Graham Jones

Hyndburn MP

MY thoughts are with my colleague and President of the Board of Trade Shahed Mahmood who was seriously assaulted last week.

There is clearly something wrong with people who commit acts of violence.

Sweden has just reintroduced conscription and we have our national citizens service. Perhaps its time we made the National Citizens Service compulsory? Young offenders could be made to do an apprenticeship in the armed forces?

Well done to Save the Walk-in Centre campaigners Chris Reid, Kimberley Whitehead and Shahed for all their work in gathering a 23,000 strong petition to save the walk-in centre. The new extended hours GP service is a failure for two reasons. It accepts non-urgent appointments and it fills up quickly, leaving people with nowhere to go but the walk-in centre.

With 42,000 patient visits last year it is clear the new system is going to be far worse than the walk-in centre. The cost of a patient visit at the walk-in centre around £60 and the cost to the NHS of a visit to A&E is around £120.

Please write to your GP and ask them to express your concerns to the CCG about its closure. It is GPs that manage 80 per cent of the NHS budget including the walk-in centre.

I was in Washington DC last week and ended up laid up ill in bed struck down again by bronchitis. I went to the see the doctor at George Washington Hospital where after a few checks (x-ray, blood test, blood pressure), the payment terminal (on wheels) arrived at my hospital bedside and I was asked to pay the $3,375 bill. To all those non-voters, wake up to reality. It was votes in a General Election that resulted in our wonderful NHS.

The local priorities remain employment, better jobs and infrastructure.

The largest industrial estate in Lancashire continues to be built at Whitebirk, thanks to Labour councillors and I the council continues to work with local businesses on issues they want help with. This is a probusiness area, a pro- business MP and pro-business council.

I have been a firm backer of #AmazingAccrington project and a big thanks must go to Andy Holt, Murray Dawson and Hyndburn Council. At the last meeting, 50 businesses attended all interested in how we can make businesses in the area more profitable.

The huge story is transport. I have campaigned relentlessly on the issue of better transport links all my political career. We now have a rail link to Manchester, a new bus station but that’s not enough.

The M65 extension to Yorkshire campaign (and corresponding rail campaign) continues.

Before Christmas, I along with others lobbied hard for Transport for the North to undertake a major study of a new road (M65) and rail link (SELRAP) connecting Yorkshire and Lancashire. They have agreed and that study will conclude in November this year. Hyndburn Council and particularly Noordad Aziz have been very helpful.

The rail element has now been agreed to.

Furthermore, I and colleagues pushed the Labour Party to commit in government to the new rail link (instead of the dead end at Colne we currently have). Following, that the Conservative government last month also committed to looking into rebuilding the line past Colne to Yorkshire opening up vast swathes of the northern rail network to East Lancashire folk.

This is a huge success story. Accrington was once a rail hub with huge amounts of trade and rail traffic passing through it. My great-grandfather was a livery driver at the station in its heyday. The removal of the Manchester line though Baxenden and also the removal of the line past Colne cut Accrington off and left us an outpost.

If anyone has any issues they wish to contact me about, please ring 01254 382283 or I can be contacted by email and Facebook.