CONTACTING SIMON KIRBY MP

This blog has now closed.

To contact Simon Kirby:

Tel: 01273 589178 or 0207 219 7024
E-Mail: simon.kirby.mp@parliament.co.uk
Write to: Simon Kirby MP, House of Commons, London SW1A OAA

Regular surgeries are held across the constituency in Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queens Park, East Brighton, Woodingdean, Rottingdean, Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven. Please telephone for an appointment.

MY HEARTFELT THANKS

Thank you to the electors of Brighton Kemptown constituency for placing your trust in me by electing me as your Member of Parliament.

I will serve ALL the electorate, whether you voted for me or not.

I very much hope that David Cameron can put together a stable government in the national interest.

As I have said throughout the campaign – we need change in our country to put right the enormous problems left by Gordon Brown. It would be a travesty if Labour were allowed to remain in power, having suffered such a devastating defeat at the hands of the British people.

My work as your MP begins now!

STONEWALL EQUALITY WALK

Like so many other brave people, Simon Kirby took part in the Stonewall Equality Walk this wet bank holiday Sunday.
In spite of rain and wind, many people turned out for the walk, which raised awareness and funds to tackle homophobic bullying in schools.
Simon, earlier this year, attended the premier of FIT at the Sallis Benney Theatre – a film made to tackle the terrible problem of homophobic bullying – and aimed at young people.
Simon said ‘bullying of any sort should be tackled in schools, and to bully someone because of their sexuality is just wrong’.
It is believed that yesterdays walk has so far raised over £50,000.
http://www.justgiving.com/simon-kirby1

WE WILL CHANGE POLITICS

David Cameron has set set out our ‘Contract with the Electorate’ by which we can be judged if we win on May 6.
It follows below:
If you elect a Conservative government on 6 May, we will:
1. Give you the right to sack your MP, so you don’t have to wait for an election to get rid of politicians who are guilty of misconduct.
2. Cut the number of MPs by ten per cent, and cut the subsidies and perks for politicians.
3. Cut ministers’ pay by five per cent, and freeze it for five years.
4. Give local communities the power to take charge of the local planning system and vote on excessive council tax rises.
5. Make government transparent, publishing every item of government spending over £25,000, all government contracts, and all local council spending over £500.

We will change the economy
If you elect a Conservative government on 6 May, we will:
1. Cut wasteful government spending so we can stop Labour’s jobs tax, which would kill the recovery.
2. Act now on the national debt, so we can keep mortgage rates lower for longer.
3. Reduce emissions and build a greener economy, with thousands of new jobs in green industries and advanced manufacturing.
4. Get Britain working by giving unemployed people support to get work, creating 400,000 new apprenticeships and training places over two years, and cutting benefits for those who refuse work.
5. Control immigration, reducing it to the levels of the 1990s – meaning tens of thousands a year, instead of the hundreds of thousands a year under Labour.

We will change society
If you elect a Conservative government on 6 May, we will:
1. Increase spending on health every year, while cutting waste in the NHS, so that more goes to nurses and doctors on the frontline, and make sure you get access to the cancer drugs you need.
2. Support families, by giving married couples and civil partners a tax break, giving more people the right to request flexible working and helping young families with extra Sure Start health visitors.
3. Raise standards in schools, by giving teachers the power to restore discipline and by giving parents, charities and voluntary groups the power to start new smaller schools.
4. Increase the basic state pension, by relinking it to earnings, and protect the winter fuel allowance, free TV licences, free bus travel and other key benefits for older people.
5. Fight back against crime, cut paperwork to get police officers on the street, and make sure criminals serve the sentence given to them in court.
6. Create National Citizen Service for every 16 year old, to help bring the country together.

In addition to this here is my ‘Contract with Kemptown’:
If elected on May 6th then I promise to serve for all the electorate in our constituency – from the Pier to Peacehaven, and from the Marina to Moulsecoomb – not just for those who vote for me.
I also promise to be open and honest about any expense claims, and will publish those claims online for you the electorate to judge.
It has been a privilege to meet so many people in our constituency over the past 4 years as a parliamentary candidate, and with your support on Thursday I hope to be able to serve you all in the new parliament.

MENDING OUR BROKEN SOCIETY

David Cameron has spoken about the need to mend the broken society.
Speaking alongside anti-knife crime campaigner Brooke Kinsella, Cameron particularly addressed the issues of crime and violence that have so far largely been ignored by the other parties in this election campaign.
Cameron spoke about the tragic murders of people like Ben Kinsella, Rhys Jones, Gary Newlove, Sukhwinder Singh, Damilola Taylor and Jimmy Mizen.
"There is something about the frequency of these crimes, the depravity of these crimes, that betrays a deep and fundamental problem in Britain today", he said.
"As I have argued for many years now, these acts of murder and abuse are just the most violent and horrific expressions of what I have called the broken society."
Cameron went on to set out the progressive conservative approach to tackling these problems in our society. Criticising the Big Government approach, he said we need to "move from big government to the Big Society – a society with personal and collective responsibility right at its heart".
In moving to the Big Society, he went on to explain how a Conservative government would emphasise the principles of responsibility, common sense and people power.
I endorse David Cameron’s remarks. It is in the interests of us all that we make society more inclusive.

A NEW GENERATION OF STATE SCHOOLS

David Cameron and Michael Gove have reaffirmed the Conservatives' commitment to create a new generation of state schools with small class sizes and strong discipline.

They were speaking at a rally held by a group of parents in Yorkshire.

Cameron spoke to them about their shared ideas of what makes a good school.

"It’s a smaller school where the head teacher knows your child’s name. It’s a school where there are good standards of discipline, a school where they teach the basics so we open children’s minds to all the best things that have been written and said".

"It’s a school where there’s really high aspiration, we don’t accept second best we say that everyone can go all the way. It’s a school where we have common sense and we recognise that you’ve got to stretch the brightest pupils, you’ve got to help those falling behind. We all know what a good school looks like and it’s that good school that you want."

He promised that a Conservative government "will help make your dreams come true; a new school, a good school, a school that’s there for your community because you’re prepared to put your effort in to it and your Government should get behind you and help you rather than stand in your way".

I have continually said that a good education is the basis of Conservative policy, and is essential in providing the adults of the future with the skill sets they will need in today's world. I welcome these proposals.

PLANS FOR REAL CHANGE IN POLITICS

David Cameron has outlined new Conservative plans for real change in politics.
Speaking today, he said that following the expenses scandal "people are so downhearted, so disparaged, so cynical, so apathetic about our politics".
"They want to be back in control and they want change in our politics", he said.
He presented nine big ideas for real change in politics:
1. No more unelected Prime Ministers
2. Opening up democracy: More postal primaries
3. Expanding the Freedom of Information Act
4. Neighbourhood budgets: giving neighbourhoods direct funding
5. Public drafting: "Crowdsourcing" the drafting of government legislation
6. Opening up parliament: a Public Reading Day
7. Protecting whistleblowers: Strengthening protection on government waste and misuses of public money
8. A new right to data: Right to Data Act
9. Strengthening Select Committees
These ideas will give more people a real say in how their politics are run. I am please to support these proposals.

WE WILL TACKLE WELFARE DEPENDENCY

We have launched our new welfare contract. It is based on our belief that the old way – the big government way – has failed and we need to tackle welfare dependency in a new way
So in our new welfare contract our message is simple. Do the right thing and we will back you all the way but fail to take responsibility and the free ride is over.
For those who are looking for work there will be unprecedented support through our single, comprehensive Work Programme, which will be up and running by the end of 2010. By tapping into private and voluntary sector expertise, we will offer specialist and tailored support to individuals. We will make sure help is available when it is needed; straightaway for those really struggling to find work and after six months for under 25s.
But we know that to tackle unemployment we must also broaden opportunities. So we will offer substantial loans and access to business mentors to support self-employment as a route out of unemployment. For young people, we will offer 400,000 extra apprenticeship, training and college places over two years. Additionally, we will create a range of business led training places, including up to 50,000 in the hospitality and leisure industry, to ensure people are trained with the skills businesses need.
The other side of the contract is a new tough sanctions regime for those who don’t take responsibility. We will cut the benefits of anyone on Jobseeker’s Allowance who refuses to join the Work Programme; and if you refuse to take up a reasonable job offer your benefit will also be cut, for up to three years if you refuse three reasonable job offers. There will also be a tough new three strikes policy for people who commit benefit fraud, with up to three years loss of benefit for anyone committing fraud three times.
So the message is clear, government has a responsibility to help people find work but we’re all in this together and individuals have a responsibility to make use of the support that we will provide. Play your part and we will back you. If you don’t the free ride will be over.
The provision to offer 400,000 extra apprenticeships will be welcome in Brighton Kemptown. It is most important that we reduce youth unemployment in our constituency.

