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Tom's Weekly Column

And it's goodbye from him… (5 April 2010)
Since first being asked to represent Labour in High Peak in 1990 I have fought four general elections, winning three. I have held around 600 advice surgeries since 1997, responded...

Budget Points the way Forward (29 March 2010)
The Budget is always a high point in the political calendar and the economy is always a key factor in the outcome of any general election. This year’s Budget –...

No half measures to help our pubs (22 March 2010)
Constituents have sent me a variety of campaign postcards and emails in support of pubs. The problems that pubs are facing represent a snapshot of the challenges to the whole...

Tackling Global Poverty (15 March 2010)
The Global Poverty Project is one of the most hard-hitting and effective campaigns I have seen. It gets across the message that not only is it vital to tackle poverty...

Updates on issues (8 March 2010)
Here is an update on issues that I have reported previously. The moratorium on site water charging for churches, village halls and community groups in the United Utilities water area...

Thank you to our teachers (1 March 2010)
The first time I stood for election as MP for High Peak much of the debate was around our schools. Here in Derbyshire in 1992 things were bad. We had...

Fair trade is now mainstream (22 February 2010)
Fair trade is now mainstream (22 February 2010)Today, no self respecting coffee shop, train company or major employer wants to be seen to be turning their backs on the developing world. The green, black and blue logo...

Cancer Services (15 February 2010)
My father had skin cancer when he was very young, from which he recovered in full. But he died of prostate cancer 60 years later. That’s why, a few weeks...

Expenses – the final word? (8 February 2010)
As three MPs face charges as a result of the expenses scandal, it is worth reflecting that the circumstances which allowed these offences to happen have ended. Gone is the...

The Chilcot Enquiry (1 February 2010)
I wonder how many people will change their views about the Iraq war as a result of the Chilcot Enquiry. I suspect that as the intensity of scrutiny has risen,...

Jobs for the Boys – and Girls (25 January 2010)
It is one hundred years since Winston Churchill established Labour Exchanges and described them as “Offices of hope.” Those first Labour Exchanges had a designated door for children! Three quarters...

Parliamentary Questions (18 January 2010)
In this column I often mention local case work that constituents have raised with me. This week I shall describe how I represent people’s interests in other important ways in...

The Big Freeze (11 January 2010)
People who qualify for Cold Weather Payments should have received up to three payments of £25 so far this winter. Until last year this payment was only £8.50; it is...

What does 2010 bring? (4 January 2010)
During 2010 we shall see the completion of the new health centre in Glossop and confirmation of the site for the new hospital in Buxton. Both have been keenly awaited...

Electoral Reform (28 December 2009)
As we look towards the new year, we know for certain that there will be a general election. I hope that the election will be the last one fought under...

Copenhagen (21 December 2009)
There is little point spending time wringing our hands over the missed opportunities at Copenhagen. There is work to do and we must get on with it. Although a legally...

The Pre-Budget Report (14 December 2009)
The Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report was a sensible and proportionate response to the situation we are in. It continued the work of minimising the recession’s impact on unemployment and thereby keeping...

Child Care Vouchers (7 December 2009)
No government can get everything right, all the time, first time. To err, as they say, is human. It is better to put a policy right before it is implemented...

Help when you need it most (30 November 2009)
It is a fact of life that we all have to plan what care we need as we get older. Most people I talk to about this say they want...

Youth facilities in Glossop (Glossop Chronicle) (23 November 2003)
“There is nothing here for young people to do” is a common cry. Someone asked me recently what there was for young people in Glossop and I found the list...

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