news bulletin from greg hands m.p. #365

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 In this edition:  Greg Hands M.P.’s Diary  Website of the Week: www.myearlscourt.com  Update on the Government’s economic plan  Photo news: Hands addresses Hammersmith Conservatives  Greg Hands welcomes BT Fibre Broadband expansion into Chelsea & Fulham  Government triples Prompt Payment pledges in drive to support small businesses  Sharing the key to low tax and better Council services, say H&F and K&C  New era for social housing tenants in Hammersmith & Fulham  New Free Schools and  Academies prove hugely popular  Royal Borough announces new programme to help end human trafficking  Hands in the media: Tory MP: It’s 'hard to shed a tear' for Chavez  Hands in the media: Ed Balls dominates Labour party as supporters pack frontbench  Issue 365 – Friday 8 th March 2013   Since the l ast edition, Gr eg:   Attended a meeting of London Conservative MPs with London Mayor Boris Johnson. Greg raised issues with Boris including the Super Sewer, police reorganisation, the Wimbledon District Line, Crossrail 2 (Chelsea – Hackney Line) and opposition to Labour’s homes tax (also called the “Mansion Tax”). Met the leading advocates and organisers of the Fulham Boys (Free) School to discuss ongoing work in finding a site for the school. Greg is strongly committed to the project and is looking f orward to making progress towards establishing the new C of E boys secondary school.  Addressed the annual dinner of the Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives, held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, Chelsea Harbour, with special guests Lord Julian Fellowes and Simon Heffer. Met representatives of CapCo, the developers behind the Earl’s Court and Seagrave Road developments. Greg supports the proposed large-sized regeneration, but has significant concerns about the massing of buildings on Seagrave Road, in an area which has not previously seen high rise developmen t.  Attended and addressed the annual general meeting of the Hammersmith Conservatives, held at Hammersmith Town Hall, together with London MEPs Dr Charles Tannock and Syed Kamall. Met International Development Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening MP on behalf of Fulham-based company Eurotalk and its not-for-profit work in the developing world. Welcomed a Fulham constituent to the House of Commons to discuss his and Greg’s concerns about the ongoing "Greg Hands M.P ." <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P . #365  6 Attachments, 149 KB

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Page 1: News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #365

7/29/2019 News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #365

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/news-bulletin-from-greg-hands-mp-365 1/1

 

In this edition: 

Greg Hands M.P.’s Diary Website of the Week:www.myearlscourt.com Update on theGovernment’s economicplan Photo news:Hands addressesHammersmithConservatives Greg Hands welcomes BTFibre Broadband expansioninto Chelsea & Fulham 

Government triples PromptPayment pledges in drive tosupport small businesses Sharing the key to low taxand better Council services,say H&F and K&C New era for social housingtenants in Hammersmith &Fulham New Free Schools and Academies prove hugelypopular  

Royal Borough announcesnew programme to help endhuman trafficking Hands in the media:Tory MP: It’s 'hard to sheda tear' for Chavez Hands in the media:Ed Balls dominates Labour party as supporters packfrontbench How to contactGreg Hands M.P.

 

Issue 365 – Friday 8th March 2013 

 Since the last edition, Greg: 

 Attended a meeting of London Conservative MPs with London

Mayor Boris Johnson. Greg raised issues with Boris including

the Super Sewer, police reorganisation, the Wimbledon District

Line, Crossrail 2 (Chelsea – Hackney Line) and opposition to

Labour’s homes tax (also called the “Mansion Tax”).

Met the leading advocates and organisers of the Fulham Boys

(Free) School to discuss ongoing work in finding a site for the

school. Greg is strongly committed to the project and is looking

f orward to making progress towards establishing the new C of 

E boys secondary school.

 Addressed the annual dinner of the Kensington, Chelsea andFulham Conservatives, held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel,

Chelsea Harbour, with special guests Lord Julian Fellowes and

Simon Heffer.

