Chuka Umunna MP

Chuka and Kate Hoey, MP for neighbouring Vauxhall, have joined forces with the Communications Workers Union to oppose the part privatisation of Royal Mail. Kate and Chuka joined Communications Workers Union members and officials last week in a demonstration against the proposed privatisation at the major Royal Mail sorting office in Nine Elms.

Chuka is supporting the alternative proposals for Royal Mail’s future outlined by Compass, the left wing pressure group on whose managing committee he sits. The plans recommend that Royal Mail be kept in public ownership as a non-for-profit body, following the model set by National Rail, which was established as successor to the failed privatisation of the railways under Railtrack. The proposals would give the Royal Mail access to both private and public resources and it would remain operationally separate from government in the same way as the BBC does.

Privatisation of Royal Mail could threaten jobs at distribution centres including Nine Elms and Streatham sorting offices. The universal service which Royal Mail offers would also be at risk with services cherry-picked on the basis of profit, rather than the benefit of all users. This week, it was announced that Royal Mail’s profits have doubled, with all parts of its business turning a profit. This undermines the case for part privatisations, reinforcing the fact that Royal Mail is far from being the failed organisation it has often been portrayed as.

Commenting on proposals for privatisation, Chuka said: “The Royal Mail plays an important role in all of our daily lives, and we deserve the best from it. Everyone, including Royal Mail employees, management and users, agree that modernisation and investment is necessary, but selling off the postal service is not the way to achieve these goals. Modernisation doesn’t have to mean privatisation.”

Greg Charles, secretary of the CWU London South West (Postal) Branch said: “The governments plan to part privatise Royal Mail coupled with management’s plans on modernisation will lead to a worsened service, failing collections and failing deliveries, whilst profits will be siphoned of by our competitors. Our members across South London are living with the fear of cuts in jobs, cuts in earnings and an uncertain future.”

Read more about Compass’ proposals for Royal Mail’s future here.

Chuka’s letter on the issue of wheel clamping was published in the Streatham Guardian on May 13th, in response to a letter of the previous week:

In response to your article (“Streatham wheel clampers are ‘out of control’ say local residents”, 6 May 2009) on the issues people are facing with wheel clampers, I would like to reiterate my support for local residents against overzealous and rogue wheel clamping and draw attention to action the Government is taking on this issue.

Wheel clampers should not be allowed to get away with unacceptable practices and abuses such as those alleged in the article. The Government is planning to make it mandatory for all clamping companies to be licensed, thus ensuring that they sign up to acceptable standards of conduct which can be enforced if they are not met. The compulsory standards will demand that a proper appeals process exists, that all signage is clear and visible and will set reasonable limits against excessive penalties for releasing cars. Additionally, there will be requirements for evidence that a parking infringement has taken place.

Establishing clear and compulsory industry standards linked to licensing
will improve practices and, I hope, bring peace of mind to local people who have suffered sharp practice from clamping firms in this area.

Chuka Umunna
Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, has strongly welcomed the Equality Bill but, along with local older peoples groups, has called on the government to go further.

The Equality Bill received its First Reading in the House of Commons on Monday. It sets out new laws which will help narrow the gap between rich and poor, require business to report on gender pay and will outlaw age discrimination in services amongst other measures. The Bill is expected to come in to force from autumn 2010.

Despite considerable progress since 1997, inequality and discrimination still exist which is why the law needs to be strengthened:

* women are paid on average 23 per cent less per hour than men;
* disabled people are twice as likely to be out of work;
* people from ethnic minority backgrounds, who make up more than 1 in 3 of the population in Lambeth, are nearly a fifth less likely to find work; and,
* 1 in 5 older people are refused quotes for motor or travel insurance, or car hire.

Commenting on the Bill, Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham and a specialist employment law solicitor by profession, said:

“I believe in equality for all and have supported the government’s moves to stamp out discrimination wherever it may appear because, as a solicitor who represents hardworking people, I know what a difference it makes to people’s working lives.

“This Bill is about fairness. It is about everyone in our community getting fair treatment. So in Streatham it might mean making sure there are extra benches in local parks so older people can enjoy public spaces or providing play areas for younger people so they can make the most of them too.”

“It is a scandal that women are still paid less than men in this country, so I am particularly pleased the Bill will contain the power to require employers with more than 250 employees to report on the gender pay gap in their work place so inequalities can be identified and challenged.”

One of the provisions of the Equality Bill will make it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their age outside of the work place, when providing goods and services. For example, a 75 year who enquires about travel insurance should get a quote which accurately reflects the level of risk she faces, not an arbitrary assumption about how healthy people of her age generally are.

However, in the work place, the Bill does not abolish the statutory default retirement age of 65 which enables employers to force employees to retire at or after 65, or refuse to recruit anyone over the age of 65. Umunna and local older peoples activists have called on the government to address this. Umunna said

“The extension of the existing regime to outlaw age discrimination out of the work place in the provisions of good and services is excellent. But, as the Bill makes its passage through parliament, I want to see it abolish the default retirement age in the work place so older people can work past the age of 65 if they want to.”

