December 2006 Archives

This is Local London has a story about the Greater London Authority (GLA) Bill which will increase the powers of the Mayor of London in many areas. Wandworth Council and Putney MP Justine Greening oppose the move, but Martin Linton supports it. He is quoted as saying:

This law would give the city back to an elected Londoner. It's right that local authorities should retain planning powers over local issues, but if they're making strategic decisions as well then you have different boroughs following piecemeal policies with no co-ordination between them.

Martin Linton spoke in this debate about the state of the post office. He suggested that many of the problems stem from the selling off of Girobank - which happened under the Conservatives.

Read the full debate or Martin Linton's speech on TheyWorkForYou

Martin Linton suggest to Jack Straw the he should hold an investigation into the quality of research in the House of Commons which, he claimed, hadn't improved following a recent threefold increase in the money allocated for it.

Jack Straw agreed that it was a problem and said that he was happy to hold such an investigation.

Read the full debate or just Martin Linton's question at TheyWorkForYou.

Later, Martin Linton asked Alistair Darling whether allowing Girobank to build up its bankinb business would have helped the Post Office. Darling agreed.

Read the full debate or just Martin Linton's question at TheyWorkForYou.

Martin Linton spoke in this debate asking John Reid why changes to the probation service hadn't enjoyed more support from probation officers.

Read the full debate or just this exchange on TheyWorkforYou

Martin Linton asked Derek Twigg if he would make a statement on the role of reserve forces. He then went on to say that reserve forces, because of their greater maturity, were better at dealing with civilians and mentioned particularly the London Regiment, which is based in Battersea.

Derek Twigg agreed on all points.

Read the full exchange on TheyWorkForYou

Martin Linton joined in this debate citing the example of the "affordable" housing at Chelsea Bridge Wharf - much of which had been sold at prices that key workers couldn't afford.

We have covered this story before.

Read the full debate or Martin Linton's speech at TheyWorkForYou

The Cardiff Fabians have an entry on their blog where they discuss Peter Hain's bid for the Labour Party deputy leadership. In it they mention Martin Linton as one of a list of MPs who are available for quotes on Hain's campaign.

The Wimbledon Guardian carries a story about the Bolingbroke hospital campaign.

Battersea MP Martin Linton has called on NHS chiefs to let people in the area decide on the future of the Bolingbroke Hospital.

His call comes in light of a survey carried out by his staff which showed 140 out of 141 people surveyed wanted the services it provides to stay in Battersea In December, St George's Healthcare NHS Trust will start a public consultation to decide where to move the services in the short term.

The story goes on to say that the MP has now launched a second survey to find out where local people want the replacement hospital to be built. It invites local residents to contact Mr. Linton at martinlintonmp@parliament.uk or by phone at 020 7219 4619.

The Wimbledon Guardian reports on Martin Linton's campaign to keep the Bolingbroke Hospital open. They quote him as saying:

People do not want their local hospital moved out of Battersea.

Many are going to support keeping the facilities where they have always been - on Wandsworth Common, but they should do so knowing what the alternatives are, not on the basis of some scare story about the facilities being closed.

I'm determined we should keep our hospital in Battersea and I want to know from local people whether they would prefer it to stay where it is, or move to one of the other possible sites.

I have just heard from Martin Linton's web team, who tell me that they have fixed the problems that they had with domain names. This means that martinlinton.org.uk now points at the new site at martinlinton.squarespace.com - so you can use either address.

And, as a bonus, the links in their web feeds will have started to work correctly too.

Writing in his blog about Prime Minister's Questions on the 22nd November, Adam Boulton mentions Martin Linton's question.

A number of Tory MPs raised health service cuts in their area. Martin Linton, Labour MP for Battersea and an ex Guardian hack, cited an article this week by Polly Toynbee saying that alleged "NHS cuts" in his area were in face changes and improvements in the service. Mr Blair replied that he didn't always agree with Ms Toynbee but that the Tories could probably benefit from her advice.