Councillor Gill Mitchell, leader of the Labour and Cooperative group on Brighton and Hove City council has reacted with utter dismay at the Green administrations assertion that they have lowered parking permits for traders. In a week when the Greens have made much of political spin (see Argus Wednesday), they have themselves attempted to practice [...]

The Labour and Cooperative Group on Brighton and Hove City council will propose an amendment to the green budget that will see the mobile library service saved from the Green axe. Labour and Cooperative Councillors have been bombarded with emails and letters asking for the service to be saved, after the Greens announced they would [...]

The Labour and Co-operative Group on Brighton and Hove city council will table an amendment at this Thursday’s budget council meeting, which will stop the huge increase in allotment fees that have been proposed by the Greens going ahead. The Greens have proposed to raise allotment fees by a huge amount which will effectively price [...]

Call for safer crossing to and from The Dip Councillor Jeane Lepper is asking the City Council to look at ways to make a dangerous crossing point on a school route safer. Jeane, Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor for Hollingdean and Stanmer, says “Residents have contacted me about the need to make a crossing point [...]

Misery of government tax credits ‘bombshell’ as 700 couples in Brighton and Hove set to lose £4,000 a year. More than seven hundred couples with children in part-time work in Brighton and Hove are set to lose around £4,000 a year from this April, according to new figures uncovered by Labour. A little-noticed change to [...]

Disabled people across the city are being denied the chance of a new kitchen under the “Brighton & Hove Standard” scheme, if they have had adaptations to their bathroom as a result of their disability. To qualify for a new kitchen or bathroom, council tenants must have both their kitchen and bathroom judged to be [...]

Labour’s Shadow Health team visited Brighton & Hove, as part of its fact finding mission to stop the Government’s NHS bill. As well as speaking at the Royal College of Midwives conference, and work shadowing local NHS staff, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, along with MPs Jamie Reed and Liz Kendall, met local health workers [...]

On 19th January, Labour and Cooperative Councillor’s, Alan Robins, and Leslie Hamilton, presented a petition, signed by parents, teachers and school governors, to the city council cabinet, in support of proposals to expand Portslade Infant School and St Nicolas CE Junior School. A separate petition will be handed in by Governor’s at St Peter’s Infant [...]

Councillor Mo Marsh, The Labour and Cooperative party spokesperson for Children and Young people, is calling on the Green administration to come forward with a clear plan for Youth Services, after a report failed to outline its future. The report which talks about “doing things differently”, contains no clear, costed proposals for the way that [...]

Labour Co-Op Deputy Leader Cllr Warren Morgan has criticised the Green Administration on Brighton and Hove City Council for increasing burial charges by up to 400%. The minority Green Administration are increasing burial charges from £123 to £500 for a single burial and for a Lawn Grave Right of Burial from £118 to £410. Brighton [...]

Hollingdean and Stanmer Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor Jeane Lepper has written to local residents asking their views on Green Party Budget plans to close the public toilet in the children’s play area at Saunders Park in Lewes Road. Jeane says “Just last year the park was nominated as an Argus Green Project of the [...]

Jeane Lepper, Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor for Hollingdean and Stanmer, says the proposed new agreement between the Council and Brighton and Hove Albion must include a controlled parking scheme in Coldean on match days. Jeane says: “Since August I have been in contact with the Albion about the need to deal with match day [...]

A SCHEME TO KEEP LOCAL BICYCLES SAFE is being called for by Labour Co-op Councillors, following a successful trial in the London Borough of Lambeth. In light of recent stories of city bicycle thefts, as well as complaints from residents about ‘fly-parking’, Labour Co-op Leader Councillor Gill Mitchell has written to Brighton & Hove Cabinet [...]

NIGEL JENNER is the Brighton & Hove Labour & Co-operative candidate contesting the Westbourne by-election on December 22nd. Nigel, 54, was chosen by local members at a party meeting last night. A born and bred Brightonian and keen Albion fan, Jenner has worked for Brighton & Hove City Council in the past and hopes to utilise [...]

PARKING CHARGES ARE SET TO ROCKET BY AS MUCH AS 100% across Brighton & Hove, as part of the Green Council’s controversial ‘Citywide Parking Review’. Green proposals for new parking charges, revealed in a council report, show some street pay and display prices creeping up and resident’s parking permits have also increased. Parking permits also [...]

A CONTROVERSIAL DECISION to turn a school’s playing fields into an all-weather hockey pitch for a city sports club may been halted, to undergo further scrutiny. Labour Co-op Leader Cllr Gill Mitchell has written to the Council’s Chief Executive, John Barradell requesting that the Green Cabinet’s decision, for the council to lend Blatchington Mill School [...]

Women and Young Hit Hard YOUTH UNEMPLYMENT HAS SHOT UP 63% in the last six months according to local figures revealed today. Disturbing data brought to light by Labour, also uncovers the following impacts on people in Brighton & Hove: 25,600 families in Brighton & Hove have had their tax credits cut 2,200 local families [...]