Ellen Lebethe, Chair of Lambeth Pensioners Action Group, said:
“If we want to and are still fit and able, we should be allowed to work. Our experience should be acknowledged by employers and remunerated accordingly.”

Martin Walsh, a founder member and former Chair of Lambeth Pensioners Forum, said:
“The government must encourage people to work on for their health and well being as work promotes longevity.”

Other measures in the Equality Bill include:
· putting a new duty on public bodies to consider how to reduce socio-economic inequalities;
· putting a new Equality Duty on public bodies;
· using public procurement to improve equality;
· extending powers to use positive action;
· protecting carers from discrimination;
· protecting pregnant and new mothers;
· banning discrimination in private clubs; and
· strengthening protection from discrimination for disabled people.

Harriet Harman, Member of Parliament for nearby Camberwell and Peckham and the Minister for Women and Equality responsible for the Bill said:

“The Equality Bill is part of building a strong fair future for Britain out of the downturn. That means fairness and opportunity. Especially in tougher economic times, we need to face the problems fairly and we need to look for a fairer future.”

The government has launched Graduate Talent Pool, an online portal which matches employers able to offer internships with graduates who want to take them up.

The scheme is designed to help prevent recent graduates falling into unemployment in the current economic climate, allowing them to increase their employability by gaining skills and experience through an internship. Whilst the online service will go live later this year, major firms and organisations including Network Rail, Microsoft and Marks & Spencer have already signed up.

Streatham is one of the youngest constituencies in the UK and also has a high proportion of graduates, with the number of young people going into higher education in Streatham having risen by 81.7% since 1997. In the 1980s and early 1990s the area suffered disproportionately from the problem of youth and graduate unemployment. The government is determined that unlike then, the difficult times we are going through now must not result in a lost generation, locked in unemployment and lacking the skills and experience to find work. Alongside the Talent Pool, an additional 14,000 postgraduate places are to be offered by universities, supported by Professional and Career Development Loans.

Chuka, commenting on the announcement, said: “It is crucial that we don’t leave a generation of bright young people behind, as happened in the 1980s. Internships are a valuable way of passing on skills and opening doors to further opportunities in the future”.

For more information about the talent pool and internship opportunities for graduates, visit this site.

Chuka is supporting the campaign to save Rise Festival, London’s annual anti-rascism event, which has been cancelled by London Mayor Boris Johnson. The UpRise campaign has been formed in response to the decision, setting up an online petition against the cancellation.

Rise, previously known as the Respect Festival, was first organised by the TUC in 1996 to promote an anti-racism message and celebrate London’s unity in diversity. It also provided space for charities and community organisations to highlight and promote their work. From 2001, Mayor Ken Livingstone took charge of the festival, increasing its size and profile. Featured acts have included the Wailers, Public Enemy, Graham Coxon and De La Soul. Last year’s event was held in Finsbury Park and headlined by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, with over 60,000 in attendance. However, Boris Johnson was criticised for watering down the festival’s anti-racist message.

Commenting on the cancellation, Chuka said: “The decision to cancel the Rise Festival at a time when all mainstream political parties, including the Mayor’s own party, are fighting to prevent the rise of the far right in the forthcoming European Elections is crazy – he should think again.”

Please sign the Save Rise Festival petition and check out UpRise’s Facebook group.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Streatham,
and Kate Hoey, Labour MP for Vauxhall, have joined forces with
the Communications Workers Union to oppose the part
privatisation of the Royal Mail.

Two local Labour politicians joined Communications Workers Union
members and officials last Friday (8 May 2009) to campaign against the government plans to part privatise the Royal Mail at the Royal Mail’s major sorting office at Nine Elms in Vauxhall.

Kate Hoey, Labour MP for Vauxhall, has signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion supporting modernisation of the Royal Mail but opposing moves to part privatise the postal service.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, sits on the management committee of Compass, the centre left pressure group which last week announced alternative proposals for the Royal Mail’s future.

Compass recommended that the Royal Mail be kept in public ownership as a not-for-profit body, following the model set by National Rail (which was established as successor to the failed privatisation of the railways under Railtrack). The proposals would give the Royal Mail access to both private and public resources and it would remain operationally separate from government in the same way as the BBC.

Privatisation of Royal Mail could threaten jobs at distribution centres
including Nine Elms and Streatham sorting offices. Opponents of
privatisation, such as the CWU, have pointed to the universal service
which the Royal Mail currently offers and argue that privatisation would see the postal service broken up and services cherry-picked on the basis of profit, rather than the benefit of all users. They also argue that the Royal Mail is not the failed organisation which it is often portrayed as: it currently charges some of the lowest prices in Europe for postage and made a profit of £225m in the first three quarters of its last financial year.

