Claude Moraes MEP visits Uxbridge & S Ruislip CLP

Claude Moraes MEP

Several branch members attended a meeting of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency LP on 25 July with Claude Moraes, Labour MEP . Click here for a short report on the meeting

Next Branch meeting - Tuesday 4 September

The next Branch meeting will be held at 8.00pm Tuesday 4 September.

For further information email the Branch Secretary  -  sruislipandmanorlp@blueyonder.co.uk

Hillingdon Tories block limits on betting shops

Cllr Peter Curling

Labour Councillor Peter Curling writes “Once again, the Tory group in Hillingdon has proved that their marketing strap line of “Putting residents first” is precisely that, a marketing strapline, and one with absolutely no substance.

At the full Council meeting on Thursday 5^th July the Labour group tabled two motions, one asking the Cabinet to reconsider their decision to close three day centres for the disabled.  Not surprisingly the Tory group put their party whip before the residents and voted down that motion.

The other motion was for the Council to support the Government commissioned, Mary Portas  (otherwise known as Mary Queen of Shops) review of High streets and the High Steets First campaign led by Cllr Rowena Davis (Southwark Council) in their efforts to get planning law changed so that the council can control the number of betting shops in town centres.

Given our continued economic slump and an economy that has flat lined for the last 2 years, there is real concern that of betting shops on our high streets are exploiting people’s desperation for a way out of poverty, giving rise to payday loan companies and creating a trickle up movement of money moving from the poor to the rich.

Other boroughs and campaign groups are now working together to force a change in the law. Under current planning law betting shops are taking over vacant high street units with their existing A2 classification meaning they don't need any planning permission. This is because betting shops, according to Planning Law, are listed as “financial services”.

Labour Councillor Lynne Allen proposed the motion and made it absolutely clear that we are not against betting shops per se and that our concerns are centred on clusters of Bookies which are said to hamper work around regeneration by discouraging businesses from moving into the area and making it difficult to create a more diverse and vibrant high street.

Mary Portas made a recommendation in her review that would have changed the classification of betting shops and placed limits on their numbers.  ” campaign also calls for the government to change the law in order to give local communities a say over the number of betting shops in their area.

During the Mayoral election campaign Boris Johnson indicated his support for these campaigns by saying:

"We certainly should be making it easier for councils to block them (bookmakers) - they're not only spreading false hope, they're reducing the economic vitality of high streets. Bookmakers are a spiritual narcotic that breed false hope and it's a terrible thing to see."

It was therefore very sad to see the Tories speaking against the campaigns to curb the proliferation of betting shops and by doing so they actually started arguing that clusters of betting shops and the encouragement of gambling was a good thing. 

Rather than put the residents first in this debate, the Conservative group put their need to play pointless party political games in the Council chamber, before any commitment to the residents that they were elected to serve.

Next branch meeting 8pm Tuesday 3 July

Our next branch meeting is at 8.00pm Tuesday 3 July.

For more information contact the Branch Secretary on sruislipandmanorlp@blueyonder.co.uk

Margaret Hodge: I'm Nobody's Fool on HS2

This brilliant short video produced by StopHS2 campaign amusingly  sums up the (lack of) business case for the government's plan for a high speed rail track from London to Birmingahm and beyond.

The video highlights the role of  Margaret Hodge, Labour MP for Barking, as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee in steadfastly challenging offciials who are promoting the HS2 project.

Next branch meeting Wednesday 6 June 2012

The next branch meeting is scheduled for 8.00pm Wednesday 6 June 2012.

For more information on the venue and agenda email the Branch Secretary for more information. sruislipandmanorlp@blueyonder.co.uk

Hillingdon Labour oppose Day Care cuts

Hillingdon Labour Group have expressed their full support for the parents, carers and service users in their campaign against the closure of Day Care Centres in the borough.  Lawyers representing the families of severely disabled adults in Hillingdon are taking legal action in the High Court to stop the closure of three day care centres.

In a recent statement to the press the Council said

“The proposed changes will enable service users to have more choice and independence through offering care and support tailored to their needs”.

Hillingdon Labour Councillors fundamentally disagree with the Council's closure programme because they recognise that such closures result in less choice for disabled residents by removing the option for the purchase of the centre’s tailored services with the scheme of personal budgets that now fund services for severely disabled people.


A recent report on ITV's London Tonight programme highlighted the problems that the users and their carers will face if the Council's plans for closure go ahead. 

Far from putting residents first this move is driven by the financial savings achieved by the day centre closures, which were identified in the 2010 draft of the 2011 budget.  Labour’s proposed amendments to the 2012 budget were financially neutral and included the retention of Woodside day centre but this was rejected by the Conservatives.

Cllr Peter Curling, Labour Group Leader said “People with serious disabilities now have personal budgets so that they and their carers can choose what services they wish purchase to meet their specific needs.  I therefore find it a bizarre move for the council to stifle this choice by closing the day care centres which already provide the tailored support that many people with severe disabilities and their carers wish to purchase.”

Cllr John Major, Labour Lead on Social Services, Health & Housing, added “The closure of the day cares centres is something that I had feared for some time.  In 2010 I raised a question regarding what was meant when the council put forward a package of savings described as, A modern approach to enable choice to change delivery from a traditional approach, to supporting people to access more community services. When I sought clarification on this it was confirmed that this was connected to the closure of day centres.