Hello again,

This week’s e-mail is a bit long because it is essentially two rolled into one.

It’s a mix of local and national issues/matters and I hope you have the time (and the inclination) to read it all.

At the time of writing I have just come back from Long Eaton via Chilwell, Attenborough and Beeston and braved the floods. Thunderstorms and terrific downpours are nothing new but what is new is our apparent total inability to clean out drains. The “blame” lies fairly and squarely with our Councils (all Labour run). We pay record amounts of Council tax but Labour squander our money and fail to deliver the services we all deserve.

Keep your e-mails coming and don’t hesitate to encourage friends and family to subscribe to my e-mail.


It was standing room only at the Trowell Parish Council public meeting and AGM on Tuesday (April 22st) which I attended.

The topic which caused the large turn out is a planning application (to Erewash Borough Council) for a production plant at Stanton Bonna to recycle concrete railway sleepers. A similar application was made last year to Broxtowe Borough Council for the plant to be sited at the Toton Sidings.  There was strong public opposition and after petitions, public meetings etc Broxtowe (supported by Erewash) refused permission because of the implications to road congestion.

Trowell Parish Council has done a terrific job in informing villagers and organising opposition to the concrete sidings development.

Check out their web site www.trowell.org.uk.

I took it that the local Lib Dem Borough and County Councillor thought that this is in effect a “done deal”, which I think is the wrong attitude to take, though I understand his reasoning. The Stanton works is a brown field site and the plant would create new jobs. Many people at the meeting spoke out against the plans fearing the nuisance of the noise (the plans include a concrete crusher), the dust, general pollution and effect on their quality of life. Trowell has historically had more than it’s fair share of industrial pollution and I reckon it’s time residents had a break. What I have done is contact the Leader of Erewash Borough Council alerting him to the concerns of many Trowell residents and the widespread opposition to the proposed works.

It is of great concern that the people of Trowell and their Parish Council were only alerted to the application via a newspaper report a short time ago leaving only days for them to write to Erewash with their objections. It’s to be hoped Erewash and Broxtowe Councils communicate and by that I mean not just the council officials but your elected councillors who exist to represent the interests of the people.

SOBS – Save Our Brewery Site, Kimberley

I attended the last SOBS meeting which was unusually short as there was in truth little to report. We still have no decision on the listing of the buildings; security remains a real concern though there was good news on the repair front. Apparently, Greene King is to begin work to make good various roofs.


For the avoidance of doubt I would like to make my position on the new development very clear. Any out of town developments should compliment the existing local shops. I believe small local shops should be supported and able to compete on a level playing field with supermarkets and larger shops belonging to chains. For example, there is a good argument that small local shops should not have to pay the top rate of business council tax. The most significant way to ensure the future of small local shops is to follow the advice “use them or lose them”. That advice, as it happens, was recently given by David Cameron  when he spoke about the importance of small local shops and business to communities. David unveiled a raft of proposals to support small shops at the launch of 'Disappearing Britain', the interim report of our Small Shops Commission. We Conservatives are opposed to Labours plans to make it easier for out of town developments to get planning permission and to take even more power away from local councils over planning decisions and control. You can read the full report by visiting our web site www.conservatives.com.


MP’s from all parties joined forces to protest at the abolition of the 10p tax rate. 5.3 million families suddenly found they were less well off  as their tax rate doubled. The change effected the lowest paid and was brought home to me on a trip to a well known supermarket. The cashier was bemoaning the rise in food prices and added that she was also now paying an extra £46 a month in income tax. As she pointed out she and her fellow workers earn some of the lowest wages and it this extra tax was a genuine hardship. It is also  a betrayal of everything Labour claim to stand for. Following a revolt amongst Labour backbenchers (though your Labour MP was not amongst their number) Gordon Brown has done a humiliating u-turn exposing him as weak and incapable of leading his party let alone the country. The Government have said they will compensate some of the losers but neither Brown or his Chancellor will confirm if they will backdate that compensation.

Your Labour MP bemoans the abolition of the 10p tax rate and fumbles around cooking up his own tax recipe. Of course as ever he welcomes the views of his constituents which all sounds very reasonable.

The reality however is this. The Labour Party claims to represent the needs and aspirations of “ordinary working people”. Traditionally it has held itself up as the champion of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. This Labour Government promised not to raise income tax for the least well off in our society. Yet in one simple move they have not only broken another election promise but penalised the very people they claim to represent the most.

Your Labour MP gazes into his political navel pontificating about the failings of the tax system which of course is all very interesting to a handful of people, but achieves absolutely nothing for the unfortunate people being sold down the river by the Labour Government he so loyally supports.

P.S The Tories have been accused (quite wrongly) of not opposing the abolition of the 10p tax rate until recently. In our first press release after the 2007 Budget, when this policy was announced, we said: “Gordon Brown’s last Budget is a tax con not a tax cut. In his stealthiest tax yet, he has paid for his 2p cut in income tax by abolishing the 10p rate… Buried in the small print are new stealth taxes which will hit low earners by doubling his 10p tax band.” We have consistently pointed out that the lowest paid, will be worse off as a result of Gordon Brown’s final budget.


Like many who work in the criminal justice system I simply don’t believe that crime has fallen. Not only do I speak to front line police officers on an almost daily basis who tell me crime is not falling but an incident involving my youngest daughter this week seems to prove the great crime figures fiddle.

My youngest rang the police to report two incidents of assault she had witnessed. On her return home she spoke to me and as a result I decided to ring the police myself. The control room operator who took my call was extremely helpful and spent a considerable amount of time trawling through the computer for a record of my daughters call. There was none and I know my daughter had given her name address and detail (including names and descriptions) of what she had seen and heard. Following the control room operators advice she rang back – this time her account was taken in full and properly recorded.

I know from my work and listening to police officers and solicitors that suspects are not being charged, fixed penalties and warnings (cautions) are been administered on a regular basis. It can take an age to get through to Notts police and I receive many complaints that the police don’t attend incidents – the result is that many people simply believe there is no point in reporting crime.

Failing to be tough on crime and the causes of crime are Labours greatest broken promises. The Government took us to war on the basis of a dodgy dossier so I have no doubt they are more than prepared to fiddle the crime figures for their political advantage. No wonder so many are cynical of politicians.


I have been contacted by a number of residents in Bramcote following their local GP’s concerns about plans to impose “polyclinics” ( a trip to the web site www.bramcotesurgery.org.uk will show you all their other concerns about Government policy towards GP’s and I can assure you they don’t mince their words!).

“Polyclinics” are not much different from a small hospital  (with 25 GP’s and all manner of services), and nothing like a local GP practice with just a few doctors that patients know and trust. David Cameron gave a speech on Monday 21 April setting out the Conservative Party’s concerns that the Government’s plans for polyclinics are threatening the local family doctor service.

Last year Gordon Brown personally appointed Professor Lord Darzi as Health Minster in his Government. Darzi had just completed a review of the NHS in London, in which he strongly pushed his vision for ‘polyclinics’.  As Health Minister, Lord Darzi has continued to drive forward the polyclinics programme across the country.  The Government is now saying it will open one new polyclinic in each Primary Care Trust area. I am not opposed to “polyclinics”  in principle – in some areas they may be a terrific idea (though there is no new money to establish them) My objection is that GP’s must not be forced into them and it is imperative that communities are not just consulted but their wishes are obeyed. The imposition of “polyclinics” is a good example of what is so badly wrong with so much of the NHS, namely decisions and power no longer lies at a local level but remains totally centralised.