Don Foster MP - Bath's #1 Supporter
Ulysses to represent Bath in Rock the House competition
Don Foster MP is delighted to announce Bath band, Ulysses, as the nominee for the Parliamentary music competition, Rock the House
In only its second year running, Mike Weatherley MP’s Rock the House has dwarfed all other Parliamentary competitions and become the single most participated-in Parliamentary competition with a massive 165 MPs submitting nominations – including the Prime Minister, David Cameron.
With no shortage of patronage from rock stars, a vast array of priceless prizes and a finalists’ judging panel that reads as the who’s who of the music industry, Rock the House has captured the imagination of MPs and musicians alike.
The finalists will be announced on 23rd May, with the live finals competition being held on 30th May in last years’ joint winner in the live music venue category, the Bedford in Balham. Winners will be invited to play a live set on the terrace of the House of Commons in the evening.
The competition aims to raise the profile of live music and intellectual property rights issues in Parliament, forcing MPs to engage with a creative demographic who are the future behind the UK’s second largest economy.
Commenting Don Foster MP said:
“We have a wealth of musical talent here in Bath and it gives me great pleasure to nominate Ulysses for Rock the House’s best band category”
“Earlier this year my Live Music Bill was passed into law which has been welcomed by the pub and music industries alike. It is important we continue to do all we can as parliamentarians to help live performers further.”
Welcoming the news, Luke Smith of Ulysses said:
“We are extremely proud to have been chosen to represent Bath, especially if we can help bring more attention to the real issues facing small music venues and musicians across the UK”
Rock the House Founder Mike Weatherley MP said:
“It’s fantastic – the scale of the entries is unprecedented. I’m pleased that so many MPs and Ministers are getting behind my competition and that Rock the House is driving the education of MPs on the issue of Intellectual Property Rights and live music forward with quite considerable success.”
Lib Dems line up against regional pay
Don has co-signed a letter with backbench Liberal Democrat colleagues welcoming the DPM Nick Clegg’s reassurance that there will not be regional pay-bargaining in the public sector.
16 May 2012
The introduction of regional public sector pay variations has been the subject of anxious discussion following George Osborne’s March budget.
The deputy prime minister’s dismissal of regional public pay sector plans is therefore warmly welcomed as a reiteration of the Liberal Democrats‘ commitment to equality and public services (Clegg dismisses plan for regional pay deals, 14 May).
There are many myths about the inflexibility of public sector wage settlements, but following calls for evidence by pay review bodies, distorted comparisons between the public and private sector workforce have been widely dismissed. They ignore the differences in the types of jobs as well as the age, gender, qualification and skill levels of staff in the two sectors, blind to the fact many of the lowest paid public sector jobs have been contracted out to private firms. Accordingly, many predict the introduction of regional pay would be bureaucratic and expensive and impact negatively on the provision of services, employee morale and many other important elements of local economies.
Nick Clegg’s reassurance that the government will not enact proposals penalising people in the poorest areas of the UK shows the arguments are being heard and the consequences of introducing such a system understood. We trust that Nick and the government will continue to respond to the obvious balance of evidence in this matter.
Signed
John Pugh MP, Annette Brooke MP, Malcolm Bruce, Lorely Burt MP, Mike Crockart MP, Tim Farron MP, Don Foster MP, Andrew George MP, Stephen Gilbert MP, Mike Hancock MP, John Hemming MP, Mark Hunter MP, Julian Huppert MP, Charles Kennedy MP, John Leech MP, Greg Mulholland MP, Dan Rogerson MP, Adrian Sanders MP, Ian Swales MP, John Thurso MP, Mark Williams MP, Roger Williams MP
Don shares his favourite childrens book for Bookstart 20 celebrations
Don Foster MP joined has joined up with Bookstart and B&NES Council urging readers of all ages to share their favourite books as part of the Bookstart 20 campaign.
Bookstart 20 invites everyone to celebrate the early years reading programme’s 20th anniversary by making a simple pledge to share 20 books in 2012. This can be by sharing books with children of family or friends or by sharing books with children in a school, pre-school or library.
The pledge can be made on a postcard, available in all of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s libraries, or online at www.booktrust.org.uk/bookstart20.
Local people are also being asked to name their favourite picture book and to say why it is their favourite. A “Top 20” of picture books will be compiled as the year progresses.
Don named ‘But Where is the Green Parrot’ by Thomas and Wanda Zacharias as his favourite: “My children and grandchildren have all loved this timeless classic. It’s a great way to engage even the youngest children in the excitement of books.
Councillor David Dixon (Lid-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “It’s never too early to start sharing books with your baby and give them a head start in life. Bath & North East Somerset Council’s libraries provide a valuable resource to families, with more and more under-fives joining their local library every year. Programmes such as Bookstart play a large part in helping the Council to encourage children to enjoy reading from an early age.”
Cllr David Dixon will be joining local picture book author Kathryn White and Don Foster, MP for Bath, to help launch the Bookstart 20 campaign at Bath Library at 11.30 am on Friday 11 May.
Cllr Dixon said that ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell is his favourite. “It’s the first book that I have read over and over again to both of my children,” he added.
People can join in by nominating their favourite picture books at any Bath & North East Somerset Council library, online at www.facebook/Bathlibraries, or on the Council’s Twitter feed @bathnes with the hashtag #bookstart20.
The Bookstart 20 campaign celebrates everything that the early years reading programme has achieved since it began in 1992. Over 64,000 free books have been given in Bookstart packs to the children of Bath and North East Somerset since the programme was launched here in 2005.
