EMA – Cost effective intervention or waste of taxpayers money?

Hot on the heels of the Tuition Fees fiasco, the Conservative-led Government looks set to go through with its pledge to abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Many do not fully understand exactly what the EMA is, or realise that it is means-tested for students from the poorest families in Britain. Launched in 2004, the EMA scheme directly pays eligible pupils up to £30 a week, depending on family income, to stay on at school after compulsory education – i.e aged 16. Entitlement rules are that for family income up to £20,817 per year, a 16-18 year old who stays on in education can get £30 per week, for household income of £20,818 - £25,521 per year the payment is £20 a week, and for £25,522 - £30,810 per year it is £10 a week.
At a speech to IPPR in 2008, Michael Gove claimed the scheme “fails the poorest families and costs too much money”. He also argued there had been an “overcentralisation” of education, saying “the capacity of local communities to set their own autonomous goals, to pilot their own strategies, to develop the relationships they want is constrained and curbed by central government's nationally-set targets, challenges and protocols.”
I have been quite interested in the question of whether indeed as an intervention it has made any difference – particularly to educational outcomes – and indeed whether that indeed represents value for money. It is right that policies come under scrutiny and that tough questions are asked. The additional point to ask is that if it has had an impact, what is the reason for it?
I have to say I was rather blown away by the findings of one of the most robust evaluations to date of what is still a relatively new policy, conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Because not only did it show an increase in ‘participation’ rates, i.e. staying on in education compared to a control group, but it showed an increase in attainment rates. Pupils on EMA – and in particular from ethnic minority backgrounds – black females and males – were achieving higher grades than they would have otherwise. Generally results were more impressive for we find achievement among females, though interestingly with black females seeing a greater improvement than white females. The report goes on to suggest that even more impressive is the impact among black s males – the impact roughly translated into a one-grade improvement in an AS Level subject across all black males in the pilot areas.
This suggests two things. Firstly that there is a gender and ethnicity penalty that is set to result from the abolition of the EMA. Secondly that when Gove suggested it wasn’t working as a policy for those in the most deprived areas, he was using statistics misleadingly. There is some debate about whether it has the same impact for pupils in least deprived / fairly deprived / most deprived areas and what other factors may be critical to consider. However overall the IFS report, which offers a “conservative” estimate of benefits and it actually suggests could be twice that stated, is incontrovertible in support of the policy achievements.
What we should perhaps pay more attention to then are the other comments that Gove raises (the “overcentralisation” of education and “ the capacity of local communities to set their own autonomous goals, to pilot their own strategies”) which offer a hint as to the politics of this decision, rather than the economics. The achievement of poor – and often black or Asian, but not exclusively so – in deprived areas is a matter for local authorities who may wish to choose which children to invest in and which to not. An aspiration for all children is not what the Tory-led education policy appears to be about. And indeed the findings of the IFS report are supported by anecdotal and qualitative data – such as case studies collated by the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/dec/17/students-ema-bribe-necessity). But more importantly for me is a conversation I had with a young black man from East London who had recently finished studying, and had had EMA and whose brother was currently on EMA. His view was that it made a big difference to how much time you actually had to study, and for him had resulted in better grades that had enabled him to go to a good university and achieve much more. Indeed, an amount (means tested) of £30 equates approximately to one full day’s work on the minimum wage.
This is an argument to which I am very sympathetic, and in fact I feel hugely saddened that such a targeted investment for some 600,000 of the poorest children at a critical stage in their life, an investment that has had a positive early evaluation, is to be taken away without any clarity of what is to replace it, and indeed why it will be any better.

On the 100th anniversary of Barbara Castle's birth, what would she make of the Tories on Equal Pay transparency and Child Benefit cuts?