In a letter to the Argus Councillor Jeane Lepper says,“Parents’ comments in the Argus on 5th November show just how important the last Labour government’s investment in Sure Start and local Children’s Centres has been for our youngest children and their families across the City. The Green election manifesto this year said “we will do [...]

CITY FLOOD DEFENCES SHOULD BE CHECKED in advance of potential extreme winter weather conditions, to check they are in good working order.   The call came from concerned Labour & Co-operative Housing spokesperson, Councillor Leigh Farrow, at a Town Hall meeting looking into the council’s adverse weather policy. Councillor Farrow represents Moulsecoomb & Bevendean ward, [...]

BEREAVED FAMILIES IN BRIGHTON & HOVE could be hit with a new ‘death tax’ when burying their loved ones. Under Tory-led Government proposals, local families face an additional minimum charge of around £130 to £170, to check the cause of death when a relative passes away. Labour & Co-op Councillors, along with the Local Government [...]

GOVERNMENT HAS CUT FUNDING TO FIGHT YOUTH CRIME in Brighton & Hove by nearly half. Since last year, £211,589 has been cut from the city’s allocation of Community Safety Funding, which is used to prevent gang crime and work with young people. Stopping youth crime and gang activity requires intensive work by police officers and [...]

AT A BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY COUNCIL MEETING, Labour & Co-operative Councillor Anne Pissaridou demanded a new primary school for Hove to ease the demand for school places in the area. The Wish ward councillor accused the previous Tory administration of using sticky plaster solutions which have seen schools expanded to breaking point, while the [...]

A SCHEME TO KEEP LOCAL BICYCLES SAFE is being called for by Labour Co-op Councillors, following a successful trial in the London Borough of Lambeth. In light of recent stories of bicycle thefts, as well as complaints from residents about ‘fly-parking’, Labour Co-op Leader Councillor Gill Mitchell thought the Lambeth ‘Bike-box’ scheme would be more [...]

A PETITION TO PUT THE ‘PALACE’ BACK into Brighton Pier will be received by Brighton & Hove City Council at a Town Hall meeting on Thursday 20th October. Labour Co-op Councillor Brian Fitch set-up the petition back in July, receiving hundreds of signatures, urging the Council to work with any potential new owner of the [...]

Pictured above: Cllr Fitch with residents against the planned development of green space at Toads Hole Valley. A petition launched by Labour Co-op Councillor for Hangleton & Knoll, Brian Fitch, is now available to sign online. Signatures have been collected thick and fast throughout the ward, as well as other people across the city who [...]

A NATIONAL HOUSING CHARITY’S campaign to raise awareness of rogue landlords has been backed by the Labour & Co-op Lead on Housing, Councillor Leigh Farrow. At a council meeting this Thursday 20th October, Cllr Farrow will be seeking assurances that Brighton & Hove City Council will get tough with those landlords who act irresponsibly. According [...]

AT A COUNCIL SCRUTINY COMMITTEE, Wish Labour & Co-operative Councillor, Anne Pissaridou, called for more clarity in the council’s approach to what she described as a “misleading” citywide parking review.   Cllr Pissaridou also pushed for a full and proper consultation with residents and ward councillors. Her demands were backed by councillors, by four votes [...]

On the day the Government’s controversial Health and Social Care Bill goes before the House of Lords, Opposition Chief Whip, and former Brighton and Hove Council leader Steve Bassam, pledges to fight its passage. When local health workers and Labour Party activists held a Save our NHS stall in central Brighton recently, people were queuing [...]

Warren Morgan BRIGHTON & HOVE’S GREEN COUNCIL have performed their most dangerous U-turn yet, by siding with the Tory Government to concrete over the city’s precious Downland.     Today’s announcement on using the urban fringe at Toad’s Hole Valley for housing, contradicts Green Councillor Pete West’s statements to Council when the issue was last [...]

A DECISION TO SIDELINE WISH PARK RESIDENTS from a citywide car parking review may be halted following a request from Wish Labour & Co-operative Councillor Anne Pissaridou. Green Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Ian Davey made the decision at a council meeting today to dump West Hove to the back of the queue, forcing residents [...]

Labour Co-op will be at Sussex and Brighton Uni Fresher’s Fairs next week to meet and talk to new students, and hopefully recruit more members! Labour Co-op will be working closely with our friends at Labour Students, who work take the Labour message to students and to stand up for people at college and university. [...]

Labour & Co-operative Deputy Leader, Councillor Warren Morgan, said:  ”Obviously these are only draft proposals at the minute which need to be studied carefully. “We do have concerns about the Government’s decision to change the boundaries, which we believe was an act of gerrymandering by the Conservatives to change the size and boundaries of Parliamentary [...]

Deputy Labour Co-op Leader, Cllr Warren Morgan said: “It’s right that this policy is being reviewed, most other councils allow the use of phones ‘on silent’ for web browsing and texting, and a Commons committee made similar recommendations in March. In my view councillors should be focussed on the debate, but most are quite capable [...]

  Councillor Gill Mitchell, Leader of the Labour and Cooperative Group said, “We really welcome this initiative to install solar panels on homes in the city. This not only encourages renewable energy use, but helps to reduce fuel poverty and could save local people money.”

