Global Poverty

I've been getting a lot of email requests asking about our policy on Global Poverty. It's great to see how many in Macclesfield are concerned about our responsibility to help those who need it even more than we do. Charity may begin at home, as the proverb says, but it mustn't stop there.

• We will increase the aid budget to 0.7% of GDP, as agreed at Gleneagles, by 2013, and we would enshrine that figure in law.
• Aid to mitigate the effects of climate change, would be in addition to that. It is highly unfair that developing countries should suffer (through drought and rising sea levels) the effects caused by the developed world's use of fossil fuels.
  
• We will prioritise useful programs: health and education, promoting gender equality, reducing maternal and infant mortality, supplying basic needs like clean water, and curbing the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
• We will ban banks from handling the proceeds of corruption, and crack down on tax havens which enable large corporations to avoid payment of tax in developing countries.
• We will push for more cancellation of unpayable debts, and ban 'vulture funds'
• We will support a global fund for social protection to help developing countries build viable welfare systems.
• We will support reform of the World Bank and the IMF.

The Liberal Democrats are committed towards working for a world free from poverty, inequality and injustice. It's good to see how many in Macclesfield share our commitment.

Bollington Hustings

We had a lively and interesting election hustings meeting in Bollington on Wednesday. Pressure of time meant that not everyone could get answers to their questions, and several were handed in afterwards - so here they are, and here are my answers.

1.What is your attitude to enforcing UK custom and practice recently expressed by the Australian PM for entry to Australia ie ‘either comply or feel free to leave!' Burkas should be banned in UK – they provide perfect cover for a suicide bomber!

Differences in "custom and practice" can refresh and add to the rich cultural life of the nation. If anyone has different attitudes to clothing, cookery, music or culture then good luck to them. Only if they have values which are in conflict with ours - on the position of women, or the exploitation of children, or the acceptance of different viewpoints, should we draw a line to toleration. Everyone should be allowed to wear whatever they choose - I'm not going to get into a debate on women's fashions.

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2.What are the candidates’ views on the recent cuts in school places and current shortfall and what would they do to prevent a similar scenario in the secondary sector ?

The numbers of children in an area rise and fall according to demography. The LEA did not get its sums right, through not considering all the information it could have obtained. It should learn from the mistake and do better in future.

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3. After the floods last year and the current last year and the current travel chaos do the candidates agree that insurance companies should be forced to stop hiding behind the ‘small print’ and make their policies entirely transparent.

Yes, absolutely. We need to name and shame those who have done this, and ensure that restrictions are explained clearly.

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4. Is it true, as reported in the press, that the service personnel now serving abroad will not be able to vote?

This story seems to arise from the idea that it may take too long to send a postal ballot paper to a Forces address (especially in distant theatres like Afghanistan) and get it returned. The Electoral commission website contains full instructions on how service personnel can vote by post or by proxy (and voting by proxy avoids the delay). When the election is over there should be a review to see if this is a definite problem, and if so it should be solved by an extension of the timetable, as Richard Benyon suggests. I would fully support this.

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5. Do the candidates believe that a cap on top salaries in the public sector should be matched by an equivalent top salary in the private sector. Are we all in this together?

No, we are not all in this together. The bankers and finance 'wizards' who caused the crisis are doing nicely, thank you. We can legislate to reduce bonuses (if we have the courage), but I do not see how we can legally cap outrageous salaries in the private sector - though we will ensure that firms publish a list of all employees earning over £200,000.

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6. What have you to offer to support the unemployed of this country – both young and old?

Our 'green stimulus' plan will create 100,000 jobs in manufacturing wind and wave power, in installing insulation and microgeneration in people's homes, in making schools more energy efficient, and in renovating disused properties.

For young people we will have a work placement scheme, paying them £55 a week for up to 3 months so they could learn useful skills making them more employable. There will be more apprenticeships and more FE places.

All unemployed people will be entitled to training support and assistance, without havng to wait 6 months for the privilege.

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7. Would you support Her Majesty in maintaing the intention of her Coronation Oath, to maintain the Laws of God in this Nation?

Absolutely. Our nation is based on Christian values which we generally all share, whatever our actual faith. These include the need to strengthen the weak, comfort the afflicted, heal the sick, deal justly with all, and support widows and orphans. These are the values that motivate me - and many others, from all parties - in politics today.

BAe and the Woodford Site

I've just had a meeting with Mark Hunter about the British Aerospace site at Woodford.

Mark told me all about the long campaign he has waged, together with fellow Lib Dem Andrew Stunnel from Hazel Grove and also, truth be told, Macclesfield MP Sir Nicholas Winterton, to keep the site going and the workers in jobs - a campaign eventually frustrated by short sighted government insistence to buy a US plane rather than the British alternative.

