Ilkley MP takes pop at Shipley Labour MP over winter fuel cuts vote
She didn't rebel against the government – nor did he when the Tories were in Power. Welcome to the latest Ilkley Journal roundup 🗞️
Although the frequency of stories has, as of late, been, well, less frequent, the work hasn’t stopped. A local online newspaper like ours goes on (call it behind the scenes), even if the stories don’t quite make it into your inbox as much as they have done.
It takes time, for instance, to produce long pieces like our most recent one on the new McDonald’s, while resource is also allocated to activities like paid ads and commissions are taken up elsewhere to allow our editor to generate funding – or at least time – that can be pumped back into The Ilkley Journal.
In any case, we’re meant to be about slow journalism, so in a roundabout way, it all kind of makes sense for now. Please find the latest roundup below, featuring a longer report on the ongoing and divisive cut in winter fuel payments.
NEWS IN BRIEF 📰
Ilkley Car Free Festival returns
Ilkley Car Free Festival will return to the Grove on Sunday 22 September to mark World Car Free Day, an annual initiative that encourages drivers to give up their cars for a day and reduce their reliance on this popular mode of transport.
The event, which runs from 11am until 4pm, will showcase alternative and greener ways of getting around, such as e-bikes. Alongside that, there will be live music, games and plenty of arts and crafts.
“We don't want just one day of celebration and then a return to ‘normal’ life,” the organisers, Climate Action Ilkley, said. “The festival attempts to persuade people to think about how they might reduce their reliance on cars. And the temporary pedestrianisation of our premier shopping street will help remind us what it is that the car takes away from our public spaces.”
Ilkley octogenarian’s 50-lap tarn fundraiser underway
An 82-year-old trustee of Ilkley and District Good Neighbours is aiming to complete 50 laps around Ilkley Tarn to raise money for the charity.
Sheila Mahon will complete 10 laps a day around the tarn, which was developed during the Victorian era, to raise money as part of Ilkley and District Good Neighbours’ 50-year anniversary celebrations.
When she completes the challenge, come rain or shine, she will have walked 15 miles in five days.
"I have had to do a lot of preparation so I've been walking two to three miles around Ilkley each day to get ready," she told the BBC. "I keep up a reasonable pace, but that's because it's flat - it would be different if I was going up to the top of the moor!"
You can support Sheila here.
Ilkley Town Council launches petition against parking charge increases
Ilkley Town Council is calling on locals to support its campaign against a proposal to increase parking charges in the area by signing their name to an e-petition.
Some of the recommendations coming from Bradford Council include the introduction of an annual charge of £35 for a resident parking permit, increasing business and worker permit charges to £250 per year and introducing parking charges in the Lido Car Park.
“The increase in permit charges for workers is extreme,” Ilkley Town Council said. “[It] also does not guarantee parking near your place of work. This increase may result in increased numbers of workers parking in streets not currently included in the parking permit scheme – it will push problems to outer areas.”
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust to hold annual AGM meeting
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will hold its Annual Members’ Meeting on Tuesday 24 September, with members of the public invited to attend.
The meeting will take place in the Lecture Theatre Centre from 4pm but visitors are encouraged to arrive at 3pm to visit the marketplace in the Education Centre to meet the hospital’s governors and find out more about its plans for next year.
As for the meeting itself, the hospital said: “You will hear about the trust’s developments and performance over the last year and be able to join the conversation about their priorities for the future, including the latest plans for the new hospital.”
THE LEAD 🗞️
Ilkley and Keighley MP attacks local Labour MP over winter fuel cuts
The MP for Keighley and Ilkley has attacked a local Labour MP for choosing not to rebel against the government over its plans to remove universal coverage of winter fuel payments to all pensioners.
Robbie Moore, who was re-elected as MP for the constituency earlier this year by a relatively slim margin – helped by protest votes from the independent candidate and the Green Party fielding a candidate – said that he was extremely disappointed that Anna Dixon, who represents Shipley, did not vote against the motion to annul the planned cuts.
“It is incredibly disappointing to see that the honourable member for Shipley voted with the government this evening. She is not standing up for the wider Bradford district as I will be doing,” he said in the House of Commons following the vote.
