HearFromYourMP

Messages for this constituency

Hello

Posted by Michael Jabez Foster, MP for Hastings and Rye, at 16:53, Wed 12 March 2008:

I have just recently been contacted by 'HearFromYourMP' who tell me a considerable number of you have signed up to the website. If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing i would encourage you to visit my website www.michaelfoster.org.uk which is regularly updated.

I also send out a monthly email update to constituents called 'MPFree'. The latest bulletin follows this message. If you would be interested in receiving this monthly update just send an email to mp@1066.net with 'MPFree' in the subject line.

regards

Michael Foster

MPFree Michael Foster’s Parliamentary Bulletin

Hello all and welcome to this months MPFree. It seems to have been a very busy month both locally and nationally and there’s a lot I want to tell you about.

BNP in Town

The first issue I wish to address is that of the BNP. As many of you will be aware they held a meeting in Hollington on Monday the 18th Feb that was attended by the Party Leader Nick Griffin.

I want to say this in no uncertain terms: the BNP are an abhorrent, deeply racist and utterly despicable organisation. I know the good people of Hastings will join me in condemning what the BNP represent.

In recent years the party has made a concerted effort to present a publicly acceptable face but let us not forget their history. The BNP was founded in 1982 by John Tyndall, a former Chairman of the National Front and Adolf Hitler fan who claimed “Mein Kampf is my bible”. Today they talk about British interests. Many of our older residents fought in World War II to combat the evil Nazi ideology. It is in that very same despicable ideology where the BNP finds its roots. Nick Griffin and many of his BNP Lieutenants have actively denied the holocaust. 6 Million Jews died, a devastating war was fought and Nick Griffin says the gas chambers did not exist and it was “an extremely profitable lie”!

White Supremacist and non-white expulsion policies have been reworded as ‘voluntary repatriation schemes for immigrants’. The wording has changed but the objectives remain. Pretty words cannot hide an ugly truth. Whether it be employment, housing or health the BNPs answer is always focused on the colour of someone’s skin. The ignorance and intolerance offered by the BNP does not present a solution to any of the challenges we face today.

Northern Rock

This month has seen the nationalisation of Northern Rock. At this point I think temporary nationalisation is the best option available.

Let me explain.

Banks are money lenders and borrowers. Banks get this money from two sources: depositors (such as you or I) and the wholesale market (other banks). This cash is then used for investment, lending, expansion etc. Most banks get about 70% of their money from depositors and the remainder from the wholesale market. Northern Rock turned this on its head and got 70% from the wholesale market. This meant they had, relative to their size, huge amounts of cash to pursue an aggressive expansion policy.

However, when the sub-prime mortgage crisis hit in the US the big banks stopped lending in the wholesale market as it was unclear where the sub-prime mortgage liabilities lay. Northern Rock had an instant cash flow crisis.

The government intervened and provided credit as, in a time of economic uncertainty, the collapse of one (relatively small) bank could have had catastrophic knock on effects in the vital financial services industry and across the whole economy. Economic stability is in everyone’s interest and all the Parties agreed on intervention to preserve stability.

The best option would then have been to sell Northern Rock but since no private offer for the bank was good enough temporary nationalisation is the best option. Some quarters have suggested taking the bank into administration. I find the suggestion utterly ridiculous as it would result in the selling of the bank’s assets at way below market value and a big loss for the taxpayer.

The goal must now be to make Northern Rock a viable business once again and then sell it off when the market is more buoyant thereby recovering what the taxpayer has lent to support the bank.

Agency Workers Bill

Friday is the day I normally spend full time in the constituency but last Friday (25th) I made an exception and stayed in Parliament to support the Agency Workers Bill at the Second Reading. I am pleased to say the vote was successful with 147 MPs voting in favour compared with 11 against.

The new legislation, if it passes into law, will mean ‘equal pay for equal work’ for agency workers.

It’s simply unfair that ‘temps’ can be sat alongside a permanent worker, doing precisely the same work, but being paid a different rate. There is at times a need for temporary staff but it should not be an opportunity to pay low wages which in turn undermines the permanent staff as more and more ‘temps’ are brought in.

It’s often not even a good deal for employers who pay exorbitant rates to the agencies even while the workers themselves are paid less.

Skip2bfit

A more light hearted tale I want to relay is that of the skip2bfit event I took part in earlier in the month. Skip2bfit is an initiative that aims to increase childhood awareness of the importance of exercise generally and to show how much fun skipping can be.

To gain publicity for the initiative an event was held in parliament and every MP was challenged to do as many skips as they could in 2minutes. My young researcher assures me it was rather hilarious to see normally reserved MPs, who had clearly never been near a skipping rope before, bounding around the Attlee suite like a bunch of school kids!

However, I’m rather pleased to say I got 114 skips in the time which meant I was in the top 10 overall and number 1 in the South East!

As I said this event was a fun way to get some profile for skip2bfit but actually it’s a serious issue. Growing up I (like many of you) loved sport but it seems there are so many distractions in the modern world that kids are doing less physical activity. I would urge everyone, young and old, to take up a physical hobby. Anything really, from mountaineering and rugby to an afternoon stroll, will help you be healthier in body and mind.

Join us and guest Harriet Harman to Celebrate 90 Years of Women at the Ballot Box!

On a final note I would like to tell you about an upcoming event we are hosting. This month is the 90th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act which granted women the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament.

We now have well over 100 female MPs and more and more women are reaching top positions in every sector of society from Private Enterprise to Healthcare and the Police. However, we should never forget the efforts and sacrifice of early pioneers in the suffragette movement.

To help commemorate and celebrate this occasion we have invited Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Minister for Women to visit the constituency. On Thursday 13th March we will be hosting a dinner in the function room of Hastings United FC from 7pm till late. Tickets cost £20 and 10% of profits will go the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship link with the rest going to Labour Party campaign funds.

There will be West African food and entertainment from King Masco, a traditional musician from Sierra Leone. If you are interested in attending please call my office on 460070 to make a booking. Cheques should be made payable to Hastings & Rye CLP and sent to 84 Bohemia Road, St Leonards, TN37 6RN. I hope you can attend.

That just about rounds up February. There was more I wanted to say but I think I’ve gone on quite long enough. As ever you can keep up to date with my goings on at www.michaelfoster.org.uk and if you want any further information please do not hesitate to get in contact by emailing mp@1066.net.

Best wishes

Michael Foster DL MP