
Stella Taylor - British Nationalist Party
Alan Ware - Social Democratic Party
Chris Whitehouse - UKIP

I think that makes us the ward with the widest choice - although this really is down to a two horse race. If you want to see who else is nominated, there's the full 40 ward listing here.

Cameron's NHS Betrayal

An excellent party election broadcast from Robert Winston. Quietly devastating.

Planning Applications to 24 March 2012

2012/01418/PA - 28 Augusta Road
Change of use from a single dwelling to 2 no. self contained flats

2012/01950/PA - 13 Westfield Road
Retention of boundary wall and 2 no. pillars to front

2012/01942/PA - 8 Netley Grove
Erection of two storey side and rear and single storey rear extension

You can find out more details of each application on the council website here.

On the campaign trail

Last week, we took advantage of the good weather to get out and about and knock on some doors on the Stockfield estate. It was particularly good to have the excellent Steve Bassam (@stevethequip on Twitter), leader of the Labour Lords, along to lend a hand and he was certainly quick to dash up and down the paths, shaking hands and digging out the potential voters.

As is common, we found voters furious at the Lib Dems for their post-election behaviour - 'Never again' is a very common refrain.

We'll be out and about across the ward in the run up to election day, so do stop and say hello, even if we aren't knocking on your door.

Acocks Green Library

Let's be clear about the situation with Acocks Green Library. It is a key community facility and all those of us who live here are lucky to have such a well-used building - my family have always used it.

The Liberal Democrat/Conservative council in Birmingham have developed a 'revised operating model' for libraries in Birmingham that would see key sites like Acocks Green and South Yardley allocated enough money to open for 40 hours a week (usually 4 weekdays and a Saturday, with one late night). That would be reduction from the current 5 weekdays and Saturday model in Acocks Green, which requires 50 hours to service.

At last week's Constituency Committee, the Liberal Democrats forced through a decision to use Community Chest funding to pay for the additional ten hours required to make up the difference - but only for six months. Labour wanted this decision taken locally at the next ward committee meeting in May - just as the Liberal Democrats did in Sheldon this month, with a chance to consult with you, the electorate.

FACT: As things stand at the moment, in autumn 2012, Acocks Green library will face a cut of ten hours. 

This coming year, Yardley constituency faces other cuts of roughly £1 million, plus £312,000 of cuts that the Liberal Democrats failed to make this year, plus repaying an end of year overspend - currently forecast to be £454,000 - and also overspend from 2010-11, also under Liberal Democrat control.

They failed to identify any areas of spending that will face the axe after the elections, despite repeated attempts by me to get them to tell the electorate in advance where the cuts would be made. They don't want us to know - they just want to kick the can down the road past the elections.

All this comes against the background of unfair cuts imposed upon Birmingham by the Tories and their Liberal Democrat cronies - each of us faces cuts of £164 per person. Wokingham faces cuts of just £20 per person. The West Midlands are cutting police officers - Surrey are hiring more. Is that fair?

Why won't the Liberal Democrats stand up for Birmingham?

Labour promise to do so. Within days of winning power in Birmingham, Labour will ask all the political parties to support a demand for Birmingham's fair share.

You decide - Mayoral Referendum Booklet

With a hat tip to Neil Elkes, here's a link to the booklet shortly to be landing on doorsteps across Birmingham.

Diary Date - Yardley Constituency Committee

Tonight, we've got the final Constituency Committee before the elections and money figures large on the agenda. The main items are:

• 2011-12 Q3 Budget monitoring report (Oct-Dec 2011)
• 2012-13 Revenue Budget
• Surplus properties in Yardley and how they are to be disposed of
• Community Chest Applications - S Yardley; Stechford & Yardley North; All ward applications

At the end of December, the constituency was expecting to overspend by a whopping £454,000 this year and the only steps suggested to minimise that are that the officers and chair will stringently control budget expenditure and carefully manage vacancies, temporary staff and redeployment. Which you would rather think would be standard practice, rather than a last minute panic measure. Added to that is the constituency's failure to achieve £312,000 in savings, with no measures in place to achieve those figures. Part of the £1 million savings has already been achieved through a series of one-off measures - using up unspent Working Neighbourhoods Fund and deferring payments of deficits built up in earlier years are one-off methods that were tried at city level as well.

Should be an interesting meeting.

Acocks Green Police Station Open Day

As always, good to see around our local police station. The Fire Service from Hay Mills were there, along with the traffic bikes, a van from the Operational Support Unit and a dog handler. You could even have a go on the laser speed gun, tracking the cars moving along Yardley Road - fortunately, all within the limit.

