Launch of South East Euro Election Campaign

At the new Southampton Cruise Terminal at the Docks

Last week I helped launch the Conservatives' European election campaign in the South East. SE Conservative MEPs and candidates joined Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling in Southampton Docks to mark the official start of the campaign. Prior to the official launch we met with the Port Director for a tour of the docks and heard how the recession is affecting trade through the port. We also heard how the Government's back dated business rates hike and a huge increase in shipping light dues are harming local firms.


Conservatives are putting their calls for a refurendum on the Lisbon Treaty at the heart of the election campaign. In 2005 all three main parties promised a public vote on whether more powers should be passed from Britain to Brussels. Only the Conservatives are honouring that pledge and only a strong showing for the Conservatives will put pressure on Gordon Brown to put the question to the people.

The Conservatives want a Europe of Nation States and not an EU superstate. We will campaign for a no vote on the Treaty of Lisbon and have ruled out giving up the pound for the Euro.

Shirley Bus Route Restored

A popular bus route was brought back earlier this month. The new 7A route serves Bassett, Portswood, Shirley, Swaythling, the University and the General Hospital.

There was public outcry at the loss of the number 6 bus and the City Council has acted quickly to fund the replacement route which is run by First Bus. This is great news for local people.

Conservative Party Political Broadcast

A Great Time At The Freemantle Festival!

My family and I had a great time at the Freemantle Festival today. Despite the weather being a bit patchy it was a big success. I especially enjoyed the climbing wall - which was a new addition this year! Well done to Rebecca, Cevn and Anne and the Friends Of The Field for all their hard work in organising the day.

Well Done For a Year of Hard Work!

Cllr Brian Parnell at the log sawing ceremony to mark the opening of Southampton's IKEA store

Wednesday was the annual Mayor Making ceremony in the Guildhall and I had the chance to formally and publicly thank my fellow Freemantle Ward Councillor Brian Parnell for the great job that he has done over the past year as Mayor. Brian carried out over 600 civic duties with his typical enthusiasm and good humour. His wife Mary was a great support throughout the year and showed great fortitude, being at Brian's side for most of his engagements.

As Mayor Brian had a varied year, opening new businesses in the city ranging from a milkshake parlour in WestQuay to the new £79m IKEA store. He supported all the city's excellent voluntary and community groups and his official charities were Dreamwall and Street Pastors.

The height of the Mayoral year though was surely being the city's representative at the Olympic sailing events in Quingdao, Southampton's sister city in China.

Action to Tackle Alcohol Fuelled Crime

Southampton City Council has backed calls by the police to curb excesses of late night drinking in the centre of town.

On Wednesday 13th May the Council agreed a new 'Cumulative Impact' licensing policy for London Road, Bedford Place, Bevois Valley and the city centre. The effect will be to make it harder for new licences for pubs and clubs to be awarded.

The policy is a new tool that will help the City Council's Licensing Panel to assess extensions to licensing hours for premises or new applications by considering the potential adverse impact on the area. The onus will now be on the applicant for the licence to prove that the new premise won't add to problems associated with late night drinking.

Needless to say that this is not the sole answer to the problem. However, it recognises that Labour's grand plan to liberalise licensing laws has been a failure. We can now see that the excessive drinking culture in this country has simply got worse with more "fuel" to fan the fires.

The council has also agreed to close Above Bar Street to vehicles between 10pm and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays. This has received the backing of the police who feel that it will cut down on incidents of violent disorder by allowing late night drinkers more space as they come out of pubs, avoiding too many people being packed onto the pavements. The road closure will initially be a three month trial but could be made permanent if it works.

Big Sleep Out (2)

Last night I joined about 400 other people sleeping out in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral, to help raise awareness and more importantly money for the homeless and those sleeping rough.

The event was in support of two charities, the Winchester Nightshelter and Trinity. There were some excellent speeches including former TV journalist Ed Mitchell who talked about how he ended up on the streets.

The Importance of Public Service and Thoughts on MPs Expenses

I recently did a radio show and phone in for Awaaz FM along with Councillor Royston Smith about the importance of public service. The interview came ahead of the forthcoming European Elections on 4th June. I talked about the importance of voting how people can get involved in politics and their community. I also talked about why I first stood to be a councillor and why I am standing for Parliament.

This was all before the row that has blown up over MPs expenses. It all very depressing for someone like me who aspires to represent his local area in Parliament and believes in public service.

Expenses should be just that and should not be an excuse for some MPs to live off the state.

Being an MP is different to most jobs but it is beyond me why they think it is ok to claim all their food and things like tables and chairs.

In Southampton both our MPs, Alan Whitehead and John Denham, make use of their parliamentary communications allowances to pay for their leaflets to be printed and distributed.

As a candidate for Parliament my local political party pays for my leaflets. Why should the taxpayer pay for Alan and John’s? The communications allowance is £10,000 a year or £50,000 in a Parliament. That’s a lot of leaflets paid for by the taxpayer!

I have pledged that if elected to Parliament I will not putting my leaflets on expenses and I am backing David Cameron who has pledged to scrap the allowance if he becomes the next Prime Minister.

I challenge our Southampton MPs to do the same and in fact they should stop claiming this money now. Saying it is within the rules is not an excuse. It is not right and they should stop it.

Alan Whitehead has a long track record for arguing that political parties should receive more money from the taxpayer. My view is the opposite!

I should say that to his credit my opponent at the next General Election, Alan Whitehead has put a list of his expenses on his website. John Denham who represents the Southampton Itchen constituency has as yet failed to do so.

Support For The Malaya Veterans

The whole of SE Asia looked like it would fall to the communists like a pack of dominos

I have signed up in support of the campaign to recognise soldiers who fought in Malaya during the 'Emergency' of the 1950s.

The Malaya Emergency has been called a forgotten conflict and it was not technically a war. However it was hugely significant and the Royal Hampshire Regiment played an important part.

The Malaya veterans kept the country free and paved the way for peaceful democratic independence. The conflict was also of great strategic importance during the Cold War. It came off the back of the ‘fall’ of China to communism and the Korean War and also took place during the early years of the conflict in French Indo China, what was to become Vietnam. There was a real fear at the time that the whole of South East Asia would fall like dominos to the communists. These local soldiers were therefore on the front line against the advance of communism in the early days of the Cold War and we owe them a great debt of gratitude.

The Malaysian Government has awarded the rosette to veterans who fought after independence. It strikes me as an unfair technicality that the veterans who served pre independence should not be similarly honoured.

Foyes Corner Festival

I am looking forward to the second Foyes Corner festival which will take place on Sunday 17th May. Last year's event was a huge success with several thousand attending. If people want to raise any local issues with me on the day please come over and have a chat!