OLDER PEOPLE MANIFESTO

David Cameron has launched the Older People Manifesto.
The Manifesto unveils policies designed to appeal to the older community in Britain, placing them at the centre of the political narrative and continuing David Cameron's pledge to champion the great ignored.
"I want to bring older generations right into the mainstream of our national life", Cameron said in a speech today. "Yes, to treat them with respect and kindness, and to give them the dignity and security they deserve - but also to call on their wisdom and values".
1. Work and equality. Work to stop discrimination against older people and introduce better support for older workers who lose their jobs, by:
• Looking at how to end the retirement age to promote fairness in the workplace.
• Scrapping the effective obligation to buy an annuity by age 75, to give people greater control over their finances.
• Providing specialist back-to-work support for the over 50s.
2. Greater financial security. Protect pensioners’ benefits and create new forms of help to promote more independence and security, by:
• Protecting key benefits: the Winter Fuel Allowance, free bus passes, free TV licences and the pension credit. And unlike Labour, we will not scrap Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance for the over 65s.
• Providing a better basic state pension by linking it to earnings in 2012.
• Freezing council tax for two years in partnership with local councils, saving a typical Band D pensioner household over £200 a year.
• Giving more help to lower fuel bills through a ‘green deal’, helping to tackle fuel poverty.
3. Health and independence. Health and social care that is fairer and more flexible, reducing the increasing isolation and vulnerability of elderly people, by:
• Health and social care that is fairer and more flexible, reducing the increasing isolation and vulnerability of elderly people, by:
• Protecting NHS spending so it has the resources it needs to meet people’s rising expectations about the quality of care they should receive.
• Providing single budgets, combining social and health funding, to give older people direct control over the care they receive.
• Scrapping Labour’s jobs tax, and using the £200 million a year this will save the NHS to create a Cancer Drugs Fund – making sure that everyone has access to the cancer drugs their doctors think will help them.
• Devolving public health budgets, so communities can spend money to prevent older people getting ill in the first place.
• Making sure that no-one is forced to sell their own home to pay their care home fees.
• Delivering better palliative care to people at the end of their lives.
4. Family and community. Greater recognition of the important role that older people and grandparents play in their communities, and more opportunities for older people to take a more active part in building a stronger, more family-friendly society, by:
• Greater recognition of the important role that older people and grandparents play in their communities, and more opportunities for older people to take a more active part in building a stronger, more family-friendly society, by:
• Getting older people involved in new programmes of civic action and volunteering, at the vanguard of a new army of activists who will help build the Big Society.
• Creating new powers for local communities to save community assets, like post offices, that are of great value to older people.
• Giving greater rights to grandparents after parental break-up or in cases where a child needs to be taken into care.
I am very pleased about the emphasis placed upon the needs of older people in our manifesto. There are many older people in the Brighton Kemptown constituency who have suffered under 13 years of Labour government.
This manifesto puts older people and their needs at the heart of our platform for the future.

CAMERON IS READY TO LEAD

The first ever TV election debate has taken place between the leaders of the main political parties.
David Cameron looked ready to lead, in contrast to a negative and desperate Brown.
"I think it has been a great opportunity to have this debate", Cameron said in his closing statement.
He criticised "repeated attempts to try to frighten" people about a Conservative government during the debate.
"I would say choose hope over fear because we have incredibly exciting and optimistic plans for the future of our country", he said.
"A great vision where we build a bigger society, where we get our economy moving, where we stop Labour's job tax which can destroy that economy".
Cameron talked directly to the public about the issues that really affect them. But whilst discussion focused on policy, Cameron said that values were as important.
"Let me tell you mine: If you work hard, I'll be behind you. If you want to raise a family, I will support you. If you are old and you become ill, we will always be there for you."
Concluding, he said Britain was "an amazing country" that has "done incredible things".
He added that it can do more incredible things under a government "with the right values and also an understanding that we're all in this together and real change comes when we come together and work together".
"That's the sort of change and that's the sort of leadership that I will bring to our great country."

CONSERVATIVES LAUNCH MANIFESTO

The Conservative Party has launched its Manifesto: "an Invitation to join the Government of Britain".
This is not like any previous manifesto you’ve seen from a British political party.
The Conservative Party is saying that no government on its own can solve the big problems we face – everyone's going to have to get involved.
It’s an invitation to...
• be your own boss
• sack your MP
• run your own school
• own your own home
• veto council tax rises
• vote for your police
• save your local pub or post office.
The central idea in this manifesto is that we're all in this together, that working together we can change the country for the better:
• We won’t get the economy moving with a jobs tax and higher government spending – we need to help businesses create jobs.
• We won’t solve our social problems with more big government – we need to build the Big Society where families are strong and communities are safe.
• And we’ll never change politics if we leave it to the Westminster politicians – we need to give people real power and control over their lives.
I believe this is a really exciting manifesto, that puts the individual first, and promotes David Cameron’s ideas of the ‘Big Society’. People here in Brighton Kemptown will look forward to the opportunity to take more control over their own lives!

CONSERVATIVES ON EQUALITY

The Conservative Party has issued the following statement:
…”we do just want to say a couple of things”.

First, Chris Grayling has made clear that he voted for equality legislation – and indeed for civil partnerships – but has apologized if his comments caused any misunderstanding or offence.
Second, as a Party, we have changed. Yes, we’ve made mistakes in the past – not least Section 28, for which David Cameron has publicly apologised – but we hope you can judge us for what we are now.

And what we are now is a modern, progressive Party, with openly gay frontbenchers – including in the Shadow Cabinet – and candidates. In fact, if we win the next election, we’ll have more openly gay MPs than Labour.

In David Cameron’s first Party Conference speech as Conservative Leader he said that his support for marriage included civil partnerships – which we supported in Parliament. We backed new laws to prevent the incitement of hatred against gay people and we pushed the Government to introduce them.

We supported the Equality Bill.

If elected, we’ll build on all the progress made on gay rights over the last decade:
- We will change the rules so that historic convictions for consensual gay sex will be removed from a person’s criminal record
- We will tackle homophobic bullying in schools
- We will extend tax advantages and new rights to flexible parental leave to those in civil partnerships

Gay people aren’t the property of any political party. They want to decide on the big issues like any other elector.
And we want gay people to be able to vote for the modern Conservative Party because of our vision for the country and for change, safe in the knowledge that equality is here to stay.

Simon Kirby, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Kemptown said “If elected I hope to be a powerful voice for the LGTB community here in Brighton Kemptown. The Conservative Party has changed, and I am unequivocal about my support for equality”.

NICK HERBERT IN KEMPTOWN

Openly gay, shadow cabinet member – Nick Herbert, was in Brighton today – and held informal discussions with members of the local gay community in Kemptown, along with the city’s 3 Conservative candidates.

Nick also found time to visit the Aids Memorial in the New Steine with me.

“I discussed with Nick Herbert the ongoing HIV crisis in Brighton, which has one of the highest incidences of HIV in the UK”. “I told him how pleased I am that the Conservative Party is fighting this election to protect NHS spending, which has been ring-fenced by the Conservatives. This is not only important to protect HIV care in the city, but important for all of us who rely on the NHS”.

Nick Herbert then met up with all 3 Brighton & Hove Conservative candidates, and members of the Brighton gay community for what were described as ‘frank, informal discussions’.
Nick Herbert was able to tell community members that if the Conservatives win the election with a majority of just one seat then they will have 20 openly gay and lesbian MP’s.

CRACKING DOWN ON BENEFIT FRAUD!

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May has announced a new ‘three strikes’ policy to crack down on those who repeatedly defraud the benefits system.This comes as new analysis reveals that under Labour benefit overpayments due to fraud and error have cost £80 a second since 1997."For too long Labour have let benefit cheats play the system, costing the taxpayer millions", Theresa May said.
"It is astounding that since 1997 welfare waste has cost the public £80 every second".
• In total, Labour have wasted over £30 billion on fraud and error between 1997-98 and 2008-09. £14 billion of that has been wasted on benefit fraud.
• The Department for Work and Pensions has had its accounts qualified for the last 20 years due to the high level of fraud and error in the benefits system
• Between 2004-05 and 2008-09, only 143,838 people have been sanctioned for benefit fraud
The Conservatives have announced new plans to introduce tougher benefit sanctions for those found guilty of benefit fraud. This is about targeting the minority of those who are undermining the integrity of the benefits system.
Those who commit benefit fraud once will lose their out-of-work benefits for three months, a second offence will attract a benefit sanction of six months, and if someone commits fraud three times they face losing their out-of-work benefits for up to three years.
This is a big increase in the penalty, from the current situation where fraudulent claimants lose a maximum of 13 weeks benefits.

DAVID CAMERON LAUNCHES NATIONAL CITIZEN SERVICE

David Cameron has announced that a Conservative Government will set up a National Citizen Service for 16 year-olds.
National Citizen Service (NCS) will be a two month summer programme for 16-year olds, involving both residential and at-home components. It will be delivered by independent charities, social enterprises and businesses.
"I'm so excited about what we’re setting out today", Cameron said. "It’s been a long time in development – a lot of time and effort has gone into making it a reality – and I think it will be one of the proudest legacies of a future Conservative government".
A Conservative government will set for itself this ambitious goal: that over time, all 16 year-olds will take part in NCS. We want NCS to be a rite of passage for all sixteen year olds in Britain, and a shared experience that will bring young people from different backgrounds together. NCS will promote social mixing, help the transition to adulthood and promote community engagement.
Speaking at his first press conference of the election campaign, David Cameron described what the NCS is about: "We must give young people more to aspire to. More shape to their lives. More responsibility. More pride in themselves and what they can do. And we must all come together to do more about the national scandal of all this wasted promise. We owe it to the next generations."
Outlining how it would work, he said it was "a kind of non-military national service – a two-month programme for sixteen year-olds to come together in common purpose".
"It’s going to mix young people from different backgrounds, different ethnicity's and religions, in a way that doesn’t happen right now. It’s going to teach them what it means to be socially responsible by asking them to serve their communities."
I believe this is a great idea, and fully subscribe to these proposals. It is important that we engage the young people in our society, and this voluntary scheme will help many young people to develop important life skills.