Met representatives of CapCo, the developers behind the

Earl’s Court and Seagrave Road developments. Greg

supports the proposed large-sized regeneration, but has

significant concerns about the massing of buildings on

Seagrave Road, in an area which has not previously seen high

rise development.

 Attended and addressed the annual general meeting of the

Hammersmith Conservatives, held at Hammersmith Town

Hall, together with London MEPs Dr Charles Tannock and

Syed Kamall.

Met International Development Secretary Rt Hon Justine

Greening MP on behalf of Fulham-based company Eurotalk

and its not-for-profit work in the developing world.

Welcomed a Fulham constituent to the House of Commons to

discuss his and Greg’s concerns about the ongoing

proliferation of subterranean excavation in the constituency.

Had a full schedule of activity as a Government’s Treasury

Whip in and around the chamber of the House of Commons,including ministerial meetings and organising votes and

standing committees.

 

Website of the Week:

www.myearlscourt.com 

The website of the masterplan for the proposed Earl’s Court andSeagrave Road developments. Greg met the developers in the

House of Commons this week. 

Update on the Government’s

economic plan The Prime Minister spoke today in West Yorkshire about the UKGovernment’s approach to the economy. Here’s what he had to say: "The challenges on the economy are huge and there is a long way to

go. But I believe already there are signs that our plan is beginning towork. The biggest deficit in peace time history is already down by aquarter. Interest rates are at near record lows and exports are starting to turn around too. "Over the past three years our exported goods to the fastest growing 

 parts of the world have been soaring – Brazil, up by half; India, morethan half; China, almost doubled; Russia, up by 133 per cent. "These increases in British exports mean British businesses getting new orders and that means jobs right here back at home. The number of people on out-of-work benefits has fallen and there are one millionextra private-sector jobs over the last two and a half years.

 "There are also more people in work than ever before in our history.

 And today, we welcome the news from BT that they’re creating another thousand new jobs, including 400 apprenticeships, as part of their £2.5 billion investment in broadband where Britain has the fastest broadband roll-out scheme anywhere in the developed world. "Most importantly of all, our economy which was previously so badly unbalanced now has private-sector employment levels rising in every 

 part of the country and they are rising fastest right here in the North of England. Within one year of this government, we had a faster rate of new business creation than at any time in our history. Today we havemore than a quarter of a million new private-sector businesses, thebiggest increase in private enterprises on record with more than threequarters of these new businesses created outside London. It is a new generated private sector that we need for our country. "These signs of progress are just the beginning of a long, hard road toa better Britain. But the very moment when we’re just getting some of those signs that we can turn our economy around and make our country a success is the very moment to hold fast to the path that wehave set. And, yes, the path ahead is tough, but be in no doubt; thedecision we make now will set the course of our economic future for years to come. And while some would falter and plunge us back intothe abyss, we will stick to the course.

 "I know some people think it is somehow stubborn to stick to a plan,and that somehow this is just about making numbers add up without acare for what it means to people affected by the changes we make. Asfar as I’m concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. "My motives, my beliefs, my passion for sticking to this plan areexactly about doing the right thing to help families and to helpbusinesses up and down our country, because the truth is this: if wewant good jobs for our children, we will not get them if we areburdened with debt and outcompeted by India and China. If we want good public services, we won’t be able to afford them if our economy is weak and we’re spending half of the budget on debt interest. "If we want to look after people with dignity in their old age, we won’t be able to do that if we are squandering billions of pounds on welfarefor people who could work but don’t. If we want to help people intowork and if we want to break the cycle of poverty that affects too many families we've seen that ever-increasing working-age welfare is not the answer. If we want to help with the cost of living, then that meanscutting spending to keep taxes down. "When I stood on the steps of Downing Street for the very first time, I said I believe the best days for Britain lie ahead of us, not behind us. I still believe that. And by sticking to the plan, we can prove it to be true.

By sticking to the plan, we can – together – make Britain a great success story in this vital global race."  

