Come and #grimstowbid: Lots at tonight's dinner with Alan Johnson & Diane Abbot

The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP

Tonight we have our fundraising dinner with Alan Johnson MP and Diane Abbot MP (with of course Stella Creasy MP and Melanie Onn PPC as hosts). BOOK HERE   (Tickets are £40, or book a table for 10 for £300). It's in aid of the Labour Party Campaigns in Walthamstow and Great Grimsby.

As well as the delights of the meal - at Troia - the attractions feature a prize draw and an auction.

Tonight’s Prize Draw includes:

• A Basket of Walthamstow goodies – including the world famous E17 'Bacon Jam', 'Andrex' tissues*, 3 bottles of 'Walthamstow Ale', Walthamstow bangers from 'East London Sausage', 'Aurora Rosa' macaroons, and Tottenham Cheese from 'Cheese17'.
• A Sushi Cookery class in Walthamstow
• A Bottle of 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Domaine Font de Michelle)
• A bottle of House of Commons wine signed by Members of the Shadow Cabinet
• A ‘Make it Melanie’ 2015 Campaign T-shirt

TO ENTER THE PRIZE DRAW: use the envelopes on the table to make your bid and give to the hosts for the evening.

Tonight’s unique auction will be led by Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington.

Lots include:

Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney
North & Stoke Newington.

• Alan’s 'A Team special delivery' - Alan Johnson to visit and deliver leaflets to your choice of key seat along with a team of  Walthamstow volunteers
• An independent (musical) education – a unique and personalised music mix made by Stella Creasy and a lesson in twitter campaigning
• 'The Labour Bookcase' - signed copies of “The Road to Wigan Pier” by Andy Burnham MP, signed copy of David Blunkett MP’s autobiography and a copy of his book signed by Tristram Hunt MP
• 'The Seal of Approval' – a Harold Wilson 13" stamp
• 'Get Fat or Fit' with Dan Jarvis MP - A personal training session from the man himself OR an indulgent afternoon tea at the Imperial War Museum
• 'Coronation Street Marathon' – a tv soap watching session with Gloria De Piero MP
• 'Touching Wood with Woodcock' - a lesson in Crown Green Bowling from John Woodcock MP
• 'Sing for Victory' – a Karaoke session with Melanie Onn

TO BID FOR THESE ITEMS IN ADVANCE: use the hashtag #grimstowbid. You can also alert the auctioneer to anyone too shy to bid without assistance using this tag during the auction!

More info about the dinner, venue map, etc here

* The name 'Andrex' comes from St Andrews's Mill in Walthamstow, where the toilet tissue was first made in 1942

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow, this week

• Saturday 21^st February –Campaigning with local activists in Brighton and Hove for Labour and running a Circular Firing Up squad
• Sunday 22^nd February –Campaigning in Finchley for Labour and speaking at the London Jewish forum event.
• Wednesday  25^th February – Hosting a fundraiser with Alan Johnson and Dianne Abbott- details below 
• Thursday 26^th February – Speaking at the Cooperative councils innovation network and attending the Walthamstow Labour Party GC at Orford Road 
• Friday 27^th February – Holding one of my regular resident surgeries - to book a place please call 020 8521 1223 
• Saturday 28^th February – Campaigning in Stevenage for Labour in the general election 

Timetables, deadlines etc for 2015 (see also the leadership timetable)

(See also the leadership timetable) Here are timetables for electing national committees for 2015, and the timetable for selecting Labour’'s candidate for London mayor. The deadline for nominations for all of these is 10 June. To decode the acronyms etc look at the acronym cracker.

Annual Conference 2015, Brighton

• 10 June 2015 - deadline for registering delegates and nominating for the national policy forum (NPF), the conference arrangements committee (CAC) and the national constitutional committee (NCC). There are five NPF representatives per region, and in Scotland, the North and the North West the youth representative must be a woman. 
• CHANGE: (I am writing to inform you that the closing date for nomination of candidates for this year’s elections to the national committees – the NPF, the CAC and the NCC – has been extended. The closing date for nominations is now Friday 31 July at 5pm - MARGARET LYNCH)
• 1 to 29 July 2015 - one-member-one-vote ballot for the NPF and the CAC
• Thursday 17 September 2015 - deadline for conference contemporary motions
• Friday 25 September 2015 - deadline for conference emergency motions
• Saturday 26 September 2015 - national women’s conference
• Sunday 27 - Wednesday 30 September 2015 – annual conference

• London Mayoral & GLA Selection timetable CLICK HERE
• Leader & Deputy Leader process and timetable CLICK HERE

