OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton MP

A year ago, I was proud to be elected as the Member of Parliament for Erdington. Our community made history as I became Birmingham’s first ever Black MP.

Since I was elected, I’ve helped more than 1,500 local people with casework, championed our community in Parliament, and become a strong voice raising the issues affecting people in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale.

During the same period, the Government crashed our economy leaving millions of people facing financial uncertainty as families struggle to keep up with soaring bills and mortgages. 13 years of Tory governments have left our economy weak, and after more than a decade of cuts to the public sector, our vital services are a shadow of what they were under the last Labour government.

As a former nurse of 25 years, it breaks my heart to see our NHS on its knees. Nurses’ pay is struggling to keep up with the cost-of-living crisis, with inflation levels forcing many hospitals to set up foodbanks specifically for their staff. I’ve met nurses at my advice surgeries who simply do not have enough money to eat.

It’s astonishing that for the first time in 106 years, nurses went on strike after the Government refused to talk to them. Ministers were lining up to clap for our NHS staff during the pandemic but are now failing to give them a decent pay rise.

The Government’s delay getting around the negotiating table with the nurses’ unions has resulted in 140,000 cancelled NHS appointments, and patients are paying the price.

Local people are constantly telling me that they can’t get a GP appointment. Every morning at 8am, thousands of people call their local GP surgery to get an appointment but aren’t successful.

One constituent told me that she called her local practice and was fifth in the queue but by the time she got to the front, there were no appointments left. She told me ‘If you ring at 8:01am you’ll be on the phone for 40 minutes and you won’t get an appointment because they’ve all already gone’. Stories like these are sadly not unique.

After 13 years of Tory failure, our NHS is broken, working families are poorer and our economy is in decline.

The Tories are out of ideas, and their ‘sticking plaster’ approach no longer works but I’ll continue to stand up for Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale to ensure that local people’s voices are heard in Parliament.

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton MP

The chaos that has engulfed the Tories isn’t only causing havoc within their own ranks, it’s being felt in communities like ours.

Last year, Erdington applied for £11 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund that would have transformed Erdington High Street and made it a destination again. This was the second time an application for Erdington was submitted after Tory Ministers rejected our first in October 2021.

Our latest plan had secured financial backing from Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority, but when the Government announced the successful applications for the second round of the £2.1billion fund Erdington had sadly been rejected again.

Whilst our community is amongst the country’s top 10% of deprived areas and didn’t get a single penny, the Prime Minister’s own constituency – one of the most affluent – got £19million.

The Tory Government’s levelling up agenda has been exposed as nothing more than a slogan and a vote winning cash machine for panicking Tory MPs.

If that wasn’t reason enough to believe the Tories don’t care about Erdington, gambling bosses have now appealed to the Government in the hope that they stand a better chance of getting another betting shop on Erdington High Street.

The levelling up funding would have bought investment to our High Street and created jobs, skills, and improved infrastructure. Opening the eighth betting shop on our High Street is the last thing we need.

Erdington High Street is the heart and soul of our community and has been badly let down by the Government.  It needs investment but granting permission for more betting shops would risk changing it from a shopping centre to a betting centre.

Alongside local campaigners, residents and businesses, I have formally objected to the appeal. I’ve also raised my concerns directly with Ministers in Parliament.

The fight continues to stop the eighth betting shop, but one thing is crystal clear, the Tory Government has demonstrated a clear track record of simply not caring about Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale.

After being let down with our funding bid, I worry that Ministers will deliver a fresh kick in the teeth for our High Street and our community by approving the betting shop – but I challenge them to prove me wrong.

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton MP

I hope everyone has enjoyed a lovely Christmas break and spent some valuable time with your family. As I look back at 2022, I know it has been a challenging year for many people in our community and across the country.

At the beginning of the year, we sadly lost Jack Dromey MP. He was loved by many across the constituency that he proudly served for 12 years. In the months that followed, I was absolutely honoured to be elected as the Member of Parliament representing Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale. I know that I have some very big shoes to fill.