THE POWER TO RE-CALL MP'S

Our People Power manifesto, will give local people the direct power to recall MPs found guilty of wrongdoing without having to wait for a General Election.
Conservatives will empower local people to cast a vote of no confidence in their elected representative and bring an end to the concept of the ‘safe seat’.
This proposal will make MPs directly answerable to their constituents over the whole of a Parliament – not just every five years.
How the Right to Recall process will work:
• The recall process will begin with the filing of a notice-of-intent-to-recall petition, to be signed by at least 100 constituents and submitted to the local returning officer
• Once registered, a recall petition can be circulated within the constituency, petitions for the recall of MPs must accumulate signatures equal to 10 per cent of the local electorate
• Any petition that crosses the signature threshold within 90 days would trigger a by-election
Shadow Leader of the House Sir George Young said:
“The last five years has been disastrous for Parliament and trust in politics has reached an all-time low. People want change and politicians must become more directly accountable for their actions.
“We have proposed a power of recall that will allow constituents to remove their MP mid-term without having to wait for a general election. Giving local people the power to cast a vote of no confidence in their elected representative will bring an end to the concept of the 'safe seat' and make MPs directly answerable to their constituents over the whole of a Parliament, not just every five years.
I hope these new proposals will help re-build trust in Parliament, and I very much support them.

ELECTION IS CALLED FOR MAY 6TH

Gordon Brown has finally called the General Election for May 6th. This is a big moment for Britain. It comes at a time when our economy is in deep trouble, we need to mend our broken society and rebuild trust in our political system. We can’t go on like this. Britain needs change to get the country back on its feet - to heal the mistakes of the past and bring new ideas and energy for our future.

This can be the year for change – and the Conservatives have the plans to make that a reality:

We will protect spending on the NHS and improve it for everyone.

We will stand up for families, sort out our schools and fight back against crime.

We will cut the deficit. As every family knows, the longer you leave a debt problem, the worse it gets.

We will take action to restore responsibility to our society.

And we will cut the cost of politics and bring transparency to Parliament.

When you’re standing in that polling booth with the pencil in your hand, I want you to remember this: your vote will help decide the kind of country Britain can be in the decades ahead.
Vote for a positive future.
Please vote Conservative. Voting for anyone else will only help Gordon Brown cling on to power. So please – for the sake of our great country – don’t miss your chance to vote for change. I hope very much to win here in Brighton Kemptown, where every vote will count in our marginal constituency. After 4 years of campaigning here, I know that so much more can be done for Brighton. I am ready for that challenge.

CAMERON UNVEILS' BIG SOCIETY' PLAN

David Cameron today set out policies to help mend Britain's Broken Society, including the creation of a new "neighbourhood army" of 5,000 professional community organisers that would give communities the help they need to work together and tackle their problems.
Conservatives seek to build a ‘Big Society’ based on responsibility and respect, in stark contrast with Labour's Big Government built on paternalism and waste.
Speaking at a conference on the Big Society today, David Cameron set out how a Conservative government would give power to neighbourhood groups and boost social action.
"It is a guiding philosophy", Cameron said, "a society where the leading force for progress is social responsibility, not state control".
"It includes a whole set of unifying approaches – breaking state monopolies, allowing charities, social enterprises and companies to provide public services, devolving power down to neighbourhoods, making government more accountable".
"And it’s the thread that runs consistently through our whole policy programme – our plans to reform public services, mend our broken society, and rebuild trust in politics."
The new policies announced as part of the Big Society plan include:
• Neighbourhood army” of 5,000 full-time, professional community organisers who will be trained with the skills they need to identify local community leaders, bring communities together, help people start their own neighbourhood groups, and give communities the help they need to take control and tackle their problems
• A Big Society Bank, funded from unclaimed bank assets, which will leverage private sector investment to provide hundreds of millions of pounds of new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other non-governmental bodies.
• Neighbourhood grants for the UK’s poorest areas to encourage people to come together to form neighbourhood groups and support social enterprises and charities in these poorest areas.
• Transforming the civil service into a ‘civic service’ by making regular community service a key element in civil servant staff appraisals.
• Launching an annual national ‘Big Society Day’ to celebrate the work of neighbourhood groups and encourage more people to take part in social action projects.
• Providing new funding to support the next generation of social entrepreneurs, and helping successful social enterprises to expand and succeed.
I very much welcome these plans set out today. They will provide a background for improving the lives of many people here in Brighton Kemptown.

WE WILL STOP LABOUR'S NI INCREASE!

George Osborne has today announced that a Conservative Government will stop Labour's tax rise on jobs by cutting waste. Stopping the planned increases in National Insurance Contributions will result in 7 out of 10 working people being better off.
A Conservative Government will take immediate action to start cutting Government waste, in order to spend £6 billion less in 2010-11 than Labour’s plans. "The re-election of a Labour Government under Gordon Brown – with more debt, waste and taxes – will bring us a new recession", George Osborne said.
"Labour will kill the recovery with their tax on jobs. We will cut Labour waste to stop it."
Former Government advisers Sir Peter Gershon and Dr Martin Read, now members of the Conservatives’ Public Sector Productivity Advisory Board, advise that savings of £12 billion across all departmental spending are possible in-year without affecting the quality of front line services. Having identified these savings the Conservatives can now commit to stop Labour’s tax rise on working people and jobs at the same time as reducing the deficit faster:
Labour are planning to raise Employees National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for everyone earning over £20,000. We will stop this increase altogether for everyone earning under £35,000 by raising the primary threshold at which people start paying NICs by £24 a week, and raising the Upper Earnings Limit by £29 a week.
Relative to Labour’s plans everyone liable for Employees NICs earning between £7,100 and £45,400 – which is 7 out of 10 working people – will be up to £150 better off a year under the Conservatives. Lower earners will get the greatest benefit as a percentage of their earnings. Nobody will be worse off.
Labour are also planning to raise Employers NICs for everyone earning over £5,700. This is a tax on jobs that will undermine the recovery. We will raise the secondary threshold at which employers start paying NICs by £21 a week, saving employers up to £150 for every person they employ relative to Labour’s plans. This will reduce the cost of Labour’s tax rise on employers by more than half.
I very much welcome George Osborne’s proposals today. Nothing could be worse for job creation and the recovery from Labour’s recession, than to have the recovery damaged by labour’s tax increases on employment. In Brighton Kemptown we need to promote the creation of new jobs, and these proposals will help with that job creation.

CONSERVATIVE PENSIONERS PLEDGE

David Cameron today outlined the Conservatives’ pensioner pledge for the General Election campaign.
The pledge includes a personal promise to protect the Winter Fuel Payment, free bus passes and TV licences, and the pension credit.
DAVID CAMERON'S PLEDGE TO PENSIONERS
The Government I lead will make sure that older and retired people are treated with dignity and given the quality of life they deserve. This is my pledge to support pensioners.
My Government will:
• Increase the value of the basic state pension for all pensioners and help to stop the spread of the means test by linking pensions to earnings. You won’t get a repeat of Labour’s mean 75p rise with us.
• Freeze council tax for the next two years, in partnership with your council.
• Make it worthwhile to save for a personal pension and get rid of the rules that force people to get a compulsory annuity.
• Help people protect their home rather than have to sell it to pay for care.
• Take all family homes worth less than £1 million out of inheritance tax.
• Increase spending on the NHS every year, which is our number one priority.
• Cut paperwork so we get more police out on the beat fighting crime.
Our opponents are trying to scare older people by telling deliberate lies about our plans. So here is a personal promise, from me, about the things we will protect.
• I will protect your Winter Fuel Payment.
• I will protect your free bus pass and your free TV licence.
• I will protect the pension credit.
These vital benefits will not be cut under the Conservatives. You have my word on it.
I fully agree with David Cameron and welcome this pledge to pensioners here in Brighton Kemptown.

KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON

News that energy company E.on is considering building a major offshore wind farm 8 miles off the coast of Brighton could be good news in helping to tackle Britain's looming energy deficit.

Conservatives have been concerned for some years now that Labour's failure on improving energy security could lead to power cuts in the next decade. The Party has been thinking hard on this issue and recently published a 12 point plan to improve Britain's energy security and make sure we keep the lights on!

Our 12-point plan is set out below:

1. Ensure that Britain has a clear, consistent and stable energy policy

• A Department leading on energy policy. A streamlined Department for Energy and Climate Change will deliver an Annual Energy Statement to Parliament that sets a clear strategic direction for energy policy – and therefore energy investment – in the years ahead.

• Reform of Ofgem. We will reform Ofgem to focus it on executing, not developing, policy. Its competition powers will be transferred to the Office of Fair Trading.