100 years ago today, one of the most successful and well known Labour woman politicians - Barbara Castle was born. She was elected to Parliament as MP for Blackburn in 1945, a seat she held before it was taken over by Jack Straw MP, her special adviser. There's a great piece about her life by Radio 4's Anne Perkins here, but just a few thoughts of my own.
Barbara Castle was the "Harriet Harman" of her time, a woman who challenged the male lens through which political discussion and decision making was always done. Her Equal Pay Act, the struggle for which is being brought to a new generation through the outstanding film "Made in Dagenham", was ground-breaking in its challenge both to politicians and business on the accepted way of doing things. And like the Minimum Wage, despite the mountain of opposition, it quickly became accepted as a long overdue measure of fairness in our economic life.
The Equal Pay Act was one of the last bills to go through Parliament in 1970 before Labour lost power - an uncanny parallel to the passing of Harman's Equality Act just before the election this year, becoming an Act of Parliament on 8th April.
An important milestone 40 years on from the Equal Pay Act, the Equality Act included measures on information about equal pay. Despite progress, there is still a gender pay gap of approx 21% in the UK, worse than the EU average. The gap varies each year, but is in the ball park of 80% of men's pay. This was cleverly marked by Fawcett's Equal Pay Day on 30th October 2009 - when they presented a cheque to the Prime Minister to symbolise the last pay cheque that woman would get for the year.
It isn't rocket science to suggest that tackling the gender pay gap once and for all is going to require gender pay gap information. To put this inequality right you need to know where it is happening. The Equality Act included two new ideas to help make equal pay happen - voluntary pay reporting on differences in men and women’s pay for a company with 250 or more workers, and secondly for public bodies to publish information about equal pay (and how many workers it has who are disabled or people of different races). The Government planned to do this for public bodies with 150 or more workers.
The part of the Act which relates to this is Section 78, which creates a power for Ministers to require employers to publish information relating to the gender pay gap. However the new Tory led Government has already said this is not being commenced from 1st October; instead they are "considering how to approach this clause in the best way for business and others involved."
Theresa May in her Conference speech this week talked about Equal Pay in a list of wrongs and said that the Conservatives plan to "put things right". It is unclear to me how this will be done without pay gap information. A lot of HR data today is computerised - a pay reporting function should hardly be problematic in an age when we expect complex and accurate end of year financial reporting from organisations and solid in-year management accounting to ensure efficiency and productivity.
The real reason for avoiding pay gap information is not red tape - the data already exists and could easily be compiled - the real reason is that as soon as you make something transparent you will see greater demand to do something about it. And the political will to really do something about it is just not there.
But onto another issue. Child Benefit is another of Barbara Castle's legacies - it replaced the Family Allowance in her final years as an MP. She was instrumental in changing a mindset and moving family funds from the wallet to the purse and investing in children. If she were here, she would certainly have made her views known on the regressive steps this Government is now taking, which is much less about economics than it is about politics. The idea that you save a billion by taking money away from children, and "sweeten" the move by giving a billion back to married couples in the form of tax relief is one step short of Dickensian.
This is politics plain and simple - a symbolic step in support of a traditionalist Conservative view of political economy, by attacking a symbol of a social democratic tradition that is in fact one of the symbols of equality for children and families across social classes, as well as a vital contribution to family income and welfare of children. It may be a small contribution to Castle's legacy on the 100th anniversary of her birth is to highlight how the Tories are turning the clock back on progress, but one that I hope will encourage others to look beyond the smokescreen to the reality that lies behind the Tories' words.

The election - just over or just beginning?

Someone said to me today - "But the election's over!" - to which I replied, "Nonsense, it's only just beginning!" And of course it is; the next election is what is really beginning with the leadership election kicking off this week. For a party that has "lost" an election (though I think we came second, and the Lib Dems third) we are in remarkably good spirits. Usually after a campaign the party steps back, takes a few weeks off, winds down. Not so this time. I've never known us more fired up to get on the #labourdoorstep and keep talking. The doorstep election has changed some of the culture of our campaigning for the better - a rebalancing from the technology driven hard targetting to a re-introduction of the importance of the personal touch.
Just this evening I was talking to a member in the West Midlands - as intrigued as me as to the positive spirit and fierce sense of fight back we are experiencing. Perhaps this is helped by the leadership election, which is giving us something positive and productive to focus on, and a lens through which to have a conversation about where the British people are at, and how connected our politics is to them - both in terms of substance and style.
So whilst it is agonising for me to see David Miliband and Ed Miliband go against each other, both of whom I admire, respect and know, they are doing our party a huge service in starting to lay out terms of the debate and a vision for the future. David kicked off his campaign this week, with a photoshoot in Westminster, and a tour of seats Labour has lost. Ed Miliband kicks off tomorrow, with a speech at the now sold-out Fabian post-election conference. A straw poll, totally unscientific, that I did this evening of where people currently stand gave a remarkably consistent picture of the election being wide open. Seeming to reflect the election polls to some extent, we're seeing a large number of "don't knows" in the party selectorate - members are waiting to be inspired and wooed, and included. David seems to have the lead in terms of profile and sense of heavyweight, Ed in terms of his ability to connect and communicate, and of course policy mastery with authorship of the manifesto. Exciting times. #ProudtobeLabour.