Councillor Gill Mitchell, Leader of the Labour and Cooperative Group said, “We fully support any move to make the equality assessment of council decisions more meaningful, especially at a time when cuts to services are impacting disproportionately on the vulnerable and less well-off.  We want to see these Equality Assessments properly driving policy making to [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour Co-op Leader Councillor Gill Mitchell said: “It is simply astounding that when there is a job freeze on other posts at the council the Greens are wanting to hire yet another media officer simply to spin their plans. The Council’s Communications Unit is a hundred thousand in the red for the [...]

WITH FLOOD RISK planning protections set to be scrapped by the Tory-led Government, Labour Co-op Leader Councillor Gill Mitchell raised concerns at a Council Cabinet meeting on Thursday 22nd September about how this may impact upon residents in Brighton & Hove. Brighton & Hove is one of the most at risk cities for flooding in [...]

THE GREEN COUNCIL IS CURRENTLY IN CRISIS TALKS with city bankers over a deal to modernise city homes. They have also called a special meeting of their cabinet, raising serious concerns amongst Labour & Co-op Councillors. Labour Co-op are expressing fears over the future of the Seaside Community Homes project which would see 499 council [...]

A BIG WELL DONE to everyone who campaigned and helped to Save our NHS by signing our petition to the Tory-led Government during Saturday’s Save our NHS Day of Action. A HUGE THANK YOU also goes out to the many trade union activists, from the GMB, UNISON and UNITE, who jointly organised Saturday’s campaign. Brighton [...]

THOUSANDS SIGNED A PETITION to save the NHS, across Brighton & Hove this weekend, at street-stalls marshalled by the city’s Labour & Co-operative Councillors, party campaigners and trade union activists from GMB, UNISON and UNITE. The petition called for the Tory-led Government’s Health & Social Care Bill, which is now being debated in parliament, to [...]

Help us raise awareness of the damage this Tory-led Government are planning to do to the NHS and send Parliament a message to Save our NHS! Brighton & Hove’s Save our NHS Day of Action  will take place at the following venues this Saturday 3rd September, from 10.30am, to 3.30pm, collecting petition signatures and raising [...]

BRISTOL ESTATE TENANTS WERE LEFT STRANDED over the bank holiday as lifts broke down at two blocks of flats in Donald Hall Road and Turton Close. Council contractors and lift operators, Thyssen, were slow to respond to these urgent repairs and one of the lifts they ‘repaired’ last week, broke-down again the same day. Local [...]

LABOUR CO-OP LEADER GILL MITCHELL today backed children’s charity Barnardo’s ‘Cut Them Free’ campaign. Councillor Mitchell has announced she is backing Barnardo’s efforts to tackle child sexual exploitation and has signed-up to support the charity’s ‘Cut Them Free’ campaign, which aims to reduce the number of children and young people experiencing the horror of child [...]

UNIONS, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND PATIENTS from across Brighton & Hove will this weekend join with Brighton & Hove Labour Party and supporters to highlight how the Tory-led government¹s Health and Social Care Bill is set to damage our NHS. With the Bill back before Parliament next week, the Save our NHS Day of Action, taking [...]

BRIGHTON & HOVE LABOUR & CO-OP COUNCILLORS have reacted to the Greens first 100 days in power with a plea for more clarity, in light of an array of mixed messages and policy U-turns. In a document analysing Brighton & Hove’s Green Council Administration, Labour & Co-op Councillors say some positive steps have been taken, [...]

LABOUR CO-OP congratulate all local schools, teachers and most importantly, the students, for all the hard work put in to this year’s GCSE Exams. An example of this year’s outstanding achievement is Falmer’s new Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, which struggled before becoming an Academy but has achieved a staggering improvement with a 64% increase in [...]

LABOUR CO-OP DEPUTY LEADER WARREN MORGAN has today backed a local bid for Brighton & Hove’s very own TV station. Councillor Morgan, who is also Labour Co-op Lead on Economic Development, is supporting local company ‘Latest TV’ in their bid, which will be submitted to Government before the deadline of September 23rd 2011. Labour Co-op [...]

BRIGHTON & HOVE LABOUR will launch a campaign to ‘Save our NHS’ on Saturday 3rd September, with a day of action to demonstrate and raise awareness about the Tory-led Government’s planned NHS changes. Labour Councillors and campaigners will set-up street-stalls across Brighton & Hove to collect signatures for a petition to Save our NHS, as [...]

LABOUR CO-OP SCHOOLS LEAD, MO MARSH  today wished all local schools, teachers and students well in their GCSE exam results, which are due out this Thursday. Another record year of results is expected across the country, with pass rates expected to rise for the 24th consecutive year. Last year Brighton & Hove celebrated its best [...]

  LABOUR CO-OP LEADER GILL MITCHELL, has written to local train companies, Southern and First Capital Connect, urging them to keep planned fare rises “fair.”  The Tory-led Government this week announced an increase in the annual fare rise from 1% above RPI to 3% above RPI. The planned rise takes effect from 1 January 2012 [...]