2. Establish a capacity guarantee in the electricity market

• An Electricity Capacity Guarantee. We believe that developers should be incentivised to build enough generating capacity to provide a reliable electricity supply at times of peak demand. The energy regulator should where necessary, long-term contracts for the provision of new capacity. This would allow investments to be planned in advance (thereby assuring security of supply) and at low risk (thereby cutting costs).

3. Establish a security guarantee for gas supply

• A Gas Capacity Guarantee. A Conservative government will ensure that, like France and Germany, we have enough gas storage or equivalent capacity to guarantee supplies throughout the year.

• An active role in a global market. North Sea production is in decline and we must maximise the diversity, reliability and affordability of the imported gas we will need in the years ahead. Therefore, a Conservative government will:
o Promote reliable long-term supply contracts.
o Maintain and deepen our international trading relationships.
o Press for the liberalisation of international energy markets.

4. Reform the Climate Change Levy to provide a floor price for carbon

• A floor price for carbon. The Government’s ineffectual Climate Change Levy is a tax on energy use, not emissions. We will fulfil our commitment to reform the CCL by turning it into a rebateable carbon levy that would act as a floor price for carbon in the energy sector.

5. Operate a streamlined planning process for large infrastructure investments

• Improving the planning system. We will speed up the planning process and ensure there are proper democratic checks and balances. We will retain recently made provisions for a streamlined, fast-track planning process and the National Policy Statements, but demand they be ratified by Parliament.
6. Facilitate nuclear power

• Facilitating nuclear power. We support the long overdue National Policy Statements on energy infrastructure, which are of critical importance to nuclear power. We agree with the nuclear industry that taxpayer and consumer subsidies should not and will not be provided – in particular there must be no public underwriting of construction cost overruns.

• Dealing with nuclear waste. We will work closely with the industry to identify a long-term repository for nuclear waste and establish a fair allocation of costs for the use new nuclear power stations will make of the facility.

7. Accelerate the demonstration of carbon capture and storage

• Action on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). We will bring the current CCS competition to a rapid conclusion and expand the demonstration programme to at least four facilities. We will ensure that CCS pipelines are planned and located where the greatest capacity for growth can be provided at the lowest costs.

• An Emissions Performance Standard. Under Conservative plans, all new coal-fired power stations would have to incorporate CCS technology from the outset and an emissions performance standard would be used to underpin progress on the level of carbon capture and efficiency of each plant.

8. Promote renewable energy

• Feed-in Tariffs. We will reduce costs to consumers and risks to investors by allowing feed-in tariffs to be used for future investments wherever this would offer better value for money to the public and reduce the cost of capital for investors.

• Facilitating development. We will put in place the offshore grid to reduce the uncertainty over grid connections that impacts on investment in offshore wind and marine renewables. And marine park facilities will be developed alongside the offshore grid to accelerate the development and demonstration of wave and tidal power systems.

• Allowing communities to benefit from wind power. We will help take the poison out of many of the planning battles surrounding onshore wind by promoting community ownership of appropriately sited wind farms and allowing communities that chose to host wind farms to keep the additional business rates they generate for six years.

9. Revolutionise supply and demand by building an energy internet

• Accelerating the roll-out of Smart Meters. We will accelerate the roll-out of smart meters, where the data belongs to the consumer, setting a deadline of the end of 2016 for the completion.

• Developing a Smart Grid. We will promote smart grid investment across our energy networks, setting ‘smartness’ criteria for the renewal and replacement of our existing transmission and distribution infrastructure.

10. Reduce demand by offering every household a Green Deal on energy efficiency

• The Green Deal. We will give every household in Britain a Green Deal - the right to have home energy efficiency improvements worth up to £6,500. The upfront costs will be financed by the commercial sector; and repaid over a period of up to 25 years through the savings on energy bills.

11. Electrify transport to reduce dependence on oil

• Reducing dependence on oil. A Conservative government will accelerate progress towards building the type of high-speed rail that has been available across Europe for decades.

• The electrification of road transport. The widespread adoption of electric vehicles depends on a national network of recharging points, as in Brighton; we will designate these as a regulated asset – enabling investment ahead of need.

• Making the most of our North Sea reserves, through reforms to the taxation, licensing and infrastructure arrangements for oil and gas exploration.

12. Create a Green Investment Bank

• A Green Investment Bank. A Conservative government would act to help mobilise investment by creating a Green Investment Bank. The Bank will consolidate within a single institution the existing disparate sources of public investment.

TIGHTENING THE RULES

The recent lobbying revelations have once again brought to the forefront the need to clean up British politics. David Cameron said a couple of months ago that the issue of lobbying was 'next big scandal waiting to happen' and he used a recent press conference to set out a five point plan to ensure that something similar to the recent scandal does not occur again.

David Cameron announced:

• 'We’re going to make absolutely sure that ex-Ministers are not allowed to use the contacts and knowledge gained in government for their own private gain.

• We’ll double the time when it’s forbidden for ex-Ministers to lobby government from twelve months to two years.

• We’ll extend to ten years the period during which ex-Ministers must seek advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

• We’ll put that Committee on a statutory basis, so ignoring its advice will be an offence.

• And we’ve also got to put a stop to the practice of one part of government lobbying another part of government.'


Moving forward on this agenda will be a key element of a new Conservative Government's rely agenda.

LABOUR'S EMPTY BUDGET

David Cameron has responded in the House of Commons to the Chancellor's last Budget before the election.
He said Labour "have made a complete mess of the British economy and they are totally failing to clean it up".
Cameron set out the big argument in British politics: Labour say "don’t do anything before the election, let’s just sit tight and keep our fingers crossed", and the Conservatives say "we need real action to get our economy moving – and urgently".
Highlighting new policies that copied existing Conservative proposals, such as the stamp duty cut and new university places, he said the "only new ideas in British politics are coming from this side of the House" and that "the only thing Labour bring are debt, waste and taxes".
The figures that stands out above any other, he said, was that Labour have "doubled the national debt, and they’re going to double it again".
Outlining the Government's failure Cameron criticised "all those schemes that they launched with great fanfare" for failing to help enough people. He also drew comparisons on the state of the economy when Labour came to power to the present – including the huge increase in the debt and deficit, and a falling down the global league tables in terms of competitiveness, tax and regulation.
He said that the greatest risk to Britain's economic recovery was another Labour government. "No one has yet thought of a question to which the answer is five more years of this Prime Minister", he said.
"We need a credible plan to cut the deficit. We need an unleashing of enterprise across the nation. We need a plan to boost employment through radical welfare and school reform. If ever there was a time when this country needed a radical change of direction it is now."
He concluded that Britain needs a Conservative government "to clean up the mess made by this Labour Government".
"Britain needs new energy, leadership and values to get this country moving again. That’s the argument we’ll take to the country the moment the Prime Minister has been forced by the law of the land to call the election he has avoided for so long."

I agree with David Cameron. Bring on the election which Britain and Brighton desperately needs!

CONSERVATIVES IN KEMPTOWN ARE READY!

Just attended the AGM of Kemptown Conservatives.
This was the best attended meeting in years, and one thing was very clear - Conservatives are ready for the forthcoming campaign, and look forward with relish to helping bring about a Cameron government, which will usher in the change the country so desperately needs.
I spoke to the meeting and told them that I will do everything in my power to win this seat, so that David Cameron goes to Downing Street.
There is a clear choice in Kemptown between a failing government lead by Gordon Brown and 5 more years of labour, or a fresh start under David Cameron.
We are determined here in Brighton Kemptown to bring about that change.

Gordon Brown’s plans for a Death Tax

Everybody wants to give older people more support in their old age, especially the most vulnerable. That is why a Conservative government will introduce a Home Protection Scheme, a voluntary insurance programme to allow people – for a one off £8,000 payment – to make sure they never have to sell their home to pay for residential care.

After this week's House of Lords ruling Labour’s plans to extend free personal care and to introduce a National Care Service are in chaos. Gordon Brown is considering levying a death tax on every person in England. The choice is clear: a death tax under Gordon Brown or real reform through a voluntary insurance scheme under the Conservatives.

BRITAIN'S FUTURE CREDIT RATING

One of the first duties of an incoming Conservative Government will be to put the national finances back on a proper footing. Labour's disastrous handling of the country's economy has even led to questions being raised about the country's credit worthiness!

Conservatives have set out a clear benchmark to safeguard Britain’s credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate a large part of the structural deficit over a Parliament.

Firstly, we will cut the deficit quicker and start sooner than Labour and we will make a start in 2010. As the Party said in October, the pace of cuts will be decided in co-ordination with the Bank of England which is responsible for setting interest rates. The choice is clear: Conservatives will act to deal with the deficit, Labour will delay and put recovery at risk.
 
Top economists, the Bank of England, OECD, CBI, IFS, and National Institute of Economic and Social Research all agree that Labour do not have a credible plan to deal with the deficit.

Our plan involves the restraining the growth of public spending and we will reduce Labour's plans if we win the General Election. Their proposals are not sustainable.

We also need a proper strategy regarding taxes. Our first priority of all Labour's tax rises is to avoid the increase in National Insurance Contributions – a tax on everyone earning over £20,000. At the moment Conservatives have not committed to reverse Labour's planned taxes until we know we can afford it. However, all the plans the Conservatives have put forward are fully funded. For example, the cut we are proposing in inheritance tax would be paid for by a levy on non-doms.

