Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, is celebrating the five years which have passed this week since Labour’s Fox Hunting Bill received Royal Asset, ending the cruel practice of hunting with dogs.

Since then, dozens of prosecutions have been brought under the Act, showing that the ban is making a real difference.

The ban has also proved to be popular – according to the results of an Ipsos Mori poll last month, three quarters of people do not want hunting with dogs to be made legal again.

But the Conservatives have made clear that they wish to see a return of hunting with dogs, with shadow Defra secretary Nick Herbert indicating that a future Conservative government would introduce legislation to overturn the ban.

One of the first things David Cameron spoke about when he was elected to parliament was his support for hunting with dogs.

Commenting, Chuka Umunna said: “The hunting ban is something which many people locally feel strongly about, and we must not allow a return of this cruel practice.

“The Conservatives have made it clear that bringing back hunting is something they prioritise.”

“I will campaign strongly against any attempt to overturn the hunting ban. People who support the ban should join me in signing the online petition at http://www.backtheban.com.”

Last week, at the opening of the new session of parliament, the Queen’s speech outlined the government’s future legislative programme.

Below is a summary of the most important new bills announced and what they mean for Streatham residents:

Child poverty
The Child Poverty Bill will legally ensure that resources and effort are put towards meeting the target of eradicating child poverty in the UK by 2020. Labour has already lifted 500,000 children out of poverty – while under the previous Tory government the rate of child poverty doubled – and the bill would bind any future government to helping those children most in need in our community.

Schools and Young People
The government has pledged one-to-one tutoring for any primary school pupil falling behind in Maths and English. Parents will be given more power through new local authority annual surveys on parent views of secondary schools and children will be guaranteed the legal right to a good education for the first time, with new powers for authorities to intervene to remedy poorly performing schools. This will help pupils in Streatham make the most of their education and enable parents to give their children the best possible start in life.

Crime and Security Bill
In order to make our streets safer, Labour will provide new powers to police and local authorities to tackle violence committed by under-18s. Domestic violence victims will be helped through new ‘Go Orders’ against suspects, which will force them to stay away from their homes for a set amount of time. This will empower victims who may have been unprepared to lay charges.

To tackle unfair wheel champing, a new compulsory licensing scheme put into place for all clamping businesses. Alongside this, penalties will be limited and fair and effective processes for making appeals will be put into place. This will help rid Streatham’s streets of unnecessary wheel clamping and unduly high fines.

The Personal Care at Home Bill
Labour has pledged free personal care for those most in need. This will benefit up to 280,000 people and will allow elderly residents in Streatham to remain in their own homes for longer. Additionally, 130,000 people who have recently come out of hospital will now be entitled to free enablement care.

Equality Bill
Building on the great Labour success of implementing the national minimum wage, this bill will make it a legal duty for public bodies to make efforts to reduce socio-economic inequality.

The Financial Services Bill
The government will give the Financial Services Authority (FSA) powers to tear up any banker’s contracts which provide bonuses encouraging unnecessary risks.

A new Consumer Protection Agency will be set up to support individuals joining together to make US style ‘class action’ lawsuits against banks. This will empower individuals to take action against bigger organisations and institutions, being able to pool their resources.

All of these policies show that Labour is committed to making our society a safer and more equal one, placing people’s welfare at the top of its agenda.

Chuka has written to First Capital Connect protesting against the current disruption being experienced by Thameslink passengers and met with the Transport Minister to relay residents’ concerns over plans
for the line.

A dispute over pay this week has led to First Capital Connect (FCC) only being able to run a skeleton service from Streatham station to central London, with as few as one train an hour remaining in operation.

Chuka has written to First Capital Connect bosses, protesting at the unacceptable reduced timetable which is running on the line.

He is asking them why this situation has been allowed to develop and what steps they are taking to resolve the dispute and get train services back running to normal levels.

Chuka also met with Transport Minister Sadiq Khan MP to relay local residents’ views on the long-term planned changes to Streatham’s Thameslink service.

He raised with the Minister the potential threat to direct services from Streatham station beyond Blackfriars after 2015, telling him of the importance of Streatham’s link to the City, King’s Cross and Luton Airport.

Umunna has been running a campaign against proposals by Network Rail to terminate all northbound trains from Streatham at Blackfriars and wrote a letter to the former Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon against the plan earlier this year.

The Department of Transport is currently considering Network Rail’s proposals for the future of the line.

Hundreds of passengers have signed Mr Umunna’s petition opposing the changes and have joined his ‘Save Our South West London Thameslink Services’ Facebook group.

Chuka said:

“The disruption to Thameslink services this week has been awful and is simply unacceptable.

“First Capital Connect must ensure that it puts the needs of its passengers first and does all it can so that train services go back to normal as soon as possible.

