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Written by Alan Marsden until 2009. Written by Richard Ali, Burnley's Prospective Conservative MP thereafter.
Saturday, 06 March, 2010
| Local accountability |
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Given the growing concerns about just how Burnley Council’s Liberal Democrat administration spends council taxpayers’ money it is timely that Conservatives have confirmed our plans to ensure value for money on town hall spending. Conservatives believe in giving more power, discretion and autonomy to local councils – of whatever party. But that greater power has to be backed up by greater accountibility to council taxpayers.
So, under a Conservative Government Burnley Council would be required to allow Burnley people to see exactly how it is spending public money. Councils will be required to publish regularly information about their spending available online. They would list all items of external expenditure on goods and services above £500 – and also publish contracts and tender documents in full, to enable more small businesses to win council procurement contracts.
While Councils are already required to publish the allowances and expenses of every named councillor each year there is no central register to compare allowances from council to council. So, as part of our policy to scrap Comprehensive Area Assessments, town halls would instead publish key information online in an open and standardised format. This will allow the public to easily compare councillor expenses across the country.
Labour recently pledged to amend council audit regulations to require town halls to publish the pay packages of local authority staff earning over £150,000 by name, in £5,000 bands; and publishing the number of staff earning £50,000 or more. A Conservative Government will go further by requiring local authorities to publish more public information on the remuneration of senior town hall staff, including pensions, perks and severance packages. Conservatives believe greater public scrutiny will serve to provide downward pressure on excessive and unjustified wage inflation.
A Conservative Government will work with councils to offer better quality public services and more value for money. We know that by identifying waste and bureaucracy, we can free up resources that can be used to improve services or lower taxes, depending on what voters in Burnley and Padiham decide.
Richard
Sunday, 28 February, 2010
| Are you better off than you were five years ago? |
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New analysis has revealed that GDP per capita has fallen since the last general election. The UK now produces £281 less per person in real terms than at the last election. This is the first time in recent history that GDP per capita has fallen over a full parliament. The only other time output person has fallen over a parliament was during the short-lived 1974 Labour parliament
So when people ask the famous question ‘are you better off than you were five years ago?’ Gordon Brown is the first Prime Minister in modern British history who has to answer ‘no’.
Labour’s 2005 manifesto promised ‘increased prosperity’. That is the biggest broken promise of all. Even through the dark days of the 1970s and the recessions of the early 1980s and 1990s the growth of GDP per capita was sustained in every full Parliament.
This shows that the debt-fuelled model of growth that Gordon Brown pursued for the past decade is fundamentally broken. Gordon Brown’s debt is the single biggest threat to our economic future. We cannot afford another five years of Gordon Brown. We need a new economic model built on saving and investment under the Conservatives.
Richard
Sunday, 21 February, 2010
| Leafleting |
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I had a very busy weekend delivering our latest leaflet. It was a real pleasure to talk to so many people on my way round. Labour are in real trouble in Burnley, but so are the Lib Dems after wasting so much public money on frivolities.
It really is time for a better Burnley.
Richard
Sunday, 14 February, 2010
| Skills - Another Labour let down |
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At the beginning of this month the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the quango responsible for distributing Government funds to universities and colleges, confirmed that funding for 2010-11 will be £449m lower than announced previously.
This means that teaching budgets are being cut by 1.6% in real terms compared to 2009-10 levels, research funding is being frozen, and the capital budget for new buildings is being cut by 15%. The latest cuts follow others announced in December’s Pre Budget Report, and mean that the higher education sector is set to see its budget fall by a total of around £1bn over the next three years.
With more than a million young people not in any kind of work or training, we need to create more opportunities, not less. That’s why Conservatives have pledged to provide an extra 10,000 university places this summer, paid for by a discount for early repayment of student loans.
To help young people not following traditional academic routes, we will also redirect £775m from the Government’s wasteful and inefficient ‘Train to Gain’ to create 100,000 new additional apprenticeships and training places, and to fully fund the 77,000 adult apprentices which are currently only part-funded.
