Tag: Daniel Zeichner

Equal access to democracy

07:18 Friday 6th May 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: And just to go quickly to Anthony Carpen once more, who’s a political blogger and community activist in the Cambridge area. I haven’t been canvassed once in the run-up to this local election, which is a source of some disappointment, because I like to play a game where they knock on my door, and then I open it and try and guess the name of the councillor before they tell me their name. I know. The long evenings really do fly by in my household. Do you feel that canvassing has been at fever pitch?
ANTONY CARPEN: Certainly in some of the wards it has been. For example, Market and Romsey had the doors canvassed the hell out of.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Knocked on heavily.
ANTONY CARPEN: Whereas in other wards, Cherry Hinton for example, there were complaints from various people that they hadn’t received any election literature whatsoever. Now I think there are a couple of things to say about this. One is that there’s obviously a negative impact of political parties just targeting a small number of wards. But also for me democracy is not a spectator sport, and one of the things for me that goes with being a citizen is that isn’t there a responsibility for us as citizens to be proactive and find out who is standing in which areas. It’s one of the reasons why I created over fifty short YouTube videos featuring a number of candidates from all of the political parties standing either in the elections for local councils or for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And Daniel, Anthony mentioning there Cherry Hinton ward, where I believe Rob Dryden who’s the Mayor of Cambridge, very very well known local figure, was standing and re-elected for Labour. Do you think there are some wards within the city where your party Labour has become complacent?
DANIEL ZEICHNER: I don’t think complacent, but I think all organisations work the system they’ve got. So you concentrate your resources. I think actually Labour does make a consistent attempt to make sure that everyone gets election literature. I’ve (something) Liberal Democrats have almost withdrawn completely from whole areas of the city, and just contest very hard these very marginal areas. So it does mean that everyone else gets left out, which is why I and others think a change to our electoral system would actually be good for our local democracy.

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Cross-party resistance in Cambridgeshire to Government welfare reforms

“But basically there’s a test; you have to reach a certain number of points. She got ten points; you have to get twelve points to qualify for the Motability Scheme. And this is quite clearly happening on a massive scale across the country, because there are a series of MPs standing up with similar heartbreaking accounts.”

17:05 Wednesday 24th February 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Government plans to limit welfare for some disabled people have been given the go-ahead despite objections from some Conservative MPs, including the South Cambridgeshire MP Heidi Allen. She spoke out against the planned tax credit cuts last night, and attacked Ministers who are looking to reduce the Employment Support Allowance for disabled people by up to £30 a week. This is what she had to say in the Commons.
HEIDI ALLEN: Anyone who has beaten cancer must surely burst with desire to return to a normal life, and are unlikely to want to be labelled as a cancer sufferer for any longer than they absolutely must be. From 2017 in the region of 270 disabled people alone in my constituency of South Cambridgeshire would stand to lose £30 or 29% of their weekly income, if we accept this Bill in its original form, and ignore the Lords. For these people I need to see more detail of the contents of the White Paper, and hear about the financial support too that will be made available before I can fully support the Government. If we don’t get this right, we will damage not jut the employment prospects and well-being of these vulnerable claimants, but also our reputation and our trust amongst the electorate. And to secure my trust, I need to believe in that White Paper and that £100 million is going to go some way towards those people. That is my warning shot to Government. Today, I will not support them. Today I may abstain, but only for today. Let’s get the detail right. Let’s be a Government of sweeping strategic change, but also let’s be one with the compassion and the dexterity to look after the little man too.
CHRIS MANN: That’s Heidi Allen talking in the Commons last night, and she joins us live from there now. Heidi hello to you. Hello Heidi
HEIDI ALLEN: Hello. Can you hear me?
CHRIS MANN: Yes I can now. Thank you.
HEIDI ALLEN: Hi Chris. Sorry.
CHRIS MANN: “A warning shot”, and talking about the reputation and the trust of Government. Tough words.
HEIDI ALLEN: Well because in my heart I wanted to vote very much against, and that to be honest when I went into the Chamber before I made my speech that was my intention And talking to a couple of colleagues, it became clear that this White Paper could potentially .. that the Government has still to publish .. could potentially give us a better solution, and that I would have possibly some influence over it, if I abstained rather than voting against. So it was a warning shot. It was kind of a last chance ‘let me be involved’ or if you don’t then I will certainly go against the Government.
CHRIS MANN: Well the political chattering classes are all excited about the EU ..
HEIDI ALLEN: Yes.
CHRIS MANN: .. and the referendum that is to come at the moment. But perhaps people in the street, ordinary folk, are more concerned about issues like this, and welfare cuts which are hurting many people it appears.
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Cambridge for Europe campaign underway

Supporters include Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, his predecessor Julian Huppert, and the Conservative peer Lord Balfe

