Welcome to the website for Caitlin Bisknell

Labour’s Parliamentary Spokesperson in the High Peak

Hello – and welcome to my new look website. You’ll find all the old stories, blogs and information here – and with a bit of luck and determination on my part I hope to keep it more regularly updated than I have done recently.

2011 was a pretty good year for the Labour Party in High Peak as it saw us take  minority control of the borough council.  An amazing result, which I think took many by surprise. It is certainly an opportunity for us to show what Labour can do, even in difficult times, and we are determined to do all we can to lessen the impact of Tory-LibDem cuts on local people.

These are challenging times for everyone – and the borough council is no exception with the Tory-LibDem government cutting  its budget by £3m over just two years.  It’s not been easy but we are working hard to make sure that the council is more responsive and listens to residents, in person, by phone, letter, email and through the ‘social media’.

It is already clear that High Peak is losing out because of the policies pursued by the Tory-LibDem government.  First there was the abolition of regional development agencies and with them £ms of funding which would have helped to boost the economic regeneration of our towns.  Then there is the reorganisation of the NHS, no one seems clear where this is leading, although we do know that  it has led to the closure of  the Corbar Birthing Centre.

Unemployment, especially among young people, is going up while a number of local firms are closing down and laying off workers.  One of them citing the loss of business from councils as one of the factors which led to its closure.

However, I do not believe that we can anyone afford just to stand back and watch unemployment rise and growth stagnate. So in the coming months High Peak Labour will be out and about across the borough to find out what you think about the Tory cuts to winter gritting, street  lighting and now the youth service, and what you think should be done to revitalise Britain’s economy.

Caitlin Bisknell

To get in touch with Caitlin – click here