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| Happy 60th Birthday NHS |
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 The 60th birthday of the NHS this month is a great opportunity to say thank you to everybody who has worked in our health service over the years – all the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers as well as the many volunteers. To celebrate, I joined fellow Wakefield MPs Yvette Cooper and Mary Creagh on the children’s ward at Pinderfields hospital to drop off a 60th birthday cake.
Like most people in Wakefield I know what a difference the NHS has made to me and my family over the years. We rely on the NHS to treat us when we’re injured, care for us when we are sick and help bring our children into the world. Since Nye Bevan created the NHS in 1948, hardly anyone in our district will not have benefited from the NHS - and the compassion and dedication of all the people who work for it – at some stage in their lives. |
Marking 60 years of the NHS at Pinderfields
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| Read my latest Tribune column |
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Labour’s progressive mission is, and has always been, to end cycles of disadvantage so that poverty does not pass from one generation to the next. Instead of preserving opportunity and excellence for some, our purpose is to actively promote and pursue excellence for all.
Central to this is breaking the link between poverty and low attainment in education. Everybody should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential regardless of their background or the income of their parents.
This is what any Labour government’s education policy should be about. And it’s at the heart of the National Challenge I launched last month. It’s aim is simple, but challenging: to ensure that every school gets at least thirty per cent of its pupils achieving five or more higher level GCSEs including English and maths by 2011. |
Tribune column - July 2008
National Challenge in Wakefield
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| Supporting the 21st century school |
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Every headteacher I meet wants the very best for the pupils at their school, but they all tell me they can't do it alone. They know parents are the most important influence on their children and, if they want to raise standards for all their pupils, they have to tackle barriers to learning that lie well beyond the school gates. They tell me that if a child arrives at school hungry, or they have speech and language needs that are not being met, or if they don't have a stable home to go back to at the end of the day, then it can have a really damaging impact on their learning.
This has two big implications. The first is that it is a false debate between standards and achievement on the one hand, and the wider wellbeing of children on the other. The truth is that good schools have always supported the development of their pupils 'in the round', and helped them achieve success in their exams and good qualifications as a result. In fact, I have never been to a school that is doing a great job in looking after the wider needs of its pupils without seeing the benefits to their learning. |
Guardian Education article on supporting the 21st century school
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| Celebrating Veterans Day |
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 Over 200 people came to St John the Baptist church in Normanton on Friday to celebrate Veterans Day. The service was a chance to pay tribute to everyone from our community who has served in the armed forces over the years and to remember those who have died.
Veterans came together from all parts of the constituency to share their memories and remember their friends. The local branches of the British Legion were out in force and it was very moving to see the standards carried and hear the bagpipes played. |
Veterans Day service in Normanton
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| Read my latest Wakefield Express column |
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 One of the first campaigns I was involved with when I became MP for Normanton was a petition to have CCTV cameras installed in the centre of Ossett. I worked closely with local shopkeepers who desperately wanted CCTV cameras to both protect their property and help shoppers feel safe on the streets.
The campaign was successful and Wakefield Council installed cameras in time for Christmas that year and a year later, following a similar campaign, cameras were also introduced to Normanton town centre.
These cameras have made a real difference to helping the police keep our communities safe, particularly in Normanton where CCTV footage provided vital evidence in a recent stabbing incident. |
Wakefield Express column - 20 June 2008
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