Crime and Policing: Pitsea residents speak out

Frontline policing for South Basildon and East Thurrock cut as residents feel under threat.

It was with great scepticism that I read the comments of the current MP for Basildon in last week’s Enquirer. The Tory MP claimed it was really positive news that recorded crime had dropped in South Basildon and East Thurrock although far below the national average. A view I find most complacent.

Having spoken with many residents over the summer about local crime, and being aware that crimes such as shoplifting and mugging are on the increase, it was of no surprise to hear from residents attending the Pitsea Community Panel this week that community policing and crime were high on their agenda. The meeting was also attended by Labour’s local and Essex county councillors who listened to a range of issues showing clearly that the reality for people living in Pitsea is far from the picture being painted by the Tories who have cuts police funding by 20%.

As the PCSO’s and officer who attended spoke about their increasing workload including burglaries and anti-social behaviour it was disappointing to see that although invited, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Nick Alston, was not there to hear residents' legitimate concerns. One of the main concerns was that the 101 number to be used for non-emergencies is not, at times, being picked up due to lack of staffing. A frustrating experience for citizens that goes some way to explain a perceived reduction in reported crime. If you can’t report crime in the first place, figures are bound to be lower! I was impressed by the PSCO’s and officer who attended the meeting although it was clear that without the PCSOs there would be virtually no community police presence on the streets of Pitsea, another real reason why resident feel that crime is such an issue in the area.
Labour will address these issues and I was delighted to be able to speak to residents after the meeting with Labour councillors to offer further support.
Thanks to the Tory-led government’s attack on our policing levels, Essex Police are struggling to provide a service that will keep people safe and with Essex County Council’s foolhardy plans to turn out the lights at night in a few weeks time the situation can only get worse for residents who deserve far better. A highly visible police presence would be welcomed by residents and something I will continue to campaign for.

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock, Mike Le-Surf, slams the government as Essex County Council’s plans to cut services to children’s centres across the county.

Essex County Council is starting a consultation (17 October) on the future of children’s centre services across the county.

Mike Le-Surf said: “The Tories and Lib Dems should be ashamed of themselves. In spite of promises before the last general election that SureStart would be protected, the Conservative led government have lifted the ring-fence and therefore passed the decision for cuts down to local authorities. Due to Eric Pickles' massive cuts to local authority grants ECC needs to save over £215m by 2016-17 and admit they cannot deliver current services.”

“Austere times mean councils have difficult decision to make. ECC are proposing to cut £2.5m from the children’s centre budget between 2014 and 2016 which will have a direct effect on the people that need the most support. Is this really the right thing to do while the council sits on millions of pounds worth of assets and reserves? If the cuts are agreed, there will be an overall reduction of 11 premises countywide.”

“The consultation runs until the 5^th December and I encourage all residents to engage with the consultation to let the council know why children’s centres are a vital support for families in our communities.”

One Nation Labour: Protecting our workforce

Labour’s Mike Le-Surf calls on the Government to give greater protection to shop workers threatened with violence

Last year 4% of retail staff across the country were attacked at work and 34% were threatened with violence. Currently these kinds of assaults are sentenced under Common Assault guidelines. Under these guidelines it  is an aggravating factor to assault a public sector worker. However this does not apply to the thousands of people working in the private sector in South Basildon and East Thurrock who are threatened with violence at work.

As the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill returns to the House of Commons today, Labour’s Mike Le-Surf is calling on the government to protect all public facing workers in South Basildon and East Thurrock both those in the public and private sector. He is calling on the Government to introduce simpler and stiffer sentencing guidelines to deter people from committing a crime in the first place. Mike Le-Surf, Labour’s General Election candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock, said:

“The thousands of people who work in shops, cafes, restaurants and petrol stations in South Basildon and East Thurrock need to feel safe at work and they need to feel adequately protected if they challenge a shoplifter.

“Hardworking people deserve the same protection from violence whether they work in the public or the private sector and suggesting otherwise just shows how out of touch this Government is.