Photo news:

Hands addresses Hammersmith

Conservatives 

Greg Hands M.P. addressing a gathering of HammersmithConservatives this week.

 

Greg Hands welcomes BT Fibre Broadbandexpansion into Chelsea & Fulham Greg Hands M.P. met this week senior representatives of British

Telecom to see how the Government's priority for deliveringSuperFast broadband in London is progressing. BT's new fibrebroadband has the potential to transform the way we all use theinternet and access consumer services and do business online. Itprovides broadband speeds ten times faster than current copper based broadband services. The good news is that Chelsea & Fulhamis set to be well served by fibre broadband services, as part of BT’s£2.5bn national commercial investment. And this network will enableany service provider to use it to sell services – bringing consumer choice and helping to keep prices competitive. By coincidence, Greg has paid to upgrade to fibre broadband himself at home in Fulham this week. The installation took only about half an

hour. Here is some information provided by BT about their work inChelsea & Fulham: BT in CHELSEA and FULHAM Broadband There are four types of broadband that are available in Chelsea &Fulham for consumers, SMEs and larger businesses:

 

1. Copper (ADSL) at speeds of up to 8Mb 

2. Enhanced copper to deliver higher speeds at speeds of up to 20Mb 

3. Fibre at speeds of up to 80Mb 

4. High capacity fibre leased lines, aimed pre-dominantly at larger businesses and some SMEs, are available throughout theconstituency through products such as Ethernet Provision in Chelsea & Fulham:

 

SFBB: Parsons Green accepting orders since Sept 2010,

almost 19,000 premises to benefit, over 18,000 passed to date.

 SFBB: Chelsea service planned for 2014, over 11,000

premises to benefit 

SFBB: South Kensington service planned for the Autumn, over 

9,500 premises to benefit, many of which are in the

constituency 

SFBB: Sloane service planned for the Autumn, over 3,500

premises to benefit many of which are in the constituency 

 ADSL2+ live at Parsons Green, Earls Court, Chelsea, South

Kensington and Sloane exchanges 

Government triples Prompt Payment

pledges in drive to support smallbusinesses Greg Hands M.P. has welcomed the news that the number of FTSE350 firms signed up to the Prompt Payment Code has tripled in justfour months. Since November last year, 94 new firms have joined. Of 

the FTSE 100 companies, 64 have signed the Code and a further 12are in the process of signing it. This is regarded as substantial progress by business groups, includingthe Federation of Small Businesses and the Forum of PrivateBusiness. Late payment is a problem experienced by three-quarters of FSB members. The Prompt Payment Code commits signatories to pay on time, togive clear guidance to suppliers and to encourage good practice. Thesurge in numbers follows the intervention of the Business Minister,Michael Fallon, who wrote to large firms in November urging them tosign up to the Prompt Payment Code or be named publicly. Commenting, Greg Hands M.P. said: “This is great news for small businesses in Chelsea and Fulham. Small business owners constantly tell me how vital prompt payment is – this committed drive fromConservatives in Government will deliver long-term benefits.” 

The Business Minister, Michael Fallon M.P., added: “Late payment isa real issue for businesses across the country. It is not fair – poor cash flow can prevent small firms growing and even push them intoinsolvency. We need to improve the payment culture and I welcomethe response of big businesses in signing up to the common sense

 principles in the Prompt Payment Code.

 “But the work will not stop here. I will keep up pressure on firms tosign up and continue to ensure government leads by example in

 paying its suppliers on time. Central government has a good record.Now, I will be challenging other parts of the public sector to show their commitment to the principles of the Code.”  

