Imagine a country...

Imagine a country where almost 90% of people describe themselves as satisfied with their lives.

Where 95 per cent say they are close to their families and 76 per cent are confident about their personal futures.

A country that is markedly better off than a decade before, with 600,000 fewer people in poverty and 1m fewer on out-of-work benefits.

A country with universal free healthcare and the highest recorded level of satisfaction with that service, with waiting times the lowest for 40 years.

A country which most people think is a good place to raise children and where most children are felt to have far better prospects than their parents had before them.

That country is Great Britain after eleven years of a Labour government. Now it's time to start help making St Helens a Labour town again and reverse the growing problems of the past two years.

The Labour Party - best for Great Britain, best for St Helens.

The Labour Party's 50 top achievements in the last 10 years

1. Longest period of sustained low inflation since the 60s.
2. Low mortgage rates.
3. Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.52.
4. Over 14,000 more police in England and Wales.
5. Cut overall crime by 32 per cent.
6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools.
7. Young people achieving some of the best ever results at 14, 16, and 18.
8. Funding for every pupil in England has doubled.
9. Employment is at its highest level ever.
10. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries.
11. 85,000 more nurses.
12. 32,000 more doctors.
13. Brought back matrons to hospital wards.
14. Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament.
15. Devolved power to the Welsh Assembly.
16. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time.
17. NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice.
18. Gift aid was worth £828 million to charities last year.
19. Restored city-wide government to London.
20. Record number of students in higher education.
21. Child benefit up 26 per cent since 1997.
22. Delivered 2,200 Sure Start Children’s Centres.
23. Introduced the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
24. £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & up to £300 for over-80s.
25. On course to exceed our Kyoto target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
26. Restored devolved government to Northern Ireland.
27. Over 36,000 more teachers in England and 274,000 more support staff and teaching assistants.
28. All full time workers now have a right to 24 days paid holiday.
29. A million pensioners lifted out of poverty.
30. 600,000 children lifted out of relative poverty.
31. Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents.
32. Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships.
33. Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard.
34. Inpatient waiting lists down by over half a million since 1997.
35. Banned fox hunting.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
37. Free TV licences for over-75s.
38. Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals.
39. Free breast cancer screening for all women aged between 50-70.
40. Free off peak local bus travel for over-60s.
41. New Deal - helped over 1.8 million people into work.
42. Over 3 million child trust funds have been started.
43. Free eye test for over 60s.
44. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships.45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
46. Overseas aid budget more than doubled.
47. Heart disease deaths down by 150,000 and cancer deaths down by 50,000.
48. Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent.
49. Free nursery places for every three and four-year-olds.
50. Free fruit for most four to six-year-olds at school.

More days off work for St Helens workers

This month, new regulations to boost the minimum holiday entitlement from 20 days a year to 24 days come into force. The new legislation will benefit up to 3.5 million women and 2.5 million men, including part-time workers, who will gain extra holidays on a pro-rata basis.


Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Labour's Employment Relations Minister said:

This extra time off will make a real difference in the lives of hard-working people - a proper rest from work and more time to spend with their families and friends.

Businesses will benefit too - from reduced absenteeism and a workforce who are more motivated and productive.

New age limit on buying cigarettes

As of 1 October 2007, the legal age for purchasing tobacco has risen from 16 to 18. Dave Watts is urging people to help retailers implement this positive change for the health of our children.

The St Helens North MP said:

From October 1 retailers are only be allowed to sell tobacco products to those over 18 years of age and I wish to stress the importance of raising awareness of this age change in order to avoid any confrontation and problems between retailers and young adults.

The local community and general public must support their local retailers in implementing this change in order to crack down on not only under-age drinking but smoking from an early age and I would advise young people to carry proof of age if they wish to purchase any tobacco products after October 1.

A big thank you from Moss Bank Labour Party

As reported in this week's Star, Moss Bank's St David's Church is the grateful recipient of a £4000 grant from Candis magazine to help refurbish the community kitchen on its grounds.

As the Star reports,

A number of groups use the church's popular facilities, including a softball club, St Helens Youth Service, a junior rugby club and crime prevention organisations.

Rev Tom Thomas, vicar at St David's said: "We are very grateful to Candis for providing this money as it is a major step forward in our fund-raising efforts to improve our church building. Lots of people will benefit from better kitchen facilities."

The editor of Candis, Debbie Attewell added: "This venue fulfils a vital role in helping to bring people from a large community together and we are really pleased to help with the refurbishment programme."

So here at Moss Bank Labour Party, we're sure you'll join us in saying a big thank you on behalf of the whole community not only to Candis magazine, but also to Doreen Dixon whose work in nominating the church for a cash award should not go unacknowledged.

Labour's £4bn investment in our children's future

The Labour Government has underlined its determination to improve the lives of children across England with a cash injection of more than £4bn for children's centres, early years education and childcare.

The money will go towards:

* Providing a Sure Start Children's Centre in every community

* Outreach work to reach the most disadvantaged families

* Training and support for the early years workforce

* Ensuring there are sufficient childcare places in each Local Authority

* Ensuring every nursery and children's centre has a graduate to lead children's learning and development

The £4bn grant, spread over three years, will make sure that there will be a Sure Start children's centre for every community in England by 2010. Some of the money will be targeted at the most disadvantaged areas to enable children's centres to employ extra people to visit parents in their own homes and encourage them to take advantage of the services on offer.

Sure Start Children's Centres will give all parents and their children a place to go and a one-stop shop to find the services they need - from maternity checks to childcare to advice on getting back to work.

Ward Committee Meeting, July 2007

ward committee details

The next Ward Committee Meeting is being held on Monday 23 July at Chain Lane Community Centre. Feel free to turn up to hold your three Lib Dem councillors to account for the lack of investment the Lib Dem/Tory Council has put into Moss Bank, Laffak and Haresfinch over the past 12 months.

Smoke Free St Helens from 1 July 2007

With just ten days to go until St Helens becomes smokefree, the latest public opinion research shows that support for smokefree has never been higher with eight out of ten people supporting the introduction of the Labour Party’s hugely important new law.

On Sunday 1 July virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces will become smokefree. Shops, offices, factories, pubs, cafes, restaurants, membership clubs, public transport, and work vehicles used by more than one person will all be smokefree.

The latest public opinion research also shows that 95 per cent of people are aware of the new law, with unprompted awareness of the 1st July date as high as 83 per cent, compared to 55 per cent in April. Around 73 per cent of regular pub-goers, support the introduction of the legislation.

Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Public Health Minister said:

A smokefree England will see the single biggest improvement in public health for a generation. The scientific and medical evidence is clear - secondhand smoke is a killer. There is no safe level of exposure. This legislation means that thousands of lives will be saved and the health of everybody will be protected.