He added on social media that “MPs across the Bradford district now owe it to pensioners to explain their votes”, which will result in millions of pensioners losing out on the winter fuel allowance, which was introduced by Labour in 1997.
Only one Labour MP, Jon Trickett, who represents Normanton and Hemsworth in Yorkshire and the Humber, rebelled. Not counting the seven currency-suspended MPs, 52 Labour MPs did not vote.
While he was quick to attack Dixon, Moore failed to mention that since 2019, when he was first elected, he never rebelled against the Conservative Party when they were in government.
Some may say it is a bit rich for Moore to be advocating Labour MPs to go against Keir Starmer and government consensus, when he himself strictly followed instructions from his own party and other Conservative MPs when his party was in power.
In a tweet, in which she shared a letter that she sent to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, ahead of the vote, Dixon said: “I expressed my concerns about the changes, particularly the impact on those who are eligible but not in receipt of pension credit, those who are just above the pension credit threshold, and those with disability and health conditions that are living in cold homes.
“I made six key proposals, including urging the government to ask the NHS, housing associations, and local authorities to support those at risk of fuel poverty in applying for Pension Credit. I successfully secured this commitment from Liz Kendall.”
The reduction in winter fuel payments is one part of a number of so-called immediate measures announced by the Labour government in July following a public spending audit titled Fixing the Foundations, which revealed a £22 billion black hole left by the Conservatives.
Other measures include junking the Rwanda migration partnership, cancelling the Investment Opportunity Fund and cancelling the Advanced British Standard.
“The immediate savings identified reduce the pressure from £21.9 billion to
£16.4 billion in 2024-25,” the paper states. “This is just the first step. As is usual, the government will continue to manage down the pressure and will take further decisions across tax and spending at the budget.”
Of those immediate measures, the cut in winter fuel payments, which passed its first test when Labour won a majority of 120 votes, has been the most contentious.
“The main criticism of the winter fuel payment [is that] if viewed as a measure to reduce fuel poverty, it is poorly targeted,” a House of Commons research briefing explains. “Different options … have been suggested, including means-testing the payment, linking the payment to existing means-tested benefits such as pension credit [or] introducing some mechanism for withdrawing it from higher income pensioners.
“Others argue that paying [it] as a universal benefit ensures that all those needing help with energy bills get support. Means-testing the winter fuel payment would mean that those just above the threshold for benefits who might otherwise struggle to pay their bills would lose support.”
According to Moore,83.76% of pensioners in the Bradford district, who were previously eligible for winter fuel payments, will no longer be eligible for the financial support.
Age UK suggests that around two million pensioners are at risk of struggling this winter because of the announcement, including those on low incomes who just miss out on pension credit, those with high energy needs because of disability or illness, and around one million who are eligible for pension credit but don’t receive it.
What’s On 🎭
Landscapes of Identity
Ilkley Manor House is hosting a new photography exhibition that explores how landscapes shape our identities, as well as how we, as humans, impact the environment.
Work by Robert Darch, Jonathan Dayman, Carolyn Mendelsohn,Benjamin Statham and Andreea Chițan-Woodier feature in the exhibition.
“This exhibition invites you on a journey of discovery, where each piece not only tells a story but also ignites conversations that transcend boundaries,” explained Chițan-Woodier, who has also curated the exhibition (the first she has done in a solo capacity).
Landscapes of Identity at Ilkley Manor House runs until 6 October
An Enemy of the People
Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, An Enemy of the People, interpreted by the playwright and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz, is showing at Ilkley Playhouse.
At the heart of the story is the character Dr Thomas Stockmann who finds that on reporting that the water in his town’s public baths has been contaminated – threatening public health – finds that the town’s leaders are unwilling to entertain the truth because of the negative economic impact it will have.
And, as the title of the play reveals, he is soon cast as an enemy of the people.
“Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s contemporary take on Henrik Ibsen’s powerful classic drama tackles fake news, whistle-blowers and the corruption of power,” Ilkley Playhouse explained.
“With a narrative that explores the timely subjects of tainted water, who can be trusted and who are deemed to be ‘enemies of the people’, it speaks resonantly to issues that concern us today.”
An Enemy of the People at Ilkley Playhouse runs until 21 September