Posted on 2015-05-11 | 03:14

At the recent election Roger was returned as the MP for Hall Green with a massive increase in his majority. He gained an overall majority with 59.8% of the vote, up 26.9% from 2010.

Roger and his team are looking forward to resuming our service for the people of Hall Green. Thank you very much for all the support that you gave to Roger on Thursday and for your messages of support and congratulations!

After winning the election, Roger commented: “I am very grateful to the people of Birmingham Hall Green for returning me to Parliament with an increased majority. I will do my best to serve my constituents and to campaign for a better, fairer UK.

“I campaigned on a platform of fully nationalised public services, a living wage for all work, and a strong social safety net to protect those too ill to work and those looking for work. Despite the Conservative victory for the politics of fear and even harsher austerity, I received a clear mandate from my constituents to continue to fight against policies that victimise the most vulnerable in our society while allowing the wealthiest 1% and multinational corporations to avoid contributing anything like their fair share.

“With a Conservative Government in power, it will be even more important to make a strong case for social justice and a fair society which protects the vulnerable and ensures a decent standard of living for all, rather than ever-increasing wealth for a small minority. While the Labour party must support enterprise and small and medium sized businesses, we must not fall into the trap of blindly appeasing big business’ demands for ever-lower taxes, or allow workers’ rights to be eroded. I will continue to campaign for all work to pay enough to live on with dignity, and for a limit to executive pay.

“The Tories now intend to cut an appalling £12 billion from benefits which are already tightly squeezed. As pensions will be protected, the brunt of this will fall on those too ill or disabled to work, and on working families whose wages are too low to live on. I am extremely worried that this will lead to greater poverty and misery for people who, through no fault of their own, are already struggling. The Conservatives’ constant mantra that the recession was caused by Labour’s overspending on benefits is simply not backed up by the facts—it was the super-rich, not the struggling poor, who caused the financial crash. I will not vote for any legislation which inflicts further cuts on citizens who work hard in poorly-paid jobs, or who are trying to find work in a very tight jobs market, or who are disabled and cannot work.

“I will campaign for clean, renewable energy, and against fracking and other forms of environmental destruction. I will also continue to oppose further privatisation and fragmentation of our NHS, and to call for our public services to be run for the public good, not private profit. The public sphere is not a drain on the UK—it is a vital part of this country that we all rely on, and we need to protect it.”