Latest news with #MayaEllis
BBC News
05-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Lancashire's MPs reflect 12 months on from General Election
It has been 12 months since Labour came to power, winning a landslide general Lancashire, the party took all but two of the 15 seats in the county, with the Conservatives keeping one, and an Independent taking the five Labour MPs keeping their seats, the remaining eight were a new cohort going straight into year on, Labour now has 12 MPs in the county after the Burnley MP Oliver Ryan was suspended over his membership of a WhatsApp group which contained offensive messages. 'Very special' Of the new Labour MPs, Maya Ellis is among those who comes from no political background.A mum of two young children, she described her victory over veteran MP Nigel Evans, who held the seat since 1992, as "a whirlwind".Of her first days at Westminster she said: "It's like starting high school, it's quite big and different, but you know you're meant to be there, it did feel very special."As an MP the business of work starts straight away, not just in Parliament, but in the constituencies as said: "There are lots of different issues and one of the biggest challenges is, you want to support with every single one."I was surprised how many people come to their MP for help. That's a great thing because that means more people are engaged with democracy."On a national level Labour has had a tumultuous 12 months, with recent u-turns on winter fuel payments and its Welfare Reform Bill, as well as having an MP leave to start their own this, Maya Ellis said: "I have complete faith in Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer that they are doing everything they possibly can in making the brave, scary, decisions that are difficult to get us to a better place." 'Fortress Fylde' It is not just Labour that has had a tough 12 being turfed out of office and reduced to their fewest MPs ever, the Conservatives might be wondering what went wrong for to just one MP in Lancashire, it has been up to Andrew Snowden, who represents the Fylde to carry the joked: "We nickname it fortress Fylde, in the sense that it's the last place standing after the battlefield, which was a really sad and difficult night for the Conservative party."It is an odd feeling being the only Conservative for miles in any direction, but I'm proud to be flying the blue flag."Formally the Police and Crime Commissioner for the county, he said: "As police commissioner I was in charge of a £300m odd budget, 6,000 staff, you could immediately go and ask for things to be done, as an MP it's completely different."The Conservatives also lost control of Lancashire County Council to Reform in May's local said: "There's been a lot of anger at mainstream politics and Reform are offering very easy, very magic wand answers to complex questions, we shall see whether those magic answers to complex questions exist."He believes that to win voters back, the Conservatives have to be "the serious party" that is "sound on the economy" but that also stands up for British values. 'Make a difference' Lancashire also has an elected Independent MP in Adnan ran against the Labour incumbent Kate Hollern on a Gaza ticket and won by 123 being an independent with no party behind him, he believes he can "make a difference".Since being elected he says he dealt with "thousands of cases" and said: "My genuine aim is to help people because the MP's office is for many the last resort."When it comes to voting, he said: "I'm thinking about what Blackburn would want me to do and not what some mainstream party will tell me to do, I'm trying my level best to vote with my conscience." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
MP and Preston Bus boss call for urgent action on M6 safety
The boss of a Preston bus operator has called for urgent safety improvements on the M6 after repeated closures have caused "severe disruption".Thomas Calderbank from Preston Bus has written to the transport secretary and the Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis, to explain how crashes on parts of the motorway in Lancashire have been causing chaos for drivers and raised the issue in the Commons, where she told MPs that collisions and closures had become "a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence".The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment. Mr Calderbank said he was deeply concerned about the long-term effects the traffic problems would have on "public confidence in our services".He said the motorway closures "have directly impacted our bus services, our drivers, and most importantly, our passengers".Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Transport Lillian Greenwood agreed to meet Ellis to discuss the issues after she raised her concerns in the House of Commons. There was a serious collision between a van and a lorry on the motorway on 15 May between junction 31a and junction M6 was also closed due to a lorry fire on 22 May near junction 31 causing delays and congestion as commuters tried to find a way Calderbank said the knock-on effect meant the private bus company experienced a month's worth of cancellations on one open letter said following the lorry fire "severe disruption" included:70 individual bus journeys, amounting to over 350 miles, had to be cancelled By 16:00 BST not a single Preston Bus service in Preston was running on timeBuses were taking well over an hour to travel between Royal Preston Hospital and the city Ellis told MPs "economic growth requires people to be able to get to work".She said: "Yet another road traffic accident has had a hugely disruptive impact on the mainly small roads around it in my constituency."Yet again, my residents in Longridge, Grimsargh and all the surrounding areas woke up to the prospect of another journey to work that takes two hours instead of 20 minutes, and this is becoming a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
New Preston hospital should be built in stages, MP says