Radio 4 - or the Rachel Reeves Show this morning

Great to hear Rachel Reeves MP for Leeds West (I love saying that) on Radio 4 this morning. She made two excellent points - that we mustn't lose sight of. Firstly that people no longer came to see us as the party of fairness - and the underlying issues of immigration, housing and welfare needed to be addressed. Secondly, that Labour in Parliament needed now to be a responsible opposition, agreeing with the Government when they get it right, and saying very clearly when they don't. Looking forward to seeing Rachel in the Shadow Cabinet before long. Amazing to think I've known Rachel since she was 18, and before she went to university! #ProudtobeLabour.

Nick Clegg: Damned if he doesn't, damned if he does

Listening to Laura Kuenssberg, Ben Wright and other BBC journalists this morning, it's pretty clear that there is still only one story in town. The Lib Dems and Conservatives are set to resume talks this morning, and there is every expectation that by the time the leaders meet their parties later today there will at least be an early deal on offer. Nick Clegg will rightly be tempted by the first opportunity for the Liberals to sit in Government for 90 years. The problem for him, however, is that in taking the prize now, the consequence could be the end of the Lib Dems.
Firstly, many voted Lib Dem to tactically keep the Tories out in Labour seats. They will now find their votes being used to prop up a Tory administration. Secondly, many in the Lib Dems are progressives, who have a commitment to public services and a view of social justice that gives more common ground with Labour. They will now be voting with a Tory manifesto they went to the country to fight against. Thirdly, the election saw a loss in Lib Dem seats, though the 6 million votes that the Lib Dems achieved is very significant. However many votes were for Nick Clegg based on his debate performances, less than for Lib Dem policies. The problem being of course that this wasnt a presidential election, and the harsh reality of party politics and Parliamentary processes are about to kick in. Finally, there are those who voted for the Lib Dems because of the promise of electoral reform. With Labour having been behind reform too, this would be another completion of a progressive project of reform that was started in 1997 but not finished. If what is delivered is watered down by the Tories, Lib Dem supporters may well feel sold out by Clegg. And indeed, once it is delivered, the Lib Dems will need to redefine what they are about and why people should vote Lib Dem. The divisions between different camps in what is essentially a franchise party could make this very difficult for a party that in many ways has been a single issue campaign. The Lib Dems could very well become the first victim of their own success.

So what's your view on Electoral Reform?

Really interesting discussion today on one of my favourite programmes The Big Questions on electoral reform. What it highlighted was the overwhelming sense of need for change, but real lack of clarity about what to change to. Richard Reeves of Demos, someone who has made a real impact in the think tank world in defining new debates on the centre-left, made a strong case for a referendum to allow people to decide how we reform our electoral system, a view I totally agree with. What remains an important part of the debate is what on earth will be on the referendum ballot paper. We are going to have to take a close look at what we think works in the current system which we should keep, such as geographical constituency links, and what doesn't work. Only then will we actually have a sensible vote for change that leads to a better outcome and a better method of managing our democracy. Take a look my column in Asian Voice next week for more on this.

Gordon Brown must stay holding the fort

I am quite bemused by the newspaper attacks on Gordon Brown for staying in Number 10 and dealing with the business of government whilst a deal is discussed by Cameron and Clegg. Suggestions of squatting are totally disingenuous. On the one hand, the markets are reliant on politicians keeping stability at the top. On the other hand, those papers who are supporting David Cameron seem to want to put him in the near impossible position of trying to negotiate a coalition deal the likes of which we havent seen for nearly forty years, and at the same time form a Government. As Helena Kennedy rightly said on the Andrew Marr Show today, Gordon is actually doing his constitutional duty by staying in place. I for one am quite relieved we have Alastair Darling and Gordon in place to deal with the European bail out this weekend to help contain the crisis in Greece.