Conservatives know that Britain's spiralling debt is not the way to build a balanced, sustainable economy for the future. That the country's credit rating is a subject of discussion in international circles is a concern in terms of being able to finance the debt while it is being brought under control. Conservative plans will reassure investors that the British Government is serious about re-balancing the national finances and setting them on a path that allows economic growth and to provide the services, like the NHS, that the public rightly values and which the Conservatives Party has put at the heart of its reforming agenda.

CONSERVATIVE TECHNOLOGY MANIFESTO

The Conservative Party has published plans to kick start the economic recovery, create new jobs, and make the British government the most technology friendly in the world.
The Conservative Technology Manifesto includes plans to legislate to introduce a powerful new "Right to Government Data" that will open up government data to the public, including detailed information on government spending.
This will not only make government more accountable and enable the public to root out wasteful spending, but will catalyse the growth of innovative new business applications and companies that can make use of this valuable public data, estimated to be worth £6 billion.
Key policies include:
• Legislating to enshrine the freedom of government data and create a powerful new ‘Right to Government Data’, enabling the public to request – and receive – government datasets. This will radically increase the amount of government data released – and will provide a multi-billion pound boost to the UK economy. President Obama’s administration has already implemented a ‘Right to Data’ policy.
• Extending superfast 100 mbps broadband across most of the population. This is 50 times faster than Labour’s planned broadband network and would make the UK a hub for the creative industries
• Publishing online every item of central government and Quango spending over £25,000 – including every contract in full. This will create new jobs by opening up government procurement to more SMEs. We will also publish online every item of local government spending over £500 – including every contract in full. In addition, detailed information on the salaries of senior civil servants and local council officials will be published online.
• Creating a level playing field for open source IT in government procurement and open up government IT contracts to SMEs by breaking up large IT projects into smaller components.
• We will also create a small IT development team in government – a ‘government skunkworks’ - that can develop low cost IT applications in-house and advise on the procurement of large projects.
Information technology businesses thrive in Brighton, and 100mbps broadband is to be welcomed. These proposals are good news for job development in our city..

PUBLIC MEETING IN PEACEHAVEN

I was delighted to take part in 2 meetings yesterday, between candidates for the Brighton Kemptown constituency, at the Peacehaven Community School.
The first was for pupils at the school. I was impressed by the way these young people handled the planning and organisation of the meeting, and of the incisive nature of the questions. They are indeed a credit to the Peacehaven community!
The second meeting was open to members of the public.
I welcome the opportunity I had to answer questions and to debate some of the important issues of the coming campaign.
Britain has suffered nearly 13 years of labour, and at last we can offer the change that Brighton and Britain so desperately need.

A FRESH LOOK AT SELLING ALCOHOL

There is much concern amongst local people at the large number of outlets selling alcohol and the number of small supermarkets, often concentrated around a few chains, that seem to be able to sell alcohol at all hours of the day and night. Worries about binge-drinking and its effects are now widespread and we need to take a fresh look and a fresh view.

The reality is that under Labour’s lax licensing regime, drink fuelled violence and disorder are out of control.

Binge-drinking damages people’s health and harms society, so Conservatives will overhaul the Licensing Act to give local authorities and the police much stronger powers over licensing, including the ability to remove licences from, or refuse to grant licences to, any premises which are causing problems.

Under other Conservative plans, Councils will be allowed to shut down permanently any shop or bar found selling alcohol to children, and double the maximum fine for under-age alcohol sales to £20,000.

Tax on super-strength beers, ciders and alcopops, but not the everyday pint, will be increased.

Off-licences and supermarkets will be banned from selling alcohol below cost price.

We will also permit local councils to charge more for latenight licences to pay for additional policing.

It is time for a change on licensing and we cannot go on as we are. Labour seem to have no real idea on how to tackle the problems their 2003 law have brought forward. Conservatives, like the public, know things must change.

ANOTHER FIVE YEARS OF DRIFT?

The Conservatives have recently published 6 key policy changes that are needed in Britain. We can't go on with another 5 years of Gordon Brown. The Labour Government is exhausted with no new ideas or proposals to move Britain forward.

It is time for a change and these are our Conservative key policy areas:

1 Act now on debt to get the economy moving

Deal with the deficit more quickly than Labour so that mortgage rates stay lower for longer with the Conservatives.

2 Get Britain working by boosting enterprise

Cut corporation tax rates, abolish taxes on the first ten jobs created by new businesses, promote green jobs, and get people off welfare and into work.

3 Make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe

Freeze council tax and raise the basic state pension, recognise marriage in the tax system and back couples in the benefits system, support young families with extra health visitors, and fightback against crime.

4 Back the NHS

Increase spending on health every year, and make the NHS work for patients not managers.

5 Raise standards in schools

Give teachers the power to restore discipline, and create new smaller schools.

6 Change politics

Reduce the number of MPs, cut Whitehall and quangos by a third, and let taxpayers see where their money is being spent.

THE BIGGEST RISK FOR BRITAIN

William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, has today argued that the biggest risk for Britain is five more years of Gordon Brown.He said that "our ability to undertake economic modernisation will be critical to Britain’s future influence".
He continued "that is why our proposals on business taxation are oriented towards attracting and maintaining investment, why our programme of education reform explicitly draws from best practice across the globe, from Alberta to Sweden to Singapore, to ensure we make the most of every young person’s talent in the future."
Hague warned that the modernisation our economy needs is not guaranteed. "If our opponents’ mistaken arguments and mistaken principles prevailed Britain will move backwards towards a ’70s style model, with a bigger say for the trade unions who want to impose rigidity and unaffordable regulation across the public and private sector”.
Hague said Gordon Brown was right to refer to the economy being "at a crossroads" in a speech he gave today. "We could continue with five more years of his debt, waste and taxes. We know where that would lead - just yesterday an international credit rating agency warned that Labour's plans would result in the loss of our credit rating. "
"That would be a catastrophe for our economy and for our reputation around the world", he said.
"So the biggest risk for Britain is five more years of Gordon Brown. The alternative is to change direction, deal with our debts more quickly and restore confidence in our economy. A new Conservative Government will be a chance to send the signal far and wide that Britain is once again open for business."

It is so important for Brighton Kemptown that we bring about the change needed to develop new jobs in the local economy.

INGENIOUS BRITAIN

David Cameron has welcomed Sir James Dyson's Ingenious Britain report, which he commissioned from the popular designer and inventor last October, in order to seek proposals to make Britain the leading high tech exporter in Europe.

His report contains proposals to help us build this new economic model and create well paid new jobs. The Conservative Party strongly welcomes its conclusions.
"Sir James Dyson’s report represents an exciting and ambitious step forward in our desire to make Britain Europe’s leading generator of new technology", Cameron said.
In it are the ideas that will help us create new, high-paying jobs right across our country. Dyson is one of Britain’s biggest success stories and Sir James Dyson knows better than any bureaucrat how you start a business, build it up and start selling to the world – and he’s put that knowledge into this blueprint for creating a generation of innovation and enterprise."
The Review’s proposals include:
• Cultural change to develop high esteem for science and engineering, including a major national prize scheme for engineering and commitments to ‘grand projects’ such as high speed rail and nuclear power to demonstrate a Conservative Government’s ambitions for the country.
• Changes at university level to encourage more young people to choose science and engineering degrees, including: industry scholarships for engineers, where the costs of bursaries to students are shared between industry and government; greater freedom for universities, for example to develop shorter courses where appropriate, or more vocational degrees.
• Changes in the way we exploit new knowledge, so that the UK becomes world-class in taking the best new ideas out of universities and onto the market. Proposals include more focused funding for knowledge transfer in universities and new ways of promoting collaboration through public-private research institutes.
• Changes to improve financing for high tech start ups, by increasing the generosity of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) relief for angel investors that support hi tech companies, and a government guaranteed business loan scheme to encourage more lending by banks to innovative businesses.
• Changes to support high tech companies, by refocusing R&D tax credits on high tech companies, small businesses and new start-ups, and delivering on ambitions to deliver 25% of procurement and research contracts through small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

I welcome these proposals and the opportunity they can provide for employment in Brighton, as we are already seen as an innovative place to do business.

ARGENTINE FALKLANDS PRESSURE SHOULD BE MET WITH RESOLVE

• You may have seen the recent news reports that the Argentine Government is placing restrictions on ship movements around the Falklands and some of the nearby islands following a decision to explore for oil near the Falklands.

The Conservative position is clear:

• The Falklands Islands are sovereign to the United Kingdom, and we condemn attempts by any foreign governments to assert otherwise.

• The islanders have every right to develop the natural resources of their islands and surrounding waters. It should be made very clear that the wholly legitimate search for oil in the Falkland’s waters will not be affected by unwarranted threats or interference from Argentina.

• Good relations with Argentina are desirable and welcome Argentina must be left in no doubt once again by the British Government that the islands but will remain British territory for as long as the islanders wish it. An increased British naval presence in the area would leave no doubt as to this position.

• The British Government should state clearly that no vessel operating within the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands will require any form of permit from any other country.

• An increased British naval presence in the area would leave no doubt as to the UK’s position on the sovereignty of the Falklands. This may just be a question of one more ship visiting more regularly in the region.