The government is being lobbied to build the new Royal Preston Hospital in stages so that some of its key services can open sooner than they would on the current long-delayed replacement building, provisionally earmarked for a site in the Farington area of South Ribble in Lancashire, had been due to begin operating by the the government announced in January that construction work on the £2bn scheme would not now begin until between 2037 and Valley MP Maya Ellis, in whose constituency the Royal Preston's current Fulwood site sits, said she had been talking to ministers about the possibility of a phased development. The Labour politician was speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in response to being accused of failing residents by voting against a parliamentary bid to speed up the process of replacing the ageing facility.A Liberal Democrat opposition day motion in the Commons last week called on the government to "reverse the delay" to the nationwide New Hospital Programme of which the Royal Preston is a part. 'Reverse the delay' Councillor John Potter, who leads the Lib Dem opposition group on Preston City Council, condemned local Labour MPs for not backing his party's push and taking Central Lancashire "for granted".He said: "Many Preston residents will be let down that Labour voted down a Lib Dem motion calling for the hospital delays to be reversed."What is even worse is that our two Labour MPs in Preston didn't put the best interest of their residents first. Maya Ellis voted against while [Preston constituency MP] Sir Mark Hendrick didn't bother to vote."Sir Mark Hendrick's office was approached for a comment. The veteran MP has previously opposed the suggested shift of the Royal Preston to Stanifield Lane in Farington – some eight miles away from its current base – calling instead for a "refurbishment" of the existing site and for a new urgent treatment facility to be opened in the city Ellis said: "I absolutely recognise that Royal Preston Hospital is no longer fit for purpose and the government is doing everything it can to ensure it is rebuilt as soon as possible."The maintenance backlog at the Royal Preston was estimated to stand at £157m according to a calculation made in 2021 as part of the case to secure funding for a new building. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
The Independent
11-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Labour MPs call for the government to support a four-day working week
More than a dozen MPs are pushing for the government to include consideration for a four-day working week as part of a new set of workers rights rules. The MPs, 12 Labour and one Green, have called for the Government to set up a body to look into bringing in a four-day week across the economy. The group is calling for an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, which proposes new workers rights such as flexible working and a ban on zero-hours contracts. Peter Dowd, the Labour MP who put forward the amendment, said that with things like artificial intelligence enabling people to work more efficiently, the benefits 'must be passed back to workers'. 'A four-day, 32-hour working week is the future of work and I urge my party to back this amendment so we can begin a much wider transition.' Maya Ellis, Labour MP for Ribble Valley, said: 'Data shows that working four days leads to greater productivity than five. 'That means in public organisations for example, that we can get through a higher volume of tasks, creating the increase in capacity we so desperately need to see in our public services.' A four-day working week with no loss of pay is becoming more popular in the UK. More than 200 companies in January confirmed they had made the switch to the shortened work pattern permanently. The majority of the companies said their employees work 32 hours a week or less over the course of a week. Proponents of the new working pattern say people are happier and less likely to suffer from burnout when they work fewer days. The amendment points to the growing popularity of less onerous working patterns but comes at a time when large corporations are forcing their employees to return to the office full-time. US investment bank JP Morgan and tech giant Amazon have demanded staff come back to the office every day despite having allowed hybrid working patterns for the last five years since the Covid-19 pandemic. And former Asda and Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Stuart Rose claimed earlier in January that remote working does not amount to 'proper work'. The 4 Day Week Foundation's campaign, by contrast, aims to promote people's wellbeing over hours spent at work. Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said: 'Compressing the same amount of hours into four days rather than five is not the same thing as a true four-day working week. 'What is missing from the Bill is a commitment to explore a genuinely shorter working week which we know workers desperately want. 'As hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers.' A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said the Government had no plans to change its workers' rights package, adding: 'In general terms, it is not Government policy to support a general move to a four-day week for five days' worth of pay.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Labour MPs call for four-day week as part of workers' rights package
More than a dozen MPs have called for a four-day working week to be considered by ministers as part of a new set of workers rights rules. The MPs, 12 of whom are Labour and one of whom is from the Green Party, want the Government to set up a body to look into bringing in a four-day week across the economy. A four-day working week with no loss of pay is becoming more popular in the UK. More than 200 companies in January confirmed they had made the switch to the shortened work pattern permanently. The majority of the companies said their employees work 32 hours a week or less over the course of a week. Proponents of the new working pattern say people are happier and less likely to suffer from burnout when they work fewer days. Peter Dowd, the Labour MP who put forward the amendment, said that with things like artificial intelligence enabling people to work more efficiently, the benefits 'must be passed back to workers'. 'A four-day, 32-hour working week is the future of work and I urge my party to back this amendment so we can begin a much wider transition.' Maya Ellis, Labour MP for Ribble Valley, said: 'Data shows that working four days leads to greater productivity than five. 'That means in public organisations for example, that we can get through a higher volume of tasks, creating the increase in capacity we so desperately need to see in our public services.' The amendment points to the growing popularity for less onerous working patterns but comes at a time when large corporations are forcing their employees to return to the office full-time. US investment bank JP Morgan and tech giant Amazon have demanded staff come back to the office every day despite having allowed hybrid working patterns for the last five years since the Covid-19 pandemic. And former Asda and Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Stuart Rose claimed earlier in January that remote working does not amount to 'proper work'. The 4 Day Week Foundation's campaign, by contrast, aims to promote people's wellbeing over hours spent at work. Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said: 'Compressing the same amount of hours into four days rather than five is not the same thing as a true four-day working week. 'What is missing from the Bill is a commitment to explore a genuinely shorter working week which we know workers desperately want. 'As hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers.'
