Luciana Berger

Last night I went to see the Titanic and Liverpool exhibition at the Maritime Museum.

It is a brilliant exhibition, including artefacts and items from the Titanic, and first hand accounts from survivivors of the tragedy.

The story is told from a Liverpool angle, giving a fascinating insight into events surrounding the launch, voyage, sinking and aftermath.  

It is a really interesting prelude to the Sea Odyssey that is coming to Liverpool in April – another exciting example of how we are building an outstanding cultural and tourism offer based on Liverpool’s rich maritime history.

I’d strongly recommend it to residents and visitors alike. The exhibition runs until 4^th April, and more information can be found here

This morning I attended the launch of Joe Anderson’s campaign to become Liverpool’s first elected Mayor.
Since taking control of the Council, Joe has shown true leadership in difficult times.
He has the experience, passion and dedication to lead our city to a brighter future, and pledges to;

• Build 12 new schools;
• Create 20,000 new jobs;
• Build 5,000 new homes;
• Transform Liverpool into one of the most business and enterprise friendly cities in the UK;
• Deliver a new sense of civic pride, making our city cleaner, greener and healthier

This ambitious agenda is shared by residents not just here in Liverpool Wavertree, but right across Liverpool and beyond.
I believe that Joe and Labour are the right choice to take this forward, and I look forward to campaigning for Joe during the election, and working alongside him as Liverpool’s first ever elected Mayor.

On Thursday night I visited Picton Scout Group by St Stephen’s Church here in Wavertree.

Scouts – and of course Cubs and Beavers too, are fantastic organisations, successfully bringing young people together, teaching them new skills, and promoting community work.

We discussed a number of things – including the importance of involvement in politics, and what can be done to support the Scouts and young people in general.  I was also delighted to hear about Scout Community Week that is being relaunched this year – replacing the well known and loved “Bob-a-Job” Week.

It is happening from 14-20 May, and I am pleased to support it – especially as Scout Groups across Liverpool Wavertree are involved.

The Scout Association have asked for your suggestions for projects that you think Scouts could do in our area to make a difference. This could be creating a garden for a hospital or care home, litter picking in a local park, or making useful individual items like bird boxes or bike racks.

If you have any ideas about what could be done in Liverpool Wavertree, please let me know by emailing luciana4wavertree@hotmail.co.uk

I’ll be happy to submit them, and hopefully we can help make Scout Community Week a real success!

I have already written about the injustice of George Osborne’s budget and its failure to take the measures necessary to deliver jobs and growth in Liverpool.

However, sneaked out during the budget statement was one particular measure that symbolises the unfairness of the budget and potentially affects numerous residents in Liverpool Wavertree.

The £3 billion ‘Granny Tax’ raid on pensioners over the next four years has caused major concern amongst not just elderly people in Wavertree, but also those who are approaching pension age.

Nationally, the freeze in the personal allowance for pensioners will see 4.4 million pensioners who pay income tax losing an average of £83 per year next April. And people turning 65 next year will lose up to £322.

At a time when food, fuel, and other bills are soaring, this squeeze on pensioners incomes is disgraceful.

When we consider that this measure was introduced to fund a £40,000 tax cut for millionaires, the priorities of this government couldn’t be more stark – or more unjust and unfair.

As local MP I have tabled a parliamentary question to find out just how many people in Wavertree are likely to be affected, and how much they are going to lose as a result of this shameful raid on pensioners’ earnings.

If you have any concerns about whether this change will affect you, please let me know, and I will do all I can to help out.

I will also continue to raise this issue in parliament and urge the government to implement measures that will support jobs, work and growth in Wavertree, rather than penalise residents who have worked all their lives.

I’m keen to find out which you think is the best in Liverpool Wavertree – and why? 

Each year parliament runs a competition to find the best South Asian Restaurant in the country – the Tiffin Cup.

Every MP gets to nominate one restaurant in their constituency, with 10 shortlisted restaurants getting to cook a dish in the Houses of Parliament to decide the winner. 

Let me know which is your favourite and the reason for your choice – in 140 characters or less – and I will nominate the best entry as Liverpool Wavertree’s representative in the competition. 

It could be for a special dish, it could be for the welcome, or it could be for the atmosphere. Whatever the reason is, let me know. 

If you aren’t on twitter, then you can email me with your suggestion, but remember, this is a “twitter” competition, so you only have 140 Characters or less to tell me which one and why. 

Tweet me at @lucianaberger or email me at luciana4wavertee@hotmail.co.uk by April 1^st.

There are plenty of excellent South Asian restaurants here in Wavertree. I’m looking forward to finding out which one you think is the best!

Last week outside Parliament I gave my backing to The Big Switch. This campaign which was launched last month by Which? and 38 Degrees, aims to get consumers a cheaper deal on their energy bills.

Labour is backing the campaign, alongside the plans we have to break the dominance of the Big Six energy companies, and drive down energy bills for families and businesses.

