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