Rise of Blue in the Black Country - but Ian Austin holds on to Dudley North

Some sad losses of the night include Rob Marris, Wolverhampton South West, Sue Hayman in Halesowen & Rowley Regis and Lynda Waltho in Stourbridge. It was the night the Black Country went blue in Dudley, though Labour managed to hold on to Dudley North. It was a well deserved win for Ian Austin, now with a reduced but decisive 600 majority which was confirmed on a recount this afternoon. I've had the good fortune to be able to work with Ian over the last two years. As Regional Minister he's played a huge role helping alleviate the impact of the recession on the regional economy - a role that has taken him well beyond the boundaries of Dudley. But I've also seen his pretty amazing commitment as a local to Dudley North, and if Ian had not won it would indeed have been a big loss for the people of Dudley. He's a fighting force against the Tories and a fearless advocate for principled politics, and the rights of his constituents. News of the win has certainly made my afternoon!

A historic election - first Asian Women MPs elected

I'm sure this will get some coverage in the unravelling that follows the election results, but just for the record, this election is another historic first for Labour. On Labour results I've managed to check so far, we've seen four Asian women elected - Rushanara Ali in Bethnal Green and Bow with an astounding 11,500 majority, Shabana Mahmood, who has been a fearless candidate and who has won with a 10,000 majority in Birmingham Ladywood, Yasmin Qureshi in Bolton South and Valerie Vaz in Walsall South. You can find my previous Tribune/Compass piece on this democratic deficit here - and from me, well done Rush, Valerie, Shabana and Yasmin - really proud of you, and proud that you are Labour women.

Gordon Brown - Every inch the Prime Minister this morning

I guess I'm not the only one still gripped by the election this morning. Sitting in my kitchen waiting for final results to come through and listening to Radio 5 live, I just heard Gordon Brown speak from Downing Street. Seems to me that Nick Clegg has got himself into a very awkward position, with his leverage quite damaged by seeing an overall loss of Liberal Democrat seats, including some of his best known names. I've always thought Labour and Lib Dems have a lot in common and should be closer. Unfortunately though they have been like a franchise party, with local parties using Lib Dem branding but standing for something very different from each other. Had Nick Clegg been given the chance of forming a Government, I believe we would have seen the imploding of the Lib Dems very quickly as the divisions behind the surface became more apparent under scrutiny. At this stage we're going to find out what Nick Clegg really stands for, and really believes in. Having played a slightly confusing campaign too, with Nick appealing to Tory voters whilst Vince Clegg set out an appeal to Labour voters, we were presented with two faces of a Lib Dem party that they are now going to have to choose between. What is pretty clear though, is that if the Tories and Lib Dems form a coalition, we will see a goodbye to the best chance of electoral reform we've had, and ironically the potential end to the Lib Dem surge as a new "third force". Nick has to work through a short, medium and long term strategy in one day. The right answer for Britain will absolutely be a progressive coalition; fingers cross Nick has the courage to do it.

The night of the long count - Labour's election stunners

What an amazing night. Just home from Birmingham count where I witnessed some real twists and turns through the evening. Liam Byrne – almost doubling his majority in Hodge Hill. When he told me I really was nearly in tears - it was overwhelming. His winning speech was one of the best of the night. Shabana Mahmood in Ladywood left Lib Dem candidate Ayub Khan standing at the starting line – his result half that of her vote. In fact so low he didn’t even bother to stay for the count. And Gisela Stuart. A Labour hold in Edgbaston, a swing of just 0.5% to the Tories. Phenomenal. Just minutes before had told me I was being far too positive about the possibility of her winning. I went downstairs to talk to Shabana who was getting accustomed to the prospect of winning, surrounded by family and campaign team, when there popped up on screen that Labour had held Edgbaston. Just a provisional result of course – and it was another 2 hours before it was fully verified and then declared. As someone said, politics can be cruel – but it can also be kind.

