News archive – 2013

Posted on 2013-12-19 | 12:58

Speaking in a debate on the rise of food banks in in the House of Commons, Roger condemned the economic inequality and Government indifference which have forced people to turn to “modern-day soup kitchens”.

"The state has a duty to provide a safety net for its citizens, and should not abandon them to the instabilities of unregulated markets."

In his speech, Roger talked about the experience of one his constituents who had to use a food bank in Sparkhill. She had a well-paid job, but after losing her job and suffering bereavements, she was forced to rely on benefits. She got into debt with her utility bills, and had to spend most of her JSA on paying the ever-rapacious energy and water companies, leaving her with just £5 per fortnight to live on.

Happily, this constituent has now found a job and is feeling hopeful about the future, but Roger emphasised that no-one in the world’s seventh largest economy should be forced to rely on food banks to survive. The state has a duty to provide a safety net for its citizens, and should not abandon them to the instabilities of unregulated markets.

Roger concluded his speech: “The Government ought to be ashamed of presiding over a situation in which people must go through what that young lady, who is not feckless or a shirker, has had to experience. At the end of the day, lives will be scarred by the humiliation of forcing people into food banks—not just the lives of those individuals, but the lives of their children, too. Whatever the Government say, their MPs should be ashamed of that.”

You can read Roger’s full speech here.

Posted on 2013-12-16 | 06:33

Twenty parliamentarians including Roger wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills about the newly announced register of who really owns and controls anonymous shell companies.

Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption co-signed a letter calling on Minister Vince Cable to ensure his Department implements the register effectively. The Group is campaigning to end the use of anonymous shell companies which help corrupt foreign officials steal cash from developing countries, as well as helping individuals and organisations evade tax in the UK, funnel money to terrorists, break international sanctions and aid drugs smuggling. According to research by Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel, the amount sub-Saharan Africa loses in illicit financial flows is more than the total it receives in aid and direct foreign investment.

"The register needs to be rigorously enforced and fully transparent, not just a token gesture.”

Roger has previously campaigned for the Government to take action on the one in five tax havens around the world which are under UK jurisdiction. He tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to implement a publicly-accessible register on beneficial ownership to tackle the use of UK territories as tax havens. He commented: “Announcing the register is a good first step, but in order for it to be effective and help developing countries it needs to be rigorously enforced and fully transparent, not just a token gesture.”

The letter calls on Vince Cable to ensure that the registry, to be held at Companies House, requires individuals to submit sufficient information to create a unique identifier for every person listed, not just a name. The parliamentarians request that information be published as open data, that it should undergo verification through cross-checks with other UK registries, and that severe penalties should be levied against any company failing to comply.

Signed by parliamentarians from both the Commons and Lords, the letter is supported by members of all the major political parties. It is part of a broader package of work by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption highlighting the role of UK policy in facilitating major financial outflows from developing countries.

Posted on 2013-12-12 | 06:46

Roger has written to the Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening MP, to urge her to take all possible steps to protect the safety of women and girls in Afghanistan, and to prioritise supporting Afghanistani women who are working to improve human rights.

Roger also tabled a Parliamentary Question to urge the Department for International Development to increase funding to help provide more shelters for female victims of violence in Afghanistan, where there are currently just fourteen shelters. He tabled another question asking DFID for more information about how it is working with the Government of Afghanistan to bring to justice perpetrators of violent crimes against women and girls, and how it will safeguard women’s rights following the withdrawal of Coalition forces.

Roger said: “I believe that it is vital for the UK to champion women’s rights in Afghanistan".

Roger said: “My constituents have written to me to tell me that they share my concern about the current situation of women in Afghanistan. Of particular concern is the extremely high level of violence against women and girls, and the number of these attacks that remain unreported and unpunished. I am urging the Government to take these factors into account when planning the withdrawal of troops.”

High-profile women who stand up for human rights in Afghanistan are particularly likely to be targeted for attacks. Recently two parliamentarians, Fariba Kakar and Rooh Gul, were attacked, and the two most senior police women in Helmand were both murdered. The perpetrators of violent attacks such as these are frequently not brought to justice even when the victim was a high profile woman, and the killers who target women with lower profiles are even less likely to be held to account for their crime. Female teachers and doctors, who provide other women and girls with the healthcare and education they need to improve their lives, are frequently targeted.

Roger concluded: “I believe that it is vital for the UK to champion women’s rights in Afghanistan, and to apply all possible diplomatic pressure to the Government of Afghanistan to take effective action in this area.”

Posted on 2013-12-05 | 07:05

Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion which severely criticises plans by the Department of Work and Pensions to introduce a period of ‘mandatory reconsideration’ as an intermediate stage for claimants who wish to appeal the decision not to award Employment and Support Allowance, during which time ill and disabled people would receive no money to live on.

He also tabled a number of questions for written answer from the DWP, asking how long the mandatory reconsideration of ESA decisions would take and if a maximum time limit for the process would be introduced. In response, Minister of State for Employment Esther McVey said: "There are no plans to introduce a timescale for the completion of the mandatory reconsideration process, however, the process will be monitored to avoid any unnecessary delays". The DWP expects the process to take around 14 days for straightforward cases but “the time it takes to complete will vary depending on the circumstances of the case”.

Roger said: “I am happy for my taxes to support ill and disabled people who cannot work, but I do not see why I or my constituents should pay for yet another Government IT mess-up.”

For people who are already living on the breadline, even two weeks without any income at all is far too long. The only good news was that claimants who successfully appealed would be entitled to have their award backdated, but this is yet another hurdle that the most vulnerable have to face simply to survive.

Commenting on the Government’s response, Roger said: “The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, is constantly on the lookout for ways to pare back the benefits bill and shoehorn claimants into non-existent jobs regardless of their circumstances. The introduction of a punitive sanctions regime was never going to satisfy him in his undeclared aim to punish the ‘undeserving poor’ and pick off the easy targets. This is a clear and unequivocal attack on the most vulnerable, such as disabled people, who have a right to state support.”

However, Roger believes that Iain Duncan Smith has bigger headaches on the horizon than pinching pennies from the pockets of those unable to work. On the day of the Autumn Statement, DWP tried to sneak under the radar news that it will miss the deadline of getting all benefit claimants on to Universal Credit by the end of 2017. It also announce that it will have to start the IT system again from scratch, at a cost estimated to be at least £140m of taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Roger said: “I am happy for my taxes to support ill and disabled people who cannot work, but I do not see why I or my constituents should pay for yet another Government IT mess-up.”

You can read the EDM here.

Posted on 2013-12-05 | 02:42

Roger has welcomed a decision by the Court of Appeal upholding a previous ruling that work capability assessments disadvantage people who are mentally ill or have learning difficulties. He has been concerned for some time that these assessments are not designed with the best interests of these vulnerable individuals in mind, leading to unwell people being deprived of support to which they are entitled.

Roger said: “I am really pleased that the Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling that Work Capability Assessments do not work fairly for people with mental health problems, learning difficulties or autism. The current system expects the claimants themselves to obtain all the necessary documents from their GP or social worker, even if they lack the capacity to understand what can be a complex process. This results in assessments taking place without the necessary evidence, leading to mistaken outcomes. The DWP must start taking on the responsibility to help collect evidence if the claimant is unable to do so.”

“Nothing better illustrates the nastiness of the Coalition’s policies than the treatment of those with mental illness."

Mental health charities including Rethink Mental Illness, Mind and the National Autistic Society have welcomed the ruling, and are calling on the Government to immediately stop using this dysfunctional assessment process. However, the Government refuse to recognise the truth of this finding and are refusing to pause reassessments in response to the court’s decision. A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said that there will be no effect on the day-to-day business of assessments, which would continue as usual.

In response, Roger commented: “Nothing better illustrates the nastiness of the Coalition’s policies than the treatment of those with mental illness. It is shameful that DWP refuse to take action in response to the court ruling. It is bad enough that for so long the Government have ignored the voices of ill and disabled people, their carers and the charities which represent them, but it is now also ignoring the findings of the UK’s legal system. The Coalition needs to start putting the wellbeing of its own citizens—not to mention respect for the legal process—above its blind ideological commitment to cutting the state.”

The ruling took place in response to a judicial review initiated by two claimants, where the original judgment was that the assessments are unfair to those with mental health problems. Rather than accepting this ruling and changing the assessments to avoid disadvantaging people who are already vulnerable, the Department for Work and Pensions appealed against the judgment, causing the judicial review to be put on hold. This legal process can now resume, with a final ruling expected to be given in 2014 unless the DWP brings further legal action to delay the process.

Roger has tabled a written Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions, asking the Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith, how he will change the way ESA assessments are carried out in light of the ruling and asking him to make a statement.

You can read Mind’s response to the ruling here. 

Posted on 2013-12-04 | 06:33

Roger has written to Birmingham City Council to express his support for the Council’s introduction of 20mph speed limits on the city’s roads in order to improve safety and reduce accidents.

Roger said: “I am really pleased that the Council is considering lowering the speed limit for residential streets in Birmingham. There have already been too many road deaths in the city, and each one is totally unnecessary and a tragedy for the family involved. I hope that the Council does decide to implement the 20mph limit and make Birmingham’s streets safer.”

The Government have recommended that local authorities lower the speed limit in city areas where people live and children play. This has been shown to lead to fewer accidents and fewer fatalities. Pedestrians are much less likely to be seriously hurt in car accidents when the vehicle is travelling at a lower speed. A person hit by a car travelling at 30mph has a 50% chance of being killed, but at 20mph this is reduced to 10%.

"I hope that the Council does decide to implement the 20mph limit and make Birmingham’s streets safer."

Roger first campaigned to reduce Birmingham’s speed limit some years ago. He pushed for the introduction of a 20mph limit on the streets around schools but was told that individual schools needed to make a case for the introduction of limits in their areas. He commented: “It is good news that the Council is now considering applying lower speed limits to the streets around all Birmingham’s schools. I urge councilors to introduce the limits as soon as possible to help keep children safe.”

