Senior politicians in Bradford are heading to the Labour party conference in Manchester on Sunday to call for an end to ‘legal loan sharking’ and the creation of a ‘People’s Bank’ out of the existing Post Office network.

So-called ‘legal loan sharking’ is where a company offers someone a loan often at rates of interests equivalent to over 2500% APR. Many companies charge up to £80 interest on a loan of £100 and have been criticised in the past by charities such as Barnardo’s for trapping people in a cycle of debt.

The call is being spearheaded by a motion to conference put forward by the Shipley Labour party, which calls on the party to make it official policy to cap high interest rates and develop alternative forms of credit such as credit unions and co-operatives.

David Miliband visited Shipley on Sunday August 22nd as part of his campaign to become Leader of the Labour Party.

Nearly 100 people, including members of the public, gathered at Shipley and District Social Club to watch Mr. Miliband give a speech before spending an hour taking questions from those present.

Representatives of community groups from across Shipley had been invited to attend to speak to Mr. Miliband about their concerns as he attempts to restart Labour's 'conversation' with the public, which he believes 'broke down' in government and contributed to it's election defeat in May.

Questions ranged from topics such as the recent floods in Pakistan, to animal welfare and funding for the arts in schools.

The biggest round of applause came when Mr. Miliband defended the previous Labour government's record, saying Labour should have been 'more proud of our achievements and more humble about our mistakes'.

His speech is available to view on Shipley Labour's Youtube page, which can be visited by clicking here, or by clicking 'Read more' below. The Shipley Labour Youtube page also contains Gordon Brown's speech as Prime Minister to party activists in Leeds and ex-Shipley council candidate Alex Ross' speech at the Wage Concern Rally at the Houses of Parliament in 2009.

Shipley Labour has announced it has nominated Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband for leader of the Labour party. 

Local party members met in Bingley to hear statements from representatives of Ed Miliband and Shadow Children’s Secretary, Ed Balls and all the candidates responded to questions put to them in advance by party members, which were read out at the meeting. 

The nomination adds further momentum to Ed Miliband’s campaign to overtake his older brother, Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Miliband as favourite to become leader of the Labour party. 

Central to Ed’s campaign to become leader is a promise to implement a Living Wage for all public sector workers. A Living Wage takes into account living costs for the area and is generally higher than the Minimum Wage. 

Chair of Shipley Labour, Councillor Vanda Greenwood said ‘Ed’s emphasis on the importance of a Living Wage for workers is something that matters to a lot of our members, and it was good to see all candidates supporting that policy’. 

Local people were concerned when last year the Yorkshire Post reported that local MP, Philip Davies wanted to scrap the Minimum Wage. Shipley Labour is sending out a strong signal by nominating a candidate who has put a Living Wage at the top of his agenda. 

The other candidates for the Labour leadership are Shadow Education Secretary, Ed Balls who is backed by Bradford West MP Marsha Singh, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham who is backed by Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe and Diane Abbott.

You can read the answers and statements provided by the candidates by clicking the relevant links below. Sadly we didn't receive a copy of Ed Balls' responses as they were read out on the night by his representative, however we would like to stress he did make the effort to provide responses and our thanks go to all candidates and representatives for their responses.

Andy Burnham statement: click here

David Miliband answers: click here

Diane Abbott answers: click here

Ed Miliband answers: click here

The programme for the events in Roberts Park over the Summer has been released, and include an 'Evening of Jazz' on the 3rd July from 7:30pm.

The event is free but donations will be welcome, the Darren Dutson-Bromley trio will be playing.

You can download the flyer by clicking here.