The Story the Media chose not to tell you last Friday – the Story of Jacqueline Denny

Labour List Blog:
Last Friday Labour launched final week election posters in Birmingham, at an event attended by the national media. Part way through the event, the drivers of a passing refuse collection lorry began shouting at the gathering, where Gordon Brown was standing with around ten of the Cabinet. Whilst distracted the refuse collection lorry apparently clipped a car, which then went into a bus stop. Luckily no one was injured.

As you can imagine, the loud bang caused real concern and for a moment it wasn’t clear whether the event would stop. None of us knew the seriousness of what had happened, and whilst Peter Mandelson calmly held it together, officials and police, as well as some of the media, ran over to see what had happened. It became clear that whilst the car was a write off, there were no evident injuries. The event then continued.

After the speeches, Andy Burnham led the Prime Minister over to meet a woman who was standing near me. Her name was Jacqueline Denny. She was a Labour supporter who had been introduced to him earlier that morning, who wanted to say thank you to Labour for their investment in the NHS. She had not had any previous contact with the Labour Party.

The day before she had been given the all clear from breast cancer, aged 65. She’d been diagnosed with breast cancer around 3 years earlier, shortly after her husband died. At the time she was still coming to terms with her husband’s death, and she described the faultless care she had received from the NHS though that time, not just medical but emotional. She’d been operated on very quickly and received very good drugs following the operation, all of which she believed contributed to her recovery.

She wanted to say thank you to Labour, and felt that she really wanted to say something positive in the election campaign. She had phoned a radio station in Birmingham, and someone had suggested she call the Labour Party. She phoned the regional Labour Party, and told her story. That night, she was invited to come and see the cancer pledge being launched the next morning.

In her own words, she had phoned because she was fed up with the negativity she was hearing in campaign coverage and wanted to talk about something positive, mainly her experience of the NHS. Indeed, not just her experience but that of others. This included her young grandson, who recently had to receive treatment at a specialist hospital unit in Stoke, where the family had been offered accommodation near by so they could be near the toddler.

The reason why she felt so strongly was that the treatment she and her family and friends were receiving was no accident. The treatment she received was because Labour had invested in the NHS, and brought the waiting lists down. She wasn’t a statistic, she wasn’t a number, she was a real person. And this is what Labour’s choices had meant for real people.

She recounted also the story of how things had changed from the Tory years. In the eighties, as a mother of four young children, she was told by her GP she had varicose veins and needed treatment. In Feb/March of that year, she was given an appointment around Feb for July 22nd. She went on July 22nd that year, to be told she wasn’t on the list.

When she enquired, they found that the reason was that the appointment was for the following year. Apparently even the GP was shocked. She was told that in order to speed things up she would have to go private, just to see a consultant and get on his list, let alone get treatment. The mum of four young children, from an ordinary working family with limited income, had to find £100, just to be seen by a consultant. And if she hadn’t been treated quickly, she could now have been suffering from ulcers and other potentially more serious conditions.

Recently someone close to her in her family had a similar varicose veins problem. She was referred by her GP to the same hospital, Solihull, and was treated within a week and a half. In Jacqueline’s own words, it was amazing.

She didn’t call the media on Thursday and come to a Labour Party event on Friday to tell everyone to vote Labour. She did want people to think about the election, and stop the negativity. She also wanted people to take the NHS into account when they cast their vote, because she didn’t want to risk a return to the old days, or to take health services for granted. She also remembered previous recessions; the number of home repossessions, high unemployment. And in the view of this ordinary mother and grandmother from Birmingham, this recession had been different. The effects of it had been reduced, and Labour had led the country through it.

Jacqueline was filmed speaking to Gordon and interviewed by almost all the media. Notes were taken. Recordings were made. But her story did not receive the coverage that a negative story would be likely to receive.

However Jacqueline’s story has been inspiring for me, for those that met her. I’ve recounted it on the doorstep across London and in the West Midlands over the weekend, and her words “I’m not a statistic. This is what Labour had done for real people.”

The media acted like paparazzi on Friday, and I wasn’t the only one to think of Princess Diana and the distasteful photography of her car crash. Luckily the driver was not injured, and apparently said later he would still be voting Labour.

