On Monday, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Pendle, Azhar Ali and Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, Andy McDonald MP, reiterated their full support for the re-opening and electrification of the Colne-Skipton line for passenger rail.

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary said:

“Re-opening the Colne to Skipton line would be a top priority for an incoming Labour government. The case has been made.”

“Labour is committed to upgrading and electrifying the East Lancashire Line from Preston through Blackburn and Burnley to Colne. We are also committed to extending the line across the Pennines to Skipton and connecting it to Leeds.”

“This is about improving the connectivity of East Lancashire which has been short-changed on transport by the Conservatives like the rest of the North."

Azhar Ali, Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Pendle and Leader of the Opposition on Lancashire County Council said:

“Reinstating and electrifying the Colne-Skipton line for passenger rail will have positive effects for all of Pendle, increasing job opportunities and growing our local economy. It’s a real commitment with real money behind it.

We don’t need endless feasibility studies or weasel words from the Tories about a Northern Powerhouse – we need a Labour government that will make investment in infrastructure a top priority, restoring our towns and villages and reversing the decade of cuts and neglect that this Conservative government have heaped upon us.”

Pendle Labour Party members joined Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Azhar Ali, yesterday (3rd September) to highlight the failings of the rail network in the region.

Speaking to rail users at both Colne and Nelson stations, the activists provided information about Labour’s plans to improve the network.

Since the Tories came to power rail fares are up by 32%, leaving some passengers paying thousands of pounds more each year.

For decades northern communities have received only a fraction of the transport investment that is spent in London and the South East. Labour will put this right by increasing connectivity across the region, such as re-opening the Colne to Skipton line and building Crossrail for the North, connecting the great cities of the north of England to unlock huge untapped potential.

Labour would bring our railways into public ownership, this will mean:

• Capped fares
• Better, more reliable services
• Investment in our railways

Azhar Ali said:
“Passengers are right to be angry at the rail chaos unleashed by the Tories on the North of England. It shows their utter disregard for people living in the towns and cities in the North, and Pendle is particularly badly served. That’s why Labour want to build a rail network for the many and not the few.”

The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Peter Dowd Mp was in Colne on Saturday to once again reaffirm Labour’s ‘green light’ for not only the reopening of the line but electrification

Andrew Stephenson aided by CHRIS Grayling have once again pulled off another publicity stunt and commissioned another report rather than real cash to open the line

£millions spend every day to support Cross Rail in London and empty words in Colne

Time to cancel this lousy Tory Government not the train.

More Photo opps rather than real investment

NHS workers were invited to join local residents over tea and homemade cakes at a tea party to celebrate the 70th Birthday of the NHS, organised by Pendle Labour Party on Saturday 28th July.

Photograph: Shows Azhar Ali with NHS staff holding their commemorative, Aneurin Bevan cards.

The event which took place at Primet Community Centre, Colne, gave people the opportunity to thank NHS staff, both past and present, for their hard work and was attended by around 100 people including 8 current and former NHS workers.

The highlight of the afternoon was a presentation by Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Pendle, Azhar Ali, when he personally thanked those staff present.

Azhar said: “It is important that we show our appreciation to those who show such commitment to providing care through the National Health Service. Every single one of them, from hospital cleaners through to top surgeons deserve our praise. The NHS is this country’s greatest achievement and couldn’t function without their dedication.”