“Being threatened with violence while you do your job is completely unacceptable wherever you work. That is why I am calling on the Tory-led Government to make sure the same sentencing guidelines apply if you are threatened with violence at work in the public or private sector.”

Beating Cancer in South Basildon and East Thurrock

Labour’s parliamentary candidate Mike Le-Surf is campaigning to beat cancer in South Basildon and East Thurrock by raising awareness and support for cancer research in the UK.

Mr. Le-Surf is supporting the standardising of cigarette packaging to deter young people from taking up the habit while also promoting awareness of prostate cancer which will affect one in eight men during their lifetime. Mr. Le-Surf met with Cancer Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK at the Labour Party conference in Brighton last month and is encouraging residents to get involved with their campaigns to beat cancer.

Mr. Le-Surf said:

“My campaigning will focus on three areas: plain packaging for cigarettes, awareness of prostate cancer and encouraging residents to become ambassadors for Cancer Research UK and volunteers for Prostate Cancer UK. Hundreds of children take up smoking in South Basildon and East Thurrock every year so it was a disgrace that David Cameron and the Tories dropped proposals to bring in plain packaging. I urge residents to write to Mr. Cameron and put him straight on the need to beat cancer in the constituency. Research kills cancer and I am sure that residents will join me to help beat cancer in South Basildon and East Thurrock.”

Contact Mike Le-Surf on 07958 015048 or @Mike4SBET on twitter.

 

Standardised Packaging

Setting the Standard is Cancer Research UK’s campaign for plain, standardised cigarette packaging.
Every year in the UK 207,000 11-15 year olds take up smoking. Addiction keeps them smoking into adulthood, where it then kills one in two long-term users. Evidence shows that removing all branding and design from the packs makes cigarettes less attractive for both adults and children. Since tobacco advertising became illegal in the UK in 2002, tobacco companies have invested a fortune in branded packaging to attract new smokers. Most of these new smokers are children, with more than 80% starting by the age of 19.

 

Prostate Cancer Awareness

In the UK, about 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Older men, men with a family history of prostate cancer and men of black African and black Caribbean descent are more at risk.

Prostate cancer mainly affects men over the age of 50 and your risk increases with age. The average age for men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer is between 70 and 74 years. If you are under 50 then your risk of getting prostate cancer is very low. Younger men can be affected, but this is rare. If you are having problems urinating this could be a sign of a problem in your prostate. Go to the website below and make some checks and contact your GP for a check or call Prostate Cancer UK Specialist Nurses on the confidential helpline 0800 0748383.

http://prostatecanceruk.org/

 

Become an Ambassador or a Volunteer

You can apply to be an ambassador here:

For an application form, please contact 07795 334929 or email campaigning@cancer.org.uk

If you have any questions, Cancer Research UK  would be happy to discuss them with you, or for more information and FAQs please visit www.cancercampaigns.org.uk/ambassadors

More information here:

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/home/

Volunteer for Prostate Cancer UK here: http://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/volunteer

 

Sign Dame Tessa Jowell MP's Early Childhood Development Petition

Early Childhood Development Petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN Member States: Put early childhood development at the heart of the new post-2015 development framework with targets that promise all children care, support and services which work together for the best start in life.

Dame Tessa Jowell MP and Ivan Lewis MP

Please sign Tessa Jowell's petition to request that the UN put early childhood development at the heart of the new post-2015 development framework. Click on the link at the bottom of this blog.