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow, this week

• Saturday 14^th February – taking part in One Billion Rising, the global campaign to end violence against women and girls, at Marble Arch. In the UK there is a focus on healthy relationships which was a key part of Walthamstow’s Our Bodies Our Futureconference and several participants in this event will be presenting tomorrow. More information about the campaign and the day of action here:
• Monday 16^th February – Please note my office will be closed for staff training
• Tuesday 17^th February – Speaking at UNISON Housing Association on the problems of housing in London and then speaking at a dinner about Women's participation in public life in central London
• Thursday 19^th February –Campaigning in Birmingham Yardley for the Labour party in the general election
• Friday 20^th February – Taking a small group of residents to tour Lee Valley. If you would like to attend please email Teresa in my team.
• Saturday 21^st February –Campaigning with local activists in Brighton and Hove for Labour and running a Circular Firing Up squad
• Sunday 22^nd February –Campaigning in Finchley for Labour and speaking at the London Jewish forum event.

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow, this week

• Saturday 7^th February – Holding a drop in advice surgery for local residents at the Mall Selbourne Walk shopping centre from 2pm-4pm
• Sunday 8^th February – Speaking at ‘Change: How?’ in Central London and then campaigning in Hornsey and Wood Green for Labour 
• Monday 9th February - holding an appointment only advice surgery for Walthamstow residents- to book an appointment please call 020 8521 1223. 
• Tuesday 10th February- heading to Great Yarmouth and Norwich to campaign for Labour in the general election and run a women's empowerment workshop 
• Thursday 12^th February – taking part in BIS Oral Questions in the House of Commons Chamber in my capacity as Labour’s Consumer Affairs and Competition spokesperson
• Saturday 14^th February – taking part in One Billion Rising, the global campaign to end violence against women and girls, at Marble Arch. In the UK there is a focus on healthy relationships which was a key part of Walthamstow’s Our Bodies Our Future conference. More information about the campaign and the day of action here

Health slogans for twitter - from Andy Burnham's 10 year plan

The Socialist Health Association has been analysing Andy Burnham's recent announcements about what he would do if he were in charge of the NHS. From it the SHA has produced some tweet length bullet points - as below. It has also posted Andy Burnham's Ten Year plan for Health and Care if you wish to read the full text (and maybe create your own tweets), and the text of his speech on 27 January. (As SHA say - "For people who understand the NHS his speech is actually more interesting than the plan.")

Possible tweets about the Government record on health: 

• England’s GP to Patient ratio has worsened by 4% as population increases and unfilled GP vacancies grow
• GPs spend cash more efficiently than any other part of the NHS. It is sheer folly that the Tories have delivered a real terms funding cut of £987m to GPs
• 4 million A&E patients have been keep waiting more than 4 hours under the Tories since Cameron became PM, a near tripling on a weekly basis
• The number of emergency operations cancelled for a second time has climbed 42% in the most recent year compared to 2010-11
• 3.2million patients are currently languishing on NHS Waiting Lists for treatment. This year’s figures are the highest in at least 6 years
• There are almost 137,900 Zero Hours Contracts in the Health & Social Care Sector. These contracts have more than tripled (up 270%) since 2010
• Jeremy Hunt has subjected the majority of NHS Nurses to a real terms pay cut over 4 years. Nurses’ pay has declined £2,000 in real terms. It is unacceptable that bankers’ pay now grows six times faster than nurses
• Private Firms have been invited to bid for NHS contracts with a value of more than £16bn. On average, these firms say they will make a profit of between 5-8%.
• 33%, 56% or 70% of NHS Contracts tendered are now being won by the private sector depending on which data you read
• Private Patient Income at NHS Trusts has grown by 12% (£50m) from 2010-2013. We have no official data thereafter but some Trusts have reported an increase of up to 40% from PPI.
• In 2009-10 the NHS spent £1.1bn Agency Staff. That has risen to £3.2bn for 2011-12, £3.9bn for 2012-13 and £2.9bn for 2013-14
• In 2009-10 £13m was spent by the NHS on redundancy pay-outs. That figure jumped to £211m in 2010-11 and £426m in 2011-2 It was £444m in 2012-3 and a further £196m in 2013-14
• ¼ of NHS Trusts are now in deficit. 44 new trusts moved into deficit in 2013-14. The total deficit for NHS Trust more than doubled from £297m to £743m in 2013-4
• 1,876 Mental Illness Beds have been axed in little since Q1 2010. At least 7 mental health patients have taken their own lives as a result
• There has been a 311,000 cut in the number of adults in receipt of Social Care since 2010
• Elderly users of Social Care are paying £588 more for care than they were in 2010. Some outlets argue the rise has been even higher at £2,400
• Social Care funding for nursing homes, residential care and community care has been cut by £160m, £331 and £559 respectively from 2010 to 2013. Further cuts are still to come
• In 2014, 42% of Maternity Units shut their doors to the public at least once. This is an increase from 28% in 2012