Jim Mcmahon

Glad to show my support for the WASPI campaign in Parliament yesterday, we absolutely have to keep up the pressure so that these women are not left behind.
I'll be banging this drum in favour of the nearly 4,000 women who'll be detrimentally affected by this in Oldham West and Royton because we cannot let injustices like this one lie.
The WASPI campaign isn't fighting against the equalisation of the state pension age, nor are they asking that it go back to 60, they're merely ...asking for transitional arrangements for all the women effected. In the worst case scenarios some women will lose up to ┬Ż50,000!
The way the Government acted in giving some of these women only 12 months notice that they wouldn't be eligible for their state pension at 60, after working their whole lives thinking that was the finish line, is just wrong.
It's worth pointing out that The Turner Commission recommended that people be given fifteen years notice of any changes to their state pension age, which would allow enough time for those affected to plan for their retirement.
There are a number of reasons that women born in the 1950's didn't have a level playing field to start with and were likely to be more reliant on their state pensions than their male counterparts. So we should do what we can now to level out this injustice and set up transitional arrangements for these women.
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Next up, after attending the Launch of the Co-op's community Wellbeing Index, I hosted Core Cities in Parliament as they launched their report: Enhancing Productivity in UK Core Cities.
For those who don't know Core Cities is a group which aims to promote the role of the ten largest cities in the UK outside of London, so it represents Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
The report highlighted how ...many of our communities across the UK have been, and continue to be, disadvantaged by the way our country works. So I welcome the report and it's recommendations to truly level up the UK and boost our regions by increasing connectivity between them.
I don't think it can be stressed enough that this requires long term and cross party action to address these regional and local inequalities. There's no easy path to this, and it's not cheap but it'll be worth it if it's done properly.
Place based solutions are absolutely key to the problems that our city-regions encounter, and we can't navigate our way through them without consulting the people that live in these places.
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It was a busy day yesterday, after meeting with and answering questions from the students of The Radclyffe School, I attended The Co-operative Group's Community Wellbeing Index launch.
The Community Wellbeing Index is the first measure of wellbeing at a local level across all four nations of the UK of this type, it gives us scores on the quality of education, housing prices, public transport, the amount of green space available, and the number of community centres in a given ...area.
The Co-op have spoken to thousands of people across the UK to find out what matters most to them and their communities most, and what can be improved. I really hope communities in Oldham, and across the UK make use of this great free(!) data tool.
This tool provides a fantastic insight into the people, places and relationships that make up a community. If you'd like to see how your community scores go to communitywellbeing.coop.co.uk and enter your postcode.
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It was great to welcome pupils and teachers from The Radclyffe School to Parliament this afternoon.
Politics and social movements are changing constantly, but there is an immense feeling of pride and privilege that comes with serving your community. We should all be inspired by the next generation, and it was great to talk to them today about the roles and responsibilities of a Member of Parliament.
Hopefully a few of these children have been inspired by their visit, and the...y start to get involved and engaged with politics. The climate strikes over the last few months have shown just how engaged our young people can be, and maybe its time we listen to their concerns and take them seriously - especially with issues that they will have to live with the consequences of long after IŌĆÖve stopped being an MP.
If you want to organise a school trip to the Houses of Parliament you can find out more information here: learning.parliament.uk/visit-us
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Many of you will probably already know that demolition has started on Hartford Mill. Back in the middle of February the process begun and already about three-quarters of the main building has been demolished.
Next up is the boiler house, before the chimney will be demolished - and mostly by hand! The process of bringing the mill down should be completed in 8 weeks, but the contractors will be on site for six months completing the works and making sure that all materials that ...can be recycled from the demolition are.
Work has been going on behind the scenes since September to make sure the demolition happens safely for those carrying out the work and for local residents.
There have been numerous attempts over the years to refurbish the mill, but due to a number of factors, including low land values and eye-watering costs of refurbishment meant that it was not a viable option. As a result the demolition will free up a brownfield site which houses can then be built on.
As the pictures below show (taken a couple of years ago) the mill is derelict and an eyesore for local residents, so whilst it is a great shame that a a place so key to our industrial heritage is being demolished, in the end it is the right thing to do.
This has been a long process to get to this point, with many people - including myself - invested in making sure that the local community's concerns about the mill were taken into account. It has taken a while because the building was Grade 2 listed - in part because it had one of the oldest concrete floors in the country.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/Ō Ć”/death-trap-113-yeŌĆ”
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I'd like to encourage any and all community groups - especially in Royton - to come together and apply for this pilot scheme.