LABOUR CO-OP Lead for Children & Young People, Councillor Marsh, has written to the Green Council urging them to help the city build influential links abroad, with developing and emerging countries, by twinning local schools.   The call comes on annual International Youth Day and Brighton & Hove Labour & Co-operative Councillors think the council [...]

Brighton & Hove celebrates Pride this weekend and Labour & Co-op Councillors will be in town to wish people well, celebrate and welcome city visitors. Brighton & Hove Labour & Co-operative Deputy Leader, Councillor Warren Morgan, said: “Pride is a celebration of our diverse community. We remain proud of the huge progress in equalities and [...]

LABOUR CO-OP LEAD FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY, Councillor Warren Morgan, has today joined fresh calls on the Government to rethink their decisions to cut Police numbers in Sussex.   The warning follows extensive rioting across the country, which also saw Sussex Police sent to London to help quell the chaos. Although Brighton & Hove itself saw [...]

? LOCAL LABOUR CO-OP COUNCILLOR JEANE LEPPER, is calling on Brighton & Hove Albion to take action to prevent further matchday car parking chaos on the streets of Coldean.   This follows complaints from local residents after cars were left parked on grass verges, in front of driveways, on double yellow lines and in some [...]

Back in 2008, Brighton and Hove City Council first put forward plans to transfer 499 of its homes to a local delivery vehicle to raise £28 million and ensure local properties met the Government’s decent homes standard. However, the scheme has suffered from long delays and costs have run-up to £1.2million. Labour & Co-operative Leader, [...]

LOCAL LABOUR CO-OP COUNCILLORS are calling on the Tory-led Government for a change in the law which allows people with a second property to receive a council tax discount of 10%.   The call for action is in light of revelations that 1200 homeowners in Brighton & Hove are entitled to receive the discount, during [...]

MOULSECOOMB & BEVENDEAN Labour & Co-op Councillors are expressing their “deep concerns” over council plans to demolish The Bridge Community Centre to make way for a new development on the site.   In a letter to the Green Council, Ward Councillor and Labour Co-op’s Children & Young People’s Spokesperson Mo Marsh, has led calls for [...]

(Pictured from left-right: Labour Co-op Cllrs Les Hamilton, Gill Mitchell and Warren Morgan with Albion Chief Exec Martin Perry at the AMEX Community Stadium whilst under construction earlier this year.) Welcoming the official opening of Brighton & Hove Albion’s new stadium tomorrow, Labour Co-op Leader, Cllr Gill Mitchell said: “I will be at the match tomorrow, [...]

Labour & Co-operative Councillor for Hollingdean and Stanmer, Jeane Lepper has asked the council to look into a decision by the South East Coast Ambulance Service NOT to allow patients to be accompanied in the Ambulance by friends or relatives.  Cllr Lepper was contacted by an elderly constituent, who wishes to remain nameless, who was [...]

LABOUR & CO-OP COUNCILLORS have joined a group of city advice centres in calling on the Tory-led Government to rethink their cuts to legal aid. In a debate proposed by Labour Co-op at this month’s council meeting at Brighton Town Hall, Councillor Warren Morgan, Deputy Labour Co-op Leader will be calling on the Council to [...]

LABOUR & CO-OP COUNCILLORS will call on the city’s new Green Council to use the impending Localism Bill to return to the Committee System of decision-making at the council, at a Town Hall meeting this month. The Committee System was popular among the majority of councillors as it involved both frontbench and backbench members across [...]

TWO NEW LABOUR CO-OP COUNCILLORS Alan Robins and Anne Pissaridou will be calling on the Green Council to take action on Hove and Portslade’s ticking time bomb for local primary school places, at a council meeting this month.   South Portslade Councillor Alan Robins will be asking the Greens what they plan to do about [...]

BRIGHTON & HOVE has been ranked by Stonewall as one of the top two city’s in the country for promoting equalities and tackling homophobia in its schools, despite the service being threatened by Tory cuts just months ago.   Labour & Co-op Councillors took swift action to find the money to reverse this Tory cut [...]

LABOUR & CO-OP Community Safety Lead, Councillor Warren Morgan raised concerns at a recent Community Safety Forum, following Sir Hugh Orde’s revealing comments earlier this week, blaming the Tory-led Government for an “underfunded” Police service.   The President of the Association of Chief Police Officers comments came in light of new cuts to Police funding- [...]

? NEW LABOUR & CO-OP HOUSING Lead, Councillor Leigh Farrow will today condemn the Tory-led Government for scrapping funding for private sector housing renewal. This will impact upon energy efficiency in the private sector, as well as vulnerable people and local contractors- who benefitted from the scheme. The scheme also helped cut costs in the [...]

On the 63rd Birthday of the NHS, Brighton & Hove Labour & Co-operative Leader, Councillor Gill Mitchell, who is also an NHS employee, said: “Happy Birthday to the NHS and well done to all NHS staff, past and present, for their dedication, skill and professionalism. “As a Labour Party Member and NHS employee- I will [...]

