Surely the new government can do better than scrapping a process only to replace it with a similar one? Tuesday, 17 September, 2024 One of the biggest topics on the doorstep at the general election was immigration. Whilst people, in the main, accept that some immigration is good – care and NHS workers, for example – the image of illegal migrants crossing the Channel in flimsy boats stands as a symbol of how the system is, apparently, abused. Some of these migrants are genuinely seeking sanctuary, others gaming a system of... Local News
It is extraordinary how a new government can flip their tone so quickly, and paint a picture so bleak it risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy 10th September 2024 The general election seems a lifetime ago. Yet it was just a couple of months ago that Keir Starmer promised a fully costed vision of bright, sunlit uplands of... Local News
Labour's housebuilding plans are not good economics 14th August 2024 Planning is an issue that never fails to be contentious. From the unwelcome extension on a neighbour’s property, to the thousand or more residential... Local News
We must deliver a clear message: uncontrolled violence will be met with harsh, swift punishment 7th August 2024 Few could fail to have been stunned by the recent appalling violence. Hordes of right wing thugs, rampaging through the streets of towns and cities across the... Local News
What I am struggling with is why a Labour government would hit some people so hard 31st July 2024 Parliament breaks up for the summer recess this week. But in the last couple of days of term, there was no disappointment. Tuesday’s announcement of planning... Local News
Rebellion over child benefit cap means Starmer has discovered what it’s like to be in charge 24th July 2024 On the Parliamentary sweepstake of when Labour would suffer its first rebellion, I don’t think anyone had the second day of the King’s Speech debate. And it is... Local News
Huge privilege to have been re-elected here in Wyre Forest 10th July 2024 There is no ambiguity about the outcome of last week’s general election. Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has secured 412 of the 650 Parliamentary seats available... Local News
£20 million for Kidderminster 3rd June 2024 We have done really well, here in Wyre Forest, from government assistance. Frankly, quite right too. I have argued for many years that Kidderminster, in... Local News
Businesses support Labour? 29th May 2024 Interesting reading in the Times today. 120 business leaders have written to the Times to give their support to an in-coming Labour government. But read on... Opinions
Mickey Mouse Degrees? 29th May 2024 This week’s announcement about so called mickey mouse degrees is, for me, ironic. I had written a column for this week’s Kidderminster Shuttle about exactly... Local News