As a result it is now inevitable that the site will be run down and closed. The buildings (hangars and offices) will in time be developed: we will campaign hard to make sure that this redevelopment is one which serves the community: it must provide jobs and facilities, not just homes for commuters. Local and national politicians have a hard job ahead to make sure that the future is one which is best for the community, not just the one which makes most money for the developers.

The airfield itself is Green belt and is protected. It presents lots of possibilities but - especially in the present economic downturn - there is no immediately apparent use. There are no planning applications in at the moment: we have to wait and see what ideas are offered and ensure that the space is preserved and used sensibly and sensitively.

Mark is clearly an enthusiast - pictures on his office wall, including the Vulcan - are proof of that.

Contract

If elected as MP for Macclesfield

• I will put local people first. I will be there to help, listen to your concerns and stand up for our community. I will run surgeries throughour the constituency, and also be available byt email.
• I will make sure your voice is heard- locally and at Westminster, whatever way you voted. I will be a strong voice for Macclesfield.
• I will be open and honest about all expenses incurred in representing you. No duck houses, no 'flipping', and no claiming rent for a flat already owned by the family. And total transparency.

Climate change

I'm getting a lot of emails about climate change, asking what the Liberal Democrats will do about it. This is great - it's good that people take the issue as important and are campaigning on it. So let me set out our general position in this blog.

First: atmospheric CO2 is rising due to our activities. It's obvious that we're pushing stuff into the atmosphere and it's accumulating.

Second: temperatures are rising. Year on year there are large fluctuations but the overall trend is definite.

Thirdly: the rise in temperature is caused by the rise in CO2. That is logical and obvious and accepted by all sensible commentators, with only a few, like ostriches sticking their heads in the sand, refusing to accept the obvious link. (Nick Winterton is one of these, but that's by the way.)

To sit back and do nothing and just enjoy the rise in temperature is not an option. It will bring rising sea levels and drought, and hit the poorest nations (like Bangladesh) hardest. Oh, and it will probably switch off the Gulf Stream so the UK climate will actually get worse rather than better.

So we would - after the failure of the Copenhagen talks - work to get a legally binding global agreement to reduce emissions so that the temperature rise is limited to 1.7C. We would enhance and tighten the emissions trading scheme so that low carbon alternatives flourished. In the UK we would set a target of reducing emissions by 40% by 2020 and elminating net emissions by 2050. To achieve this we would

• Reduce demand, through better insulation, a smart Grid, upgrading buses and encouraging travel by train (while discouraging flights within the UK which could be done by train. Mind you the volcanic ash is doing that anyway right now.)
• Increase green power from microgenerators and from wind, refurbishing shipyards to build turbines.
• Committing the government to the goals of the 10:10 campaign, as a way of leading by example
• Plant more woodlands in the UK, and protect forests elsewhere

We would also support 3rd world countries affected by drought and rising sea levels (which is only fair as this problem is basically our fault, not theirs) on top of our aid commitment of 0.7% of GDP.

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing us. Even bigger than the recession. It will take radical action to get something done - and the sooner we take that action, the less painful it will be in the long run.

Piece for the Macc Express

Where have we got to? What are the parties offering the ordinary Macclesfield citizen?

The Conservative manifesto talks loudly about 'people power'. Pull the other one. The Tory concept of government is that, once they're in power, they make the decisions, and everyone else does as they're told. That's what they did in Margaret Thatcher and John Major's time, and that's what they do where they have power today – we don't have to look any further than Cheshire East Council, where the select few in the 'Cabinet' call the shots, and no-one else, not even the Scrutiny Committees, has any say in the matter. When they extol 'individual freedom' they mean the freedom of the rich to make as much money as possible without being hampered by any concern for the less fortunate – which is why they get so many donations from big business and big businessmen .

And the Labour Party. Oh dear. In their 13 years in power the country has become still more unequal – now the poorest 20% pay a higher fraction of their income in tax than the richest 20% They bailed out the banks with our money, but they still can't (or won't) stop the bankers paying themselves obscene bonuses. They set excellent and ambitious targets, for example to reduce child poverty, and to cut carbon emissions, and then failed to meet them.

We offer a third way. Reduce tax for the least well off at the expense of those who can afford it. Tame the banks and the bankers. Restore the earnings link for pensions. Axe expensive prestige projects like ID cards, biometric passports, like-for-like Trident replacement and more Eurofighters, while making sure our troops have the equipment they really need. Clean up parliament and get rid of sleaze. Reduce central bureaucracy and control for schools and hospitals (saving money, too). Set unused shipyards to building wind turbines. Invest in rail. Phase out tuition fees as soon as possible. Put serious money into education, going directly to schools. Bring down the budget deficit without killing the recovery.

