John Grogan Labour

Each year the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme is inundated with applicants and only a handful are ultimately successful – the fact we have two ambassadors from the Keighley and Ilkley constituency is a real achievement.
It was a pleasure to meet Teacher Ambassadors Keeley Lister (Ilkley Grammar School) and May Whitaker (Riddlesden St Mary's Primary School & Nursery) in Parliament where we talked about their experiences on the Programme.
Better engagement and dialogue with young people is of fundamental importance to our democracy and I am sure that Keeley and May have plenty to share with their students. I think one of the effects of Brexit is that in our schools there is an increased awareness of – and interest in – how our Parliament works and how decisions are taken.

It was a pleasure to speak at the "Surviving Summer" Conference organised by the Anti-Poverty Events Group today.
The event brought community, voluntary and statutory practitioners together for an information and knowledge exchange aimed at supporting our more vulnerable families to thrive over the summer holidays. With the added pressures of childcare, food and other costs, managing money can become very difficult during this period.
The Anti-Poverty Events Group supports the aims of the Bradford Anti-Poverty Coordination Group across the Bradford District and is made up of community organisations including Bradford District Credit Union, CNet Bradford, People Can, Bradford Council, Stronger Families and Carers' Resource.

This week I tabled a motion calling on the government to ensure future FIFA Women's World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup and the T20WorldCup are available to all on free-to-air TV.
It was fantastic that 7.9 million people tuned in to watch England triumph in the Cricket World Cup Final on Channel 4 and 11.7 million watched England's unfortunate exit in the Women's World Cup Semi Final on BBC One!
Earlier this month I made two visits. One to Ilkley Town AFC where the Women’s and G...irls’ teams were full of excitement at the action from the World Cup in France. The other was to a local primary school in Keighley during the early rounds of the Cricket World Cup. Very few of the children appeared to know that it was taking place and many had not heard of Yorkshire players like Joe Root or Jonny Bairstow.
It is sad that the The Open Championship which takes place this week is again hidden away on subscription TV (the Sports Governing Body the The R&A has just extended Sky’s contract for the Open until 2025). Just like Cricket, TV audiences have as a result plummeted for golf and participation in the sport is declining.
It is surely time for the Government to review the listed events and I am pleased that there is some support for this not just from Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson but also Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Jeremy Wright MP.
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When the East Coast Supervisory Board was set up in 2017 it was done with great fanfare.
The body, which was chaired by the then Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity, should have intervened to halt the closure of the railway route over the busy August Bank Holiday weekend so tens of thousands of sports fans, festival goers and holiday-makers don’t have their travel plans seriously disrupted.
Making a difference regarding the timings of shutdowns on the line wa...s clearly in its remit and yet it does not seem to have had a meaningful discussion about the forthcoming shutdown.
The high hopes that the Board would be the major voice representing the passenger interest on the line have clearly not been fulfilled. The fact that it last met in November 2018 tells its own story .
Whoever becomes the new Secretary of State for Transport once the new Prime Minister is appointed needs to bang some heads together if the Supervisory Board is not to be widely seen as a public relations sticking plaster!
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According to research from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature over 40 per cent of rivers in England and Wales are polluted with sewage and the situation is getting worse. It should not be legally acceptable to frequently discharge sewage into our rivers.
The Ilkley Clean River Group is applying for the River Wharfe to be given Designated Bathing Water status. This would be the first river in the UK to be designated as such - setting a precedent for other rivers in the same situation.
A meeting will be held at Christ Church on July 11 at 17:30 to discuss this. If you are interested and would like more information please see the eventbrite link below.

It was wonderful to welcome Ilkley Grammar School students in Parliament earlier this week.
The students were in London to to present their work at The Royal Society #SummerScience Exhibition.
Their exhibition stand allowed visitors to make their own music from molecules or listen to the chemical tunes composed by schoolchildren. The innovative project involved using classic chemical reactions to make musical scales, before then being transformed into original pieces of musi...c. Scientists at the University of Bradford provided the sixth formers with some specialist equipment.
The students should be very proud of their achievement. It was good to see science students passionate about their subject working closely in a team with students whose first love is music. The results are memorable!
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It is extremely concerning that, John Holden, Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Trust's Acting Chief Executive, gave myself and Judith Cummins MP false figures about savings the proposed subsidiary company hope to raise in its first five years.
Even on the revised figures (£15m plus a further £13m of VAT efficiencies, i.e. a total of £28m) VAT avoidance is clearly a key driver for the Trust in setting up a new company with nearly half the anticipated extra revenue until 2025 co...ming from this source.
This is clearly against Government advice and will mean a big hit in lost tax for the Government. This is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul!
I support UNISON members decision to strike this month in response.
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This is very good news!
The Easter weekend fire on Ilkley Moor was deeply saddening and I am pleased to see Bradford Council act swiftly in response.
I am sure this measure will help to prevent repeat events on Ilkley, Keighley, Addingham, Haworth and Stanbury Moors in the future.

