Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

Its great to see Struan Stevenson MEP campaigning hard on behalf of Scottish interests in Europe in particular his robust defence of our farmers and business who produce such excellent locally grown produce. His comments on labelling are essential for consumers to know exactly what they are buying.

Jim Ferguson

First word …
Welcome to the February edition of my Brussels Briefing.This month, in addition to my involvement in the appointment process of the new European Commission, I have been keeping a close eye on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy while striving to seek clarity on the issue of food labelling.

In these tough economic times local businesses and farmers need our support. Locally sourced produce is no longer a fashionable phrase, it now relates to the very survival of local shops and businesses.

In addition,  the people of Scotland recognise the quality of home-grown produce and want to buy food that is genuinely Scottish. For too long consumers have been duped by products that have been mislabelled or not labelled at all. It is about time that producers are given clear guidelines for labelling. I will continue to campaign to have existing legislation changed to reflect the choice and clarity that consumers expect.

Join up here to support my campaign and help protect Scotland’s local farmers and businesses.

Best wishes,

Struan Stevenson MEP

Tweet this!

I found the following article to be of great interest and one that clearly shows how Labour have failed to achieve the best for the people of this country.

Every person should read this and in particular people who voted Labour the last time around. They need to understand the feckless mismanagement of our economy, health care, policing, military and education by this Labour Government and read the proof for themselves.

The only way forward for Britain is to oust this Labour Government and that can only be done when the majority of people across the UK wake up and realise just how far Britain has fallen and the rate at which it continues to fall.

Jim Ferguson

Labour’s Two Nations

Tweet this!

Danny Alexander LibDem MP

MP’s and their expenses are under ever greater scrutiny than ever before and rightly so. Some are legitimate expenses and others are bordering on outright fraud.

I found it interesting to note from the article in the Press and Journal the amount of expenses claimed by a number of Scottish MP’s which were well into the top 50 as far as amounts actually claimed.

Danny Alexander is among the highest expense claims of MP’s at Westminster. It led me to wonder if all that money for these MP’s was money well spent. While the likes of Danny Alexander claim a large geographical area as the reason for such huge expenses claimed we cannot forget the fact that its not all fares.

Not so long ago he was approached as were all the local parties to make a contribution to the Blythwood food bank appeal that was trying desperately hard to assist the poor who had no food to eat here in the Highland capital of Inverness and the surrounding area.

I had raised close to £1000 of food aid which had also come from donations from Conservative Party members and I had thought that a cross party effort would have gone a long way to helping those in need.

Danny refused to help and stated that he thought it more important to talk about the situation than to donate anything to it.

Ofcourse at that time few of us knew that every piece of food that Danny put in his mouth was paid for by the taxpayer from expenses he claimed. All legitimate ofcourse. At least as far as the law was concerned.

I am wondering what actual worth some of these MP’s actually bring though. Sure they can appear in the newspapers and opine on this and that on a regular basis.

Danny talks a lot but in my opinion and many others actions speak louder than words.

Are MP’s like Danny Alexander worth the investment ? With a bit of luck we will find out soon enough once people here in the Highlands look at the real worth of those who claim to be working so hard on our behalf.

Jim Ferguson

North and north-east members in top 50

Chairman of Scottish affairs committee was most expensive in 2009-10

Published: 05/02/2010

NINE MPs representing seats in the north and north-east were revealed last night to be among the 50 most expensive at Westminster in the last financial year.

The MP with the highest expenses for 2009-10 was Glasgow East Labour MP and Scottish affairs committee chairman Mohammed Sarwar, who is retiring at the general election – expected in May.

He racked up £192,986 in second homes allowance claims, travel expenses, office costs, computer costs and staff pay.

But his example was closely followed by MPs north of the central belt.

Moray MP Angus Robertson, ranked third most costly, last night defended his £188,164 claim. He said it was partly caused by the extra expense resulting from opening a second constituency office at Keith, and partly high travel costs.

He said: “Given the unpredictability of parliamentary schedules, weekly commuting arrangements often have to be made at short notice, which sadly adds to the travel costs.

“Constituents rightly expect you to attend to issues and events locally as well as with matters at Westminster on a weekly basis.”

He added: “The biggest cost saving from Westminster will come when Scotland is independent and we don’t need to send MPs there at all. I am focused on making that happen as quickly as possible.

At just £539 a year lower, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Liberal Democrat MP Danny Alexander, also blamed travel costs, driving round one of the biggest constituencies in the UK and commuting back and forth between Inverness and London.

Linlithgow and Falkirk East Labour MP Michael Connarty and Falkirk Labour MP Eric Joyce, at fourth and fifth, were only a few pence less.

