A Happy New Year to all readers of South Leeds Life.
I’m not really a big fan of New Year resolutions, but this year I have promised that I will finally get my hearing tested. I’ve come to realise that my answer to too many questions put to me these days is “Who?” because I can’t always hear when there is a lot of background noise, and so it’s time to take some action.
Mind you, my Mum used to say that my Dad’s deafness could be quite selective. When he didn’t want to hear things, he said that he couldn’t, whereas when he did want to hear – quite remarkably – he appeared to have no trouble at all!
She also once told me a story that when I was very young I appeared to be suffering from deafness and she started to worry that there was something wrong. When she talked to the doctor about it, the first question he perceptively asked was, “Has he got any relatives who are hard of hearing who he might be imitating?” The answer was my grandfather William, and once this was pointed out to me apparently my hearing miraculously improved! But now time has caught up with me.
The festive season is over now, but it brings all sorts of joys with it.
Just before Christmas I visited an Irish language integrated nursery school in east Belfast. It was a real pleasure to meet the wonderful children and staff at Naíscoil na Seolta and I had great fun with them cutting out cats from play- doh as the children taught me some Irish words. It turned out that the little boy sitting next to me speaks French at home and now he’s acquiring Gaelic as a second language.
Research appears to show that young children are particuarly suited to learning a second language as their brains are at their most flexible stage. Anyway, I was really impressed. What a skill to have.
I also visited the famous Harland & Wolff shipyard on the day that its future was secured. It’s a company with a very proud shipbuilding history, including building the Titanic, but in recent years it has been in some difficulty. The staff there had been understandably anxious about the future, but one of them told me that the yard was buzzing with optimism once they had heard it confirmed that a new owner for a company had been secured and that they would be playing an important part in building three new support ships for the Royal Navy.
As Christmas presents go, it doesn’t get much better than this. And if you get the chance to visit Belfast, you’ll have no difficulty working out where the shipyard is. Just look for the two giant yellow cranes – named Samson and Goliath – which dominate the skyline.
Like everyone else who attended, I greatly enjoyed the Lantern Festival in Cross Flatts Park just before Christmas. There was a huge crowd and a very festive atmosphere as carols were sung and the magical lanterns – as well as the sheep – were admired. A big thank you to all of those who worked so hard to put on such a special occasion, and particular thanks to the Salvation Army for keeping us all supplied with refreshing cups of tea!
Looking to the year ahead, there’s a great deal of uncertainty in the world, with conflict continuing in Ukraine and the Middle East, much discussion about possible trade tariffs and the rise of populist cynicism about the capacity of politics to achieve anything.
Social media has a big part to play in all this. Being in government is a heavy enough responsibility at the best of times, but let’s try and agree that cynicism doesn’t get us anywhere. It doesn’t achieve anything, it doesn’t help and it has nothing to contribute to solving the problems before us.
What will assist ? The answer is ideas, hard work and lots of effort. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise because it’s how anything worthwhile is achieved.
To take one recent small example, 112,000 former miners have been campaigning for a very long time to reverse an historic injustice as £1.5 billion from their own pension scheme has for years been denied to them by successive governments.
The newly-elected UK Government, however, promised to do something about this and in a recent landmark decision, my colleague Ed Miliband announced that the fund will be handed over to the pension scheme, so ensuring that former pit workers who powered the country for decades finally get their just rewards.
These former mineworkers will receive a 32% boost to their annual pensions – an average increase of £29 per week for each member and this will help 128 families living in Leeds South and many more across the country. Our country owes a debt of gratitude to these mineworkers.
The news of this decision didn’t make the headlines, but it really matters to the former miners who will now be treated fairly.
I want to pay tribute to the many people who have campaigned for justice on this vital issue and to the elected representatives who made a promise and kept their word.
So the next time somebody tells you that politics never achieves anything or that no one ever does what they promised, just bear this story in mind.
While you’re here, can we ask a favour?
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