A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.
Apologies for the lack of posts. I am still in hospital and will be for another week.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 6:36 pm
Labour MP for North Durham since 2024. Labour Party activist since 1988 - firmly on the moderate wing of the party. Member of Labour’s NEC 2010-2012 and since 2020. National Secretary of Labour Students 1995-6. Parliamentary candidate for Aldershot (2001) and Castle Point (2005). Hackney Councillor (Chatham Ward) 2002-2014, Labour Group Chief Whip 2002-09, Chair of Health Scrutiny 2010-2014. Dad. Unite and GMB union member. All views expressed in a personal capacity. The rest will become evident from reading the blog.
18 Comments:
Bugger that ain't good (with the European elections in mind). What was the turnout like - compared with previous election, anybody know?
10:30 pm, April 10, 2009
Not nice being in hospital for the bank holiday. Get well soon Luke, all the best
12:34 am, April 11, 2009
I do hope you will feel better soon - can't be a pleasant thing to deal with.
4:22 am, April 11, 2009
Very sorry to hear that you are hospitalised. Do get well soon.
7:37 am, April 11, 2009
Sorry to hear you are still in hospital - hope you make a rapid and full recovery
11:17 am, April 11, 2009
Get well soon - the blogosphere needs all the grown ups it can find at the moment.
11:18 am, April 11, 2009
The BNP didn't stand in 2008. Can't do a meaningful swing when they didn't stand.
Duncan:
The turn out was 32% and bits, 28% and bits in 08. Would expect 24%. As it goes the BNP vote is 8% of the electorate and I suspect most of them have been habitual non voters.
Adams got slightly more last time out in a neighbouring ward. At 23% they are actually down on some of their better (25%) results.
Draper has his first scalp:
McBride has resigned.
5:03 pm, April 11, 2009
Cheers, Chris.
Is that confirmed about McBride, by the way?
5:16 pm, April 11, 2009
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I hope the NHS is treating you well.
10:38 am, April 12, 2009
Wishing you the very best, Luke.
11:24 am, April 13, 2009
Come on, Luke. You know we are rooting for you darling!
1:50 am, April 14, 2009
get well soon Luke mate. Nick Smith
3:29 pm, April 14, 2009
I've just been reading the papers and a number of them are talking about the governments plans to freeze the min wage.
The government is obviously considering this measure, but who have they been taking advice from? Certainly not the unions.
I find it very hard to stomach that MPs award themselves a inflation busting pay rise, bankers leaving with million pound pension schemes yet those on the lowest wages and being expected to take a pay cut.
Those on the min wage did not cause this current crises unlike our bankers and our MPs but are expected to suffer while the guilty get rewarded.
I'm not at all convinced that freezing the min wage would have any benefit to the economy. It could destroy confidence, reduce peoples spending power and lead to a general deflation of everyones wages and worth.
Where is our Labour government.
11:11 pm, April 14, 2009
The government must have been talking to the Tories, as Cameron plans to melt away the Min wage!
Its their crisis and not ours why should the working class have to pay for the capitalist crisis?
This government is subsidising the Rich by freezing pay and getting rid of workers.Workers Must unite to overthrow this undemocratic Parliamentary system that only looks after the rich?
11:39 pm, April 14, 2009
I think the way workers rights are going in the UK we are going to end up creating an army of unemployed people....people who choose not to work because it simply isn't worthwhile.
And who can blame those people that make this choice. The min wage is a joke, redundancy is something like a weeks pay for every year served over two years...basically nothing.
I can honestly see why people are choosing the dole and not work.
Very sad.
9:10 pm, April 15, 2009
Luke,
Hope you get well soon, for your sake and ours. Please come back and quick. Both the mainstream media and (supposedly) Labour blogosphere have climbed onto stratospherically high horses about the whole "Smeargate" [sic] nonsense.
Those of us who are actually LOYAL to Labour and want a fourth term and who work for it need someone like yourself to stick up for Labour and its bloggers, and remember that keeping the ****ing Tories out is the number one consideration.
No-one is sticking up for McBride and Draper, not even on LabourHome. We need YOU. All the best.
9:48 pm, April 15, 2009
Err ! I see no allegations in the press regarding Labour freezing the min wage. I see plenty of comments saying that the Tories intend to do so,
No doubt the Tory Dirty Tricks Dept up and running again !
GW
10:34 pm, April 15, 2009
Rich
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/04/redundancy-pay
Campaign to boost redundancy pay gathers momentum
Backbencher's motion calling on the government to honour manifesto pledge to increase statutory redundancy pay has support of 130 Labour MPs
When are they going to take notice?
Most of these parliamentarians give you the impression that they live on another planet with the exception of around 50 MPs Nationally!
Some MP's have put a motion forward to improve redundancy pay, which is capped at £350 per weeks pay each year, so you do 20 years and get Max under the stat @ £7k.
Its too cheap so companies can make redundancies with little cost!
4:50 pm, April 17, 2009
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