The Apprenticeship 'Oscars'

To Harlow College last night for the Apprenticeship 'Oscars'. I was asked to make a speech and give out some of the awards.

It was a very good evening: the apprentices who won the awards, top-notch and a proud time for Harlow College and Essex Council who work in partnership on their joint ground-breaking apprenticeships scheme.

Essex Council has led the way on Apprenticeships - acknowledged by Apprentice Minister, John Hayes MP. Led by Cllr. Ray Gooding and Peter Cook, the Council has part funded apprenticeships across the County - many of which are in Harlow.

In my remarks, I noted the contribution made by Harlow College and the Council, and how apprenticeships were transforming the lives of young people. You could see that by the speeches made by the apprentices, and by what they had achieved in their apprenticeship work. The recognition was richly deserved.

Pact Garden

Here is a picture of the new Pact Garden flower bed at Harlow College, I mentioned in my previous blog.

A place to stop and stare a little : The Pact Harlow Garden

I spent much of today at Harlow College: discussing the plans for University Technical School, and later on handing out Apprentice awards to College Students (I will blog about this later).

But a very special part of the afternoon was opening the new Pact Harlow garden in the College grounds. Built by apprentices in just six weeks, with the support of Pact and a local business 'Ridgens', it is a very special place - one of outstanding beauty.

There is a wooden arch, paving stones and an extraordinary flower bed. Some of the Flowers spell 'Pact' reflecting the name of the garden.

I have always believed that beauty - aesthetics - is so central to all of our well being. Something which gives pleasure to the eye, helps generate a sense of calmness and peace.

The new Pact garden will give students, teachers and visitors a chance to stand and stare a little, to reflect as they rush to and from classes.

Well worth going to see.

P.S. I hope to put up more pictures from the garden soon.

Reforming the NHS

The NHS has been much in the news in recent days and I have received numerous letters and emails from local residents about our health service.
I want to make clear that I absolutely believe in an NHS that is free at the point of use for most treatments. Everyone deserves the best possible healthcare without having to worry about payment.
I have a walking disability, and, as a child, I spent a lot of time in Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Were it not for that hospital I would now almost certainly not be able to walk and get about.
Nevertheless, however important it is to our lives, the NHS is not perfect and needs some reform.
The Government have promised that it will increase spending on the NHS in real-terms. I welcome that increase, especially as Labour planned to cut NHS spending.
The NHS is one of only two ring-fenced areas nationally, and the West Essex PCT will benefit from a £12 million increase in funding this year.
In order to make the NHS better, the Government are cutting bureaucracy and managers, spending the money instead on doctors and nurses. In recent months thousands of new doctors and nurses have been employed in the NHS.
I also believe that GPs should have more say over services, and that patients do need to have reasonable choice in where they are treated.
The responsibility that is being introduced for Essex Council to have a duty on public health is welcome, because they are often best-placed to deal with local communities.
There is some talk of contracting out services, but the last Labour Government enabled many private providers to do operations (e.g. Rivers Hospital outside Harlow was contracted by the NHS to do some operations privately).
The Health Secretary has made clear that:
1) No patient will pay for their treatment, if it is provided by the NHS.
2) Contracting out will only happen under very specific circumstances, where the quality is the same or better than the NHS service but the cost is lower.
These reforms will give local residents, the NHS that everyone deserves. Free, providing value for money and giving doctors and patients much more choice over their health care.
Robert Halfon

halfon4harlow@roberthalfon.com

www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

www.roberthalfon.com

www.twitter.com/halfon4harlowMP

www.Facebook.com/Robert H Halfon

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Free Speech on the Internet

Today in Parliament, I spoke out against a new law that was proposed by the Labour MP Mike Gapes, which would have brought in censorship of the Internet during an election.

My worry was that this would have been a major assault on free speech, and individual liberty.

That is why I forced a vote in Parliament by opposing the law.

The results were:

MPs who supported me, and voted for Freedom of Speech: 86
MPs who voted for Mike Gapes' censorship bill: 30

Watch the full video of my speech HERE.

My full speech follows below:

Robert Halfon (Harlow): Mr Speaker, I have great respect for hon. gentleman. I have no problem with some of his bill, which has the worthy aims of improving electoral registration, and other measures to combat electoral fraud.

It is with regret then, that I must oppose his bill, as I do have serious concerns about his last clause, which seeks to:


“strengthen measures to control negative campaigns by third party groups and websites.”


Effectively the hon. gentleman is calling for regulation of the Internet. He has built a Trojan horse of censorship, under cover of making every vote count fairly.


I believe that his proposal is wrong for two reasons:

1) It could amount to a huge assault on individual freedom of expression, and
2) It is also unenforceable.

As the hon. gentleman said on the Today in Parliament programme last Friday, he objects to so-called attack websites because they can be “very very effective in the modern world”.

I agree that all election materials must be sourced, and that publishers must be clearly identified.

But in his interview with Today in Parliament, the hon. gentleman went further, when he said:

“It is not just attack websites. I think there should be a framework whereby publishing materials about elections, about candidates - either promotion, or negative campaigning - needs to be brought within the normal election law.”

The interviewer put it to him, that:

“You do wonder if the cure might be worse than the disease on this. You might stop people who want legitimately to comment on an election, because they have to go through some massive registration process.”

The hon. gentleman’s reply went precisely to the heart of the problem, when he said: “I am not calling for censorship. I am calling for regulation.”

This is a false argument, because when it comes to free expression, regulation is censorship by another name.

