Burnley Conservatives - Blog

I doubt anyone who watched, heard or read the coverage of Barrack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States could have failed to be impressed by the groundswell of hope there’s been from across the world. What is noticeable is that President Obama is the first of a new generation of political leaders who are ushering in a new era of change.

Back home, confirmation that we are in recession has arrived but all we seem to get from this Government is a series of endless announcements and summits that fail to inspire confidence at home or abroad. But then it's difficult to see how we'll get that confidence with a Prime Minister who refuses to acknowledge any mistakes and carries on regardless.

You only have to read the local papers to see some of the consequences of those mistakes in repossessions and redundancies. What’s genuinely worrying is that we are now also seeing more robberies and burglaries. The new crime statistics show that burglaries rose by 4% between July and September last year. I find it alarming that robberies involving knives have soared by 18 % and that fatal stabbings are at an all-time high. What we need is concerted action across the board - not just more police on the streets but tough penalties that are actually enforced and work!!

If there’s one thing that can really improve the opportunities for Burnley and Padiham then it’s a good education system. Those of you that have read my blog before will know that I was lucky enough to have had those opportunities. That’s why I was so disappointed to see that Burnley’s children are still achieving far lower standards than either the national or county averages. Why on earth should we continue to accept this?

Finally, it’s good to see that this Government has at last agreed that MPs should be treated the same as everybody else. To exempt them from the Freedom of Information Act would have been completely wrong. MPs are given our money to help them represent us, and we all have a right to know how our money is spent. Well, that’s what I think….

What an awful week for job cuts it’s been and for all those families affected. I’m sure I’m not alone in failing to understand how Labour’s Business Minister Baroness Vadera could possibly think she’s seen green shoots. But in a week when we also learnt that too much coffee can bring on “visions,” I feel the Baroness may have drunk a few too many espressos.

It is painful that during 16 years of global economic growth Labour failed to fix the roof when they could. What we have now is a strategy for dealing with our debt crisis by increasing debt still further through short term measures. Their plans to make us borrow even more money will push the amount we collectively owe to over £1 trillion. It all has to be paid back and it’s future generations who will find themselves footing the bill.

The sad fact is that Labour’s reckless borrowing will mean that every child will be born £17,000 in debt and every family in Burnley and Padiham will have to spend £900 a year just on paying the interest on Labour’s debts. (That’s equivalent to the country employing 1.6 million new teachers!)

There is an alternative to Labour’s Debt Crisis. The Conservative Party has put forward 5 immediate and practical measures to Get Britain Working. A Conservative Government will work for Burnley and Padiham by:

And over the long term we will get the public finances back under control with an Office for Budget Responsibility so no Labour Government can ever bankrupt this country again.

Labour's tax and debt bombshells are taking Britain to the brink of bankruptcy. Their answer to the debt crisis is yet more borrowing. It's clear that the longer Labour are in power, the worse the economic situation will become. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

It’s a real honour to have been selected to stand for Burnley and Padiham – towns which have so much history and so much spirit, but what about me....

I was born in Townley's Hospital in Bolton in 1967, so that makes me 41. I guess I had a fairly traditional village childhood; lived on small farm, attended the village Church of England school and went to Sunday school at the Methodist chapel. I had a Saturday job and a paper round. I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to Bury Grammar School and then headed south to the University of Reading where I studied agricultural economics.

I have to say I chuckled to see my profession listed as “banker” in some of the coverage of my selection by Burnley and Padiham Conservatives. Although I did spend a couple of years with a high street bank after college, the rest of my working life has been with businesses and organisations involved in food, farming and international trade. This included a lot of travel especially in Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. I guess that means I don’t qualify for a career label!

So, why did I get involved in politics? It’s quite straightforward really. Injustice annoys me and I fervently believe that we can only build a better future if we have a country where freedom, opportunity and choice sit alongside personal responsibility and the rule of law.

I also feel that my life and career experiences mean I have something different and wider to offer the people of Burnley and Padiham. Politics shouldn’t be seen as an ivory tower by being restricted only to those following a narrow "political" career path.

We all know that it’s vital we have a quality health service, high standards in our schools, safety on our streets and a strong economy. But to get them we need real action not more wrong-headed decisions, spin and broken promises. That requires real and sensible action.

Take the cut in VAT. If ever a policy wasn’t thought through this was it. Talk about throwing money away and storing up debts for the future. Short term spending doesn’t equal long term investment.

The real challenge in this credit crunch is to get credit flowing again. That is why Conservatives have proposed a £50 billion National Loan Guarantee Scheme to get lending going and protect jobs. On top of that we’ll freeze council tax and reduce taxes on savings to help the victims of the recession.

Importantly we’ll also reduce employment costs for small businesses by cutting National Insurance and through a tax break for new jobs. We’ll also help small businesses with cash flow problems by delaying VAT bills for six months.

Yes, there are challenges ahead but by working together I do believe we can build a better future. I'll keep you updated on our plans and policies over the coming weeks and months. I'd like to hear from you on how we can work together for all the people of Burnley and Padiham.