Under the Council’s proposals, the 20mph speed limit would be introduced mainly on residential roads, which account for about nine out of ten of Birmingham’s roads. Some A and B roads would keep speed limits of 30mph or 40mph, but special consideration would be given to accident hotspots such as busy shopping streets, and to the roads around schools and hospitals.

Posted on 2013-12-01 | 06:08

Roger is supporting World AIDS day and calling for increased global access to antiretroviral drugs to help eliminate preventable deaths. The report released by the UN to mark last year’s World Aids Day found that of the 14.8 million people around the world who are eligible for HIV treatment, only 8 million are receiving it. There were also 2.5 million new HIV infections.

Roger says: “With advances in antiretroviral drugs, HIV is no longer a death sentence—at least for people living in rich countries. However, around the world people continue to become infected and to die needlessly due to a lack of access to medication and healthcare. I am supporting Word AIDS Day and calling on the Government to do everything possible to increase access to antiretroviral drugs in the developing world.”

Around the world, people continue to become infected and to die needlessly due to a lack of access to medication and healthcare.

In the UK, the last year saw the Government announce that the ban on people with HIV practising as dentists, midwives or surgeons is to be lifted from early next year. In addition, studies were released showing that people living with HIV can now have a normal lifespan.

Treatment can mean that people living with HIV are no longer infectious, and couples with HIV can become parents without passing the virus on to their children. However, people with HIV still sometimes face stigma and discrimination.

Posted on 2013-11-29 | 10:27

Roger backed a national campaign launched by the charity Brake which aimed to prevent appalling crashes caused by multi-tasking at the wheel.

The campaign appeals to drivers to turn off their phones or put them in the boot, and urges everyone to refuse to speak on the phone to someone who’s driving. It was launched almost exactly a decade after hand-held mobiles were banned at the wheel and is being supported by a week-long campaign of heightened police enforcement across the country targeting drivers on hand-held phones.

Distraction reduces hazard perception and increases reaction times in a similar way to drink-driving, making drivers much more likely to cause deaths and injuries. Drivers who think they can multi-task are mistaken: research shows that 98% are unable to divide their time without it affecting how they drive. Talking on a phone, even on a hands-free set, texting, emailing, adjusting sat navs, eating, drinking and smoking are all proven to increase drivers’ risk of crashing.

"These tragedies are entirely preventable, and happen far too often in our area and across the country."

Roger said: “Staying focused is vital to ensuring driving safely, enabling you to spot hazards in time and react quickly in an emergency. If you’re using a mobile phone or any other gadget you’re more likely to crash, potentially causing very serious injury or even killing someone, as in the tragic case of a local schoolgirl in my constituency who was killed by a driver who was texting at the wheel.”

He continued: “These tragedies are entirely preventable, and happen far too often in our area and across the country. I’m urging everyone to back this campaign and pledge to avoid distractions at the wheel, to help prevent crashes and casualties in our community. If we all get behind this campaign, we can make a huge difference in making our local streets safer and stopping families suffering needlessly.”

Posted on 2013-11-29 | 01:11

Roger is among a group of MPs, academics and celebrities campaigning for the investigation of lobbying by the Square Mile.

The group sent a letter to the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, calling for an inquiry into the City’s “unfettered and unmonitored” access to senior MPs through the City of London Corporation. The letter calls for an inquiry into the relationship between the City and politicians, and argues that a lack of openness and accountability enables Big Finance to exert too much power over the political and legislative process.

Roger said: "It’s time for politicians to stand up to the City and take action for tax justice and a fairer distribution of global wealth."

Copies of the letter were also sent to David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg. Other signatories include two other Labour MPs, Green MP Caroline Lucas, lead singer of Radiohead Thom Yorke and the actor Dominic West, as well as academics and charities. The letter argues that City UK, which lobbies on behalf of the City of London, promotes tax avoidance and also has too much access to ministers and civil servants.

Roger said: “Politicians should be accountable to the citizens they were elected to serve, not to the financial industry which has caused such damage to the UK’s economy. I am also concerned that the City is linked to tax avoidance schemes which have an incredibly damaging effect around the world, particularly on the poorest countries.” Roger has previously campaigned for Government action on corporate tax avoidance, and tabled an Early Day Motion calling for a clampdown on the use of British Overseas Territories as tax havens.

Speaking after signing the letter, Roger said: “It’s time for politicians to stand up to the City and take action for tax justice and a fairer distribution of global wealth. A public inquiry is the first step, so that we can find out the full extent of the City’s influence on UK politics and legislation.”

You can read the letter here.

Posted on 2013-11-29 | 02:09

Following on from Roger’s long-time opposition to the ongoing and extended badger cull, he has signed a petition calling for the ban of culls on council owned land and implementing local vaccination programmes.

Speaking from his Birmingham constituency he said: “The object of the petition is to ensure that Birmingham's badger population is as safe as possible from slaughter and that the already available injectable badger vaccine against btB is used in as many cases as possible”.

He continued: “There is already widespread concern that cull periods have been extended to meet targets and may have to be extended a second time in certain areas. It is widely known that badgers move to and from previously populated areas and that inadvertently they may be changing the goal posts in doing so. This petition is there to remind Birmingham City Council that it cannot just assume that council land is available to reduce the badger population.”

Posted on 2013-11-21 | 01:32

Roger has accused city Housing Officers of deliberately withholding evidence from the Local Government Ombudsman which would have shown their involvement and culpability in what he called "one of the worst cases of maladministration" which he has encountered over 40 years as a Councillor and an MP.

This week the Local Government Ombudsman published her report into a complaint against Birmingham City Council, concluding that “the Council has acted with fault” which caused an innocent householder significant injustice, and also failed to carry out its own procedures when authorising a mutual exchange by a Council tenant who had already been prosecuted by the Council for breach of tenancy conditions involving gross anti-social behaviour.

The report acknowledges that the Housing Association, if it had known about the background of the tenant in question, would not have accepted the mutual exchange which has caused it major management problems, and also resulted in the Housing Association spending over £15,000 trying to get the tenant removed from the property.

This is one of the worst cases of maladministration which Roger has encountered in 40 years

Roger said: “What certain officers in the Housing Department did in this particular case was not just incompetent but a wilful deceit, purely in order to dump their problem onto somebody else’s plate. This not only led to years of misery for the next door neighbour and other residents of the road, but also cost the Housing Association a large sum of money in trying to rectify the problem caused by these Council officers. The people who wilfully conspired to withhold the information about this tenant – which was well known in the Housing Department and Legal Department, which had pursued a prosecution against him for breach of his tenancy conditions when he was a Council tenant - were not junior officers. Authorisation for a mutual exchange has to be signed by a Senior Housing Officer, but there has been a complete cover-up within the Housing Department. The officers who were responsible for this whole fiasco have been able to evade the consequences of their actions."

"Furthermore", continued Roger, "this appalling cover-up was demonstrated by the fact that Council officers refused to supply the Local Government Investigator, John Russell, with any documents which could show the culpability of Council officers. I pointed out in my letter to him of the 22 April that whenever he asked a question which did not compromise a member of staff the file was available and an answer was given but whenever he asked a question which could have comprised a member of the Housing Department the disingenuous answer which he got back was that 'unfortunately we do not have copies of documents that you have requested'. In the report the Ombudsman refers to the fact that 'the Council could not provide the case files to my investigator as they had been lost during office moves' and yet they seem to be quite capable of producing files which did not show culpability but, mysteriously, any files which did show culpability were lost."

Roger concluded: “I have been in politics long enough to remember what happened over Watergate, when Richard Nixon personally erased parts of tapes which showed his knowledge of the Watergate break-in. Senior housing officers in Birmingham may not be on a par with Richard Nixon and the White House Watergate conspirators, but they have devised their own way of ensuing that blame and responsibility do not stick. They just brazen it out by saying that 'our records are incomplete', or 'unfortunately we do not have the copies of the documents you requested'. Anybody who believes this disingenuous version of events must believe that Father Christmas really does exist!"

Posted on 2013-11-21 | 03:16

Roger has urged his constituents to take care when choosing a company to carry out a Green Deal assessment after cases came to light of people paying for services which they did not receive.

The Government’s Green Deal scheme aims to help people improve the energy efficiency of their homes by installing green technology without up-front costs. Instead, they take out a loan which is then repaid through the savings to their energy bill over a period of time. However, some unscrupulous companies have taken advantage of people’s concern about skyrocketing energy bills and have vharged people for “Green Deal” services which have not been provided.

Roger said: "It is completely unacceptable for my constituents to be ripped off in this way."

Roger was contacted by constituents who had paid for assessments which were never carried out. He commented: “The Green Deal was a good scheme but, unfortunately, it has become a hunting ground for rogue companies who are out to scam people. Such companies take down payments of several hundred pounds for assessments to be carried out. They then excuse the failure to actually carry out the assessment by saying that there is a shortage of Green Deal accredited assessors. It is completely unacceptable for my constituents to be ripped off in this way.”

Roger has written to the Minister of State for Climate Change, Gregory Barker MP, to point out the exploitation of the Green Deal scheme by unscrupulous companies. He highlighted the problems caused to his constituents by one company in particular, Becoming Green UK Limited. This company claim to offer a “managed service”, and took money allegedly in order to pay an accredited Green Dealassessor. However, the company failed to actually arrange the assessment and instead provided only excuses. One constituent was even left without heating for a significant period of time due to the company’s ineptitude.

"I urge people to be cautious when paying upfront for a Green Deal assessment to be carried out."

Speaking after meeting constituents who have been caused problems by companies’ exploitation of the deal, Roger said: “I urge people to be cautious when paying upfront for a Green Deal assessment to be carried out. Sadly, what could have been a very useful scheme has been damaged by its association with companies which are either deliberately dishonest or simply inefficient.”

Becoming Green drew public criticism in summer 2012, when it came to light that it had been bussing in prisoners and paying them £3 per day to work in its call centre, following which it sacked paid members of staff.