IN ANOTHER POLICY U-TURN the Tory-led Government are scrapping a previous pledge to provide a network of electric vehicle charging points.   Brighton & Hove currently has 2 charging points in the city and could have been in line for more under plans which were dropped yesterday, in favour of users finding their own sources [...]

LABOUR CO-OP Councillor Brian Fitch will be urging the Council to work with any potential new owner of the ‘Brighton Pier’ to officially change the name back to the original ‘Palace Pier’. Many locals still refer to the 111-year old attraction as ‘Palace Pier’, but it was in fact recently re-named by current owners Noble, who [...]

BRIGHTON & HOVE’S Labour & Co-operative Group are joining calls for the Conservative-led Government to repeat last year’s bank bonus tax and use the money raised to help create up to 100,000 much needed youth jobs. Youth unemployment currently stands at almost one million – that means one in five young people unable to find [...]

THE TORY-LED GOVERNMENT is stalling on the previous Labour Government’s pledge to ban wild animals in circuses. The Tory-led Government promised to look into backing a ban last year, but have since made no headway. This is despite a previous Labour Government pledge to ban wild animals in circuses, following a public consultation of around [...]

GOVERNMENT plans to accelerate the increases in state pension age will result in approximately 2,600 Brighton and Hove women having to wait over a year longer before receiving their state pension. The plans have left leaving women nationwide aged 56 and 57 feeling robbed. 300,000 women nationwide born between 6 December 1953 and 5 October [...]

Following the city’s Green Council’s declaring Brighton & Hove a ‘protest city’, Labour & Co-operative Councillors are voicing concerns at a Green Council Cabinet meeting, over how much security operations for the Olympic Torch Relay, on Monday 16 July, will cost city taxpayers. Some places, such as Somerset, declined to bid for the torch event [...]

A survey has revealed that Brighton & Hove has a £42million backlog of pothole repairs. Meanwhile, the survey also reveals that roads across East Sussex could cost nearly £180million to repair after the recent bad winters, with a backlog of £13billion nationally. And the state of the roads is set to get even worse as [...]

Residents in Brighton & Hove are losing out under the Tory-led government’s new Housing policy, the New Homes Bonus. The Bonus is supposed to incentivise councils to grant planning permissions for new housing developments by matching council tax for new homes over a six year period. According to the House of Commons Library, the New [...]

International Human Rights Campaign Group Amnesty International is 50 years old tomorrow and Labour & Co-op Councillors are wishing them a happy birthday. City Labour & Co-op Councillors will also join the recently made Freewoman of Brighton & Hove, Aung San Suu Kyi, in wishing Amnesty a happy 50th birthday. Aung San Suu Kyi today [...]

Born and Bred Bevendean local, Councillor Anne Meadows, has been made Mayor of Brighton & Hove. Anne was congratulated by past mayors, alderman and city councillors in a ceremony at Hove Town Hall and a reception at Brighton Pavilion. Councillor Meadows will be the city’s Mayor for the next twelve months and has chosen the [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour Councillors will from now on be known as Labour & Co-operative Councillors, as the group unanimously decided to change their name at an annual meeting last night. Following last week’s elections, all Labour councillors in the city are now Labour and Co-operative members, so it was seen as the perfect opportunity [...]

Labour want to join with the new Green administration in reviewing the council’s budget for this financial year. The budget was passed by the Conservative administration in March and included around £2.5million worth of Labour amendments which helped protect local jobs and frontline services. Labour now want to see this budget reviewed to see if [...]

Labour City Mayor Elect, Councillor Anne Meadows, has chosen the Sussex Beacon as a Mayoral Charity for her year in office which will start in mid-May. Anne Meadows was backed as Mayor Elect by Labour and Green councillors. Cllr Meadows said: “The Sussex Beacon does such a great job for those living with HIV and [...]

Following the announcement of the results of the Brighton and Hove City Council elections, Labour are today sending out a message of congratulations to all candidates who were successfully chosen by local people to represent their communities in the city council.   Having won 5 new seats, Labour is obviously disappointed not to have won [...]

Photo: David Miliband MP meeting with Hanover & Elm Grove Labour Candidate Tracey Hill and Ellen Wooley, a former Lib Dem activist and candidate, who has now made the switch to Labour. David Miliband MP, former Foreign Secretary and MP for South Shields, yesterday visited Hove to rally local Labour activists. As well as meeting [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour will be taking part in Stonewall’s eighth annual Equality Walk, taking place in the city this Bank Holiday Sunday 1st May. Local Labour Leader Councillor Gill Mitchell and the Labour Candidate for Queens Park, Chris Cooke, will be attending, to show their support for Stonewall, a leading lobbying organisation for the [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour have today joined Friends of the Earth in congratulating Tory Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles on winning their Talking Rubbish Award. Online voters opted overwhelmingly for the heavyweight Tory Minister for his “hyped-up claims that people are terrified of the ‘bin police.” Friends of the Earth claimed the Tory-led Government was [...]

A new survey of school sports leaders reveals that they expect to see a fall in competitive sporting events provided in schools. It also estimates fewer children participating in at least two hours of sport each week. The Tory-led Government promised a rethink on school sport after plans to cut all funding provoked an angry [...]