17:21 Thursday 28th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: A new cross-party organisation to campaign for the UK to stay in the EU will launch at this time just tomorrow. Cambridge for Europe argues the case for continued membership of the EU, in preparation for the referendum which is expected to be later this year, perhaps as early as June. Supporters include Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, his predecessor Julian Huppert, who is a LibDem, and the Conservative peer Lord Balfe, as well as the Chair of Cambridge LibDems, Mark Argent, who joins me now. Mark, hello to you.
MARK ARGENT: Nice to meet you.
CHRIS MANN: Tell us, why is it important to have this organisation campaigning?
MARK ARGENT: I think the UK’s future is very much to be at the heart of Europe, leading change there, rather than running away. That matters for our prosperity and our cultural survival, and also how we compete on the world stage, with countries like China and Brazil growing much bigger.
CHRIS MANN: And will you be making specific arguments for Cambridgeshire to stay in the EU, arguments that are relevant to this part of the world?
MARK ARGENT: I think the whole Cambridge region, so the city and the whole area around it, draws a huge amount from being in the European Union. And that’s partly about just general trade with the rest of the Single Market. It’s about investment in the universities, and research and business coming out of that.

So you’re going to go on a platform and say all those tens of thousands that are coming, moving around, those economic migrants, they can come here no problem?

CHRIS MANN: OK. Well I’m sure you’ll have many debates over the next months. We don’t yet know when the referendum will be, but your first one is right now ..
MARK ARGENT: Thank you.
CHRIS MANN: .. because we’re going to bring in somebody from UKIP, because UKIP will be leading the anti-Europe campaign in this part of the world. And a senior official with them is Nick Clarke, a former of course Conservative Leader of the County Council. Nick Clarke, hello.
NICK CLARKE: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Will there be a Cambridge against Europe coalition announced too?
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Stewart Jackson and Daniel Zeichner on the EU referendum

17:46 Friday 15th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: The EU referendum represents a once in a lifetime decision according to the Chancellor. He says it’s unrealistic to assume the poll will be repeated. Mr Osborne, who describes himself as Eurosceptic, said he was optimistic about reaching a deal on EU reforms. And today the Head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker suggested a deal is likely in February which would allow we’re told a referendum as early as June of this year. So how are our local MPs lining up? I spoke to two of them earlier, Eurosceptic Conservative Stewart Jackson, the MP for Peterborough and Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge. I asked Stewart Jackson first if he believed a vote would come as soon as June.
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Daniel Zeichner on the Syrian issue

17:10 Monday 30th November 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Jeremy Corbyn will grant Labour MPs a free vote on extending UK air strikes against so-called Islamic State into Syria. The Labour Leader, who opposes military intervention, has requested a two day debate in the House of Commons. The news comes after he spent the afternoon meeting his Shadow Cabinet team, many of who are likely to support air strikes. The Labour backbencher John Woodcock supports action in Syria. He says MPs should be free to vote according to their consciences.
JOHN WOODCOCK: The only way through this if we’re going to maintain Labour Party harmony at all is to allow people to vote according to their own judgement on this, given the very strongly held and expressed views, which would mean a free vote, rather than a whipped vote.
CHRIS MANN: Labour said three quarters of rank and file members polled by the Party are against air strikes in Syria, but some frontbenchers had warned of possible resignations if the Party leadership had forced a collective opposition. Earlier today, one of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies, the MP Diane Abbott, said she believed the Leader should force MPs to follow his lead.
DIANE ABBOTT: We’re a party of government, and a party of government have to have a position on matters of peace and war. And the problem about a free vote is it hands victory to Cameron over these air strikes. It hands victory to him on a plate. I don’t think that’s what Party members want to see.
CHRIS MANN: The Prime Minister says dropping British bombs on Islamic State targets in Syria will help make our streets safer. Let’s get reaction now from the Labour MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner, who is the Shadow Housing Minister, sorry Shadow Transport Minister sorry. Daniel, afternoon to you.
DANIEL ZEICHNER: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So where do you stand, first of all on the free vote? Good idea, or not?
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Daniel Zeichner – making the case for Cambridge

