Letter from Parliament

Paul Rowen MP speaking in Parliament

Last Tuesday I was very privileged to be invited to a reception for backbench MPs at Buckingham Palace organised by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The Queen was on sparkling form and it was a superb opportunity to admire the priceless pictures in the palaces staterooms.

Wednesday was the Budget - Gordon Brown's last and what a disappointment! The changes will mean most people will be worse off but single people earning £300 per week or less (including pensioners) will be particularly hard hit as will small businesses and shops with the raising of the rate of corporation tax. It is not a good omen for what Gordon Brown the PM will do!

On Wednesday I was first up to ask the Prime Minister a question. I asked him what the government was doing about uninsured and disqualified drivers who go on to cause further accidents. The Department of Transport has no idea how many such drivers cause further accidents and misery. I was particularly struck by the words of  Chris Hennesey  whose 5 year old grandson  Daniel was left paralysed by a hit and run driver. I have put down some more questions about what the Home Office and the Department of Transport are doing about this.

Over the weekend I attended the excellent Heartbeat Ball at the Town Hall organised by Susan Ridgyard and the excellent Heartbeat team. Over the years they have raised thousands of pounds for the Corony Care Unit at the Infirmary.  I was especially pleased to be sat on the table of Cyril and Doreen Watts on the occasion of Cyril's 82nd Birthday.  I have know Cyril and Doreen for as long as I have been involved in politics and it was a pleasure.

On Sunday I spoke at a conference on young people and drugs at the Town Hall chaired by Mohammed Shafiq. Drugs are a problem but it was good to see young people themselves doing something about it.

On Monday I attended a workshop on "Dignity in Care" organised jointly by  Age Concern and the Rochdale Partnership for Older People. It was good to be able to speak with many people including Paul Gala (now acting Chief Officer of Age Concern) Razia Shamin and of course Vera Hirst. The Queen Mothers Award for Dignity in the Care of the Elderly was on show and I was able to congratulate Vera and her team on the successful award of £1.1million to develop independent living services for older people.

On Wednesday we had the vote on the order authorizing the bulding of Casino across the country including the giant casino at Manchester. I voted against the order. I'm not convinced of the regeneration benefits of such casinos and anyway I thought they should be sited in resorts like Blackpool rather than inner city centres.

Also on Wednesday I was very privileged to be asked to present the awards and speak at a Duke of Edinburgh Award Ceremony at St Jame's Palace attended by the Duke of Edinburgh. I had been involved in helping to run the award as a teacher and know what achievement getting the Gold award is. It was particularly pleasing to see Fida  Hussain and 5 young people from Rochdale as well as a large group from Crompton House. It was good to meet Fida's group as he'd asked me to speak to the group when they were taking their Bronze. 

Parliament rose on Thursday for the Easter recess which means I will be in Rochdale for the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to meeting more people and groups over the coming weeks. My surgeries continue as normal.