Mr Joyce — frequently at or near the top of the expenses league — also cited travel between his home in Falkirk and London as the reason his expenses remain high, pointing out that MPs have to fly on expensive open tickets because they do not know their arrangements very far ahead.

Aberdeen North MP Frank Doran came in at No 12 in the table, claiming £182,139.

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Lib Dem MP John Thurso, at No 22, claimed £178,689, Dundee West Labour MP Jim McGovern, 23, £178,597, and Gordon Lib Dem MP Malcolm Bruce, 24, £178,230.

Perth and North Perthshire SNP MP Pete Wishart was 34th with £175,896.

The cheapest was First Minister Alex Salmond, also SNP MP for Banff and Buchan, 533rd, but he rarely appeared in Westminster, claiming £131,316, mainly in staff costs. Western Isles SNP MP Angus MacNeil was 431st, claiming £141,583.

Tweet this!

I was particularly interested to see the announcement of superfast broadband which a Conservative Government will introduce. Clearly business and so many individuals now use the internet that it has become an essential way to do business and has opened up so many opertunities especially for home working.

Living in the Highlands of Scotland in a very rural area has its limitations as far as working in relation to the internet and doing business online goes and this announcement is a very welcome one indeed.

This is indeed the way forward and will help boost our economy and market share on a global basis.

Jim Ferguson

Nationwide superfast broadband by 2017

Monday, February 1 2010

As part of our plans to Get Britain Growing, the Conservatives have unveiled plans to help make the UK the first major European country that has superfast broadband in the majority of homes by 2017.

Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said “we are currently one of the slowest countries in the developed world for broadband”, but with the Conservatives “we’ll become one of the fastest”.

He said Britain’s digital and creative industries “must have a proper communications infrastructure” if they are to become “world beaters”.

The Conservative approach to achieving this has three key components:

• We will create a regulatory framework to ensure the roll-out of superfast broadband at speeds of up to 100mbps to the majority of homes across the UK by 2017. This could involve either mobile or fixed line solutions and will be significantly faster than the Government’s proposed target. Our objective is to make the UK the first major European country to achieve this aim, securing its place as a European and global hub for the creative industries.
• We will end BT’s local loop monopoly by allowing other operators to use their ducts and poles thereby encouraging competition in the superfast broadband market. This approach has proved successful in other countries such as Singapore and South Korea: these countries are global leaders in superfast broadband infrastructure.
• We are committed to universal access to superfast broadband speeds. If the market does not deliver this in certain areas we will consider using the proportion of the licence fee dedicated to digital switchover to finance superfast broadband roll out under the new BBC licence fee settlement, starting in 2012. This amount would be leveraged to maximise the investment made, either by making it available as loans or on a matched funding basis.

Under these plans, Hunt said that “high speeds will be available not just in our cities but across the rural areas that have been left behind for too long”.

“These regulatory changes will create the right conditions for sustainable growth and ensure that the digital sector plays a leading role in a competitive, balanced economy”, he added.

Tweet this!

Good to see clear cut forward planning to restore our economy. George Osborne and his comments below demonstrate that a definitive vision exists to restore the economy and all the benefits that this entails.

Jim Ferguson

Osborne outlines eight benchmarks for economic growth

Tuesday, February 2 2010

George Osborne has set out a new model of economic growth, which plans for a private sector recovery driven by business investment and exports, instead of consumer borrowing and government debt.

The eight clear and transparent benchmarks published today are something against which a future Conservative Government can be judged.

Speaking at the launch of the document, the Shadow Chancellor contrasted our detailed approach with that of Gordon Brown who “will say anything and spend anything to cling on to power.”

And he added, “The man who failed to fix the roof while the sun was shining, and took Britain into the deepest and longest recession for generations, cannot be trusted to take us out of it.”

You can read the document in full using the viewer below, or alternatively click here to download a copy.

Tweet this!

Gordon Brown’s legacy will be the Great Recession

Commenting on the news that the UK is the last G20 economy to leave the recession, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said “Gordon Brown’s promise that Britain would lead the world out of recession lies in tatters”.

“We were one of the first in and now, today, we are the last out. Gordon Brown’s legacy will be the Great Recession.”

Not only is the UK the last G20 economy to leave the recession, but:

• The UK was one of the first countries to enter recession, and the last G20 country out.
• Some countries emerged nine months ago.
• The pound has fallen significantly against other major currencies.

Osborne added that a key reason for this was that “Gordon Brown’s decisions as Chancellor left Britain ill-prepared and his judgements as Prime Minister made the recession even worse.”

The Conservatives have published a document explaining how Gordon Brown made the recession worse – you can read it in full below.

