January Discussion Meeting

We have a discussion meeting scheduled for this Sunday evening, 12th January at 8pm in Dronfield Contact Club. See details below.

Dronfield Labour Party Discussion Meeting

Topic: Life Long Learning for Social Change

Speaker: Bob Heath

Time: 8pm to 9.15pm

Date: Sunday 12th January

Venue: Contact Club, Snape Hill Lane, Dronfield, S18 2GJ.

Bob Heath will address us on the subject of Life Long Learning for Social Change.

A member of the Labour Party for 58 years and life-long learner himself, Bob was a miner for 10 years between 1950 and 1960. He benefitted during this time from the opportunity to do Day Release study and attend the Sheffield University Extramural Department. In 1959 he received a N.U.M. scholarship to Ruskin College. 

Several of our Discussion group members attended Ruskin College in Oxford and Coleg Harlech in Wales. For some, like Bob Heath and Harry Barnes, it provided a springboard to further educational opportunities.

Following his time at Ruskin, Bob spent a year in Montreal, Canada as a Travelling Research Fellow at McGill University. He then studied for an Economics and Sociology degree at Hull University. After a short stint at Keele University, Bob was a Lecturer in Economics and Industrial Studies at University of Sheffield Extramural Department for over 30 years.

He retired in 1998, but he's still learning.

All welcome for an interesting discussion.

Happy New Year to All!

Rosie Smith

Dronfield Labour Party Political Education Officer

Discussion Meeting For Labour Party Members

We have a discussion meeting scheduled for this Sunday evening, 15th December  at 8pm in Dronfield Contact Club.

We will be having a round table discussion about the election result. Despite Labour hanging on to seats in Sheffield and Chesterfield, much of the surrounding areas of north Derbyshire and South Yorkshire have been won by Tory candidates in unprecedented results. The Tory majority is an awful result for Labour, for the progressive left and for the most vulnerable people in the UK.

We will discuss the results and how to move forward from here. We must continue to fight for a better, fairer, more equal society.

Apologies for the short notice, I hope some of you can make it.

Best Wishes,
Rosie Smith
Political Education Officer, Dronfield Labour Party

Labour's Key Policies

The Web-site of Independent Labour Publications is running a really important pro-Labour article in relation to the current General Election.

 

The writer Barry Winter covers Labour's proposals to tackle a range of massively important social problems. These include - (1) Poverty and Low Pay. (2) 200,000 children living in absolute poverty. (3) School and Youth Services being pushed past breaking points. (4) Wide areas where those over 65 are also seriously hit. (5) Many private tenants being trapped in squalid slum houses. (6) An NHS with serious staff shortages. (7) 25,000 annual deaths linked to the effects of pollution.

The article is a must for democratic socialists and also needs to be more widely absorbed. It can be found if you link here.

Universal Credit Christmas Carol Concert and then Parliamentary Hustings in Dronfield

The Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Unite Community Branch is staging a Universal Credit Christmas Carol Concert on Saturday 30th November at St Paul's Church, Dronfield at 3.30pm half an hour prior to the Parliamentary hustings taking place at that venue.  Please see example below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyRcx1E9QaA&t=58s

First join the festive sing song at St Paul's Methodist Church 85 Green Lane, Dronfield S18 2LP.  It will be followed by a General Election Hustings at the same venue from 4 PM on Saturday 30th November. Taking part will be the four parliamentary candidates for North East Derbyshire :

• Chris Peace Labour

• Lee Rowley Conservative

• Ross Shipman Liberal Democrat

• Frank Adlington-Stringer Green Party

Today's Guardian on Politics in NE Derbyshire.

For a viewpoint on the current electoral situation in North East Derbyshire see the central section of this article in today's Guardian, starting from just above the followng photo showing Chris Peace the Labour Candidate along with other campaigners. Click here.
     You may need to scrawl up the page.

Our support for the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centres

See the link below for access to the current key 2019 Annual Report of the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centres. Of particular relevance to those who have connections with Dronfield Blather see (a) the report of the Centres Chair Graham Baxter on page 4, he fully participates in our Discussion Meetings, (b) the report of the bodies coordinator Colin Hampton on page 5, he recently addressed one of our meetings, (c) material on the Centres work in the North East Derbyshire area on pages 22 to 25 and (d) the obituary for the late John Gilbert who worked fully with the Centres and was a regular at our meetings. The report fully explains the financial difficulties facing the Centres key operations due to the recent withdrawal of funding by the recently elected Conservative controlled NE Derbyshire District Council. The support given to the Centres by the former Labour controlled District Council under Graham Baxter's leadership is something we need to fully press to re-establish. Click here for access to the full report.

The three items on this blog below this one are also of relevance to the above matters.

More On The Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centres

The item below this one is about the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centres who undertake major help on behalf of unemployed people in our area and are in need of our backing following a withdrawal of funding from the now Tory controlled North East Derbyshire District Council. The following links about their operations and their need for replacement financial support are worthy of our examination and support. Link here. And here.