About this site

This blog covers the period until December 2014 and includes the 2014 European Parliament election campaign and my work as Leicester's Deputy City Mayor.

I will be launching a new site in the autumn.

Eyres Monsell Christmas card competition - Merry Christmas!

Over the past week or so my colleague Councillor Virginia Cleaver and I have been delivering our Christmas card across Eyres Monsell.

This year we organised a competition with local schools for pupils to design our card.

Rolleston Primary School pupil Hayan Omar (age 6) created the winning design. Two runners up were also selected; Jodi Bullen (age 10) of Eyres MonsellPrimary School and Aoife Sweeney (age 8) of also of Rolleston Primary School. Over 100 entries were received for the councillor’s competition.

Printing of the cards has been supported by Clockwise, Leicester and Leicestershire’s local credit union. Clockwise offers safe savings, affordable loans and friendly banking. Credit unions are a socially responsible alternative to payday loan companies and other finance providers. Clockwise also offers people support with household finances and budget planning, recognising that more and more people are seeing a squeeze on their household budgets. As a credit union, Clockwise is owned by its members and is a not-for-profit co-operative.

All of the entries were really good and captured the festive spirit. The winning design and runners-up are excellent and the pupils should be very proud of their work. We wanted to showcase and celebrate the talent of local school children on our Christmas card this year and the end result looks fantastic. I want to thank all the pupils who entered and our local primary schools for taking part in the competition.”

We are also grateful to Clockwise Credit Union for their support of our Christmas card competition. Credit unions like Clockwise do a really important job providing finance products that are fair and ethical and offer alternatives to payday loans. Encouraging fair finance and tackling household debt is an important priority for us.

The winning design by Hayan Omar, aged 6.

The runners-up, Jodi Bullen & Aoife Sweeney.

Leicester Mercury coverage of our
Eyres Monsell Christmas card competition.

Happy Chanukah

On Sunday I was invited to address the annual Menorah Lighting and Chanukah celebration at the Town Hall. The text of my remarks is below. Thank you to Rabbi Shmuli Pink for inviting me to address this important event. Best wishes to everyone celebrating Chanukah. 

Remarks at Leicester Communal Chanukah Lighting, Town Hall, Sunday 21 December 2014

This is always a wonderful event to be at. It is absolutely appropriate and fitting that Chanukah is celebrated here in the City’s Council Chamber.

I think it is fitting for two reasons.

Firstly, it gives us an important opportunity to recognise and immense and important contribution that the Jewish community has made, and does make, to Leicester.

Going back to the Nineteenth Century and spanning business and industry; academia and education; science, the arts and culture; and of course politics and civic life. It’s a contribution that continues to this day and that important history should be rightly recognised – and is – when we tell the story of Leicester.

The second reason I think it is appropriate and fitting that we celebrate Chanukah here in the Council Chamber is because it provides a timely reminder that we are a proud city of many faiths.

We often reflect on our diversity as a city.

We are proud to be a city where different communities celebrate together, as we do this evening.

A city where communities work together to make a positive impact.

A city where in times of grief, we mourn together; as we did this week following the horrific events in Pakistan.

We know our diversity as a city is a great strength. 

At times some seek to paint a picture of Leicester that does not reflect what we know of our city.

Often from the outside and from distance, some will manufacture a picture of Leicester that is contorted and which misunderstands – often deliberately – what our city is about.

We know that from our history and from our life today as a vibrant, multicultural city we draw strength and resilience.

And we also know that at times when we see differences of opinion – and it would ne naïve to suggest there are not occasions when there are differences of opinion – that never, ever compromises this city’s commitment to tolerance and respect and our steadfast rejection of prejudice and discrimination.

Today in Leicester, as in other towns and cities, we see a paradox.

On the one hand we see challenges that should not exist; rising levels of food poverty; families struggling to get by, worrying whether they can buy Christmas presents for their kids.

But on the other hand, in response to those challenges we see the best qualities of our city.

