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Last Updated 3 April 2008
Ken Livingstone’s FREEDOM PASS Holders Now Have Whole England as Their Oyester!
· The Labour Government has invested £200m so that from 1 April the FREEDOM PASS that enables the over-60s or the disabled to travel free will be valid for bus rides in any English town (& separately for Scotland & Wales).
· JUST HOP ON & GO!!!
(read more details here)
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Ken Livingstone Gives £1.5m for Merton’s Intergenerational Centre
· Wimbledon Guardian reports : it’ll be the first of its kind in the whole country! Merton is honoured!
· Ken said : “The new centre’s aim is to break down barriers between people of different generations, challenge ageism and generate a sense of shared purpose bringing together and benefiting all members of the community.”
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Thanks to London’s Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone
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Europe’s largest Low Emission Zone -- that will fine air-polluting lorries, coaches or buses on a daily basis -- is now operating in Greater London to help prevent the 1,000 annual deaths due to air-pollution. This is a follow-up to his courageous pioneering of the Congestion Charge scheme to reduce traffic pollution.
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33,000 Affordable Houses were built last year, with 50,000 more to come. [Regrettably, Tory Merton Council built only 44, while even Wandsworth built 206, Sutton 137, & Croydon 104.]
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1,200 uniformed Safer Transport police, including 441 for the outer boroughs like Merton, have helped reduce Bus Crime by 11%.
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Overall crime has dropped by 50%, with Gun Crime going down by 15%.
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A massive £792m is being spent to develop local transport network, cycle lanes, 20mph zones around schools, & road safety.
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Single Tube & Bus fares frozen for 2008.
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£78m budget for the Mayor’s Youth Offer towards qualitatively improving the opportunities for young people to do concrete things & get more engaged in the community.
(for more gems, click here to see KEN'S OWN WEBSITE)
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78 New Air-conditioned Trains with Wheelchair Spaces for Wimbledon’s Tube -- Due to London Mayor Livingstone’s Initiatives!
………. But Tory MP Still Behaving Rich!
Wimbledon Guardian Report ..... (read more)
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Leonie Cooper -- the Renowned Campaigner on Social Housing & Environment -- Selected Labour’s Candidate for 1 May GLA Election
- Battersea Councillor & Labour’s Deputy Leader in Wandsworth Leonie Cooper is our candidate for the Merton & Wandsworth (combined) constituency for the 1 May 2008 election to the Greater London Assembly. …… (read more)
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Wimbledon’s Wilberforce Would Be Proud of Our Labour Government!
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Did You Know?
• In the last fiscal year UK’s Gross Public Expenditure on development was increased by 27% -- to £6,612m.
• India, Bangladesh & Sudan received the highest amount of our government’s bilateral aid.
• DfID’s humanitarian assistance programme itself was £550m.
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See Labour Party's Videos on Burning Issues (by clicking here)
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Merton Council Elevated to 3-Star Rating Due to Last Labour Administration’s Visionary Groundwork!
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Independent Audit Commission report recently promoted Merton Council from 2 to 3 Star rating for overall performance.
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As the review was mainly based on past years’ achievements, the independent Merton Park Resident leader Councillor Peter Southgate said that the improvements were "80% down to Labour and 20% to the Conservatives".
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Wimbledon Guardian reports that even the Tory leader David Williams acknowledged : “I don’t want to diminish (my predecessor) Councillor (Andrew) Judge’s role in beginning to turn the council around”.
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Did You Know?
Thanks to Gordon Brown’s caring & innovative policies, last year nearly 4000 not-so-well-off families in Wimbledon earned an average of £2,770 in welfare tax credits. |
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(read more)
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Dan Lodge to Lead Wimbledon Campaigns
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Local campaigners of Wimbledon Labour Party have selected prosecution barrister Dan Lodge to lead their campaign to regain the parliamentary seat at the next General Election.
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Dan takes a tough stance on anti-social behaviour and the small minority of persistent offenders who make life intolerable for many local residents.
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Dan provides free legal advice to those who have employment, housing and special needs. He is fighting to stop proposed local council cuts to provisions and an increasing of charges targeted at the elderly and those with special needs.
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Dan believes that climate change is an issue of local, national and global importance and wants to help Wimbledon residents play their part in protecting the environment by lobbying the council.
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Born in 1974, Dan attended Catholic state school before going on to study law at Cambridge after which he won scholarships and was called to the Bar in 1998 at Gray’s Inn.
