A question of creative education

On Saturday Jeremy Corbyn and the Shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner, will bring people together from across the education system to roll up their sleeves and find innovative approaches to tackling disadvantage at school. This is the question I submitted as I fear the focus on STEM in schools is leaving our children at a disadvantage in the future workforce:

"Although core subjects like maths, english and science are important, I strongly feel creative subjects are just as vital for a rounded education that inspires all children, ensures we have imaginative and innovative adults in our future workforce and strengthens our cultural offer as a country.

How will the National Education Service ensure creative subjects are at the core of any future curriculum?"

One of my proudest achievements to date is the creation of Reading's Cultural Education Partnership which works with our cultural and artistic community to ensure children in Reading have the chance to experience good quality art and culture.

The Budget - a lost opportunity to improve lives

I've just seen the budget.  I'm not sure what I was expecting - certainly not an end to austerity, despite it being clear it's failed.  I was hoping to see the government had listened and understood that living standards are being squeezed and people are struggling. I was wrong.

Forecasts for growth have been down graded from 2% to 1.5%. Pay continues to stagnate and public sector workers still face a pay cap. People are struggling to make ends meet and the budget has done little to lighten their load.  Food bank use continues to grow with ReadiFood delivering 135 parcels a week.  Food prices are rising as are energy costs, rents and house prices.

Stamp duty is being scrapped for first time buyers purchasing properties up to £300,000.  That's all very well but you have to be able to afford to buy the house first, have the salary to back up a mortgage plus be able to save a deposit. According to RightMove the average terraced property sold for £314,479.  Property ownership is now out of reach for many and rents, on average £1,079 for a two bed property in Reading, are also becoming unaffordable.

We face another winter where people will be faced with the choice of eating or heating.  This is nothing new, the government have not been taken by surprise. 

Some money has been thrown at the NHS.  There's £350m to address pressures in winter 2017/2018 but that won't go far when you take into account how far it's to be spread and additional pressures caused by cuts to council social care budgets and a GP service stretched to the limit.

Schools gets nothing extra in their budgets.  There is money available for secondary schools and collages for pupils taking maths at higher levels but nothing for the primary schools who have already resorted to asking parents for money to plug their budget gaps. The government really is just papering over the already deep cracks they have created.

The future really does look bleak under the Conservative government.  After 7 1/2 years of austerity it's still very much pain with little gain for the average family.

We need a change of government if we really want to see living standards improve, properly affordable housing, a well funded NHS and school budgets that provide a good quality and varied education for our children.  

We need a Labour MP in Reading West who stands up for every community, regardless of its prosperity.  

We need hope.

See Jeremy Corbyn's response to this shambles of a budget here:  Jeremy Corbyn Budget 2017 response

What would Labour do instead?  Find out here: Manifesto

An unexpected Corbyn connection

I love family history.  Who Do You Think You Are is one of my favourite TV programmes.  My own family history is a very mixed story.  I have ancestors who descended from the Danes in Yorkshire (allegedly), fled Russia during the pogroms of the late 19th century and with a political streak from Bradford and Glasgow.

My mum's family have been involved in politics for a long time.  Joseph Burgess is my great great grandfather.  He was a journalist and Labour politician and was active in the creation of the Independent Labour party and Labour party.  He was a member of Glasgow city council too - a city I have visited several times in the last few years.

My great uncle was Wilfred Feinburgh who was a Labour politician and MP.  This was something I've known about for some time but I only looked a little closer this weekend.  Goodness knows what my children thought had happened when I gasped audibly and said something along the lines of 'no way'.  My great uncle was MP for North Islington - where Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, is MP!

The MP for North Inslington with the great niece of a former MP for North Islington

It was great to go out campaigning yesterday spreading the Labour Party's message of Hope.  The party, under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership accompanied by an excellent manifesto, is larger than it's ever been and it's filled with energetic, inspired members fighting to return a Labour government. Last year I proudly signed a letter supporting Jeremy Corbyn's second leadership bid.  I knew it was the right thing to do and it seems I was correct!

Lifting the public sector pay cap - just not good enough!

So Ministers will now have the opportunity to allow pay awards to public sector workers above the 1% pay cap currently in place.  Police officers will get a 1% pay rise and 1% unconsolidated 'bonus', which is a one off payment which is not carried forward into next years pay.  Prison officers get 1.7%.  What about the rest? Nurses, doctors, teachers, firefighters, civil servants and council staff?

Public sector pay rises have been way below inflation since 2010.  Any pay rise below inflation is effectively a pay cut - your wages are not keeping pace with the cost of living and your 'buying power' reduces meaning your money has to stretch further and further.

From Jereny Corbyn's Facebook page

This is not sustainable nor is it fair.  The lifting of the cap does nothing to address the fact public sector wages have fallen behind inflation year after year.  It does nothing to address the fact we now have nurses using food banks.  It does nothing to address falling living standards while food, rent, utility bills and fuel costs go up.

It is expected the paltry pay rises will come from existing budgets so where will the money be moved from?  What cuts will we see to fund these pay rises?They should be funded by a government that appreciates its workers.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said at TUC conference in Brighton "A pay cut is a pay cut. We must be united in breaking the pay cap for all workers."

I am a trade unionist and you have my support. Public or private sector, we workers deserve decent pay!

At the March for the NHS earlier this year with mu union, Unite.

I bet you never saw that coming!

Well what an amazing few days we have just witnessed.  I'm happy to admit I went into the general election thinking Labour would hold its own.  I wasn't expecting the huge losses predicted at the start of the campaign but equally I wasn't expecting another 30 new Labour MPs, one of whom is the new MP for Reading East Matt Rodda! Jeremy Corbyn had had an excellent campaign and when I read our manifesto my heart soared - it was excellent.  Filled with hope for a fairer future.  I was a steward at the rally he held in Reading and the turnout was amazing and so encouraging.

On election day I was running the Battle ward committee rooms, which something I've done for many years.  I was entering the gate data we had (the info we get when people at the gate of polling stations ask for your polling card number).  This shows us how many of our promise had voted.  It was clear something was very different from the beginning.  I was receiving a lot more data to input than is usual. By the end of the day I had huge piles of gate slips and an achy right hand!

By 10pm I was tired and looking forward to some sleep but the exit poll put any ideas of a peaceful evening to one side so I headed off to the count.  The voting samples I took looked excellent in Battle and pretty good even in some of the West Berkshire wards.  As the results came in from across the country it was apparent the exit polls were pretty accurate.  This meant we were in with a real chance of winning the two Reading seats.

At 3.30am the Reading West results were announced.  We didn't win but we did reduce Alok Sharma's majority to 2876. Around 4am a real buzz was being felt and rumours flew we had won Reading East.  The candidates were told the result and headed to the stage for the announcement.  It was amazing.  Matt Rodda had not only won the Reading East seat but did so comfortably with a 3759 lead.

It's now clear Reading West is a winnable seat and I will do all I can to ensure the the next time we have a general election (some saying it could be the autumn!) we return Reading West to Labour.