It has been a busy and tumultuous month, with Parliament returning on 12 October after a ludicrously lengthy Summer Recess.  The Labour Conference was a month ago and unfortunately did not give us a sustained boost in the polls.  All eyes are now on Westminster to see if the Conservatives, with their huge poll lead, will hold together on the big issue of the moment – Europe. 

The Conservatives have long promised a Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but what will they do now that it is likely to be ratified by all 27 Member States?  The Poles and then the Czechs were the last to hold out and they are now signing up.  If Cameron continues to promise a Referendum, what exactly will people be voting on?  And if he ditches the Referendum – on the grounds that the Treaty has been brought in – he will enrage many of his foaming mouthed Europhobic supporters.

The Lisbon Treaty is good for the EU in that it will simplify the Byzantine institutional architecture and end the lunacy of rotating six month presidencies.  There has been much press comment on whether Tony Blair should put his name forward as the new President of the Council.  I think that would be a big mistake.  The fact that Britain is not in the Euro or in the Schengen zones will count against him.  And then there is Iraq.

Elsewhere, much has been written about the forthcoming second round elections in Afghanistan on 7 November.  The previous election was contaminated by fraud and corruption and phantom polling stations.  The whole process was totally discredited and, under pressure, President Karzai agreed a run-off was necessary.  Only a handful of Muslim majority countries have functioning democracies in the sense that we understand in the West and Afghanistan is, only now, being dragged out of medievalism. 

Ronald Gould, a Canadian election expert who has supervised elections in more than 70 counties around the world (including an investigation in spoilt ballot papers in the last election to the Scottish Parliament) has controversially described Afghanistan as “a dead loss”.  He told the main Canadian national newspaper The Globe & Mail, that “it is a waste of time at this point…focusing on elections when the country is not ready and not capable of democratic government”.  He took the view that it would be better to try and nurture and embed political parties first.  I put the point to the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, when I met him on Wednesday.

As it happens, I spent a week in Ottawa earlier this month, attending a Parliamentary Seminar on the theme of “Strengthening Democracy” which was organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.  I found it hugely enjoyable as leader of the two person delegation!  My fellow Parliamentarian was Lord Roger Roberts who shares an office at Westminster with – wait for it - Lord Tony Greaves – Aieee! (As it happens I got on very well with Roger, a Methodist preacher.)

My Ashcroft campaign continues to roll forward.  Ashcroft’s business dealings in Belize appeared on the front page of the Independent today and there will be a follow-up story tomorrow.  I raised the huge delay in responding to my Freedom of Information request with the Cabinet Secretary at a meeting of the Public Administration Select Committee yesterday and I have warned the Information Commissioner that I intend to raise the matter in parliament in an Adjournment Debate unless I get a definitive answer by next Friday.  As you know, Michael Ashcroft was “raised” to the Peerage in 2000, after promising to bring his tax affairs on shore.  In March 2000, 10, Downing Street said it raised no objections to this on the basis of undertakings that had been given by Ashcroft.  I simply want to know the form of the undertaking (email, letter, verbal) and to whom it was given.  This saga has been dragging on for over two years now and it needs to be resolved.

Elsewhere, the Royal Mail dispute continues to dominate the news and, unsurprisingly, the CWU has been given a roasting by most of the commentators.  However, I believe that people in the street are much more receptive to the arguments – if they are allowed to hear them unfiltered by a hostile press.  The Pension Fund is now in deficit as a direct result of a contribution holiday taken by successive Governments over a period of 13 years.  If the Government – the sole shareholder in the Royal Mail – take responsibility for the Pension Fund, the Royal Mail’s financial position would be transformed over night.  And it is simply not true that postal workers are Luddites, unwilling to embrace new technology. .

Locally the news features the proposals to transform Burnley College into a 1,500 place boarding school for Muslim girls and a similar proposal for Brierfield Mills, but this time accommodating a staggering 5,000 pupils.  I have been relying on newspaper reports and I wait to see whether these proposals will materialise, but at the moment, I fear such developments would be a direct challenge to the Community Cohesion Agenda that we are all following here in East Lancashire.  As I say, these are apparently independent charitable schools, but much more information is needed. 

Still on the matter of schools.  I was astonished to learn earlier this month that only 71% (50 out of 70) secondary schools newly built under the Building Schools for the Future programme, included sprinklers.  It beggars belief that new schools could be built without such an elementary safeguard in place.  All the schools in Lancashire, including Pendle Vale, have, fortunately, been constructed with sprinkler systems.

On the health front, things have been moving rapidly.  I met the new Chair of the East Lancashire Trust, Hazel Harding and the Acting Chief Executive,  Diane Whittingham and repeated my call for an independent review of A&E.  My request, unfortunately, fell on deaf ears and I raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions and shall be meeting the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, on 9 November.

We also learned of the sad death of Betty Dole earlier this month.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get back for the funeral, but I have many fond memories of Betty and Len, who together personified the Labour party in this part of East Lancashire.

Gordon Prentice MP

Friday 30 October 2009