CREATING ECONOMIC STABILITY

The Conservatives are determined to ensure that the British economy is again put on a path of sustained and balanced growth. A pathway to prosperity that is based on genuine economic strength and not on unsustainable debt levels.

This is what the Conservatives will do to rebuild the British economy:

Emergency Budget

A Conservative Government will hold an emergency Budget within 50 days of taking office to set out a credible plan to eliminate in large part the structural current budget deficit over a Parliament. The first measures will start to take effect this year.

Cutting government spending.

Conservatives will protect health spending in real terms and honour our commitments on international aid, but there will be cuts in many other departmental budgets including:
• A one year public sector pay freeze in 2011 (this won’t affect the one million lowest paid workers)
• Bringing forward the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66 to no earlier than 2016 for men and 2020 for women
• Stopping tax credits to families with incomes over £50,000
• Cutting spending on Child Trust Funds for all but the poorest third of families and families with disabled children
• Capping the biggest public sector pensions above £50,000
• A 5% pay cut for Ministers followed by a 5 year freeze, and a 10% reduction in the number of MPs.

Creating an Independent Office for Budget Responsibility

This will restore trust in Treasury forecasts. The OBR will provide an independent audit of all Government liabilities, and hold the Government to account for its fiscal promises.

Supporting a savings culture.

We will restore our savings culture and encourage people to save more for retirement by:
• Working with employers and industry to support auto-enrollment into pensions for those on middle and lower incomes.
• Restoring the link between the state pension and average earnings.
• Rewarding those who have saved for their retirement by ending compulsory annuitisation at age 75.
• Raising the Inheritance Tax threshold to £1 million.
• Take 9 out of 10 first time buyers out of stamp duty by raising their threshold to £250,000.
• Over the longer term, reversing the effects on pension savers of the 1997 abolition of the dividend tax credit for pension funds.
• Promoting responsible consumer finance by creating a powerful Consumer Protection Agency, launching Britain’s first free national financial advice service, capping excessive store card interest rates, and ensuring that consumers are given much clearer information on credit card bills and advertising.


• Richard Branson backs Conservative spending plans. On 16 February 2010, the Evening Standard quoted Richard Branson saying:

‘I believe the UK's record budget deficit does pose a serious risk to our recovery. It would be damaging if we lost the confidence of the markets through delayed action and saw interest rates have to go up steeply. We are going to have to cut our spending and I agree with the 20 leading economists who said we need to start this year. The next government, whatever party that is, must set out a plan to reduce the bulk of the deficit over a Parliament by cutting wasteful spending and must not put off those tough decisions to next year. These factors threaten to undermine the confidence of international and UK business, UK consumers and the global financial markets. That could cost jobs and reduce investment in Britain. We must send a clear signal that we have the issues in hand and a clear strategy for UK plc.’

Sir Richard Branson’s support for Conservative economic policy of early action to deal with Britain’s debts is hugely welcome.  As Britain’s best-known entrepreneur, he knows how to create jobs and build an economic recovery.

I am sure the whole country will want to pay attention to his warning that Gordon Brown’s approach could mean lost jobs, higher mortgage rates and less investment in Britain.  Coming just 48 hours after the country’s 20 leading economists made exactly the same argument, the momentum for change is growing every day.

EXPANDING ACADEMIES AND REFORMING OFSTED

Michael Gove, the Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, has announced that a Conservative Government will legislate immediately to expand rapidly the Academies programme.
He pledged to introduce a new Educational Bill within days of taking office, with the intention of it becoming law by the end of July 2010.
The Bill will sweep away restrictions on the creations of new Academies and radically reform Ofsted to put a new focus on saving failing school, radically reform OFSTED, and struggling primaries will be identified faster and turned around more quickly.
The announcement comes as the Conservative Party holds a conference for more than 150 heads of outstanding schools to outline their plans to spread lessons from the best schools to those that are struggling.
"Unless we act now our children will lose out in the global race for knowledge", Gove said. "We cannot afford another five years of Gordon Brown. We need a new generation of independent state schools run by teachers who know your child’s name, not by politicians."
He said that if the Conservatives win the election, we will act "within days" to raise standards:
"We will immediately change the law so we can set hundreds of good schools free from political interference and enable them to help struggling schools. We will enable them to re-open as Academies this September. And we will empower them to take over failing primaries or other schools which need their leadership."

LABOUR'S ECONOMIC INCOMPETENCE

Ken Clarke our Business Spokesman has said “We have been arguing for months that it is only the prospect of a Conservative victory that has been holding down interest rates and holding up sterling. This has been a very fragile position. Yesterday's and today's market movements show how nervous our foreign creditors and investors are about the prospects of a Gordon Brown victory or a hung parliament.”
The argument from a British point of view is if investors do not believe the new British Government has the political will to deal with the deficit and pay down some debt they will demand much higher interest rates before they will lend us any more money. It's a perfectly straightforward argument.
George Osborne first warned that a devalued pound could push up long-term interest rates in November of 2008. George said then: "The more you borrow as a government, the more you have to sell that debt - And the less attractive your currency seems."
This is not because of plain speaking from the Opposition, but because the markets could take fright over the prospect of the irresponsible, profligate Gordon Brown government somehow hanging onto office for another five years.
Last thing I want is the Government of this country to be at the mercy of the bond markets or international finance. That's the position Gordon Brown has put us in. We run that risk because Gordon Brown has left our country with the biggest budget deficit in peacetime history, borrowing one pound for every four we spend. I want to live in a democracy which elects a Government that regains control of events and has the mandate from the electorate to take the tough and necessary decisions. Voters must not elect themselves into a financial crisis.
In plain terms, no one should doubt that a Cameron Government will cut wasteful public spending, keep taxes as low as possible and get rid of the bulk of the structural public deficit in the lifetime of the next Parliament.

CAMERON SPEECH TO CONFERENCE

Just returned home and have had time to reflect on David Cameron's speech this afternoon.
Yet again David managed to produce a full speech without need for notes.
For anyone watching this flawless speech at home then make no mistake that the atmosphere in the hall was electric.
The Conservative Party is ready for the fight ahead, and David Cameron is the right person to lead us to victory not just for party but for the whole of the country.

He spoke as to how the Conservatives have changed under his leadership - and that there is no going back!
He said that the fight ahead will not be easy but that it is the patriotic duty of the Conservatives to win for Britain!

When I contrast this articulate performance from our leader with the shambolic failings of Gordon Brown then I have great optimism for Britain - because with David Cameron as Prime Minister we will have a leader who will go out and sell for Britain, and win for Britain!

VOTE FOR CHANGE!

Six clear messages came out of our Spring Conference in Brighton:

1. ACT NOW ON DEBT TO GET THE ECONOMY MOVING

2. GET BRITAIN WORKING BY BOOSTING ENTERPRISE

3. MAKE BRITAIN THE MOST FAMILY-FRIENDLY COUNTRY IN EUROPE

4. BACK THE NHS

5. RAISE STANDARDS IN SCHOOLS

6. CHANGE POLITICS

I will be taking these clear messages out on the doorsteps between now and polling day, and explaining our policies in full. The message is clear - that the Conservatives have the policies to win!

AT OUR SPRING CONFERENCE!

Have had a great time this weekend at our Spring Conference held here in Brighton.

I will report on David Cameron's speech later.

I have been to many meetings, among which was the LGBTory meeting last night, attended by shadow cabinet member Nick Herbert, MP Greg Barker, famous tory blogger Iain Dale, and well known Christopher Biggins.
I was pleased to go along with my local activists who support this group.

CONSERVATIVES TAKE A HOLD OF TAX

The news that Brighton and Hove City Council’s Conservative-led Administration has just passed a Council Tax rise of just 2.5% (the lowest in the City Council’s history) means that if a Conservative Government is elected, then tax rises for local people will actually be zero from 2011/12.
 
The Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has recently confirmed that any Council which keeps its Council Tax rise to 2.5% will receive an additional subsidy from Central Government which will allow Councils to freeze Council Tax and no rises will be allowed.
 
The Council Tax in Brighton and Hove rose 124% in the ten years Labour ran the Council and since 2007, when the Conservative have led the Administration tax rises have been reducing with a lower figure each financial year.
 
Keeping Council Tax under control is a key part of Conservative philosophy in that government, at whatever level, should only take in taxes the amount needed to fund the public services. Our plans at national level to cut back the deficit will keep taxes under control in the future and locally Conservative-run Councils are showing that they can keep taxes within reason while delivering real improvements in services for local residents. Brighton and Hove Council is now rated a 4 star ‘excellent’ Council, for example.

POLICIES FOR WOMEN'S EQUALITY

I have written elsewhere on this blog about the importance to the Conservative Party of equality as it affects the LGBT community. The Conservatives have also published policies to improve women's opportunities. Several policies have been announced and these include:

• Measures to tackle the gender pay gap, including stronger legislation to prevent employers discriminating and better careers guidance for young women.
• The extension of the right to request flexible working to all parents with children under the age of 18.
• The introduction of a new system of flexible parental leave, so parents can decide how to divide paid maternity leave between them and are able to make use of it simultaneously.
• A new strategy to tackle violence against women, including a greater focus on preventative work in schools, better training for police and front-line professionals and new rape crisis centres.
•
A Conservative government will follow a joined-up, common sense approach to women’s issues and make our society fairer for everybody. If you would like to see the two published policy documents relating to women's opportunities and the importance of tackling domestic violence, then follow this web address and the documents are there to be downloaded as pdf documents:

http://www.conservatives.com/Policy/Where_we_stand/Women.aspx

TACKLING THE DEBT!

