Lister Hospital A. & E. department modernised

Barbara Follett and Ivan Gibbons at opening

The modernisation of the Accident and Emergency department at Lister Hospital is part of the Labour Government's huge investment in the National Health Service. All A. & E. units that needed it are being modernised in this way. At the Lister, the improvements cost £695,000. This is in addition to the £26.4m extra (9%) received by East and North Hertfordshire District Health Authority to improve health services for everyone.

Barbara Follett, Labour M.P. for Stevenage, and Ivan Gibbons, Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for North East Hertfordshire, were at the opening of the refurbished department last Saturday (3 February). The opening ceremony was performed by T.V. stars Anna Brecon of Emmerdale and Stephen Becker of Coronation Street.

"The excellent facilities that we have seen demonstrate clearly that the Labour Government is intent on improving the National Health Service, so that once again it will be the envy of the world," said Barbara Follett.

"The Tories plan to cut £48m of spending out of the two constituencies of Stevenage and N.E. Herts.," added Ivan Gibbons. "No one can possibly believe them when they say that they can do this whilst maintaining Labour's spending plans for health, schools and tackling crime."

4 February 2001

Frank Dobson welcomed to North East Hertfordshire as "Pronsias O'Dob"

"The Tory Party is Labour's best weapon," he says

Ivan Gibbons with Frank Dobson and Dr Joan Herbert

Frank Dobson M.P., the former Health Secretary, spoke to Labour Party members gathered from all parts of North East Hertfordshire in Royston Town Hall last Saturday, 17 March 2001 for a St Patrick's night fish and chips supper. He was welcomed in Irish by a party member, who addressed him by the Irish translation of his name, Pronsias O'Dob. In response, he said that his wife might be little worried when he told her she was going to bed with Pronsias O'Dob.

He then spoke of the benefits already delivered by this Labour Government. "It is important to counter the negative message about these achievements in much of the press," he said, "in order to win a second term. In the election, Labour's best weapon," he added, "will be the Tory Party."

His major theme was the sound economy which was creating and sustaining jobs throughout the country. "I am passionate about a Britain at work and not on benefit and about ensuring that those at work have a living wage," he said. "Labour is now delivering both." He listed the minimum wage, the working families' tax credit, the forthcoming children's tax credit and the big boost to child benefit.

Appropriately enough, those members travelling into Royston from the south of the constituency had been greeted by the new Labour poster of Mr Boom and Mr Bust (Mr Hague and Mr Portillo) offering them "Economic Disaster II" at their local school or hospital.

Frank Dobson went on to speak with emotion of Nelson Mandela's address to the Labour Party conference, thanking the Party for its support throughout the apartheid period. "I asked Nelson how many political parties he had addressed in this way and he said only his own party in South Africa and the British Labour Party," he said.

Finally, he talked of the importance of party members in getting over the party's aims and actions in all parts of the country, and not just in "Labour heartlands". He called on party members in North East Hertfordshire to work hard to give the Tories "an even bigger drubbing than last time".

Ivan Gibbons, the prospective parliamentary candidate for North East Hertfordshire, took up this theme, commenting on the Labour's commanding lead in recent opinion polls. "In 1997 it was not totally clear whether the best placed candidate to defeat the Tories was the Liberal Democrat or me. In 2001 it is absolutely clear that I am best placed to win. We have to get this message across to the voters. It is not so much that a vote for the Liberal Democrat is a wasted vote, but rather that it is effectively a vote for the Tories."

Also at the meeting were Dr Joan Herbert, who has been selected to stand for Labour in South Cambridgeshire, and Philip Ross, who has been selected to stand for Labour in North East Bedfordshire. They live in Royston and Letchworth respectively.

