UK the most violent country in Europe

This is a damning indictment of this Government's comprehensive failure over more than a decade to tackle the deep-rooted social problems in our society, and the knock-on effect on crime and anti-social behaviour. We're now on our fourth Home Secretary this Parliament, and all we are getting is a rehash of old initiatives that didn't work the first time round. More than ever, Britain needs a change of direction so we can get crime under control

Comments: (0)

Business and Politics Tuesday evening

I was invited to make an appearance on the business and Politics panel at the City Rooms Leicester last night. This was the second `Business and Politics` debate and the panel consisted of myself, Iain Dale ( blogger and journalist), Geoff Burch (BBC Business Guru), Chris Corbin (AshfieldIn2Focus Ltd), Shahid Sheikh (Clifton Packaging), John Willman (former editor of the Financial Times). The debate was chaired by Simon Nallon (entertainer).

The event was well attended by representatives of the local business and political community. A great evening of lively debate with some humour thrown in, there was plenty of opportunity for the audience to participate, which is shown by the fact that despite the temperature( it was 29 degrees outside) in the room the two hours just flew by.

Many thanks to Katie Bennett of WOW Effect Ltd for inviting me to be a panelist.
 

Comments: (0)

Weekend update

The Measham Forest Festival

On Saturday I had the pleasure of officially opening the 3rd annual Measham Forest Festival. My company AB Produce PLC have supported the festival as main sponsors since the festival was first started back in 2007.

As the largest employer in the Measham area we have a vested interest in the local community and the Forest festival (due to the tremendously hard work and dedication of the Forest Festival committee members) has been bigger and better every year.

As I said in my opening speech` Forest festival is a celebration of our community and the test of any community is during the hard times and things are economically very tough at the moment. I however have great confidence in our local community who I believe have the strength to come through these troubled time with flying colours. The massive attendance at this years festival is a testament to that community spirit and this years event will be bigger and better than ever. This is a community I and my company are very proud and very pleased to be associated with`.

With the help of volunteers I manned our Conservative marquee for the whole day giving out leaflets, over 1000 of our re-usable Conservative shopping bags and discussing topics of interest and concern with local residents.

Newly elected district councilor Jason Summerfield did a great job on the PA system through out the day I am sure he will made a fantastic councillor for his home village of Measham and be a huge asset to our party locally.

Sunday Morning in Hemington

Following on from last Sunday in neighbouring Lockington, this weekend we were leafleting and canvassing in Hemington. Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped including Castle Donington district Councillor Charles Meynell. A lovely morning on the doorsteps, building up our canvass data and meeting the electorate.

We finished at lunchtime with a quick half in the Jolly Sailor, which is always something to look forward to.

Comments: (0)

Gordon Brown Has been caught red-handed.

Gordon Brown Has been caught red-handed.

Last week, he said that his government would be "increasing capital expenditure up to the Olympics" - that means spending on things like building more schools and hospitals.

But - as this video shows - these claims are not just controversial, they just aren't true. His own figures show that he plans to cut capital investment not just from now to the Olympics in 2012, but every single year up to 2014.

At Prime Minister's Questions today, I repeatedly gave the Prime Minister the opportunity to correct this false claim - but as usual he just couldn't give a straight answer to a straight question.

He also repeatedly claims that "in every year in the future public spending will continue to rise". But again, the government's own figures show that once you account for the increased cost of unemployment and the rising interest charges we will have to pay on national debt, total spending will be cut.

This means that Labour's current plans involve significant cuts on the budgets of government departments, and spending on public services.

The Prime Minister may say he wants to restore trust in politics. But by trying to take the British people for fools in this way, his actions are speaking louder than his words.

The division in British politics is not - "cuts versus investment" - as Gordon Brown says, but between a Conservative Party telling the truth about the state of the public finances, and Labour who are failing to be straight with people.

Comments: (0)

Protest at Fire Authority Headquarters

Today (Wednesday) we were protesting against the possible closure of Moira fire-station outside the fire Headquarters at Groby. The protesters were concerned local residents , parish councillors ,district councillors and firemen.