Since I was elected, I have been working non-stop and have helped more than a thousand local people with casework issues ranging from housing and antisocial behaviour to immigration and benefits. I have regularly spoken up for local people in Parliament and held the Government to account by raising the issues that are important to you like fly-tipping, poor housing, and the cost-of-living crisis.

We campaigned to stop another betting shop opening on Erdington High Street – and won. Sadly, the betting shop has now submitted an appeal to the government to try and overturn the council’s decision and wishes of local people. I will be fighting this appeal all the way.

Our High Street needs investment and I’ve worked with local groups to submit a funding application that will transform to the area and make it a destination again – if it’s approved by Ministers.

I’ve been working in every corner of our community – whether it’s helping with litter picks in Stockland Green, arguing for tougher laws to tackle rogue landlords in Gravelly Hill, supporting our incredible local businesses on Erdington High Street, making the case for more police resources to get crime down in Kingstanding, helping local people in Castle Vale with rising housing costs or fighting for better services in Perry Common and Pype Hayes.

I regularly visit foodbanks in our community that do incredible work to support struggling local families. I’ve listened to heart-breaking stories from working people who are struggling to cope with the cost-of-living crisis. Local people told me that their wages just weren’t paying enough to keep up with rising bills.

I was an NHS nurse for over 25 years, and it absolutely breaks my heart to see nurses strike for the first time in 106 years.

Nurses work extremely long hours, often for very low wages. They deserve the dignity of fair pay and acceptable working conditions. The power to stop these strikes, that even nurses themselves don’t really want, lies squarely with the Government. But Ministers are still refusing to even talk to them.

Our country is crying out for strong leadership to get our economy moving and help struggling families deal with the cost-of-living crisis. But sadly, we have seen chaos with 3 different Prime Ministers, inflation hitting a 40-year high and the Government crashing our economy, leaving millions of families struggling to pay their bills.

2023 will bring more challenges for our community but know this, I will be there – with you – every step of the way, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns. 

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton MP

As we’ve moved into winter, devastating housing inequalities across the UK have been exposed. In November, we learned of the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in Rotherham, a two-year-old who died as a result of prolonged exposure to mould in his home. Sadly, all too often I hear about families living in similar conditions in our own community.

Just recently I was contacted by a family in Erdington who have been living in temporary accommodation for years.

The mould in their property was so bad that mushrooms were found growing in their bathroom.

I heard from another local family of five sharing a one-bedroom property, where all four children have been prescribed inhalers due to the terrible mould in their home.

After a decade of Conservative mismanagement, £38 million is already being spent every year on treating homes with mould but this simply isn’t enough.

With energy bills going up and a cold winter ahead, we can expect a spike in damp and mould problems. As much as the Tories would like to pretend, this issue isn’t going away.

I spoke in Parliament about how this tragedy – and the shocking cases in our constituency – shine a light on our broken housing market. I urged the Government to bring forward legally enforceable minimum standards for private accommodation and to give local councils stronger powers to tackle rogue landlords.

2022 has been such a hard year for many people in Erdington and across the UK. The cost-of-living crisis is hitting our most deprived neighbourhoods the hardest and energy prices are soaring. Chaos in Downing Street has left working people paying for Tory negligence.

But on a more positive note, it was an absolute joy to attend the Erdington Christmas light switch-on this year, which was a brilliant community event on the High Street and my first time attending as the local MP. It really put me in the festive spirit!

This is my last column of the year, and I want to wish everyone in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale a very happy Christmas! 

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton MP

After just 45 days, Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister, with her chaotic and disastrous leadership crashing our economy and leaving the reputation of our country in tatters. Her kamikaze ‘mini’ budget spooked the markets and forced lenders to withdraw hundreds of mortgage deals overnight, leading to working people in our community facing an average mortgage increase of £413 a month.

The Tories have also U-turned on the energy price cap, potentially leaving households with average annual energy bills of more than £4,000 from April next year.

The mess that the Tories find themselves in is of their own making. At this critical time when the country needs stability, the chaos they have created has put millions of working people in financial uncertainty.

