David Lepper

Labour Party | Brighton Pavilion

Out and about in Brighton during Labour Party Conference

Having the Labour Party Conference in Brighton and Hove this year provided great opportunities for government ministers to see and hear at first hand about some of the successes and problems locally.

Local action to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour was high on the agenda during the week.

Prime Minister Tony Blair MP and Home Secretary David Blunkett MP met some Norfolk Square residents and local police and council representatives to hear about work going on there to deal with street drinking and anti-social behaviour following the introduction last year of the country’s first city-wide street drinking ban.

Home Office Minister Paul Goggins MP launched the new multi- agency scheme to deal with persistent offenders and bringing together the police, the probation service and the council.

Another Home Office Minister Hazel Blears MP – shown here with Councillor Gill Mitchell and myself –

met police officers and representatives of  the local business community involved in the successful scheme to tackle shoplifting in Brighton city centre.

The plaque in the background is the British Retail Consortium’s Safer Shopping Award which, in conjunction with the Home Office, I presented to the City Centre Forum 3 years ago for its crime prevention work. The first such award to be given in the south of England.

Monday morning 27th September saw the official opening by families minister Margaret Hodge MP of  the new Sure Start building in Brentwood Road, Hollingdean.                                                    

The building, like the  Hollingdean Programme of which it is part, is managed by local people, as part of  Labour’s Sure Start programme for families with children under 5 and the Neighbourhood Renewal programme. It is home to a 50 space nursery, a community café and meeting space for local groups.

Local councillors Jeane Lepper and Pat Hawkes (who also chairs the City Council’s Committee for Children, Families and Schools) are pictured with Margaret Hodge and me at the opening.

Earlier that day Equalities Minister Jacqui Smith MP and I visited Brighton Town Hall to meet members of the City Council’s registration team to hear more about the Council’s very successful scheme which makes it possible for same sex couples to register their intention to formally make their relationship a civil partnership once the government’s Civil Partnership Bill becomes law. About 80 couples signed up on the first day the register was opened in the summer.

The Minister made it clear that despite attempts in the House of Lords to undermine this Bill the government is determined it will go through.

There was an 8am start for the Secretary of State for Education, Charles Clarke MP, and me when we visited the popular Breakfast Club for pupils at Middle Street Primary School in Brighton city centre. The Club provides breakfast and activities for youngsters whose families have an early start to their day – or who just like getting together with their friends before school begins.

Middle Street is a Beacon School and also has the Arts Council’s Artsmark Award – which, as the work on display around the school shows is well deserved.

Later in the week Charles Clarke and I also visited Varndean College to hear about recently approved plans for a new special education unit on the site for 16-18 year olds. The Secretary of State also had a question and answer session with students before going on to visit nearby Varndean School.

During the week there were also opportunities for Year 11 and sixth form students from local schools and colleges to visit the conference itself – and to take part in a event on parliamentary democracy organised by the Electoral Commission.
 
The new “soft subtitling” system which makes more feature films in the cinema accessible to deaf people was on show during the week when young students from Ovingdean Hall School had a cinema visit to the seafront Odeon to see the new film “Wimbledon” presented in conjunction with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

Arts Minister Estelle Morris MP – like me a former teacher – and I welcomed the students.

The Odeon has invested in the system with help from the Film Council.

On Monday 27th September Jeane and I joined thousands of other local people of all ages in the seafront march in support of the stadium for Brighton and Hove Albion at Falmer. We wanted to show Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott just how important this is for the club and the local community across the city.

Pictured here on the march are City Council Leader Ken Bodfish, me, Des Turner MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lord Steve Bassam, councillor Jeane Lepper and Richard Black, Labour’s prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Lewes.

In Parliament a group of us have put down and Early Day Motion congratulating the demonstration organisers and supporting the plan for Falmer.

What a contrast that happy family event was to the disgraceful and sickening tactics of pro-hunt supporters who the following day dumped dead animals in busy city streets to coincide with the Countryside Alliance March. I welcome the speed and efficiency with which the police and the City Council’s Trading Standards Unit, which has responsibility for some animal welfare issues, took action.

At the Conference I renewed my pledge to back the hunting ban by signing up to the League Against Cruel Sports Declaration for Democracy, calling on pro-hunters to accept the democratic vote of the majority of elected  MPs.