Posted on 2013-11-14 | 02:40

Roger is concerned about the effects the Coalition’s introduction of “mandatory reconsideration” for Employment and Support Allowance claims will have on his constituents. Under new rules, ill or disabled people who are told that they can no longer claim ESA will have to undergo a mandatory reconsideration of their claim before they are permitted to appeal. However, no time limit has been set for how long the reconsideration process will take, and people will not be able to receive the allowance while it takes place.

Roger said: “I am extremely worried that vulnerable people, who may be seriously ill or disabled, will have the ESA to which they are perfectly entitled, and on which they depend in order to survive, stopped for a length of time to which no limits have been set. This seems to me to be grotesquely unfair, and I am concerned that it is nothing more than a penny-pinching exercise by the Department for Work and Pensions.”

Previously, ESA claimants could continue to receive the allowance while their appeal was being considered, but they will now have to either claim Jobseeker’s Allowance or try to survive without any income. However, as JSA is only available for people who are well enough to work, ESA claimants may not be eligible for it or they may be vulnerable to sanctions if their condition worsens and they are unable to search for jobs.

Roger said: “I will continue to challenge the Coalition’s vindictive, unnecessary and counter-productive attacks on people who are not well enough to work.”

Roger has written to Birmingham City Council to set out his opposition to severely unwell or disabled people’s only source of income being cut off for an indeterminate time period. He commented: “I am worried that some of my constituents might fall between the two benefits, and be told that they are not ill enough to receive ESA but not well enough to receive JSA, with the result that sick and disabled people are left with no income at all.”

"I am also concerned that, if people who were claiming ESA are forced to claim JSA to keep from starving or becoming homeless, despite not actually being well enough to work, the fact that they have claimed JSA may be used as evidence against them when their ESA appeal is heard.”

Roger has called on the Government to provide more clarity about how people in this situation are expected to survive. He has tabled Parliamentary Questions asking whether people on ESA will be able to apply for any benefit other than JSA during the mandatory reconsideration period, whether the outcome of someone’s appeal will be affected if they apply for ESA, and whether the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions will consider introducing a maximum time limit for the mandatory reconsideration process.

Roger said: “I will keep up pressure on the Government to provide full clarity about what people’s options are if they are forced to undergo mandatory reconsideration. I will also continue to challenge the Coalition’s vindictive, unnecessary and counter-productive attacks on people who are not well enough to work.”

Posted on 2013-11-13 | 07:11

Speaking to Co-operative party members and supporters in his constituency after he had put down an Early Day Motion calling on the City Regulator and the Business Secretary to force the Co-operative Bank to change its name because its description is misleading, Roger said:

"News that Vulture Funds and Hedge Funds now own 70% of the Co-operative Bank signals a very sad day for all those who have been customers of the bank and shoppers and members of the wider Co-operative movement. The original ‘Rochdale pioneers’ who set up the first Co-operative in 1848 must be turning in their graves at the way a bunch of greedy, incompetent executives at the top of the bank decided to engage in the same type of reckless risk taking which other banks—including Northern Rock, RBS and Lloyds—engaged in, and which brought the economy to its knees in 2008. It also led to vast amounts of public money being poured in to rescue these banks.”

For too long the co-operative ideals which are the backbone of the movement  have been subordinated to the drive for profits by executives

Roger continued: “The executives at the top of the bank were not content to run a traditional retail bank which served the needs of its customers and made decent profits. They wanted a piece of the deregulated wild west action which most other bank executives were indulging in—selling financial products and taking ridiculous risks—while pocketing vast sums in pay, bonuses and massive pension pots. This was totally self-servicing and a complete betrayal of what the Co-operative movement stood for."

"They destroyed the Bank, and it is now owned and controlled by some of the most voracious vulture funds and hedge funds, based in tax havens, who despite their mealy-mouthed assurances have nothing whatsoever in common with co-operative ideals.The vulture funds involved operate by buying up unpaid loans—at knock-down prices—often made to very poor countries who have defaulted on them. They then pursue them through the Courts so that those countries have to sell off public assets, such as hospitals, to pay off the debts. These are the sort of people who now control the Co-operative Bank!”

Roger is writing to the City Regulator and to the Business Secretary to call on them to use their powers to force the Bank to change its name, because the description is misleading.

"Unfortunately”, said Roger, “what happened with the Co-operative Bank did not come as a complete surprise. For too long the co-operative ideals which are the backbone of the movement had begun to be subordinated to the drive for profits by executives, who were paid bonuses for driving profits even higher at the expense of the customer.”

Roger concluded: “When an investigative TV programme revealed what executives in the Co-op Funeral Service were doing—with coffins containing dead bodies piling up in industrial warehouses—I wrote to the Chief Executive of the Funeral Service asking for an explanation. I received a reply from a slick PR company giving all sorts of excuses.When I asked whether the executives were paid any bonuses, in addition to their already generous salaries, the PR company said that this was confidential information and could not be revealed!”

“Unfortunately, the co-operative movement has allowed some ‘rotten apples’ to contaminate its reputation. The sooner they get rid of them the sooner the co-operative movement can move forward again and return to serving its customers."

Posted on 2013-11-08 | 02:22

Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion to draw the Government’s attention to the high levels of sanctions handed out by Sparkhill jobcentre in Birmingham. Roger tabled the EDM in response to reports by his constituents that, rather than supporting people into work, the jobcentre was penalising people unfairly and imposing unnecessarily harsh conditions.

Speaking after meeting with constituents in Sparkhill, Roger said: “I am extremely concerned that Sparkhill jobcentre is putting severe sanctions on people who are trying their best to find work and comply with all the conditions of receiving JSA. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to Sparkhill or even to Birmingham. People around the country who are looking for work in a very tough labour market are being sanctioned for such ridiculous ‘breaches’ as requesting to rearrange a jobcentre appointment to attend a job interview or a family funeral.” The number of sanctions handed out since the Government’s new regime was introduced on 22 October 2012 has increased by 11%, with more than 400,000 people being sanctioned.

Roger is also worried by the severity of the sanctions which are being imposed, with the length of time for which people are expected to live on an income of precisely nothing ranging between 13 weeks and a staggering 156 weeks. He commented: “This Cabinet of millionaires does not seem to understand that it is simply not possible for people to live without receiving any income for months or even years at a time. How on earth do the Government expect people to feed themselves, let alone travel to job interviews?”

Pushing people below the poverty line is not a magic recipe for creating jobs

Of course, people who are in receipt of benefits should be doing all they can to find work, but the Government refuses to accept that the vast majority of them already are. In a recent statement, Citizens Advice explained that the overwhelming majority of jobseekers are “desperate to get back into work”, and called on the Government to urgently reconsider the sanctions regime after a 64% rise in the number of problems with sanctions in just one year. Gillian Guy, the head of Citizen’s Advice, called the Coalition’s sanctions regime “excessively harsh and badly implemented”.

Roger concluded: “Pushing people below the poverty line is not a magic recipe for creating jobs, contrary to what the Government seem to think. All the increase in sanctions will achieve is to push more people into poverty and despair, ironically making them less, not more, employable. Why will the Government not invest in jobs rather than punishing people who are trying as hard as they can to find work?”

You can read the full text of the EDM here.

Posted on 2013-11-04 | 12:41

Speaking in a House of Commons debate last week on the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill, Roger once again made clear his opposition to spending ever-increasing amounts of taxpayers’ money on a project of doubtful benefit.

Speaking in the Chamber of the House of Commons, Roger pointed out to the Government that even their own conservative figures for the cost of HS2 are shooting upwards at an alarming rate. The Department for Transport has upped its estimate to £42 billion, and a previous Chancellor of the Exchequer estimated a cost of an astonishing £80 billion before withdrawing his support.

Roger pointed out that big infrastructure projects have a track record of wasting enormous sums of taxpayer’s money, and reminded the Coalition that the millennium dome ended up wasting £600 million. “That is what happens when we go in for a vanity project without proper costings”, Roger commented in his speech.

If HS2 is such a great bargain for the taxpayer and for this country, why is it not being financed by private capital or foreign sovereign wealth funds?

Roger also contrasted the massive investment of public money in HS2 with the Government’s reluctance to finance the UK’s new power stations using public enterprise. “Why is private capital not coming into this project?” asked Roger. “If this is such a great bargain for the taxpayer and for this country, why is it not being financed by private capital or foreign sovereign wealth funds? The Government are no great lover of public enterprise.”

He continued: “The Government are quite happy to have a new generation of nuclear reactors built by a state-owned Chinese company that is answerable to the Chinese politburo, yet this project needs to be paid for with public money. I suspect the reason is quite simple: private capital will not touch it with a bargepole, because those involved know that it cannot be done within the figures that have been talked about. It will go massively over budget and they are not going to pick up the bill.”

Roger concluded by warning that if there is no pull-out figure for this project, then the Government are essentially signing a blank cheque which must be paid by the taxpayer. He said: “If we go along with the Government and costs escalate… what will the pull-out figure be? What will happen if we get half the line built and all of a sudden the figure shoots up to nearly £100 billion? What will we do then? Just continue?”

You can read Roger’s full speech in the debate here.

Posted on 2013-10-31 | 12:02

Roger has written to the Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation to express his opposition to the Government’s plans to outsource the majority of the Probation Service’s work to private companies with poor reputations and track records, including G4S and Serco. The Government’s plan will allow these companies to bid for the majority of the Probation Service’s work, including the supervision of all medium and low risk offenders. The Government’s definition of “medium risk” includes people convicted of serious crimes including violent and sexual offences, gang members and domestic violence perpetrators.

Roger’s constituents who work for the Probation Service contacted him because they were worried that the plans will result in a more expensive service, poorer working conditions and a greater risk of harm to members of the public, in return for fat profits for companies with a record of failures and abuses. Roger said: “When G4S were allowed responsibility for security at the Olympics, they were so inept that the Army had to be called in. Why is this Government incapable of learning from their mistakes, rather than repeating them at the taxpayer’s expense?”

In his letter to the Minister Roger pointed out that this country already has an extremely good probation service, which unlike G4S is fully accountable to the British public and does not skim off profits for the benefit of shareholders. The Probation Service in England and Wales is performing better than ever and meeting its targets, and levels of reoffending for those supervised by the service are at their lowest for five years.