After ousting Liz Truss and making her the shortest serving Prime Minister in UK history, Tory MPs have recently appointed Rishi Sunak as our new PM without him saying a single word to the public about how he would fix the problems we’re facing. Instead, he has boasted of taking money from deprived communities like ours and handing it to the richest areas.

The impact of Tory infighting has had a devastating effect on our economy and areas like ours have been the hardest hit. I’ve been speaking to local people at foodbanks in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale to hear about how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting them.

At Bethany Community Foodbank, I met people who are sadly having to choose between heating and eating every day. The foodbank started with helping 90 users every month 6 years ago, but now helps a staggering 1,200 users each month. I heard heart-breaking stories from families, with young children who are struggling with the rising cost of bills as their income remained the same.

The amazing volunteers at Castle Vale Foodbank told me that they are seeing nurses and police officers accessing their discreet service because they can’t make ends meet.

And at Erdington Foodbank, several local people spoke to me about unfair sanctions being applied to their Universal Credit claims, coupled with low wages that were forcing them to turn to the foodbank.

People in our community are crying out for help as they struggle with rising costs. We need economic stability and a government that puts the interests of our country first. To end this chaos, we need a general election to let the people decide.

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: Repairing Erdington Library – a message from Cllr Robert Alden, Erdington

Profile pic by Ed King

Sadly, despite the summer weather Erdington’s historic library has again suffered water damage over recent months.

Cllr Gareth Moore and I have been tackling the Council over the desperate need to repair the damaged roof and to fix the leaks at Erdington Library.

This has secured some minor works to try and plug leaks, which Gareth recently inspected with the staff from the Library Service.

However much more investment is required from the Council if we are to prevent the irreversible damage from happening to our treasured library.

The next steps of our campaign to secure the repairs to the library are happening at the end of September when we meet the Cabinet Member responsible to discuss the need for further investment.

Libraries are a vital part a local community, providing safe warm spaces, where people can come to learn, read, or just see some familiar faces.

Erdington Library is well known for the excellent service that staff provide. Libraries can be even more providing a local venue for other help acting as a ‘one stop shop’.

However, before any of that can be considered here in Erdington first it is vital that the Council gets the roof properly replaced and the building watertight to ensure that Erdington Library is still going strong in another 100 years.

Gareth and I have been clear with the Council the current state of Erdington Library is totally unacceptable. Residents can rest assured we are demanding the Council take action.

For more from Cllr Robert Alden and Cllr Gareth Moore (Erdington) visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews

OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton MP

It was sad to say farewell to our greatest and longest serving monarch last month. Queen Elizabeth II was loved by the people of our country and the Commonwealth, with her incredible reign lasting more than 70 years.

In my tribute speech in Parliament, I praised her devotion, integrity and service that should be an inspiration to us all. On behalf of the people of Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale, I extended our deepest condolences to the King and the Royal Family. As the Elizabethan era ends, the dawn breaks on the reign of King Charles III. God save the King.

Now that the period of National mourning has ended, politics is back on the agenda. The rising cost of everyday household goods and energy bills is being felt across our community, and more increases are expected.

The impact is already being felt. I’ve been hearing some heart-breaking stories as local families struggle to cope with soaring costs. A father told me how he keeps his gas and electricity off so that he can save the money to keep his daughter and grandchildren warm.

Recently I delivered food parcels to someone who had been forced to choose between heating and eating. The challenges our community is facing are echoed across the country, and we desperately need real leadership to steer us through this crisis.

In early September, Conservative Party members chose Liz Truss to become our new Prime Minister. Hard working families across Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale will be looking to her new Government for help.

But the Tories’ ‘trickle-down economics’ does nothing for our local community and it is scandalous that our new PM has chosen to prioritise tax cuts for the richest.

The Government’s recent mini budget completely fails struggling families who are trying to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

The cost of their decision to cut taxes and borrow more, instead of raising money by taxing the huge profits that are being made by energy companies, will be felt for generations to come.

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: A message from Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington

Pics supplied by Paulette Hamilton

I hope everyone has been enjoying the lovely summer break, whether it be going on holiday or just spending some valuable time with your family. Parliament has shut down for the summer and I’m delighted to be able to spend more time getting out and about in our community, where the work to make Erdington an even better place to live never stops.

