Police commissioner elections

One of the more bizarre policies in the government’s coalition agreement is the decision to appoint police and crime commissioners for every police force in the country. These will be elected in November and the new Commissioners will have overall responsibility for running local police forces. At present Hampshire police are run by a Chief Constable answerable to a Police Authority made up of elected local councillors. This works well and prevents any single person or group running policing for their own ends.

The elections will see a single individual being paid up to £100,000 a year to supervise the Chief Constable. This money plus the cost of elections (£70,000) and cost of staff, offices etc would be better spent on front line policing currently threatened with cuts.

The plan is not Liberal Democrat policy but was forced into the coalition agenda to satisfy the “angry wing” of the Tory party. Even the Tories admit they will struggle to find suitable candidates for the new posts. And they are worried about politicising the role.

It is wrong to concentrate too much power in one person or institution. Just look at how elections for London mayor have become a battle between two over-inflated egos indifferent to the needs of London residents. The current Police Authority representing all local views and guarding against ill-though out, populist decisions, works. What a pity we have to change it.

I and local Liberal Democrats will campaign in the forthcoming elections to ensure the election of a good non-political candidate. We need a police commissioner who will put good policing above all else. These elections should not be hijacked by self important busybodies or single issue campaigners getting on a gravy train and ruining our excellent police force in the process.

You can read more about police commissioners here

Shepherd Spring Housing development – the battle continues

Opposition to the county council’s proposed overdevelopment of the old Shepherd Spring school playing fields is growing and residents have taken their campaign to the local press and radio.

On Thursday town councillor Barbara Carpenter was interviewed on Andover Sound (Andover Sound News) about the plans and on Friday the Andover Advertiser featured the objerctions. The photo below (courtesy of Andover Advertiser) shows local residents opposed to the plans.

There is another meeting of the Roman Way Forum next Saturday (11th February) where the application will be on the agenda and the next steps of the campaign to persuade the county council to drop this inappropriate plan will be discussed. All residents are invited. Come along and make your views known.
Follow this link for the full agenda and minutes of the previous meeting Roman Way Forum Agenda 11 February 2012

Street pastors succeed in Andover

Just over a year ago I attended the inauguration of Andover’s street pastors. These are church volunteers who give their time to go out on the streets to care, listen and dialogue with people. They are not there to preach nor to convert but to practice what they believe in, to care for their neighbours. Over the last year they have gone from strength to strength and earned the support and respect of the police, businesses and the public. I was privileged to attend their first anniversary meeting where a number of new pastors were enrolled allowing them to send out teams on Saturday’s as well as Friday nights. The also go out on Bank Holiday Sundays.

Last Saturday I was invited, along with Cllr Nigel Long, to join them on patrol and his report of the evening can be found at http://nigellong.mycouncillor.org.uk/2012/01/30/street-pastors/.

I fully endorse all his comments and thank Bev, Barry and all the team who showed me the excellent work they do. More information about the work of street pastors can be found at http://www.streetpastors.co.uk/

david cameron fails to protect the taxpayers

Here for you - or themselves?

That this country, and the world, face the worst economic conditions for a century can no longer be denied. Millions are seeing their living standards drop, their pay frozen and their benefits and services cut. But those who are suffering the most in this age of economic austerity are not the causes of the problem merely its victims.

The architects of these problems are a small self indulgent minority and the politicians who cravenly allowed them to line their own pockets at the expense of everyone else and to the detriment of society now and in the future. The financial crisis can be laid solely at the feet of greedy bankers and they must now pay their fair share to sort the mess out.

We have heard, more than once, that “we are all in this together” unfortunately the directors of RBS don’t think this applies to them. David Cameron’s refusal to block the obscene bonus awarded to Stephen Hester shows this is not the case. All the pious talk about responsible capitalism and all the work done by business secretary Vince Cable to rein in greedy bankers mean nothing if, when given the opportunity, the prime minister fails to act in the public interest.

Mr Hester earns 40 times more than the median wage and considerably more than the governor of the Bank of England. A bonus should be paid for contributing something above and beyond his basic contract, not just for turning up and doing the job for which he is already generously paid. The pathetic excuse that it is less than last year is not good enough. No-one deserves this sort of largesse just for being in the right place at the right time.