Commenting on proposals for privatisation, Chuka Umunna said:

“The Royal Mail plays an important role in all of our daily lives, and we
deserve the best from it. Everyone, including Royal Mail employees,
management and users, agree that modernisation and investment is
necessary, but selling off the postal service is not the way to achieve
these goals. Modernisation doesn’t have to mean privatisation.

“Instead of privatisation the government should look to its own best
practice models, like the BBC and Network Rail, to develop and modernise the Royal Mail within the public sector and with the consent of all.”

Kate Hoey MP, also commenting on the future of Royal Mail, said:

“The Royal Mail is one of our best and most trusted public assets – and it is making a healthy profit! There is no need to bring in private or foreign ownership that will inevitably try to cream off the most desirable parts. A management shake-up is needed to work constructively with the CWU and a recommitment to enhanced public service will ensure a healthy future.”

Greg Charles, secretary of the CWU London South West (Postal) Branch said:

“Over the past 18 months we have seen changes to the postal services we provide within South London far in advance to any other time in its history. We have modernised not only the service in terms of quality but the terms and conditions, our members enjoy.

“The governments plan to part privatise Royal Mail coupled with
managements plans on modernisation will lead to a worsened service,
failing collections and failing deliveries, whilst profits will be siphoned of
by our competitors. Our members across South London are living with the fear of cuts in jobs, cuts in earnings and an uncertain future.”

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, welcomes the Government’s announcement that from later this year, it will no longer be legal to use customers’ tips to bring workers’ pay up to the minimum wage.

Currently, bosses can use service charges and tips towards meeting the minimum wage for employees, but from October this practice will be outlawed and any tips left for staff will be given in addition to the minimum wage. This follows a Government investigation into how tips and service charges are used as part of employee salaries in restaurants and the hospitality industry. The rule-change will benefit those working in these industries, where tipping is common.

Chuka Umunna, commenting on the change, said:

“It is wrong that some employers have been able to use this loophole as a way of getting out of paying a fair wage; people leave tips on the understanding that the money goes to those who serve them. This move will ensure a fairer deal for all those who work in restaurants, bars and hotels both in Streatham and nationally”.

This weekend sees the launch of the first ever Streatham Food Festival, an event celebrating our community’s rich culinary diversity. Chuka will be attending the launch event at Gracefield Gardens Community Centre on Saturday afternoon, where there will be tasting sessions and food stalls including Oxfam Fair Trade and Food Up Front, an urban food-growing network which operates across south London. Many restaurants on Streatham High Road will be offering discount meals, allowing visitors to sample dishes from a wide range of cuisines, while a farmers’ market selling fresh produce will be running outside the Streatham Odeon. 

For more information, check out the Food Festival’s website here: Streatham Food Festival.

David Cameron has refused to commit to maintaining child benefit and winter fuel allowances at the same level as the Labour Government. 23,900 children in 13,740 families in the Streatham parliamentary constituency have gained from Labour increasing Child Benefit this year. 12,230 local people in the Streatham constituency have received Winter Fuel Payments this year. Mr Cameron talks of an “age of austerity” but local people are asking the question: austerity for who?

The campaigners spearheading the charge for the anti-racism music event Rise Festival to be reinstated claim the Mayor’s cancellation of the event is irresponsible, and plays into the hands of the BNP, fuelling their ambition to win a seat in the forthcoming European election.

Finsbury Park residents Freya Van Lessen and Mike Barnard instigated the campaign to save Rise Festival and it’s anti-racism message, calling on supporters to back their campaign by signing an online petition and joining a group on Facebook called “UpRise: Save Rise Festival”. With the European election on 4th June, the campaigners believe Boris Johnson has, with one hand taken away the event that enabled Londoner’s of all cultures to come together in a united stand against racism and, with the other, given the BNP ammunition for their campaign that opposes racial integration.

Campaign organiser Freya said: “Boris has made two big mistakes: he removed Rise Festival’s anti-racism message and then cancelled the event without listening to the views of the people he is supposed to serve.

His actions have effectively gagged Londoners from expressing their intolerance of racism and celebrating the contributions of different communities to the capital, at an event that was Europe’s largest anti-racism festival.”

Campaign spokesperson Mike Barnard added: “With the European election taking place next month, our nation’s capital and its Mayor should be setting an example to the rest of the country, showing how people of all ethnicities and backgrounds live together. Our message to Boris is unequivocal: bring back Rise Festival and reinstate its anti-racism message.”

The campaign to save Rise Festival has over 1,000 supporters including David Lammy MP, Simon Hughes MP, Chuka Umunna and the chair of the London Assembly, Jennette Arnold, who will be presenting the petition to the Mayor on behalf of the campaigners on 21st May. Commenting on the campaign, Umunna said: “The decision to cancel the Rise Festival at a time when all mainstream political parties, including the Mayor’s own party, are fighting to prevent the rise of the far right in the forthcoming European Elections is crazy – he should think again.”