I think about the volunteers I met recently at the St Martins House foodbank; working hard to make sure those in need of help, got help. And making sure the foodbank shelves were stocked for the Christmas period.

Or the fantastic team behind the annual Toys on the Table appeal, making sure kids get a Christmas present when otherwise they might not.

Or the many workplaces, including the City Council, that support the Leicestershire Cares Winter Coat Drive; making sure those in need get a warm coat for the harsh, winter weather.

Or the volunteers I met this week in my own ward, Eyres Monsell; organising the lunch club and putting on a brilliant Christmas dinner for elderly residents. 

Those are just some of many examples where people of all faiths and none step forward to help; to make their contribution to make our communities and city what it is today.

A city that typifies the very best qualities of modern Britain.

Chanukah teaches us the power of dedication, of resolve and of resilience.

These are qualities we see enacted each and every day in our city.

Qualities that bind our communities together, that give us cause to reflect and cause to be both proud and grateful for what Leicester is as a city today.

Rabbi Pink, I want to thank you for your strength of leadership and everyone involved in again organising this wonderful Chanukah celebration.

It’s an event which we look forward to and which is firmly and rightly established in the city’s calendar.

This event gives us opportunity to reflect on the great strengths of our city and it’s communities.

I want to acknowledge this evening the many people, the hundreds of volunteers who make a difference, who step forward to do their bit every day in our city. Thousands of small actions that collectively make a big difference to our city, an immensely valuable and positive difference.

This reminds me of one particular Chanukah message: a little light expels a lot of darkness.

In that spirit, I wish you all and everyone celebrating, a very happy and peaceful Chanukah.

Better Together

The Leicester Mercury asked two Leicester political figures to make the case for 'Yes' and 'No' ahead of tomorrow's referendum. Professor Colin Copus represented the 'Yes' side and I made the case for a 'No' vote in Scotland. I hope we see a 'No' vote in the referendum. I firmly believe we are better and stronger together.

You can read the Leicester Mercury feature here.

I am also pleased that last week Leicester Town Hall joined public buildings across England, including 10 Downing Street, in flying the Saltire flag as a demonstration of our solidarity and commitment to the Union.

The photos below show my colleague Assistant Mayor Vi Dempster and I raising the Saltire and Union flags at the Town Hall.

My challenge to FA: free England tickets for school kids to help fill Wembley

I am calling on the Football Association to do more to fill Wembley for England friendlies and get more kids watching international football.

 Following last week's match against Norway in front of a crowd of just over 40,000, leaving the national stadium half empty I have written to FA Chairman Greg Dyke asking that he makes tickets available for free for school children in Leicester, and other towns and cities across the country. 

My letter to FA Chairman Greg Dyke can be read below.

I am also appealing to local businesses to sponsor the transport costs to help local schools.  

England's manager Roy Hodgson has even admitted that it is likely England will play in front of small crowds in the Euro 2016 qualification campaign, telling the BBC:

"We'll find it hard to bring attendances back to very high levels because the opponents we're playing won't excite the public."  

It is absurd when we see England playing at Wembley with vast areas of the stadium empty. There are fans across the country who would love to see England play but ticket and transport costs to Wembley make this difficult.

For matches with a likely low attendance the FA should make tickets available for free to help encourage the next generation of England supporters and to promote the game. 

I have challenged the FA to make 1000 free tickets available for school kids in Leicester for the next England match with a likely low attendance, and I am confident we will be able to get local businesses prepared to sponsor the transport costs. I am sure we have local businesses who will want to back this initiative and do their bit to help local schools and give local young people the chance to see England play at Wembley. 

I want kids in Eyres Monsell, Highfields, Saffron and from across Leicester to have the chance to see England play at Wembley. Seeing the national team play in the national stadium will be a great experience. This can help boost aspiration and encourage wider interest in football and sport. 

