Subject: News

Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #300 Date: Monday, 13 June 2011 12:34:36 United Kingdom Time From: To: Greg Hands M.P. news@greghands.com

In this edition:

Issue 300 Monday 13 th June 2011

Greg Hands M.P.s Diary Website of the Week: FRODO Photo news: Romanian Foreign Minister Protecting our NHS for tomorrow Review will help families allow children to be children Celebrating Fulham Week Transformed Elm Park Gardens brings new housing to Chelsea Hands in the papers: Balls under fire from Tories and Blairites: 'Project Volvo' reaction Hands in the papers: Boris aide is like Mladic, says Ken; Livingstone is accused of bad taste for 'beast' attack on Lister Hands in the papers: MP's Column How to contact Greg Hands M.P.

Since the last edition, Greg:

Was a guest speaker at the joint seminar of OMFIF (the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum) and the German-British Forum in central London. Greg spoke about the UK view of the future of the Euro. Campaigned for Louis Mosley, the successful Conservative candidate in the Brompton Ward By-Election in South Kensington. The Conservatives also won the Queens Gate By-Election the same day. Spent 3 days in Romania, partly to visit Romanian parliamentarians (Greg is the Chairman of the All Party UKRomania Group in Parliament), partly for charitable reasons (Greg is a trustee of FRODO Kids, a charity for disabled orphans) and partly for visiting the Romanian Central Bank. Greg was guest speaker at the FRODO reception at the embassy and for the Queens Birthday Party at the Athenee Palast Hotel. Ran a surgery for residents of Chelsea and Fulham at Fulham Town Hall. Gregs surgeries are generally every Monday, at either Fulham Town Hall or Peter Jones, Sloane Square. To make an appointment, call 020 7219 5448 or reply to this bulletin.

Website of the Week:

www.frodokids.org
The website of the Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans, FRODO, which campaigns for better conditions for disabled orphans in Romania. Greg is a trustee of FRODO. Why not get involved?

Photo news:

Romanian Foreign Minister

Greg Hands M.P. in Bucharest last week, meeting Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi, at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Protecting our NHS for tomorrow

Greg Hands MP has welcomed the Prime Ministers speech on the future of the NHS, which set out his five personal "guarantees" on reform of the health service. In the speech, Mr Cameron insisted that NHS modernisation remains essential: "We will modernise the NHS - because changing the NHS today is the only way to protect the NHS for tomorrow". The Prime Minister's five pledges are: Not to endanger universal coverage but to make sure it remains a National Health Service. Not to break up or hinder efficient and integrated care but to improve it. Not to lose control of waiting times but to ensure they are kept low. Not to cut spending on the NHS but to increase it. Not to sell-off the NHS and create some American-style private system but to ensure competition benefits patients.

Speaking after the conclusion of the listening exercise last week, the Prime Minister thanked the independent group that had overseen it. "The whole listening exercise has been overseen by the NHS Future Forum an independent group of the country's leading NHS professionals and patient representatives, led by the eminent Professor Steve Field," he said. "I'm hugely grateful to Steve and the whole team for all the work they are doing." The NHS Future Forum will report its conclusions shortly. Commenting, Greg Hands MP said: We are increasing spending on the NHS. This is really important for our local hospitals like Chelsea & Westminster and Charing Cross, but the extra money wont be enough to meet future challenges without reforming the bureaucracy involved with PCTs. The Government has been listening to professionals to ensure we get the details absolutely right. Thats sensible and responsible, as this is too important to leave anything to doubt. We all rely on the NHS. We rely on our GPs and hospitals, including specialised services like those at the Royal Marsden and Royal Brompton. In other words, we rely on doctors and nurses not an empty bureaucracy that often stops them doing whats best for patients.