Tweet this!

Cameron says recovery depends on tackling the debt

The UK was one of the first economies to go into recession, and is now the last big economy to come out - new figures are expected to show the first signs of economic growth after eighteen months of recession.

“Obviously this will be very good news, but let’s be absolutely clear what this means”, Cameron said at his monthly press conference.

“Coming out of recession doesn’t mean that our debt crisis is over – far from it. Labour’s debt crisis is the biggest threat to our recovery. So we’ll only get this recovery right if we start right now on a proper debt reduction plan.”

In highlighting the need to “get a grip of our debt crisis”, Cameron used the analogy of a credit card: “the more we spend and the longer we wait to pay off our bills, the worse it can get”.

He said that the Government’s promise to halve the deficit in four years has failed to convince all those who we need to have confidence in Britain’s economic future.

“A key part of any plan is at least some early action to show that you are serious in your intent. That means some reduction in public spending plans in this coming financial year.”

“It is time they realised that it’s time to do the right thing”, Cameron added.

He also spoke about the Party’s agenda to mend our broken society, and of the Party’s success in selecting a diverse range of candidates.

Click here to read Cameron’s remarks in full

Tweet this!

In light of the severe problems due to Labours recession its incredible to hear of such waste of public funds. The more I hear of such gross misuse of public money the more I realise that this Labour Government simply dont understand how to run the country. I don’t think they mean to be so inept…..its just that they just don’t have the skills or experience.

Jim Ferguson

Ministers spend £24million on chauffeur-driven cars
Tuesday, November 17 2009
Justine Greening

Justine Greening, Shadow Communities and Local Government Minister, says the Government is wasting money on ministerial cars and chauffeurs.

Government Ministers have spent almost £24 million in the last four years on ministerial cars and chauffeurs, with the cost and numbers of cars continuing to rise.

Greening said £24million was “unacceptable”, “clearly excessive”, and “a waste of taxpayers’ money”.

Last year, Ministers were driven around in 93 ministerial cars, at a cost to the taxpayer of £6.3 million – an average cost of £67,500 per car. The Home Office and the Cabinet Office have racked up the highest bills, both spending over £1.8 million each on a combined fleet of around 13 cars since 2005.

Greening added that the cost was even less justified considering that everyone is making their own sacrifices in these difficult economic times. “In a time of recession they should tighten their belts rather than splurging on luxuries”, she said.

The Conservatives have pledged to cut the budget for official cars by a third, with a focus on ministers using them more efficiently.

Tweet this!

Surely politicians would be more aware of the public feelings at unnecessary waste of public funds.
Seems Alex Salmond considers himself above such criticism.

Jim Ferguson

Backlash at Salmond after dentist invited to functions
First minister accused of wasting public money

Published: 11/11/2009

OPPOSITION parties last night accused Alex Salmond of wasting public cash after it emerged he invited his dentist to two official functions.

Murray Bremner and his wife Jane were among 19 guests at a dinner in Bute House, the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh, in August 2007.

The dinner was held after a performance of the Edinburgh Tattoo and other guests included financier Sir Angus Grossart and his wife Lady Grossart, and the then Speaker of the Commons, Michael Martin and his wife.

The Bremners were also among the guests at a Runrig dinner held at Scone Palace in Perthshire on August 29 this year. Mr Bremner said he did not know why he had been invited. He said of Mr Salmond: “He’s an affable chap and we just get on reasonably well.”

And he added: “Maybe there’s a list he goes down and he gets to 96 and he invites me, I don’t know.”

But Labour leader Iain Gray said: “This misuse of funds shows the first minister’s disregard for public money. At the very least he should pay the money back.”

And Tory leader Annabel Goldie said: “I think it is absolutely disgraceful he feels he can treat his dentist to a night out courtesy of the public but I’m afraid this is all too typical of Alex Salmond.”

But a spokesman for Mr Salmond accused his critics of “silly party politicking” and said that, unlike previous administrations, the Scottish Government proactively published guest lists.

“It is normal practice under successive administrations for ministers to provide hospitality to invited guests at a range of events – even Christmas receptions for journalists.” He said Mr Salmond invited his dentist “because he was inviting a range of guests”.

The Scone supper took place before a concert to celebrate the arrival of a stone carving which formed part of the official Homecoming programme, and the concert was attended by 15,000 people.

The event also saw the launch by Mr Salmond of a not-for-profit charitable initiative, he said.

Press and Journal.

“All first ministers and before them secretaries of state had invited guest to a range of events. This has been totally normal, totally appropriate – the only difference is that we publish the information.”

Read more – Original article link

Tweet this!