Chuka Umunna MP

Congratulations to Lambeth College on winning a prestigious Association of Colleges Beacon Award. Minister of State for Further Education Kevin Brennan MP presented Curriculum Manager Rachael Brown, Chair of Governors Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly and student Natalie Harris with the award at Westminster recently.

The College received the RNIB and Mencap Award for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities for its hard work in placing these students in employment. Through workplace and personal skills training, practice work environments and partnerships with employment agencies the College has prepared its students well for the challenges that lie beyond their education.

Chuka Umunna, who attended the opening of the College’s new buildings last year, said:

“It is fantastic that Lambeth College’s work in the local community has been recognised nationally. It is important to equip our young people as best as we can for the challenges that they will face in the job market.

“With its recent expansion and continued development of new teaching methods, Lambeth College can certainly not be accused of resting on its laurels. It is an innovative and growing education centre which is an asset to local residents.”

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, has pledged to build on the work of Keith Hill MP if he is elected by establishing a Constituency Office alongside other key commitments outlining how he would operate as MP for the area.

The office would be located at the heart of Streatham and would allow constituents to seek help and arrange to meet with their MP. Mr Umunna would also hold public People’s Question Times, enabling local people to regularly hold him to account and raise issues.

Prior to the election of Keith Hill in 1992, none of the previous MPs for Streatham, all of whom had been Conservatives, had held advice surgeries for local residents across the constituency. While surgeries currently operate in Streatham, Tulse Hill and Clapham Park, Mr Umunna has said he would add a new surgery location in the Brixton area.

While Mr Umunna currently practices as an employment law solicitor, if elected he would immediately give this up and work full time as Streatham’s MP.

To ensure full transparency and accountability, he would publish online his salary and allowances, subscribing to high standards of integrity and prudence with public money.

Commenting on the pledges, Mr Umunna said: “If local people give me the privilege of serving them as their MP, they are entitled to know how what kind of representative I would be and how I would address their problems, concerns and queries.

“Being part of a new political generation, I want to change the way we do politics. On a national level, I believe this requires a more proportional voting system, an elected House of Lords and a mechanism for ‘recalling’ MPs.

“It is unfair that minority parties such as the Lib Dems and Greens are denied representation proportional to the vote they receive, and I would work to redress this.

“Locally I am pledging that if elected I would open a constituency office, add an advice surgery location in Brixton and operate People’s Question Times to make it easier for people to communicate with their MP or seek help.”

If elected, Mr Umunna would be the first Member of Parliament for Streatham to have grown up in the area.

Brixton’s brand new Windrush Square will open this weekend, with celebrations on Saturday and Sunday including live music and a lantern-lit procession by local children.

The development is a part of the wider Brixton Town Centre programme, which is enhancing the local urban environment alongside upgrading the area’s roads and pavements to improve access and safety.

Creating a new focal point in the heart of Lambeth, the new town square will also be a venue for community activities and events, joining together the old square with Tate Gardens to create a single pedestrianised open space.

The square’s name was chosen in 1998 with help from local residents and businesses to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush from Jamaica on 22 June 1948 which was a landmark event in the development of our modern multicultural society.

The rejuvenated square has been built with a new fountain, improved lighting, wider crossing points and improvements such as cycle stands to encourage more people to cycle. It also features 21 new trees. Added to this there will be high quality landscaping and surfacing and sculpted granite seating, creating what will be a thriving centre for our area.

Sustainable Streatham will be screening Food, Inc. at the Streatham Odeon this evening at 8pm. The documentary, which was directed by Robert Kenner, examines the food industry in the United States and its environmental impact. Entry to the screening is priced at £5.

To find out more about Sustainable Streatham and its work, follow this link.

The government has launched a new Cancer Strategy which, supported by an investment of £370 million by 2010, will majorly improve existing cancer care. The strategy will build a world-class cancer service, helping to save more lives and ensure patients in Streatham and across the country get the care they deserve.

The NHS has made significant progress on cancer treatment under Labour; from extending screening for breast and bowel cancer to reducing waiting times for referral and treatment for cancer patients.

Labour’s new cancer strategy will do more to prevent cancer, diagnose cancer more quickly and provide even better care. Measures will include further extending breast and bowel cancer screening, investing £200 million to increase radiotherapy capacity and a new HPV vaccine to help reduce cervical cancer. Under these plans those who have, or have had, cancer will be offered free one-to-one care in their homes by a specialist personal nurse.

Speaking about the plans Gordon Brown said: “Instead of arriving at a hospital and hoping to see the nurse or the doctor you had before, that nurse will stay with you. And that nurse would be able to help you at home as well as when you arrive at the hospital. This one-to-one care is how we plan to develop lots of other services in future.”

Chuka Umunna commented: “This new strategy means that patients will have a cancer test within one week of seeing their GP, and could result in 10,000 lives a year being saved, including many right here in Streatham.”

Chuka Umunna has announced his support for the Robin Hood Tax proposing to take 0.05% from all speculative banking transactions. The several hundred billion pounds that it would raise would go towards safeguarding frontline services such as schools and the NHS. The speculative transactions which the tax targets were a major contributor to the global financial crisis.

Chuka has been active in campaigning in this area, calling in November for a windfall on bank profits and a High Pay Commission to curb excessive bank bonuses. In December he joined former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in signing a letter calling for tougher action on banks including a windfall levy on bonuses, calling for London and Britain’s economy to be less reliant on financial services and advocating a tax on banks’ transactions.

Calls for a new banking tax come against a backdrop of a resurgent banking sector. The Centre for Economics and Business Research announced that banking bonuses rose by 50% in 2009 while Barclays and HSBC announced half-year profits of £3bn.

