Ilford South Labour Party

Despite poor weather on 13th. February hundreds of supporters of the campaign to keep King George Hospital turned out to march from the Hospital to the Town Hall.
Ilford South Labour Party members were prominent on the march and the overall organiser Andy Walker is a member of Seven Kings Branch Labour Party.

At the Town Hall there were speeches from local M.P’s including our own Mike Gapes and Margaret Hodge from Barking.

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Among our photos here we see Mike Gapes M.P. at the start of the march, crowds outside the Town Hall, Cllr Stuart Bellwood and Aziz Choudhry Labour candidate for Valentines in the May  council elections in demonstrating mood, and Cllr Javed with Ilford South Labour Party Chair Helen Coomb and her sister Catherine on the march.

The Campaign goes on with another rally planned for 17 April. This time the idea is to get the local faith groups, who have all been keen supporters of the hospital to take the lead. Andy Walker is again the Organiser, watch out for more details.

In the meantime remember to sign Mike’s petition on his website, or if you want to  get your friends and neighbours to sign, ask for paper copies ( phone 020 8911 0899) and return them to Mike’s Constituency Office at: 6 Mildmay Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 1DT.

Also remember you have until 8 March to participate in the consultation on health services in North East London. Go to www.healthfornel.nhs.uk or use the freephone 0808 238 5416.

This item is with apologies to anyone who knows all this information, but even long term Labour Party Members sometimes ask about the Co-operative Party!

For over 90 years the Co-operative Party has stood for giving economic and political power to everyone in our society. It stands for:-

• Supporting co-operative and mutual enterprise.
• Employee Ownership
• Remutualisation
• Land Reform
• Investing in a Co-operative future
• An economy in all our interests
• Delivering high quality affordable housing
• Building Stronger Communities

Internationally they stand for:-

• A move from speculation to long term investment
• Protecting the future of our planet
• Tackling Global Poverty
• Trade Justice

The Co-operative Party works in a long term agreement with the Labour Party. It sponsors the constituencies of Members of Parliament who are members. Our own M.P. Mike Gapes is a ‘Labour and Co-operative M.P’. There is a branch that meets in Redbridge. You do not have to be a Labour Party Member to join the Co-op Party, but many Labour Party members have membership of both parties. If you agree with these principles find out more and join.

Find out more:-

From www. Party.coop.
From www.Thefeelingsmutual.org.uk
By writing or phoning to the Co-operative Party, 77 Weston Street, London, SE1 3SD. Tel: 020 7367 4150.
By writing to the local secretary Roy Emmett 63 Brocket Way, Chigwell, IG7 4ER.

Whilst you are about it the Co-operative Group has taken over Somerfield. There are now many more places locally where you can get a dividend on your purchases. If you are not a member find out more now.
Visit the Co-operative Group Website www.co-operative.coop

The photograph shows Ilford South Labour Party members, with their M.P Mike Gapes, just before they presented the petition with 28,000 signatures demanding that King George Hospital be saved in 2007.

Our 2007 Campaign was successful. Now the regional health service management have returned to this ridiculous proposal. They have issued ‘Health for North East London’ a consultation document which in their view is the route to ‘delivering high quality hospital health services for the people of north east London’. What appears again is the downgrading of King George Hospital, closure of the A&E and closure of the maternity unit.

4 years ago Lord Ara Darzi was commissioned by the Government to look into the future of healthcare in London. His initial proposals envisaged local hospitals serving a population of between 200,000 and 250,000 proposals. Under these proposals, from our health service managers, Redbridge plus Barking and Dagenham with an expanding population, currently of 446,000 will be deprived of a local hospital.

Already Redbridge Council has rejected the proposals at its Health Scrutiny Committee and voted to ‘refer the issue to the Secretary of State for Health requesting that he establish an independent review of these proposals…’

What can you do?

1. Take part in the consultation, which runs until March 8 2010. Fill in the questionnaire on the Website www.healthfornel.nhs.uk.

2. Write in protest to Freepost RSAE RCET ATJY, Health for North East London, Harrow, HA1 2QG.

3. Call them with your views on 0808 238 5416 ( it is a free line).

4. Sign Mike Gapes M.P’s new petition on line at www.savekinggeorgehospital.org.uk or by requesting forms from his Constituency Office at 6 Mildmay Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 1DT, Tel: 020 8911 0899.

5. If you can manage it, we are encouraging everyone to ask for some forms and get their friends and neighbours to sign. Just remember we need them back by March 8th

6. JOIN THE MARCH AND RALLY. Meet outside King George Hospital on Barley Lane at 1.15 p.m. on Saturday 13 February 2010. March to the Town Hall in Ilford High Road where you will hear Mike Gapes M.P (Ilford South), Lee Scott M.P. ( Ilford North) and Chris Carter (Editor of the Ilford Recorder) speak against the proposals from the Town Hall steps.

Read Mike Gapes full speech in Parliament on this subject, go to www.mikegapes.org.uk