Mr Hester and his colleagues are public employees in a bank in which the major shareholders are the taxpayers. The prime minister has a responsibility to act in the best interests of those shareholders and block this excessive bonus and other bonuses lined up for other senior RBS staff.

Add your name to the thousands who have already signed a petition opposing this payout at https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/RBS_chief_bonus

Lib Dems deliver on tax

The Liberal Democrats believe you should keep more money that you earn. That is why we believe the tax-free threshold should raise to £10,000, saving working people £700 a year and making sure millions of the lowest paid workers don’t have to pay any income tax at all.

Between now and the Budget, Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats in Government will be arguing for faster tax cuts for hard-working families, promoting work and growth, and rewarding innovation, paid for by increasing the amount paid by the richest.

Every politician has a simple choice: do you support a tax system that rewards the hard-working many? Or do you back taxes that favour the wealthy few?

And the Liberal Democrats in Coalition are already making the difference:

More than 800,000 working people no longer paying income tax
23 million working people have been given a £200 tax cut
In April this year every worker will be given a further income tax cut of £130
And by the local elections in May this year, 1.1 million of the lowest paid workers, will no longer be burdened by income tax
The Liberal Democrats are committed to delivering a fairer economy, turning our tax promise into cash in your pocket. It was on the front page of our manifesto and is being implemented because of Liberal Democrats in Government.

As part of this Coalition, Liberal Democrats are calling time on our unfair and out-of-whack tax system.

We’ve clamped down on tax avoiders – targeting an extra £7bn every year
We’re taxing the banks by an extra £2.5bn every year
We’ve stopped inheritance tax cuts for millionaires
We’ve put up Capital Gains Tax, raising £925m a year by 2015
We’re ending the scandal, under Labour, of a hedge-fund manager paying less tax on their shares than their cleaner paid on their wages
We’ve reduced tax breaks on pension funds for the super-rich, raising £4.4bn a year by 2015
We have retained the 50p rate
And our overall priority is freeing the lowest-paid from income tax altogether and cutting income tax for millions of ordinary workers
You can read Nick’s speech to the resolution Foundation here: http://www.libdems.org.uk

Newspapers praise Lib Dem successes

After month’s of sniping Britain’s newspapers are finally acknowledging that Lib Dem cabinet memebrs are punching above their weight and delivering on our election promises. Over the last week they have published several examples of how Lib Dems in government are pushing for a fairer tax system anf holding the fat-cats to account.

The Independent reports on how Nick Clegg is pushing for a budget to target the rich who so far have avoided the full effects of thegovernemnt’s defciit reduction plans.

Business secretary Vince Cable’s work to rein in bankers and control their unacceptable and self indulgent bonuses is reported in The Guardian.

Even the Tory Daily Telegraph is getting in on the act by reporting how David Cameron’s U-turn on the 50p tax rate for those earning over £150,000 a year is a victory for the Lib Dems (and for common sense).

Nick Clegg’s speech on a “John Lewis economy” can be found on the BBC website.

RESIDENTS SAY NO TO MORE HOUSES

Residents of Roman Way and Swallowfields are urging Test Valley Borough Council to reject plans for new houses at Shepherds Spring School. The plans, drawn up by Hampshire County Council, are for fifty new homes on the school playing fields with access between the existing school buildings.

A number of residents have submitted written objections highlighting landscaping, noise, loss of a green field site, and poor access and traffic congestion as reasons for refusal. Objections have also been lodged by Andover Town Council, Sport England. As a former member of the borough’s planning control committee I fully understand their concerns and support their objections.

A petition of over 150 names opposing the development has also been delivered to the council. This describes the plan as overdevelopment, which will waste an important local facility. “The new development will generate unacceptable levels of additional traffic which will harm the local environment” they say. “It fails to address important issues such as adequate screening to prevent overlooking, sufficient measures to control noise pollution and most importantly a proper traffic management program.”

Andover Town Councillor Barbara Carpenter, who is leading the no campaign, said “Our most serious concerns are about the extra traffic. This plan will mean an extra 50+ cars entering and leaving the site between school buildings and onto the already busy Smannell Road, close to the existing Newbury Road junction. This is not good for existing or new residents. We hope the council will reject this plan and the developers come up with a more acceptable use for the land.”

