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Eric backing Ed26 Aug 2010Eric is giving his support to Ed Miliband in the Labour leadership contest. He has invited Ed to return to Carlisle on Bank Holiday Monday when he will call in on the Stanwix city by-election campaign and meet party members at the Crown and Mitre. |
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Bridge tribute to flood hero26 Jun 2010Eric has paid tribute to a former Environment Agency manager who was instrumental in the city's flood defence scheme. The South Vale Bridge over the Caldew between Denton Holme and Bousteads Grassing has been renamed in honour of Kim Nicholson, who died of cancer in 2007. |
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'Horror' at Tory plans to slash NWDA13 May 2010Eric has said he is horrified at the thought of the North West Development Agency being broken up. He compared the Conservative plans to replace it with small local agencies based on councils to the Carlisle Renaissance, Eric said the idea is horrifying. Eric was praised by Ged Caig who represents council workers for the GMB. Mr Caig said that after the floods, businesses, especially McVitie's, were thinking of pulling out of Carlisle, but Eric intervened and got the NWDA to help out with over £1M and saved 1200 Carlisle jobs. |
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City Council attacked for Sainsbury delay23 Apr 2010Eric today hit out at Carlisle City Council for once more delaying the Sainsbury planning application for a superstore in Caldewgate. He said the application has been put back again until June and is yet another example of the inability of the Tory/Lib Dem controlled Council to take any decision to improve the city. They are waiting for another consultant's report! |
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Labour serves Carlisle well7 Apr 2010Eric has said that Labour has served Carlisle well. He says that as an MP he has helped many people and that at councillor level Labour representatives give good service. He says that the failures of the Tory run city council in impacting the local Tory vote. |
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Schools consultation is a sham5 Apr 2010Eric has called the north Carlisle schools consultation a sham. He has heavily criticised the demolition of Belah school which has severely reduced options in the area. He believes the Belah site could be used for extra classrooms for one of the other schools such as Kingmoor as well as a proposed super surgery. |
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Ambulance bosses listen to Eric29 Mar 2010After Eric raised the problem a few months ago about slow ambulance response times, the Care Quality Commission have investigated. The MP got complaints after the closure of Cumbria's ambulance control centre but Sue McMillan, the Commission's North-West Director has agreed there was an issue and that response times are being addressed. |
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Lonsdale threat looms again29 Mar 2010The former Lonsdale Cinema is again under threat. Eric fought for the building to be listed and achieved that in 2007 hoping the city would get a theatre and arts centre. But now that listed status has been revoked after an appeal. |
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Prison could bring back jobs the Tories took26 Mar 2010Eric has said that a prison at Carlisle would bring back many of the jobs lost when RAF 14MU closed. He said Kingmoor Park had been a great success and bringing a prison to the city would bring recession proof jobs to the city. |
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Boycott intensive milk farm - Eric25 Mar 2010Eric has written to the main supermarkets about the proposal to ram over 8,000 cows indoors for the majority of their lives in the UK's largest diary farm. Eric, who is Chair of the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, set out serious concerns over declining animal welfare standards, lack of sustainability and the detrimental impact on rural life and farmers. |
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Flood meeting leads to information flow18 Mar 2010Better communication between the Environment Agency and insurance companies is one result of a meeting organised by Eric this week. He met with Huw Irranca-Davies, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Environment and representatives of major insurance companies to discuss household premiums in flooded areas. |
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Ministers in the Lords16 Mar 2010Eric has asked the Speaker of the House about government ministers who are in the House of Lords. He complained that when the Transport Secretary. Lord Adonis, made a statement on the House of Lords, it was not immediately available to Members of Parliament. Eric again asked the Speaker about this. He said the real reform needed in the Palace of Westminster is that Secretaries of State in the House of Lords should be obliged to come to the Commons to make statements to the democratically elected Members and answer questions. |
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Eric battling flood premiums12 Mar 2010Eric is meeting with Huw Irranca-Davies, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Environment, and with insurance companies next week. He is concerned that still too many Carlisle residents are being charged too much for household insurance because of an outdated perceived flood risk. |
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Stopping High Speed trains11 Mar 2010Eric wants to stop high speed trains - in Carlisle. He pointed out to the transport minister that it would be' nonsense to run a high speed line 90 miles through Cumbria and not permit it to stop ... in Carlisle'. |
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Nuclear jobs urged for Carlisle11 Mar 2010Eric has pressed the case for the nuclear industry in West Cumbria to recruit from Carlisle. The construction of a new nuclear power station would create 4000 extra jobs, and Eric pointed out in a hearing of the North West Committee that not all these could come from West Cumbria. He also made the case for Cumbria getting some preference because it was prepared to take the nuclear industry, unlike many parts of the country. |
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Chair for the last time9 Mar 2010Eric has chaired what may well be his last series of debates in the Commons. As a senior MP, he chairs debates in Westminster Hall, the Commons' second debating chamber. The topics included Motoring, Raising of the Pension Age, Tankers (Lyme Bay), 2012 Olympics (Employment) and Passenger Safety (Railway Platforms) . |