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Labour’s ‘Safer Neighbourhoods’ Scheme Secures Police Patrols in Every Wimbledon Ward – Thanks to London Mayor Livingstone’s Funding! ..... (read more)
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Local Residents Happier With Labour Council’s Achievements!
- The 3-yearly Residents’ Survey conducted by the independent Audit Commission compared the satisfaction levels :
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Service |
Four Years Ago |
Last Year with Labour |
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Cleanliness |
45% |
60% |
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Refuse Collection |
60% |
71% |
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Recycling |
40% |
64% |
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Sports & Leisure |
42% |
51% |
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Park & Open Spaces |
68% |
81% |
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Local Buses
(thanks to Livingstone) |
60% |
72% |
..... (read more)
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Our Local Labour’s Visionary ‘MERTON RULE’ on Renewable Energy Leads Rest of London!
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A cutting edge environmental policy adopted by Merton Labour Councillors has been taken up by Ken Livingstone for whole London. ..... (read more)
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Let’s Continue to Work for a Cleaner-Greener-Safer Wimbledon
Let’s Pledge to Protect Our Community’s Gains from the Tories
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The people of our borough refused to handover overall control to the Tories at the last local council elections in Merton -- which also includes the 10 wards of Wimbledon.
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Even the elected Mayor and the Deputy Mayor are Labour councillors who are dedicated to fight for the people against typical Tory service withdrawals, budget cuts, & false promises!
- Labour’s reputation is built on concrete work & clear commitments :
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Labour Councillors’ 10 PLEDGES for Wimbledon ….. (read more)
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Have Your Say in Running the Country & the Community
- The Satisfaction & Benefits of Joining Our Party ….. (read more)
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First Time in UK History : Open & Transparent Government -- Directly Seeking Your Views!
· Our Prime Minister has volunteered to regularly face all-party parliamentary select committee’s scrutiny in public.
· Labour government has courageously passed the Freedom of Information Act to promote unprecedented transparency & accountability.
· Even the Prime Minister’s own office is open on the web and is actively seeking people’s views on crime, environment etc : so let’s join the great policy debates by visiting www.pmo.gov.uk :
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Watch the Tory Chameleons!
What are they really up to??
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BNP Is Supporting Tory Mayoral Candidate!
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A Killer Idea : Coming to a Road Near You!
"I think pedestrians are the most dangerous feature on the road at the moment."
[Tory Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson on Radio 2]
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Did You Know?
Merton Council's Tory administration is keeping £11.5m tucked away while increasing Council Tax by 3.9% and cutting jobs & services! |
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Wimbledon Guardian Exposes “Greedy Tory” Money-grab Attempt & U-turn Under Public Pressure!
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Ben Johnson first reported : “Furious councillors have condemned Conservative plans to give Merton Council’s cabinet members a 28 per cent pay rise while proposing funding cuts to social services in the borough.
- “The pay increase comes in the wake of proposed cuts to the social services budget, including the closure of All Saints' day centre, the only service in the borough to cater for disabled adults.”
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But Johnson later reported back : “Under-fire Merton councillors have made an embarrassing u-turn on a proposal to award themselves a hefty pay rise.
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“Council leader David Williams has shelved controversial plans to increase cabinet members' pay by 28 per cent, the equivalent of £4,000, and the basic allowance of a councillor by £800.
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“With proposed cuts to social services funding, and as the borough struggles to cover a £14million budget deficit, the Conservative-led council faced severe criticism for the pay rise.
….. (read more on PEOPLE’S REACTION!)
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….. Meanwhile Tory Wimbledon MP Asks for More Money!!!
· Wimbledon Guardian’s Diana Pilkington reported : “Stephen Hammond has argued that MPs should be paid the same as a GP or senior civil servant, who he says earn an average of £108,000 and £118,000 respectively.
· “His views come amid members' responses to recommendations by the Senior Salaries Review Board, which saw one Conservative MP, Anthony Steen, controversially ask for a taxi allowance to avoid using the Tube.
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“Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "MPs already get a good salary, an extremely generous pension and sizeable expenses - that should be sufficient. After all, this job is meant to be about serving the public first and foremost. People are already concerned that some politicians are taking advantage of the taxpayer financially - further pay rises would only fuel that feeling. We all have to tighten our belts in tough economic times, and it is only right that MPs do so too”."
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Merton Tories Draw First Blood
· Wimbledon Guardian’s insightful reporter Diana Pilkington had already alerted all residents (on 27 September) that Merton council’s Tory administration was planning to cut £36.7m from its budget -- with potential loss of jobs & services.
· The first set of proposed Tory | |