The Access to Cash pilot schemes will work with small communities around the country to test different solutions to local access to cash needs, there should be no one-sized-fits-all approach to this.
Free access to cash is a real problem with the increase in digital payments, banks and cash-machines are closing all over the place and often leaving enti...re communities reliant one just one free cash-machine.
17% of the population would struggle without access to cash, we need to halt the decline of cash infrastructure to prevent the digital payment revolution.
Hopefully pilot schemes like these can be successful in finding innovative ways for communities to retain free access to cash, with the ability to continue to use and bank cash.
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ThereŌĆÖs 15,981 older people in Oldham West and Royton. Annually, ┬Ż3.5 billion of Pension Credit for the poorest pensioners is unclaimed. I support @IndependentAgeŌĆÖs #CreditWhereItsDue campaign to make solutions to improve Pension Credit up-take. More: bit.ly/IACredit

It was a pleasure to attend the AGM for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Votes at 16 last week. The election decimated the Group and we lost fantastic members, campaigners and allies to the cause in December. I want to pay tribute to the great work they did in helping with my Private Members Bill when it was going through Parliament.
But I'm delighted that we have managed to get the APPG up and running again, so we can continue to make the case for lowering the voting age..., and bringing about equality at the ballot box across the UK.
The APPG decided to elect Co-Chairs from Members across parties in parliament, so that we can continue to campaign to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote, without party colours interfering and putting the positive case forward for the country.
I look forward to serving as a Member of this APPG and making the case for our wonderful young people to get their chance to express their will at the ballot box.
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Last night I was on frontbench duty and made the point that over the last five years council tax has risen by a third. The government would not get away with raising any other tax by a third in the same period so why should they get away with forcing local government to do this.
We need to reform the way that local government in England is funded, away from the regressive measure that is council tax. Next April, council tax revaluations will be 30 years old, which means the r...ate you pay is based on house prices from three decades ago.
And this has profound effects on local authorities ability to fund local services, the level of funding for adult social care and childrenŌĆÖs services is dependent on council tax income, because after a lost decade of tory austerity councils have seen their funding cut and cut and cut. Whilst they're expected to provide the same services.
It can be quite abstract just to talk in numbers about things like this, but what the last decade of cuts really means is that the services that make somewhere a decent place to live have been affected: the library may have closed, the community centre sits empty, and the SureStart Centre that provided children with a real start in life is no more.
And these closures have a real life, damaging, effect on people. As we saw yesterday life expectancy is going backwards for women and stalling for men, because of the policies that successive Tory governments have led. If austerity is over, itŌĆÖs time to prove it.
Enough is enough. We need a more progressive funding stream for local government, one that takes into account geographical variations that take place and it absolutely has to be up to date. Council Tax is an important measure but weŌĆÖve got to admit that it has limitations. We do a disservice to our constituents if we donŌĆÖt, its time to admit that there has been a collective failure of successive governments to deal with this.
If the government want to act on this, it wants to be mature and it wants to take party politics out of it, I know my party would be willing to work with them to create a truly fair funding stream for local government.
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This afternoon at Local Government questions I asked the minister how the government intends to deal with the massive gaps in life expectancy that have opened up between the richest and poorest in our society.
Ten years of Tory led government and imposed austerity are now clearly beginning to show, the poorest women live 7.7 years less than the richest, and for poorest men live 9.5 years less than the richest. This is the worst regression for 120 years in England, it's stuff ...of the Victorian Era and this government have presided over it.
As well as massive gaps opening up in life expectancy, child poverty has risen and the Review points to the closure of SureStart Centres as a key reason for this. It sets out as many of us have been warning for years that cuts to local government are detrimental to peopleŌĆÖs health:
"The cuts over the period shown [from 2010] have been regressive and inequitable - they have been greatest in areas where need is highest and conditions are generally worse. It is likely that the cuts have harmed health."
The MENs full write up of the Marmot Review and its shocking conclusions can be found here: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/Ō Ć”/england-falters-pŌĆ”
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Ahead of today's debate on the Local Government Finance Settlement, let us remind ourselves that the current system is far from fair and the government's planned 'improvements' don't make it any fairer.
Council tax increases do not generate the same income across the country. How can it be right that the value houses in your area determine the funding you'll recieve in old age when you need it most.