19 March 2001

Ivan Gibbons visits local comprehensive school

UK Youth Parliament member for Hertfordshire explains youth issues

Ivan Gibbons with Charlotte Cowell

Ivan Gibbons addressed the morning assembly at Freman College, Buntingford last Friday, 23 March 2001, and then went on to have discussions with two groups of sixth formers. In assembly, he explained his background and his reasons for wanting to be a member of Parliament. His main aim was to counter the cynicism, prevalent particularly amongst young people, about politicians and their motivation. "Almost all politicians, of all parties," he told the packed hall, "go into politics because they believe they can make their communities better."

He continued this theme with the two groups of sixth formers. Ivan spent most of the time seeking out their views, rather than talking to them, but he did press the point that the way to get change was to get involved, whether in local community projects or in politics.

During the morning break, he met Charlotte Cowell, who is a member of the Buntingford youth council and was recently elected to the UK Youth Parliament. She explained how she got involved in these activities and how the Youth Parliament works. As Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for North East Hertfordshire, Ivan was also interested to hear about the concerns of the youth council in Buntingford. Their major project at present is to set up a cyber-café in the town.

"Charlotte herself - and all those on the UK Youth Parliament and the Buntingford youth council - show that there are many young people who have the same motivation as me," says Ivan Gibbons. "They believe that they can make things better. This is good news for the future of our democracy. Nevertheless, we do have to find ways to counter the cynicism and lack of interest about political issues, which exists even amongst intelligent and well-educated young people."

Note for Editors Freman College is a mixed sex comprehensive school for 14 to 18 year-olds in Buntingford. It featured as 33rd in the Guardian's list of the fifty best comprehensives last year. It draws pupils mainly from Buntingford, Royston, Standon and Puckeridge and the surrounding villages, but also from further afield. Charlotte Cowell, who lives in Buntingford, was elected to the newly formed UK Youth Parliament last year as a representative of Hertfordshire. The Parliament is non-political, but aims to make the voice of young people heard on the issues which concern them. The Buntingford youth council was elected four years ago by young people who live or travel to school in Buntingford. The next election is on 3 May this year.

26 March 2001

Independent experts advise: "Vote tactically for Labour in North East Herts"

"Labour were a good second in 1997," says the website www.tacticalvoter.net. "If enough Liberal Democrats vote tactically for Labour this time, you could get rid of another Tory MP. Don't waste your vote!"

This website is not funded by any political party, but by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the New Politics Network. It analyses the situation in all constituencies and gives advice to voters in each of them.

"This vindicates the stance that I have been taking since I was re-adopted as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate a year ago," says Ivan Gibbons. "The Tories held sway in politics for most of the 20th century. We have been distributing leaflets urging voters to make the 21st century the century of the progressive parties. With our present first-past-the-post voting system, this can only be achieved by sensible tactical voting."

Ivan Gibbons acknowledges that there are differing views on changing the voting system within the Labour Party, but he himself is in favour of a change - and not just because he would have won in 1997 under an alternative vote system, such as the one recommended by the Jenkins' Commission.

"In North East Hertfordshire, a vote for the Liberal Democrat is not just a wasted vote," Ivan concludes. "It is a vote for the Tory."

Note for Editors Ivan Gibbons was reselected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for North East Hertfordshire in April 2000. He stood at the last General Election in 1997, when he reduced the Conservative majority to 3,088 and Oliver Heald was elected as M.P. with less than 42% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats received only 18% of the vote, against Labour's 36%.

North East Hertfordshire was a new constituency in 1997. It includes Letchworth, Baldock, Royston, Buntingford, Puckeridge, Thundridge, Watton-at-Stone, Tewin and Letty Green. Comparisons cannot be made directly with results in earlier elections.

22 April 2001

Oliver Heald is irresponsible in scaring NHS patients for political advantage

The following letter, or a very similar letter, was published by all the local papers:

Dear Sir

Oliver Heald tried to scare NHS patients for political advantage when he came to you with talk of cuts in local health services ("Our ailing health service", Apr. 12). He has now extended his scare story into questions to the Secretary of State and an emergency motion in the Commons, not to mention other local papers.

