Parliamentary Report - January 2005

Local Activity

• Guest speaker at the annual meeting of South Leeds Health for All
• Attended and spoke at – together with my father – the official opening of the Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston
• Visited the Leeds Development Education Centre in Roundhay Road
• Briefing on Leeds Supertram with Leeds MPs and the Leader of the Council
• Met Neil McKay of the Leeds Hospitals Trust to discuss the financial problems the Trust is facing
• Opened the Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation offices; Belle Isle now has one united housing management system
• Interviews with Radio Aire and Radio Leeds about the Tsunami and Earthquake
• Regular advice surgeries
                                                                     
Local Issues

Leeds United’s financial difficulties persist. Yet another proposed takeover has failed to materialise, and the risk of administration remains if the problems are not sorted out. I have been in contact with the Leeds United Supporters Trust to see what help I may be able to give.

The Leeds Supertram discussions with the Department of Transport continue. The revised bid is now being considered by officials who will be making a judgment based on value for money. It is important that some work begins in the new few months in order to keep alive the complex set of permissions that the Supertram project needs.
The Council has finally decided that the new swimming pool in South Leeds will go ahead. This is a relief after all the concern there has been, but there is still a need to ensure that swimmers in the city centre can continue to have somewhere to go and swim.

Political Developments

The news has been dominated since Boxing Day by the terrible earthquake and tsunami in South East Asia which has claimed over 150,000 lives, including a large number of British holidaymakers. The response – money pledged, supplies brought in by naval vessels, planes and helicopters, a debt moratorium agreed – has been extraordinary. The UK has played its part, with generous donations from the general public and practical help from the Government. The first relief flight to leave the UK was organised by the Department for International Development – carrying tents and plastic sheeting  - to Sri Lanka.

I visited Banda Aceh (Indonesia) and Batticoloa (Sri Lanka) from 6th-8th January to see the devastation and the relief effort for myself. I have never witnessed anything like it; the power of that wall of water must have been extraordinary given the total and utter destruction of whole communities. We have organised further relief flights – tents, bottled water, medical supplies, water purification tablets – as well as flying in equipment to support the UN’s role in the relief effort. All this shows what the world can do when there is the will and the determination.

The Act that bans hunting with dogs comes into force next month. The Countryside Alliance is trying to challenge the Act by claiming that the 1949 Parliament Act – under which the Hunting Bill was finally passed into law after the House of Lords opposed it once again – is invalid. The Government disagrees and we do not believe that this challenge will succeed. Indeed, the Government will vigorously contest this challenge. If the Alliance fails at the High Court then they will appeal to the Court of Appeal, and will probably seek an injunction delaying implementation of the Act until that appeal is heard.
The USA has now finally agreed to return the remaining four British citizens held at Guantanamo Bay to the UK. This follows lengthy discussions in which the UK Government has made it clear – since 2003 -  that the four men would not receive a fair trial and therefore should be returned. At the same time, the new Home Secretary Charles Clarke is considering how to respond to the House of Lords judgment that the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act’s provisions – which allow foreign nationals to be held in detention (although they are free to leave the UK at any time if they wish) – are incompatible with the Human Rights Act.

Abu Mazen has been elected as the new Palestinian President. This is a very significant step for the peace process and I hope it leads to early discussions with the Government of Israel as to how it can move forward. The UK will be holding a conference in London at the beginning of March to discuss the peace process with the Palestinian Authority.

The Home Secretary Charles Clarke has reaffirmed the law’s support for householders to protect themselves, their families and their homes from burglars or intruders using reasonable force. Having reviewed the law, he has concluded that it provides all the protection necessary, but that it needs to be better explained. This will now be done by the CPS and the Association of Chief Police Officers.

There has been a lot of debate in the last week or so about the new licensing laws. It will be up to each local licensing authority to decide what opening hours they wish to allow – ie no-one is required to open for longer. I hope that the Council will take into account the cumulative effect of all the pubs and clubs in the city centre. In my view the real problem is the culture of binge drinking.

Elections will take place in Iraq on 30th January. The electoral registration process has gone well and many candidates and parties have registered. All the indications are that a majority of the Iraqi people want to vote, but the Sunnis remain concerned about their representation. And, of course, the insurgents are doing their best to disrupt the democratic process. They cannot be allowed to succeed.
The Tories are in real trouble, following the defection of Robert Jackson MP to Labour and the latest polls showing them trailing Labour. Not that we can be complacent – far from it. We will have a fight on our hands.

Ministerial Activity

In addition to my work in response to the tsunami – which has taken up a great deal of time - other activities have included: a  visit to India to look at DFID’s largest aid programme in the world; a speech on reform of the international system for dealing with humanitarian crises; a visit to Afghanistan to meet President Kharzai, discuss our development programme in support of the new government, and to look at the problem of poppy growing; attending the signing of – and witnessing - the Sudan Peace Agreement in Nairobi which brings to an end Africa’s longest-running civil war; and DFID oral questions

Political Activity

I have produced a Parliamentary Newsletter which is in the process of being delivered throughout the constituency. Thanks to everyone who has helped so far – it is much appreciated.