Review will help families allow children to be children

The Government has published a six-month independent review into the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood, which calls on businesses and media to play their part in ending the drift towards an increasingly sexualised wallpaper that surrounds children. Reg Bailey, Chief Executive of Mothers Union, who led the independent review, has listened to parents concerns about the barriers they face in bringing up their children. They are particularly unhappy with the increasingly sexualised culture surrounding their children, which they feel they have no control over. They singled out sexually explicit music videos, outdoor adverts that contain sexualised images, and the amount of sexual content in family programmes on TV. His recommendations are based on parents concerns and are intended to support them, make sure their views are taken more seriously by businesses and broadcasters, and help children understand the potential dangers they face. They will put control back in the hands of families. The recommendations include: Providing parents with one single website to make it easier to complain about any programme, advert, product or service. Putting age restrictions on music videos to prevent children buying sexually explicit videos and guide broadcasters over when to show them. Covering up sexualised images on the front pages of magazines and newspapers so they are not in easy sight of children. Making it easier for parents to block adult and age-restricted material from the internet by giving every customer a choice at the point of purchase over whether they want adult content on their home internet, laptops or smart phones. Retailers offering age-appropriate clothes for children the retail industry should sign up to the British Retail Consortiums new guidelines which checks and challenges the design, buying, display and marketing of clothes, products and services for children. Restricting outdoor adverts containing sexualised imagery where large numbers of children are likely to see them, for example near schools, nurseries and playgrounds. Giving greater weight to the views of parents in the regulation of pre-watershed TV, rather than viewers as a whole, about what is suitable for children to watch. Banning the employment of children under 16 as brand ambassadors and in peer-to-peer marketing, and improving parents awareness of advertising and marketing techniques aimed at children.

Reg Bailey said: Society has become increasingly full of sexualised imagery. This has created a wallpaper to childrens lives. Parents feel there is no escape and no clear space where children can be children. I want to put the power back in parents hands so they can better manage the pressures on their children and make it easier for them to bring up their children the way they want. Parents need encouragement to feel they can change things and that their voices will be heard. Regulators, businesses and broadcasters should do more to connect with parents its not enough for them to work out what is acceptable from what people complain about afterwards. I hope that they see that its good business if you look out for families. Then we can all help to make Britain a more family friendly place. Many of the actions suggested in the report are for businesses and regulators rather than for the Government. The Government will monitor the implementation of his recommendations and undertake an audit in 18 months time. To ensure that progress is made quickly, the Prime Minister is inviting a wide range of businesses and regulators into Downing Street in October to ask them to report on the steps they have taken.