Roger said: “When G4S were allowed responsibility for security at the
Olympics, they were so inept that the Army had to be called in. Why is this  Government incapable of learning from their mistakes, rather than repeating them at the taxpayer’s expense?”

Roger also reminded the Government that payment by results, their preferred structure for the outsourcing, worked extremely poorly in the Pathways to Work scheme. As the Public Accounts Committee pointed out, private providers’ performance was “universally poor”, and was worse than the alternative provided by Jobcentre Plus. Private providers tended to cherry pick their clients yet still achieved only one third of the targets for mandatory participants.

Roger commented: “I am unaware of any evidence which suggests that payment by results will work better when it comes to helping people on probation, who are former offenders with frequently chaotic lives which may involve drug addiction, mental health issues and illiteracy.”  

He continued: “I am concerned that private companies will also cherry pick if they are allowed to take responsibility for the probation service. They will focus on those offenders who will make them the most profit with the least input, and not those whose behaviour most needs to change to protect the public. I do not think it is worth taking such serious risks with public safety simply to further fatten the shareholders of G4S."

Posted on 2013-10-28 | 03:09

Roger has written to Esther McVey MP, the Minister of State for Employment, to criticise the lack of support available for his constituents who are young, often well-qualified, and desperate to work and make a contribution to society.

Roger was recently contacted by a highly-qualified law graduate who was told to get a job in retail by her local jobcentre. He said: “What is the point of encouraging bright, ambitious young people from poor backgrounds to rack up enormous debts by attending university, if we then tell them to abandon all hope and get a job in retail after they finish studying?”

Roger’s constituents, who include Cait Reilly, the University of Birmingham geology graduate who was forced to work for free at a Poundland store, desperately want to work and are happy to do unpaid work if it will help their career. Despite Government rhetoric about the luxury of a life on benefits, young people in Birmingham Hall Green who receive JSA struggle to afford smart clothes to wear to interviews, and some cannot afford to purchase a computer to help with their job search.

Roger says: “Rather than being ‘shirkers’, my constituents and many others on JSA are strivers whose efforts are going unrewarded because of the structural lack of demand in the job market, which the Government seem to be doing little to address. It’s a lot easier to get somebody off the books and give the unemployment statistics a rosy glow if you unilaterally withdraw support from those areas of employment where people have genuinely invested time and commitment to build a career, isn’t it?

Why will the Government not bring in schemes to support young, ambitious people into work rather than allowing their talents, and the contribution they could make to the UK, to be wasted?”

Posted on 2013-10-25 | 01:56

Speaking after the announcement of the Government decision to allow EDF of France and the China General Nuclear Power Corporation to build the first nuclear plant in the UK since 1995, Roger condemned the decision to outsource profits, jobs and responsibility for safety.

Roger said: “I abhor the stupidity of the commitment by the Coalition Government to guarantee payments of £90 plus per megawatt hour for a period of up to 40 years. This is approximately double the current extortionate cost of electricity. Furthermore, any future cost escalation will be paid for from the public purse as a subsidy, together with the cost of the nuclear clean-up of the decommissioned facility. I will put my name to EDM 568, which reminds the Coalition that their agreement promised to permit new nuclear power stations only if they received no public subsidy, which the recent deal flagrantly contravenes. Why will the Coalition not honour its own agreement and cancel all subsidies?"

Roger is also extremely concerned at the decision by the Coalition to support Chinese industry rather than British. He commented: “The Coalition Government hate any form of British public enterprise. They take the view that everything owned by the public sector is incompetent, inefficient and wasteful, and they are intent on reducing the public element of our economy and rolling back the state. They are, however, only too happy to enter into a hugely generous agreement with a 100% state-owned Chinese corporation (under the control of the politburo) and EDF, which is 85% state-owned by the French Government, in order to build these new nuclear facilities.”

If British taxpayers are to be ripped off by a guaranteed subsidy for nuclear power, at least let the profits go to HM Treasury

Chinese and French tax payers will be guaranteed a 10% per year return on these state investments, although the British Government could borrow the same money at historically low rates in the money market. As Roger pointed out, "If British taxpayers are to be ripped off by a guaranteed subsidy for nuclear power, at least let the profits go to HM Treasury, or to the pension funds of British workers, rather than to Chinese and French taxpayers!”

Roger supports the development of the UK’s renewable energy sources, but these still only account for around 17% of the UK’s energy needs. He believes that, even with a massive expansion programme and increased energy efficiency, renewables will not meet the country’s total energy needs or our responsibility to reduce carbon emissions.

Addressing the issue of the UK's energy supply, Roger said: “Unlike some people who are totally opposed to the use of nuclear power, I am not. I can see the arguments on both sides. Nuclear power does not add to carbon emissions, but there is the on-going problem of what we do with nuclear waste, which can retain its radioactivity for up to 2000 years. There is always the danger of a nuclear catastrophe, as happened in Fukushima in Japan.However, there are plenty of countries, not least France and Finland, which have judged that these risks are outweighed by the benefits of nuclear energy. That is the reason why both of these countries rely almost exclusively on nuclear power for meeting their energy needs.”

Roger concluded: “If we are to have nuclear power, why can we not have the best, cleanest and safest power possible, providing jobs for British workers and investment in UK technology, and fully accountable to UK health and safety standards and the British taxpayer?”

Posted on 2013-10-22 | 01:54

Roger is supporting a campaign to tackle the proliferation of betting shops and high-stake gaming machines on high streets in Birmingham Hall Green and across the UK.

The high-stake machines, known as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, are currently limited to four in each shop. However, there have been worrying reports that betting shops are opening multiple outlets on the same street to get past these rules and maximise their profits.

Local communities have attempted to challenge the proliferation of betting outlets, but have not been very successful. There is concern that the recent temporary lifting of planning restrictions, in an attempt to help the economic regeneration of UK high streets, may make the problem worse as bookmakers will attempt to exploit the situation by opening as many shops as possible during this time.

Speaking after a meeting in his constituency, Roger said: “I am concerned that the Government have failed to take action to stop the spread of these shops, which rather than regenerating our high streets will suck money from the pockets of those who can least afford it. They will also take up space that would be better used by local businesses and charities, which will make a contribution to the local area.”

Roger continued: “I am extremely concerned about figures released by the Stop the FOBTs campaign, showing that in my constituency there are 17 bookmakers operating 62 FOBTs, on which the amount gambled is an astounding £66,960,324. While not all of this money is lost, it is still an enormous sum. In order to protect my constituents from these unscrupulous shops, I am therefore supporting the campaign to restrict the stake on FOBTs to £2 per spin. I would also like to see the Government take action to ensure that the temporary lifting of planning restrictions does not allow these shops to proliferate on our high streets.”

Posted on 2013-10-21 | 10:48

Speaking to Party activists at a meeting in his constituency, Roger slated the latest announcement by British Gas that they are raising their prices for gas and electricity by nearly 10%. This followed on from the recently announced rise by SSE, another of the big energy companies.

Said Roger: “These energy giants, which are nearly all part of globalised multi-national corporations, really do think us consumers are a bunch of fools. When Ed Miliband recently announced that a future Labour Government would freeze gas and electricity prices for 20 months, they went ballistic with threats of blackouts and shutdowns. While household energy bills have risen by 29% in three years the senior management of these companies have been paying themselves vast salaries and bonuses, and the shareholder payout from British Gas, Centrica, Scottish and Southern Electricity and National Grid alone is £3.4 billion in dividends.

"What Ed Miliband was suggesting was a very modest proposal”, continued Roger, “whereas in my opinion energy supply companies should be taken back into public or community ownership because there is no real competition between these companies. You can be absolutely guaranteed that the other big companies will soon be announcing electricity and gas rises very similar to those announced by British Gas and SSE.”

Posted on 2013-10-21 | 11:06

Roger joined Labour colleagues in demanding action to end the exploitation of workers on zero-hours contracts. At a time when families are facing the biggest living standards crisis in a generation, Labour called a special debate in Parliament last week demanding action to stop rising insecurity at work under David Cameron, including the exploitive use of zero-hours contracts.

According to recent estimates there could be as many as 1 million workers employed on zero-hours contracts - with a big increase since the Tory-led government took office - and they are now used in one in five workplaces. The Conservative Party has failed to act on zero-hours contracts, and it has emerged that a ‘review’ of the issue initiated by Business Secretary Vince Cable earlier this year consisted of three officials spending part of their time “speaking informally” with stakeholders.

In contrast, last month Ed Miliband announced plans to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts by banning employers from insisting that those on zero-hours contracts are available even when there is no guarantee of any work; stopping zero-hours contracts that require workers to work exclusively for one firm; ending the misuse of zero hours contracts where employees are in practice working regular hours over a sustained period; and putting in place a code of practice on the use of zero-hours contracts.

Roger said: “Under David Cameron we have seen rising insecurity at work, compounding the living standards crisis that families in my constituency are facing. While zero-hours contracts might be useful for a minority of workers, I am not in favour of people in Birmingham Hall Green lacking job security and having to be flexible about whether or not they can afford the weekly shop.”

He continued: “Zero-hours contracts cause insecurity and uncertainty for too many families in Birmingham Hall Green, and I am calling for an end to their use to exploit workers.”

If you have been affected by zero-hours contracts please get in touch by email to [email protected] to share your story.

Posted on 2013-10-17 | 12:49

Roger is one of a cross-party group of MPs to have called on the Financial Conduct Authority to get tougher on exploitative payday lenders.

Payday lenders are ripping off millions of people, trapping them in spirals of debt. Proper regulation and enforcement are needed to stop them profiting at the expense of vulnerable people.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published new proposals for regulating payday lenders. They are a step in the right direction, but do not go far enough to be really effective.

Speaking after he’d signed the petition, Roger said: “The proposals don’t tackle important issues including loan roll-overs and constant direct debits from people’s accounts, and they won’t come into force until October 2014. We need action now to protect people, not in a year’s time.”

You can sign the petition here.

