Roger Godsiff urges "No" to an elected Mayor for Birmingham.

The decision as to whether Birmingham should have an elected Mayor will be taken at the same time as the local elections.  People will have different views on this issue as they did on the AV Referendum.  Personally, I am totally opposed to the idea of an elected Mayor for Birmingham because I do not believe that it will improve the governance of Birmingham and it will dilute still further the role of elected Councillors and will concentrate even more power (limited though these might be) in the hands of one individual.  Of course it will be argued by supporters of the idea that London has an elected Mayor so why shouldn’t Birmingham but the two situations are totally different.

London has 8 million plus people living in it compared with 2 million plus in Birmingham.  London has 32 boroughs whereas Birmingham is one single authority.  London used to have a London-wide authority, the Greater London Council, sitting above the 32 boroughs.  It was abolished by Mrs. Thatcher in the 1980s because the GLC was a constant irritant to her.  The idea of importing an elected Mayor system from America was dreamt up in Downing Street by people who had no experience of being in, or running, local Councils and because it was American and trendy it was adopted by the Blair Government as an alternative to reinventing the GLC.  Other than being a focal point and advocate for London the Mayor of London only has real influence in a couple of areas which are under his control and neither of these apply to Birmingham.  The London Mayor controls London Underground and London buses but Birmingham does not have an underground system and the bus service is not under the control of the City Council.  Ken Livingstone introduced congestion charging in London and there would be a good case for doing this in Birmingham as part of wider transport policy but this can be done by an elected City Council and you do not have to have a Mayor to do this.

Elected Mayors were a ‘trendy idea’ and some Councils adopted them.  Some of these Councils, like Stoke, have since scrapped the idea while others, like Hartlepool, showed what they thought of the idea by electing a candidate who stood as a monkey to be Mayor!  What the people of Birmingham want is good governance by their elected Councillors and not a gimmick which will eliminate still further the role of the elected Councillor as is the case with the London Assembly which is virtually powerless.  I will urge anybody who cares to listen to vote ‘No’ and I am quite prepared to work alongside similar minded people in other parties to defeat this proposal.

Badger Cull

The Government does have to combat Bovine TB but there is no need for them to slaughter Badgers to achieve this.  Badgers can be trapped and vaccinated and this is a much more humane way of dealing with the problem of Bovine TB rather than wholesale slaughter.

Southern Cross, CQC's and PCC's

Responding to a letter that I sent to Paul Burstow MP, Minister of State for Care Services before the closure announcement, Paul Burstow said reassuringly: “The Government is determined to maintain continuity and quality of care for all care home residents across the country.

Mr Burstow also said: “We consider the private sector should be fully capable of resolving this issue”. 

I wish I could share his confidence but residents of Southern Cross have no grounds to be confident in the performance of the private sector as they have learnt to their cost. If Government’s continue to abandon large areas of social provision to the private sector without adequate oversight vulnerable members of our society will continued to be viewed as tradeable assets - much to the delight and profits of private equity funds -  and not people.

The performance of the Quality Care Commission (CQC) has been worse than lamentable in this respect as has the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in the case of Murdoch. It seems that all you have to do is put 'Complaints Commission (CC) in a title and you are guaranteed ineffectiveness.

Roger Godsiff wishes Salma Yaqoob a speedy recovery

Responding today to the news that the Respect Councillor, Salma Yaqoob, was stepping down as a Councillor in Sparkbrook due to her worsening health Roger Godsiff said “I was very sorry to hear about Salma Yaqoob’s deteriorating health problems.  It is perfectly understandable that she should concentrate on regaining her health and she will have the love and support of her family and friends in achieving this.  I wish her a speedy recovery.”

NoW Phone Hacking Scandal

Speaking today after the latest revelations of phone hacking from the News of the World employees, Roger Godsiff MP said: “These events will have disgusted most people. The idea that a newspaper and its owners could access the mobile phone records of victims and relatives of terrible crime is utterly contemptible”.

Mr Godsiff went on to say: “What is needed is a full and independent judicial enquiry with the ability to subpoena witnesses and take evidence.

In the light of allegations of large amounts of money having been paid to sources within the police for stories and the poor record of police investigation in this matter to date, the Metropolitan Police or any other police force is not an appropriate body to conduct this investigation. Nor is the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) which has shown itself to be toothless and serve the interests of newspaper proprietors and not those of the general public.

With regard to Jeremy Hunt’s decision to give Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation the go ahead to acquire BSkyB, I can only reiterate what I have said previously that I am totally opposed to this take-over. I share the views of many others that the assurances which Murdoch has given about the independence of Sky News is not worth the paper that any such assurance was written on. Recent events have only served to confirm my worst fears in this regard”.

Scandal of Southern Cross

Birmingham MP Roger Godsiff joined the attack over the scandal of the financial crisis at Britain’s biggest nursing homes group, Southern Cross Healthcare, tabling an Early Day Motion (EDM1863) highly critical of the financial management of the company as well as naming both a former and current senior Government advisor who benefited substantially from the flotation of the company in 2006.

The hard hitting EDM tabled by the Hall Green MP states that: ‘Elderly people who need residential care should be helped to live out their lives with care, support and dignity rather than having their futures determined by the avaricious greed of financial entrepreneurs and their apologists who view care for the elderly as just another commodity and market opportunity to make vast sums of money’.

One of the 753 homes currently run by Southern Cross is the Oaklands home in the Moseley district of Mr Godsiff’s constituency and he firmly believes that residents of Oaklands and all the other 30,000 Southern Cross residents can do without the worry and distress that is being caused by the present financial uncertainty.

Former and current senior Government advisors involved with Southern Cross are Baroness Morgan of Huyton and Jeremy Heywood.

Baroness Morgan, who served as Tony Blair’s political secretary, is one of the longest serving board members at Southern Cross and sits on the company’s remuneration committee which determines the pay of senior executives and directors. She received £53,000 from the company last year. Jeremy Heywood who was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2008, was co-head of UK investment banking at Morgan Stanley which acted as financial adviser and lead manager for the 2006 flotation and yielded a 300% return on its investment in Southern Cross for its private equity group owner Blackstone and its directors a year before the share value collapsed.

The 2006 flotation valued the company at £423 million and raised £175. It is normal for advising banks to charge a fee of at least 1%.

Mr Godsiff has also written to Heath Secretary, Andrew Lansley MP asking him if the Government will undertake a financial review of other care sector providers to ensure that they are fit for purpose.

The Rising Cost of Railfares

The Government’s review of the railways will lead to even fewer services, less staff and higher fares although fares are so high at this moment in time that commuters are going to find it extremely difficult to come up with even more money!!

I believe privatisation of the railways was one of the worst decisions ever made by a Government.  Furthermore if the clock could be turned back to the 1960s before Dr. Beeching took his axe to the railways then I believe that any British Government, of whatever political colour, would jump at the chance of having the sort of coordinated and extensive rail network throughout the country that existed at that time rather than having to spend vast sums of money on building new lines.