Celebrating Fulham Week

The annual Celebrating Fulham festival takes place next month, promising an action-packed week of excitement for residents, businesses and visitors. The event, running from Saturday June 25 to Sunday July 3, showcases the very best in the areas history, talent and entertainment and provides the chance to discover some of Fulhams hidden treasures. Cllr Frances Stainton, Mayor of H&F, said: Celebrating Fulham has become one of the highlights of the year and this year sees Wandsworth Bridge Road joining in. The festival offers a huge variety of attractions for people of all ages throughout the week. The aim of the week is not only to give residents, families and visitors a great experience, but to promote Fulham and boost business trade. Make sure you take advantage of the 50 + local business offers and visit some of the exciting events that have been planned. My congratulations to all those organising this special week. The Mayor, Cllr Frances Stainton will officially open Celebrating Fulham at 1.30pm on Sunday, June 26 at Fulham Island, Jerdan Place/ Farm Lane by St Johns Church SW6 1PB. During the day there will be a market running from 10am to 5pm, live music and childrens entertainment (11am to 2pm). The Fulham Food Lovers Market & Jazz event will also be taking place at Jerdan Place throughout Sunday June 26. The event features superb quality, great tasting, local, regional and international food stalls including cheeses, cured sausages, olives, pastries, breads and more. There will also be live jazz from The Jimmy Beckley Trio with jazz and world music player Jimmy Beckley from Ghana on saxophone, flute and vocals. Jimmy Beckley has worked with many Jazz greats including Nina Simone and Manu Dibango. There will also be Capoeria, childrens entertainment, Gambado the Lion, balloon modelling, face painting and more. Click here to view the Celebrating Fulham programme in full. Other highlights of Celebrating Fulham include: Wandsworth Bridge Road Fun Day Saturday, June 25 11am to 4pm: This free event sees Wandsworth Bridge Road businesses put on a fantastic day out in their street for all the family. There will be a pottery workshop, live music, wine tasting, childrens entertainment and games and much more. The event is being organised by Karen Harrington of Harringtons childrens clothes and toy shop. She said: We did something similar around 15 years ago and are all looking forward to this event. All the shops are involved and there will be face painting, stilt walking and plenty of food. It should be a really great day! Fair on the Green - Parsons Green Saturday, July 2 12 noon to 5pm: A fabulous free day out for all the family. Two live stages of music and entertainment, hundreds of stalls, food court, fun fair and more. Graham Whittle of the organising committee said: The event has been running for 20 years and the aim is to provide a fun day out for children and families. All the profits go to local charities and it is an opportunity for local businesses to promote their services. The main stage will feature three dancing schools, a 60s cover band and the Fulham, Brass Band and the childrens stage will feature a magician, a ventriloquist and a stiltwalker. There will also be over 100 stalls! Fulham Palace Bat Walk Saturday June 25, 9pm: This free event is led by John Tovey of the London Bat Group. Meet at the pedestrian entrance to the Palace Grounds, Bishops Avenue, SW6 6EA. Wear solid footwear and bring a torch. Call 020 3080 0655 to confirm your place. The St John's Chamber Singers presents Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem, Saturday, July 2, 4pm, St John's Church, Fulham Island, North End Road: Conducted by Ben Woodward, piano duet with Andrew Robinson and Alex Wells, two of London's most renowned pianists. Soloists performing are Elizabeth Capener and Peter Brooke. This concert has been underwritten by an anonymous donor and is free to enter with a retiring collection. Call 020 7385 7634 or visit www.stjohnsfulham.org for more details. The Fulham Swish Sunday, July 3, 2pm to 5pm, Durell Arms, 704 Fulham road, SW6 5SB: Swishing involves getting people together to swap gorgeous clothes and party at the same time. Bring along up to five items of unwanted clothes from 2pm. Items must be clean, good condition and something that you are proud to hand on. Booking required and places are limited. Email: swishing@lbhf.gov.uk. Tel: 020 8753 1888. For more information please contact Nicki Burgess Fulham Town Centre Manager on 020 7835 5695 or nicki.burgess@lbhf.gov.uk.

Transformed Elm Park Gardens brings new housing to Chelsea

Unused space in the basements of Elm Park Gardens is being transformed into homes for Council tenants, key workers and private owners in an exciting development by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Redevelopment at Elm Park Gardens, in the heart of Chelsea, will eventually provide 36 high quality new homes with 23 of the basements being developed privately for sale and 13 earmarked for new Council and key worker homes. The second phase of the scheme to convert these 13 units was completed at the beginning of June. The homes for sale comprise a mix of studio and one, two and three-bedroom flats. Not only will the proceeds of their sale fund the social housing element of the scheme, the flats themselves will help meet the strong demand for homes in Chelsea. To date seven of the basements have been sold. The properties fell into disrepair during the war years and were compulsorily purchased by Chelsea Borough Council in 1949. Records show that, by then, the basements were already vacant. Over time they came to house communal heating systems, ducting, electricity units and much else besides. In parts, they were also used by tenants for storage purposes. "There have been practical, to bringing Timothy Coleridge, added: "I'm delighted formidable obstacles, legal, technical and these basements back to life," said Councillor Cabinet Member for Housing Services. He to see they have all been overcome.

"Elm Park Gardens has always been amongst the very best council housing in the country. That we have been able to add more affordable properties there, all funded by new homes for sale, is a source of real pride to us at the Royal Borough." Elm Park Gardens is a Victorian Square, with some post-war additions. Its former residents include Joyce Grenfell, Vladimir Nabokov, Laurie Lee and Elizabeth Frink.