Posted on 2013-10-17 | 02:27

Roger is supporting a campaign which aims to give a voice to the millions of people who are supported by benefits at some point in their lives.

Polling by the campaign Who Benefits? revealed overwhelming public support for the principle that benefits should be there for people who need them, most of whom are either working, looking for work or unable to work due to illness or disability. 81 percent agree that ‘benefits are an important safety net to support people when they need help’, while two-thirds (64 percent) agree that ‘we all benefit as a society when support from benefits is available for those that need it’.

But despite widespread public support, more than a quarter (27 percent) of those who currently claim benefits say they have hidden this because of what people will think. This rises to half (47 percent) of 16-24 year olds who have been supported by benefits. And more than half (51 percent) of all those who had never been supported by benefits said they would feel embarrassed to claim.

The Who Benefits? campaign argues that the overwhelming majority of those on benefits really need the support, yet too often their voices are ignored, misrepresented or at worst they are blamed for their situation. The campaign has been launched by more than 70 charities and community groups brought together by the Children’s Society, Crisis, Gingerbread, Macmillan Cancer Support and Mind.

 Roger is also concerned about people who don’t claim benefits to which they are entitled, and which they may struggle without, because of the perceived stigma of being on benefits. Many people who don’t claim have worked hard all their lives and paid taxes and national insurance contributions, but are too embarrassed to claim benefits even though they have paid into the system all their lives. Roger is particularly worried that this may apply to elderly people.

Roger said: “I’ve seen firsthand that the vast majority of people supported by benefits really need that help. No one should go hungry because they lose their job, or be forced into debt because they are on a very low wage. People from all kinds of backgrounds need help from benefits at some point in their lives. I’d encourage them to support the campaign and share their own stories, so the debate on benefits reflects their experiences.”

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Who Benefits? is asking people to share their stories through whobenefits.org.uk. A thousand people who have been supported by benefits have already shared their stories through the website and through social media with the hashtag #WeAllBenefit.

At a time when families up and down the country are feeling the squeeze, Roger believes that it is more important than ever that society supports those in need. Benefits can lift people from homelessness and enable them to contribute to society, or prevent families from going hungry. They can also help people with mental or physical health problems to stay independent. Forcing people into destitution or homelessness because of factors over which they have no control benefits no one.

Posted on 2013-10-13 | 09:22

Roger has added his name to a 38degrees.org petition written by a young British woman who will be forced to give birth without her Japanese husband, due to the Coalition’s decision that spouse visas will only be granted to couples who fill a restrictive and unnecessarily stringent set of criteria.

Under the Government’s new family migration policy British citizens or people with refugee status can only sponsor a visa so that they can live in the UK with their spouse if they fulfil a list of financial conditions. These include earning at least £18,600 per year (more than many nurses and soldiers).

Roger says: “These overly-restrictive conditions will prevent perfectly solvent British citizens and their spouses from living together in their own country. The Government should listen to the High Court, which ruled that these changes are ‘an unjustified and disproportionate interference with a genuine spousal relationship.’ It is deeply unfair to prevent couples who love each other and are financially self-sufficient from being together.”

You can sign the petition here.

Posted on 2013-10-13 | 08:10

Roger supports calls for the Government’s Modern Slavery Bill to include measures to ensure that the people who benefit from human trafficking should be held to account for the suffering they have caused.

Roger says: “Both the traffickers themselves and the recipients of the services provided by the person who is trafficked should suffer the consequences of this evil and appalling trade.”

Roger will convey this view to the Home Secretary and support action to hold traffickers to account.

Posted on 2013-10-07 | 10:17

Roger has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to express his opposition to the bedroom tax and describe its effect on his constituents. He is worried that the policy is unfairly penalising people who are willing to move to a smaller property, but cannot do so because there is a shortage of one and two-bedroom homes.

Roger says: “Like many other MPs, particularly those representing poorer constituencies, I frequently receive letters from people who have been pushed into desperate situations by this policy. They are willing to move, but cannot do so because no smaller houses are available. Yet they are still forced to pay the penalty.”

Roger is also concerned that the policy unfairly targets disabled people. Shockingly, more than half of those affected by the bedroom tax have a disability. He says: “My constituents have explained that they are willing to move from their homes, which have been specially adapted for their needs, but they cannot do so because of the lack of suitable smaller housing. They are then financially penalised, or even forced into homelessness, for something which is utterly beyond their control.”

Nationally, there are smaller properties available for only one in twenty families with spare rooms. In Birmingham 13,557 households are affected by the bedroom tax, but just 368 one and two-bedroom properties are currently unoccupied. Roger has asked Iain Duncan Smith for his suggestions about what the other 13,189 families should do to comply with the policy, and avoid having to give up a significant chunk of their already stretched incomes.

Roger says: “I do not feel that it is fair or right—or will save this country money in the longer term—to push people into poverty and destitution. Ordinary people are being punished for structural problems in the UK’s housing stock for which they, unlike Government Ministers, are not remotely responsible.”

Roger has called on the Government to stop penalising people who are willing to move house to comply with the policy, but cannot do so because there is a national shortage of smaller properties. He also suggested that, rather than punishing the most vulnerable for conditions over which they have no control, the Government start building the new housing which this country desperately needs.

You can read the letter Roger sent to the Secretary of State here.

Posted on 2013-09-30 | 09:37

Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to tackle the one in five tax havens worldwide which are under UK jurisdiction.

Developing countries lose three times more money to tax dodging than they receive in aid each year. This money would be enough to tackle AIDS, provide a basic education for the 72 million children who do not currently go to school, and end hunger twice over.

The EDM, which has received cross-party support, calls on the Government to push for international agreement and action on tax havens, to ensure that developing countries are able to access the tax revenues which are rightfully theirs and use them to fight poverty.

Roger says: “Multinational companies which operate and make profits in the UK should not remain unchallenged about their use of tax havens, which drain money from developing countries which desperately need it. The Government could insist on a culture of transparency by requiring all companies operating in the UK to file full accounts and declare their profits made and taxes paid all around the world, not only in the UK. Why will the Government not require this?”

Roger is calling on the UK to take action for tax justice by clamping down on those tax havens which are under its own jurisdiction. The tax regime currently in place in British Overseas Territories including the Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man allows them to be used by wealthy individuals and companies to avoid and evade tax that should go to tacklepoverty and provide vital public services in the UK and around the world.

Roger says: “My constituents have written to me because they are worried that the UK Government is not doing enough to challenge the use of tax havens around the world, with devastating consequences for millions of people who are living in poverty. I am urging the Government to take action now on the tax havens which are under UK jurisdiction.”

You can read Roger’s EDM here.

Posted on 2013-09-30 | 10:30

Roger has called on the Government to reinstate the ban that prohibited an Indian Minister with links to sectarian violence from entering the UK. Gujarat's Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of playing a role in outbreaks of violence in 2002 which claimed the lives of hundreds or even thousands of people. Mr Modi was previously banned from visiting the UK, but has now been invited to visit by the Parliamentary groups Conservative Friends of India and Labour Friends of India.

Roger says: “I am concerned that the UK Government is helping to whitewash Mr Modi’s suspected involvement in severe human rights violations for reasons of political and economic expediency.”

Roger has signed Early Day Motion 479, which asks the Government to reinstate the ban. He also tabled a Parliamentary Question asking the Government to clarify whether Mr Modi would be permitted to visit, and wrote to the Home Secretary urging her not to allow the visit to go ahead. In his letter Roger asked Theresa May to clarify whether she intends to reinstate the ban on Mr Modi entering the UK in view of his links to violent outbreaks, which some have termed genocide, in which British nationals were among those who died.

Roger says: “My constituents are concerned that this visit will be seen as condoning the killings which took place in 2002, and will also allow Mr Modi to raise funds and support in the UK. I therefore asked the Home Secretary for clarification on whether this visit is to go ahead.”

Roger also asked the Home Secretary whether Mr Modi will be permitted to enter the Palace of Westminster or to speak to Members of Parliament. He says: “I feel that it would be deeply inappropriate for such a meeting to take place, and would give credibility to Mr Modi’s anti-minority views. For the UK Government to be seen to be linked to a man who has condoned mass violence towards religious minorities would help neither India nor the UK.”

You can read the EDM here and the letter here.

Posted on 2013-09-30 | 12:15

Roger has signed a petition calling for increased protection for vulnerable children such as Daniel, who was starved and beaten by his mother and her partner before he died at the age of four. The petition calls for a change in the law to increase the protection of children by social services and teachers.

Roger says: “I want to ensure that everything possible is done to ensure that no more children have to suffer as Daniel did.”

You can sign the petition here.

Posted on 2013-09-29 | 11:11

Roger has written to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague MP, to express his condemnation of the ongoing blockade of Gaza and his anxiety about its effects on Gaza’s civilian population.

Roger says: “The six-year blockade has brought suffering, poverty and sickness to the people of Gaza, who are forced to endure shortages of essential supplies including medicines, food and fuel. I urge the UK Government to apply all possible diplomatic pressure to bring about an end to the blockade and allow supplies and humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza."

Roger believes the blockade of Gaza to be an act of collective punishment, and therefore not only inhumane but also illegal under international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory, specifically prohibits collective punishments, with Article 33 stating that people may not be punished for an offence they have not personally committed.

Roger says: “In my letter to the Foreign Secretary I urged the Government to bring to bear all possible political pressure to end this illegal and inhumane blockade, and end the collective punishment of innocent people. I also asked the Government to consider increasing aid to Gaza as an interim measure, to ease the suffering of the people living there.”

You can read the letter Roger sent to William Hague here, and read the reply Roger received from the FCO here.

Posted on 2013-09-28 | 10:11

Roger has written to David Cameron to express his support for the UK’s £400 million aid programme to help Syrian refugees. Roger urged the Prime Minister to take all possible action to protect people who are caught in the horrors of the conflict, including by improving conditions for the small number of Syrian refugees living in the UK.

Roger said: “I am pleased that the UK is the second largest donor of aid to Syrian refugees, but we should be doing more. I have written to the Prime Minister to urge him to do all that is possible to help people, including by improving conditions for the small number of Syrian refugees living in the UK.”

