SW Issues
Our region, which includes Gibraltar and in the UK stretches from Tewkesbury to the Isles of Scilly and borders of Dorset and Hampshire, is the largest in England. Because of its size and make-up, there are a number of diverse issues that we face on a day-to-day basis. The Conservatives in the South West work tirelessly to ensure that your voice is heard not only locally, but in the corridors of Westminster.
Below, in no particular order, are some of the key issues that we face here in the South West and some of the many proposals the Conservatives have put forward to make a real difference:
ECONOMY
It is sad indictment of the current Government that, according to recent figures, the South West region has the largest increase in unemployment in the United Kingdom. In the past year, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in the South West has risen by 76 per cent – more than in any other region. In December 2008, there were 66,710 JSA claimants, an increase of 28,801 people since December 2007 (ONS, Regional Labour Market Statistics, January 2008). During a visit to the Westcountry in November, Harriet Harman said that the Westcountry, and Cornwall in particular, was ‘not as wealthy an area as it should be’ after more than a decade under Labour. When trying to justify the disparity in Government funding between places like Manchester and Glasgow, and Cornwall, Harman said that Manchester got a lot of attention because it is a ‘massive urban centre’ with a ‘massive economy’, and that the reason why Cornwall got overlooked was ‘a combination of the fact that there are big rural areas and the population being widely spread, plus the distance from London, plus Cornwall has its own distinct economic experience’ (thisisdevon.co.uk, 1 November 2008). In these difficult economic times Britain needs a government with clear ideas on how to strengthen employment and support jobs in weathering the economic storm. Labour has failed on employment in the last eleven years. The Conservative Party is developing the right long-term policies on employment to ensure that Britain is well placed to weather global financial turbulence and create new jobs and opportunities for all. Among the proposals put forward by the Conservatives are the need to reform Britain’s welfare system to provide people with the support, retraining and advice they need to find work; To radically modernize training and apprenticeships in Britain; To reform the insolvency system to ensure that good companies have the breathing space they need to stay afloat during times of economic difficulty; And cut the main rate of corporation tax from 28p to 25p and reverse the Government’s planned increase in the small companies’ rate from 20p to 22p.
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TRANSPORT
People across the South West are becoming increasingly frustrated with our transport system. Motorists, bus and train travellers are all struggling to get to work, get their children to school and get around our county. The Conservatives want fewer cars on the road - but until our public transport becomes a real alternative, this is not an option. Labour is reducing the subsidy for our trains as passengers pay more. January price hikes to train tickets mean that some people will pay more than £200 for an open return to London. Developments to key routes such as the A303 have been stopped by Labour. Your local Conservatives want change. On buses – better ticketing, timetables and routes. On trains – more loops on the West of England line and better prices on First Great Western and Cross Country tickets. On our roads - Many of our county’s roads are in a shocking state, and need attention.
HOUSING
The Government talks a good talk on housing – but its action has failed. In June 2008, the Daily Telegraph reported that a staggering 40 per cent of young working households in the South West cannot get on the property ladder. Since Labour came to power there has been a 310% increase in households waiting for socially provided homes. This means that, to accommodate the 4,970 households who are currently on the waiting list in Exeter, for example, the city would need to increase its stock by 50%. Yet recent figures have revealed that homeownership rates are at their lowest level for a decade, while repossessions are soaring across the country – including the South West. The Conservatives have pledged to help people get on the housing ladder including scrapping Stamp Duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £250,000 and abolishing Home Information Packs (HIPs) which have made moving house even more difficult and expensive. Your local Conservatives believe these decisions should be made by local communities – and not the domain of Whitehall.
FARMING
British farmers are among the most efficient in Europe, but they have been let down by this Labour government – whether it be over continually ignoring calls for a cull of badgers to tackle Bovine TB, issues with the Single Farm Payments, or failing to properly press for further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Your local Conservatives have worked closely with our farmers and will continue to stand up on their behalf. Your local Conservatives have already called on the government to help struggling hill farmers across the South West. The calls come after it was confirmed by the European Commission that money from the Article 68 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can be used to compensate farmers that are losing out under Margaret Beckett's scheme to bring all land, including that in less favoured areas under an area based system. Up until recently hill farmers have been receiving their payments mainly on a historical basis however under the Beckett system they will receive solely a regional or land based payment which does not sufficiently take into account the difficulties associated with farming in such areas. The Beckett system will potentially lead to a large reduction of the number of livestock on our hills, also affecting the environmental sustainability of these areas. Recently, Conservative South West MEP Neil Parish and Mel Stride, the Conservative Prospective MP for Central Devon, met with senior officials from the European Commission in Brussels who confirmed that the British government could use the provisions in Article 68 to move CAP money to help these struggling hill farmers. They will now seek to meet with DEFRA Minister, Hilary Benn. Both Mel and Neil have been working alongside Sian Flynn, the Conservative North Cornwall, on this campaign.