Our High Street should be a destination that showcases the best of Erdington. We all want it to provide a great variety of shops and food options, and I’ll always champion more investment that will help us to achieve this. But instead, I recently found myself leading a campaign to oppose a planning application for yet another betting shop on Erdington High Street.

Our High Street already has seven bookies. This very high concentration of betting shops in such a small space has exacerbated anti-social behaviour on the High Street, and the last thing we needed was another one.

After months of cross-party campaigning alongside local residents, Councillors and community groups, the planning committee finally decided to reject the application. This was the right decision and it shows the strength of our community. When we work together, we can win!

I want our High Street to thrive by attracting new businesses, providing jobs and becoming a destination for everyone. To kickstart this vision, I have been working with Birmingham City Council to submit an application for more than £11million to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

If Ministers back our proposals, the funding will create jobs and support local businesses to develop and grow. It will help tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in the area and provide a much-needed community space for local people to enjoy. The investment will also better connect Erdington train station to the High Street and once again make it a vibrant place for people to shop, eat and socialise.

This is a real opportunity to breathe life back into our High Street after years of decline that have been aggravated by Government austerity.

This will be the second time we have applied for funding, after Ministers let us down in 2021. If the Government is serious about levelling up, then they should back Erdington!

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

For more on Paulette Hamilton MP for Erdington visit www.paulettehamilton.org

OPINION: Why I am Green – Siobhan Harper-Nunes

Local resident, local campaigner, founder of Shakti Women, and Green Party candidate in both the recent Erdington by election and local elections, Siobhan Haper-Nunes talks to Erdington Local about her belief in social justice and how the Green Party are ‘not just about green spaces’.

“I am the proud daughter of two exceptional people. My parents met when my father left Guyana and came to England to further his education. My grandmother then ran a boarding house in Wheelers Road, they met and married and returned to Guyana with my brother.

“My father schooled himself as a boy, studying by candlelight to become the youngest pupil teacher at 9 years old. Over the course of 20 years, he went on to become the youngest headteacher and later was appointed Minister for Education.

“My father could recite all the great English poets and birthed my love of this country. My mother was the only daughter of an exceptional Irish woman, the 21st of 21 children, determined to give my mum a better life. Mum was a campaigning white woman who in Guyana became a journalist, writing about local community issues. She gave me my love of life, my eye for beauty and majesty, and together they birthed my interest in social justice.

“As a young woman all I cared about was fun. It was only after I had my son and returned to school, that my interest in society began to take shape. I studied social administration and took courses in comparative social policy, where I saw by looking at how things were done in other places, that there were sometimes more effective ways.

“I became addicted to research and landed two research fellowships, one at Birmingham and the other at Keele University. My first job at Birmingham City Council (BCC) was in the Crime and Community Safety team, looking at different ways to bring down crime in places like Handsworth, Aston, and Kingstanding. My role was to help community groups work up their bids for funding projects to make an impact.

“I was then transferred to BCC central and became the New Opportunities Fund (now Big Lottery) Officer. My role was to attract and manage external funding, I was also responsible for the Neighbourhood Renewal Budget and worked closely with local councillors to ensure these funds went to local groups.

“I saw more opportunities to empower local groups, so I wrote the blueprint for the External Funding Unit and was given £250k to set it up. My job was to bring all the national funders to the communities of Birmingham. I trained bid writers who were bringing in an average £3million in external funds to each ward we worked in, but many councillors did not see the benefits of money going to community groups, not ward budgets, and this small thinking frustrated me. After all my hard work I eventually experienced burnt out.

“I found myself attracted to green open spaces as they calmed my soul. I realised that life was not just about work, it was about quality of life, about the quality of our relationships, being connected to our community and feeling a sense of responsibility for the quality of our environment.

“I joined the Green Party because it epitomises my values. It’s not just about climate change and sustainability. It’s about a vision for a better way of life where social goods are valued more than consumer goods and people who provide them are rewarded. Where decisions are made not on traditional economics but on the principles of social and ecological justice.