Roger, who is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Syria, continued: “I am very worried by reports from constituents that there are Syrian refugees living in extreme poverty in Birmingham. People who work in voluntary organisations such as food and clothing banks have informed me that they have helped Syrians whose only property is the clothes they are wearing, even though they have leave to remain and are entitled to Government support. I believe that this is because there is a gap, sometimes of several months, during which people have been granted refugee status but have not starting receiving support.”

Roger has called on the Prime Minister to take action to ensure that refugees are not left destitute in a country which has acknowledged their right to support. He said: “It seems to me to be rather ridiculous, as well as cruel, for a country which provides such generous aid to Syrian people living elsewhere to condemn those few refugees who are in this country to destitution and want, even temporarily."

Roger said: "There needs to be a negotiated end to the conflict as soon as possible so that the on-going suffering of the Syrian people can be ended and they can start to rebuild their lives. This will also enable the refugees to return to their homes in Syria."

You can read Roger’s letter to the Prime Minister here.

Posted on 2013-09-26 | 02:32

Speaking to a group of trainee journalists and students hoping to have careers in the media industry at a gathering in his constituency of Birmingham Hall Green, Roger said that, “sadly”, the Trust which oversees the BBC had been found wanting and was no longer fit for purpose.

Roger said: “The BBC is one of the most important strands of the cultural life of our country, but the controversy which has erupted over massive pay-offs to senior BBC executives, including over £1 million to the former Director General Mark Byford, could not be justified under any circumstances. This is particularly the case as these people were only doing their jobs, for which they were already extremely well paid compared with the majority of workers in other jobs.

"The sickening and unedifying squabble and buck-passing which occurred when Lord Patten, Sir Michael Lyons, Mark Thompson and other senior executives appeared before the recent Public Accounts Committee was shameful. Anybody watching the proceedings was given the very clear impression of a bunch of privileged people helping themselves to whatever they could get out of the licence-fee pot, in much the same way that those at the top of the banking industry behaved in the run-up to the financial crash in 2008.”

Roger continued: “The BBC has an outstanding worldwide reputation. These people, through their greedy, money-grabbing behaviour, have devalued the reputation of the institution, while the BBC Trust seemed incapable of providing the overall control, on behalf of the public, which their Charter obligations place on them. There have to be changes, and the sooner they happen the better.”

Posted on 2013-09-26 | 02:54

Roger took action to investigate whether unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, have ever been used for surveillance in the skies over Birmingham Hall Green.

He tabled Parliamentary Questions asking the Government for more information about the regulatory framework for the civil use of drones, and about whether the surveillance camera code of practice applies to the use of drones by public authorities. He has also written to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, asking for clarification on whether the police force have used, or are using, drones for surveillance in Birmingham.

Roger says: “I believe that the people of Birmingham have the right to know whether surveillance drones are being used by police in their city. While no one objects to the police gathering the information they need to keep people safe, it is important that public authorities are accountable to the citizens they serve. If surveillance equipment such as drones is being used in Birmingham, people have the right to know about it. I therefore wrote to West Midlands Police to ask whether drones have been used over Birmingham."

The Chief Inspector responded with the reassurance that the police force has never owned or deployed any drones or unmanned aerial vehicles. Roger says: “I am pleased to be able to reassure my constituents that there is no ‘eye in the sky’ watching over Birmingham Hall Green.”

Posted on 2013-09-26 | 04:47

The news that Deloitte, one of the UK’s largest accountancy firms, has been fined a record-breaking £14 million for a “conflict of interest” was very much welcomed by Roger.

This accountancy firm – one of the big four which dominate the market – advised both the MG Rover Group and the Phoenix Four Directors, which bought the carmaker for just £10. They plundered the firm’s assets and paid themselves and the Managing Director £42 million, before the firm collapsed in 2005 with debts of £1.4 billion and the loss of more than 6,000 jobs.

Among the 13 charges found against Deloitte was that they benefited financially from schemes devised by the Phoenix Four. Roger said: “The big four accountancy firms devise the intricate and complicated schemes which allow their corporate clients to recycle profits around the world and minimise their tax liabilities in the UK.”

Roger continued: “Furthermore they have a cosy and incestuous relationship with HMRC, whose former boss, Dave Hartnett, has now been recruited by Deloitte!"

Posted on 2013-09-25 | 11:44

Roger has welcomed the decision by the Co-operative chain of supermarkets to remove “lads’ mags” from sale in their stores after publishers refused to put them on sale in sealed bags. Roger feels that it is inappropriate for such sexualised images to be on the shelves in high-street stores where they can be seen by children.

Roger says: “I support the Co-operative’s removal of magazines and newspapers which contain graphic images which objectify women, and I hope that other retailers will take a similar stand. Such content has no place being on display in supermarkets.”

The decision by the Co-op will see the removal of magazines Front, Zoo and Nuts, as well as the removal of newspapers Midweek and Sunday Sport. Loaded will remain on sale, after its publishers agreed for it to go on sale in a bag.

Posted on 2013-09-24 | 11:47

Roger has signed two Early Day Motions calling on the Government to take action to prevent the exploitation of workers on zero-hours contracts. The motions call on the Government to protect workers’ rights and avoid a race to the bottom on pay and conditions, and encourage employers to invest in a stable, long-term workforce.

Roger says: “I am concerned that the increase in zero-hours contracts is having a detrimental effect on working conditions, pushing pay downwards and increasing employment instability. I believe that employees are an asset which businesses should invest in, not just another expense to be cut to the bone to increase shareholder profit.”

Roger is worried that long-term, stable jobs are being replaced by zero-hours contracts, with pressure on employees to do the same work in return for poorer pay and less security. Early Day Motion 461 expresses support for workers at Hovis (Premier Foods) in Wigan, who rejected the employment of agency labour on zero-hours contracts after permanent employees were made redundant. Roger believes that this decision by Hovis sets a damaging precedent for the treatment of employees, undermines hard-won pay and conditions, and could lead to the creation of a two-tier workforce.

Roger says: “At times when the economy is running below capacity and unemployment is high, it is particularly important to protect workers’ rights and prevent exploitation. My constituents who are on zero-hours contracts have contacted me to tell me that they feel that they have no rights. One told me that he has never been treated as badly as he was on a zero-hours contract, but felt that he had no choice but to accept this treatment as otherwise he would not be offered any more work. This is an exploitative and unacceptable situation for hard-working people to be forced into, and I urge the Government to take action to prevent future abuses.”

You can read the EDMs here and here.

Posted on 2013-09-19 | 06:38

Roger is supporting Birmingham City Council’s plans to limit the ability of payday lenders to operate in the city and prevent the exploitation of vulnerable people. Roger backs the council’s plans to introduce strict bylaws to restrict the ways in which companies such as Wonga can advertise their loans, which can carry an annual interest rate of thousands of per cent.

Roger says: “I support these plans, which could stop predatory payday lenders from opening shops on Birmingham’s high streets and restrict their ability to advertise in public spaces.”

Roger is also supporting the Birmingham Fair Money campaign, which aims to provide an alternative source of financial services including loans and money advice. The campaign will see local not-for-profit lenders such as credit unions provide small, affordable loans to help people move away from payday lenders and avoid becoming trapped in debt. All the organisations involved are committed to being responsible lenders and, if they feel that a loan is not in the applicant’s best interests, will direct them to advice services which can help them.

From 1 October there will be a pop-up Fair Money shop on Bull Street, opposite a payday lender. Funded by the council, it is hoped that this will help to attract Christmas shoppers away from unscrupulous lenders and towards providers of responsible, sustainable financial services.

Posted on 2013-09-16 | 04:43

Roger has welcomed the decision by Birmingham Metropolitan College to modify its recently announced policy of compelling all students to remove hoodies, hats, caps and veils while on college premises.

Roger said: "The modification of the originally announced policy is to be welcomed. I totally understand that if somebody is passing through a security check, whether in a college or at an airport, they should remove any facial coverings so that security staff can do their job.

I can also understand teachers in a classroom situation wishing to be able to make facial contact with their pupils, but outside of the classroom if an individual wishes to cover their face then I can see nothing wrong in them doing so.”

Posted on 2013-09-14 | 04:20

Roger has written to the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC to protest the lenient sentence handed down by Birmingham Crown Court to a lorry driver who was involved in the death of schoolgirl Hope Fennell.

Roger said: “This case has generated an enormous amount of anger in the Moseley and Kings Heath areas of my constituency. I cannot overstate the outrage that is felt in the community at what is perceived to be the ridiculously lenient sentence imposed on Darren Foster, who was convicted of dangerous driving and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

In November 2011 Hope Fennell, aged just 13, died on Kings Heath High Street as she crossed the road at a pedestrian crossing. She was trapped under the wheels of a truck driven by Darren Foster and died of her injuries. Police later discovered that Foster had climbed back into his cab as the schoolgirl lay dying and deleted at least 11 text messages which were sent from his phone in the 20 minutes before his vehicle hit the girl. Some of the text messages from Foster to a girlfriend were sent while he negotiated roundabouts in heavy traffic.

Although Foster pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice, he was sentenced to just two months for the dangerous driving charge and four months for perverting the course of justice. He was also told he would be released after serving only half his sentence.

Roger says: “I have asked the Attorney General to look at this again, because there is astonishment about the leniency of the sentence. There is concern that such a short sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice sends out very much the wrong message to the wider public about the dangers and illegality of using hand-held phones and texting while driving a motor vehicle.”

You can read the full letter here.

Posted on 2013-09-13 | 01:39

With a year to go until the centenary of the UK entering the First World War, Roger is suggesting his constituents might like to consider applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for community projects to learn more about the war.

HLF is making at least £1 million a year available until 2019 as part of the First World War: then and now programme for small, community grants. It will provide grants of £3,000 to £10,000 to help groups across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.

Roger said: “I am pleased that the Heritage Lottery Fund is making this money available to local communities. Like many areas across the UK, the impact of the First World War on the people in Birmingham was extensive. For those who want to find out more about its legacy or who wish to mark the Centenary, I suggest getting in touch with HLF."

