Posts Tagged ‘parliament’
Gordon Brown’s record – Conservative “Vote for Me” campaign
Michael Gove has launched a new poster campaign putting Gordon Brown’s record at the heart of the election campaign.
These posters arrive alongside a new analysis of Labour’s time in power, and you can view both by clicking the links below.
Speaking at the launch, Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove said:
“Gordon Brown is asking people to vote him in for another five years but he and his tired Government will just make things worse.”
“He has doubled our national debt and squandered billions of pounds selling off Britain’s gold at rock bottom prices. He has taken billions out of our pensions system and doubled the tax rate for the poorest workers. He has let down our young people by causing record youth unemployment, and overseen an increase in the gap between the rich and poor. And he has let 80,000 criminals out of prison early, leading to 1,500 crimes being committed by people who should have been behind bars.”
“We can’t go on like this. The choice at this election is five more years of Gordon Brown’s tired government making things worse or David Cameron and the Conservatives with the energy, leadership and values to get the country moving.”
… and here are some other things Gordon Brown did…
Cut the Defence Budget at a time of war – and got caught out denying it!
Gordon Brown misled the Chilcot Inquiry, Parliament and the public when he claimed that ‘the defence budget has been rising every year since 1997’
(Hansard, 10 March 2010, Col. 291).
He was later forced to admit that ‘I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms’
(Hansard, 17 March 2010).
Figures from the Ministry of Defence show that the defence budget actually fell year-on-year in real terms on four occasions since 1997 – in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2007.
(Channel 4 News Factcheck, 10 March 2010).
Taxed jobs as we were emerging from recession.
Last December, Gordon Brown’s Government announced a tax on jobs – a 0.5 per cent rise in the rate of National Insurance Contributions for both employees and employers. This comes on top of the
rise in NICs announced in the 2008 PBR, meaning a total planned rise of 1 per cent. This is a tax on all businesses and on every person earning over £20,000.
The Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that this could mean up to 57,000 jobs are lost. (FSB,
Press Release, 24 March 2010)
Increased spending on quangos by £10 billion.
The cost of unelected and poorly accountable government bodies has soared by almost £10 billion under Gordon Brown. In his first year as Prime Minister, total expenditure on so-called
“executive non-departmental public bodies” rose from £37.0 billion to £43.0 billion in 2007-08 – a 16 per cent rise
(Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2007, p.10; Public Bodies 2008, p.10).
Figures for 2008-09 revealed quango expenditure rose by another £3.5 billion to £46.5 billion – a 7 per cent rise
(Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2009, p.6) making a mockery of his claims to deliver a new politics.
Brought boom and bust to the NHS – which led to NHS cuts.
Despite massively increasing spending, Gordon Brown has been guilty of a ‘boom and bust’ approach to the NHS finances, forcing NHS Trusts into cuts and wasteful short-term spending. Between 2005 and 2007, 14,500 jobs were cut from the NHS as Trusts struggled to recover from deficits
(NHS Information Centre, NHS Staff 1998-2008, 25 March 2009).
And since 2004, the number of beds in the NHS has been cut by 21,500 – the equivalent of 12 per cent
(Department of Health, Bed availability and occupancy 2008-09, 30 September 2009).
Accident and Emergency departments and maternity units up and down the country have faced or are facing cuts and closures. And things are only set to get worse, as one of Gordon Brown’s own health advisers said that ‘the days of the District General Hospital are over’
(Professor Sir Ara Darzi, NHS London, A Framework for Action, 11 July 2007).
Let truancy rise to record levels.
In 1998, Gordon Brown’s Treasury set a target to reduce truancy rates to 0.5 per cent
(HM Treasury, Comprehensive Spending Review, Public Service Agreements 1999-2000, December 1998).
But the figure now stands at 1.05 per cent – up 44 per cent since 1996/7, well in excess of the Government’s target, and at a record high. 67,000 pupils skip school without permission every day
(DCSF, Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2008/09, 25 March 2010).
Paid couples more to live apart than together.
The tax credit system penalises parents who live together, giving families a financial incentive to split up.
The IFS has highlighted the fact that a couple with children earning £20,000 between them could be more than £5,000 better off in terms of benefits and tax credits if they split up.
(The Sunday Times, 4 March 2007).
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MP’s and sleaze – more scrutiny for candidates required – Scotland UK
Gordon Brown now leads a discredited Government.
The latest revelations regarding the three Labour MP’s who were caught in a sting operation offering to influence Government policy for money is sickening. Confidence in the members of Parliament is at an all time low as people form the opinion that none can be trusted with even the basic decency of someone expected in such high office.
