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News from Your Local MP

Posted by Dawn Primarolo, MP for Bristol South, at 14:52, Mon 16 May 2011:

WELCOME!

Here’s the latest edition of my regular newsletter.

“HARDEST HIT” LOBBY OF PARLIAMENT

On Wednesday last week I met with Bristol South residents who had travelled to Westminster to raise concerns with their MPs about the Government’s reforms to disability benefits which are causing huge uncertainty for disabled people up and down the country. The Government’s changes will affect Employment and Support Allowance, the Work Capability Assessment, the disability element of the child tax credit, carers, Disability Living Allowance and the mobility component of DLA for those in residential care. Labour believes the Government’s main priority should be getting unemployed people into work, not pushing disabled people into poverty. The Government has failed to think through the consequences of the cumulative impact of their changes.

BRITISH LEGION

I recently attended a parliamentary reception held by the Royal British Legion. The aim of the event was to promote the British Legion’s valuable work supporting soldiers, veterans and Armed Forces families, as well as highlighting their “Time to do your bit” campaign (visit www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk for more information). The British Legion was established 90 years ago and its work is as important as ever so I was very happy to offer my support.

CLIMATE CHANGE

I was extremely concerned to hear reports last week that the Government may not accept the latest recommendations made by the independent Committee on Climate Change. The Committee of experts was established by Labour in 2008 to advise the Government on setting its carbon budgets to ensure the UK meets its target of an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. As someone who voted for the Climate Change Act in 2008 – the first of its kind in the world - I share local residents’ concerns about this matter and I wrote to the Prime Minister last week urging him to accept the Committee’s recommendations. Further news reports over the weekend suggest the Government may now be willing to accept the carbon budgets – I hope the reports are true.

CELEBRATING LOCAL THEATRE

We are very fortunate in Bristol South to have a number of successful theatre companies working and performing locally such as ACTA, Show of Strength, and the Tobacco Factory Theatre. I recently caught up with Bedminster-based Show of Strength, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, to learn more about their current projects and future plans. Show of Strength are well known for their productions inspired by local history and I was particularly interested to hear about the company’s latest project, “Why don’t we do it in the road?”, a theatrical walking tour providing an alternative history of Bedminster with lots of local stories and characters. For more information about the show visit: http://showofstrength.org.uk

ANY QUESTIONS?

If you have any queries about these issues, or have a question you would like to ask about anything else, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Just email me at dawn.primarolo.mp@parliament.uk, phone 0117 909 0063 or write to me at PO Box 1002, Bristol, BS99 1WH.