Tom Levitt condemns Tory backing of cruelty to animals (12 April 2010)
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Speaking on the last day of this Parliament, MP Tom Levitt has spoken of the contrast between political parties.
“Nowhere is this seen more starkly than on hunting with dogs,” he told a group of animal welfare supporters in High Peak. “It was Labour MPs who pioneered the ground breaking 2004 Act, Labour ministers who eventually legislated for it, and Conservatives who want to bring it back by repealing the law. I hope that the heartless cruelty of what Oscar Wilde called ‘the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable’ never returns.”
Mr Levitt recently challenged High Peak Tory hopeful Andrew Bingham to...
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Levitt welcomes massive investment in local hospice (2 April 2010)
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Tom Levitt has welcomed a Government decision to give £300,000 to Blythe House Hospice in Chapel-en-le-Frith. He said: “Blythe House provides first class care to people and their families at that most difficult of times, as life comes to a premature end. I have seen the wide variety of services and the patients who use them. Both statutory and volunteer services work together in wonderful surroundings. This funding recognises the excellence of Blythe House’s work.” Hospices had been invited to submit projects which would deliver tangible physical improvements in their care environments, showing how this would contribute to improved care...
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Joyce is a High Peak Hero (30 March 2010)
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 Founder of the Kinder Children’s Choir, Joyce Ellis of Birch Vale, was invited by the Prime Minister to Downing Street last week to be hailed a ‘community hero.’ Nominated by Tom Levitt MP, Miss Ellis was given a tour of Parliament before attending a reception at No 10 Downing Street with the ‘heroes’ of around 60 other MPs. Mr Levitt told Gordon Brown: “Joyce runs a magnificent organisation. The choir gives ordinary children of all abilities the chance to excel at something worthwhile, develop their skills and character and experience the best that music and teamwork have to offer.” The...
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Levitt condemns interference from outside High Peak on Fox Hunting vote (29 March 2010)
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Tom Levitt MP has demanded openness and transparency about the activities of a group called Vote OK. This is a national organisation of people who support hunting with dogs which is backing pro-hunt Conservatives in 26 seats at the general election. “It should be the people of High Peak who decide which candidate to support. My record on fox hunting is clear: I oppose hunting with hounds, hare coursing and stag hunting and I always have. I am glad that they are now banned and I believe that the Conservatives are out of step with public opinion for wanting to...
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Gordon tells Glossop’s Pat: “Thank you” (17 March 2010)
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 The Prime Minister welcomed Pat Javanaud to a reception in the historic surroundings of 10, Downing Street last week to say ‘thank you’ for her work as a community activist. Pat has a finger in many pies in her central role of co-ordinating community education for Gamesley. An employee of Derbyshire County Council, one of Pat’s recent roles was to oversee the Reaching Communities Lottery funding which has generated several remarkable projects over the last three years. MP Tom Levitt had nominated Pat to attend the reception as a ‘community hero’ at the Prime Minister’s invitation. “Her energy and drive...
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Project eARTh - success for High Peak arts group (16 March 2010)
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People in the High Peak experiencing mental distress will benefit from a massive lottery grant. High Peak Community Arts is absolutely delighted to receive a five year grant of £246,190 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities for project eARTh, an exciting new environmental arts and health project. The successful bid is a result of a strong partnership between High Peak Community Arts and the local mental health teams. High Peak MP Tom Levitt MP, who has acted as a referee for the group's Lottery application, said: "No one should be in any doubt that the arts can play...
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Local MP backs local volunteers (17 March 2010)
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 High Peak MP Tom Levitt has signed up to Volunteering England’s volunteering pledge. Volunteering England, the volunteering development charity, drew up the pledge as a way for MPs and candidates across the country to demonstrate their commitment to volunteering and their support for the efforts of voluntary workers in their constituencies. The pledge that the MP made at the House of Commons reads: “I will work hard to support volunteers and organisations that involve volunteers, both in my constituency and across the country. I will do this by: Recognising the value of volunteering in building a strong society...
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Eureka! Tom Levitt is ‘switched on’ to climate change (14 March 2010)
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 Local MP Tom showed his support for WWF’s Earth Hour by having a ‘Eureka Moment’. A giant light bulb symbolised the ‘moment’ as MPs were invited sign up to Earth Hour and show they are switched on to climate change. (see photo) WWF’s Earth Hour is a global initiative taking place on Saturday 27 March 2010 between 8.30pm-9.30pm. WWF is calling on individuals, businesses, iconic landmarks and local authorities to sign up to switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about people and wildlife threatened by climate change. The initiative has become bigger than ever, surpassing...
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Thousands of pregnant women as much at risk today as 100 years ago (9 March 2010)
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 Tom Levitt MP takes part in Mums Café in Parliament to call for greater investment in women and maternal health. Tom Levitt MP this week attended the Parliamentary Mum’s Café, created by the White Ribbon Alliance, to highlight the hundreds of thousands of pregnant women in developing countries who find themselves at as great a risk of death in childbirth in 2010 as women in the UK were 100 years ago. Mr Levitt was marking the 100th year of International Women’s Day, by joining with organisations including Amnesty International, Save the Children, Oxfam, Mumsnet and White Ribbon Alliance to urge...
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Carbon monoxide poison risk highlighted (1 March 2010)
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 A packed meeting at Glossop Labour Club heard High Peak MP Tom Levitt call for people whose work takes them into other people’s homes to carry audible carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.“CO is a deadly but hidden killer. It is clear that many people suffer from avoidable symptoms but only one home in five has a CO alarm,” he said. “People like meter readers, gas fitters, paramedics, even handy-men and housing officers should carry alarms which detect this poison. Five people have died in High Peak in recent years from CO poisoning, making it one of the country’s worst ‘hot spots’....
