Its Sunday morning, and so it must be time to catch up on the weeks happenings with your local Millbrook Councillor. Its been a busy week and there is a lot to tell you about, so eyes down, look in...
On Tuesday afternoon, I had the pleasure of a tour of the work undertaken on Millbrook Towers. There are some really great ideas that have been transformed into reality by Aiden Cooper and his team. Its been hard work for them, but they have worked with the community to deliver some changes to the area. Although technically outside of my ward, it is important to understand and appreciate the work of officers so that you can transpose their good ideas into your own areas. The next time you drive past the Adidas sponsored Gym or Millbrook Towers with its mural, recognise that this is what can happen with enthusiastic officers and a community willing to engage.
Wednesday evening was spend on a housecall - I know it makes me sound like a doctor - but any suggestions as to another name for it would be welcome :) I have been working on and off with this family for some months, and it saddens me how a loving family group can end up with such a raw deal. Additionally, there is something very wrong in our society whereby it makes financial sense to remain on benefits rather than go out to work. It would take a special sort of person to work a full week to be no better off than if you stayed at home with your young family. This is something which Governments over the years have grappled with, but maybe post May there will be something we can do in some small way.
Thursday our Deputy Leader gave me some time to discuss some of the issues of the day, which included the upcoming Police & Crime Commissioner elections and the difficulties of balancing a young family with the demands of being a Councillor.
Friday evening was spent at the DeVere Hotel at a drinks reception. I know, us socialists were slumming it. The occaision was the start of our Labour South East Conference. The highlight of the evening was our leader Ed Miliband coming along, posing for a myriad of photos and giving a rousing speech. It was the first time I'd met him in person, and he was charming and a little taller than I imagined. My favourite quote was that in order to return to Government, we needed to make a road through the South East, more than our current 4 members of parliament. And the road to greater numbers of members of parliament, was through taking control of more councils, with more councillors, activists and members. It sounds corny, but it gave me a real sense of worth. After an hour or so I rushed home to apologise to my wife for braking our rule about politics on a friday evening.
Saturday was the first day proper of the conference. On the evening beforehand I noticed that Burnley FC were staying over as they were playing Saints the next day. So early on Saturday morning I cheekily sent a tweet message to Alastair Campbell, asking if he would be making a flying visit as his team were playing ours and the hotel was just around the corner. After a few frantic hours, and the intervention of Regional Director Malcolm Powers, Alastair Campbell turned up at our conference! I couldnt believe it. Some in our party do not like him; some outside of Labour detest him. For me he is a political hero of mine - the best kind of hero; human with flaws.
The rest of the conference was peppered with talks from Stella Creasy on Crime Prevention and cuts; our own Labour Councillor and Sherriff Derek Burke; and Iain MacNicol our General Secretary. Iain's speech was very poignant; the part which really spoke to me was in his summing up which contained a thank you. "I wanted to end my speech by saying thank you. Not for the role you play, the campaigning you do or the difficult decisions you take. No, I want to say thank you for all those birthdays you miss; those times with friends; those Valentines evenings; time you could've rather spent with your family. Thank you". Its rather twee, but it was nice of him to say.
During the morning, I was out with about 15 colleagues in Shirley ward. The door knocking was positive as people were in, had received literature from us and would be voting for us. In the afternoon, about 20 delegates from the conference came to Millbrook to knock on doors. This included our local leader Richard Williams and I am pleased to say the Shadow Environment Minister Carolyn Flint. This is the second year that the Labour Party has seen its Shadow Environment Minister coming to Millbrook to knock doors and get stuck in.
Its been a busy few days, and afetr writing this blog, its time to do a poo pick in the garden and get on with the hoovering. Next weeks highlights will include our Group meeting on monday night and an exceptionally long Budget meeting at full Council on Wednesday. Time is ticking on this Conservative Council. We can only hope that all of the effort which we are putting in pays off. Effort which happens week in, week out, not just at times of elections. Hopefully this blog goes some way to demonstrating this to you.
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