 Sharing the key to low tax and better

Council services, say H&F and K&C 

Sharing management costs are leading to lower tax and better councilservices, according to three low tax London boroughs after figuresrevealed that local taxpayers have saved £10million in two years. The ‘Tri-Borough’ councils of Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F), theRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster CityCouncil (WCC) are on track to save £40million a year by 2015/16,according to a report published today (March 4). While more than 40% of local authorities intend to increase counciltax, according to a survey released by the Chartered Institute of PublicFinance and Accountancy (CIPFA), WCC has the second lowest

average council tax in Britain, H&F is third and the Royal Borough isfourth. In contrast 102, out of 250 authorities surveyed by CIPFA, planto put up council tax in April typically by about 1% per cent. Cllr Nicholas Botterill, Leader of H&F Council, says: “It is no surprisethat our three councils are in Britain’s top four for having low tax.Personally, I think it is wrong for any council to consider increasing taxes before they have fully considered sharing services and management costs.”  He added: “If there is such a thing as a silver bullet to deliver better council services and lower council tax, sharing some management structures is it.” 

 The three councils have achieved the savings by sharing children’sservices, adult social care and library services across the threeboroughs significantly reducing senior and middle managementoverheads. Tri-borough service improvements, delivered over the past two years,include: 

The one library card policy, giving residents, workers and

students unprecedented access to more than one million library

books and a range of specialist collections.

Shared foster placements across the three boroughs, avoidingthe additional cost of having to use independent agency

placements and helping to find looked after children a loving

home faster.

The length of care proceedings has been halved from 52 to 26

weeks and reduced legal costs by approximately £1.9million.

 Cllr Philippa Roe, Leader of WCC, says: “We have proven that thismodel for sharing services works. Not only is it going to save £40 million by 2016 - which is money effectively reimbursed tohouseholders - but it is improving the way councils serve the public.We are cutting bureaucracy and making shared services like adoptionand libraries work even better. “The reforming momentum is with councils right now. We have asked central Government for permission to do things like borrow money against our housing stock to build more homes and introduce new measures to get young people into jobs. The Chancellor should usethe budget to give local authorities a green light to be even moreinnovative.”  The three councils have also shown, through their whole-placeCommunity Budget pilot, that within five years they could, with the co-operation of central government departments, create annual savings

of about £80million across local public services in the area. If fullyimplemented, the plans developed through the recent pilot would helpdrive growth, reduce dependency, build homes, create jobs, lengthenlives and rehabilitate criminals, according to the councils. 

 A Tri-borough approach will also be adopted for the three councils’new public health function, when this responsibility returns to localgovernment in April. A shared public health function, led by a singledirector of public health, will look to push innovation in the design of health and prevention services across the three boroughs. The Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Sir Merrick Cockell, says: “Two years ago our three councils took the bold step of sharing services so we could cope with the unprecedented cuts in government funding but still protect frontline services. “Since we embarked on our Tri-borough journey we have proved tolocal authorities up and down the country that this new approach not only works but provides even better services.”  The three local authorities are keen to go further and continue workingwith colleagues across government to put local knowledge at the heartof Whitehall policy making. In particular, the councils are ambitious tosee: 

 A top-slicing of Whitehall budgets to provide sustainablefunding for services that tackle complex issues, such as

troubled families

 A ‘City Deal’ style settlement for London to support joint

working between boroughs and the GLA to create jobs for, and

improve the skills of, young people A Troubled Families Programme across the three boroughs will help1,720 families with complex problems turn around their lives over thenext three years. 

New era for social housing tenants inHammersmith & Fulham Lifetime social housing tenancies for new applicants are now a thingof the past in Hammersmith & Fulham. 

 And from April, flagship Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council willalso be tightening the rules to make it easier for local people, whohave a five year connection to the borough, to access social housing. 

H&F Council is the first local authority in the country to bring in theseradical changes simultaneously -with the Government now calling for other councils to follow H&F's lead and introduce local connectionrules. 

From Tuesday 5th March 2013 the Council is only issuing fixed-termtenancies of five years for new social housing lettings. This will bereduced to two years in certain cases. Under the old system, housing tenants had the right to stay in their home for life unless the tenancy was brought to an end because of abreach. Once the tenant passed away, the right of succession passedonto a family member even if the housing need of the individual wasless than other potential applicants. H&F Council believes that system was antiquated and unfair as it didnot promote aspiration or provide tenants with any incentive to try tomove into home-ownership. It also failed to take into account the factthat a household's need for social housing may be temporary. Existing tenants will be unaffected by this radical shift. New tenanciesin sheltered accommodation and for those with special housing or health needs will still be on a lifetime basis. 