All of the members of the fire board saw the protest as they arrived at the meeting.

Unfortunately, I have been informed that the fire authority proposal to `consult on the closure` of Moira was passed by 11 votes in favour to 1 against.

There will now start a consultation process on the closure of Moira fire-station, which is unlikely to be completed before December.

A very disappointing result.

Comments: (0)

Parliamentary Action

It's been a busy couple of days in Parliament. Speaker Bercow has been elected. He will have our support, not just in his role as Speaker, but also in the vital work of reforming and renewing the House of Commons, which so badly needs to happen. The House of Commons needs to demonstrate that it gets the need for transparency, for reform of pay and allowances, and the need to understand, and respond properly to, the public's anger. MPs share a collective responsibility for what went wrong and a collective responsibility for putting it right.

On the Parliamentary Standards Authority Bill, we support the principle that all MPs' pay and allowances decided by an independent body. This new Bill will set up an authority to set and administer expenses and we support it, although we have yet to see the detail. It is important that the structure and function of the new authority reflect the findings and recommendations of the Kelly Committee.

Comments: (0)

Blair has no Conservative backing

A couple of people on the doorstep have asked about supposed Conservative backing for Tony Blair becoming President of Europe. The Conservative Party spent ten years opposing Tony Blair as Prime Minister. We did not do this to agree to him becoming a president in Europe. It would mean we would have a former prime minister returning to a position of power over British affairs without any electoral mandate.

If Tony Blair assumed the presidency of the EU, he would be seen to represent all the people of Europe, including Britain once again, with the people of Britain having no say on the issue.

His appointment would clearly be unacceptable to Conservatives, and I am sure the voters of North West Leicestershire would not like to see Tony Blair back in power without the chance to have their say on the matter.

We don’t need a president of Europe, but instead a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty which the public were promised under Labour, but denied their chance to have a say.
 

Comments: (0)

Weekend Updates

Friday Evening with Ken Clarke MP

On Friday evening I was invited to a dinner with Ken Clarke MP. The venue was Hart`s restaurant in Nottingham and the guests were East Midlands business leaders. Ken once again imparted some of this thoughts and experience on matters economic to the audience and answered questions afterwards. A very enjoyable meeting with excellent company, food and surroundings, many thanks to Deloittes for organizing the event. The mood in the room was overwhelmingly that the current Labour Government has run out of ideas, run out of our money and run out of time. We need an election as soon as possible.

Saturday --- Indian Summer Fund Raiser

On Saturday afternoon, we held our Indian Summer event at our house in Swannington. The event was to raise funds for the next general election and also as a thank you to everyone who worked so hard during the recent County council and European election campaigns. As with the previous two Summer events we have held at our home the weather was a little mixed, fortunately the downpour only lasted a few minutes and then the sun shone for the rest of the afternoon. Although the weather conditions were less than ideal, the political climate is looking good for the Conservatives both locally and nationally as we enter the last lap to the general election.

I must thank volunteers for all their help organizing the event and preparing the food, especially my wife Jackie who ensured the event ran smoothly.

Sunday Morning in Lockington

Sunday morning I was back on the doorsteps leafleting and canvassing, this time in the lovely village of Lockington. Many residents were keen to discuss their concerns and several mentioned the possible distribution centre which forms part of the LDF (local development framework), An excellent morning in the northern parishes.

Comments: (0)

Fight to save local fire station continues

Myself and local Conservatives will be joining firefighters and supporters opposed to the closure of Moira fire station when the first meeting of the Combined Fire Authority meets next week.

The new fire authority will be electing a new chairman and may be deciding on the re-allocation of resources (which will include recommendations for closure of some stations).

This plan would lead to slower response times. How can the Government consider cutting the provision of fire cover to save money? The service our firefighters provide is invaluable and hugely important. Shutting the station at Moira could lead to some catastrophic consequences.