Roger said: “Sadly, one hundred years on from the beginning of the First World War, the world is still mired in conflict. These grants are a good opportunity to understand more about the history of WWI and its impact on ordinary people living in Birmingham one hundred years ago. The ‘Great War’ was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but looking back at history shows that war only creates more wars.”

Roger has written to secondary and primary schools in Birmingham Hall Green, telling them about the grants available to research and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.

Posted on 2013-09-06 | 05:04

“The Bill is an absolute mess and this was demonstrated by the fact that the Government Minister who introduced the Second Reading obviously had not got a clue about the consequences - intended or otherwise” said Roger.

He continued: “I believe that the Bill was given a Second Reading because the overwhelming majority of Conservative and Lib.Dem MPs voted for it  while the Opposition Parties were only joined by a small number of Government ‘rebels’.

Concern about Part 2 of the Bill is well made and it reflects the many other letters and communications I have had from organisations who share similar views about the intentions of the Bill and the way it will impact upon organisations who campaign on a variety of issues.

For what it is worth I believe that one of the big motivating factors in bringing this Bill forward came from Lib.Dem MPs who are extremely concerned that in the forthcoming General Election in under two years time their sitting MPs and candidates will be under strong criticism and attack locally from student organisations who are still furious about the way that they were hoodwinked at the last General Election into believing that the Lib.Dems would not support any increase in tuition fees and yet, as almost their first act as part of the Coalition, they went back on this solemn promise which they had given and which got massive publicity at the time

He concluded: “In view of the avalanche of criticism that were was against the Bill at Second Reading I am sure that the Government will introduce some changes but I am not confident that they will change the main thrust of their legislation although I can assure you that I will, and my colleagues in the Parliamentary Labour Party, will be voting against this Bill.”

Posted on 2013-08-30 | 04:59

Roger voted against the Government motion to take military action in Syria, and he believes that the House of Commons made the right decision in refusing to authorise missing strikes. Roger said: “The priority must be to prevent further loss of life and protect the human rights of the people of Syria. I do not believe that the best way to do this is to launch missile attacks against a population which is already suffering the casualties and horrors of war.”

Roger made the decision to vote against military action because he was concerned that strikes against Syria would only cause the conflict to escalate, possibly to the wider region, with the loss of yet more lives.

Roger compared the rush to take a vote on military action against Syria to the run-up to the Iraq war, which lead to hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties. He said: “Have we learned nothing from the Iraq war, when the UK rushed into military action without waiting for a UN mandate? If the UK is to take any action it must follow the proper steps before doing so, and wait for a mandate from the UN Security Council.”

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has called for more time to be allowed for peaceful and diplomatic methods, while the Arab League has opposed retaliatory strikes on Syria. There have already been reports of an increased flow of refugees leaving Syria, while Israel has started calling up reserve troops. Roger is concerned that missile strikes will worsen the humanitarian crisis in Syria and threaten regional stability, and will fail to prevent further atrocities being committed against the people of Syria.

Roger is calling on the Government to take urgent action on humanitarian assistance, the provision of aid to refugees, and diplomatic pressure for a peaceful solution. He said: “The decision between doing nothing and firing missiles into Syria is a false one. We can and should act to help refugees, send aid to people who need it, and sanction a regime with no regard for the lives of its citizens.”

Posted on 2013-08-27 | 04:43

Roger has written to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to express his dismay at the ongoing carnage in Egypt, where hundreds of peaceful protestors have been killed since the military deposed then-President Morsi on 3 July. Roger urged the Government to use all the diplomatic means at its disposal to put pressure on the Egyptian military to end the violence against its own people, and restore civil liberties and democracy.

Roger says: “While it is difficult for foreign countries to intervene in Egypt, there are steps the UK Government could take that would help to protect the lives of the Egyptian people. I have urged the Foreign Secretary to apply diplomatic pressure via the Egyptian embassy in the UK, to support the call by NGOs for the UN to be allowed access to Egypt, and to immediately cancel all arms export licenses to Egypt.”

Roger has tabled a Parliamentary Question, asking the Government whether any of the UK arms export licenses to Egypt still stand and if they will provide a breakdown of the weapons and military equipment supplied to Egypt since the military dissolved the Egyptian Parliament in February 2011. Roger says: “I want to make sure that the UK is not helping to provide the Egyptian military with the equipment it is using against its own citizens.”

You can read Roger’s letter to the Foreign Secretary here and the FCO's response here.

Posted on 2013-08-26 | 03:39

Roger believes that the idea of putting offensive messages on the side of vehicles and then driving them around is both repugnant and silly and is nothing more than a gimmick to try and give the impression that the Government are seriously trying to deal with the issues of illegal immigration.  He believes that this campaign should be ended.

Asked to comment on ‘spot checks’, he believes that any such checks should be based upon reliable intelligence information and not carried out randomly.

He said: “There are unscrupulous organisations who make big profits out of hiring illegal immigrants on a pittance for a day’s work and if the Government was serious about addressing this issue then they would clamp down on the activities of such employers and, in doing so, they would be able to identify whether the persons being hired had an entitlement to be in the UK or not.”

Posted on 2013-08-24 | 05:40

Roger has made it clear that he does not believe there is a need for the British Government to replace its ‘Trident Missile system’.

He said: “The situation in the world now is very different to what it was when there was a heavily armed Soviet Union in existence and the Cold War was at its height.  The Soviet Union no longer exists and, indeed, many of its satellite countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, are now part of the collective mutual defence alliance within NATO. The threat to Western Europe and the United Kingdom is, therefore, an entirely different one today and this threat comes from indiscriminate terrorism and not from a battery of nuclear weapons aimed at the United Kingdom and Western Europe.”

He continued: “I believe Britain needs to maintain flexible armed forces in order to respond to these different threats and to emergencies that occur and I am not convinced that there is a need for Britain to update its nuclear weapons capability not least because NATO, of which Britain is a long standing member, has the ‘nuclear shield’ of America which is also part of the NATO alliance.

Roger has tabled and signed other Early Day Motions in the Commons opposing any proposal to replace Trident. He has also consistently voted against the proposal whenever it has been debated in the House.

EDM’s on Trident signed by Roger:

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2008-09/1422

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2009-10/380

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/150

Posted on 2013-07-30 | 04:01

Roger says no to fracking and condemns tax breaks for shale gas drilling. Roger has written to the Minister to protest against the Government’s plans to smooth the way for hydraulic fracturing for shale gas to take place commercially in the UK.

Roger is concerned that fracking is unnecessary, potentially dangerous and will do nothing to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He is also worried that the Government is rushing to implement fracking without taking the time to carry out a proper public consultation or risk assessment. The Treasury recently produced a consultation entitled “A Fiscal Regime for Shale Gas”, which slashes taxes on some fracking income by more than half. The Treasury itself describes this tax regime as “generous”.

Roger says: “Why has the Government decided to give tax breaks to this environmentally-destructive fossil fuel rather than invest in renewable energy sources?” As the UK’s shale gas reserves hold only the equivalent of two years’ supply, fracking is not a solution to the UK’s energy needs.

Roger has written to the Minister, Nick Boles MP, urging him to ensure that a proper assessment is carried out, and people are given enough time to raise their concerns, before fracking is allowed to take place commercially in the UK.

Roger says: “I have asked the Minister whether the Government will bring in a requirement for emergency shut-down plans for fracking, which is already in place for conventional hydrocarbon wells. I have also asked the Minister for an assurance that the Government will consider all possible risks before allowing fracking to take place, to ensure that the environment and public health are not put at risk.”

You can read Roger’s letter to the Minister here.

Posted on 2013-07-25 | 11:10

Roger was unsurprised by this week’s announcement by the Department for Work and Pensions that disability benefit assessments carried out by Atos are of “unacceptably poor quality”.

Roger has previously called for a complete suspension of Asos assessments, which he described as “a benefits grab that destroys lives” back in November 2012.

Roger says: "The announcement that the quality of the Work Capability Assessment is well below standard will come as a bitter-sweet acknowledgment to all those claimants who have suffered ignominiously at the hands of this organization. The whole point of organizations such as Atos is not to make a fair assessment in the best interests of the individual involved but to cut the benefits bill, for which they are paid handsomely.” He continued: “The mentally ill and those affected by intermittent conditions, ‘good days and bad days’, have had a particularly rough time through Atos adding further unnecessary stress and strain to those who have enough to cope with already”.

Last year Roger tabled Early Day Motion 714, which called for an immediate cessation of Atos work capability assessments following the death of a man who suffered a heart attack the day after his benefits were stopped, and called on the Government to overhaul the system before more people lost their lives. Roger says: “I urge the Government to act now to put disabled people’s lives before this company’s profits.”

It has long been obvious that Atos assessments are unfit for purpose. Around 30% of those who are refused employment support allowance go on to appeal and are then granted the benefit. There have been more than 600,000 appeals since the WCA started, costing about £60m a year. This is a ridiculous waste of taxpayers’ money, which would be much better spent on improving the lives of disabled people.

Mark Hoban MP, the Minister of State for Work and Pensions, is planning to allow more companies to carry out assessments to “increase capacity”. However, Roger does not believe that allowing more profit-driven private companies to have a slice of the disability assessment pie will do anything at all to improve standards, or ensure disabled people are able to access the benefits to which they are entitled. Dr Mark Porter, chair of the British Medical Association, has the same opinion. He wrote to the Government saying that GPs should be asked to provide factual information for every assessment. Dr Porter also described the current process as “insufficiently rigorous and consistent” and the cause of “avoidable harm to some of the weakest and most vulnerable in society.”

Roger says: “When will the Government start listening to doctors, disabled people and the taxpayer, and stop throwing money at a company which is incompetent at best?”

Posted on 2013-07-19 | 10:00

Speaking to a group of retired people in his constituency today Roger Godsiff paid tribute to the contribution that over 50s were making to the UK economy.