This week, Brighton & Hove lost out on Government growth funding, while tourism and leisure firms have been warned about the increased threat of insolvencies to the sector, of around 60%. This will hit the city hard. Labour’s Shadow Sports & Culture Minister, Ivan Lewis MP visited Brighton & Hove, which relies heavily on leisure and [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour have congratulated Brighton & Hove Albion following their promotion to the Championship after beating Dagenham & Redbridge 4-3 at the Withdean Stadium. Earlier this week, local Labour Leader Gill Mitchell, East Brighton Councillor Warren Morgan and South Portslade Councillor Les Hamilton paid a visit to Brighton & Hove Albion’s new home, [...]

A former candidate for the Lib Dems has joined the Labour Party. Ellen Woolley, of Phoenix Rise in Hanover and Elm Grove, stood as a Lib Dem candidate in the ward in 2007. But now she is a member of the Labour Party, and is campaigning for local Labour candidates Tracey Hill, Leo Barraclough and [...]

This week the Tory-led government’s plans for the NHS fell into further confusion and chaos with the Prime Minister announcing that they were delaying their plans to “listen and engage”. Despite Tory PM David Cameron and Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley ignoring the concerns of professional bodies, experts and patients’ groups over the last 9 [...]

Motorists may face more snow chaos next winter unless the Tory-led government acts now, warns Brighton & Hove Labour. Labour & Co-operative Councillor Warren Morgan, who sat on Brighton & Hove City Council’s Winter Service Plan Review Scrutiny Panel, spoke-out after councils from across the country recently told a Parliamentary enquiry that they were close [...]

At 18 years of age, Brighton & Hove Labour Candidate for St. Peter’s and North Laine ward, Clare Calder is the youngest candidate in the local elections, but she certainly isn’t new to politics.   Clare first began campaigning as a child over ten years ago, calling for better play equipment at The Level park [...]

2,647 teenagers in Brighton & Hove will be breathing a sigh of relief after Labour and the Save EMA campaign forced the Tory-led government into an embarrassing climbdown on the education maintenance allowance (EMA). The Tory-led Government broke their promise to young people and scrapped the EMA, but under threat of legal challenge the Tory-led [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour today raised concerns at cuts to Sussex University, which has seen its income cut by 5.1%. This is the first part of almost £3bn of cuts to universities over the next 3 years as the Government moves to load the cost of going to university onto students by trebling tuition fees. [...]

32 out of 54 Labour candidates for the upcoming Brighton & Hove Local Elections this May are also members of the Co-operative Party. The Co-op Party promote a number of initiatives, such as Fairtrade and Ethical Trading initiatives, Supporters Trusts for football clubs, Ethical Banking and Credit Unions, Animal Welfare, Mutual Home Ownership, Community Transport [...]

Families in Brighton & Hove will be worse off because of Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget while the banks get a tax cut this year, Labour Leader Gill Mitchell said today. Brighton & Hove Labour Leader, Gill Mitchell, said: “George Osborne’s reckless policies to cut too deep and too fast are hurting families here in Brighton [...]

It was a Blackout for Brighton & Hove Labour Party as Councillors switched off their lights at home for WWF Earth Hour! Brighton & Hove Labour chose to switch off their lights for an hour from 8.30pm this Saturday 26th March, in support of Climate Week which ran from 21st to 27th March.  The World [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour joined swathes of everyday working people from up and down the country in London this Saturday 26th in the March for the Alternative.   Half a million people attended Saturday’s march, in protest against the Tory-led government’s cuts. The Tory-led Government say “there is no alternative,” but Labour wanted to show [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour launched their 2011 Local Election manifesto, a ”Plan for a successful and fairer city” on Friday 25th March, behind the Peace Statue on Brighton Beach.  The manifesto highlights the need to get Brighton & Hove “thriving again,” attracting more investment and developing stronger communities. Labour will work to reduce the gap [...]

Hollingdean Councillor, Jeane Lepper, will raise serious road safety concerns with Brighton & Hove’s Tory administration, at a council meeting in Brighton Town Hall this week. However, this won’t be for the first time.   Cllr Lepper has consistently raised Hollingdean’s need for traffic calming and road safety measures since the Tories came to power [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour are supporting Climate Week which runs all this week, by committing to switching-off lights, or any other such appliance, for an hour from 8.30pm this Saturday 26th March. This is in order to celebrate the World Wildlife Fund’s annual Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change. Local [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour Councillors will be urging the City Council to lobby the Tory-led Government, at a Town Hall meeting next week, following news that Sussex Police will lose 500 police officers as a result of the Government’s cuts to frontline Police Funding. In addition, Labour will be voicing fears over the future of [...]

