A Christmas Message From Nigel

Dear Voters,

I am sending you good wishes to and your family and friends for this Christmas and the New Year of 2008.

2007 was a momentous year for us in Wyre Forest Labour Party. Since I became Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Wyre Forest, I have been working hard each day on your behalf. Our campaign for radiotherapy cancer services at Kidderminster Hospital has been well received by the people of Wyre Forest. I have been touched by the thousands of you that have signed our peitition and given us warm encouragement. We are the only party actively campaigning for more services at Kidderminster Hospital.

Labour’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken great care to ensure that Britian’s economy stays stable during this time of international financial problems.

The Plan for Britain’s Children has been well received by parents, teachers and carers.

We still continue to attack waiting lists for hospital operations, for the vast majority of
treatments in Worcestershire, the MAXIMUM wait is only 13 weeks. Under the Tories,
people waited two and half years for joint replacements.

Pensioners can feel secure with pension credits to boost their incomes and with winter fuel
allowance, something the last Conservative Government tried to tax!

8,400 lower paid Wyre Forest Families will have had their incomes boosted by Labour Working Family Tax Credits.

We are looking forward to May 2008 and getting candidates elected to Wyre Forest District Council.

A very warm and happy Christmas to you all and a prosperous 2008!

Nigel Knowles – Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Wyre Forest

A Proud Plan For Our Children Under Labour

I am very pleased to announce that once again, Labour is delivering improved services for children, especially poor and disadvantaged children. “Surestart” was just a start. Schools Minister, Ed Balls MP, has announced a huge package of new measures aimed directly at making education better for Britain’s children.

What a contrast we have in education now compared to the Tory years when schools were selling off playing fields and school buildings had been allowed to rot.

Teachers and parents will welcome Labour’s new root and branch reform of school education and a challenge to testing, with a much greater role for parents. Here are just some of the reforms:

Play spaces for “tweenagers” (aged eight-13) with £225m to build or upgrade 3,500 community playgrounds

An end to “no ball games” culture – bringing importance of play into public spaces and planning

£160m for positive activities for young people in sport, drama, art

20,000 two-year-olds from disadvantaged families to get free childcare
“stage not age” testing in schools

A review of primary curriculum, including more help for summer-born children

A review of child and adolescent mental health services

A review of sex education

A better contact between schools and parents

A parents’ council in every secondary school

Public services to engage both the father and mother in decisions about their child

Better support for parents and children during and after family breakdown

More help for children with special educational needs

LABOUR – DELIVERING A BETTER LIFE AND BETTER EDUCATION FOR OUR CHILDREN

Economic Stability – The Key to a Better Britain

As the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Comittee reduces interest rates, with hopefully more cuts to follow, this should bring relief to many home owners with mortgages and other finaincial commitments.

Labour chancellor Alistair Darling has acted swiftly to ensure that the UK’s finaincial institutions are sound in the wake of the global banking crisis.

Labour has delivered the greatest period of economic stability and prosperity for 60 years.

There will be NO return to Tory boom-bust economics under Labour. We all recall terrible days in Wyre Forest when many large businesses went bust or were shut down because of Tory mismanagement of Britain’s economy. Never again!

Remember Black Wednesday, when interest rates were raised to 15% in one day? We do!

YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO VOTE TORY!

Radiotherapy Up-date

As we wait in Wyre Forest for the decision regarding the situation of a new Radiotherapy Unit somewhere within Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, or Herefordshire, our Labour Government has introduced a new 5 year strategy to fight cancer.

Cancer drugs would continue to play a large part in anti-cancer treatments, and as new drugs became available and supported by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), these would be introduced for patients.

More training will be given for surgeons, and cancer prevention will take a high profile. It is likely that tobacco vending machines will be scrapped and sun beds restricted for under 18’s.

A £100 million screening programme will see breast screening for women between 47 and 73, with bowel cancer screening for men and women aged 70 to 75. No patients with cancer will wait for more than 31 days for treatment to begin.

Radiotherapy will receive more investment (£500 million since 2001) and extra Radiographers employed.

“I’m delighted with this new Government policy to fight cancer”, says Nigel Knowles,” it would be absolutely fantastic if the decision was also made to put a new Radiotherapy Unit at Kidderminster Hospital. My Petition has well over 5,000 signatures and the people of Wyre Forest need a very local facility for this specialist part of cancer treatment”.

Contacting the Police by Telephone

At the meeting of Worcestershire County Council on 29th November 2007, Nigel Knowles asked the representative of West Mercia Police Authority to reconsider the policy of members of the public reporting incidents and crimes through the Central Hindlip HQ number. The representative promised to take the issue to the next Police Authority meeting and report back to Councillor Knowles.

“The local PACT meetings are working quite well”, Councillor Knowles said, “but I attend two or three PACT meetings from different areas in Kidderminster and I have noticed a relunctance on behalf of some people to report crimes because they are not happy about going through Hindlip when they need to talk to a Police Officer in Franche or Habberley.”

“We need Crime Incident Numbers to be given by the Police to ensure the reported incident has been registered and will be acted on. If people are kept hanging on the telephone before they speak to a “Hindlip contact”, sometimes they give up. Also, many people wish to report crimes or incidents by mobile phone. If they are kept waiting, this can cost several pounds on their phone bill. We need local Police contacts, and the ability to report crimes locally. Mass Communication today is unbelievably advanced to 30 years ago. Nearly everyone has a mobile phone. Why can’t the police be contacted locally to give an immediate response? It’s not a good thing for crimes to go unreported. The “Hindlip Factor” weighs heavily against good two-way communication between local people and local police”

High Hopes for Local NHS With £1.9 Billion Surplus

We can now be far more bold with our demands for a radiotherapy unit to be sited and run at Kidderminster Hospital with the NHS projected to run within budget and to soon have a surplus.

I have been voicing huge demands for this along with my Wyre Forest Labour Party colleagues.
We are proud to be leading a relaistic and meaningful campaign for services that are needed at Kidderminster Hospital.

…………..According to the Shuttle, the other parties only seem to be waking up to this.

GIVE US THE AFFORDABLE CANCER TREATMENT SERVICES WE NEED AND DESERVE IN WYRE FOREST NOW – NOT TORY NHS PRIVATISATION AND NOT HEALTH CONCERN FANTASIES !!