General Election Countdown

Change the Government not the Voting System

You couldn't make it up! Our unelected Prime Minister Gordon Brown is now pushing for a change to the voting system by which we elected our MPs.
He wants to tinker with the electoral system but he won't call a General Election. Nor will he honour his promise to have a public vote on the Treaty of Lisbon, which proposes transferring even more power from Britain to Brussels.

During the many weeks I spent knocking doors for the European Elections, not once did anyone say to me that they wanted a change to the voting system. Time after time however people said they want a General Election, to have their say on Gordon Brown's leadership and the performance of this Government.

Call me a cynic but I cannot for one minute believe that Gordon Brown would opt for Proportional Representation for any other reason than to try and cling on to power at the next election. He wants to change the rules because he thinks he will lose. Democracy and the country come last with this Prime Minister. His self interest is all that matters.

Having just gone through a European Election we have seen first hand what a confusing system Proportional Representation is. It gives more power to political parties and their whips and it distances politicians from their voters by breaking or loosening the constituency link that exists in the First Past the Post system. What we want now is more accountability from our politicians, not less. We have also seen the scandal of the first BNP MEPs elected under the Proportional Representation system.

If Gordon Brown wants to reinvigorate democracy in this country I have a few suggestions. Give us the referendum he promised on the European Constitution, scrap the quangos and re-establish the importance of Parliament, transfer powers to local government so that decisions are taken closer to the people, stop the briefing against Ministers and MPs who disagree with him, have an elected House of Lords to replace the appointment of cronies and party donors to the upper house, introduce recall elections for MPs where they have lost the faith and trust of their constituents and most importantly of all have the General Election that the public are demanding to bring new blood and a new culture to Westminster.

The Conservatives are the only challenger to Labour in Southampton

The results of the European Elections for Southampton can be found HERE.

It was a good result for the Conservatives who topped the poll, with 50% more votes than Labour. Labour were very nearly knocked into third place by UKIP. The Lib Dem vote collapsed with them coming fifth behind the Greens.

It is now clearly a two horse race in Southampton at the next General Election with the Conservatives the only viable challenger to Labour in the city.

Vote Conservative Today

Britain cannot afford another year of Labour. Today's European Election is an opportunity to show Gordon Brown that the country wants an immediate General Election and wants change. The only way that can be achieved is with a good result for the Conservatives.

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!

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.