“Yes, it worries me that we are doing things to the planet that are causing fatal climate change, but at a local level we are sometimes operating as if all people need is material goods. Our quality of life must be central to our decision making and that’s what the Greens stand for, that’s why we’re not just about green spaces but services such as health, education, social care.

“I am continually in awe of the beauty and majesty of the world. Injustice hurts my soul, the problems we as a society have created hurt me to the core. But no one can do this alone.

“I want to see a stronger community fabric and have started working with a number of local groups to help them deliver on the projects which are important to them. I also want to help local people to strengthen their sense of community by setting up or growing their own local neighbourhood groups.

“The Green Party isn’t just another political party. Green politics is a new and radical kind of thinking where society is transformed for the benefit of all”.

To see the Green Party’s Core Values, visit www.policy.greenparty.org.uk/core-values

OPINION: “Conservative candidate Robert Alden is key to our plans,” says Secretary of State for Levelling Up

As the Birmingham Erdington by-election heats up, and voters explore all the candidates and manifestos to decide who is right to represent Erdington in Westminster, the Rt Honourable Michael Gove MP – Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – throws his weight behind the Conservative candidate, Robert Alden.

Polling day for the Birmingham Erdington Parliamentary by-election is on Thursday, 3 March.

Words by Rt Honourable Michael Gove MP

While talent is spread evenly across the UK, opportunity is not. In too many communities there’s a feeling that the only way to get on is to get out.

This needs to change — and it needs to change for good. That’s why our government’s defining mission is to level up this country.

We want opportunity to reach talent wherever it exists, investment to move wherever it’s needed. We don’t want to slice the pie in a different way; we want to grow the pie for everyone.

So levelling up is a team effort. And local champions like Robert Alden, the Conservative candidate at Erdington’s by-election, are key to this team. Let me explain.

Together with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and local MPs like Gary Sambrook, the government has already started to level up Birmingham — and not just the city centre.

Backed by hundreds of millions of pounds in government funding, the Commonwealth Games are helping to create jobs and drive investment to Birmingham. The regeneration of Perry Barr will be a lasting legacy in itself, restoring the community and transforming facilities for residents.

HS2 will put Birmingham right at the heart of our national high-speed rail network. The long-term benefits will see world-class businesses set up in the region and expand the local economy, while the short-term benefits are already being felt in the form of new jobs, including a thousand extra jobs to construct the new Curzon Street in the city centre.

So levelling up isn’t something that may or may not take place in the future; it’s happening, it’s happening right now, and at the risk of repeating myself, it’s happening across the West Midlands.

We’re regenerating the former MG Rover factory in Longbridge, a development that will create thousands of good jobs with decent pay. We’re recruiting hundreds of new police officers for the West Midlands.

And all of this is just the beginning. We have so much more planned, including here in Erdington. But to supercharge our efforts, we need a local team ready to work with us.

That’s why Conservative candidate Robert Alden is key to our plans.

If Robert Alden is elected as Erdington’s next MP, you’ll have a local champion making the case for Erdington directly to Cabinet members like me.

This is what Erdington really needs — someone willing to stand up for the area and make sure residents are heard.

To see what kind of MP Robert will be, take a look at his record as a local councillor. Over the last sixteen years, Robert has been a force to be reckoned with.

He has been a vocal proponent for Levelling Up Funding to transform Edington’s high street, and I’m currently working with him to get this bid over the line.

I’m thrilled that Robert has invited me to visit Erdington and see the opportunities for government investment myself. This is the kind of get-up-and-go that every village, town and city needs for our mission to work.

And if any readers are wondering how they can play a part in levelling up Erdington, I say this: at the Erdington by-election, vote for the person you believe can work with me and my team to secure funding and make things happen. To my mind, that person is Robert Alden.

For more on the Rt Honourable Michael Gove MP visit www.michaelgove.com

For more on Robert Alden and the Erdington Conservatives visit www.erdingtonconservatives.org.uk/

 

Candidates will be taking questions from the general public at the Birmingham Erdington by-election hustings – held from 6-8pm on Sunday, 27 February, at the GRS Lions Club, Church Road, Erdington.

Click here or on the image above to register for your free ticket – have your voice heard.