Sometimes the FA is accused of caring more about corporate sponsorship and big money in football than ordinary fans. This would be a great way to show that is not the case. I am sure England's players would prefer to play in Wembley stadium when it is full, let's have Leicester's school kids given the chance to help create a good atmosphere for an England match in the future.

Leicester Mercury article on this can be read here.

999 CALL for NHS: Leicester rally: the campaign must go on

Thank you to everyone who attended the 999 CALL for NHS rally in Leicester's Town Hall Square last weekend. We were able to give a warm welcome to the marchers as they arrived in the city.

The rally gave us the opportunity to show our opposition to the government's destruction of our NHS and to redouble our efforts to campaign and fight for the NHS we believe in.

To coincide with the march arriving in Leicester, the Leicester Mercury printed an open letter signed by MPs, the City Mayor, Councillors, Parliamentary Candidates, members of the Campaign Against NHS Privatisation, trade union activists and Labour Party members.

The symbolic march from Jarrow to London concludes this Saturday in London. The marchers are an inspiration to everyone who cares about our NHS and who is involved in campaigns to save our health service. I was proud to speak at Saturday's rally in Leicester and to welcome the 'Darlo Mums' and fellow marchers to the city.

We are seeing growing waiting lists; NHS staff under pressure with reducing budgets; people struggling to get a GP appointment; the A&E crisis and a crisis in mental health services. We need the NHS to move forward on the values that built it. An NHS more concerned with compassion than competition law, more concerned about care than competition and an NHS that will always be about patients and not profit.

Frontline NHS staff continue to do an excellent job and they must be allowed to get on with the jobs they love and the jobs they joined the NHS to do. Cameron and Clegg's NHS reorganisation is without any mandate and is about ideology not improving the health service.

The campaign must go on to defend and save our NHS.

The letter and full list of signatories can be read here.
Follow the 999 CALL for NHS march via their website here.

Speaking at the Leicester rally. Photo; Will Johnston.

Letter of support printed in the Leicester Mercury.

999 CALL for NHS | Letter of support

To welcome the 999 CALL for NHS march to Leicester on Saturday (30th August) Labour MPs, Councillors, members, supporters and campaigners from Leicester and Leicestershire have published a letter of support.

The 'Darlo Mums' are marching symbolically from Jarrow to London and are attracting strong support in towns and cities along their march. On Saturday the march will set off from Loughborough and will arrive in Leicester at around 4:30pm. The following day the march will depart for Market Harborough.

A rally will be held in Town Hall Square at 5:15pm on Saturday to welcome the marchers. If you care about our NHS and want to voice your opposition to the governments destruction of our health service please come along. 

You can read the full text of the letter and list of signatories here.

It has been signed by over 100 people including Leicester's Labour MPs Jon Ashworth, Liz Kendall and Keith Vaz; City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby; Deputy City Mayor Rory Palmer; Labour Parliamentary Candidates for constituencies in Leicestershire Matthew O'Callaghan, Jamie McMahon, Amanda Hack, Sundip Meghani & Sean Kelly-Walsh; East Midlands Labour MEP Glenis Willmott; Labour City and County Councillors; representatives of local Labour Constituency Parties; trade union activists; members of the local Campaign Against NHS Privatisation; and many more.

UPDATED 
More letters added to the letter of support, which can be read here.
Leicester Mercury coverage of the rally in Town Hall Square can be read here.

Leicester Pride 2014

I am looking forward to this year’s Leicester Pride, which is always an excellent event. I want to congratulate the Pride Committee for their hard work and determination in organising this year’s event. Pride is a powerful and vibrant illustration of Leicester’s diversity and the strength we draw as a city from that diversity. Pride also serves as an important reminder of the importance of the continuing campaigns for equality here and in other parts of the world. I send my best wishes to everyone attending this year’s Leicester Pride.

Opening Leicester Pride 2012

Morally wrong to make patients pay for hospital parking

Article for LabourList.

Over the Bank Holiday weekend the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was trumpeting his new ‘ground rules’ to address rip-off hospital car parking. Any action to curb extortionate car parking prices at hospitals should be welcomed. However, reading these new ‘principles’ it appears they are not enforceable.

