A week in the life...?
Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 09:51, Fri 25 November 2011:
Someone pointed out to me the other day that no one has any idea what an MP does all week. And, really, I’m not surprised, it’s a weird sort of life. But, to try to give you a flavour, here’s a sample of what I’ve been up to this week:
• I went on Woman’s Hour to argue with a Tory MP who thinks politicians ought to be able to tell people how many children they can have.
• I attended a debate on feed-in tariffs, which the government’s decided to cut, and which return a payment to you if you invest in solar power panels. This is a real problem for St John’s in Old Trafford, which was about to install solar panels on its roof, and return the profits to the community. Now thanks to the Tory-led government, the project can’t go ahead as planned. I voted against the cut.
• I introduced a debate on so-called disability hate crime, which I’ve been campaigning on with other MPs from right across the House. We’ve been shocked at stories of disabled people suffering horrific harassment and abuse because of their disability. People like Keith Philpott who was murdered by his so-called friends, or Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Francesca, whose deaths followed a pattern of abuse. We want to see more determined, coordinated action by the police, courts, schools, health and a host of other agencies to stamp out this vile abuse. I challenged the government minister on what action the government’s taking – as well as getting up at 530am for an interview with BBC Manchester to discuss the issue (and then they postponed the interview till lunchtime!).
• I attended a lunch with the Manufacturing Institute, which is based in Trafford Park, and whose director had come to Westminster to argue for more attention to be paid by politicians to our manufacturing sector. (Quite right too – manufacturing contributes a major proportion of our GDP).
• And I sat grumpily through the weekly circus that is Prime Minister’s question time. David Cameron simply hasn’t an answer to rising unemployment, rising public sector debt, and an economy that's stagnating.
So a typical week in Westminster really, and there were even a couple of early nights. Now I’m on the train back to Manchester, and looking forward to two great visits this weekend, to the Imperial War Museum, and to the Royal Exchange.
But I’ll also be busy over the weekend finalising our submission to the Boundary Commission about the proposed changes to parliamentary constituency boundaries. Cllr Whit Stennett's been out and about in Old Trafford this week, talking to local people about the Tory proposal to separate Clifford ward from the rest of Old Trafford, so that in future people who live in part of Old Trafford could be represented by a Salford MP. We’re determined to oppose the proposal, and this weekend I’ll be getting around Old Trafford, asking local people their opinion of the plans.
Old Trafford’s a very special place – a strong, tight-knit, friendly community. We won’t let the Tories break it up. If you’d like to comment on the proposal, or would like more information about what’s being suggested, please do get in touch – kate.green.mp@parliament.uk
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