Last Week in Parliament
Posted by Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, at 15:54, Tue 27 February 2007:
Just after Christmas I received an email from the 'hearfromyourmp' website offering me the opportunity to get in touch with you on topics that I have been working on or consider important. It's been a busy time of year for me since then and this is the first email I have had the chance to write - but I do hope to keep in touch with you when I can using this website.
The issue of gun crime has been in the news a great deal in recent weeks given the shootings in London. However, the issue of knives – which is also related to organised crime – was overlooked. Therefore, last week I took the opportunity at Prime Minister's Questions to ask the Prime Minister to work towards banning the sale of bladed weapons. This is an issue which has been highlighted by a campaign in Middlesbrough organised by Mother Against Knives which I have passionately supported.
Their petition has been signed by over 5,000 people including Mayor Ray Mallon and I led a delegation to Downing Street last year where we presented it to the Prime Minister.
The availability of these weapons, which are designed to cause harm, is of great concern to me and I was pleased that Mr Blair promised to keep the legislation in this area under review. We have seen in the headlines over the past month the catastrophic effects of allowing weapons to be readily available. I hope that the legislation can be tightened in this area so as to preclude not only the possession of bladed weapons in public (as is already the case), but to prevent the sale of such implements in the first place.
Another area which has taken up much of my time recently is the proposed takeover of Corus by Indian company Tata. As someone who worked for British Steel for fifteen years and now represents a constituency on Teesside I am acutely aware of the importance of the steel industry to our area and to Britain as a whole.
I was involved in a debate discussing this in the House of Commons on Monday evening and numerous benefits of the deal for Corus employees and the UK steel industry were raised. There has been some apprehension at the proposed purchase but I sincerely believe it will bring tremendous results.
Having been born in India I am familiar with the esteemed Tata family and steel company, both of which I have huge respect for. The company has a very progressive, employee-friendly approach, and has numerous ties to the UK.
In fact many of its directors studied near to my constituency at the University of Sheffield and the company's prospective £6bn investment in Corus evidences their commitment to our steel industry. Tata has also made promises to pay into the pension fund of Corus, to honour the existing terms and conditions of Corus employees and has insisted that there are no plans for relocation. These assurances are to be praised and I feel that the purchase of Corus by a global power in the steel industry will open up new markets to the company and herald a profitable future. The government should be congratulated for creating a successful economy, in which overseas companies have the confidence to invest.
Following the debate in the House of Commons I have written an article about the proposed takeover which appeared in the Evening Gazette today (Tuesday 27th February).
If you wish to get in touch with me about any of these issues please do not hesitate to do so by calling 01287 610878, e-mailing ashokkumarmp@parliament.uk, or writing to Ashok Kumar MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
Best wishes
Ashok
Comments
Commenting on this message is now disabled.
Posted by Peter Whysall, 16:56, Tue 27 February 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
Instead of faffing around banning this and that (last time I looked, stabbing people was already quite illegal), why not expend the energy on lobbying for bigger budgets and less paperwork for Cleveland Police?
More officers doing more policing and less form-filling would be a grand start.