All the parties are promising change. But the Liberal Democrats promise real change, change in our rotten political system, change in our unfair tax regime, change in our wasteful energy use. Change to make a better Britain, not just for us but for our children and grandchildren.

Manifestos

I've been looking at the Labour and Conservative manfestos that have just come out...

Labour's manifesto is full of broken promises, scaled-back pledges, policies lifted from the Liberal Democrats and proposals that simply don't go far enough. The tax system is less fair than when they came to power in 1997. Inequality has increased. The House of Lords is still in its medieval unreformed state. We've got into messy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reputation of politics and politicans is worse than ever. Labour have had 13 years to get it right - why should they expect us to believe them this time? They got us into this mess, so why should we trust them to get us out?

The Tories manifesto is the usual mixture of sound bites and meaningless promises. Their agenda is simply to take help away from those that need it and give it to those already at the top. They're not offering real change - just a return to the 1980s. Cameron is simply saying 'Labout have messed up - so now it's our turn'. They want to get their snouts back in the trough, as Vince Cable puts it.

Our manifesto is out shortly. I'm sure we can do better!

Leaflets in sunny Poynton

Spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon delivering FOCUS leaflets round Poynton and chatting to local residents working in their gardens. Everyone is very polite and friendly and although some just want to be left in peace, others are eager to talk.

Cameron's marriage tax plans

So the Tories have finally unveiled their much-trailed scheme to support marriage through tax incentives, and it wasn't worth the wait.

Even the fraction of married couples that could benefit would only get £150 a year - that's less than 50p a day. This is said to be 'sending a signal' that the government approves of marriage. Frankly, I don't think that couples contemplating matrimony take the views of the government into their considerations.

It looks like the Tories have dug themselves into a hole. They promised to restore the support for married couples through the tax system (reduced and abolished, incidentally, by John Major, Nigel Lawson, Kenneth Clarke and Norman Lamont.) Then they realised they couldn't afford it, so they've put up this minimal non-scheme.

You can't and shouldn't bribe people to get married. Marriage, in my 30+ years experience of it, is about love and companionship and mutual support, not about maximising disposable income. And I have my wife's permission to say so.

POWER2010

I've been getting many emails from local constituents urging me to sign the POWER2010 pledge - and I'm happy to do so and give them some publicity.

This is a widespread and well organised group (with a very smooth website ) campaigning to reform politics by 5 points

1. Introduce a proportional voting system

2. Scrap ID cards and roll back the database state

3. Replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber

4. Allow only English MPs to vote on English laws

5. Draw up a written constitution



I'm happy with 4 1/2 of these. We are, of course, very much in favour of a fair voting system and against ID cards, on grounds of principle as well as cost. The House of Lords is a historical anachronism and it's a crying indictment of reformist 'New Labour' that they have fudged its reform for their 13 years in power. A written constitution to safeguard our freedoms from the encroaching state is now a necessity.
There are other solutions to the "English" business in a UK parliament. I'd prefer to have regional assemblies in England, like those in Scotland and Wales - with a proper democratic mandate and commensurate powers. Though the Prescott-inspired referendum fiasco in the North East has set that back a few years.

So I've signed - and will encourage others to do so. It's a very positive indication that voters are focussing on real and sensible issues in this election.

Things are hotting up

The manifesto will take a few days, but our 4 key themes have already emerged

Fair taxes that put money back in your pocket

Making the first £10,000 tax-free would mean a tax cut of £700 for most people, but more imporrtantly it would make those at the bottom - 3.6 million low earners and pensioners - free from income tax completely. And it would all be paid for by closing loopholes that unfairly benefit the wealthy and polluters.

A fair future creating jobs by making Britain greener

Breaking up the banks and making them our servants not out masters. Investing in infrastructure - especially "green growth" technology.

A fair chance for every child

£2.5 billion for schools, targeted at those that need it most. This would ensure children get the individual attention they need by cutting class sizes. And giving schools the freedom to make the right choices for their pupils.

A fair deal by cleaning up politics

Overhauling Westminster completely: fair votes, an elected House of Lords, all politicians to pay full British taxes. The right to sack corrupt MPs. And protecting hard-won British civil liberties with a Freedom Bill.

I hope we can keep the focus on these for the next 4 weeks

May 6th

Now we know. It's May 6th.

At the last election, one in four voted for the Lib Dems.

If we can just make that one in three, we'd be pretty sure to form the next government.

It's also my wife's birthday. Probably an omen. Or something