Margaret Moran MP
Labour MP for Luton South

Margaret has published her Annual Parliamentary Report to show a crosssection of the work she has been doing for the last year.

Margaret says:

“Unfortunately, there is never enough space to tell you about all the things I have been up to over the past
year, so this report is just a snapshot of the work I have been doing to make Luton South a better place to live.

“In Luton I carry out regular surgeries, walkabouts and coffee mornings as well as visiting large numbers of organisations including businesses, youth clubs and childrens centres.You’ll often see me talking to mums at school gates.

“In Parliament, I continue to shake money from ministers’ pockets for Luton, and campaign on a wide range of issues such as child protection, housing and technology-related issues. I have raised a number of questions with ministers and the Prime Minister on issues affecting our town such as the GMM plant. As a member of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee I am involved in tackling human trafficking, crime and antisocial behaviour, domestic violence among other issues.”

Download a copy of the report (pdf, 5Mb)

Civil Rights Campaigner and close friend of the late Dr Martin Luther King this week spoke to the Home Affairs Select Committee on tackling the knife crime in our communities and how drugs affect our youth.

In response to questioning by Margaret Moran MP, Jesse Jackson said that incidents like the knife murder of PC Jon Henry are all too common where drugs and associated mental illness is not addressed.

Luton South MP and member of the prestigious Committee, Margaret Moran, discussed with the Reverend the extent to which gun and knife crimes are related to the failure to address mental illness.

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Margaret yesterday joined Cadbury and the National Trust to cut down on unnecessary packaging in order to help conserve the environment.

At Cadbury’s annual Easter reception in the House of Commons, Margaret pledged to avoid buying products with too much packaging and to recycle more plastic and cardboard waste. This follows Cadbury’s commitment to cut packaging on its Easter ‘Eco-Eggs’ as part of its ‘Purple Goes Green’ environmental initiative.

Margaret said: “It is great to see companies like Cadbury taking action to protect the environment, but it is important for everyone to play their part. For example, every time you recycle a ton of newspaper you save 24 trees.”

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A new survey revealed that 9 out of 10 parents who use the Sure Start Children’s Centres are happy with the service they receive.

Margaret recently opened the new extension to the Parktown Children’s centre where she congratulated the staff on the good work that they do. The fantastic new logo was designed by a local young girl, Ayesha Ferdowsy and this is displayed on the new extension.

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Ahead of next month’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final, Luton Town FC have achieved phenomenal ticket sales with initiatives to allow local junior football teams, youth groups and schools to attend the match, but the tickets allocation has run dry and Wembley won’t issue more tickets despite nearly 40,000 unsold remaining seats.

Margaret has today called for more seats to be made available for Luton youth groups and schools to attend LTFC’s trip to Wembley on the 5th April.

The Club has been allocated 38,000 tickets and Scunthorpe around 20,000 but Scunthorpe have yet to sell all their ticket allocation, leaving 38,000 spare seats. The Labour MP learnt that despite left over seats at the FA’s flagship football venue, stadium officials, the Football League, and the Wembley Stadium Safety Advisory group have stated they will not be releasing anymore tickets to Hatters’ fans for fear of mixing supporters.

Despite being given the green light from the Metropolitan, Humberside and Bedfordshire Police Authorities, Margaret and fans have been left angry that the empty seats are not being used.

Margaret said:

“This match is of real importance for Luton Town Football Club, not just because of all the hard work put in by the team, staff and supporters, but also because it gives the Hatters a chance to share the experience with the wider community at the home of English Football, Wembley Stadium. These seats could be offered out to youth groups, junior football clubs, and local schools to spark interest in our local team.”

Margaret has been working with fan groups, and has been lobbying Wembley Stadium for more tickets. The matter has also been raised with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the Rt Hon Andy Burnham, also who upon her insistence will also be visiting Luton Town Football Club at the end of May.

Can I thank the many residents of Luton who contacted me about the disgusting disruption of the Royal Anglian Regiment Home-Coming Parade.

I think we all share sadness and anger that our troops who risk their lives to safeguard the freedoms we all enjoy suffered this disruption. I have expressed my apologies to the regiment and have invited them to the House of Commons.

I have met with both Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary and Jacqui Smith who have both expressed their concerns and as a result I have asked for a review of how the authorities handled this event .While we all believe in free speech, this could have been achieved by having this Al-Muhajiroun related group demonstrate else where in the town centre. This is a group whose aim, I believe is to prevent freedom we enjoy and to disrupt our town and create divisions. We cannot allow a politically correct approach which allows them to continue with the express intention of creating a breach of the peace and create racial disharmony with impunity.

This group are responsible for harassing elderly ladies who attended the Holocaust memorial, as I know first hand having had to intervene, an attempt to attack fellow Muslims on a march and routinely try to prevent the community from voting at election time. We would not tolerate this behaviour from any other group so I am asking for an investigation as to of the relevant authorities of these events.

I believe we should all have an opportunity to express our views and ensure our troops are aware that these extremists do not represent the majority view of our town. We are a diverse town and we celebrate that, but we cannot allow a tiny minority, intent on disruption and bringing our town into disrepute, to represent our views. That is why I am urging all Lutonians to sign the petition on my website. I intend to present it to Parliament and to our troops. So please do not sit back, and make sure our lads and lasses know the majority are behind them.

Please sign my petition below and put a link onto your website.

Your email and address will not be published, and is collected only to keep you informed of response to this petition.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Margaret says:

I wholeheartedly condemn the actions taken by the few individuals in Luton at the homecoming of the Royal Anglian Regiment on the 10th March. These views do not represent the majority of our community. I have spoken to various community leaders and individuals who are utterly disgusted and dismayed with the actions of these fringe groups.

Tuesday’s events do nothing for community cohesion and serve only the interest of the individuals who seek to destroy the unity that exists in Luton, for which we have worked so hard. Luton prides itself on its diversity and we will not let the abysmal and shameful actions of these groups shake us.

I am now demanding an urgent investigation into these extremist activities.

Luton South Labour MP Margaret Moran condemned the actions of the protesters and called for an enquiry into the way the police handled the incident.

“I am worried at how Bedfordshire police allowed this type of protest with offensive banners to take place.

“It seems to me that this amounted to huge provocation and was potentially racially divisive,” she said.

“Calling people baby killers and all the like does seem to me to amount to provocation of the worst kind when these lads and lasses have risked their lives for the kinds of freedom these people enjoy.

“I am terribly proud of the armed forces. They should not have been subject to this type of disruption which is not reflective of the Luton community.”

Fans of Luton Town Football Club have set up a petition to raise support for the club.

This is a cause which Margaret has vigorously supported in the past, and she will continue to lobby Government ministers to press for a better deal for the club.

Sign the petition here.

Read more about what Margaret has done to save Luton Town Football Club.

Margaret Moran MP asked for a summit to share information about the impact of the current recession on Luton and to discuss ideas on how Luton’s key sectors can respond. She was invited to share her ideas on the way forward.

Key participants also included Luton Borough Council, Luton voluntary sector agencies, key business leaders, trade unions, police and JobcentrePlus.

The event was held at the new Butterfields industrial park on 13th February and was hosted by Luton Borough Council.

Margaret said:

“I am keenly aware of the effects the recession is having on Luton’s economy. This summit met to find a plan which will help people across Luton. This is not a time for delays and inaction. We cannot afford not to act. This summit shows how committed the Government is to taking action so that we can support people through these difficult times.”