At last a utilities watchdog that bites!

Ofwat’s excellent report that will lead to cuts in water prices - not least for hard pressed Westcountry consumers - came not before time. Some of us have neen banging on about the iniquities of the water pricing system caused by the last Tory Government’s disastrous privatisation for years and felt we were banging our heads against a brick wall.

Three cheers for Ofwat! Now let’s see what the other utilities regulators are made of.

Fulfilling a life’s dream of seeing Tristan and Isolde at Bayreuth I find myself surrounded by Germany’s (mainly centre right) political elite.

Chancellor Merkel is there, as are the new wonderboys of German politics, the economics Minister, Guttenberg, the Bavarian prime minister, Seehofer and his predecessor and one time challenger to Merkel, Stoiber.

I wish David Cameron had been there to hear the withering verdict on his European policy - such as it is. There is incomprehension among the Tories’ natural allies in Germany at how he has marginalised himself by getting into bed with a small band of far right nutcases.

The Green Paper on social care is one of the most important pieces of work to have come out of Government recently.

It is about something that affects virtually every family in the country - how to fund in a fair way the costs of care, which for some people can be ruinous.

At the moment it is a complete lottery depending on luck. If you or a relative are unlucky enough to develop Alzheimers for example, you could face costs of £200,000 or more. The average cost per person is £30,000 and because under the Government’s options the risk is spread evenly across society, the new system as well (as being fairer) will also be cheaper.
It might be interesting to note that the Tories and Lib Dems currently have no policy on any of this.

Four cheers for England’s stunning women’s cricket team who have just won their 4th international championship making them (I am told) the most successful England team in any sport in any one year ever.

It was great to see their success celebrated, with the PM holding a reception in their honour at Downing Street today. Their success is also a tribute to the investment the Government has made in sport and in grassroots and school sport. This is where many of our women players have emerged and into which they are now giving back by going into schools and community groups themselves to encourage and inspire the winning team members of the future.

One of the interesting things about this downturn compared with the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s is the number of people who are still finding jobs.

250,000 are moving off unemployment-related benefits every month.

Thanks in part to the measures the Government has taken to support the economy and the specific measures to help the unemployed it looks as if some of the direst predictions that were made about the impact of the credit crunch on the unemployment rate may turn out to have been unfounded. The same might be said of repossessions. Their level is running well below that of the recessions under the previous Conservative Governments.

I would not go so far as to say confidently, as the British Chambers of Commerce have, that the worst of the recession is over – there are still far too many uncertainties.

But it does look as if the decisions the Government took, opposed at every turn by the Tories, have had a positive impact.

Exeter University has shot into the top ten in The Times performance league of UK universities – at position 9.

This is well ahead of what the university was aiming for. It marks a sustained and signficant improvement in the university’s performance in recent years.

This has huge benefits, not just for the university itself, but for Exeter and the wider South West. It makes Exeter a more sought after university for students – including overseas students – who bring millions of pounds of investment into our city. It also raises our ability to attract new, knowledge-based jobs and businesses to the Exeter area.

So hearty congratulations to Vice Chancellor Steve Smith and all the staff, employees and students at Exeter University for this tremendous achievement.

Exeter gave the Royal Marines a right royal welcome home from Afghanistan today.

A parade and service in Exeter Cathedral, in the presence of Prince Philip and scores of local wellwishers. It was Exonian hospitality and warmth at its best.

Many thanks to all those who helped make the day such a success.

Earlier family, friends and many others who knew and loved him bade farewell to Granville Baldwin, former Lord Mayor, councillor for Countess Wear and life-long Labour member and trade unionist.

Granville had battled valiantly over many years with cancer and, as well as the huge contribution he made to Exeter’s civic life he did an enormous amount for Exeter Hospiscare. He will be greatly missed.

I’m afraid Iain Dale has this time got it wrong and at the same time has exposed one of the problems of blogging.

In his open letter to me and Chris Bryant MP, he bases his assertions on a BBC article which focused on one or two things that Chris and I said – from a two hour debate, at which I don’t think Iain was present.

In fact the Pride Political Debate, held to launch Pride celebrations in London, was a good-natured affair in which Chris and I debated with the Conservatives Nick Boles and Nick Herbert MP, and with Stephen Williams MP of the Liberal Democrats.

In Iain’s open letter, he comments that ‘We should try to find common cause rather than constantly to seek cheap political advantage’. I understand why the Tories would want to remove the politics from the debate, since their politics have not exactly measured up to the equality agenda recently or in the further past. As a Labour Minister I am proud to explain and communicate Labour’s policies and to show that Labour has a strong track record of achievement in ending discrimination.

During the debate, I recognised and welcomed moves from some Conservative Party members such as John Bercow to drag their party into the 21st Century and sign up to the equalities agenda, but warm words from some of the more progressive Tories can’t hide the poor record of many Conservative MPs and activists.

I also welcomed David Cameron’s recent change of language on equality and expressed a hope that the day will come soon when we do not have to debate this at all.

In turn, Nick Boles and Nick Herbert MP made staunch defences of their party, acknowledged their mistakes and talked about their advances, and were very gracious in their praise for what the Labour Government has achieved.

However I commented that ‘there is still a deep strain of homophobia that still exists on the Tory benches’. I do believe that many Tory backbenchers remain unreconstructed, as even a cursory glance at their voting and Hansard records will confirm.

The Tory reaction to the debate, seeking to shout loudly in order to stifle discussion about their current stance on equality and gay rights, shows they still aren’t in the right place on this and have missed the point yet again.

David Cameron has apologised for his support of Section 28, but the argument has moved on.
Why are the Conservatives rejecting important equality legislation for LGBT people in the shape of the Equality Bill?

Why did Cameron and his frontbenchers oppose fertility rights for lesbians?

Why are they, right now, opposing laws to prevent incitement to homophobic hatred?

And why are they forming alliances with far-right, nasty homophobic parties in Europe and why aren’t gay Tories like Iain speaking out about this?

Despite some Tories’ slightly hysterical reaction, they cannot deny that over the years and even up to the present day they have voted against nearly all of the equality legislation that this Labour Government has introduced. Although the mood music has changed from Cameron, I’m afraid I remain to be convinced that the Tory backbenches have really changed.

David Cameron’s admission at Primie Minister’s Questions yesterday that unemployment would continue to rise until 2014 under a Tory Government was his second major gaffe in two days.

People well remember the last Conservative Government saying “unemployment is a price worth paying” as they mishandled the last recession.

We now know Cameron would repeat those grievous errors, slash investment now and condemn many more people to the dole queues for much longer.

Just as the real Tory instinct for slash and burn and to hell with the consequences has now been revealed, so has their antipathy to meaningful reform of Parliament.

Look at the contributions from Tory backbenchers over recent days in the debate on the Commons standards bill - the bill to clean up Parliament. Virtually all of them have spoken against the bill and to keep MPs regulating themselves. Even after the expenses scandal, they just don’t get it.

It’s interesting to note the Exeter business communtiy reporting an upswing in confidence.

I am not going to stick my neck out and make predictions about the future, but one thing is already clear about this downturn: in contrast to the recessions we suffered in the 1980s and early 90s, the help that is out there for individuals and families has helped avoid some of the devastating consequences people suffered before.

Our economic stimulus package – opposed by the Tories – has helped keep people in skills and jobs, meaning the cost of the recession will be much less in the long term.