All of us have seen how fast gas and electric bills have risen recently and with the average dual fuel bill now costing around £1,300, it’s even more important to shop around for the best deal. Which?’s own research shows that consumers are missing out on £4 billion a year by not switching, so there are real savings to be made.

Unfortunately because of the complex mixture of over 400 different energy tariffs many of us simply can’t work out what the cheapest deal is and so we end up staying put with the supplier we have.

Given this it’s no surprise that Ofgem has found that 60% of consumers have never switched energy supplier and 3 out of four people are currently on their supplier’s ‘default’ standard tariff (often the most expensive).

The Big Switch is all about using people power to take back control of the energy market and get the cheapest deal using collective purchasing. Once you’ve signed up to take part in the campaign Which? will negotiate with energy suppliers and seek to secure a market-leading cheap energy deal for all the people in the scheme.

Once they’ve done this Which? will contact you to let know how much you could save by switching to the deal they’ve negotiated. You don’t have to accept the offer but if you do Which? can help you to make the switch.

By the start of last week 211,860 people (including me) had joined – 188,162 online signups plus 23,698 postal signups.

You can find out more information about the Big Switch here and if you want to take part you can sign up here – the closing date is March 31^st.

Last week was a good week for jobs and business in Liverpool, but today’s budget was a missed opportunity to build on those foundations.

The Global Entrepreneurship Congress showcased our city’s enterprise, innovation and creativity on a world stage. The announcement that 1,000 jobs are to be created at Jaguar Land Rover was a real boost for the city’s economy, and an exciting opportunity for the future.

Today the Chancellor had the chance to deliver real growth and jobs for Liverpool and focus every penny available on helping hard-pressed middle and low income families.

Instead the he chose to give a tax cut to the richest people in Britain – those earning over £150,000 a year. At a time when the cost of living is high and getting by each month is becoming harder and harder for average earners, this was completely the wrong priority.

Support for the video games industry was welcome and is an issue I’ve been campaigning on. At the General Election all the parties promised to introduce this measure, so the change is well overdue. However, this was a bright spot in an otherwise largely gloomy budget for Liverpool.

George Osborne should have adopted Labour’s jobs plan which includes tax breaks for small firms taking on extra workers and fair tax cuts to jump-start the economy.

A temporary VAT cut is the quickest and fairest way to do this, because it will help pensioners and those on lower incomes who won’t gain a penny from an increase in the income tax personal allowance.

Yesterday Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham led a group of MPs and campaigners to the Department of Health, to urge the Government to drop their dangerous and damaging Health and Social Care Bill.

The Bill will be the biggest re-organisation of the NHS since it began in 1948. It is unnecessary, unwanted, wasteful and damaging – and threatens to end the NHS as we know it. Only last year, the Government promised people they wouldn’t do it.

Yet despite the thousands of people calling on them to stop – including the doctors and nurses who work in the NHS every day – ministers are ploughing on regardless and ignoring the opinions of all those who care about the NHS. They are also refusing to publish the risk register so that the public can see for themselves the effect the changes will have on patient care.

Labour has secured an emergency debate in the House of Commons this afternoon in a final attempt to stop the Bill being forced through by the Government. I hope ministers will listen to Labour’s calls and drop this Bill.

Last week official figures showed that long-term youth unemployment in Liverpool Wavertree has risen by 141% since last year, with almost 500 16-24 year olds out of work for over 6 months.

This is first and foremost a tragedy for those young people whose talents are not being put to use, and whose potential is being wasted.

It also shows how the government’s approach to our economy simply isn’t working.

Our jobs crisis shows no signs of letting up, yet complacent ministers are failing to act.

I have recently raised in Parliament how next month’s cuts to tax credits are set to make hundreds of families in Wavertree better off on benefits than in work, and last week I highlighted how the coalition’s approach is hitting women harder than men.  With 8 people chasing every job vacancy in Wavertree, it is obvious that we face a jobs and employment crisis.

Now it has become even clearer that young people are also paying the price of Tory/Lib Dem failure.

The government’s troubled Work Programme is simply not doing the business here in Wavertree.  Ministers’ welfare to work schemes are just not up to the job.

Nationally the picture is equally bleak. With over a million young people out of work, and long term youth unemployment more than doubling in the last year it is simply unforgivable that two years on, there’s still no alternative to Labour’s successful Future Jobs Fund.

This government’s mistaken decision to raise taxes and cut spending too far and too fast has choked off the recovery, pushed up unemployment and will mean £158 billion of extra borrowing to pay for economic failure.

On Wednesday, the Chancellor should adopt Labour’s five point plan including a tax on bankers’ bonuses to fund 100,000 youth jobs and a tax break for small firms taking on extra workers to help get Britain back to work.

We know that the cost of youth unemployment is measured by much more than statistics, or the benefits bill. If the government don’t act soon, they will leave a legacy of wasted talent, energy, and opportunity.

Young people in Wavertree and beyond have so much to offer. We cannot afford to let their potential go to waste.