My assumption was confirmed when the Department of Health answered a tweet from me by stating that ‘NHS Trusts will be held accountable to local people and organisations that represent them e.g. HealthWatch’. This confirms that the new guidelines amount to little more than a press release. It seems that hospital trusts will be free to continue charging high prices for parking.

It is morally wrong for patients with chronic conditions attending hospital for treatment sometimes on a daily basis, and visitors, to be worrying about paying for parking. The NHS was built on the basis of treatment free at the point of access. Car parking costs contradict this and should be stopped. With many NHS trusts contracting out car parking services this is yet another example of profit over patients.

When patients have to worry about paying for parking when they attend for their treatment or when families struggle to visit loved ones in hospital because of parking charges something has gone badly wrong in our health service. The coalition government abandoned Labour’s plans to phase out hospital parking charges in 2010.

Hospital car parking prices have gone up at one in four hospitals under the Tory-led Government. Jeremey Hunt’s Bank Holiday press release does nothing to address this. We need action not words. I want to see legislation introduced to ban rip-off hospital parking and to introduce free parking at NHS hospitals for patients and visitors.

A future Labour government should act on day one to end rip-off hospital parking and set out plans to end parking charges at NHS hospitals.

This article first appeared on LabourList, 27 August 2014.

Election Day

Thank you to everyone who has helped the East Midlands Labour campaign.

Today is Polling Day. Please remember to vote, and encourage your family, friends and colleagues to vote Labour today.

Every vote will make a difference. 

Find out more about Labour's plans to tackle the cost of living crisis here.
Labour's manifesto for the European elections is here.

Please tweet your support through the day #labourdoorstep #EP2014 #forthemany #IVotedLabourBecause...

@Rory_Palmer | www.facebook.com/RoryPalmerLabour

Campaign update blog

With just a few days to go until Election Day here's a quick update from the last few weeks.

Hundreds of Labour activists are busy campaigning across the East Midlands ahead of Thursday's elections. Thank you to everyone who is helping with our campaign. In recent weeks it has been good to join our campaign teams in Bassetlaw, Chesterfield, Lincoln, Erewash, Nottingham, Leicester, South Leicestershire, Buxton, Derby and Northampton.

We have also held local launch events for the final stages of our campaign. There is coverage of the events here from BBC Derby and the Leicester Mercury. 

Campaign launch in Northampton.

Campaign launch at Leicester's Clock Tower.
Photo: Will Johnston/ Leicester Mercury

Campaign launch in Nottingham.

On 28 April I joined local trade union officials and activists at the annual Workers Memorial Day event in Leicester's Town Hall Square. This is an important event and reminds us of the importance of effective health and safety laws and the need for those laws to be enforced.

It was good to join the annual Vaisakhi celebrations in Leicester including the wonderful Nagar Kirtan Parade. It was good to see so many people at the parade and celebrations at local Gurdwaras and to catch up with the Leicester Sikh Alliance and other local organisations. Many people have asked for my views on recent revelations regarding British Government and the massacre at the Amritsar Golden Temple in 1984. My view is that there should be an independent and judge-led inquiry carried out transparently, with key documents to be made public. A timetable for such an inquiry should be set out as quickly as possible.

Serving Langar with Jon Ashworth MP
at Guru Tegh Bahadur in Leicester.

It was also good to be at the annual Artisan Cheese Fair in Melton, which was again a brilliant celebration and showcase of local food producers. I have written before about my commitment, if elected, to champion the East Midlands' food and drink industry. 

With Matthew O'Callaghan at the Melton Mowbray
Artisan Cheese Fair.

Finally, with just a few days until Polling Day here's a blog for LabourList by European Parliamentary Labour Party Leader and my East Midlands colleague Glenis Willmott.

Thank you again to everyone who is supporting the Labour campaign for Thursday's elections. All your help and support is much appreciated.