He is claiming that there are debts in the East and North Hertfordshire Health Authority (now part of the Hertfordshire Health Authority) of £10m. The Health Authority say that they "do not recognise" some of his figures and the only one which seems to be confirmed is an overrun by the Lister and QE2 hospitals of £3.5m.

Let us put this in context. The funding for the East and North Hertfordshire Health Authority this financial year is rising by over £25m to nearly £348m. (Incidentally, in the last year of the Tory Government it was only £191.5m.) Also, this year the Hertfordshire Health Authority is receiving funds to help it meet targets for improved health in areas such as heart disease and critical care, amounting to an additional £28.6m. In this context, even a debt of £10m would not give rise to cuts in services.

Oliver Heald knows all this, yet he has ensured that his talk of "deep cuts" in services has had wide publicity. He knows that last year's figures will not be finalised until later in May, yet he has put down questions in the House of Commons and has tabled an emergency motion. Elsewhere, he has tried to scare the long-term sick by unfounded talk of additional prescription charges. I have been in touch with Alan Milburn (Secretary of State for Health) to forewarn him of these tactics.

All this is an irresponsible quest for political advantage. He is trying to scare others, because he himself is scared. He knows that Labour can win in North East Hertfordshire at the next election.

Yours faithfully

Ivan Gibbons

30 April 2001

"I voted Lib. Dem. in 1997. I shall vote Labour this time," says Miles Baillie

Miles Baillie

"In 1997 I thought that the Liberal Democrats had the best chance of beating the Conservative, so I voted for them. This time, it is clear that I must vote Labour." This is the view of Baldock resident, Miles Baillie, who met the Labour candidate, Ivan Gibbons, on his doorstep last Sunday (7 May).

We do not know how many voters did the same as Miles Baillie in 1997, but we do know that he is not the only one. Even so, Ivan Gibbons for Labour had nearly twice as many votes as the Liberal Democrat candidate and was only 3,088 votes short of the Conservative candidate's total. The Conservative became our M.P. on less than 42% of the vote.

In 1999, in the European election, the voters of North East Hertfordshire also gave nearly twice as many votes to Labour as to the Liberal Democrats.

And independent experts give the same advice

"Labour were a good second in 1997," says the website www.tacticalvoter.net. "If enough Liberal Democrats vote tactically for Labour this time, you could get rid of another Tory M.P. Don't waste your vote!"

This website is not funded by a political party, but by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the New Politics Network. It analyses the situation in all constituencies and gives advice to voters in each of them.

"The Tories held sway in politics for most of the 20th century," says Ivan Gibbons. "I have a vision of the 21st century as the era of the progressive parties. With our present first-past-the-post voting system, this can only be achieved by tactical voting."

Ivan Gibbons acknowledges that there are differing views in the Labour Party on changing the voting system, but he himself is in favour of a change - and not just because he would have won in 1997 under an alternative vote system, such as the one recommended by the Jenkins' Commission

"In North East Hertfordshire, a vote for the Liberal Democrat is not just a wasted voted," Ivan concludes. "It is a vote for the Tory."

8 May 2001

Ivan Gibbons opens his campaign in Letchworth

Ivan Gibbons, Labour candidate for North East Hertfordshire, has been campaigning with the local Labour Party since his re-selection as the candidate in April 2000. However, he opened his main campaign with street stalls in Letchworth and Royston.

Party members helping him distributed a leaflet appealing to the voters: "Don't let the Tory sneak back in!" In 1997, Ivan was only 3,088 behind the Conservative candidate, who became our M.P. with less than 42% of the vote.

The leaflet quotes the independent experts of www.tacticalvoter.com who say: "If enough Liberal Democrats vote tactically for Labour this time, you could get rid of another Tory M.P. Don't waste your vote!"

As Ivan says: "In North East Hertfordshire a vote for the Liberal Democrat is not just a wasted vote. It is a vote for the Tory."

