Labour Shadow Department for Energy and Climate Change visit Hinkley C site and Bridgwater College.

Caroline Flint MP, Cllr Mick Lerry-Bridgwater PPC,
Tom Greatrex MP,  Claire Moody-Labour SW Euro Candidate,
Neil Guild-Taunton PPC

Caroline Flint MP and Tom Greatrex MP visited Hinkley C and the Energy and Skills Centre at Bridgwater College, on Tuesday 17th December. The aim of the visit was a fact finding tour, to establish the full impact of the Energy infrastructure project. The team were impressed with the developments at Bridgwater College and how local people could obtain training and skills to move into the Energy industry.

Mick discusses the issues with Tom Greatrex MP

Mick Lerry, leader of Sedgemoor Labour group and PPC for Bridgwater and West Somerset, said: "Members of the Labour Group were able to discuss the implications of the construction stage of Hinkley C and how it was important to avoid "boom and bust". We were able to explain the importance of Community Benefit during the construction stage of the power station. Highlighting the fact that Bridgwater and surrounding area should be recognised as an Enterprise or Business Zone, able to retain all the business rates to invest back into the local economy".

 

Both MPs were interested in the proposals put forward by the Labour Group and another meeting will be scheduled in early 2014 to discuss the matter further.

 Cllr. Mick Lerry

Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset.

Leader of the Labour Group on SDC.

Mobile 07775 905080

LABOUR CANDIDATE CALLS FOR NEW HOMES TO TACKLE COST OF LIVING CRISIS

Labour Leader Ed Miliband and Bridgwater PPC
Mick Lerry call for new homes.

Mick Lerry, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Bridgwater & West Somerset, has called on the Government to take action to make home ownership a realistic aspiration for working people and rents more affordable by building much needed homes.

According to independent experts, under the current Government we are building less than half the homes a year we need to meet demand. The gap between the number of homes we build each year and what we need is unprecedented at over 100,000 each year.

A housing shortage, combined with the cost of living crisis – with falling wages and rising bills – is making rents increasingly expensive and putting home homeownership out of reach for millions of working people.

Back in 1997 it took an average family just three years to save for a proper deposit on a home but today it takes 22 years. Private sector rents are now at the highest level ever recorded.

One Nation Labour has plans to increase the supply of new homes in England above 200,000 a year by the end of the next Parliament. To ensure plans are in place on day one of a Labour Government, Ed Miliband today, Monday 16^th December 2013, launched a Housing Commission chaired by Sir Michael Lyons has been launched to draw up a road map for delivering this ambition.

Mick Lerry, said:

“The security of knowing you can afford to live in your home is the cornerstone of a strong society. It’s a basic aspiration that working people want for themselves and their children – one that should be open to everyone.

“Many people in Bridgwater and West Somerset are facing a cost of living crisis and are struggling with housing costs. By getting Britain building again a Labour Government will help tackle ever-spiralling private rents and will make home ownership an achievable dream once more for those that are currently priced out.”

 Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“David Cameron is presiding over the lowest levels of homes built in peacetime since the 1920s and already families are suffering from some of the worst housing shortages for a generation. This is now part of a cost-of-living crisis for millions of people for whom the dream of home ownership is fading into the distance.

“At this time of year, when family is so important, there are parents who fear their children will never get a place of their own. And there are millions of young people who fear they may never be able to get on the housing ladder; never able to invite their parents round for Christmas dinner.  

 “If families are to prosper and our country is to succeed, Britain needs new homes.”

ENERGY BILLS STILL TOO HIGH SAYS LABOUR PPC

Bridgwater PPC Mick Lerry
"Labour will deliver fairer
prices "

Many households will be going into debt this winter because of the increasing cost of energy. Even where energy companies have reduced the price, because of the withdrawal of the Green levy, the increase in energy is still above inflation. Many people in rural areas have limited options for fuel, many of which lack mains gas. The Green levy helps to make efficient use of fuel, which is particularly important for countryside communities and residents on low incomes.

At the same time a committee of MPs has accused ministers of "shifting the goalposts" to reduce the number of households in England classed as in fuel poverty. The definition of fuel poverty would be changed by amendments to the Energy Bill so that 2.4 million were classed as fuel poor rather than 3.2 million.

Labour candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset , Mick Lerry said: "The government plans to reduce energy bills by an average of £50 a year in an effort to offset rising costs, is not enough. Labour’s energy price freeze is needed. Labour's price freeze would save money for 27 million households and 2.4 million businesses and our plans to reset the market will deliver fairer prices in the future”.

MP CALLED ON TO ACT

"Ian Liddell-Grainger MP needs to represent the community by asking the Government to sort out the Energy market to protect people from fuel and financial poverty."

Cllr Mick Lerry, Leader of the Labour Group on SDC and Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset.

 

Tel: 07775 905080