 And from this April, the council will be giving greater priority to working

households who have a five-year local connection to the boroughwhen allocating social housing. The council will also be prioritisingthose making a significant contribution to the community, for exampleex-service personnel and foster carers. 

 At the same time, households earning above £40,200 will beprevented from accessing the housing register and instead directedtowards low-cost home-ownership options. Cllr Andrew Johnson, cabinet member for housing said: "Today weare leading the way in ushering in a new era for social housing. Webelieve that the notion of a tenancy for life is out-dated and that it iswrong to expect to inherit a welfare benefit in the form of a heavily 

subsidised house irrespective of housing need. "We also think that it is patently unfair that people can move to thisborough from other parts on the country or even further afield and access social housing ahead of hard-working local residents whohave been living here for many years. "That is why From April, we will also be giving, local people on low tomiddle incomes, who make a positive contribution to their local communities, a better chance to access social housing. "The old, antiquated system has created disadvantaged communities

by producing concentrations of people on benefits withdisproportionately high levels of unemployment and sometimes social breakdown. "In its place, we want to create neighbourhoods where a broad mix of social households all live side-by-side."  Two year tenancies will be issued for those with a history of antisocialbehaviour and for those between the ages of 18 to 25. The council believes that young people tend to be less experiencedthan others in managing a tenancy and that the council should be ableto review how things are going after a relatively short period and that

particular incentives need to be in place to encourage tenants tomanage their tenancies well. The council will also be encouragingyounger people to look for housing in the private rented sector. The new system will give the council the opportunity to review whether the rationale for granting the tenancy in the first place is still there andwill also encourage good behaviour and greater contributions tocommunity life and the local economy. 

 Anyone from any part of the country, and indeed overseas, couldtoday apply to go onto the register under the old allocations system.That meant that the number of people on the register (10,300) did not

reflect the number of local people in real housing need in the borough.In fact, one person has been on the waiting list in Hammersmith &Fulham for 36 years. In the meantime, almost 5,000 people have joined the council'sregister for low-cost home ownership. H&F Council recently set up itsown housing company in order to meet the huge demand for low costhomes in the borough. This means that the council is now building itsown homes for the first time in 30 years. This housing company,together with a joint venture with the private sector, will see 500 lowcost homes built in the next ten years. The council is also on course to have helped 1,000 families into low

cost homes through discounted market sale and intermediate rentschemes by the end of the year. 

New Free Schools and Academies provehugely popular 

 According to figures released today, West London Free School is themost popular school in Hammersmith & Fulham, with 1,179applications for places this September, of which 296 were firstpreference applications. The Catholic boys’ school, London Oratory, retains its popularity with793 applications (293 first preferences,) with two academies,Burlington Danes and Hammersmith Academy receiving 778 and 714applications respectively. Sacred Heart Girls’ School received 314 first preference applications,more than any other school, and received 675 applications overall. “These latest figures for applications to our schools show that our newest schools are proving extremely popular with local families and that our Schools of Choice strategy to expand the options for H&F 

 parents, is working,”  says Cllr Helen Binmore, Cabinet Member for children’s services. “Standards in all our schools are increasing dramatically and they continue to go from strength to strength. Our new free schools and academies have added new choices, without undermining other local schools. Instead they are encouraging families to opt for local state schools rather than choosing schoolsoutside the borough or independent schools.”  The number of applications for secondary school places rose by 216on last year, to 5,860. The proportion of students getting into their topchoice school rose to 56.7% from 54.5% last year and the number securing a place in one of their top three choices rose to 81% from78% last year. Hammersmith & Fulham Council launched its Schools of Choicestrategy in 2006 is response to high numbers of families either movingout of the borough when their children reached secondary school ageor choosing schools in the private sector or in other boroughs. In2006, only 38% of local children went to local state schools. That number is now well over 60%, although the final figure for thisyear will not be known until families decide whether to take up theoffers they have received. Part of the strategy included encouraging free schools and new