Twitter @Rory_Palmer | Facebook www.facebook.com/RoryPalmerLabour

www.eastmidslabour.org.uk

Animal welfare pledges

Animal welfare is an important area of European law.

I have pledged that if elected as an MEP I will support measures to strengthen animal welfare laws. Cruelty to animals is abhorrent and we need strong and effective animal welfare laws. We also need those laws to be properly enforced here in the UK and across the European Union.

As a candidate in the European Parliament elections I have signed up to the RSPCA's animal welfare pledge and the Eurogroup for Animals/ Vote for Animals pledge.

I am also supportive of the work of the Labour Animal Welfare Society, an organisation that works to help develop Labour's policy on animal welfare. You can find out more about the Labour Animal Welfare Society's work here.

Backing East Midlands pubs and breweries | CAMRA campaign

It is good to be getting so many e-mails from CAMRA members from across the East Midlands ahead of the European elections in May (my response is also set out below).

If I am elected I would want to work with CAMRA and the European Beer Consumers Union to protect local pubs and support the brewing industry. You can read the European Beer Consumers Union manifesto here.

My response to e-mails from CAMRA members:

Thank you for your recent e-mail asking me to support real ale, community pubs and consumer rights if I am elected as an MEP for the East Midlands in May's elections.

I am proud to be a member of CAMRA and agree with you that pubs are a valuable British institution and play an important role in our local communities. 

I am very concerned about the numbers of pubs closing, for a variety of reasons, and I want to see action taken at local and national levels to protect our pubs.

I agree that more should be done to promote our local brewing industry through free tie options and a guest beer right for licensees. There are many excellent breweries across the East Midlands region and I want to see them thrive now and in the future. I also agree that beer should be affordable and I recognise the important role that local pubs play in promoting safe and responsible drinking.

You may be interested in an article I wrote for the Leicester CAMRA newsletter setting out my support for local pubs. It is in the March/April 2013 edition and can be read here. 

I am always happy to meet with local CAMRA branches and would welcome opportunities to do so.

If I am elected as an MEP in May's elections I will be proud to champion our region's pubs and brewing industry in Europe.

The ECBU manifesto.

World Horse Welfare European manifesto

Thank you to everyone who has contacted me recently about World Horse Welfare's manifesto for the European Parliament elections.

I support the aims set out in World Horse Welfare's manifesto and will support these aims if I am elected as an MEP in May.

The manifesto can be read here.

Vaisakhi Food Drive in Leicester

Last weekend I was pleased to be able to support the Vaisakhi Food Drive at Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara in Leicester.

I want to congratulate everyone involved in organising the Food Drive. Whilst it is regrettable that we need such events organising, it was inspiring to see so many people, including many young people, supporting the event. Donations on the day totalled 11 tonnes of food which will support local food banks.

There is a video of the event here, and coverage from Pukaar News here.

It was an honour to be able to speak at the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara and pass on my Vaisakhi greetings. It was also good to visit Guru Amar Das Gurdwara for Vaisakhi celebrations as well.

Supporting the Vaisakhi Food Drive
in Leicester.

Food poverty should not exist and we are seeing increasing demand at food banks across the area. A few weeks ago I took part in a panel discussion at Leicester Cathedral chaired by the Bishop of Leicester on the issue of food poverty. In my view food poverty is a national scandal requiring urgent action. Prices are going up whilst earnings are stagnant. Many households have also been hit by the Government's changes to welfare benefits. There is a report of the 'Chewing the Cud' panel discussion here.

Campaign update blog

With less than 40 days until Polling Day Labour campaign teams are busy across all parts of the East Midlands.

Thank you to everyone who has been campaigning recently; knocking on doors, delivering literature or helping in other ways. All your efforts are appreciated and will make a real difference. In recent weeks I have campaigned in Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Kettering, North West Leicestershire, Northampton North, Wellingborough, Bosworth and Lincoln.

With the campaign team in Northampton North with
Sally Keeble recently.