This postcode lottery is not a fair way of funding key services like adult social care.

In parliament last week I made sure I made time to stop by to the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home event to pledge my support for five-year sentences for animal cruelty.
I am pleased to sign this pledge, I know just how many of you in Oldham West and Royton care about animal cruelty and I want you to know that this campaign to get justice for mistreated animals is one that I am wholeheartedly behind.
In January this year, I added my name to Finns Map of MPs, to make sure that the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill ŌĆō also known as #FinnsLawPart2 ŌĆō passes through the House of Commons later on this year.

IŌĆÖm supporting this campaign to protect workers from abuse on the shop floor, itŌĆÖs not right that that people go to work and get abused by customers, who then face little to no consequences for their actions.
It also canŌĆÖt be right that the government knows this is an issue, because it asked people to submit evidence about it and has since received evidence from thousands of individuals, retailers and unions.
And what have they done with the evidence? Nothing. ItŌĆÖs been over ...7 months since the call for evidence closed and the Home Office havenŌĆÖt even bothered to respond to it. In the meantime shopworkers continue to suffer abuse, threatening behaviour and violence in the workplace.
So in partnership with the Co-operative Group, the Co-operative Party, USDAW and many others from the retail sector, I'm calling on government to do a couple of things:
First, respond to the call for evidence and show people that you have listen to their experiences.
Second, to act on that evidence and make assaulting a shop worker a specific offence, and in case where the shopworker is enforcing the law on prohibited items and is assaulted in the process an aggravated offence.
https://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/ŌĆ”/mp -jim-mcmahon-backs-gŌĆ”
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At the start of this year I made a pledge to make sure that during the next five years as Oldham West and RoytonŌĆÖs MP I would take the climate emergency seriously.
And thatŌĆÖs why IŌĆÖm supporting the Climate CoalitionŌĆÖs #ShowTheLove Campaign. We can do and we should be doing more to protect the environment we love and to get on track to net zero emissions as soon as possible.
We havenŌĆÖt got long to make a difference and itŌĆÖs vital we do what we can whilst we can. This year the... UK will host the COP26 summit, so we should make 2020 the year we show our love to the environment. It is our opportunity to lead the world with a green economy and show how we can protect the future environment for the ones we love.
I will continue to urge and press the government to do more and take this as seriously as we need to. There are of course little actions we can all take, but the scale of the crisis we face cannot be combated without massive government investment.
So what is it you love about our environment that you want to protect the most?
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I'm very happy to see that former Thomas Cook employees have helped bring about this new venture with Barrhead Travel in Oldham.
The shop opens tomorrow, so be sure to get down and give them a warm welcome.
Well done to Amanda, Louise and the rest of the Oldham team.
... https://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/ŌĆ”/ex -thomas-cook-colleagŌĆ”
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This week was Heart Unions week, and trade unions are vital to millions of people in the UK and especially important to the Labour Party.
Thanks to the trade union movement we get: ŌĆó Sick pay ŌĆó Eight hour day... ŌĆó Paid holidays ŌĆó Paid parental leave ŌĆó The minimum wage ŌĆó Safe places to work ŌĆó Protection from discrimination ŌĆó Weekends ŌĆó Equal pay
If youŌĆÖre not already a member of trade union I would strongly encourage it, the power of collective bargaining cannot be understated. To find the right union for you go to: tuc.org.uk/join-union
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A few weeks ago I promised to write to the relevant minister to discuss the concerns I had around car insurance premiums in Oldham.
I've now got a response back from the Economic Secretary of the Treasury, and this key extract is telling "The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions made by insurers as this could damage competition in the market. This competition is important and should lead to better products and lower prices for consumers overal...l."
Well the market clearly isn't doing that in Oldham, in Greater Manchester and in Merseyside. I think this response is incredibly poor and shows that the Tory party remains out of touch, refusing to take a course of action that would help working people in the name of free market idealism.
Attached is the letter I sent in late January and the Minister's reply that I received this week in full.
https://www.facebook.com/jimfromoldham/po sts/2574460529337478?__tn__=-R
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The reality on the ground is that since the Tory Party came into government in 2010, that local government has been hit hardest by the cuts.
There are now almost a million fewer council officers today than there were in 2010, this means that there are less people striving everyday to make sure that your local council delivers the services that residents need.
So the minister was right to thank local government, but maybe he should consider the role he and his party in government have had in depriving local authorities of the resources they desperately need.