The Time is Now Mass Lobby was the biggest of its kind in Westminster’s history!
Organised by The Climate Coalition and Greener UK, it brought together surfers, scientists, bird watchers, doctors, business leaders, faith groups and many others, unified by one thing: a desire to see rapid, ambitious action for climate, nature and people. I was particularly pleased to meet my own constituents from Keighley and Ilkley there.
I am a great believer in the slogan ‘Think Global. Act Local’ and am working closely with a number of groups in the Keighley Constituency concerned with climate change.

I very much hope that this will be a case of a phoenix rising from the ashes of the old Peter Black site!
At last week’s Keighley & Airedale Business Awards the number one complaint made to me from successful companies of all sizes was the lack of new business units in the town.
This major new investment could be a real tonic for the local economy.

The showing of the FIFA Women's World Cup World Cup in France live on prime time BBC 1 is a watershed moment with six million watching the England v Scotland live - far more than any viewing figures of the Men’s Cricket World Cup are likely to achieve hidden away on subscription TV.
We are lucky enough to have a very strong female football set up on our doorsteps at Ilkley Town AFC so I would urge any women or girls who are being inspired by France 2019 to get in touch with t...hem.
Contact information can be found using the following link:
https://www.ilkleytownafc.co.uk/…/age-g roup-contact-informa…
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In granting the original planning permission, Bradford Council was obviously convinced by the developer’s argument that because of the innovative use of stilts and voids there would be no impact on water levels further down the River Aire. Such technology has been used successfully in Holland and I myself am impressed with it.
Leeds City Council is very sensitive to flooding issues because of the impact of the Boxing Day floods on the city centre a few years ago and lobbied h...ard for the application to be called in by the minister.
I hope now though, by effectively going back to square one, the developers and the Environment Agency – which has been somewhat inconsistent with its advice on this issue – can reach agreement on a scheme and mitigation measures which they both feel do not increase flooding risks.
Lack of industrial space remains one of the biggest constraints on economic growth in Keighley and needs to be addressed.
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I have had many representations from residents about the proposed 35 houses - for a site between Croft House and Green Lane in Eastburn.
In 2000 a similar housing application was received for this site but refused following the introduction of the then National Planning Policy Guidance from Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott which discouraged the development of greenfield sites.
Permission for housing was granted in 2015, but the proposed access through Green Lane did not pr...ove possible to achieve.
I share worries expressed by Steeton-with-Eastburn Parish Council about poor sight lines from the planned access route onto the main road.
Also, I have had many representations from residents about the inadequacy of the local sewage system.
And crucially, Bradford Council’s own tree officer has sharply criticised the development because of the loss of protected trees.
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This is an excellent result and a consequence of the campaigning efforts of Ilkley parents and the willingness to engage of council officials!
The P99 Primary School Bus is a vital service for many parents and children across Ilkley. Now we have got time to try and boost numbers on the bus and secure the service for the long term.
Save our lifeline bus - P99

I would like to extend my best wishes to all those celebrating Eid al Fitr today and yesterday. I have enjoyed a number of iftars (the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan) in Keighley during the month of Ramadan. A common theme in discussion over some delicious food has been the many things all communities in the town have in common. Another has been the need to protect perhaps the oldest freedom in the world (much more ancient than the right to vote) which is the right to... freedom of worship. The horrific terrorist attacks in New Zealand and Sri Lanka have reminded us all of how important this freedom is. On a happier note I have always been a great believer in the power of sport to bring us all together. The Cricket World Cup, like Liverpool’s win in the Champions League last weekend, will be the subject of many conversations in Keighley in the weeks ahead between people of all ages and backgrounds.
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The Former Lord Mayor Zafar Ali invited me to bring a group of Keighley citizens to City Hall.
I had recently seen a picture in the Keighley News featuring the Former Lord Mayor and the Keighley Cougars team.
I thought it would be good to highlight the ever-increasing number of women involved in sport in Keighley.
... Nationally this summer will see both the Women’s Football and Netball World Cups live on BBC Television.
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I am delighted that Bradford Council has moved swiftly to consult on the outlawing of barbecues on Ilkley Moor and also Keighley, Harden and Haworth Moor. The episode on Saturday morning reinforces the need for urgent action. There are legal procedures which must be followed but it would be good to get the ban in place by July if at all possible.
Once again I commend the efforts of the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for swiftly extinguishing the fire on Ilkley Moor last Saturday.

This week in Parliament with MPs from all parties, I met the Palestine Foreign Minister, Dr Riad Malki, to discuss the latest situation on the West Bank and Gaza.
I asked the Minister whether the Labour Party’s policy of recognising Palestine as a state would make a difference to the situation. He replied that it would have a big impact as smaller countries in Europe would almost certainly follow suit and it would be a counter balance to some of the policies coming from the T...rump administration.
I was impressed that the Palestinian Foreign Minister remained fully committed to a two state solution with a fully independent Palestinian State co-existing with an Israel secure in its borders.
A Labour Government in the United Kingdom could make a real contribution to bringing this about!
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