And with free expression, regulation is censorship of the worst kind, because it deters amateur enthusiasts, small neighbourhood groups, and free-thinking individuals.

Any increase in red tape and bureaucracy would leave the battle of ideas to the special interests: the rich, the media Establishment, those with extreme views, and professional groups like trade unions and political parties.

The hon. gentleman justifies his reform by saying that “other election literature is restricted”. But I believe that election literature is too restricted as it is. There are too many rules regarding second and third party endorsements, for example, and the Electoral Commission regulations can be a minefield.

Take the case of Phil Woolas, for example, which the hon. gentleman raised on his interview with BBC Radio 4.

The hon. gentleman said that this case proves the need for “greater regulation” of election materials, especially on the Internet.

But during the Phil Woolas case, I went on national television to oppose his removal by the Election Court, because it was an outrageous attack on Parliamentary democracy.

I accept that the judge acted under the law, but the law in this case is wrong: a sitting MP should be removed by voters, not by unelected judges.

The new recall system will help, and if an MP has libelled his opponents then yes, of course, he should be sued for libel.

But the election of MPs must be up to the voters to decide.

My fear about the Bill, is that it risks almost a throw-back to the 1950s, where interviewers on television programmes had to ask Government Ministers:


“What wonderful work are you doing today?”

The effect of the hon. gentleman’s bill - if successful - would be to produce a 21st century version of this: electioneering on the Internet that is bland and without colour.

We are now in an open society, where social networking and blogging, and communication is of paramount importance.

The citizen is no longer a subject but an autonomous individual.

We regularly get criticised on Twitter and other social media sites - sometimes outrageous or even libellous things are written - but mostly that is part and parcel of politics.

I don’t believe we should bring in a law to stop it, because this is the essence of a free society.

Negative campaigning is - however frustrating - part of free speech, and we must hope that the truth will ultimately shine through, in a marketplace of ideas.

We have to ask, is the criminal justice system the right way of dealing with the problems that the hon. gentleman has identified? Once we interfere with what happens on the Internet, where does this stop?

I say this, because the loss of freedom rarely happens all at once. It is usually incremental. First we restrict free expression on the Internet at election times, then we restrict it altogether.

My second objection is that this is clearly unenforceable, as the hon. gentleman has said himself on BBC Radio 4. Web-postings can be done overseas. Domain names can be registered in different territories. And even if you restrict one individual from commenting, it is like the hydra’s head: another one will pop up in its place.

We all know what Voltaire said, but as a good Tory let me quote Hayek:

“In any society freedom of thought will probably be of direct significance only for a small minority. But this does not mean that anyone is competent, or ought to have the power, to select those to whom this freedom is to be reserved.”

This is why although I have a great respect for the hon. gentleman, and support some of his bill, I cannot let it pass through the House unopposed.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Libyan War Criminals must face Justice

Last Friday I spoke with BBC Radio 5 Live, and also with the former Labour MP Mike O'Brien, who was Foreign Office Minister in the last Labour Government.

As you can see in the video above, I said that we must bring Libyan war criminals to justice, including Mousa Kousa, who has recently defected to the UK.

The free world must send a signal to the undemocratic regimes around the world, that we will no longer tolerate tyranny or oppression. 


by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

BBC Radio 4 examine Middle Eastern Funding of our Universities

Last week, on Radio 4, there was an important programme - The Report - about Middle Eastern Funding of our Universities.  Regular blog readers will know that this is an issue, which I have focused on for some weeks in Parliament, asking questions to the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister, as well as tabling a number of Commons Motions.  I have also sent one-hundred freedom of information requests to one-hundred universities, to find out the extent of Middle East funding.  My sole aim, is to try and stop Universities accepting money from Middle Eastern Dictators in the future.

You can hear the programme HERE. I am interviewed during the programme about my campaign.
 
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

PACT Harlow and Stripey Tomatoes

I mentioned in my blog earlier this week, that I had spoken in a Commons debate on Special Needs. I also highlighted the amazing work of PACT Harlow, which is a group for parents for children PACT does a great job in providing a much needed help and advice network - as well as keeping me informed of relevant issues. U

Sam Fancett, who helps run Pact, is like a human whirl-wind, and a tremendous advocate for special needs children.

Today, as part of  World Autism Day, I went to a special event Sam, and other parents had organised in Harlow Sainsbury's - and really well received by shoppers. Parents and children set up a PACT stand with pictures and piggy banks for donations and, most intriguingly, were handing out seeds of tomatoes, chard and french beans.

But, these were not just ordinary vegetable seeds. The tomatoes are stripey - yellow and white, the Chard - rainbow, and the beans - red and purple. Each seed packet says : ' Autism, let the difference grow'.

What better way could there be of treating all-abilities equally.  I look forward to eating the stripey tomatoes, once they have grown in the garden.

BBC Radio 4 interview about Moussa Koussa's defection to the UK

Yesterday, I told the World at One (BBC) that senior Gaddafi Lieutenant Moussa Koussa should stand trial for war crimes, for his alleged involvement with the Lockerbie Bombing and other allleged terrorist activities.  You can hear my interview by clicking above.

P.S.   You can read my fuller thoughts on the Libyan defector HERE.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Interview with BBC Radio 4: The Report

On Thursday, I appeared on BBC Radio 4 about the important issue of university funding.  This followed my campaign in Parliament to try and stop the flow of money from Middle Eastern dictators to UK universities.

You can see highlights of the interview HERE.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com