Dame Tessa Jowell DBE MP: "We know that you make the biggest difference in a child’s life by investing at the earliest years – from conception through the first five years. The evidence from programmes like Sure Start in the UK, supported by what we now know about the neurological development of young children, prove the long term social and economic benefits of this policy. I believe we have an opportunity to extend those benefits to some of the poorest children in the world. Last July I travelled to Malawi with Ivan Lewis MP, the UK’s Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, to learn both how early childhood programmes can be delivered effectively in countries that lack the resources we have in developed countries, and how they can benefit some most disadvantaged and marginalised children in the world. This visit reinforced my conviction in the principles that an integrated approach to early childhood development would bring practical benefits to the poorest children and their families in all countries. We are working in the UK through an All Party Parliamentary Group set up by Andrea Leadsom MP and a group of MPs of all political persuasions to champion an integrated approach to early childhood development. If the new post-2015 development framework is truly to be a new global covenant developed in partnership with developing, development and middle income countries, we need to prove that we are doing all we can at home to tackle inequality, poverty and lack of opportunity. But now we need your support - we need to build alliances with G8 countries and other developing countries to ensure that early childhood development is not just a side issue – it should be right at heart of civil society, our fight for social justice and economic development. We cannot afford to squander the talents of so many of the world's people. Help us build support by sharing this petition with your friends and networks who believe children should be at the heart of our future development strategy. If this approach is right for our children, surely it is right for some of the poorest children in the world. That is why I believe this policy should be at the heart of the new post-2015 framework." Sign here.....
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/un-secretary-general-ban-ki-moon-and-un-member-states-put-early-childhood-development-at-the-heart-of-the-new-post-2015-development-framework-with-targets-that-promise-all-children-care-support-and-services-which-work-together-for-the-best-start-in-l

Labour leading the way in SBET..........

Ed Miliband setting the agenda

There's no doubt who's been setting the agenda as we leave Party Conference season. Ed Miliband and Labour have identified the real problem of living standards facing families around the country and in South Basildon & East Thurrock, and laid out policies to help deal with them – including a tax cut for small businesses, childcare help for families and a pledge to freeze your energy bills until January 2017. And David Cameron and the Conservatives have realised they've got a problem, but have no new ideas to deal with the cost of living crisis that's happening on their watch.

Harriet Harman in Basildon

Since David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010, life has got tougher for too many people. We've seen the slowest recovery from recession in 100 years. Nearly a million young people are unemployed. Prices have risen faster than wages in a staggering 38 out of 39 months while David Cameron has been in Downing Street. And working people are an average of nearly £1,500 worse off. The truth is that year after year, you’ve been working harder, for longer, for less.

Yet at the same time, bankers' bonuses went up by 82 per cent this April, and David Cameron's tax priority has been to give a tax cut to people earning over £150,000 – wages most people here in South Basildon & East Thurrock can only dream of. Help for a privileged few, nothing for ordinary families. No wonder people think that our Prime Minister, who admits that he doesn't know the price of a loaf of bread, is completely out of touch.

Mike Le-Surf at Basildon Hospital

Families and businesses need help, and Labour is setting out plans to help them. Ed Miliband announced that Labour will cut business rates in 2015 and freeze them again in 2016 – prioritising a tax cut for 1.5 million small businesses over a tax cut for 80,000 large businesses. We will support working parents, by expanding free childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds from 15 to 25 hours a week for working parents, paid for by an £800 million rise in the bank levy. We will increase the number of apprenticeships, by insisting that every medium-sized or large company that hires a skilled worker from outside the EU must do their bit to train the next generation, by taking on an apprentice.

One of the biggest problems families and businesses face right now is rising bills. Energy bills have gone up by an average £300 since David Cameron became Prime Minister, while energy companies’ profits have shot up. Businesses say that energy bills are the second biggest cost they face. When wholesale prices rise, the energy companies pass the costs on to consumers – but when they fall, bills stay high.

That’s why Ed Miliband set out bold plans to reset the energy market and make prices more competitive, forcing them to introduce a simple new tariff structure and creating a tough new energy regulator. And in the time it takes to make these reforms, Labour will freeze your energy bills from the next election until January 2017 – saving a typical household £120 and the average business £1,800. You can see how much you could save by visiting www.freezethatbill.com.

We can only tackle the cost of living crisis with an economy that works for working people. The more David Cameron boasts about saving the economy, the more out of touch he looks. Britain can do better than this, with a Labour Government that fights for you.