At the next Brighton & Hove Council meeting on March 24th, Labour will be tabling their plans for a citywide financial inclusion programme, which were eventually accepted by the Conservative administration, as part of the £2.5million worth of Labour amendments to their budget. The £400,000 strategy will target vulnerable people during these tough economic times, [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour has today voiced fears about potential delays in awarding benefits and over withdrawal of other benefits. Labour are also backing concerns expressed in an open letter to The Guardian yesterday from cancer groups, as delays of up to six months may leave a significant number of people with cancer without the [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour Leader, Councillor Gill Mitchell has joined Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour party, in warning that on average a couple with children and one person earning will be £1500 worse off this year. This is more than double the loss of a couple without children. In addition to this, frontline service [...]

Labour say the Tory-led Government is treating social housing tenants shamefully. Tory Ministers confirmed yesterday that the right of tenants to a secure tenancy for those already in a council house or housing association home will now not be protected. In a statement to Parliament yesterday, Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell contradicted his government’s previous [...]

Sussex Police will lose 500 police officers as a result of the Government’s cuts to Police Funding. In addition, a House of Commons Library analysis of Government funding for the police shows that Sussex Police faces cuts of £28.6m in real terms over the next two years alone. In 2011/11, funding will be cut by [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour have expressed concern over the potential impact of the Tory-led Government’s controversial plans for the NHS on the running of local health services in the city. The concern follows another u-turn by the Tory-led government, this time on a key plank of the Health and Social Care Bill that would have [...]

Marking the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Local Labour Councillors are today pledging to stand up for Brighton & Hove’s women and families, as new figures show the Tory-led government’s Budget hit local women around 3 times harder than men. Research from the House of Commons Library shows George Osborne’s Emergency Budget raised a [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour Leader Cllr Gill Mitchell has joined in Amnesty’s call, on International Women’s Day, to lobby Egyptian authorities to ensure women play an equal role in a future Egyptian democracy. The dramatic events in Egypt and across the Middle East and North Africa have seen millions taking to the streets to demand [...]

In a long and tense budget meeting at Brighton Town Hall last night, Labour’s alternative budget proposals were finally accepted by the Tories. However, despite the Tories eventually accepting Labour and the Greens joint alternative proposals, the Greens irrationally voted against a budget which included their own changes and perversely voted against leaving the Hove [...]

Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor, Jeane Lepper has told Council Officers that whatever decisions are eventually taken about the Preston Barracks site on Lewes Road in the Hollingdean and Stanmer Ward which she represents, everything possible should be done to help the small businesses and community groups, including Community Transport based there. Jeane says, “These [...]

The average secondary school will see its budget for building work, repairs and computers slashed by £86,000 next year, new figures have revealed. The House of Commons Library research says for primary schools in England the figure is £26,000. These new figures undermine the Conservative-led Government claims to have found ‘more resources’ for our schools.  [...]

On February 3rd Brighton & Hove Labour Leader, Cllr Gill Mitchell, wrote to Tory Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, urging his government not to cut pothole repair cash and last week, the Department for Transport have announced that £100million of extra cash will be shared out across all local highway authorities in England. Labour welcomes this [...]

Dear Brighton & Hove Residents,  Later today, Labour’s alternative budget plans for Brighton & Hove City Council will be published. These alternative proposals will be tabled at a council meeting this Thursday 3rd March at Brighton Town Hall and Labour will be pushing to protect vital local services and jobs in Brighton & Hove and we [...]

Councillor Anne Meadows and Councillor Mo Marsh outside the new Brighton Aldridge Community Academy which will soon house a sixth form element.  ‘That’s wonderful news but we are worried that the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition is going to make it harder for young people in poorer households to access higher education since they have cut the [...]

Mo Marsh and Anne Meadows are unhappy that the Connexions staff is at risk in the Conservative administration’s budget. They know that the help and support they have given your young people has been an invaluable support. Without the Connexions worker’s support many young people in the area would not have jobs or go on to higher [...]

Mo, Leigh and Anne outside working on your behalf.  Leigh is particularly concerned as many residents are telling us on the doorstep that they don’t like the rubbish collection in their area.  ‘Rubbish collection and recycling is of great concern to them’ says Leigh and as your Labour action team they have been talking to [...]

Councillor Anne Meadows, Leigh Farrow and Councillor Mo Marsh take a breather before starting out again talking to residents about issues that concern them.  ‘We know the bus service is an issue and feel great concern over the proposed 50% cut to the bus company in the Conservative budget.  This will impact on those residents [...]

Labour can reveal that the construction of new council housing in Brighton & Hove and up to 100,000 council homes nationally could be scrapped, now that the Tory-led Government has reneged upon their promise of extra cash to build them. Last year, Tory Housing Minister Grant Shapps said that he was implementing the previous Labour [...]

Even a 1,500-strong petition was not enough to persuade Brighton & Hove’s Tory Council to install lights in St. Anne’s Wells Gardens, Hove. St Ann’s Well Gardens, a well used local park, with regular events and a busy café, is also used as a cut through by people walking to work, home and school. There [...]

Brighton & Hove Labour Leader, Cllr Gill Mitchell, has written to the Tory Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, to urge the Tories not to cut Brighton & Hove’s pothole repair budget. Following another severe winter, Brighton & Hove’s roads are suffering from further outbreaks of potholes, which are not only health and safety hazards, but potential [...]