HEALTH
Gordon Brown’s short-sighted cuts and closures are damaging the NHS - we must stop them. The NHS is an institution which binds our nation together. In cities, towns and villages up and down the country, the family doctor surgeries and local hospitals are part of the fabric of our community. And the doctors, nurses and support staff who work so hard to keep them going are known and trusted. One of the saddest things about the Government’s health policy in recent years has been their obsession with making the NHS bigger and more distant. They are merging maternity units, concentrating accident and emergency departments in fewer centres and moving family doctors to big, impersonal ‘polyclinics’ where there’s little chance of seeing the same doctor twice. Labour’s plans are ripping the heart out of our health service. One of the main reasons for these cuts and closures is that under Labour too much money has been diverted from patient care to wasteful bureaucracy. Mr. Brown has imposed 101 central targets on the NHS – and as a result, the Government demands 250,000 data returns from all NHS organisations every year. It’s no surprise that the number of NHS managers is now increasing twice as fast as the number of nurses. A Conservative government would turn the NHS around by:
- We will call an immediate halt to cuts which Labour are making without evidence to support improvements in patient access and care, so that patients have access to high-quality services at their local hospital
- We will protect family doctor services by opposing Labour’s plans to impose impersonal “polyclinics” at the expense of local GP surgeries
- Most importantly, we will set the NHS free from ministerial meddling and allow NHS staff to concentrate on doing what they do best: providing top-quality care to patients
Help us save the NHS by signing our petition against Brown’s cuts today by visiting http://www.conservatives.com/Campaigns/Stop_Browns_NHS_Cuts/New_Petition...
COUNCIL TAX
The average council tax in the South West has risen by a staggering 112 per cent since 1997 – effectively doubling what the region’s already hard-pressed residents have to pay each year. While the total average Band D bill in 1997-8 was £667 by 2008-9, it had risen to £1,413. The Conservatives have pledged not to leave people to struggle with the credit crunch alone. Last year, George Osborne announced a two-year freeze in council tax in order to help families cope with the rising cost of living. This measure will save a typical Band D household over £200, and millions of families will benefit. The costs for the council tax freeze will be shared between local and central government. Any council that makes savings to keep its annual council tax increase to 2.5% or below will receive additional money from central government to reduce council tax bills by a further 2.5%. This central government funding will be raised by reducing spending on expensive private sector consultants and advertising by £500 million in the first full year of government, and by £1 billion in all subsequent years.
EDUCATION
Recent figures have shown that GCSE results in the South West are below the national average. In 2008, 63 per cent of pupils in the South West gained five or more A* - C grades at GCSE level, compared to a national average of 64 per cent. Our young people deserve education to be a top priority. The Conservatives are committed to raising standards of education for everyone. That is why earlier this year, Carole Vorderman agreed to help the Conservatives draw up plans to make maths teaching in our state schools as good as anywhere in the world. As part of her work for the taskforce, Carol will examine methods used to teach maths in other countries, whether tests in Britain are tough enough, and how to break the culture of “maths fear”.
THE LISBON TREATY
The Conservative Party believes Britain's interests are best served by membership of a European Union that is an association of its Member States. A Conservative Government would never allow Britain to slide into a federal Europe. The Conservative Party supports an open, flexible Europe, whose priorities should be what really matter to the peoples of Europe: global competitiveness, global poverty and global warming. A Conservative Government would be active and energetic in the EU, promoting Britain's interest and engaging in the shared challenges all European countries face.
Labour and the Lib Dems promised the British people a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty but broke their promise. Their behaviour was a betrayal of democracy. The Lisbon Treaty has now been absorbed as part of European law and the new posts it created have now been established. They cannot be made to disappear and the Lisbon Treaty cannot now be reversed.
So the Conservative Party has set out a series of measures to deal with the worst problems caused by the Treaty.
A Conservative Government would change the law so that never again would a government be able to agree to a Treaty that hands over areas of power from Britain to the EU without a referendum.
A Conservative Government would also introduce a new law, in the form of a United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill, to make it clear that ultimate authority stays in this country, in our Parliament.
Furthermore, as the Lisbon Treaty contains a mechanism to abolish vetoes and transfer power without the need for a new Treaty, a Conservative Government would change the law so that any use of a so-called ratchet clause would require full approval by Parliament.
These policies deal with future problems, but there are still problems we are facing today, which will now be made worse by the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. These problems boil down to the steady and unaccountable intrusion of the European Union into almost every aspect of our lives.
A Conservative Government will address the worst of these problems by negotiating for three specific guarantees over powers that we believe should reside with Britain, not the EU:
* A full opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR). Tony Blair told us that he had obtained an opt-out from the CFR, but he did not. As Ministers have subsequently admitted, he only obtained a 'clarification' as to how it would apply. We want to upgrade this to a full opt-out so that the CFR, which for instance would interfere with our trade union legislation, cannot be made to apply in Britain.
* Greater protection against EU encroachment into the UK's Criminal Justice System. Lisbon provides us with an 'opt-in' over criminal justice matters but we want broader protection provided by an additional protocol. This would protect against EU judges extending their control over our Criminal Justice System, and we also want to ensure that only British authorities can initiate criminal investigations in Britain.
* Restoration of national control over social and employment legislation. Lastly, we want to restore national control over those parts of social and employment legislation which have proved most damaging to the British economy. For instance, we would seek guarantees over the application of the Working Time Directive in our public services, such as the fire service and the NHS.