Tell me the issues that matter to you.
Posted by Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, at 11:54, Fri 18 June 2010:
As you know the Labour Leadership contest is under way. I want to hear from you, my constituents, about the national issues you feel strongly about.
This is a defining time so get your voice heard and have your say.
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Posted by Guy Cruls, 09:14, Mon 21 June 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Address two issues at one stroke - cut costs and empower social housing tenants:
Let tenant committees scrutinise budgets and make proposals Let tenant committees scrutinise contractors and make proposals for better and/or cheaper services Let tenants who have the skills deliver services such as cleaning, repairs, security, child care etc.
Posted by Richard Moore, 09:26, Mon 21 June 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Hello Diane.
I attended the hustings arranged by the New Statesman and I was very impressed by your performance. But I was left cold when the electoral reform was raised. It seems that none of the contenders for Labour leadership are passionate about this issue or see the injustice of our current system or the one being proposed as it's replacement. In fact I was shocked to hear misplaced arguments used against Proportional Representation. It was often mooted that PR would mean an end to the constituency link. This is not true. The only form of PR being proposed by mainstream politics is STV, which keeps constituency MPs. In fact, it would mean that a voter is more likely to have their views represented in thier constituency than under the current system.
Millions of people are not having thier voices heard. Voters are becoming disenfranchised because voting power is dependant on where you live.
Often we are told that we need a strong government, but what does that mean? The strength to implement policies that the majority of voters find abhorrent? We must remember that we live in a democracy, and a party with 35% of the vote should not get 100% of the power.
There can be no serious reform of politics without implementing PR, and giving voters the fair voting system they deserve.
Many thanks
Richard Moore
Posted by Nora Duckett, 18:21, Mon 21 June 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
The National issues that concern me are to do with the policy approach to young people. The policies that mean cuts to front line services for example freezing vacancies in child protection teams and children's services, criminalising and or disenfranchising young people and others outside the mainstream, the lack of police attention / targets for crimes against children particularly abuse including sexual exploitation and an ancient Judicial system that in so many ways lets children down every day. These examples are all messages we send to future generations. I'd like to see policies based on a philosophy of the inherent value of children.
Posted by Vivienne limmer, 07:02, Mon 12 July 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
I think the things that matter to me, as a Hackney resident are, finding affordable housing, making sure that there is a safety net in place, in case of unemployment, such as private landlords being forced to accept housing benefit, after all as long as their getting their money, who cares where it comes from? Also, I think something should be done to stop people being priced out of the places where they grew up by second home owners. In Spain, rent paying tennets have a right to continue to carry a lease on, if their parents have lived in a property, we should have this policy too. Also, when is any politician going to stand up to the utility companies and make them pay a windfall tax from their massive profits? They should also be made to get rid of meters, as they only serve to penalise the poor.
Posted by Nora Duckett, 17:13, Wed 10 August 2011: (Is this post abusive?) #
Dear Diane, In January (my letter is attached) and in June I wrote to ask for support for just policies for young people. In fact in my January letter I set out the likelihood of civil unrest among young people and set this in political science theory within the current policy /social context. Unfortunately I never received a reply or even an acknowledgement Please take this opportunity given the predicted unrest to consider, create and push forward policies for the dissatisfied and most importantly the disaffected among us. We need strong leadership now, we need a voice and more than any other time young people , who are the future after all, need Labour! sincerely, Nora Duckett Monday 17 January 2011
Dear Diane Abbott, I am absoloutely opposed to these swingeing cuts and the implicit philosophy behind them. Where is the analysis? Where is the working out? Where is the evidence? I do not see any social justice in what is being proposed and rather see a heartless, unintelligable approach which will up-end the services the poor and vulnerable rely on just to be close to the starting line that most others are fortunate to have without support. You see this in Hackney and other deprived boroughs. I have lived here for about 10 years and am beginning to see the green shoots of some sustained resourcing and development. I am frightened this will set us back decades and create levels of unrest. I recall a theory from political history and sociology, the concept of 'anomie' where individuals are unable to realise culturally induced notions of success and result in civil strife. Also 'relative deprivation theory' (Davies 1962), where social and political unrest is most likely to occur when people have experienced improvements in their living conditions and this is followed by a sharp decline. The government must take note from history and political theory and know that its not that the peasants are revolting they are responding to the threat and actuality of a clearly unjust society.
Yours sincerely,
Nora Duckett PS Please vote against the decision to scrap the EMA on 19th january. In my work I have known it to make the difference between hard up, stressed parents kicking young people out or keeping them at home. In this sense its a no-brainer.