Hands in the papers:

Balls under fire from Tories and Blairites: 'Project Volvo' reaction
Nicholas Watt, The Guardian Saturday 11 th June 2011 Ed Balls came under fire from the combined forces of the Conservative party and supporters of Tony Blair after the leaking of a cache of private correspondence that implicates him in a plot to remove Blair. As the shadow chancellor admitted that the handover of power to Gordon Brown "could have been done better", Michael Gove led the Tory assault after Balls appeared to implicate him in the leak. Gove, a close David Cameron ally, turned on Balls after the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, sanctioned an investigation into the leak. This followed a complaint by Balls who told David Bell, permanent secretary at the education department, that he last saw the leaked documents in a file on his desk in the department just before he left to campaign in last year's general election. The documents, published by the Daily Telegraph, show that Balls was the key figure in "Project Volvo", designed to unseat Blair and prepare Brown for the premiership. Gove is confident his office will be cleared of leaking the documents after Whitehall sources indicated an internal Labour feud was behind the breach of security. A source close to Gove told the Guardian: "Like with [former Haringey council children's services boss] Sharon Shoesmith, Ed Balls is pathetically trying to blame officials." Supporters of Blair, who was dismissed in the documents by Brown as "shallow", "inconsistent" and "muddled", were scathing about Balls. "Ed Balls is a poisonous figure who agitated against a sitting prime minister," one figure said. Balls launched a strong defence of his conduct as Brown's chief lieutenant, a position he maintained in an informal capacity after his election as a Labour MP at the 2005 election. The documents chronicle how Brown's circle intensified its campaign after the 2005 election to unseat Blair who had said the 2005 election would be his last as Labour leader. "There is nothing here to justify claims of a plot," Balls told the BBC outside his home. "We did pull off that stable and orderly transition, but the allegation that there was a plot, that there was nastiness, brutality - it's just not true. It's not justified, either, from reading the documents which I saw last night." But Balls did acknowledge there had been tensions and that the Brown circle could have done a better job during the transition. "It was hard, the relationship was under stress. People will look back and say, it could have been done better. I agree with that. There was no nasty edge at all, but I am not going to deny to you that there weren't tensions, there weren't arguments." Senior figures in Whitehall are sceptical of Balls's claim that he left sensitive documents, including annotations by the then-prime minister, in a file on his desk. The formal explanation of the inquiry indicated that O'Donnell does not necessarily accept Balls's claim, let alone that they were then leaked by an official or someone from the office of his successor, Gove. The prime minister's spokesman explained the investigation, saying: "The Cabinet Office is looking into, first, whether these papers were in the possession of any department. And second, if so, whether there have been any breaches of document security within government." One Whitehall source said of the Balls complaint: "This all has a familiar ring to it. Ed Balls loves inquiries." The source speculated that Balls may have leaked the documents himself. "This has the feel of desk-clearing about it. Ed Miliband is struggling a bit, Ed Balls must be eyeing up the Labour leadership. So why not get all this out on his terms so this stuff is not released at a more difficult moment?" Gove and other senior Tories have a different view. They believe that a former member - or members - of the Brown circle leaked the papers to damage Balls at the moment that he is emerging as a pivotal figure in the Labour party. Greg Hands, parliamentary aide to George Osborne, tweeted: "Worth noting how leaky Labour has become under the Two Eds, with a steady stream of docs seemingly from both their offices." In an attempt to implicate the Tories in the leak, Balls said the publication was "an attempt to take attention away from what is going on in this country". Ed Miliband said: "I think what you are seeing is an overhyped version of history and, frankly, the era of Blair and Brown is over." On a lighter note, Volvo issued a statement taking issue with comparisons between Brown and its cars. The leaked documents showed that Deborah Mattinson, Brown's pollster, compared him to a Volvo on the grounds that he was "steadfast" and "robust". Volvo said its vehicles were actually "dynamic, agile and innovative", adding for political effect that the British economy would be in better shape if Labour had performed like its cars.