In particular he praised the over 50s, the ‘baby boomer generation’, for the contribution that they have made since the financial crises took hold in 2007 and the fact that the spending power of the 50s now account for almost half of UK household income and expenditure.  Without this the UK economy would most certainly be in recession.

“While the over 50s have, like everybody else, been hit by the financial crisis, their role in the economy is growing with them accounting for almost half of all UK household income and expenditure in 2012.

Without the ‘silver pound’ spending power of the over 50s, which accounts for over half of UK household expenditure on food, health and recreation and culture the economy would, most definitely, be back in recession so we should recognise the massive contribution that this group are making to keep the economy afloat during this extremely difficult time.”

Posted on 2013-07-12 | 10:56

Nothing best illustrates the mindset of the current Conservative portion of the Coalition than the recent remarks made by Lord Freud, Welfare Minister, at Question Time in the House of Lords recently when asked about the spiralling use of food banks and welfare the Minister was adamant that: “Food banks are absolutely not part of our welfare system……”

When ask to clarify his remarks that there was: “No evidence as to whether the use of food banks is supply led or demand led” he said: “Food from a food bank – the supply – is a free good and by definition, there is an almost infinite demand for a free good”.

So roughly translated this version of free market economics means that because its free, the numbers of people needing it – the demand – are irrelevant, they are just hungry.

Posted on 2013-07-02 | 02:57

There is a lot of talk about ‘hard working families’ and the ‘squeezed middle’ but most people will be scratching their heads in wonderment as to how a government can find an extra £10billion for HS2 in the same week as Chancellor George Osborne announces cutbacks in public services of £11billions.

Posted on 2013-06-28 | 11:23

Royal Mail and the Post Office are very much part of the fabric of our society and I am totally opposed to the privatisation of these services says Roger

Many communities, particularly in rural areas, are dependent upon Royal Mail and their Post Offices and if the Government had been more intent on retaining these two services in the public sector instead of trying to privatise them then I believe that new and imaginative ways could have been thought up to ensure that they had a viable future.

Unfortunately all the Government wants to do is to sell off everything in the public sector and I have no confidence that they will rethink their position on the sale. 

Posted on 2013-06-26 | 01:32

According to a recent statement by Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport: “HS2 is a vital part of the infrastructure overhaul that this government is delivering so that our country can compete in the global race.”

I say most other people would appreciate trains that run on time, railfares that don’t keep on rising and somewhere to sit down rather than a race for global domination.

Posted on 2013-06-25 | 03:05

Transport minister Simon Burns has been forced to admit that:

"The Department of Transport does not place any specific requirements on train operators with regard to the provision of toilets on trains........there are no legal requirements for toilet facilities to be provided on trains."

Posted on 2013-06-22 | 02:17

Roger has signed a petition to: “Implement a fresh inquiry to establish the truth in order to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators responsible for the worst outrage on British Mainland in the 20th century in respect of the memory of the 21 innocents who were slain in the 1974 Birmingham Pub Bombings’.

Posted on 2013-06-21 | 08:00

Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion 223 today which draws attention to the growing pressure on the nations already over stretched food banks.

Roger said: “A recent report from the Trussell Trust (the biggest provider of food banks in the UK) stated that more than 350,000 people turned to their food banks for help in 2012–13, almost triple the number who received food aid in the previous year and 100,000 more than anticipated. The true figure of those receiving food aid last year is however nearer 500,000 when other independent food banks, churches, charities and community groups are taken into account.”

He went on to say: “The impact of food poverty has been particularly dramatic in the West Midlands with the Trussell Trust seeing  biggest ever increase in West Midlands food bank use with a 200% rise in numbers turning to foodbanks in last 12 months.  Over 41,000 people in the West Midlands have received at least three days emergency food from Trussell Trust food banks during the last 12 months, more than triple the number helped in 2011-12.

There are many underlying causes to this dramatic increase in demand for food support not least of all unemployment. However, the Trussell Trust’s own research suggests that 45% of all referrals are as a result of benefits problems which include benefit delays (30%) and benefits changes (15%).”

Roger also believes that a significant causal factor is likely to be the rising tide of draconian benefit sanctions although at the present time there is only anecdotal evidence to support this and rising levels of complaints from constituents.

He concluded: “There is every indication that levels of food poverty show every sign of growing as further changes to the benefits system take effect.  Such developments, I believe, are wholly detrimental to the social fabric of the UK, further marginalising the poor, the unemployed and already socially disadvantaged and are incompatible with the functioning of a modern, compassionate society. 

I have called on the government to launch an urgent enquiry into causes of food poverty, particularly in respect of the administrative failure of the Dept of Work & Pensions (DWP) to deliver benefits effectively and its widespread use of punitive benefit sanctions.  The DWP is never backward in reminding us all repeatedly how much money it is managing to save the UK taxpayer but wouldn’t it be nice if it actually got the money that people are entitled to distributed before they had to visit their local food bank.

Posted on 2013-06-21 | 08:43

Mr Godsiff: That is kind of the Minister. I was waiting for his speech so that I could ask my question. Will he tell us how many applications have been made by spouses who come here for the two-year probationary period to try to access benefits? He must have some figures, so can he tell us?

The Minister for Immigration Mr Harper: The point I was making was about people who come here when they are not entering into a genuine marriage. I will not have a chance now to find the data. If the hon. Gentleman had asked me earlier, or made a speech, I would have been able to find them before the end of the debate. I want to try to answer the questions that hon. Members have already asked.

I turn to some matters that will address the point made by the right hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Dame Joan Ruddock). There are some areas where we have been flexible already. I had a meeting with the hon. Members for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) and for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy), who were here earlier. We looked at some flexibilities, which I agreed to take away and consider. They were about the length of time for which savings must be held if they arise from the realisation of an asset that can be clearly traced to that family. The example that was given to me was someone selling a property that was clearly their property. I also said I would consider the situation where people hold savings in an investment-based account, such as a stocks and shares ISA, and whether that counts as cash.

I am prepared to consider whether we can put in place some rules that are not vulnerable to abuse. The best argument was the example of a couple, one of whom would be working here but was insufficiently skilled to meet the criteria to apply under the tier 2 scheme. I thought one of the examples in the report was a bit odd. I struggled to see how someone who earned £400,000 a year and had £3.5 million of assets could not come here on a tier 2 visa, or would be unable to organise their finances sufficiently to meet the rules. If people can get here under a tier 2 visa, that is fine. However, clearly there are people who could make a contribution but could not meet those criteria.

The situation is not quite as straightforward as people say, because we must guard against abuse. If all people have to do is to show a piece of paper saying that they have a job offer, I know from the number of cases I have seen that it will not be long before people are setting up vague companies and offering jobs that do not exist. There must be a way of putting in place processes that do not lead to abuse. I think that is worth doing and I am prepared to go away and do so. The Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee said that I listen, and I do. I see details of cases that colleagues write to me about, and I am keen to ensure that the rules are fair. They have been in force for less than a year, and we have already made some changes to make them more flexible.

Another suggestion was to have a different income level across the country, and the Migration Advisory Committee looked at that. We do not have a regionalised benefit system, with the exception of housing benefit. Most benefits are consistent throughout the UK. The logic for having a different income limit would mean a different benefit system throughout the United Kingdom. I do not know, but I am guessing that most Members who argue for a regional income level to be taken into account for this process would probably not be in favour of a regionalised benefit system.

Posted on 2013-06-20 | 07:04

When the well publicised vote took place on the Amendment to the Queens Speech Roger voted for the Amendment which had been put down which regretted the fact that the Government had not included in the Queens Speech proposals for a Referendum on whether Britain stayed for left the European Union.  Explaining his position Roger said:  “For far too long the people of this country have not been given a chance to express their views on the massive changes which have taken place in the European Union since the last Referendum was held back in 1975.

Britain originally joined a ‘common market’ which was essentially a group of countries operating a free trade area but ever since Mrs. Thatcher brought forward the Single European Act in 1986 (which she subsequently said was a mistake) there has been a constant transfer of powers from member states to the unelected European Commission in Brussels.

I have consistently argued that trying to create a United States of Europe by stealth was not in the best interests of Britain but the warnings made by myself and others have been ignored by those in Britain and Europe who see the creation of a Federalist United States of Europe as the fulfilment of their ‘project dream’.  The attempt to bind countries together through the single currency has had disastrous consequences for many of the member states. This was just another example of attempts to moves towards a federalist super state.

The people of the United Kingdom are not daft.  They know perfectly well that they have not been told the truth about Europe, nor about the attempts to create a European super state by stealth, and because they have not been given the chance of having a direct say their resentment has gradually built up and was a major contributory factor in why UKIP did as well as it did in the last local elections.

There is an argument for why individual national sovereignties should be submerged into a European super state.  I do not share this argument but it is a valid one to make and there needs to be a proper debate in the country about this and for the people to be given the final decision through a Referendum.

That is the reason why I voted, along with 11 other Labour MPs for the Amendment on Wednesday night and I welcome the fact that there now seems to be real momentum behind the calls for a Referendum to take place.  Bring it on say I.”

Posted on 2013-06-19 | 10:33

On the 4th June 2013, Roger voted to support renewable energy and jobs by backing a move to clean up UK power and tackle climate change.

He voted for an amendment to the Energy Bill, currently in Parliament, that would set the Government a legal target to remove carbon emissions from the UK’s power supply almost entirely by 2030.

Roger said: “Green is working – the green economy supports almost a million jobs already and it is helping to stop dangerous climate change.

“But green companies and their supply chains will only make long-term investments in the West Midlands region if there’s a clear pathway for renewable energy in the future.

“That’s why I voted for a target to cut the carbon from our electricity by 2030 – it would help stabilise the climate and provide much needed jobs, as well as keeping bills as low as possible in the long-term.”

He concluded: “It was announced recently that the world still has record reserves of fossil fuels to exploit with ever improving technology but that in reality our weather systems can only support about a third of this consumption. The appearance of ever more extreme weather events and the dramatic reduction in the size of the polar ice caps is continuing testimony that we cannot go on pumping more and more carbon into the atmosphere with impunity.”