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High Peak’s Young talent celebrated at London award ceremony (8 March 2010)
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 A Glossop woman was amongst hundreds of young people who received certificates at a national award ceremony at the prestigious Connaught Rooms in London recently. Rosie O’Grady, an unemployed graduate, has recently completed 30 hours per week of voluntary work over 45 weeks with the v-talent programme. V-talent is an intensive scheme funded by the government to give young people experience of working in key areas in order to enhance their employability. It is part of the wider V organisation, which promotes volunteering amongst young people. Photo shows: v-talent award winners from across Derbyshire with Angela Smith MP (standing, centre)...
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Levitt calls on Bingham to return Ashcroft cash (3 March 2010)
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High Peak MP Tom Levitt has challenged local Tory hopeful Andrew Bingham to distance himself from the “deceit” of Lord Ashcroft and the Conservative Party leadership by returning the money that the tax exile has donated to Tory funds in High Peak. The Independent newspaper last weekend assessed this as £110,000. “It is not acceptable that ten years of broken promises and non-payment of tax by a billionaire should be used to buy votes for the Conservatives in High Peak,” said Mr Levitt. The MP has also tabled a Parliamentary Question as follows: 'To ask the Cabinet Office to...
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Levitt welcomes Pleural Plaque settlement (1 March 2010)
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Tom Levitt MP today welcomed a multi-million pound package of vital help that the Labour Government is giving to people whose health has been put at risk by exposure to asbestos. “This is what dozens of my constituents have been waiting for,” he said. The action includes help for people with asbestos-related diseases to claim compensation and bigger upfront payments for sufferers of Mesothelioma and their dependents. A fund of last resort will be created for people diagnosed with a serious asbestos-related illness who cannot trace their insurance records. Crucially, the package includes financial help to people with pleural plaques...
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High Peak heroes get Parliamentary mention (23 February 2010)
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In a Parliamentary debate on the future of public services High Peak MP Tom Levitt spoke highly of the High Peak ‘heroes’ he had met in the course of his 13 years as MP for the area. Amongst those he singled out for mention were people he had invited to Community Heroes events at 10 Downing Street. These included Police Community Support Officer Lee Baker and his colleagues, Sure Start staff, Gamesley’s Community education coordinator Pat Javanaud and the founder of the Kinder Children’s Choir, Joyce Ellis, of Birch Vale. Kevin Skingsley (of High Peak CVS) and the volunteer centre...
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Levitt responds to Private Eye story (22 February 2010)
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In response to a story in this week's Private Eye (see below), Tom Levitt MP has issued the following statement: "Over the years I have been a guest of Nestle at Wimbledon, at a cricket test match and on a visit to South Africa in 2008 to look at Corporate Social Responsibility, all properly recorded in the Register of Members' Interests. Nestle is the owner of Buxton Water, an important local employer and an iconic brand of the High Peak area. It is right for the MP to have close relations with important local companies. "I have no firm...
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NHS Tameside and Glossop welcome local health service review (19 February 2010)
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NHS Tameside and Glossop, the local Primary Care Trust, today welcomed the response from NHS North West, the Care Quality Commission, and Monitor that a series of reviews will now start to explore patient’s concerns about service delivery and governance arrangements at Tameside Hospital. The Care Quality Commission will be looking closely at the quality of patient care as part of the Trust’s registration process. Specifically CQC will scrutinise the trust’s registration application against the information it holds, including from previous inspections, mortality rates and surveys of patients and staff. CQC will also request additional evidence in areas where it...
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MPs call for ‘fresh start’ after Tameside Hospital breaches infection regulations (2 February 2010)
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Tameside and Glossop MPs are calling for fundamental change at Tameside Hospital, following the publication of a report by the Care Quality Commission. The Care Quality Commission visited Tameside Hospital in December to conduct an unannounced ‘prevention and control of infections’ inspection. And their report, which has just been published, points to “evidence that the trust has breached the regulation to protect patients, workers and others from the risks of acquiring a healthcare-associated infection”. According to the report, the inspectors found commodes that had not been effectively cleaned. And in the Accident and Emergency resuscitation room they found equipment in...
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Historic First for MP's Charity (2 February 2010)
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 For the first time ever, the Speaker of the House of Commons has invited an MP to nominate a charity to benefit from a reception in the historic surroundings of the Speaker’s lodgings. That lucky MP was High Peak’s Tom Levitt, who organised a reception for the charity of which he is patron, READ International. READ operates in British universities where students collect surplus secondary school books from their neighbourhood. Each summer a team of student volunteers takes the books to Tanzania and embeds them in the schools there. Last summer, as Tom saw for himself, some 60 students delivered...
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Levitt welcomes successor’s appointment (1 February 2010)
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Tom Levitt has congratulated Caitlin Bisknell on her appointment this weekend as his successor as Labour candidate for High Peak constituency. He was present as a well-attended meeting of Party members heard the final hustings and witnessed the counting of postal ballot papers in Whaley Bridge. Mr Levitt said: “This election is not over yet, by any means. Caitlin is well known locally and an experienced Leader of the Labour group on High Peak Borough Council. She will be a good candidate, fighting hard in this marginal seat, and will have the whole Labour Party behind her. I wish her...
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Keep Election Night Special – Levitt ( 22 January 2010)
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High Peak MP Tom Levitt has called upon High Peak Borough Council to count the votes at the forthcoming general election on the Thursday night in line with custom and practice. In supporting a motion to Parliament – which now has over 100 MPs supporting it – the MP is expressing concern that Returning Officers are considering a switch to Friday counts in many places. “Election Nights are part of the political tradition of this country. The atmosphere of the Count is unique but, more importantly, people have the right to know who they have elected to represent and to...
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