So when you read about Labour’s so called election car crash, remember that the real story was that of Jacqueline Denny, who wanted to thank Labour for what has been done for her and her family, and to tell other voters too. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did as we go into the final days of the campaign.

Stoke's new Labour Voice - Tristram Hunt

Had a great day in Stoke today - where the newly selected Labour candidate Tristram Hunt was clearly well into his stride, campaigning hard for the mandate to be Stoke-on-Trent Central's Member of Parliament. We met at the campaign HQ for Rob Flello, and then headed off for the #labourdoorstep. I was surprised at how open towards Labour people were - in an area that was supposed to have a high level of support for the BNP. People raised bread and butter issues like jobs for young people and cost of living. Issues that I hope after a fourth term will no longer be top of mind, because we'll have found a way to solve them. Good luck Tristram - your selection may have been controversial, but like Mike Ion, I believe you'll be a fantastic MP.

Neil Kinnock joins Rusharana Ali at launch - Uniting the East End

I joined Rushanara Ali at her launch event, which was held in a packed community centre in East London. It wasn't the first time I've been out with Rushanara - an old friend and someone who continues to hugely inspire me. She's standing in Bethnal Green and Bow, Labour's target seat no 32. It's currently got a notional Respect majority and is one of the most deprived constituencies in the country. The UK Polling Report website explains how it loses the Tower of London, St Katharine's Docks, Wapping and part of Shadwell to Poplar and Canning Town. With 11 candidates and some complex community politics, she faces a real challenge winning back the seat for Labour. But if she pulls it off, it wont be long before the people of Bethnal Green and Bow feel the impact on their lives of her political leadership and influence.

Is victory in sight for Labour in Islington?

Had a fantastic evening out on the #labourdoorstep in St George's Ward with excellent young candidates Alex Smith and Jessica Asato. I'm amazed at the energy of both of them, and also hugely proud of their contributions to the Labour party and campaign through running LabourList and Progress. Islington watch out. You have very impressive talent that will keep pushing and challenging for a better community and better Britain.

Haircuts, not Tory Cuts!

Haircuts, not Tory Cuts! Great visit by Hilary Benn to visit an excellent Labour Candidate Rachel Harris  in Dudley South on the general election campaign trail. See below for the new campaign poster designed by a Black Country hairdresser.

'Bold and Realistic' - Labour Manifesto Launch in Birmingham

Had an amazing day today helping with the launch of Labour's manifesto. Almost 600 people came to the event, and I heard that even at short notice spaces for the event went in a matter of days. It was a rich and diverse audinece - young (very young - a two month old baby!) to those who are in their seventies and eighties. My favourite quote from Gordon today - 'The future can be Progressive or Conservative, but not both." That's what you call a choice, and its at the heart of this election.

The Economy for the many, not the few

It's been a fascinating roller-coaster week on the economy debate, beginning with the #askthechancellors (for all you Twitter fans out there) Channel 4 debate, which had over 12,000 tweets during the hour. What is reassuring for us all is the extent of consensus with politicians of all parties about the need to cut the deficit, and incentivise growth. Ostensibly the debate between the parties seems to be on matters of when, and how much we cut spending and where we safeguard - and at least at this level, political consensus on the broad way forward is an important backdrop for market stability.  However it is clear that the technical skills of our leading politicians and their hard graft rather than panic has steered us through the downturn. Tackling the downturn is when I believe Gordon Brown came into his own as Prime Minister. We haven't become a Greece or Iceland, we haven't seen the rises in unemployment that might have been expected based on previous recessions, we have made progress in arresting the number of repossessions. For many voters it may seem like the difference between the parties is just a level of detail and that there isn't much difference . But whilst the debate may seem like detail, of course that's where the devil is. Who's going to pay, and who's going to gain from the partys' different policies? What political philosophy underlies those choices, and will we risk a double dip recession if we stifle growth too early? There are no easy routes, and even the NI rise is not one I'd want to see if there was an affordable way of not doing it. However when employer NI has gone up previously, there hasn't necessarily been a reduction in jobs. We need to see these policies in the round - including the support made available for SMEs for innovation and skills, support for apprenticeships and flexible payment terms for businesses. And the biggest question. With the results of Labour's strategy coming through, do we really want to risk political instability or should we let Labour finish the job of recovery?
For a great blog on Osborne's economic policy - read Sunder Katwala's piece at http://www.nextleft.org/2010/03/why-painless-gershon-savings-wont-fund.html