14 May 2001

Challenge to Pro-European Conservative Candidate

"Condemn Sir Peter Tapsell's insult," says Ivan Gibbons Ivan Gibbons

Labour candidate for North East Hertfordshire, is challenging his pro-European Conservative rival, Oliver Heald, to condemn the disgraceful anti-German comments made by fellow-Conservative and arch Eurosceptic, Sir Peter Tapsell.

Ivan said: "Oliver Heald is a leading member of the "Conservatives for Europe" group. Surely he is as appalled as I am by the comments of Sir Peter Tapsell, who has compared the present German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, and the modern German democratic state, with Hitler and the Nazi Reich."

15 May 2001

Olivers Twist

Tory public service cuts of £30 million in N.E. Herts Ivan Gibbons

Labour candidate for North East Hertfordshire, is challenging the Conservative candidate, Oliver Heald, to come clean on the Tories' secret agenda for cutting spending on public services.

First, they were going to reduce spending by £16bn. Then it went down to £8bn. Now it has been revealed, apparently by another Oliver - Oliver Letwin, who is the Conservative shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, that they intend to make tax cuts of £20bn.

Tax cuts mean public service cuts - and these cuts mean a reduction in public services of £30 million in every constituency in the country.

"It is difficult to keep track of Tory tax plans," says Ivan Gibbons, "but I challenge Oliver Heald to tell us just how many fewer teachers, nurses, doctors and policemen we shall have in North East Hertfordshire as a result of the latest plan."

15 May 2001

Crime and the Hertfordshire Police Force

Hospital Care and their Overspend in 2000/2001

The Mercury newspaper posed a number of questions to all candidates. The first concerned the fear of crime and the low number of bobbies on the beat. It raised the problem of recruiting for the police in Hertfordshire which "was still a problem despite the new £2000 allowance for new officers". The second was about the allegedly "substabtial" debt incurred last year by the North and East Herts. Hospital NHS Trust, the shortage of nurses and the poor cleanliness at the two local hospitals, with the QE2 being on the Government' "shame list" in this respect. Ivan's answers, which were limited in length by the paper, are given below.

CRIME

Nationally crime is down by 7.1% since 1997. In Hertfordshire the crime rate is about half the national average.

Hertfordshire police numbers increased from 1759 at March 1997 to 1954 at January 2001 and 107 extra recruits are funded up to 2003. I wrote to Jack Straw in March about difficulties in recruiting. Co-incidentally (no doubt!) he then approved an extra £2000 p.a. for Hertfordshire officers appointed since the Conservatives took away housing allowances. This extra payment has just started: we have yet to see its effect.

£800,000 has been allocated for CCTV schemes in Royston, Baldock and Letchworth.

Tory plans to cut public expenditure by £16bn (or is it £20bn?) would jeopardise these improvements.

HEALTH CARE

The £3.5m debt is not substantial: it is 0.46% of this year's funding for the Hertfordshire Health Authority. There is no question of cuts in services: such talk is irresponsible scaremongering.

In N&E Herts., funding increases this year by £25m to £348m ( £191.5m in 1996/7). £1.27m has been spent on A&E departments at the Lister and QE2. There are 557 more nurses than in 1997. Nurse numbers are a problem because the Conservatives cut training places, but Labour plans to provide 20,000 more nurses nationally. There will be low-cost mortgages for nurses.

£61m has been allocated nationally to improve cleanliness, with new powers for ward sisters to supervise contractors' work.

Again, Tory public service cuts jeopardise all this.

16 May 2001

Ivan Gibbons meets primary school friend on doorstep

She nominates him as Labour candidate

Ivan Gibbons had not met Bernadette Crawford since he was at primary school with her in West London. So, he was very surprised to meet her when he knocked on her door whilst canvassing in Baldock.

To the detriment of his canvassing schedule, he spent some time with her, reminiscing about fellow pupils and about their teachers.

"I remember Ivan very clearly," says Bernadette. "We started on the same day. He was particularly noticeable, because he was wearing a bow tie. I realised who he was when he stood in the 1997 General Election, but I did not meet him then."