The cuts continue to bite, however, as the dog section will lose 14% of its manpower and the traffic department has already lost 35% of the assigned officers.

Planning Applications to 17 March 2012

2012/01811/PA - Land rear of Nos 419-423 Shirley Road
Erection of 3 no. dwellings

These would be three new houses forming a small terrace that would actually front onto Marie Drive, as they would be built on the end of the gardens of the above three properties. Each house is three bedroomed, with an en-suite bedroom and a study in the roofspace. Although these are being built on the gardens of the Shirley Road houses, they will have independent access to Marie Drive.

2012/01709/PA - 93 Hazelwood Road, Acocks Green
Erection of two storey front and single storey rear extension.

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Planning applications to 10 March 2012

2012/01611/PA - 247 Douglas Road
Erection of single storey rear extension. Erection of single storey rear extension

2012/01528/PA - 136 Yardley Road
Change of use of part of ground floor from retail (Use Class A1) to a 1 bedroom flat (Use Class C3)

2012/00843/PA - 30 Station Road
Change of use from retail shop (Class A1) to childrens day nursery (Class D1)

2012/01595/PA - 904-906 Warwick Road
Conversion of 1st and 2nd floors to 4 self-contained 1-bed flats, installation of dormer to rear of No. 904,
erection of single storey extension to rear of No. 906 and installation of new shop fronts and roller shutters.
This relates to a shop building on the slip road between Stockfield Road and Warwick Road.

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here and details on planning usage classes here.

For information:
A1 - Shops - Shops, retail warehouses, hairdressers, undertakers, travel and ticket agencies, post offices (but not sorting offices), pet shops, sandwich bars, showrooms, domestic hire shops, dry cleaners, funeral directors and internet cafes.

C3 - Dwellinghouses

D1 - Non-residential institutions - Clinics, health centres, crèches, day nurseries, day centres, schools, art galleries (other than for sale or hire), museums, libraries, halls, places of worship, church halls, law court. Non residential education and training centres.

Latest unemployment figures - hurting, but not working

270,000 public sector jobs were lost in 2011 - a huge number of people affected across the country. Independent observers of employment trends seem to think that unemployment will continue to rise this year, with no likelihood of it starting to fall back until the start of 2013. In Yardley, unemployment has risen slightly year on year, up 0.3% to 7.3% or 4820 people. That breaks down to 10.3% of men and 4.4% of women claiming JSA - not a full count of unemployment, but the most accurate figures available. These are the worst national figures in 17 years.

As Liam Byrne pointed out this week, we've also seen a return to the 1980s as one in ten young people in this city - over 16,000 of those aged 18-24 are currently claiming JSA. As a city blessed with a good supply of young people, not having work for them is a prime concern for Labour, which is why we've got a plan for jobs that would fund 100,000 jobs for young people across the country and provide 25,000 affordable homes.

Sadly, this government continues to fetishise austerity and cuts, risking a downward spiral. Even within the government, they admit that 'there is still something important missing; a compelling vision of where the country is heading' (Vince Cable, 8 Feb 2012).

Labour has been clear from the start - the deficit will be closed by a mixture of spending cuts and growth. That's why we planned slower reductions in public spending. That's why we created an agenda for growth.

The Liberal Democrat/Conservative government have got it horrendously wrong for the past two years and we're all paying the price.

Tory/Lib Dem government make it tougher for working families in Yardley

Thanks to the Tory/Liberal Democrat government, 850 low income families in this constituency would actually be better off if they left their jobs and went onto benefits.

Working Tax Credit is currently paid to those who work at least 16 hours a week, but from April that will be raised to 24 hours, with one member having to work at least 16 hours. This means that a two child family with one member working for 16 hours a week on the minimum wage - hardly a life of luxury - will face a whopping cut in income of £73 a week, £14 less than they would get on benefits.

The Liberal Democrats are feeling satisfied with themselves because they plan to raise the income tax threshold - but not yet - and put £60 a month back into your pocket. That's a drop in the ocean compared to the £292 a month some families will lose within a few days.

We should be encouraging people into work - even for a few hours a week - not punishing them.

At the other end of the scale, we have them restricting aspiration by taking away child benefit for those who have a single earner on 40% tax, so families with a single earner on £44,000 annual income lose out, but families with two earners on £41,000 each can bring in £82,000 and keep the child benefit. That is simply unfair.