The "Detached Eye" of Ann Widdecombe

Heard a really interesting discussion on the Radio yesterday about whether constituencies benefit from having local candidates represent them, or you can come to a constituency from outside and be a great representative. Ann Widdecombe conjured up an intriguing image when she talked about the benefits of the "detached eye" - the person from outside the constituency who on going there can learn very quickly about it but take a fresh perspective on dealing with the challenges. It's obviously not a new debate, but seems to be one that has come into sharp relief with selections in all parties in recent years. Clearly people have travelled to find seats previously; Tony Benn lived in London but became MP for Bristol South East in 1950, and then Chesterfield. Ann Widdecombe was new to Maidstone. Bruce George - MP for Walsall South for 36 years, was new when first elected in 1973. Of course this is all triggered this week by the selection of Tristram Hunt for Stoke Central, and his impending challenge by the secretary of the local Labour Party. The answer  of course is in a balance across the country. We would be in a far worse place in terms of the quality of our democracy and our nation's progress if all people grew up, lived and worked in the same area and then represented that area. It's a great model to aspire to - Julia Goldsworthy is one who meets that profile - but it surely isn't the only way. However any representative should show and convince the membership and electorate of what they bring, their wider sense of connection and what they will help change. And we should have better ways of holding MPs to account for what they actually deliver for an area, and how hard they work that should obviously include, but go beyond the oft-quoted measure of how often they vote against the whip. And how people can do this should be a key part of political education.

Launch of Labour's Campaign Pledges

Alongside the national launch of Labour's pledges in Nottingham today, the Stengthen Fairness in Communities Pledge was launched in Birmingham with party members from across the West Midlands joining in a day of discussion with Alan Johnson and David Miliband. Nice to see politicians looking relaxed and happy - a really upbeat mood. Only downside - pledges are better when they are tighter and more specific. What we shouldn't do is see them as the equivalent of the pledges in 1997 that were drummed into us by the Prescott battle bus. They are however sensible themes that help us get a consistent message about Labour's priorities, and a more consistent narrative. Even Alan Johnson agreed with me! A consistent narrative is something we've needed for the last few years. An upbeat day.

Time for Job-share MPs?

Yesterday I was asked to join a cross-party roundtable discussion facilitated by the Fawcett Society on Women in Parliament – Implementing the Speaker’s Conference recommendations. The Speaker’s Conference reported recently after a year-long inquiry into how we increase diversity in Parliament. It was a fascinating debate reviewing recommendations the Speaker’s conference has made around what political parties could do more, what needed to change in terms of how Parliament works, and whether we should move to a discussion around quotas if the number of women MPs doesn’t significantly improve. A high number of countries use quotas in some form – and sometimes for a fixed period of time. It is interesting that finally Parliament is set for a nursery – incredible that it should be a controversial concept (see Private Eye “political correctness gone mad”) - when all three main political parties supposedly support a better gender balance in parliament, and measures to help keep families strong. Perhaps one of the most interesting possibilities to support more women in Parliament not yet getting prominence – which was one of the suggestions in the Fabian Women’s Network’s evidence to the Speaker’s conference – is the idea of job-share MPs. For some reason we celebrate when Parliament passes laws around flexible working options and then balk at the idea of Parliament implementing some of those measures itself! Perhaps also finally we’ll start to see a better discussion around moving Parliament’s hours to a more 9-5 structure – in line with most of the rest of society. Some interesting stats though. The Centre for Women and Democracy suggests that the number of women MPs looks set to increase from a fifth to up to a quarter of MPs – a step in the right direction but still woefully low on the international league table of women in parliaments. And the challenge remains stark when you also hear that there are 200 constituencies where all the candidates are male, with only ten that have all female candidates – all of which are in marginal seats.