I have recently taken part in two hustings events with candidates from other parties. The first of these events was a debate on climate change and environmental policy held at De Montfort University in Leicester as part of the GreenLight Festival.

Taking part in the GreenLight Festival MEP
candidate hustings.

I also took part in a debate hosted by the Nottingham Post. Nottingham City Councillor Michael Edwards did a blog write-up of the event here.

Since my last campaign update blog I have spoken at a number of events across the region including Newark Branch Labour Party; the Unison Labour Link Political Forum; Nottingham South Constituency Labour Party; Nottingham Labour by-election victory social; Western Park, Leicester Branch Labour Party and the South Leicestershire Labour Party Annual Dinner where I spoke alongside Labour Party Vice-Chair Michael Dugher MP.
It was also good to join friends from across the region at a dinner organised by East Midlands TULO (Trade Union - Labour Party Liaison Organisation) which was addressed by GMB General Secretary Paul Kenny, Glenis Willmott MEP and Michael Dugher MP.

Speaking alongside Glenis Willmott at the Unison
Labour Link Political Forum.

Addressing the South Leicestershire
Labour Party Annual Dinner.

It was also good to join Liz Kendall MP and friends from Leicester West Labour Party for their recent social event at Namaste restaurant on Narborough Road.

To coincide with the 50 day countdown to Polling Day I wrote an article for LabourList setting out the key issues we are hearing on the campaign trail and the dividing lines that are defining this campaign. You can read the article here.

If you would like to support our campaign you can find out more details and sign-up for local campaign sessions here. Thank you to everyone who has helped so far.

Twitter @Rory_Palmer | Facebook www.facebook.com/RoryPalmerLabour 

www.eastmidslabour.org.uk

50 days to go | Article for LabourList

Article for LabourList published with 50 days to go until the European elections.

Like European election teams in other regions, here in the East Midlands we have been clocking up the miles. From our cities to market towns, from the coalfields to the Peak District, from the East Coast and across our rolling countryside, we have criss-crossed our region and found Labour activists in determined mood. Determined to win this May and unrelenting in the campaign to get Ed Miliband into Downing Street.

On the doorsteps we have heard stories of anger and despair:  families hit by the Bedroom Tax and young people struggling to find decent work. Parents talk of the uncertainty and angst of trying to make ends meet on zero hours contracts. Families recount their anger about rising energy bills.

These stories define the dreadful Tory-Lib Dem Government. Tackling the cost of living crisis is central to our campaign for May’s European elections. To secure a better future here we need to see fairness and growth in Europe.

That is why the approach to Europe from the Tories and UKIP is so irresponsible. As people worry about making ends meet on zero hours contracts and with high levels of youth joblessness, this is not the time to be putting thousands of jobs at risk. But that is what UKIP and the Tories are doing.

People worry about a race to the bottom on wages, skills and workplace rights. The Tories and UKIP want to weaken rights at work. Labour will defend our employment rights and make the case for stronger protection and dignity in the workplace. The truth about UKIP is that their policies would hurt Britain, putting jobs at risk and deepening the cost of living crisis for families across the country.

The dividing lines are stark in this May’s elections and they are a fight for what we believe in.

The message from the countless doorstep conversations we are having is clear. On Europe, people want real leadership and for the EU to be working for them. Our position – recognising the pragmatic benefits of EU membership for jobs and business, a referendum lock and a clear set of EU reform priorities – is chiming with the public mood.

People have no truck with Cameron’s weakness on Europe. The electorate can sniff out a divided party a mile off. You don’t need to be a Westminster insider to confirm that Cameron’s Europe policy is all about party management.

In 50 days’ time there is a clear choice. Labour is serious and determined about EU reform, focussed on protecting jobs and employment rights and putting in place measures to help families and tackle the cost of living crisis.

We are talking about the issues that matter. Our job now over these next few weeks is to take this message into every community in every region of the country.

