Today I urged Ed Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to help pensioners with their ever-increasing energy bills.  I was responding to Mr Davey’s statement on the Energy Bill: 

Dame Joan Ruddock (Lewisham Deptford) (Lab): "The Secretary of State is obviously very pleased with himself about the tariffs, but will he acknowledge that he has failed to deliver what the Prime Minister promised, which was to put everybody on the lowest tariff? Given that he has not done that, will he consider making a concession to over-75-year-olds, who could save £200 a year by being on the lowest tariff? The 3,500 pensioners in my constituency would greatly appreciate that."

The Secretary of State replied that the government wanted to help everyone, not just pensioners.

While reducing the number of tariffs is very welcome, some people will end up paying more.  The over 75s are the most vulnerable and ought to be helped. It's not as though the energy companies can't afford it!

You can read the full exchange in the House of Commons Hansard.

Today I met with representatives of the Stop AIDS campaign to pledge my support for World AIDS Day 2012 (1st December).  

Huge progress has been made since HIV was first identified over 30 years ago and a tipping point in the epidemic is now within our reach.

I have written to Jeremy Hunt MP (Secretary of State for Health) and Justine Greening MP (Secretary of State for International Development) to ask them to commit to to continuing the fight.   

Thousands of concerned local people braved the rain on Saturday 24th November to attend the Lewisham Hospital march, which was arranged by the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign.

As I said in my speech on Saturday, I have never seen such an overwhelming response to a campaign in all my 25 years as an MP.

The fact that more than 10,000 people joined us demonstrates the huge strength of feeling amongst local people.

If you haven't already done so, you may wish to join the 20,000+ people who have signed Lewisham East MP Heidi Alexander's petition.

Heidi and I also raised the proposals at Health Questions on Tuesday 27th November (see the Joan in Parliament page for more details).

Related Press:
Lewisham Hospital March: Organisers Claim 15,000 Protesters Braved the Rain (News Shopper, 26/11/12)

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) want to see Emergency Life Support (ELS) skills taught in secondary school classrooms across England. They are calling on the Government to include life-saving skills as a mandatory part of the school curriculum to ensure all students are taught the skills which would help save a life.

In September, the BHF and RCUK delivered a petition to Downing Street with more than 100,000 signatures of support. Now MPs have recognised the public call to teach children these essential skills and on November 22nd I took part in a Commons debate on the subject.

By teaching life-saving skills in schools, we could put hundreds of thousands of new life-savers on the streets each year. 

Every second counts in an emergency, so I’m supporting the campaign to make life-saving skills part of our children’s education - it could be the difference between life and death.

You can find more information about the campaign at bhf.org.uk/lifesaving.

As many of my constituents will already know Matthew Kershaw, the Special Administrator brought in by Andrew Lansley to sort out Lewisham's bankrupt neighbouring healthcare trust (South London Healthcare Trust), has decided to include Lewisham Hospital in his deliberations.  

Mr Kershaw has proposed that Lewisham Hospital's A&E department should be closed and the future of the maternity unit is also being considered.

All 3 Lewisham MPs are vigorously opposed to these proposals.  I set out my views in my column in last Friday's South London Press, which you can read in full here.

How You Can Get Involved in the Campaign

Sign the petition launched by Heidi Alexander, MP for Lewisham East.  Over 7000 people have added their names already.  You can sign the petition online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/lewisham-hospital/ or access a paper copy here.  All paper petitions should be returned to the Office of Heidi Alexander MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA by 6th December 2012.

Respond to the consultation.  You can tell the Special Administrator what you think about the proposals by responding to the public consultation here.

Attend a public meeting.  A number of meetings are being held to discuss the future of Lewisham Hospital:

Thursday 8th November - 6-8pm, Lessoff Auditorium, Lewisham Hospital (meeting organised by Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign). 
Unfortunately I am unable to attend due to prior commitments, but my colleagues Heidi Alexander MP (Lewisham East) and Jim Dowd MP (Lewisham West and Penge) will be there to air our collective views.  The meeting will also be attended by Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock and Dr Louise Irvine (Lewisham GP & BMA Council Member)

Saturday 24th November - Save Lewisham Hospital protest and march from 2pm.  See the campaign website for further details. 

The following meetings have been arranged by the Office of the Trust Special Administrator as part of the public consultation process.  Please note I have only listed details of meetings taking place in or near the constituency; the full timetable is available here. 

Friday 16th November - 10am-12pm Goldsmiths College, New Cross, SE14 6NW.

Monday 26th November - 10am-12pm Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley Hill, Bromley BR1 4JD.

Monday 26th November - 2-4pm St Andrew's Day Centre, Brockley Road, Brockley SE4 2SA

Tuesday 4th December - 7-9pm Calabash Day Centre, 26 George Lane, Lewisham SE13 6HH

As you may already be aware, work is about to begin on the redevelopment of London Bridge Station.  

The station is being rebuilt in different phases and each phase will have a different impact on train services.  Network Rail, First Capital Connect, Southern and Southeastern are currently running information roadshows at busy stations to publicise the timeline for these works and their impact on rail services.

Further information is also available at www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk.