LABOUR PARTY
ANNE SACKS
website Scotforth Hall, 47 Scotforth Road, Lancaster LA1 4SA tel: 01524 599221
email:

Introduction:

Labour’s candidate Anne Sacks believes in standing up for the people of Lancaster & Wyre. She lives in Lancaster, is involved in local campaigns and is a governor of a Lancaster primary school. Anne is a journalist who was born and grew up in South Africa, where she campaigned against apartheid, but has lived in Britain for 20 years. She is married to David Marsh, also a journalist, and has three stepsons.

What's the best thing about the area?

The friendliness of the people, their interest in the city and active civic life.

And the worst?

The traffic problem.

What local issues do you consider the most pressing at this time?

The lack of public transport and options to the car.

Do you support plans for the Northern Bypass?

Yes. Lancashire County Council has been counselled that it would be "perverse and illogical" to choose anything other than the northern bypass, which is cheaper and less environmentally damaging than the western bypass. I support the political consensus around this issue.

What are your feelings about the plans for a gas storage facility being built in the Wyre?

I am strongly opposed to the gas storage plans proposed by Canatxx and have joined Labour MPs and MEPs in leading the protests. I have attended several public meetings to protest against this scheme and sent out 5,000 leaflets urging people to oppose a second application filed by Cantaxx last year. Campaigners and I met top-level officials at the Department for Trade and Industry on March 10 and received assurances from them that the scheme was in their "least likely" category and that the decision would be made by the local planning system. I urge opponents to take part in the public inquiry in October, which will report to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. If elected I will continue to fight this scheme.

What one policy change do you think government should make that would most benefit local residents?

The deregulation of buses and their return to local authority control.

Our council seems to be making a lot of cuts in services but council tax still rises. Do you think council tax is a fair way to generate local tax revenues and if not, what should take its place?

This system of council tax, devised by the Tories, is clearly unfair. Sir Michael Lyons is reviewing council tax and will report to the government, if re-elected, at the end of the year.

What other ways could government better aid local services?

By creating a unitary authority.

There is talk of cuts to free bus school services. What is your position on public transport?
Has privatisation of buses and trains worked?

This is an absurd myth. There will be no cuts to free school bus services. Quite the opposite. The school transport bill requires the LEA to consider the travel needs of all pupils, not just the 10% who receive free or assisted transport. The bill addresses the current inequity in the system. The privatisation of buses and trains by the last Conservative government has been a fiasco.

What do you feel are the major issues affecting the region as a whole?

The major issue is the £26bn output gap between the south and north. The economic prospects of the region need to be transformed. More investment would create more jobs and services. I would like to see the North West become a more vibrant region making decisions for itself by itself.

What is your position on the war in Iraq?

I thought the WMD argument was implausible but am heartened by the fledgling democracy that is taking root.

The Lancaster and Morecambe area has a large number of students. Given the decline in the number of people voting at elections, how would you try to get them involved in the democratic process?

It would help if local education institutions did not stop political parties from canvassing on campus. How can you engage young people if you are prevented from speaking to them?

How do you respond to the challenge of far right parties such as the new England First Party and the BNP in the area?

By confronting them and exposing their racism. I refuse to share a platform with these parties.

Mental illness is on the rise but Mental Health services have been drastically cut in this area - acute admission wards at the Ridge Hospital were closed without consultation, resulting in already disoriented patients now being routinely shipped off as far as Barrow for lengthy in-patient stays. A garden centre scheme providing employment for learning-disabled people is also under threat of closure for the same reason - the land is being sold off for redevelopment. How do you view the future of health resources in this area, and what action, if any, would you take to improve them.

Mental illness has not received enough funding locally. There has been a consultation over the future of Ridge Lea and it was decided to decentralise local mental health services. The matter of Piccadilly Garden is unresolved. I have been working with Hilton Dawson to obtain a lease of the land to secure the future of the centre, not least so it can launch its plan to develop a cafe and workshops. (The land is not being sold off for redevelopment. It belongs to the state and has been earmarked for government affordable housing schemes for key workers.) Better funding is needed to improve mental health services.

Hilton Dawson has been very accessible to constituents, helping many individuals obtain crucial services and opportunities. His predecessor Elaine Kellet-Bowman was rarely to be seen. If elected, how accessible do you plan to be to your constituents?

I have been working closely with Hilton Dawson for the past year and it would be a privilege to have the chance to continue his accessible and social entrepreneurial style.

According to the government's scientific advisor, global warming is more of a threat to the country than terrorism - how do you expect it to change our lives and how do you plan to help us minimise the damage and prepare best for these changes?

Global warming is a huge question that Labour takes seriously and is urging other western countries to do likewise. I would like to campaign for a domestic energy saving grid whereby all of Britain's 22 million households monitor their energy saving and try to improve it year by year. This would involve everybody in helping to reduce carbon emissions. I would also like to see a national climate change agency to enforce energy efficient construction and set transport standards to reduce carbon emissions and so on.

Fox-hunting and hare coursing - for or against?

Against foxhunting and hare coursing and for the ban.

What one thing do you personally hope to achieve should you get elected as MP?

To bring more high value jobs to Lancaster & Wyre and secure its economic future.

What one thing irritates you most as a person...

Arrogance.

- And what one thing makes you the happiest?

A summer walk along the canal with my husband.