Conservatives will also ensure that all apprenticeships are work-focused by making it easier for companies to run apprenticeships, and give a £2,000 bonus to each small firm creating a new apprenticeship.
Richard
Sunday, 07 February, 2010
| Getting Burnley back on its feet |
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Burnley can’t afford five more years of Labour. We need change to get this town back on its feet. Neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrats have the first idea of where growth is going to come from.
For the first time ever, Conservatives have set out eight benchmarks – the Benchmarks for Britain – against which we are happy for the next Conservative government to be judged. If we achieve these benchmarks over the next Parliament, then we will have succeeded in taking the British economy in a very different direction from the one it has followed for the last ten years.
Conservatives will make this a reality with a range of policies including more competitive taxes, new infrastructure like high-speed broadband, a green investment bank, radical education and welfare reform.
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Prince Charles’ latest visit to Burnley was a real filip and emphasise His Royal Highness’ interest in seeing the town get the opportunities it deserves . I was however disappointed that some on the extremes of politics criticised the visit. But perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised as their political bedfellows say it is their duty to remove the Queen as Head of State.
Richard
Sunday, 31 January, 2010
| Should Gordon Birtwistle resign? |
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A series of interesting questions came up yesterday around my fellow Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, Gordon Birtwistle and Julie Cooper.
The first was whether Gordon Birtwistle should stand again for election to Burnley Borough Council on May 6th. The second was whether it wouldn’t be better for him to resign as Leader of the Council immediately to concentrate on fighting the election, so letting a replacement Leader concentrate on the important task of steering Burnley Council through a period of particularly tough budgeting.
These questions were then extended to Julie Cooper, who while not up for re-election as a councillor in May is Leader of the Labour group and so too has a demanding role to play over the next few months.
Some say that Gordon Birtwistle is hedging his bets just in case the good people of Burnley don’t vote for him in the numbers he hopes.
That might indeed be the case, but my concern is that with the parlous state of Burnley Council’s finances, any Council Leader must first and foremost, concentrate on that job. Surely the Lib Dems have other candidates they feel are capable of stepping into Councillor Birtwistle’s shoes. Darren Reynolds perhaps? Or maybe Justin Birtwistle would like to follow in his father’s footsteps?
Not convinced that Burnley will remain Labour, it may be that Julie Cooper is hedging her bets too, but again the issue must be that a group leader must be able to concentrate on council work at this crucial time. I wonder which one of Labour’s councillors has his or her eye on that job.
So, it seems like we have a couple of councillors who don’t have the courage to concentrate on the important matter of explaining to the people of Burnley and Padiham why they should be the one to represent the constituency on the national stage, but are so desperate to have a job after the elections they are hedging their bets.
Worse still it appears we have two councillors who don’t seem willing to hand over the reins of power to others in their party at this critical time for the council and for Burnley.
That speaks volumes.
Richard
Friday, 15 January, 2010
| Aspiration - the reality |
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I have no doubt that Labour in Burnley will try and say it is the party of aspiration.
Well, let’s look at the facts:
Despite Labour’s rhetoric, its policies have failed to improve social mobility. Independent research by the Sutton Trust published in December 2007, found that Britain has the lowest social mobility in the developed world.
There are now 400,000 more families in severe poverty under Labour - the number of families living in severe poverty rose from 1.4 million in 1998-99 to 1.8 million in 2005-06.
Despite Labour’s complex system of tax credits and allowances, the least well-off people are still taxed the most. The government statistics office found that the poorest fifth of households pay a higher proportion of their income in taxes than any other group.
As for education, pupils on free school meals are 181 times more likely not to get a single good GCSE than to get three As at A-level. In fact children from wealthy backgrounds are now four times more likely to go to university.
It really is time for change in Burnley. Only Conservatives support aspiration so that people from every background, not just the rich, have the chance to get on in life.
