Reigate Constituency Labour Party

18/03/2021

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11/03/2021

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24/02/2021

JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED!

Who remembers the legal institution in these photos?

Under former Justice Secretary, Chris “Failing” Grayling, the Tory Government's austerity cuts saw Redhill Law Courts close in 2017. When the decision was announced, our fairly useless Tory MP, Crispin Blunt, weakly wrote on his website: “I am very disappointed that the courts in Reigate will close.”

Now with a massive backlog of cases the Government is considering using “Nightingale Courts” to tackle to problem of delays in the court system. Two year waits for serious cases are already planned as the queue for justice grows longer for trials to take place.

Between 2010 and 2020, the Tories shut down 164 magistrates’ courts out of 320 (51%!) The buildings were sold off, the staff were sacked, and legal aid trashed. If you remember, Grayling also privatised the Probation Service and nearly destroyed it.

Latest figures show:-
The numbers being prosecuted fell by 22% in the year to September 2020 compared with the same period a year earlier.
It has also emerged that there has been a 25% drop in the number of offenders convicted.
The backlog in the crown courts has hit a record of 56,000 cases; with some already timetabled for 2023!

The Tories truly are the Party of law and DISorder!

22/02/2021

PRIVATE HOSPITAL GROUPS MAKING PROFITS WHILE THE NHS STRUGGLES

The government should buy up the private hospital facilities that it needs at market value, and require all NHS consultants to commit their time solely to the pandemic response, rather than spendin…

19/02/2021

TORIES MIGHT HAVE WRECKED COVID-19 VACCINE

If they could get away with another lie, the Tories would like you to believe that Boris Johnson invented the Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine.

But the current issue of Private Eye reminds me that there is a very different story to tell.

In 2014 there was a hostile takeover attempt of AstraZeneca (AZ) by Pfizer! George Osborne, no less, was strongly supportive of the bid, not least because it would have exploited offshore tax breaks for multinationals that Georgie/Gideon had brought in and would have been heralded as an “investment” attributable to his genius. Others in the Coalition Government of the time, notably Business Secretary – Vince Cable, had other ideas. And the deal did not happen. Imagine if it had and AZ was being controlled by big pharma in Trump’s America. I suggest that it is extremely unlikely that the now highly, Tory lauded co-operation between Oxford University and the COVID Vaccine Taskforce would have happened at all. Just ponder that!

The BBC report of the failed bid is here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27572986

The Financial Times wrote up a review of the failed takeover one year later. It’s here:
https://www.ft.com/content/e8320ccc-0327-11e5-8333-00144feabdc0

19/02/2021

THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THE GIG ECONOMY? LET'S HOPE SO!

The decision could mean thousands of Uber drivers are set to receive minimum wage and holiday pay.

18/02/2021

KEIR STARMER: A NEW CHAPTER FOR BRITAIN

Subscribe to our channel – http://bit.ly/1EE0m0n Join our growing movement today ↓Join the Labour Party – https://join.labour.org.ukLike us on Facebook – htt...

17/02/2021

RAILCARD RIP-OFF

There are currently eight main types of Railcards available. I don’t know how many people actually have one. But National Rail boast that 20 million are eligible. The cost is £30 for a 1-year Railcard. Or where they are offered £70 for a 3-year Railcard. (Disabled Persons Railcard is slightly cheaper.) Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, there are no refunds. Here’s what The Railcard Help Team are mailing out to any cardholder who asks:

Thanks for taking the time to email us. I hope you and your family are safe and well during the pandemic.

I am sorry to learn that due to COVID-19 restrictions, you haven’t been able to make as many rail journeys as you had planned and consequently are now seeking a refund of your Railcard or get it extended.

While I do sympathise with the situation you are facing, I regret to advise you that the government has confirmed that Railcards are to remain non-refundable and no extension to the validity of the Railcard can be offered.

Refunding or extending Railcards for millions of customers would come at a significant cost to the taxpayer, at a time when the focus must be on maintaining rail services to support the country’s recovery from the pandemic.

You may be interested to know that most Railcard users manage to recover the cost of the Railcard by way of the discounts received on their tickets depending on the kind of journey they make. I certainly hope this is the case for you and that it won’t be too long before you can begin to fully enjoy the benefits of travelling on the railway again

Please be assured that this decision hasn’t been taken lightly and was made at the highest level.

Thanks again for your continued patience, and we understand that this may not be the answer you're looking for.

Kind regards

14/02/2021

OTHER GREAT VINYL ALBUMS

I see you liked my post about Carole King.

Here are some other suggestions about truly great vinyl albums:

Sgt. Pepper's
Bob Marley
Joan Armatrading

What do you think?

13/02/2021

CAROLE KING'S 'TAPESTRY'

We should talk about stuff other than politics.

Fifty years?! WOW!!

With its masterful songcraft and backstory of personal reinvention, King’s 1971 landmark remains one of pop’s greatest declarations of independence

09/02/2021

BREXIT BAD NEWS - What you don't hear!

Exports through British ports to the European Union have been slashed by a staggering 68% since last year according to the Road Haulage Association following a survey of its international members.

In addition the RHA have reported about 70% of vehicles that have come from the EU have gone back empty because British companies have temporarily or permanently halted exports to the EU.

According to the House of Commons Library UK exports to the EU were £294billion in 2019 (43% of all exports) while UK imports from the EU were £374billion (52% of the total).

The overwhelming majority of exports to the EU from the UK go through ports rather than by air. It is feared that infrastructure needed at the point when the UK introduces full import checks on goods on 1st July will not be ready in time. This raises the prospect of new issues adversely affecting imports.

Trade experts say the sharp fall in trade was the coincidence of Brexit and the pandemic but fear worse is to come when we come of out lockdown with a supply chain that is incredibly reluctant to service the UK will result in a Brexit crisis.

In recent weeks hundreds of companies have decided either to halt exports or set up subsidiaries in the EU so they can distribute goods.

06/02/2021

ELECTIONS ARE DEFINITELY GOING AHEAD ON 6TH MAY 2021
*******GET A POSTAL VOTE******** GET A POSTAL VOTE********

IN REIGATE AND BANSTEAD WE SHALL HAVE THREE DIFFERENT ELECTIONS GOING ON:

1. COUNCIL ELECTIONS REIGATE AND BANSTEAD
There are 15 Wards in Reigate and Banstead. Each Ward has 3 Council seats. One seat in each Ward is up for Election. These are the Elections delayed from May 2020. And it happens that there is an extra vacancy (so 2 seats) in Earlswood and Whitebushes Ward and Horley East and Salfords Ward.

2. COUNTY COUNCIL ELECTIONS SURREY
Elections of Councillors for Surrey County take place every 4 years. And here we are in 2021. Reigate and Banstead is divided up into 10 County Council Divisions. You will be voting for 1 Councillor in each Division.

3. SURREY POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER
There is 1 Commissioner for the whole of Surrey. The method of Election is called Supplementary Vote (SV). Under SV, there are two columns on the ballot paper - one for voters to mark their 1st choice and one in which to mark a 2nd choice. Voters mark 'X' in each column, although voters are not required to make a second choice if they do not wish to. After the first choice votes are counted, and if one Candidate has over 50% of the votes marked ‘X’ in the column 1, then that Candidate is elected. If no Candidate receives a majority, the top two Candidates continue to a second round and all other Candidates are eliminated. The second-choice votes of everyone whose first choice has been eliminated are then counted.

*******GET A POSTAL VOTE******** GET A POSTAL VOTE********
You can download an application to vote by post here: https://bit.ly/3pRfyH7
Or contact the Council by emailing [email protected] to request one.