Latest E-News from Andrew Stunell MP
Posted by Andrew Stunell, MP for Hazel Grove, at 14:14, Mon 7 December 2009:
* Queens Speech Damp Squib
- Lib Dems Make a Move – note our new address!
- 150 die in Stockport from fuel poverty as the money runs out.
QUEEN’S SPEECH DAMP SQUIB
The Queens Speech was as splendid an event as ever. Like other MPs I was summoned by Black Rod and trooped into the Lords to listen to Her Majesty read it out. The ‘other house’ was packed with ermine and, in the galleries, ranks of ambassadors, often in full regalia or national dress. The MPs, as befits our lowly status, squeeze in at the far end, and have to stand throughout.
Unfortunately the Speech didn’t match the occasion. With the UK economy doing worse than any other G20 country, and with deep concern by the public about the state of our democracy, Gordon Brown chose to put into the Queen’s mouth a mixture of the trivial and the unworkable. It certainly didn’t recognise the truth that a General Election will be held within 6 months, so not much of it will ever pass into law anyway.
The idea of passing a law to cut the huge deficit created by the banking crisis is just one example of mistaking words for action. Who goes to prison if the law is broken?
Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg summed it up by calling for the Speech to be scrapped, and a real action plan to reform the working of Parliament and our whole democratic system to be put in place.
You can read a report of what Nick Clegg said in the Commons at the following link:
Needless to say, after a five day debate, when the vote came, the Speech was approved – though I didn’t see many Labour MPs who were happy about voting for it.
Now Parliament will spend most of the next 20 weeks up to the dissolution and the start of the General Election pretending to debate serious legislation, when we all know that there is no way it will be finished before it is dropped.
HAZEL GROVE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS HAVE OPENED A NEW HEADQUARTERS
We outgrew our old offices on the first and second floors over an undertakers some time ago, and the steep narrow staircase made it very unsuitable for disabled access. However it took a long time to find suitable ground floor premises that we could afford and that were easily accessible by public transport. Now the wait is over, and we have moved to our new premises this week.
Our new address for all correspondence is:
Liberal Democrat HQ 34, Stockport Road, Romiley, Stockport SK6 3AA
The office is normally open for calls six days a week, standard office hours.
If you pay us a visit, you will find us right opposite Romiley Post Office, about 200 metres from Romiley Station, by the pelican crossing.
All our phone and email contacts remain the same.
150 DIE IN STOCKPORT FROM FUEL POVERTY
A shocking 37,000 people died in England and Wales last winter because of high fuel costs and poorly heated homes. Despite a mild winter there were more deaths than for 10 years.
Behind that grim statistic lie 37,000 grieving families who lost a loved one, simply because our homes are so poorly insulated, and our energy prices are sky-high. That includes 150 families in Stockport. It is a shame and a disgrace on our country - the only one in Europe to have such so-called 'excess winter deaths’ - and the failure to stop them is a scandal.
Too many people faced with rising heating bills and draughty homes are forced to make a bitter choice - 'do I heat or do I eat?' Whichever they choose, their health suffers. More easily hit by flu and bugs, too many fall victim to bronchitis, pneumonia, and heart disease.
It not only costs lives, it puts the NHS and other services under huge stress. Of course it is completely unnecessary.
Our country has the worst and most energy-wasting homes in Europe. If they were as well insulated as homes in Sweden our fuel bills would be cut in half.
Five years ago I put on the Statute Book an Act of Parliament giving the Government the powers it needs to end fuel poverty, and make sure we all can have warm homes, save money on our bills, cut damaging carbon emissions, and end 'excess winter deaths' once and for all.
But the Labour Government has refused to bring the Act into force, incredibly relying on voluntary action and an inadequate grant scheme. The disgraceful news this week is that the money for that scheme is running out. Instead of topping it up, the Quango responsible is ‘proactively notifying’ people who desperately need a grant to insulate their homes that they will just have to wait! What kind of policy is that?
Now we face another winter of wasted lives, family grief, and higher NHS costs. All because they simply won’t use commonsense and some joined-up thinking.
Andrew Stunell
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