Richard
Sunday, 10 January, 2010
| Islam4UK march in Wootton Bassett |
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Last week, the extremist group Islam4UK announced that it was planning a march through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett. Islam4UK is the latest incarnation of al-Muhajiroun, the group founded by the exiled radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed.
I am absolutely clear in my view that the police and the local authority should prevent this march from going ahead. The actions of Islam4UK are utterly objectionable and welcome the fact that so many British Muslims have slammed what Islam4UK is trying to do.
We can’t go on like this. The law should already have made it possible for them to be prosecuted for some of their activities. This unrepresentative group has close links with banned preachers of hate and has arranged for them to preach in the UK by audio and video link.
The Government should now ban this group altogether.
Richard
Sunday, 20 December, 2009
| Merry Christmas |
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A Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to everyone in Burnley and Padiham.
With my very best wishes,
Richard
Monday, 14 December, 2009
| Pre Budget Report |
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It is now entirely clear who are the real victims of Gordon Brown’s class war – hard working families.
The cornerstone of Labour’s Pre-Budget Report (PBR) was a tax on jobs that hits everyone earning over £20,000 – well below the average wage. Of all Labour’s tax rises, this will be the one that it is the Conservatives’ priority to avoid.
But Labour’s failure to deal with the £178 billion just stokes up higher taxes and higher interest rates if they win the election.
You can already see Labour’s arrogance when it comes to Burnley’s families and the disabled. What were presented as permanent increases in benefits, including child benefit and disability living allowance, in fact turned out to be a temporary rise for the period of the election, followed by a real terms cut.
This tells you everything you need to know about how this Government has lost its moral compass.
Analysis of the PBR also shows that, as a result of their planned National Insurance rise, £446 million of which will come from the NHS, Labour plan a real cut in health spending. Compare this to the Conservative pledge to protect health spending.
Does anyone now really believe a Labour government would be good for Burnley?
The quicker change comes, the better.
Richard
Saturday, 05 December, 2009
| Bankers' bonuses |
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Labour is in a muddle again. This time over its policy on bank bonuses.
First, Labour’s City Minister, Lord Myners claims he will veto big bonuses, but then the Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, says the banks should be ‘restrained.’ Lord Mandelson said “I understand the point that RBS directors are expressing – they say they have to remain competitive in the market in recruiting senior executives, and this is why it’s important that all the banks are equally restrained, and RBS is not singled out.”
Barely six months ago, Gordon Brown said “We are fundamentally changing the way we regulate our banks. We are banning them from giving bonuses at the moment where we have taken over the banks.” (Hansard, 17 June 2009).
Conservatives are clear - in addition to G20 proposals, no cash bonuses above £2,000 should be paid out this year by retail banks and that money should go towards increasing lending to the families and businesses who propped up the banks in the first place.
Richard
Sunday, 29 November, 2009
| The NHS - not safe with Labour |
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This week we heard about the failings at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
What shocks me is that once again Labour is describing this as an ‘isolated case’ and their response is unacceptably complacent.
We’ve all heard of NHS managers focusing on trying to hit Labour’s targets over and above looking after patients. It is unacceptable that inspectors can then score hospitals as ‘good’ when many patients could tell them that the opposite is in fact true.
That is why a Conservative government will scrap Labour’s targets and instead focus on the quality and results of the treatment that patients receive.
As people across East Lancashire continue to tell us: The NHS is NOT safe in Labour’s hands.
Richard
Saturday, 21 November, 2009
| Hunting Act |
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Over the last week I’ve received a number of emails about my views on the Hunting Act, which appear to have been orchestrated by the Labour Party.
I can’t say it’s been upper-most in my mind and it does say something about Labour’s priorities that at a time when we are struggling to emerge from the deepest and longest recession since the Second World War, with record levels of debt and deep social problems, they focus their attention on the Hunting Bill. But then again Labour has already devoted over 700 hours of parliamentary time to this issue.
David Cameron has been quite clear that a Conservative Government will give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government bill in government time. We are currently considering what form repeal legislation should take and are assessing various proposals, including some form of regulation of hunting, so that the interests of animal welfare remain paramount. What is certain is that a Conservative government would devote only the minimum time required to repeal the legislation, not the 700 hours that Labour took to produce an unworkable law.