There should be no loss of front line services. Savings should be made in non front line costs. Moira fire station only costs £116,000 a year, a tiny part of the fire authority budget. If it were closed, the calls it attends would have to be covered by fire teams from other stations, increasing the response times and putting lives at risk for extremely small monetary savings.

On the doorsteps in Measham and Forest, there has been no other issue that has received as much support as this. The overwhelming majority of local residents I speak to want the fire station to remain open, serving and protecting the local population. We need to lobby members of the newly-formed fire authority to vote to save our fire station. It is time for us to work hard to try to back those firefighters who are there week in, week out ready to save us.
 

Comments: (0)

North West Leicestershire Survey

The survey sent out to every household in North West Leicestershire has had a huge response with almost 4000 responses received. The survey asked local residents for their views on subjects such as Crime and Antisocial behaviour, Health, Education, the Economy as well as voting intention at the next election.

When the responses were collated a survey was selected at random and the respondent was rewarded with a £60 shopping voucher.The picture shows Colin and Joyce Parkin of Ellistown receiving the voucher from myself and Councillor and Ashby Mayor Mr Graham Allman (North West Leicestershire Conservatives Association Chairman) at their home in Ellistown. Mrs Parkin was especially pleased as she said that they `never usually win anything`

The prize draw was deliberately held back for a few weeks due to the County Council and European elections.

Comments: (0)

Will Darling follow King and the Conservatives

A split seems to be opening up between the Labour Government and the Bank of England with regards to future regulation of the banking industry. It was Gordon Brown who took away supervisory powers over the banking industry from the Bank of England in 1997, and I believe it is fair to say that this exacerbated the crisis in the financial services industry. Now Mervyn King has called for more authority to intervene in the actions of banks seen to be behaving riskily. This means going back to the situation that existed pre 1997, and that the Conservatives warned against changing. Alistair Darling or perhaps under orders from Gordon Brown is resistant to such a change, primarily because it would highlight Brown's failures.

Comments: (0)

Addressing the friends of Ashby Museum

On Wednesday morning this week I gave a talk to the Friends of Ashby Museum, this was a rearranged event as the first scheduled date had to be cancelled due to snow in February! (How time flies and the weather changes).

The title of my talk was ` What can we learn from History?` I invited the audience to participate both during the talk by asking them for their opinions and also afterwards in a wide ranging question and answer session.

Following the talk I was given a tour of the Museum including a look behind the scenes.

I would like to thank the Friends of Ashby Museum for inviting me to speak and also thank all those who attended. I hope to be invited again in the future.

I look forward to taking my children to visit the exhibits, when we have a spare hour at the weekend.

Comments: (0)

George Osborne stresses the need to talk honestly about cuts

George Osborne has accused Gordon Brown of "plain dishonesty" for trying to pretend that there won't be any spending cuts.

The Shadow Chancellor said it was "ridiculous" for Mr. Brown to claim that his plans to cut real spending on public services equate to 'more Labour investment' - and he told the Prime Minister to "tell the public the truth instead of treating them like fools".

In an article in the Times, George stressed the "real dividing line" in British politics is "not 'cut versus investment', but honesty versus dishonesty":

"Gordon Brown's claim that real spending will rise under Labour is akin to his claim that the 10p tax rise didn't hit the poor and that Alistair Darling is his first choice as Chancellor - it is just not true."

George admitted that the Conservatives had initially "fought shy of using the 'c' word - cuts", but stressed it was time to "talk honestly to the public about the spending decisions that need to be taken":

"We should have the confidence to tell the public the truth that Britain faces a debt crisis; that existing plans show that real spending will have to be cut, whoever is elected; and that the bills of rising unemployment and the huge interest costs of a soaring national debt mean that many government departments will face budget cuts."

Comments: (0)

The War Room and Breedon

A couple of videos that might interest you. Firstly another installment from Eric Pickles in the War Room.

Secondly there is a report on the East Midlands Politics Show about Breedon Community Centre. This film is 31 minutes in.

