Valkyrie Surgery noticeboards lacking anything on the STP

I feel I need to begin with a caveat: my GP's are excellent. This post is nothing to do with the quality of healthcare provided by The Valkyrie Surgery; it is everything to do with the poor public consultation that is supposed to accompany the Sustainability and Transport Plan.

These photographs are of the five notice boards at The Valkyrie Surgery, not one has anything on the STP. This is no backwater, one-man surgery, rather it is a large clinic within 16 doctors.

If this clinic has nothing on the STP, how is this public consultation process going to work?

PrittlewellVoice Election Special 2017

Working hard for Southend West

Ron Woodley

When I heard that Ron Woodley was throwing his hat into the ring for the General Election my first thought was to wonder whether he would keep his deposit.  If nothing  else, independents have not fared well in national elections in this part of the world.

My second thought was to wonder why he was standing. I do not believe he can get anywhere near winning, so is a different agenda at play here? Or perhaps he really does think he can win.

I have had conversations with Ron where he has tried to convince me that he has socialist credentials, then in the short order he has stood up in a council meeting and declared he is the only true conservative present. If nothing else, he is confused in his politics.

His is the spoiler candidacy, one designed less to win than to create a stir of sorts. The problem is , I am not really sure what he wants to create a stir about.  I am grateful that he has come out in support of NHS services in Southend, but that fight is best waged by backing the Labour candidate.

Campaign diary, today: baked

Julian, Mick and Mike enjoying a bit of shade

It has been a very busy month or so, with campaigning of one sort or another every single day.

This heat is quite tough for those of us pounding the streets, but some really enjoy. I was relieved that we had some breeze for most of the day.

I had quite a few people stop me and thank me for my work as a Labour candidate, and members of my team have also had some very positive interactions.

Of course you do get negative reactions, none that I recall today though. When they come it is usually a case of handing back the leaflets.

Today it was long stints in Blenheim Park and Prittlewell wards. A rain-delayed start did not really interfere, giving me the opportunity for some breakfast. My stomach has been giving me hell recently, and I was reassured by stories of tummy bugs going around.; since my illness last year I am prone to wonder about worse things.

It is clear that the Conservatives are working in Southend West, and we have seen some evidence of Liberal Democrat campaigning. I have seen nothing of UKIP or the Greens, or the two independent candidates - perhaps they have realised that it is a two-horse race here this time.

On school funding

Mike Fieldhouse with a local mother

Southend Labour Party has responded to a request from thousands of head teachers to raise the issue of school funding with political canvassers in the General Election, by taking Labour’s message to the parents of school children.

“Ahead of the forthcoming general election” the letter from headteachers to parents states, “it is crucial that parents, carers and all other interested parties raise the issue of school funding ‘on the doorstep’ with all prospective candidates,”

Julian Ware-Lane, Labour’s candidate in Southend West says, “the letter quite rightly does not favour any pollical party, but it did ask parents to engage with canvassers on this issue. We are confident that our policies to stop the cuts to school budgets, increase funding, along with a commitment to cut class sizes to 30 five, six, and seven-year-olds, will be attractive to parents.”

Local campaigners will be taking Labours message to the parents of children at a number of local schools both before and after the half-term break. Julian says, “We hope this will at least go some way to show that Labour is committed to establishing a National Education Service, to provide cradle to grave education, free at the point of use, for the many, and not just the privileged few.”