“The future of Thameslink is an important long-term issue for our area. When I met with the Transport Minister, I was able to pass on exactly how strongly local residents feel about the Thameslink proposals tabled by Network Rail.”

Local campaigners turn up the pressure on Tesco as the retailer announces huge national profits and plans to expand, ahead of an announcement on its intentions for the Streatham Ice Rink At a public meeting in Streatham on 8 October 2009, Tesco Plc (“Tesco”) – which owns Streatham Ice Rink – cited the credit crunch as the reason for revising the plans for the Streatham Hub which were agreed two years ago.

The retail juggernaut made much of the effect of the tough economic climate on its plans and, when asked at the public meeting, refused to maintain its guarantee that Streatham’s ice skating provision would continue without interruption whilst the Hub scheme is developed under its revised proposals.

Now it transpires that just two days before that public meeting, Tesco had quietly released interim results showing gross pre tax profits of £1.4billion, up 1.5% on last year’s interim results. Consequently, the firm’s income from sales and the value of dividends paid out to its shareholders, is up 9% on the same period last year.

Also, on 28 October 2009 Tesco announced it was creating 1,000 new jobs in Newcastle following a decision to establish a customer service centre for its banking division. On 13 November 2009 it signed an agreement to open 18 new hypermarkets in China in the 12 months up to February 2010. This is in addition to the supermarket chain’s UK expansion, with hundreds of brand new stores opening this year including 15 hypermarkets, 10 superstores, 4 Metro stores, 3 Homeplus stores and 200 Express stores.

Commenting on the huge Tesco profits and rapid expansion of the already dominant retailer, Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, said:

“Tesco’s claims about the credit crunch and its affect on its ability to deliver the Streatham Hub scheme do not stack up – its colossal profits could pay for a new ice rink many times over so there is no excuse for failing to guarantee it will stay open whilst a new one is built.

“Tesco should not be using the Credit Crunch as a wheeze for reneging on the promises they have made to this community – it is not the way to win loyal local customers of the future.”

Tesco’s failure to uphold the guarantee it gave to keep the Ice Rink open whilst the Streatham Hub scheme is developed has attracted a wave of protest on the petition and Facebook Group Umunna established to keep Streatham Skating.

Local resident, Georgia Hinault, said:

“Streatham ice rink is important to us, we use it all the time – how dare Tescos put the future of ice skating in South London at the mercy of their so called ‘economic downturn’, they have not been affected by the recession at all ,in fact they have benefited. SHAME ON TESCO!”

Local resident, Eleanor Brooke, said:

“I campaigned back in 2000-2001 to keep the ice rink open when I was ten years old and I am outraged to hear that Tesco’s is attempting to escape its commitment to keep the ice rink open.”

Judith Koral, mother of Streatham Redskins captain, Ed Koral, said:

“For [my son], as well as for the many other children the club serves, having a commitment to hockey has kept him off the street etc. To close this facility without building a new rink first will mean that Streatham will become another Richmond in that it will have no rink. The knock on effect for the regeneration of the whole area does not bear thinking about.”

So far over 1,600 people have signed Umunna’s petition on and off-line and over 1,300 people have joined his “Keep Streatham Skating!” Facebook Group. They are both part of the cross party campaign launched by Umunna.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, has written to First Capital Connect protesting against the current disruption being experienced by Thameslink passengers and met with the Transport Minister to relay residents’ concerns over plans for the line.

A dispute over pay this week has led to First Capital Connect (FCC) only being able to run a skeleton service from Streatham station to central London, with as few as one train an hour remaining in operation.

Mr Umunna has written to First Capital Connect bosses, protesting at the unacceptable reduced timetable which is running on the line. He is asking them why this situation has been allowed to develop and what steps they are taking to resolve the dispute and get train services back running to normal levels.

Mr Umunna also met with Transport Minister Sadiq Khan MP to relay local residents’ views on the long-term planned changes to Streatham’s Thameslink service.

He raised with the Minister the potential threat to direct services from Streatham station beyond Blackfriars after 2015, telling him of the importance of Streatham’s link to the City, King’s Cross and Luton Airport.

Umunna has been running a campaign against proposals by Network Rail to terminate all northbound trains from Streatham at Blackfriars and wrote a letter to the former Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon against the plan earlier this year.

The Department of Transport is currently considering Network Rail’s proposals for the future of the line.

Hundreds of passengers have signed Mr Umunna’s petition opposing the changes and have joined his ‘Save Our South West London Thameslink Services’ Facebook group.

Commenting, Mr Umunna said:

“The disruption to Thameslink services this week has been awful and is simply unacceptable.

“First Capital Connect must ensure that it puts the needs of its passengers first and does all it can so that train services go back to normal as soon as possible.

“The future of Thameslink is an important long-term issue for our area.