Comments: (0)

Osborne outlines plans for "a new British economic model"

George Osborne has stressed the need to learn the lessons of the past decade and ensure our economy recovery - when it comes - is strong, sustainable and balanced.

In a speech to the Association of British Insurers yesterday, the Shadow Chancellor said that "the model of economic growth pursued over the last ten years is fundamentally broken" and outlined plans for a "new British economic model".

He explained that the economic policy of a Conservative Government would be rooted in three priorities:

• The immediate need to restore Britain's international credibility and preserve our credit rating by dealing with our huge budget defecit
• The transition from an economy built on excessive debt to one built on savings and investment
• Re-focussing our economy from the rush for short-term gains to the pursuit of long-term returns

George said, "If we follow these three priorities I believe we can do much more than simply survive this recession. We can emerge from it with a stronger, more geographically balanced, and more broadly based economy in which more of the British people feel they are sharing in its success."

He warned that re-electing Labour will mean "more instability, higher taxes, higher debt and higher debt interest costs" - and stressed: "Electing a new Conservative Government is the safer choice for a strong recovery."
 

Comments: (0)

Save Moira Fire station

With the County Council elections out of the way and the combined Fire authority board being reformed imminently, I attended a meeting at Moira village hall on Wednesday evening. Among those also present along with some of the volunteer firemen , chairmen of parish councils was newly elected County Councillor for Measham and Forest Geraint Jones and also local district councillors for the Moira ward John and Annette Bridges.

The meeting to decide on the `re-allocation of resources` ( double speak for proposed closure of Moira firestation) is scheduled for the 24th of June. We will be pushing for a further delay as we do not believe the newly constituted fire board will have time to consider all the facts.

We are all getting information for the next meeting on Wednesday 17th June. In my experience there is not topic which has gained the support on the doorsteps in the Moira area as the campaign to stop the closure of the Fire station at Moira.
 

Comments: (0)

Expenses Pledge

With the expenses scandal of recent weeks, I have this week pledged that I will never misuse taxpayers’ money if I become North West Leicestershire’s MP at the next election.

I promise to treat the chance to represent the constituency in Parliament as a privilege and to treat taxpayers’ money with the respect it deserves.

It is wrong that MPs have been allowed to use taxpayers’ money to fund their lifestyles, and I welcome the review that will now be taking place. If the people of North West Leicestershire vote for me to be their representative in Parliament, I give them my commitment that my first priority will be to work hard for them to ensure that the money that they give to the Government in taxes is spent properly for the good of the country.

I appreciate how hard people work, and that they want to see their taxes used for good. I will give them my commitment that I will not employ any relatives or family members or claim any taxypayers’ money to fund my main family home in Swannington. I will never misuse taxpayers’ money, and I will not stand by and watch others doing so.

I also intend to publish any expense claims I do make online, so that the public can inspect them and talk to me about any issues.

Conservative leader David Cameron has already put into place measures which will see his MPs only allowed to claim for basic costs of second homes such as rent and utility bills and not, as at the moment, for furniture or food.
 

Comments: (0)

Euro Results

Last night I attended the NW Leics count for the European election. The Conservatives received nearly double the amount of votes as UKIP in 2nd and Labour in third. The results were phoned through to Leicester and added to the overall East Midlands vote. This resulted in us having 2 MEP's elected in both Roger Helmer and Emma McClarkin.

Roger has served the region well for the past 10 years and together with Emma has supported our campaigns in NW Leics. I'm sure they will both make a real contribution towards the reform the EU desperately needs in their term of office. Is was a shame however that number 3 on the list Rupert Matthews failed to win a seat. He's worked very heard over the last year or so, and I'm sure will find a seat to contest in the next few months.

Comments: (0)

Camping at Willesley

Despite the atrocious weather over the weekend hundreds of Leicestershire Beaver scouts had a great weekend of activities, this is mainly due to the extremely hard work put in by volunteer leaders and helpers.