A Labour Budget - and a budget for Britain

Against my own expectations, I actually found myself quite excited and optimistic following Alastair Darling's budget today. It was a Labour budget - and a budget for Britain. I was particularly listening out for what Labour will do to support small businesses and entrepreneurship. Not least because SMEs are the real backbone of our economy, and have continued to suffer through the recession through lack of credit and variable speed with which Government backed support has reached them. Not to mention the gender aspect - women are increasingly the drivers of small business growth; the small businesses of today that may well break through to be the big businesses of tomorrow. And the Budget indeed did not forget small businesses. Just some of the measures include a £2.5bn package for small business to boost skills and innovation, a one year business rate cut from October to help 500,000 companies, a doubling of the investment allowance for small firms to £100,000 and a doubling relief on capital gains tax for entrepreneurs. However Labour's challenge - and indeed the Government's challenge, will be that this support reaches SMEs - as indeed does bank lending - as fast as possible. And not just the businesses that shout the loudest, but the entrepreneurs from diverse communities who may be less connected to Business Link and other networks with less understanding of how to access the support available. The Government must ensure that it monitors how funds are being used, and that businesses in more deprived areas which often do much more to skill up the local population do not miss out.

Nawas Ali and Lynnette Kelly PPC launch campaign for South Yardley ward

Another impressive young Bengali talent makes a political debut today. I was delighted to join Nawas Ali from Birmingham as he kicked off a campaign to win back South Yardley ward for Labour. Meeting with community leaders from the Bangladeshi community as part of the campaign kick off, he and Lynnette spoke passionately and inspiringly about aspirations of new communities, the desire of families to succeed and for parents to see their children grow up with a better quality of life than they had themselves. Lynnette held the audience captive with a moving account of her experience working with Muslims in Bosnia, how they were attacked for being Muslims, but how the desire to stay as part of a multicultural community rather than seek separatism remained important to them. I've no doubt she'd make a fantastic MP - and Nawas a hugely impressive councillor. Birmingham will benefit from his energy and entrepreneurialism.

Gloria De Piero selected to stand in Ashfield

A friend from university days has just been selected to fight the safe seat of Ashfield - vacated by Geoff Hoon. Probably the best thing Geoff has done for the Labour Party in the last week is hand over his seat to a woman who I've no doubt will be a fantastic MP. She's done a fabulous job of being a reporter of independent mind, whilst knowing where her roots are and what she believes in. She now joins the 186 women candidates selected so far to stand in the General Election. Sure, some are in non-safe seats. But many are in winnable if not safe seats. Still not enough though - as a male member of the Labour Party who was a union official negotiating for equal pay for women in the sixties (before Labour's Equal Pay Act) said to me yesterday, we need to see a better gender balance in parliament. For the full list of Labour's women candidates, take a look at
http://www.labourwomensnetwork.org.uk/lwn.html.

At Birmingham Fabians

I had the honour on Friday evening of visiting the Birmingham Fabians at the Birmingham & Midlands Institute to lead a discussion on women in politics and changing our politics to engage more with men and women. It was a fascinating debate, with almost thirty people present from across the West Midlands; from Hereford to Selly Oak to Edgbaston and beyond. It was a testament to the local Fabian group that they have managed to keep alive such a thriving spirit of exploratory discussion about politics, what it means in our lives, and what it can deliver for us. As well as a discussion about whether Labour does ‘Government’ but has not done enough ‘Politics’ over the last ten years, we covered why women, particularly younger women, are very much in a position of “don’t know” on political questions, why opinion is so divided on AWSs, why we should boycott the term ‘Blair Babes’, and why balanced political leadership is so vital for a thriving democracy. The issue of younger voters, particularly women, not feeling like they have a real opinion they feel confident about around the big political questions is a big reason to look for new ways to inform and educate, hence the importance of traditions like the local Fabian Societies. Yet ask them what they feel passionately about and most likely there will be a whole range of issues from the environment, to poverty, to international relations. The deeper point is not that women aren’t interested in politics, but that political systems have become disengaged from ordinary people’s lives and day to day activities. Movements like cooperative initiatives (and as if by magic, the Birmingham Coop movement was meeting in the room next door) and London Citizens are starting the fight back, reconnecting at a grassroots level to help give some anchoring and influence to life locally, countering the feeling of the distant state. Well done Rosa Birch for organising the evening, and inspiring so many new people from a wide range of life experiences for coming along.