“When I met with the Transport Minister, I was able to pass on exactly how strongly local residents feel about the Thameslink proposals tabled by Network Rail.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced a major consultation on the future of London transport, which includes the potential scheme to bring the London Underground to Streatham.

Following the publication of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, Londoners are being asked to register their views.

This is an important opportunity to let the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) know what a difference a tube extension to Streatham, currently under consideration, would make.

The Mayor’s Transport Strategy recognised the lack of transport connections in South London, describing the “paucity of the Underground network” in the area and the need for “better public transport connectivity between inner north and inner south London”.

It also confirms that TfL is looking into a number of options to extend the Bakerloo line southwards with the route currently being under development. The report pledges that the Bakerloo extension will serve “areas with poor transport accessibility”.

Despite these positive developments, we need to keep up pressure if we want a Streatham tube extension to become a reality.

The decision on where to build the tube extension will take into account the views of residents and you can take part in the consultation at http://www.london.gov.uk/shaping-london/ before it closes on January 12th 2010.

Registering views online only takes around 5 minutes and could help determine whether the Tube comes to Streatham or elsewhere.

If you haven’t yet signed the petition to bring the tube to Streatham, do so here.

New plans have been announced by the government to ensure that consumers get a fair deal from credit card companies and stop unfair practices and exploitation.

Chuka is backing the changes, having campaigned on the issue after hearing complaints from local people about credit card rip offs.

The rules would mean that companies will have to pay off customers’ most expensive debts first.

This is to prevent the practice of ‘negative payment hierarchy’ whereby consumers can get stuck in debt by only paying off the portion borrowed at the cheapest rate. This change could save thousands of pounds for people paying off credit card debts.

Companies are also set to be banned from increasing credit limits without consent, sending unsolicited cheques or increasing interest rates on existing debts.

In future, they will be required to give consumers a full and proper explanation of how a card works before making an agreement.

The government is also intervening to help customers who are seeking refunds for excessive bank fees and charges.

There are more than one million reclaim requests for excessive charges which have been on hold since 2007, with a test case brought by the Office of Fair Trading currently going through the courts.

The Prime Minister has called on banks to resolve the outstanding claims without further delay.

Users of local hospitals will benefit from free parking as the government is abolishing charges for inpatients and their visitors.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced that patients will be given a free parking permit for the duration of their stay in hospital to pass on to visiting friends and families, for whom parking costs can currently rack up.

The phasing out of the charges will take place over three years, and could save patients and their families up to £2 million a year. It will be paid for by year-on-year savings in back office NHS costs.

Local hospitals have benefitted from investment under Labour – King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill has a brand new 750-room Golden Jubilee Wing which cost £60 million.

St George’s Hospital in Tooting opened its award-winning new Atkinson Morley Wing in 2003 after government capital investment of £50 million.

Chuka said: “The last thing patients in hospital and their loved ones should have to worry about is paying for a parking ticket.”

“Friends and family should be able to visit patients in hospital without repeatedly paying parking fees to do so.”

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, is a signatory of a new campaign to apply a windfall tax to bank profits.

He joins economists, journalists and other political figures in signing a letter put forward by the pressure group Compass, on whose management committee he sits, calling on the government to take action.

This follows a number of banks reporting huge profits recently in the latest round of announcements, including RBS being predicted to make £1.5 billion in profit this year and Lloyds Banking Group £2 billion.

We have also seen a return to the ‘bonus culture’ in banks, with a report last month by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) finding that bonuses in the sector have risen by 50 per cent this year and are set to continue to rise over the next two years.

In 1981 Mrs.Thatcher levied a windfall tax on High Street banks, justified on the grounds that increased interest rates caused by the recession led to substantial unearned profits.

The banks’ recent profits have been made on the back of taxpayer-funded bailouts and Mr Umunna is calling on the government to tax the bonuses or directly tax the profits of banks to generate money which could be used in a more socially-useful way.

With unemployment continuing to rise as a result of the recession, the funds generated by a windfall tax could be ring-fenced to create thousands of new ‘green’ jobs desperately needed for the future, helping fight climate change at the same time.

This would also help ensure that our economy never becomes so reliant on the financial sector again in the future.

“Given that the taxpayer has bailed out the banks to the tune of £500 billion, it is wrong for bankers to continue rewarding themselves so hansomely.

“This ‘business as usual’ attitude has to stop, and applying a windfall tax is the best way to rein in banks’ behaviour and create new, sustainable jobs for the future.”

Mr Umunna is also backing the call for a high pay commission, which would investigate the effects of high pay and bonuses on our economy and society.

Chuka appeared on BBC Radio 4’s topical panel discussion show Any Questions? on Friday November 13th.

He joined writer A.N. Wilson, Director of the Institute of Ideas Claire Fox and Editor of ConservativeHome Tim Montgomerie.

Listen again to the programme here.