Ben and I were camping with the 1st Appleby with Measham Beaver colony. Saturday was quite damp, but Sunday was sodden, especially when it came to taking the tents down. This is my third year on the camp and the first really wet one which certainly makes the weekend more challenging. Sunday’s planned activities were changed from outdoor to indoor. Getting home on Sunday afternoon, did make me appreciate our home comforts. It was so wet that my mobile phone had `drowned` in my pocket!
 

Comments: (0)

Post Election thoughts

This weekend along with many other parents in North West Leicestershire I will be accompanying my youngest son Ben on his Beaver scout camp at Willesley Lake. As I sit at the computer and look at the rain falling outside, I think we had better pack some extra dry clothes.

I wanted to post my thoughts on the narrow BNP victory in the previously Labour held Division of Coalville. The only item that marred the result which was another great one for North West Leicestershire Conservatives, was the fact that the extremist BNP picked up their first ever county council seat in Leicestershire yesterday.I am bitterly disappointed for both our candidate Paula Purver who worked so hard and also for the people of Coalville who deserve so much better than this. As I was walking out of the Hermitage Centre, I overheard BBC reporter Des Coleman recording a piece for camera saying the BNP agent refused an interview, which seems strange for a party which had just won a seat. In my opinion the result in Coalville is a stain on our district and I am determined to remove it as soon as possible.

I promise you that we will redouble our efforts in North West Leicestershire and particularly Coalville. I and so many local Conservatives have not worked so hard for the last three years to lift the yoke of Socialism from the necks of the people to see it replaced by the jackboot of National Socialism. Off to Willesley now, I hope it stops raining soon.

Comments: (0)

NW Leics County Council Results

After many weeks pounding the streets, the results are now in and Labour have been wiped out at County Council level in NW Leics. The Conservatives added 3 seats to the 3 we already hold and Richard Blunt, Geraint Jones and Tony Gillard will be joining Lesley Pendleton, John Coxon and Nick Rushton in County Hall. In addition to this, Jason Summerfield has been elected to serve Measham at District Council level. I'd like to offer my congratulations to the winning candidates and also offer commiserations to both Nigel Smith and Paula Purver who didn't quite make it today. They fought very good campaigns and deserved to win their seats.

One ballot paper was defaced with the words 'I want a General Election', I couldn't agree more.

Comments: (0)

Britain needs a General Election now

At the launch of our European Election Manifesto, David Cameron announced that he was turning "the campaign we had planned for these elections into the campaign Britain now needs: a campaign for a General Election."

He said the scale of the problems facing Britain - the recession, the debt crisis and the political crisis caused by the abuse of MPs' expenses - "all point in one direction".

There is now only one way of sorting out the mess, and that is for Parliament to be dissolved and for a General Election to be held right away.

In the second War Room Briefing video, Eric Pickles explains what you can do to help our campaign for a General Election.
 

Comments: (0)

Rupert Matthews visit

Last week East Midlands MEP candidate Rupert Matthews came to NW Leics to help the County and Euro campaign for the day in Moira and Measham. Rupert has been a tireless campaigner in the last year or so since being selected. If elected as number 3 on the party list, he would make an excellent MEP.

Comments: (0)

The last weekend before polling day

On Saturday we supported Councillor Nigel Smith`s campaign to be elected as the County Councillor for the Warren Hills division (which is made up of the Greenhill and Bardon district Council wards).

On Sunday we were out again with Councillor Paula Purver our candidate for the Coalville division in the county Council elections this Thursday. Both of these Divisions are our targets and the canvassing indicates that the race is very close, we will need to get every one of our Conservative pledges into the polling booths to ensure victory and so we will be concentrating on `getting out the vote` for the rest of this week.

Comments: (0)

David Cameron - 'A wonderful man'

David Cameron is 'a wonderful man'. Not my words (although I agree with the sentiment), but the words of Leicestershire County Council Labour group leader Matthew O'Callaghan in the last paragraph of this article about the situation in Breedon.

I'm sure David Cameron will be heartened by his opinion of him.

Comments: (0)