Hove Labour Councillor for Goldsmid, Melanie Davis urged Senior Police Officials to launch a wide and well-publicised consultation before making any decision on the future of Hove Police Station. Cllr Davis spoke on behalf of local residents at a Goldsmid Local Action Team (LAT) meeting last night and invited Senior Police Officer Jason Hazzard to [...]

Labour Councillors are concerned over Government proposals, revealed today, to review the hugely successful Feed in Tariffs scheme. Since their creation by the previous Labour Government, Feed in Tariffs have stimulated environmental growth, driven innovation, created jobs and cut carbon. The decision to review follows apparent evidence that large scale solar farms could soak up [...]

Labour are angry at Tory council plans to remove a cycle lane in Hove at a cost to local taxpayers of £1.1million. The cycle lane which runs along both sides Grand Avenue and The Drive in Hove will be removed to “improve the visual impact and traffic flow.” This is despite the Tories allowing the [...]

Labour Shadow Minister for Education, Andy Burnham, Cllr Pat Hawkes and Labour group Leader Cllr Gill Mitchell met with students recently, to discuss education in the City. In a round table discussion, students talked with the senior national and local Labour politicians about the devastating impact that the cuts to EMAs will have to their [...]

We are proud of Labour’s strong record in Brighton & Hove. Working together with the community successive Labour Councils turned this city around and got our local economy thriving again after years of Tory neglect. Labour has delivered some great achievements for local people. Tangible, visible differences to our city that continue to change lives [...]

Welcome for Connexions Cash Pat Hawkes, Jeane Lepper and Christine Simpson, Labour and Co-operative Party Councillors for Hollingdean and Stanmer Ward, have welcomed the cash put back into the Connexions Service as a result of a successful Labour amendment to the Council Budget. At one stage the whole Connexions Service, which provides support and advice [...]

Councillor Jeane Lepper reports: “The Coldean Youth project have now asked the Council for permission for a youth centre in the former doctor’s surgery in Beatty Avenue. Your local Labour councillors back this plan which will also offer space for parent and toddler and other local community groups.”

Claims by Arundel and South Downs Tory MP and Policing Minister Nick Herbert that there is no relation between police officer numbers and the fall in crime (The Argus, November 23) are absurd. With around 30,000 more police and police community support officers added to the front line under Labour between 1997 and 2010, crime [...]

Having read Councillor Vanessa Brown’s letter (Letters, August 31) on her Conservative administration’s cuts to the Connexions service, I am surprised by some of her claims and inaccuracies. Coun Brown implies that her colleagues had the cuts imposed on them by the Government, but those cuts were to one section of Brighton and Hove City [...]

Local Labour Councillors in East Brighton are backing a public petition aimed at saving a community chemist on Arundel Road. The petition currently contains over 600 signatures. East Brighton’s Labour Team, which includes local Labour Leader, Cllr Gill Mitchell, are supporting residents calls for the Brighton & Hove NHS Primary Care Trust to reverse its [...]

We are rapidly approaching the 4th anniversary of the request by local residents for a new crossing at the Egremont Place entrance to Queen’s Park, but still no crossing is in place. It’s a much needed crossing at a dangerous junction and would assist residents not only accessing the park but also parents and children [...]

Fewer empty homes in Brighton and Hove will be brought back into use if the government relaxes the law, a local Labour politician have warned. Gill Mitchell, leader of the Labour group on Brighton and Hove City Council, said that councils could deal with homes left empty after six months. But under proposals put forward [...]

Anne Meadows has been chosen as the next mayor of Brighton and Hove following a meeting of the city council. Current mayor Councillor Geoff Wells will assume the role of Deputy Mayor, as has become the custom in Brighton and Hove. Meadows is a Labour member for Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, and has revealed her honour [...]

It is good to see that Brighton And Hove Bus Company wants to continue to operate the number 37 bus route until next year (The Argus, January 14), but it will only be able to do so with the benefit of the current council subsidy that helps keep commercially unprofitable services running. The Conservative-controlled council [...]

The future of Hove Police Station on Holland Road is ‘in jeopardy’ according to Brighton and Hove Labour councillor Warren Morgan. Cllr Morgan revealed that the station is under threat of closure following a response to a question he put to Sussex Police Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett at a recent meeting of the Community Safety [...]

Zoe Bouras (Letters, January 14) is not alone in witnessing problems with cars parked on the pavements along Elm Grove. I have been speaking to many residents close to Elm Grove and the subject has come up frequently, with concerns voiced about adequate space on the pavement for pedestrians and safety issues with vehicles driving [...]

Planting bluebells on a mellow Saturday afternoon on the level.

Pete Gilman, James Hallwood and Clare Calder need your help to make a difference to Brighton politics for good by voting Labour on May 5th 2011 and electing them as your councillors. We live in Brighton, we know our city and we love it and we are desperate to change it for the better. Between [...]

Ed Miliband fielded questions from 200 residents when he visited Brighton and Hove today. The leader of the Labour Party is touring the country in a series of events aimed at understanding what voters want as part of a comprehensive policy review.