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne yesterday set out the Conservative vision for a new economic model.
He argued that the debt-fuelled model of growth that the Government pursued over the last decade was fundamentally unsustainable, and that we need to move from an economy built on debt to an economy where we save and invest for the future. We have to deal with our debts to get the economy back on its feet.
He argued that the existing policy framework failed to prevent the crisis, is unable to deal with the current weakness of the economy, and won’t be able to stop it happening again. He set out a new economic model for growth based on saving and investment, and a new policy framework that can ensure that private and public debt are sustainable in the future. including:
He also explained why the Government’s argument that we can afford to wait until 2011 before dealing with the deficit is complacent and puts the recovery at risk, and explained why we need to start dealing with the deficit in 2010.
Tackling the huge debt will be a priority of the next Conservative Government. As George Osborne says, we need to start dealing with this problem in 2010.

AGRICULTURE & THE ENVIRONMENT

I have often wondered why we are so reliant on agricultural imports, when it is not so long ago that Britain was self sufficient in so many items.
Our new agricultural policies address both this issue, and at the same time set out how to save the environment. Our agenda is set out today by shadow cabinet member Nick Herbert.
Our new policy paper has five key aims: to enable increased production whilst protecting the environment, to promote fair competition, to reduce the burden of regulation, to further reform the Common Agricultural Policy, and to take action on animal disease.
‘Our Agenda for British Farming' sets out two major new proposals:
• The introduction of rules into the new national planning framework to prevent the development of the most fertile farmland, in all but exceptional circumstances.
• Fundamental reform of the Rural Payments Agency, appointing the Minister for Farming as Chairman of its Management Board, to improve accountability, reduce costs and drive up performance.
Key Conservative pledges are set out to:
• Commission within the first three months of taking office an industry-led review of all existing regulations with a view to reducing burdens without compromising standards.
• Introduce legislation on country of origin labelling if a comprehensive voluntary agreement cannot be reached.
• Ensure that all food served in Government departments meets British standards of production, wherever this can be delivered without increasing overall costs.
Nick Herbert has said "Labour has persistently under-valued British agriculture, failing to understand that we all depend on the production of food, while the countryside relies on farmers' stewardship of the environment. Despite its importance to our food security, the protection of our best farmland has been downgraded and the Government has over-ridden councils who have sought to keep in place local protection of this valuable asset. In this new age of agriculture, we need to strengthen the protection of our most fertile farmland and recognise its importance as a national resource for future generations."
Our Shadow Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister, added:
"Our Agenda for British Farming sets out practical proposals to foster a more productive, sustainable and competitive farming industry. British farmers safeguard our food security, maintain the countryside and provide the raw materials for the UK's largest manufacturing sector. This represents an enormous contribution to our national well-being and resilience. It is about time this was reflected by a government which understands the realities of farming and creates the conditions in which the industry can thrive."

R.I.P OFF

The Conservative Party estimates that Gordon Brown’s plans for a £20,000 death tax will rob 4.3 million of inheritance.

After thirteen years of taxing every aspect of our lives, Gordon Brown now wants to tax death. For people with modest savings, this will represent a 100 per cent inheritance tax. Recently, Gordon Brown was given three opportunities to deny he is planning a death tax to fill the black hole in his National Care Service plans – and each time he failed to do so. Interestingly, Andy Burnham, his Health Minister, has confirmed that it remains on the table. People can only assume that a vote for Labour is a vote for a £20,000 death tax.

A FRESH START - NOT A SECOND LOOK

Gordon Brown is asking people to give his Party a second look but the reality is people have seen the Labour Party and its works for the past 13 years.

David Cameron recently spoke to the Scottish Conservatives and outlined his fresh start for the country by a reformed Conservative Party.

He said that country’s problems were so intense that the country needed not just a modern Conservative Party, but a radical Conservative Party too.

David Cameron said: ‘After thirteen years of a Labour Government that has spent too much, centralised too much, bureaucratised too much, legislated too much, regulated too much and bossed everyone around too much, turning things around will require radical change. If we win the election, we will start attacking the great challenges this country faces with a radical zeal from day one.’

Over the weeks I have set out in this blog the big changes the Conservatives are proposing in a host of areas on areas such as housing, local government, the health service and crime.

A Conservative Government will stop pretending that only the government and the public sector have the answers. Centralised bureaucracy that wastes money, saps morale and crushes innovation will be reduced. State monopoly on public services will be opened up to new providers with new ideas.

David Cameron added in his speech: ‘We will let those providers, new or old, state, private or voluntary get on with the job of giving people a great service. And we will pay them by the results they achieve. Some people will say: ‘you can’t do things like that. You can’t afford to take those risks.’ But the reality is that, with so little money and so much failure, we can’t afford not to.’

Brighton will benefit from this fresh approach where people will be given real control of their lives and resources. A new Conservative Government will do what works and not let outdated thinking hamper the people’s progress.

ONLY THE BRAVE!

Over 8000 brave souls faced rain, wind, hail and freezing conditions this morning for the Charity Half Marathon Beacon Run.
In spite of everything the weather through at them, these brave runners turned out in force to raise money for various charities.
I salute all those who took part.
I was able to help in a very small capacity as a Marshall at the event, right along at the Black Rock end of the run.
I was so impressed at the numbers who took part, and at the excellent organisation of the event.
It is times like these, with the voluntary help of so many people, that you realise what it is that makes Britain great!

PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM COMMERCIALISATION

David Cameron has announced plans to help families protect children from premature sexualisation and excessive commercialisation.
The measures are designed to crack down on irresponsible marketing practices and products targeted at children.
David Cameron said today "I want to make Britain the most family-friendly country in the world”. "A key part of helping families and mending our broken society is making sure that business is responsible in how it markets and advertises products to children".
The proposals launched today include:
• Banning the most manipulative marketing techniques aimed at young people
• Strengthening the regulatory framework
• Giving people the power to make complaints
• Banning irresponsible companies from winning future government contracts.
David emphasised that "social pressure" is the best way to combat irresponsible behaviour and encourage responsibility, saying that the Conservatives would "make it easier for parents to mobilise against campaigns and products that they think are inappropriate".
He also added that the Government still has an important role. "A Conservative Government would take the tough action needed to help families and build a society in which we stop treating children as adults", he said.

CONSERVATIVES CHAMPION GAY EQUALITY

Shadow Cabinet member Nick Herbert, has today spoken about the Conservative Party's promotion of gay equality.
Nick said "For the modern Conservative Party, embracing gay equality is neither a temporary phenomenon, nor an agenda which can be reversed".
In the UK, all three major political parties are now assuring gay people that it's safe to vote for them. Typically, far from taking pleasure in this new consensus, the Left has greeted it with dismay. For over a decade they have sought to build a client state, where groups are beholden to their generosity. And now they want to open up 'clear pink water' between themselves and the Conservative Party.
There's an election coming, and it suits our opponents to argue that we haven't changed. But we self-evidently have changed. The truth is that there are millions of people who we drove away but who share our values and want to join us.
Gay people are not the property of the Left, or of any party.
They are not an interest group or a political commodity to be traded.
They are not vessels for votes.
Gay people are motivated by the same issues as any other voter.
They will vote for the political party which best sits with their views - so long as that party does not make itself taboo.

He went on to say that the Conservative Party advocating Civil Partnerships and gay equality to other countries may come as a surprise to some, but it is in tune with our beliefs, thinking and aspirations.
Under the leadership of David Cameron, the British Conservative Party has gone further in supporting gay equality than other centre-right parties in similar countries and the Party is now taking the case for greater equality to America, in particular highlighting the benefits of civil partnerships.
Nick Herbert discussed the issue on the Today programme this morning and is due to give a speech in Washington D.C. later today on the subject.
I am in full agreement with Nick. Brighton has a vibrant gay community who play an important part in the life and work of our City.

POWER FOR PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS

Our Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, has today announced plans to give public sector workers the right to form employee owned co-operatives to take over the services they deliver.
This will empower millions of public sector workers to become their own boss and help them to deliver better services.
"Today we are setting out our plans to give power to public sector workers who are fed up with Gordon Brown's top-down control of their working lives", he said. "This is the biggest shift of power from government to people since the right to buy your council house in the 1980s".
The new right to form employee owned co-operatives will apply throughout the vast majority of the public sector – including JobCentre Plus offices, community nursing teams and primary schools.
Employee owned co-operatives will continue to be funded by the state so long as they meet national standards, but will be freed from centralised bureaucracy and political micromanagement.
They will be not-for-profit organisations - any financial surpluses will be reinvested into the service and the staff who work there, rather than distributed to external shareholders.
"Just as we are winning the argument on the economy and how to deal with the country's debts, the Conservatives now offer the best hope for users of public services and the people who work in them", Osborne added.
This new innovative policy could help workers become their own boss, and is in line with our overall policy direction of moving power from central elites down to the individual and to local communities. The shift away from the ‘nanny state’ is something I very much welcome.

