30th November

2000 REASONS DUDLEY POLICE STATION SHOULD NOT BE CLOSED IN THE EVENING

This week I will hand in a petition with over 2,000 signatures from people in Dudley furious at plans to close the police station in New Street between 6pm and 10am.

I think the police in Dudley do a very good job and the reaction since we launched the petition under a fortnight ago has confirmed what a hugely important issue this is for people in Dudley. The message from local residents is clear: we need a police station that’s local, accessible and open in the evening.

If the plans go ahead the nearest police station for most people in the north of Dudley would be Brierley Hill – a journey of over four miles– which could damage the local links that are essential for effective policing.

New Street will not be the only station to be closed should these plans be approved. Stourbridge, Halesowen and several stations in Walsall and Birmingham will also be shut for at least twelve hours a day.

The real reason why this is happening is because a massive £127 million is being cut from the West Midlands police budget this year.

Even people who trusted David Cameron and voted Conservative did not expect 16,000 police would be sacked, officers with thirty years experience forced to retire or the closure of stations like Dudley. The Tories have serious questions to answer about their record on law and order. They should be focussing on cutting crime, not the police.

Bars, cafes, clothes shops and on the high street have been asking customers to sign. Cllr Shaukat Ali has spent the last two weekends collecting signatures in Kates Hill and I’ve been out and about on the high street with a team of local volunteers.

With over 2000 people voicing their opposition in under a fortnight, people in Dudley have sent a clear message; these proposals are unnecessary, unwanted and should be dropped.

I will take this message to the police authority meeting on Thursday.

BLEAK UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES UNDERLINE NEED FOR CREDIBLE GROWTH STRATEGY

The latest round of unemployment shows how desperately we need a plan for jobs and growth.

In Dudley unemployment has doubled since January. Nationally the figure has never been higher. 1.02 million young people are on the dole and the Government looks desperately short of answers. Not only is their economic policy failing young people, it’s failing their own economic tests. Borrowing is set to be £46 billion higher than planned. That’s because they’ve choked off the recovery and put tens of thousands of people on the dole, claiming benefits rather than paying taxes

They should never have scrapped the future jobs fund – that scheme created 100,000 jobs for young people.

We need urgent action in the Chancellor’s autumn statement to get Britain back to work now and to build a better economy for the future.

Labour has set out a clear five-point plan to create jobs, help struggling families and support small businesses. This jobs plan includes tax breaks for small businesses taking on extra workers, a temporary VAT cut which would give families a boost of around £450 and tax on bank bonuses to fund 100,000 jobs for young people.

DUDLEY COLLEGE'S NEW BUILDINGS TAKING SHAPE

Anyone who's driven past Dudley College in the last couple of weeks can't fail to have noticed the rapid progress being made on the College's new town centre campuses.

I went down to meet up with the College's Principal Lowell Williams to have a look around the site.

The plans look superb and the two new buildings - Dudley Evolve on The Broadway and Dudley Sixth on Ednam Road - will transform the town centre. And it's about more than just the buildings themselves. The new campuses will be equipped with state of the art facilities and will help raise aspirations.

This is exactly what I mean when I say education and skills has to be Dudley's number one priority.

Now we’ve got these brilliant new facilities let’s work together to bring a university technical college to the town so youngsters can get the skills in engineering, manufacturing, design and technology that local companies are crying out for.