"Bernadette has known me longer than any other voter in North East Hertfordshire," says Ivan Gibbons. "So it seemed to be very fitting to ask her to sign my nomination papers. Indeed, I asked her to be my principal nominator. I am delighted that she agreed to do this."

20 May 2001

Complementary Medicine

A reader of the Mercury newspaper posed a question about support for homeopathic medicine. This is Ivan's response.

SUPPORT FOR COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

A House of Lords Select Committee recently conducted a thorough inquiry into complementary and alternative medicines. The Government response was published on 27 March, accepting most of the recommendations.

Homeopathy, along with acupuncture, osteopathy and chiropractic, are to have better regulation and more consistency in training. Also doctors and nurses are to be given an appreciation of their benefits during training.

Where research evidence justifies it, such therapies will be available on the NHS. NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) will advise on this. Government research funding is likely to be available.

As someone who has benefited from one of these therapies, I should be keen that these initiatives progressed rapidly. However, with the many demands for improvement in the NHS, even with the increased funding already given and pledged for the future by Labour, I cannot promise that such therapies will be universally available overnight.

Ivan Gibbons

23 May 2001

Ivan Gibbons opens new pharmacy in Baldock

Ivan Gibbons opened the refurbished Lloyds Pharmacy in Baldock on Friday 25 May. This pharmacy is closely linked with the doctors' surgery and effectively provides an integrated service. There are facilities for private consultation with the pharmacist and tests such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels can be carried out. A big range of aids for the disabled is available and nutritional advice is available.

In cutting the tape (suitably red!) to open the pharmacy, Ivan congratulated the staff and wished them well for the future in providing enhanced services for the people of Baldock.

"I see this as helping to drive forward the Government's Plan for improving the NHS," said Mahdu Puvvada, Lloyds' area manager.

27 May 2001

Former Liberal Democrat Mayor will vote for Labour

"We can change the face of British politics," says Ivan Gibbons

Stuart Cook, who was Liberal Democrat mayor of Royston in 1995, a Liberal Democrat district councillor until 1999 and who voted for the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 1997 General Election, has decided to vote Labour in this General Election.

"I have voted tactically in the past," says Stuart Cook, "and it has been clear to me for some time that in this constituency only Ivan Gibbons has any real chance of defeating the Conservative candidate."

Ivan Gibbons met Stuart Cook last week and is pictured welcoming him as a Labour voter.

"As a member of the Labour's Make Votes Count campaign," says Ivan Gibbons, "I shall be yet another voice calling for a referendum on proportional representation. In this way we can change the face of British politics and end the domination of Parliament by the Conservatives which characterised the 20th century."

The tacticalvoter.net website and the Rough Guide to the Election, issued by the Independent newspaper, both advise Liberal Democrats to vote Labour in North East Hertfordshire. "In 1997, since it was a new constituency, it was uncertain who could beat the Tory," says Ivan Gibbons. "This time, it is clear that only I can."

28 May 2001

Education in Hertfordshire

The Mercury newspaper posed a further question about education in Hertfordshire and, in particular, the problems of recruitment and of changes in the "area cost adjustment". This is Ivan Gibbons' reply:

Infant classes of 30+ have fallen from 32% to 2% in Hertfordshire, and standards at age 11 have risen significantly. Nationally, spending per pupil has risen by £540 in real terms.

My agent chairs a governing body which has recruited additional teachers for three years running. There are 11,000 more teachers nationally, with another 10,000 pledged.

Tory reductions in training have been reversed. Thanks to new incentives, there are now 2,250 more trainees. Most experienced teachers have just received £2,000 pa extra. Pay prospects for all are vastly improved.

There is money to help with housing costs, but the Tory County Council refused a Labour proposal to double the allocation. There was a scare that the area cost adjustment would cause cuts this year, but the County received an increase of £17m.

Tory public service cuts put this progress at risk, and their "free schools" policy would load more administration on to heads and cause chaos for 11+ admissions.

30 May 2001