In 50 days’ time we need a set of results which demonstrate how Ed Miliband’s One Nation Labour is winning back peoples’ trust and confidence in all parts of the country. With just 50 days to go you can help us win. Help us win so we have more Labour MEPs standing up for our communities in Brussels: tackling the cost of living crisis, defending rights at work and protecting jobs.

This article first appeared on LabourList, 2 April 2014.

If you would like to help Labour's campaign for the European elections in the East Midlands, please sign-up for our campaign sessions here: www.eastmidslabour.org.uk/events 

Campaign update blog: Less than 100 days to go.....

It is now less than 100 days until Polling Day for the European Parliament elections.

The campaign here in the East Midlands is now in full swing. Thank you to the campaign teams working hard in all parts of the region. Thank you especially to the campaign teams that have welcomed the European candidates to Leicester, Loughborough, Northampton, Corby, Lincoln, Boston, Nottingham and Broxtowe for our recent 'Super Saturday' campaign days.

It has been great to see so many activists out joining us on the campaign trail along with our MPs including Jon Ashworth in Leicester South and Andy Sawford in Corby. We have also been joined by Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidates including Lucy Rigby, Sally Keeble, Matthew O'Callaghan and Nick Palmer.

East Midlands Labour 'Super Saturday' in Nottingham.

In Lincoln with our PPC Lucy Rigby and team.

The team will be campaigning across the region in the coming weeks. For details and to sign up for our campaign events visit the East Midlands Labour website.

In the past few weeks I have also visited Corby and Erewash Labour Parties to speak at their constituency meetings about the campaign and Labour's vision for a fairer Europe. It was also good to speak at a meeting of the Leicester Labour Campaign Forum.

A few weeks ago I met with Labour's candidates for North West Leicestershire, South Derbyshire and Burton to discuss the need for the Ivanhoe Railway/ National Forest Line to be re-opened for passenger trains between Leicester and Burton. This would have real economic benefits for the area and I am supportive of the campaign. I will be working with Jamie, Cheryl and Jon on this campaign in the coming months.

Meeting with Labour PPCs Jon Wheale (Burton),
Jamie McMahon (North West Leics) &
Cheryl Pidgeon (South Derbyshire) to
discuss the Ivanhoe/National Forest railway line.

In recent weeks I have also met with Leicestershire Ramblers Association to discuss the importance of good footpaths in the area and also visited the new Food Hall at Leicester Market which is under construction and which is backed by £2 million of EU funding. The timber used in the construction is all from sustainable sources. The the city council is one of the first 40 organisations to sign up to the European Sustainable Timber Coalition and to reach the Gold pledge in the WWF's sustainable timber procurement campaign.

You can find on this site other updates from the campaign and news. Thank you again to everyone campaigning in the East Midlands and across the country for May's elections.

Remember, to keep tweeting about your campaigning. You can follow me on twitter @Rory_Palmer and my Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/RoryPalmerLabour

100 days to go

It is 100 days until election day for the European Parliament elections.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the East Midlands Labour European campaign so far.

We are setting out why Labour is the only party with the serious answers to the cost of living crisis facing families across the region. Labour is on your side. We will fight to protect important rights at work, including maternity and paternity rights.

We will also work to bring new investment to the East Midlands to create jobs and apprenticeships and to get our young people back to work.

If you want to help Labour win in May why not sign up to join the East Midlands Labour European team campaign sessions across the region. Sign up here.

Remember to keep tweeting about your campaigning using #labourdoorstep and #EP2014.

Thank you to the campaign teams across the region.

Twitter @Rory_ Palmer | Facebook www.facebook.com/RoryPalmerLabour

www.eastmidslabour.org.uk 

Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival

Good luck to Geoff Rowe and the team at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival for this year's festival.

The Festival gets underway today. The Leicester Comedy Festival has become known as one of the best comedy festivals in the UK, if not the world. I always look forward to the festival, it is a key part of Leicester's cultural calendar and is a major event in the region.

I am sure this year's festival, the 21st, will be another big success.

Launching the official brochure for this
year's Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival.