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!

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.

Fame At Last - Portswood Councillor Vincenzo Capozzoli says why he became a Councillor

Blitz on Potholes

Tonight the new Conservative Council approved extra funds to tackle blight of potholes in the city's streets. An extra £300,000 is being allocated to tackle the affects of the winter weather which caused serious damage to Southampton's roads. This new money will mean that 4,500 extra pot holes will be filled. The money comes on top of the £800,000 increase to the council's roads budget announced in February.

The state of the roads is top concern for Southampton residents and we are working hard to do more to tackle the dreadful backlog of repairs. Year on year we are increasing investment despite the backdrop of chronic underfunding of council services by the Government. This winter saw a week of unusually bad freak weather and we are determined that we will not be knocked of course in our drive to fix the roads.

Labour's Spent

All Labour Governments eventually run out of money and last week this one proved that it was no different. The damage that Labour has done to the public finances is truly horrendous. They have saddled future generations with an unprecedented amount of debt; vastly more than in 1976 when Britain was forced to go cap in hand to the IMF and even more than in the aftermath of World War 2.

Gordon Brown once trumpeted that he abided by certain fiscal rules which included public debt not exceeding 40% of Gross Domestic Product. In fact he will end up with borrowing at a staggering 80% of GDP. To get back to his 40% figure may take up to 40 years! These crippling debts will have to be paid off not just by today’s generation but by our children as well, whose futures Gordon Brown has mortgaged.

In 2009 alone Gordon Brown says that he will borrow £175 billion. In last year’s budget he told us this figure would be only £38 billion. Independent analysts suggest that the true figure may exceed £200 billion.

The Government has a track record of getting its numbers wrong. Last year they said the economy would grow by 2.5%, now they say that it will shrink by 3.5%.

What is even more worrying is that the levels of planned government borrowing are based on some very optimistic assumptions about future economic growth. Gordon Brown says that the economy will grow by 1.25% in 2010 and 3.5% the following year. Considering how Labour got their sums so drastically wrong in the past and the fact that independent forecasters predict far worse figures for the future, we must surely worry at the actual amount of borrowing Labour will end up saddling the country with. The IMF predicts that the economy will shrink by over 4% this year and will shrink by nearly half a percent the following year.

Confidence in the economy will not come back unless the Government comes clean about the scale of the problem. It needs to set out a clear programme for showing how the debt will be repaid. Public spending restraint must be at the forefront of such a programme and the Government must prioritise. We cannot afford expensive and unnecessary schemes such as identity cards and we need to do away with the costly and unaccountable quangos that Gordon Brown has spawned. This would save billions.

The key failure in last week’s budget was the Government continuing to spin and deceive about the state of the public finances. No one believes the Government’s figures. This budget can be summed up in one word: Dishonest.

What Britain needs is some straight talking and honesty. I believe that this will only come with a change in government.

C'mon You Saints!

The city council is backing the C'Mon you Saints Campaign. The city has always worked closely with the club and is urging local people and fans to turn up in their thousands to support the Saints at tomorrow's home game against Charlton and help them storm to victory.

Free Swimming Launch!

Last Saturday I was pleased to attend the official launch of the under 16s free swimming scheme in Southampton at the Quays Swimming Pool. The scheme was recently approved after a deal was struck by the city council, the Primary Care Trust and local schools to meet the short fall in government funding.

From April 1st all young people aged 16 and under, as well as people aged 60 and over, will be able to use Bitterne Leisure Centre, Oaklands Pool and The Quays Swimming and Diving Complex for free during public sessions.

U-Turn On Business Rates

The Chancellor last night performed a last minute U-Turn on Government plans to hike up business rates by an inflation busting 5%. Business rates will now only go up 2% with the remainder of the increase deferred until after the general election.

I welcome the move and I know it will be a huge relief to struggling businesses in Southampton.

Businesses, local councils and the Conservative party too have been pressing the Government to rethink for a long time. So we all welcome the change of heart.

However it is frankly amazing the decision was made the night before the new rate hike was due to take affect.

It is a sign of a totally disjointed Government that is in absolute chaos. All the bills have gone out from the local authority and the Government is now rushing through regulations which they hope to have in place in July. This was a last minute panic from a Government that has finally bowed to common sense not part of a well thought out strategy.

Administratively it will cause local authorities like Southampton huge problems but we will get through all that as the important thing here is that are supporting local businesses who we know are struggling.

There is a remarkable similarity between this and the recent U-Turn on Council rents.

Exactly the same thing happened in March. The tenants in Southampton were facing an inflation busting increase in their rents from Government. All the bills had gone out and then the Government announced extra money to reduce the increase. We were delighted as tenants and the Conservatives had been pressing for this for a long time but once again it was at the eleventh hour. Every day now it looks more and more like this Government is in melt down. The sooner we can have an election the better!

Winchester Big Sleep Out

I am taking part in the Big Sleep Out in Winchester on 15th May to help raise funds for Winchester Churches Night Shelter and Trinity Winchester.

Both charities help those sleeping rough and the hidden homeless.

Winchester Churches Night Shelter offers an essential lifeline to the homeless, providing high quality food and shelter and a secure support network offered to address problems and re-develop life skills. They are the only direct access accommodation for the homeless in Hampshire, and a vital first port-of-call.

Trinity Winchester is a day time drop-in centre that provides services for those experiencing the effects of homelessness, vulnerable housing, problems with substance misuse, mental health issues, poverty, unemployment and social isolation.

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Rethink Needed on Shipping Tax

This week I wrote to Southampton Test's Labour MP Alan Whitehead urging him to press government to rethink the disasterous tax hike it is planning to impose on the port of Southampton:


Dear Dr Whitehead

Light Dues and Irish Subsidy

I am writing regarding the Department of Transport’s consultation on proposed amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Regulations 1997.

I am sure you will agree that at a time of extreme economic difficulty for all businesses, and in particular international shipping, there is an onus on Government to minimise potential additional costs which might harm employment. This is of particular importance for Southampton as the local docks is of huge importance to the economy of the city and wider region.

As you will know, any ship docking in at all UK and Republic of Ireland ports must pay a fee (Light Dues) to cover the costs of maintaining coastal navigation aids –such as lighthouses. I am appalled to see that the Department of Transport is considering increasing Light Dues by 6p this year. In addition to this the Government is proposing significant increases to the maximum chargeable tonnage from 35,000 to 50,000 net registered tonnes. Adding even more injury to the shipping industry the Government proposes to increase the number of chargeable voyages from seven to nine.

While we will agree on the importance of maintaining such navigational facilities as lighthouses, it should not mean that costs should be allowed to spiral uncontrollably upwards. There are two factors which have lead to the possible planed increases both of which could be controlled.

The first issue concerns the management of the General Lighthouse Fund. The GLF is proposing to allow expenditure (costs) to increase by 18% over the next four years. This is despite the fact that the GLF was tasked by the Department of Transport with identifying efficiencies. Indeed, as I understand it the forecasts for last year were for a 17% increase in the same period. So they have revised their figures upwards. Regarding a solution, many in the industry are wondering why it is that we require three separate General Lighthouse bodies, when they could be brought together and efficiency savings made.

The second factor is the Irish Subsidy which also comes from Light Dues. As you will know, it has been 80 years since the Irish Free State received its independence and we are still subsidising their lighthouses and navigational aids. Until 1985 the entire cost was covered by the UK. At present the cost split falls unfairly upon ships using UK ports only. It is absurd that we are still paying 50% of the Southern Irish portion of the lighthouse costs. The assessment of the Brook Report last March suggested that Northern Ireland accounts for only 15 per cent of the costs, so Britain should be paying 15 per cent not 65 percent. While I appreciate that officials are working to revise this cost sharing arrangements, I would remind you that your Government has been promising to tackle this issue since January 2004.

The shipping industry has been particularly hard hit by the current economic turmoil. For example, freight rates for containers shipped from Asia to Europe have already hit zero with customers just paying bunker rates and terminal charges. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which measures freight rates for bulk commodities, fell 96 per cent several months ago. UK Ports are also under severe pressure from foreign competition, with competitors on the continent not charging such fees as Light Duties. Any additional and unnecessary cost pressures at this time could lead to lines missing out stops at UK ports altogether.

I would be grateful if you could consider the points I have made and let me have your views.

City’s Labour MPs Need To Stand Up For The Port

The City’s Labour MPs should be challenging government plans to impose massive new tax rises on the port of Southampton.

The port is fundamental to the economy of Southampton and the region and tax hikes that drive away shipping will destroy local jobs.

This comes on top of the bungled decision recently by the government to impose a back dated business rates bill of £3.75m on 25 businesses in and around the port.

Our MPs, who should be fighting the city’s corner, are saying and doing nothing. Alan Whitehead MP, as a former Under Secretary of state for Transport, should understand the importance of the port and should be standing up for the city.

Time after time our Labour MPs are letting Southampton down. In the last few weeks we have had millions of pounds of government funding pulled from the city. They have pulled the plug on the money to revamp Guildhall Square and the money to rebuild the city’s colleges seems to be slipping away. Our MPs should start fighting for our local interests and putting the city first.

Time To Shift power To Local People And Rein In Whitehall bureaucrats

Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Cities, Tariq Ahmad, meets local Conservatives to talk about revitalising Britain's cities.

Local residents will have the power to instigate local referendums, will know more about how town hall money is spent and Southampton City Council will have more powers and funding under a new Conservative blueprint for local democracy.

I was delighted at the proposals to revive local democracy which were recently unveiled by David Cameron in a major policy document. The new policies include:

· Abolishing all regional planning and housing powers in the hands of regional government, returning powers and discretion back to local communities.
· Creating bottom-up incentives for house building, by allowing Southampton to benefit from the increase in council tax revenues from new homes.
· Giving a real incentive for councils to promote local economic growth, by allowing them to keep the uplift in business rate revenues from businesses growing in size.
· Granting Southampton City Council a new discretionary power to give discounts on business rates, allowing them to help local shops and services, such as rural pubs or post offices, or even create new local enterprise zones.
· Making greater use of direct democracy, including allowing Southampton residents to veto high council tax rises, or instigate a council-wide referendum on local issues if 5% of local residents give their backing.

These radical plans will put local people in the driving seat, and cut back interference and meddling by Whitehall bureaucrats. The next election won’t just be about whether to transfer power from Labour to Conservatives. It will also be about whether to transfer power from the central state to local people.

Dan Hannan....Telling It As It Is

Gordon Brown has run out of our money.

Action for City Tenants

On Wednesday 17th March Conservatives on the City Council brought an emergency motion to lower the average rent increase from 6.2% to 3.1%. This move was made possible following a successful campaign by Southampton tenants and local Conservative councillors to get a fairer deal for tenants from the government. Year after year Labour having been forcing up local rents well above the rate of inflation.

In the next year the Labour government will take £4.1million out of the council tenants rents to spend elsewhere in the country. If it wasn't for the successful campaign by local tenants and Conservative councillors this figure would have been a staggering £5.8m! This is money which could be spent on home improvements for local people.

Tory Defence Chief Backs Spitfire Campaign

Dr Fox at the Solent Sky Museum with an original Spitfire

Shadow Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, has given his backing and that of the national Conservative Party to Southampton's Spitfire Tribute Foundation, the organisation set up to raise funds for a permanent and fitting tribute in the city to the WW2 fighter plane.

Southampton was the first stop for Dr Fox last week where he met myself and Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Itchen, Royston Smith ahead of a tour of Hampshire.

Dr Fox visited the Solent Sky Museum which houses an original Spitfire and the University of Southampton where he talked to students about the security challenges facing Britain. Dr Fox then went on to other parts of the county to meet with members of the armed forces, retired service personnel and those in voluntary and commercial sector who support our forces.

Labour’s Backdated Port Tax Bombshell

Businesses in and around Southampton Docks are facing nearly £4m in extra business rates from the Labour Government.

Until recently these businesses had paid the business rates as port fees to the port which acted as an umbrella for collecting and paying over Non Domestic Business Rates.

The government has brought in changes to the ratings system for port businesses which will mean they face backdated tax bills to 2005. In effect they will be taxed twice for this period.

Extra taxes are being imposed at the worst possible time with businesses in the city reeling from the effects of the Gordon Brown’s recession. These extra taxes come on top of the 5% hike in business rates coming in this April. Rather than helping local firms in the tough economic climate Labour are hammering them and putting jobs at risk.

Initially firms were asked to pay the back dated taxes in 14 days!
Now Labour are being forced to rush through emergency legislation to allow payments to be spread over a number of years.

Conservatives nationally are fighting these extra taxes in Parliament. At a local level I have pledged that the city council, who are required to collect these taxes, will do all they can to help businesses through this difficult time.