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I have just approved the final plans for how my council will deal with the Tory Government’s absurd cuts to public health budgets. This will mean reductions in services that help people stay healthy and which ultimately can save the NHS…
Amidst the chaos of the coalition’s NHS reforms a few years ago responsibility for public health services moved from primary care trusts to local authorities. Credit where it is due, this is the one move of those controversial reforms that…
Over the Bank Holiday weekend the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was trumpeting his new ‘ground rules’ to address rip-off hospital car parking. Any action to curb extortionate car parking prices at hospitals should be welcomed. However…
Like European election teams in other regions, here in the East Midlands we have been clocking up the miles. From our cities to market towns, from the coalfields to the Peak District, from the East Coast and across our rolling countryside…
When pinning your new calendar to the kitchen wall in the next couple of weeks be sure put a red circle around Thursday 22 May. The weeks and days will quickly countdown to European election polling day and important local elections. As the…
News this week that 16 and 17 year olds will be voting in the Scottish independence referendum has again ignited an interesting and important debate. As we take stock and the Policy Review evolves, we need to recognise that the ground has…
I am not aware of petrol stations offering a discount on a tank of fuel to the under-21s. Have I missed that housing costs are less for people under-21, and that supermarket shopping is discounted for young workers? Young people are not…
Local government finance is not the sexiest subject in the world, nor will it get many frontpage headlines. It’s not just the pace and scale of the coalition’s cuts which is hitting local government hard. Uncertainty created by a raft of…
May’s local elections, including the race for London, are a big chance to pass a verdict on the Tory-led government. But, make no mistake about it; they are also an important test for Labour. Like last year, it’s vital that we see strong…
by Rory Palmer Reconnecting with working class communities is seen as a vital part of Labour's post-election debate. That said, leadership contender Andy Burnham was right to suggest that it was not the case that we had not delivered for…