academies into the borough, a move that some critics suggestedwould exclude local people from less affluent backgrounds, or de-stabilse other schools. "It is now clear that the significant extension in the range of optionsnow available has been hugely popular with parents and has helped drive up school standards across the board,” adds Cllr Binmore. “TheWest London Free School came under particular attack in its early days, but it is now clear that it takes a large proportion of local familiesincluding many children from less affluent backgrounds and it is

 performing extremely well.”  Greg Hands M.P. added: "Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington &

Chelsea are at the heart of the free schools and academies revolution,and I strongly support these moves. I am delighted to now see FulhamCross and Henry Compton schools becoming academies. The next stage will be the creation of the new Fulham Boys School, where I amactively helping in the search for a site."  

Royal Borough announces new programme

 to help end human trafficking 

 A two-year programme to help stamp out human trafficking both herein the capital and abroad, has been announced by the Royal Boroughof Kensington and Chelsea. The initiative is being formally launchedthis week. The Council has successfully bid for a European Commission grant of £317,693 and is also contributing £52,000 from its Community SafetyPartnership funds towards the scheme. The Royal Borough is the lead organisation for the initiative which willsee the funding distributed to the Metropolitan Police's trafficking unitand partner agencies operating in Kensington and Chelsea, City of Westminster, Perugia (Italy) and Kaunas (Lithuania). These

specialists will raise awareness and skills for resisting traffickersamongst vulnerable groups and also provide victim support servicesto prevent re-trafficking. Data from the UK Human Trafficking Centre found that in 2011 therewere 2,077 potential victims of human trafficking in the UK. In 2012 the Metropolitan Police Trafficked Victims Unit dealt with 147victims and undertook 91 operations. A recent investigation into aRussian and European-based organised criminal network resulted inthe rescue of thirteen young, vulnerable Eastern European victimsfrom premises in Kensington, Chelsea and Queensway. Lithuania has been identified by the police as a source location for trafficked victims in the United Kingdom. Many vulnerable youngwomen from care institutions are tricked, coerced or forced to leave towork in the sex industry. Italy is both a destination country for trafficking victims and a transit country for co-ordination and onwardtrafficking of victims from Eastern Europe and Africa. 

 As human trafficking is a transnational issue, the project will also workwith all EU embassies located within Kensington and Chelsea andWestminster in order to improve consular support to victims andprevent the re-trafficking of repatriated victims back to the UK or elsewhere in the EU.

 Councillor Rock Feilding-Mellen, the Royal Borough's CabinetMember for Civil Society, said: "Human trafficking is a terrible and complex crime so resources need to be given to help those agenciesthat have proven experience of tackling the issue. "This two-year programme funds specialist anti-trafficking policeofficers and charities to tackle this issue at source and equip thosevulnerable of being trafficked with the skills to resist, as well as giving victims the support they need to escape this cycle of abuse."  Westminster City Council's Cabinet Member for Community Protectionand Premises, Councillor Nickie Aiken, said: "The trafficking of vulnerable people across Europe is a repugnant crime that too oftengoes undetected in large cities. This programme aims to get to theroot of the matter and harness expert officers to stamp out the

 practice, while also offering much-needed support to survivors of trafficking."  Bex Keer, Team Manager for Stop the Traffik, stated: "Stop the Traffik is committed to exploring a pioneering multi-agency approach totackling trafficking through this initiative. It is rare to have theopportunity to invest in a 360 degree response that includes

 prevention, intervention and aftercare of survivors."  

This project began in January 2013 and will run for 24 months. 

Hands in the media:

Tory MP: It’s 'hard to shed a tear'

for Chavez MSN News

Wednesday 6th March 2013 

UK MPs have offered very different assessments via Twitter of theVenezuelan president after his death. 