Hands in the papers:

Boris aide is like Mladic, says Ken; Livingstone is accused of bad taste for 'beast' attack on Lister
Peter Dominiczak, The Evening Standard Thursday 2 nd June 2011 Ken Livingstone was accused of "extremism and poor taste" today after comparing Boris Johnson's new chief of staff to Serbian war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic. Labour's mayoral candidate came under fire for branding Eddie Lister "the Mladic of local government". Mladic is due to appear before judges at The Hague tomorrow accused of ordering the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995, the worst massacre of civilians in Europe since the Second World War. The "Butcher of Bosnia" faces 11 war crime charges, including those committed during the four-year siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995 during which 10,000 civilians died. Mr Livingstone today refused to apol- ogise for his comments, which were dismissed by the Mayor as "jibes" and "insults". At a public "Tell Ken" event in Bromley on Tuesday, Mr Livingstone said: "In the first term, he [Mr Johnson] had a real deputy mayor, Simon Milton a decent one-nation Tory who actually recognised you can't just ignore the poor and so on. He died, sadly, and has been replaced by sort of the Ratko Mladic of local government." Mr Lister, ex-leader of Wandsworth council, took over as the Mayor's chief of staff and deputy mayor for planning after Sir Simon died in April. In his 19-year reign at Wandsworth he gained a reputation as a fearsome cost-cutter. Mr Livingstone also called him "the beast of Wandsworth" during an interview earlier in the day. He said: "If Boris gets re-elected he'll be trying all he can to please the Tory grassroots, because they're the ones who'll pick their next leader. "That's why he got the beast of Wands- worth unleashed. Eddie Lister - the Ratko Mladic of local government." Chelsea and Fulham Tory MP Greg Hands said today: "This is yet another sign of extremism and poor taste from Ken Livingstone. "To compare a long-standing and well respected London council leader to an alleged war criminal plumbs new depths of bad taste. It's time for Ed Miliband to take action." Mr Johnson discussed Mr Livingstone's comments with Nick Ferrari on LBC today. He said his experience of London politics "has taught me not to deal with the jibes hurled at me by any opponents, let alone my Labour opponent. "So I think all such insults I will pass over. I will let them pass me by as the idle wind, which I regard not." Mr Livingstone refused to apologise and said he used "colourful" language when "standing up" for the people of Wandsworth. His spokesman said: "With recent changes to his team, Boris Johnson has promoted the Conservative Party wing that trail-blazed policies to move less well-off Londoners out. "Ken's phrasing is always colourful but as ever he is standing up for parents who face charges for their children to use playgrounds, in a borough where affordable housing has been disregarded, and for millions of Londoners who are losing police from their streets and paying higher fares."

Hands in the papers:

MP's Column

Greg Hands M.P., Hammersmith & Fulham Chronicle Friday 10 th June 2011 Opposition to the Super Sewer is growing across London and the whole Thames Water region. To re-cap, Thames Water want to build a huge sewer under the River Thames, from Hammersmith to Beckton, at a cost of 3.6 billion. Thames Water says that the intention is to prevent sewage from entering the Thames. The cost will be met by all Thames Water bill payers, to the tune of an estimated 65 a year each for the indefinite future, according to independent estimates by Ofwat. My objection is this: sewage in the Thames is a problem, but more than 95% of it is actually rainwater, according to Thames Water itself. That figure is often nearer 99%. So there is not very much human waste going into the River. The fact that there is any at all is a real issue, but is it a 3.6 billion problem? Thanks to the Coalition Government, a lot of extra money is being spent on infrastructure in the coming years, like Crossrail and the new High Speed line to Birmingham. 3.6 billion to be spent on a sewer is about five times the cost of electrifying the main line to Cardiff. Its a lot of money, and money which will be paid for through water bills, not by the general taxpayer. Water bills are an extremely regressive way of paying for a project, as the impact falls much more on the poorest. What is more, the project will devastate large parts of Fulham and Chelsea. H&F Council has been vocal in opposition to the scheme, and now K&C Council believes that now is not the right time to be pressing ahead with this project. I agree. Contact me to get involved in the campaign or to find out more about the Thames Tideway Tunnel (or Super Sewer).

5 ways to contact Greg Hands M.P.:

By Phone: By email: By post: In person: 020 7219 5448 mail@greghands.com Greg Hands M.P. House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Click here for details of how to book an appointment at Greg Hands M.P.s weekly surgery

www.greghands.com

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