Westminster Week
Posted by Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley, at 11:34, Fri 19 October 2007:
Dear Friend,
I’ve had a rather difficult few days because I stupidly fell down my stairs on Saturday. I did that silly thing where my brain told me I was on the bottom step but in fact there were two steps to go, with the result that my left foot ended up in rather a sorry state. But thankfully the nice folk at Burnley General A&E have patched me up and after a rather difficult journey south, trying to stop the toddler causing havoc on the train while on crutches myself, I have spent the last few days hobbling round Westminster feeling sorry for myself. The good news is that it probably isn’t broken, I just wont be playing football for a while…
All this drama meant that my grand plans for celebrating Eid in a multicultural crowd organised by Burnley Building Bridges rather went out the window on Sunday, but I hope it went well. This time of year is a good opportunity for different traditions to come together and share cultural events – I believe there is a joint Harvest Festival/Eid event taking place at St Peter’s on Saturday and in the past when Eid has fallen nearer Christmas, I have been to some excellent joint parties where Father Christmas has happily eaten samosas and all the children get presents from everyone.
Before the foot incident, I had a good constituency day last Friday. I started off by visiting Wellfield primary school in Ightenhill where I was shown around by the young people who had been elected by their classmates to serve on the school council, and then put through my paces by the children who asked me all sorts of difficult questions. I enjoy spending time with young people as they learn about democracy and how parliament works – but there are some questions that always come up, usually “have you met the queen?” and “do you have any pets?” closely followed by “are you rich?”.
From there, it was off to Tescos to present the equipment that schools had won through the “computers for schools” initiative. It’s the third year in a row I have presented those prizes and I’m always impressed by the hard work that parents and children put in to collect the thousands of vouchers needed to get computers, cameras and camcorders for their schools.
While at Tescos, I used the opportunity to urge a few more schools to sign up to my campaign to make Burnley a fair trade town – thank you to those that have responded positively. Readers will recall that we’ve spent the last year or so trying to meet the criteria to get Burnley as a whole to acquire the coveted status of a fair trade town. We need to get a certain number of shops, cafes, employers, schools and community groups signed up and we are very nearly there. We’re having the second meeting of the steering group on Friday 26th to make a decision as to whether we are ready to send the application off, so if your organisation hasn’t signed up yet, now is the time. Just give Vicky Rees in my office a ring to pledge your support. Its very easy – you just need to have two types of fairtrade produce available in your company or organisation. Most people go for tea and coffee, but there are all sorts of other things like fruit, clothes and chocolate that are also fair trade and readily available.
Down in Westminster this week I have been preparing for my second-ever appearance at the dispatch box where ministers stand in the House of Commons. My department – the Treasury – faces its monthly question time on Thursday this week in parliament and all the ministers, myself included, have to answer questions put to us by any MP. Although they need to roughly stick to the subjects laid out on the predetermined agenda, they can range quite widely so it’s best to be well prepared. It looks as if I will be getting questions around how people can access good financial advice, and I hope to have an opportunity to champion the good work that some of our local providers like the Citizens Advice Bureau undertake to help people manage their money effectively.
But my real challenge is to get my foot sufficiently mended so I don’t have to hop to the dispatch box and then hold on for dear life!
Kind Regards,
Kitty Ussher MP
6 ways to contact Kitty Ussher MP
Write to: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or 2 Victoria Street, Burnley BB11 1DD By phone: 01282 450840 By fax: 01282 839623 By email: ussherk@parliament.uk On-line: www.kittyussher.com In person: Office open 10am-4pm Monday to Friday. Next surgeries are next Friday 26th October 3.30pm - 5.00pm Brunshaw Estate Management Board, 9 Brownhill Avenue; Saturday 27th October 10am - 12am. Open Hands Centre, 24 Colne Road, (corner of Hebrew Street)
Commenting on this message is now disabled.