For those who have long memories, you’ll remember that the independent Burns Inquiry in 2000 failed to conclude that hunting was more cruel than other methods of wildlife management (The Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales, 2000).
Earlier this year, Jim Barrington, the former Executive Director of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: ‘like a lot of people I was quite horrified by hunting and took the view that stopping it would improve animal welfare. But the Hunting Act has failed on every level, not least of all on animal welfare’. He also said, ‘I think hunting is a positive and vitally important part of wildlife management, provided it is done within proper rules.’
The legislation is so badly written that in February this year, the Crown Prosecution Service said a High Court ruling on the definition of hunting made the Hunting Act ‘wholly unworkable,’ and in May the Association of Chief Police Officers said that gathering evidence of illegal hunting is difficult, the ban is hard to enforce and chief constables have more pressing priorities.
Now, I take a straightforward view on most things and I am convinced that all legislation must be evidence based, so if elected I will make my decision based on the evidence presented at that time as this would be a free vote.
Thus far I am to be convinced that maintaining the legislation achieves the improvement in animal welfare the vast majority of people want to see and would therefore vote to repeal the Act.
Richard
Sunday, 15 November, 2009
| Poverty |
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I do find it shocking that Labour still dares to call itself a progressive and compassionate party when severe poverty under Labour has risen by 900,000 people since Labour came to power; when there are 800,000 more adults living in poverty under Labour and when there are now 4 million children living in poverty. In fact, inequality has risen under Labour and is now at its highest level since a consistent measure was introduced in 1961!
As for social mobility, the Sutton Trust has confirmed that people are no now more likely to escape the circumstances of their birth than they were 30 years ago. A fact not helped in Burnley where 25% of adults have no qualifications whatsoever – a figure twice the national average. What a disgraceful waste of talent and proof if proof was needed that Labour has utterly and systematically failed this town.
So what’s the Conservative alternative? Our answer is two-fold: first, making opportunity more equal – in which our school reform and training policies will play key roles; and second, actively helping to create a stronger, more responsible society.
Richard
Saturday, 07 November, 2009
| Small businesses are Burnley’s life blood |
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There can be no doubt that small and medium sized businesses make an important and sadly, often overlooked, contribution to Burnley and Padiham, not only through the employment they generate but through the wider role they play in everyday life.
In fact, over 70% of Burnley’s two and a half thousand businesses employ less than 5 people. Everyone can probably name a handful of these businesses and will also know some of the people who work for them.
But we all know that many businesses – small, medium and large – are finding this recession particularly difficult. Some even wonder whether they will be here in a year’s time.
That’s why Conservatives have spent time talking with the men and women who run Britain’s small businesses to see how a Conservative government can best help them now and into the future.
We will reverse Labour’s planned increase in small company corporation tax, from 22p in the coming year back to 20p. And, we’ll make the tax system, and business regulation in general, easier to follow – reducing complexity and therefore costs for small businesses.
We will make the small business rate relief automatic for small businesses in England, saving firms up to £1,100 per year. This will be of particular benefit to small shops, who will also benefit from our pledge to improve the planning system to support town centres.
We will reform government procurement to help small and medium sized businesses win more work, including scrapping the rule that companies have to provide three years of fully audited accounts before being able to bid for government work. That’s important as one-third of all businesses in Burnley are less than 4 years old.
New businesses are the lifeblood of any town, so any new business started in the first two years of a Conservative Government will pay no employer national insurance on the first ten employees it hires during its first year. We’ll also introduce a “Work for Yourself” programme to help people become self employed, and support and help the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Finally, we will provide a £2,000 bonus to small and medium sized businesses for every apprenticeship place they create and offer £5m for small firms to come together to form Group Training Associations.
Conservatives understand the importance of small businesses. After all, a town without its entrepreneurs is a town without its dreams.
Richard
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