 As in life, Hugo Chavez is as equally controversial in death – if tweetsfrom British MPs are anything to go by. Conservative MP Greg Hands, an assistant whip, who said it was“hard to shed a tear” for Chavez on his Twitter account. He offered his view about the dead Venezuelan president in a seriesof tweets, describing how he was caught up in an attempted coup in1992. 

But Respect MP George Galloway bid “Comandante” Chavez farewellin a tweet that hailed the deceased leader as a “modern daySpartacus”. 

Jon Trickett, Labour's shadow minister for the cabinet office, wasfulsome in his praise of Chavez via Twitter – describing the South

 American leader, who he met in London, as a “titan of a man”. Labour’s shadow public health minister Diane Abbott offered her commiserations to his family and the people of Venezuela, tweeting itwas a “tragedy” for Latin America and the Caribbean. But Chris Bryant, a former Europe minister in the last Labour government, offered a mixed assessment of the South American’s

leader’s record in a tweet. 

Hands in the media:

Ed Balls dominates Labour party as

supporters pack frontbench Wintour and Watt Blog, www.guardian.co.uk

Tuesday 5th March 2013 Tories warn that a 'Brownite cabal' now runs the Labour party assupporters of David Miliband are sidelined It has not been a glorious month for Ed Balls. Gordon Brown's biographer, Anthony Seldon, told him in an openletter in the New Statesman last month to take a sabbatical until 2017

to ensure Ed Miliband's breath no longer has the "smell of a toxicbrand". 

 And then Balls struggled to capitalise on George Osborne's difficultywhen Moody's deprived Britain of its Triple A credit rating, as BenedictBrogan noted in the Daily Telegraph. But Balls can take comfort. Research by the Tory whip Greg Handshas found that the shadow chancellor maintains quite a grip on theLabour frontbench. Hands has trawled through the list which shows how every Labour MPvoted in the 2010 leadership contest. This shows Balls has the bestrecord of ensuring that his supporters have been rewarded with – andhave since maintained – places on the frontbench. Hands calculates that, on the basis of first preference votes, 51% of those who supported Balls sit on the frontbench compared with 45%of Ed Miliband's supporters, 38% of David Miliband's supporters, 13%of Andy Burnham's supporters and 0% of Diane Abbott's supporters. Hands says: The Brownite cabal at the top of Labour is prospering,and the easing out of David Miliband supporters illustrates Labour'sdangerous lurch to the left. These figures show the continuingtakeover at the top of the Labour party by the Brownites at the

expense of the Blairites, as supporters of the Two Eds win out over supporters of David Miliband. Remarkably, to prosper personally intoday's Labour party, you're best off having voted in 2010 for thecandidate who came 3rd - Ed Balls, and if you voted for the candidatewho came 1st amongst MPs - David Miliband - you're probably toast. Ed Miliband's supporters are likely to dismiss the idea of a Ballstakeover on the grounds that the Labour leader received more thantwice the number of votes as the shadow chancellor in the MPs andMEPs section. Miliband won 84 first preference votes in this sectioncompared with 40 for Balls. This meant it was more difficult for EdMiliband to reward all his supporters. 

The leadership will also say that David Miliband's two joint campaignmanagers – Douglas Alexander and Jim Murphy – have prospered.They are, respectively, shadow foreign secretary and shadow defencesecretary. But the research by Hands highlights one characteristic of Balls whichhe shares with his mentor, Gordon Brown. The shadow chancellor,whose long standing ally David Watts was elected last year as chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, goes to great length to look after hissupporters. 

5 ways to contact Greg Hands M.P.: 

By Phone: 020 7219 5448

By email: [email protected]

By post: Greg Hands M.P.House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA

In person: Click here for details of howto book an appointment atGreg Hands M.P.’s weeklysurgery

 

www.greghands.com 

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<[email protected]>News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #365

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