I Won't Claim Leaflets on MPs Expenses

I have made no secret of the fact that I think that the MPs' Communications Allowance is wrong. Sitting MPs get to spend £10,000 of public money a year on leaflets promoting themselves and their activities.

I think that candidates for election and political parties should fund their own campaigns and not use our taxes for this purpose. I have made the clear commitment not to claim this allowance if elected to Parliament and David Cameron has made it clear that if he becomes Prime Minister this allowance will be scrapped for all MPs.

With a General Election being held next year the deadline for spending this Communications Allowance is the 31st December. It would appear that my opponent, Labour MP Alan Whitehead is hell bent on milking the taxpayer for every last penny before the deadline kicks in. Today I discovered that he has had another glossy leaflet printed at taxpayer's expense, which he uses to attack the city council, and by proxy the Conservatives and to spread mischief.

Mr Whitehead has made a great play of trying to say he is not like all the MPs who have behaved disgracefully with their expense claims. Yet he has shown that he is the same as the rest, taking as much as he can from the public purse for this own benefit. I find this behaviour even more disgusting in the current climate, a week after the Chancellor's Pre Budget Report when we found out the country is even more bankrupt than we first thought and in a week that the Labour Government is announcing billions of pounds of defence cuts at time when we are fighting a bitter war in Afghanistan.

When I go out knocking doors I hear time and time again from people how disgusted they are with politicians in this country. Today I can only agree with them.

Meeting Students At Totton College

Yesterday I had the chance to meet with teachers and students at Totton College. I talked to second year General Studies students and answered their questions on a range of subjects, such as the environment and the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, public transport and freedom of speech.

Totton College is one of many colleges in Hampshire which has been badly let down by the government. Like Southampton colleges it was promised a multi million pound rebuild and then had the plug pulled on the funds. Although not in the Southampton Test constituency Totton College attracts a considerable number of students from the city.

Labour has its policies on the economy all wrong

Labour has its policies on the economy all wrong. More taxes on jobs and allowing Britain's debts to continue to mount unchecked is not going to help the country out of recession. Instead Labour’s policies risk more unemployment and higher interest rates. Labour has failed to take the tough decisions on spending before the election and so there will be even higher taxes if they win the election.

The central measure in the Chancellor’s Pre Budget Report was a tax on jobs that hits everyone earning over £20,000. Labour’s hike in National Insurance is also a back door cut to the NHS. With £446 million coming from the NHS budget, Labour plan a real cut in health spending.

A Conservative government will protect health spending - because there are huge challenges facing the NHS in the years ahead - and we will try to avoid Labour's National Insurance rise. Of all Labour's tax rises, it is our priority to avoid their tax on jobs.

The Conservatives understand that people are struggling to find jobs because very few businesses are taking on new staff. To get companies hiring again we should have tax breaks for companies that create new jobs with cuts in National Insurance and Corporation Tax for small companies.

We need a government that will be straight with people on the economy. Last year the Chancellor told us he planned to borrow £38 billion and that the economy would grow 2.5% this year. He now tells us that he plans to borrow £178 billion and that the economy will in fact shrink by 4.75%.

Labour also needs to be honest about the state of the public finances. They are borrowing £1 for every £4 the government spends. Government debt is now over £800 billion and will exceed £1 trillion in the next year. The more debt the government builds up the longer it will take to pay back and the more taxes will have to rise. Unchecked borrowing will also push up interest rates, hitting businesses and homeowners.

By contrast Conservatives have bold plans to deal with the big problems the country faces. Labour are now the party of unemployment - we are the party of new jobs and new opportunities. To deal with Labour's Debt Crisis we have been honest with the British people about the tough decisions we need to take. Unlike Gordon Brown, we won't duck them and treat the British people like fools.

The Week Ahead

Here is a diary of my political activities for the week ahead:

Monday 14th December
- Visit to Totton College - discussion with students about environmental issues
- Council meetings

Tuesday 15th December
- Visit to St Marks Junior School in Shirley
- Meeting with residents in Shirley

Wednesday 16th December
- Council meetings

Thursday 17th December
- Nuffield Theatre meeting in Highfield
- Princes Trust awards at the Ordnance Survey in Maybush
- Student Celebrations Evening at Taunton's College

Saturday 19th December
- Meeting residents in Shirley
- Supporting the demonstration in the city centre by local Tamils, against actions by the Sri Lankan Government

Weekly Political Round Up

Here is a round up of what I have been up to this week:

Friday 11th December
- Visit to St Denys Primary. Handing out the Civic Award to Key Stage 1 pupils.
- Meeting with residents in Regents Park

Wednesday 9th December
- Council meetings

Tuesday 8th December
- Breakfast meeting with city businesses
- Meeting with staff at Lloyds Bank in Shirley
- Meeting with residents in Regents Park

Monday 7th December
- Council meetings

Saturday 5th December
- Meeting residents in Inner Avenue and Regents Park

Reaction to the Pre Budget Report

Alastair Darling has lost all credibility. It is now becoming a familiar sight to see the Chancellor standing up and announcing that he has got his figures wrong; that the country is borrowing more than expected and that the recession is deeper than he predicted.

Despite Labour saying that Britain was best placed to weather the economic downturn, we were the first in and will be the last to come out of recession. The Government is now borrowing £1 for every £4 it spends, and we are the most indebted we have ever been in peacetime history. What is most worrying is that Labour have no plans to tackle the debt problem.

Today's announcement showed that Labour have decided to delay taking any tough decisions until after the General Election and have refused to be straight with people. The danger is that by taking no action to tackle the deficit, interest rates may have to rise, hitting householders and businesses and prolonging the recession.