I find it quite embarrasing to see the greed of people surface like this and ofcourse as a political candidate I feel uncomfortable with the fact that as a political candidate people are looking at me and asking if I am the same. Would I also conduct my self in this greedy dishonest way ?
The answer is no. I am horrified at how far those we trusted to run the country have fallen but perhaps we are also to blame !
Thats right we as in the electorate are also to blame. Let me explain.
Its not political parties who elect MP’s to parliament. Yes they select the candidates but its the people who vote and give those people they elect the mandate to enter parliament.
Perhaps we need to look at what we base our decisions on not only on party policy but to look with a far more critical eye at those we are preparing to vote for.
I believe that the general public need to be very certain that they know exactly where the political candidates stand on the fundamental issues of importance to them and to the good of the country.
Why vote for someone who has never experianced the real working world for example. ? A Career politician who knows noting of the pressures or issues of everday life ? Some career politicians are perfectly capable ofcourse but the question remains valid.
Scrutiny of the candidates views is fundamental to ensuring that only candidates of good character and trustworthiness should enter parliament. If there had been more scrutiny of the candidates themselves and a hard look at what they may have already achieved in life instead of a blind vote cast purely on party lines then I believe we could have avoided a lot of the problems that we have seen.
Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon and Stephen Byers are now disgraced former Labour cabinet ministers who have shown their true nature. What appals me is that these people were involved and sat at the most senior positions in Government. The question is did they conduct themselves in this way while in those positions of power and influence.
Are there more Government ministers on the take ?
As for myself I will stand with the people of the Highlands in this region and give every support and assistance in a truthful and honest way. If I am elected to Parliament then the trust that has been invested in me will not be wasted but I will lead this region with strength and integrity.
I have been involved in business and hold positions of the highest order in other organisations where truth and honesty are beyond doubt.
There would be no distinction made as far as my views on parliamentary affairs are concerned.
The people require politicians who can be trusted and who will assist the country to go forward with honesty, hard work and above all who they can trust.
Jim Ferguson
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Economic recovery details laid out by George Osborne-Mais lecture
George Osborne has laid out some good starting points for determining and kick starting the road to economic recovery. His full lecture can be read in full at the end of this article and shows how detailed the shadow chancellor and his vision of the future is. As well as being a Parliamentary Candidate I am also a businessman so this makes vital reading for all business people.
Jim Ferguson
George Osborne delivers the annual Mais lecture
Wednesday, February 24 2010
Delivering the annual Mais lecture, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne 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 pointed to research which shows that the root cause of the economic crisis was an explosion of private sector debt, and that the biggest risk to the recovery is an explosion of public sector debt. High levels of public sector debt risk undermining growth.
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:
· A new system of financial regulation, with the Bank of England back in charge of controlling the overall level of debt in the economy.
· A new fiscal policy framework, with an independent Office for Budget Responsibility to ensure that public debt is sustainable.
· A supply side revolution that releases the pent up enterprise and wealth creation of our country, encourages a nation of savers, and addresses long term structural weaknesses like poor education and a welfare system that traps people in workless poverty.
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:
· Confidence: a lack of confidence in the sustainability of the public finances is already undermining the recovery.
· The realities of markets: those who argue we should ignore financial markets are siren voices. If Britain loses the confidence of international markets the result would be emergency cuts that would indeed be swingeing and savage.
· The realities of Government: real public sector reform takes time so starting early on the deficit creates space for more targeted cuts that protect the poorest and front line services.
For the first time he also set out in detail how the budget process would work following the election in the event of a Conservative victory:
· Phase One: the independent Office for Budget Responsibility will set out an independent audit of the nation’s finances, based on independent growth forecasts. Only then will anyone know the true scale of the fiscal challenge that faces whoever forms the next government.
· Phase Two: an emergency budget within 50 days will set out the overall fiscal path and spending totals that we will stick to over the years ahead, as well as some of the cross-cutting measures on pay, the cost of Whitehall, the review of the pension age, and the largest public sector pensions, that will help to put our public finances on a sustainable footing. It will take targeted steps to reduce some budgets in-year in order to build credibility and make a start on reducing the deficit. Crucially, the first Budget will also contain measures to boost enterprise, encourage new jobs and show that Britain is open for business.
· Phase Three: over the Summer we will work flat out to conduct the detailed departmental Spending Review for the years after 2011 that the current government has simply refused to carry out, and publish that results of that review in the Autumn.
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Anger over Alex Salmonds guest list
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
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