With Streatham benefiting from Labour investment in schools, colleges and Sure Start Centres, a tax on banking transactions would help continue the good work in the area. Chuka Umunna said:

“Given that the casino-banking was a cause of the global financial crisis, it is only right that the banks help the country out of it.

“A 0.05% tax on speculative banking transactions would help fund and maintain our schools, universities and hospitals, safeguarding and improving public services here in Streatham.”

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, has condemned the Award of Business of the Year to First Group at the 2009 Rail Business Awards.

At the awards, First Group scooped the Business of the Year 2009 prize, while First Capital Connect (FCC), the subsidiary of the company which runs the Thameslink franchise, won two other awards including for “Internal Communications Excellence.”

Passengers of FCC have experienced severe disruption since November 2009 including many delays and cancellations, following an industrial dispute over staff pay and technical problems arising from the recent snowfall.

Other passenger complaints have included poor and/or non-existent communication at stations and shortened and overcrowded trains.

Mr Umunna said: “This is a complete slap in the face to the passengers who have been let down by First Capital Connect.

“Given what passengers have experienced, to name First Group Business of the Year is a complete joke.
“What’s more, First Capital Connect won an award for ‘communication’ yet there has been a severe lack of proper communication with the people who actually use their service here – these awards beggar belief!”

Last month, Chuka Umunna and Tessa Jowell, MP for neighbouring Dulwich and West Norwood, met with FCC bosses to go through in detail the huge number of complaints they have received about the service and demand immediate improvements.

As a result of the meeting, company bosses held a “Meet the Managers” event at Tulse Hill station earlier this month to address Thameslink users’ concerns.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has told FCC that the disruption experienced by passengers is unacceptable, and warned the operator that it could lose its franchise if the situation continues.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, has called for the funfair to be dropped from this year’s summer Lambeth Country Show after it attracted gang violence at last year’s event.

Chuka attended the Lambeth Country Show last year and spoke at a Lambeth Community Police Consultative Group (CPCG) public meeting at the event on Saturday 18 July.

Immediately after the meeting, he and other participants witnessed confrontation between two large rival gangs in and around the funfair area of the festival, with a teenager being stabbed in the fracas.

The 16-year old’s arm was slashed with a knife. Hundreds of Police had to intervene and dozens of arrests were made. As the violence escalated, dozens of families fled from the funfair where the violence began.

On the Saturday evening, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an offensive weapon, along with another boy of the same age who was accused of assaulting a police officer.

Lambeth Country Show, a free annual community event held in Brockwell Park, last year attracted more than 100,000 visitors over two days.

While during the day the event was a success, the funfair attracted gang violence, and Mr Umunna is calling for the funfair to be dropped from the event this year to help prevent trouble breaking out again.

After witnessing the incident last year, Mr Umunna has made his concerns known to the police and Lambeth council, which organises the Lambeth Country Show.

Mr Umunna has been prompted to call for the funfair to be pulled after hearing the concerns of many local parents’ who say they will not allow their teenage children to attend the Country Show because of their worries about security issues and the risk of further gang violence.

Mr Umunna said: “Last year’s Lambeth Country Show was a huge success but was unfortunately marred by gang violence and a teenager was stabbed.

“Trouble was also reported at other events similar to the Lambeth Country Show in Southwark and Lewisham.

“Getting rid of the funfair at our Country Show would reduce the risk of gangs congregating at it, help police maintain order and ensure the event continues to be one of the great highlights in our summer calendar.”

“Having heard the concerns of local parents, I feel we have to act to make sure this year’s event is safe for all concerned – the funfair has acted as a magnet for trouble and removing it makes sense in my view.”

It has been reported by South London Press (‘Ditch Funfair at Top Show’, Feb 19 2010) that Mr Umunna witnessed the stabbing of a teenager at the event. By way of clarification, although Mr Umunna saw the violence at the funfair, he did did not witness the stabbing which took place.

To mark the retirement of Keith Hill, who has been MP for Streatham since 1992, he is hosting an event to bring together and celebrate the continued success and achievements of local organizations and the people of our area.

Celebrating Streatham will feature ‘Streatham Presents…’: a talent contest judged by local celebrities rapper Speech Debelle, who won the 2009 Mercury Music Prize, and singer Leo Ihenacho from The Streets.

It is being held at Dunraven School on Saturday 27 February 2010 between 2.00pm and 6.30pm.

The event will showcase the talent of local performers to the wider community and hopes to challenge the negative perceptions of both Streatham and young people, which are too often put forward by the national media.

From 2pm local community groups, businesses and charities, will be hosting stalls (including food), running workshops and activities such as face painting and T-shirt making. These include local Scout groups, Streatham-based charity Spires, local chocolatier Paul Gregory who specialises in chocolate sculptures, businesses like Perfect Blend and a street dance demonstration class led by local entrepreneur Jerome Barnes of Streetbreakers.

From 4pm, performers in ‘Streatham Presents…’ include local schools, youth groups such as Clapham Youth Centre and The Palace Project, as well as Gloria Bailey MBE’s Make a Difference group from the Streatham Darby & Joan Club. Prizes will be awarded to the winner and one runner up. The top prize will be the opportunity to record a music video with the Generation Next Foundation, which has experience in producing short films as a major area of its work with young people.

The event is free and those wanting to attend can obtain tickets by emailing their name and address to tickets {at} streathamlabour.org(.)uk. Due to limited availability, people should book early to avoid disappointment and those attending who are under the age of 18 and not part of a group will need to be accompanied by an adult.

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