Campaigners have been told the matter is likely be decided by the Northern Area Planning Committee in March. They are urging everyone in the area to continue submitting objections up until then. The Planning application number is 11/02729/OUTN and anyone can lodge comments. For further details contact
Barbara Carpenter on 01264 338388, [email protected]
or me on 07793 607190, [email protected]

The picture shows town councillors Barbara Long and Barbara Carpenter delivering letters of objection and the petition to TVBC offices

Town Councillor in Action

During the debate over an Andover town council a number of people argued that it was an unecessary, costly extra layer of local government. Over the past year the new members of the town council have proved them wrong. These unpaid, local representatives of their communities are taking action to get things done while their overpaid counterparts on the borough and county council have continually failed to deliver.

A perfect example is the excellent work being done by Babrara Carpenter Lib Dem town councillor in Alamein ward who is doggedly campaigning for imrovements in her local area. In the last three months she has lobbied the county council highways and succeded in getting dropped kerbs for a disabled resident, repairs to the footbridge over Newbury Road and extra grit bins for areas missed out in last year’s distribution of bins. Andover Lib Dems getting things done for the community.

Repairs on Newbury Road bridge

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Viking Way grit bin

Newbury Road bridge grit bin

Cuts they don’t tell you about

It seem not a week goes by without the far left of the Labour Party appearing somewhere, waving banners and complaining about the cuts the government is making. In Andover its usually orchestrated by ex-communists and fellow travellers whose support is minimal or non-existant. Its good therefore to see that this week the leadership of the Labour Party is actually acknowledging that cuts are necessary (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16452539.)

I am therefore grateful to Ian Swales, MP for Recar for the following list of cuts they don’t tell you about. I reproduce in full his list and comments. Nothing more can be said.

• The CUT from £250,000 to £50,000 in the maximum annual pension contribution to receive tax relief – clawing back a staggering £4,000,000,000 (£4bn) that Labour was giving to the rich.
• The CUT in bank profits with a new tax raising £2.5 bn a year.
• The CUT in regional disparity through the £2.4 bn regional growth fund.
• The CUT in tax paid by ordinary people with the basic tax threshold raised to £8,105 by next April from £6,475 in 2010/11 – and no more 10p tax rate fiascos.
• The CUT in the 40% tax threshold meaning the better off pay more.
• The CUT in money that Labour allowed people to make in Capital Gains with the tax rate rising from 18% to 28%.
• The CUT in pensioner poverty with a triple lock guarantee of rises and the biggest ever cash rise coming in April 2012. No more 75p-per-week insults.
• The CUT in the gap between rich and poor through the VAT rise. Remember those who spend most pay most and the basic costs of living don’t have standard rate VAT.
• The CUT in benefit fraud with new resources being brought in.
• The CUT in tax evasion by the rich with £900m of extra resource.
• The CUT in education disadvantage for poorer children through the Pupil Premium.
• The CUT in the amount per month students will have to pay back after graduation and a higher threshold before they start paying anything.

Remember, Labour didn’t deliver these changes in their 13 years of government and voted AGAINST them in this government. Lib Dems in parliament are pushing a fairness agenda and showing that Labour can never again be trusted with the economy.

By the way, just for good measure we also CUT Tory plans to increase the Inheritance Tax threshold from £350,000 to £1,000,000!

Tories plan to increase parking fees

I see from last week’s Andover Advertiser that Alamein councillor Phil North is “disappointed” by his leaders’ proposals to increase parking chargers in Andover.

It is not enough for him to express disappointment at plans to increase parking charges. The proposals threaten Andover’s already weak town centre and place an unnecessary burden on traders and shoppers.

The increase runs contrary to recommendations from a recent report to government highlighting the negative effect parking charges have on our town centres. For details follow this link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16153541

It exploits all those residents who, because of county council cuts to bus services, have no option but to drive to the shops. It shows a complete lack of financial planning by the council’s leadership and directly reverses a promise they made during this years elections.

Cllr North and his colleagues are not passive observers to this decision. They are part of the decision making process. He, and they, should honour their promise to the electorate and reject the proposed increases.