17:20 Friday 9th October 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Cambridge is at a crossroads, poised for the next wave of growth, but being held back by its infrastructure. That is the view of Cambridge Ahead, a group of business leaders and academics committed to growing Cambridge into the top small city in the world. Today they launched A Case for Cambridge, their plea to central government to invest more in our region and benefit the whole country. The Chairman is Ian Mather. He said Cambridge can’t rely on its history to thrive in the future.
IAN MATHER: People come to Cambridge. They stick here; I did over thirty years ago. And they love the place, but it does need to develop to attract some of the best industries in the world. But doing that at the same time as keeping it a special place. And it’s a difficult act to do, but I believe it can be done.
CHRIS MANN: Ian Mather of Mills and Reeve. Antony Mattessich is the Managing Director of Mundipharma International, one of the many pharmaceutical companies that chose to base themselves in the city over the last decade. He said Cambridge is competing with cities like San Francisco and Boston, and it’s vital that we continue to be an appealing option to the talented people that he wants to recruit.
ANTONY MATTESSICH: When they have children where are the kids going to go to school? Is there a place in the schools? What is my commute going to be like? What is my house going to be like? Where do I have to live? I would also mention that we have people who .. they’re not quite ready to settle down in a place like Cambridge. They want to live in London. If they want to live in London, the questions are what’s the commute going to be like coming from London.
CHRIS MANN: Today’s launch featured a discussion with the area’s MPs, asking how we influence central government. But Rupert Read who stood for the Green Party in Cambridge in the last General Election, unsuccessfully, thinks we should also be asking the question whether we want the city to continue to expand.
RUPERT READ: What we’re saying in the Greens is, this growth can’t go on for ever. There’s a serious danger now we’re going to lose forever the very special character that Cambridge has, if we carry on recklessly growing it and sprawling it out into the countryside.
CHRIS MANN: The Cambridge case may be about academics and decision-makers, but the Leader of Cambridge City Council Lewis Herbert insists they’re taking everyone’s opinions into account.
LEWIS HERBERT: In some bits of the world you’ve either got governments or you’ve got business, who just don’t care about what people think. It really does matter what people think in Cambridge, and if we cannot answer the needs of the people on low incomes as well as those that need to be attracted as international brains, then it will fail.
CHRIS MANN: That’s councillor Lewis Herbert. Well Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner, the newly appointed Shadow Transport Minister, was part of this morning’s panel, and he joined me in the studio later to discuss how it had gone.
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Rohan McWilliam on Jeremy Corbyn

08:08 Monday 14th September 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: He inspired nearly 60% of the voters in the Labour leadership election. Has Jeremy Corbyn inspired you? We’ll be talking Corbyn-mania and Corby-nomics as he starts to build his team on the Opposition benches. Here’s what Labor MP Daniel Zeichner who represents Cambridge had to say earlier.
DANIEL ZEICHNER: Obviously I was disappointed for Yvette. I thought she was the right person for the job. But it was a huge mandate for Jeremy, and it’s really important that Labour MPs like me respond positively to that mandate.

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DOTTY MCLEOD: The Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has made the main appointments to his new top team, giving Shadow Cabinet jobs to close allies and political rivals. Probably the most significant decision he’s made is to put his campaign manager and fellow left winger John McDonnell into the key position of Shadow Chancellor. The man who came second to Jeremy Corbyn in the Leadership contest Andy Burnham has been made Shadow Home Secretary, while Hilary Benn will stay on as Shadow Foreign Secretary. Tony Blair’s old friend Lord Falconer has been made Shadow Justice Secretary. Several Labour MPs have expressed disappointment that the most prominent roles have gone to men, among them John Mann.
JOHN MANN: Jeremy is going to have to learn what leadership is about. And so some of his mates now today won’t get jobs, because he’s going to have to put some women in instead. And I think what he needs to make sure as well, he’s appointed three women from London. He needs to ensure that the whole country is represented, and it’s not just a London-led leadership.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Well Jeremy Corbyn’s team insist there will be a majority of women in the Shadow Cabinet. Angela Eagle is the new Shadow Business Secretary, and she’ll stand in for Mr Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions. Meanwhile Heidi Alexander who’s only been an MP for five years is promoted to the front bench, taking charge of health. Dave Prentice from the union Unison is pleased with the appointments so far.
DAVE PRENTICE: They’re really experienced Labour politicians of the middle ground. Andy Burnham, Hilary Benn, Lord Falconer, Angela Eagle, these are experienced people that Labour MPs have worked with over the years, who’ve been in government, and also been in opposition. And I think this Shadow Cabinet bodes well for the future. Also worth a look at who is not in Jeremy Corbyn’s team, two of his other rivals for the Leadership for a start, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall They decided they couldn ‘t serve him. And several of the old Shadow Cabinet have also walked away, Chuka Umunna said he was leaving the front bench by mutual agreement, after deciding he had too many disagreements with Jeremy Corbyn. Many are concerned about his reluctance to speak out in favour of the European Union, and his criticisms of NATO. ..
DOTTY MCLEOD: Rohan McWilliam is at Anglia Ruskin, a Professor of Modern British History and Director of the Labour History Research Unit. Gosh, quite a big weekend I’d have thought in your line of work Rohan.
ROHAN MCWILLIAM: Oh absolutely. A momentous day on Saturday, an extraordinary moment which I don ‘t think many of us would have expected two or three months ago.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So why is it momentous?
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Welfare reforms – Commons vote reveals a Labour Party in disarray

07:26 Tuesday 21st July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: The Government’s welfare reforms have passed their first hurdle in the House of Commons. 48 Labour MPs though voted against the package, which includes cuts to benefits and tax credits. This is against the advice of the Labour Party’s Acting Leader Harriet Harman. One of these rebels was the Leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn. Another was Cambridge’s new MP Daniel Zeichner. Our Political Correspondent Paul Rowley joins me now. What do you make of this rebellion then Paul?
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