Stanwix parents quizzed over school places3 Mar 2010A rising birth rate has caught out the County Council in the north of Carlisle. They are now admitting that they need more school places, which more than vindicates Eric's opposition to the closure of Belah School, which has given rise to these new problems. Stanwix parents are to asked about school expansion plans |
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University meeting 'positive'3 Mar 2010Eric says that a meeting to help the funding crisis and the University of Cumbria went well. He and the university's vice chancellor Professor Peter McCaffery met David Lammy, the Higher Education Minister on Tuesday to find a way through the problems. |
Impact of Nuclear Development1 Mar 2010Eric has probed the issue of the effects of changes in the nuclear industry in West Cumbria. At a recent session of the North West select Committee, he was concerned about the way in which the food processing industry in Carlisle would be affected, as well as the long term employment effects if reprocessing stops at Sellafield. |
MP sets up meeting on recession hit university26 Feb2010Eric has set up a meeting on Tuesday with Higher Education Minister David Lammy. University of Cumbria vice chancellor Professor Peter McCaffery will be with Eric when they attempt to thrash out a deal for the cash strapped university. Up to 200 jobs could go as the university struggles with a £20M deficit. |
Boaden calls for Okoji inquiry9 Feb2010Labour's parliamentary candidate Michael Boaden has called for an inquiry into how the City Council came to employ a convicted fraudster in a sensitive post. Attah Okoji from Gateshead was employed by the council until last April as a job evaluation analyst. He had previous convictions under the Theft Act. |
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Eric takes the wheel5 Feb 2010Eric got behind the wheel of a lorry as part of a visit to see apprentices at city training firm System Training. He met with the apprentices as well as prospective employers at the firm which is the only place that provides logistics training in warehousing and distribution. |
Stagecoach decision a backward step - Boaden4 Feb 2010Michael Boaden, Labour's candidate for Carlisle at the next General Election has hit out at Stagecoach's abuse of their monopoly position in the city. He is writing to the Competition Commission regarding the decision of Stagecoach to stop running the Dalston to Cotehill bus service. Mr Boaden said this is a vital and important service for residents in a number of villages around Carlisle. |
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Welcome for Hilltop Rethink3 Feb 2010Eric has welcomed the decision by NHS Cumbria to review the plans for a 'super surgery' at Hilltop Heights. He has campaigned from the start that the location is unsuitable and poorly served by public transport, making it a bad choice for the elderly especially as well as mothers with young children. |
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'Not one job created, not one change made'3 Feb 2010Labour's parliamentary candidate Michael Boaden has hit out at the scandalous waste of Renaissance. He says nothing has been achieved for the millions of public money spent. He was speaking as the Tories and Lib Dems rejected Labour's plans to use some of the money to clean up the city. |
Vote Stevenson and the Hare gets it!2 Feb 2010Eric has strongly condemned the Tory candidate, John Stevenson, who has pledged to support the reintroduction of blood sports. He has been sent a copy of a letter an upset constituent had received from Mr Stevenson in which he stated that if elected he would vote for the repeal of the Hunting Act which would allow a pack of dogs to tear a wild animal apart. |
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Wrong kind of mouse2 Feb 2010Eric is incredulous that the West Coast Main Line should be crippled by a mouse. Not a computer mouse but a live furry one. Network Rail have written to Eric to explain that the hold up on January 2nd, the day of Carlisle's match at Everton, was caused by a "rodent-damaged cable". |
Michael positive about Wetheral30 Jan 2010The addition of Wetheral to the Carlisle constituency does not worry Labour's parliamentary candidate Michael Boaden. The traditionally Tory village and its over 3000 voters has been moved from the safe Tory Penrith seat into the city. |
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Get your facts right, Mr Stevenson19 Jan 2010Labour's Parliamentary Candidate, Michael Boaden, has poured cold water on a scare put about by his Tory opponent. John Stevenson had claimed that Labour would introduce a new tax on listening to music which he said would cost charities. But Michael says the government will not be taxing people to listen to music. |
Challenge to Tories over badger cull21 Jan 2010Eric has demanded to know Conservative policy on badger culling. He put this to a Tory speaker in a Commons debate on Food Industry Competitiveness when the issue of bovine tuberculosis was raised. Also, as a food industry 'insider', he asked about supermarket copycat products. |
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Johnny "Come Lately" Stevenson criticised over Belah School18 Jan 2010Eric has roundly criticised Tory candidate, John Stevenson's late intervention in the Belah School debacle. (Cumberland News 15.01.10) He said that to wade into the argument at this late stage beggars belief and that Cllr Stevenson should have supported him in arguing the case for a school to be retained at Belah. He should have had the courage of his fellow councillor, Alan Toole, who put party politics aside and supported Eric's campaign. |
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Labour saves Community Centres from cutbacks14 Jan 2010Michael Boaden has succeeded in squashing attempts by council leaders to cut funding to community centres in Carlisle. He tabled a motion at a council meeting at the Civic Centre to block the cuts plan because of the 'central role' the centres play in the life of the city. |
MP backs plans for 3Rs catch-up support and stronger discipline in schools12 Jan 2010Eric Martlew, Labour MP for Carlisle, has backed plans for guaranteed catch-up support and one-to-one tuition for children falling behind in the 3Rs and stronger discipline through tough home-school agreements. The measures are part of the Labour government's Children, Schools and Families Bill, which Eric Martlew MP, voted to support last night but was opposed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs. |
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