NEW PLANS ON TRANSPARENCY

David Cameron has launched the Transparency section of our Draft Manifesto.
There are radical new plans to publish government contracts in full – including all performance indicators, break clauses and penalty measures.
As part of the plan for Cutting the Democratic Deficit, Conservatives have already set out plans to publish national and local government spending online, create a new ‘right to government data’, require police forces to publish crime data on a monthly basis and publish the names and salaries of the most senior civil servants.
The announcement takes these plans even further by taking the radical step of publishing all government contracts worth over £25,000 for goods and services in full. This would enable the public to root out wasteful spending and poorly negotiated contracts, and open up the procurement system to more small businesses.
Speaking ahead of the speech, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said that the commitment to publish government contracts is the "most radical transparency announcement ever made by a British political party – and will enable the public to hold ministers and civil servants to account like never before".
"This policy will help us to cut government spending, root out waste and empower the public – and bring in a new age of transparency and accountability", Osborne added.
Many examples of government waste are given to me by local people. This is something which frustrates us all. I believe these proposals are a move in the right direction.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROYAL SUSSEX

The next meeting showing revised architectural designs for the development of our hospital is taking place shortly.
Whilst wanting better facilities at our hospital, I share resident concerns about the hospital re-development.
Funding for the hospital has already been agreed, and planning permission will be sought from Brighton & Hove Council later on this year.
Local residents have expressed concern about traffic congestion, the disruption caused by the development, loss of views, and the ability of Victorian buildings locally coping with both the weight and volume of building traffic.
I am watching these proposals closely, and hope that the views of those who live in the area will be seriously considered.

LIFE CHANGING EVENTS

There are a few moments in time, when history changes forever.
Friends who were adults at the time tell me that the assassination of JFK was one such moment, and I remember in my childhood as the world watched when a man first stepped on the moon.
The death of princess Diana was another such event.
It is hard to believe that it is only 20 years today that Nelson Mandela was freed from political imprisonment in South Africa.
South Africa has today been celebrating this event which changed and freed a nation.
Nelson Mandela demonstrates mankind at its best. Instead of bitterness he promoted reconciliation.
Today, 20 years on, I celebrate Nelson Mandela.

A QUESTION OF ECONOMY?

The Conservative Party is keen for as many people as possible to be involved in the process of creating the manifesto on which the Party will fight the next General Election.

Already David Cameron has taken questions, online, about this process and this process is continuing.

This Thursday (11th February), the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne will be taking part in a live question-and-answer session, to respond to questions voters have raised. To determine the most popular questions, the Google Moderator web tool is being used where people can submit questions and then vote for others they like or dislike.

Why not try this out and have your say? You just need a Google account to join in and instructions are given on the web page on how you can get one of those.

If you would like more details, the web address for the Draft Manifesto is below:

http://www.conservatives.com/Draft_Manifesto.aspx

A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD

Housing is one of the most fundamental needs anybody has, and yet, over the years how often have we seen house prices boom for a year or two and then bust shortly after, creating problems for families, those seeking to buy for the first time or people wanting to move for their job? Other people may want or need to rent but regulations and red tape create conditions that stifles markets and makes potential landlords nervous about letting a property.

We can't go on like this and we need to make some changes now so that people have the opportunity they need, the social mobility they desire and a home that is within their price range in the area of the country they need to live.

Conservatives have been working hard on these issues and have a number of solutions which will help solve problems now before they become full blown crises in the future.

The first task a new Conservative Government will undertake is to put more powers back into the hands of local communities. This will see local people, by law, having a real say at the pre-planning stage of an application for a large development of housing. Conservatives would allow local councils across the country to revise their local plans to protect the Green Belt and, as I've written elsewhere on this blog, reverse the classification of gardens as brownfield sites.

The Conservatives want to see more power with local people matched by incentives for housebuilding that make sense and work with the grain of communities. Rather than Labour's top-down housing targets, Conservatives will abolish these and introduce a system of incentives to allow local councils to retain the extra Council Tax a new home creates and create new local housing trusts which will be allowed to develop homes for local people so long as there is clear community backing.

Not everyone can afford to own a home though. Some people rent their homes from a social landlord. It is important to bring opportunity to everyone and the Conservatives have proposals here as well.

To improve mobility, a 'Right to Move' scheme will be introduced to allow social housing tenants to oblige their social landlord to sell their home and to use the proceeds, less costs, to buy a home in the private sector and so bring it into the social rented sector. A national mobility scheme would be re-introduced to allow people to move between existing social rented homes and that tenants who move within the social rented sector keep their 'Right to Buy' rights.

Some social tenats though want to move into ownership over time, perhaps as their incomes or circumstances change. Conservatives will work to bring in more flexible ownership schemes to make sure that for those who see home ownership as their dream, it can become a reality, step by step.

Previous Conservative Governments have pointed the way to a property owning democracy, created the phenomenon of the sale of Council homes, and reduced the red tape on landlords by creating new kinds of tenancy which work for both the landlord and tenant. The next Conservative Government will ben o different. It will take the housing stock as it is and give more power, choice and opportunity to owners and tenants alike. A Conservative Government will create sensible incentives to build new homes where they are needed. New freedoms will be created for homeowner and tenants alike. We need to make a change soon and we will.

CUTTING THE COST OF GOVERNMENT AND EMPOWERING PEOPLE

Labour Governments are notorious for leaving Britain with more bureaucracy and red tape than when they came to power. No more is that the case than with tiers of government. Many people in Britain, especially if you live in a county area, are governed by up to six layers of government - Parishes, District and County Councils, the Regional layer, our national Parliament, and the European Parliament. Many people have a feeling of kinship to their parish, district, county or city and our national Parliament.

The Conservatives have long believed though that the regional tier of government is not needed and that decisions should be taken by the people closest to them. The cost of government needs to be reduced as well and David Cameron has proposed reducing the number of MPs in Parliament to reduce expenditure. One other area of cost cutting will be eliminating the regional tier of government and making sure that the powers it has rest with local authorities.

Conservatives propose to:

• abolish all regional planning and housing powers exercised by regional government;

• strip the Regional Development Agencies of their powers over planning; and give local governments the power to establish their own local enterprise partnerships to take over development functions from RDAs;

• abandon plans to regionalise fire control (while providing new measures to enhance resilience in the case of a national emergency); and

• replace the Infrastructure Planning Commission with speeded up public enquiries for infrastructure development or private/hybrid legislation for major projects.

This should reduce cost and bureaucracy while allowing councils to form alliances and relationships around issues that need to be tackled across their borders.

The Conservatives believe that the best government is that which is closest to the people and allows maximum freedom under the law. Our proposals will rein in the power of the state, eliminate unnecessary tiers of government and lower the cost the taxpayer has to bear to run the country and their local community.

REBUILDING TRUST IN POLITICS

David Cameron has made a powerful speech today about the rebuilding of trust so urgently need in British politics and politicians. Today he said out his vision.
He said the current system is “a system in which too much power is concentrated in the hands of the elite and denied to the man and woman on the street. We’ve been seeing the symptoms of that for years. Decisions made behind closed doors. The Houses of Parliament bypassed and undermined”.
He went on to say “We’re just weeks away from an election. This should be the highest point in our democratic life – but never has the reputation of politics sunk so low. We’ve got to fix our broken politics and we’ve got to start fixing it now”.
He also added that the Conservatives can lead the change needed “because as this scandal has unfolded we are the ones who have shown leadership at every stage. We led on transparency over expenses - and on getting MPS to payback the money. We voted for reform on a three line whip on an opposition motion - something that had not been done before on a House of Commons matter. And we put forward serious plans for reform - from Ken Clarke's Democracy Task Force in the first half of this parliament, to our plan for fixing broken politics in the second”.
David summed up his proposals saying “The plans I’ve set out today are not timid because they can’t be. Half measures cannot hope to fix what is wrong with our politics. So the reforms I’ve set out are born from radical ambitions – ambitions to restore pride in our Parliament, to return our democracy to full health, and to redistribute power as I’ve said.
But in the end it's not just about specific plans for political reform. It is about a whole new approach to politics.
We have had thirteen years of government by initiative, press release and media management and it is literally pointless. I would rather that we attempt big, serious change and fail than fiddle around with footling, meaningless promises that are never really meant, let alone delivered, limping through office and clinging to power for the sake of it.
You will not see endless relaunches, initiatives, summits - politics and government as some demented branch of the entertainment industry. You will see a government that understands that there are times it needs to shut up, leave people alone and gets on with the job it was elected to do.
Quiet effectiveness: that is the style of government to which I aspire. And I also know that because we believe in trusting people, sharing responsibility, redistributing power: things will go wrong. There will be failures.
But we will not turn that fact of life into the tragedy of Labour's risk-obsessed political culture where politicians never say or do anything that really matters, or really changes anything, for fear of getting some bad headlines.
This is why I really believe we are the people to fix broken politics”.
David Cameron is quite right to say that trust needs to be restored in politics. It needs to be done now, so that there is a framework laid down and agreed, which is in place for the parliament in which I hope to represent Brighton Kemptown.