Letter from Parliament - Tony Lloyd MP

Spoke in a debate about police grant money from the Home Office. A flat cash grant that the government has handed the police is a cut, despite the claim the police aren’t losing out.

Crime is going up, like organised crime, domestic violence and terrorism. These are all big issues with added pressures on the police at the time of cuts in the budget.

A high number of GPs are retiring; this is particularly a cliff edge as we are not training young doctors at the rate to keep up with demand. What steps can we take to train both GPs and pharmacists?

I spoke in a debate on national relief which recognises emergencies and earthquakes. The people of Britain are probably as generous as any in the world, but some political right see this as an excuse to say we should cut foreign aid, which is a shame for people in need.

Virgin Rail has been awarded the contract for the west coast mainline. This was not put out to tender and I’d like to be assured that there’s a guarantee we won’t see ticket prices go up again.

I asked a question about working families who are living in poverty because of cutbacks. This is a principle issue for children and a big issue in Rochdale.

Like Rochdale, Parliament is aiming to become plastic-free which is a good wake-up call to realise we don’t really need that plastic straw and that a paper bag will suffice as well as a plastic one.

I was educated on dementia awareness at a session, which focused on sufferers’ needs and making them and their families more comfortable. It’s about making sure that life can be lived to the full even with progressive dementia.

I met with the Royal college of Midwives about the services they provide, and the needs of women in Rochdale.

I spoke in a debate about children who have been detained by Israeli authorities.

I attended Hopwood Hall’s annual review, and it was great to listen to and recognise the very good  post-16 education system in Rochdale.

I also had my advice bureau and attended a community football tournament.

I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing Rochdale beat Spurs on Sunday, but not before attending the Labour policy forum in Leeds and visiting Neeli Mosque as part of the Visit My Mosque open day.