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.

A Victory For The Gurkhas, but City MPs get it wrong

It is disgraceful that Southampton MPs Alan Whitehead and John Denham backed Gordon Brown in trying to restrict the right of many former Gurkha soldiers to settle in the UK.

Last night’s vote was a humiliating defeat for the Government and it showed up the city’s Labour MPs for having extraordinary lack of judgement.

We owe a debt of honour to the Gurkhas for their service to this country. I am delighted that enough MPs made the right decision. I am just disappointed that locally our Southampton MPs got it wrong.

The shadow immigration minister Damian Green has said that a Conservative Government would give all Gurkhas and their immediate dependents the right to settle in the UK. I hope last night's vote will see a change in policy from the Government.

MPs voted by 267 to 246 for a Lib Dem motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence, with the Tories and 27 Labour rebels backing it. A list of how MPs voted can be found HERE.

Labour MPs Let Down Southampton

Last night MPs rejected a Conservative motion in Parliament protesting at Labour plans to force the closure of 2,500 post offices by just 288 votes to 268, slashing the government's majority to 20.

Southampton’s two Labour MPs, Alan Whitehead and John Denham are being accused of hypocrisy for having campaigned to save post offices in the city whilst voting last night for the post office closures.

Our MPs are not standing up for the city. Once again when it comes to the crunch they are simply Gordon Brown’s voice in Southampton. Local communities in Southampton will be hit hard by these closures which will be very damaging and disruptive, particularly for elderly people.

The Conservatives are calling for the government’s closure programme to be suspended to allow a full revaluation of the process and work to be done to see where more business can be put into the post office network. For example this might involve working with Royal Mail or local councils.

The government is simply managing the decline of the post offices and we are arguing that they should be focused on building up the post office network so it becomes dependent more on its business rather than government subsidy.

Read more about keeping our post offices open.

John Denham on Labour Donor Scandal

Gordon Brown's Government going from disaster to disaster.

I listened to John Denham MP's comments on the unfolding Labour funding debacle, on The Politics Show today.

He was peddling the same line as other Labour figures on this matter; that the rules need to be reconsidered and we need a wider debate on party funding.

The problem is not the rules, its that Labour flagrantly broke them!

It doesn't matter what new rules are brought in if Labour are going to ignore them. I certainly don't think we should be forced to pay more tax to fund political parties because Labour can't be trusted to be honest.

Doorstep Green

I spent an enjoyable couple of hours today at the opening of Doorstep Green in Sholing.

The event was opened by John Denham MP who spoke very briefly and was introduced by the city's town crier.

Local people have done a fantastic job improving the park. New benches have been installed and a brick path laid.

I attended the event with local Conservative Councillor Gavin Dick and Shirley Conservative candidate Matthew Dean.

It was a very successful event with over hundred people present. I particularly enjoyed the burger from the burger stand, winning a prize on a game of hoopla and bumping into Labour councillor Sue Blatchford in her Margaret Thatcher style outfit. I was a little disappointed that Sue turned down my offer of a go on the bouncy castle.

John Denham made one slight faux pas. It was announced that he was doing all he could to safeguard the pensions of local people. This raised more than a few eyebrows from those present as John is a keen supporter of Gordon Brown who is responsible for pinching tens of billions of pounds from private pension funds over the past 10 years.