Bradford MP David Ward has today signed a national declaration supporting the green economy as world leaders begin negotiations at a major United Nations Summit in Brazil.

David signed the Rio-UK Declaration which backs UK delegates, led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, to play a leading role in the Rio+20 Summit to reduce carbon emissions, protect biodiversity, create jobs and reduce poverty.

George Galloway's simplistic, ill-informed attack on all the staff working in our Secondary schools with attainment rates below the national
average is thoughtless and grossly unfair on those staff who are dealing with pupils and students from some of the most deprived backgrounds in the country.

The last ten years has seen a deterioration in the wealth of the District and an ever increasing growth in the numbers of children living in deprived communities. Against this challenging backdrop and thanks to the sterling work of our teachers we have achieved year on year improvements in attainment levels in Bradford's schools.

Bradford East MP David Ward this week visited a local textile firm who are helping Bradford to re-cycle unwanted clothing.

This week it has been revealed that Britons are throwing away half a million tonnes of unwanted clothing each year into land fill. This places increased pressure on the remaining land fill space in the country and also increases the amount we pay in Land fill tax. The amount of clothing ending up in land fill has increased by a third in the past few years.

I am no friend of the payday loans industry. Debt problems crop up regularly in my constituency surgeries and I have seen first-hand the devastating impact that they can have on a person's life, leading to constant anxiety and robbing them of any sense of control. Payday loans - small value, short term loans secured against your next pay check - are a common feature of the worst debt problems, along with credit card debt, mortgages and bank overdrafts. They are often turned to out of desperation and frequently end up compounding rather than easing underlying financial problems. The companies who pedal them have, in most cases, proved to be unscrupulous and exploitative and the Government has, until now, done far too little to protect the public.

Bradford MP David Ward has warmly welcomed the announcement that Carlton Bolling College in Bradford Moor is to be included in the
Coalition's Priority Schools Building Program, along with 3 other schools in the district.

The announcement follows months of intense lobbying from David Ward, who lead a Parliamentary debate in November to highlight the urgent need for extra funding to rebuild some of Bradford's most dilapidated school buildings and to create more school places to meet its rapidly growing population.

Bradford MP David Ward has welcomed the Coalition Government's announcement that Bradford will get an additional £8 million this year to relieve the pressure on school places.

This is part of an additional £600m of capital spending in England this year.

Commenting, David Ward MP said:

"Bradford's school system is bursting at the seams leaving far too many families unable to find a place at their local school.

New figures released today show that in Bradford show 2500 people have taken up apprenticeships since August last year.

This comes on top of record numbers of apprentices in our area last year: 4620 were on an apprenticeship in 2010/2011, which is an increase of 70% on the previous year.

Commenting, David Ward MP said:

Figures released today show that the number of unemployed in Bradford fell in the first quarter of 2012

Across the UK unemployment figures also fell by 35,000, bringing the total number of those unemploymed to 2.65 million. Despite the good news, Bradford East is still the 31st highest of the 650 UK constituencies for unemployment claimaints.

Bradford MP David Ward has won a major concession from the Government on funding for Bradford's hard working advice centres.

David Ward tabled amendments in the Commons which would ensure that vulnerable people including the disabled and those out of work could continue to access legal aid funded support for complex cases. This amendment won a majority in the House of Lords forcing the Justice Minister to drop plans to restrict access to legal aid for those facing welfare tribunals.

Bradford MP David Ward is to challenge Home Office Ministers over proposals to raise the income threshold to bring in a family member from outside to the UK, claiming that the plans were "totally out of step with reality" in Bradford.

Under the plans the minimum income required to sponsor a dependant seeking entry to the UK would increase from £13,700 to between £18,600 and £25,700. The proposals were revealed in a leaked letter from Theresa May to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg.