Nick slams Tory counterpart over election arrogance

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has warned his Tory counterpart against electoral complacency.

In a recent news release on rail fare increases, the Tory parliamentary candidate referred to the mention of her name (by the Bexhill & Battle MP Greg Barker) in a parliamentary debate as a ‘surprise early entrance’ to the House of Commons.

Nick said, “I think Amber’s over-confidence about her election to Parliament is misplaced. Particularly when her Conservative colleagues have shown such a lack of talent in their response to the current economic crisis.

“As is the case on many issues, the Conservatives are following where the Liberal Democrats have led over opposition to rail fare increases in the South East. And as usual, they do not offer any solutions to the problem.

“The truth is that whilst the country is crying out for a change of Government, we cannot afford another Jacqui Lait here in Hastings & Rye.

“Amber may well come to regret the precociousness of her recent statement.”

Labour is not working for our area

On Monday, an independent report from the London-based think-tank, Centre for Cities, was launched.

The report was funded by the Local Government Association and ‘looks back at the recent economic performance of UK cities as well as the main policy milestones of 2008. It also looks ahead to the prospects for UK cities in 2009 and beyond.’

Hastings is mentioned a number of times.

Whilst I am sure that socio-economic reasons play their part, I am pleased to report that (in 2006) Hastings came out on top of the table for average, per capita, carbon emissions.

However this is where the good news ends.

There are a whole host of statistics which are extremely worrying for our area. The two most concerning being (first) that between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of the community on benefits actually increased by 0.4%, and that (second) Hastings is at the bottom of the table of average weekly wages for the whole country.

I was interviewed by South East Today on Friday about this report, and was asked by BBC reporter Paul Siegert to give a Liberal Democrat perspective.

He asked how the Lib Dems would increase wages in the local area.

What I said to Paul was that our party would scrap the Government’s cut in VAT and we would re-invest this £12.5 billion in energy conservation and other environment-conscious projects. I have mentioned our ‘Green Road out of the Recession’ plan in a previous column.
The plan specifies among other things insulation for hospitals and schools, to build zero carbon homes, and to address the capacity and infrastructure of our rail network.

These measures would be good news for our local construction industry in particular. But we need to train and skill people so that they are ready to take up the opportunities as and when they come along.

Liberal Democrats will also seek to put more money in the pockets of lower income families by taking the bottom 10% out of tax altogether, and reducing the base rate by 4p in the pound.

Our plan to abolish the Council Tax and to replace it with a local income tax predicated on people’s ability to pay would have its own positive impact on the disposable income of our low-paid families.

This coming Friday evening, we will have an emergency debate on the Economy, hosted by the local branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (at the Jali Restaurant in Hastings).

I am sure that our Labour MP will have some excuses up his sleeve for the Government’s management of the Economy, as well as the depressing results in the Cities Outlook 2009 report.

They will have to be pretty bloody good.

Nick meets Hastings District Commander

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has been meeting with key agencies regarding his call for a debate on the provision of services for people with drug and alcohol problems locally.

He met with Hastings District Commander Andy Gooch to discuss the police perspective on the issue, following recent national news indicating that the recession is already having an effect on acquisitive crime figures.

After the meeting Nick said,

“I was really pleased to meet with Andy and his staff who are working with substance misuse services locally. It was great to hear that there are good channels of communication between the police and the different provider services.

“It seems that one of the most difficult issues at the moment is helping people with addictions problems who are sofa-surfing to get into stable accommodation with the right support in place. This is where services like the Seaview Project come into their own.”

Nick hopes to be able to share the outcome of his research with the local PCT in due course.

Nick talks to South East Today about low pay in Hastings

 

I spoke with BBC reporter Paul Siegert on Friday about low pay in Hastings.

Here’s a link to the report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7848303.stm

 

Lib Dem Bash ‘Observed’ by top man

Hastings & Rye Lib Dems celebrated the New Year in style at well-loved Hastings restaurant, The Italian Way, on Friday night.

Guest speaker for the evening was the Group Editor of the Observer newspapers locally, Peter Lindsey.

The event, organised by Honorary Freeman Pam Brown, was attended by approximately 50 guests.

Speaking after the event Pam said, “I was delighted that people seemed to enjoy themselves so much; that we had such an interesting talk from Peter, and that we have raised good money to take the fight to Labour and the Tories come election-time!”

Parliamentary campaigner Nick Perry said, “My thanks to everyone who attended and made the evening so enjoyable, and to The Italian Way for their hospitality. But a special thank you must go to Pam Brown, for all that she did to make the event such a success.”

Nick urges Rye Partnership to reach out to young people

Nick Perry, Lib Dem Parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, attended the Annual Public Meeting of the Rye Partnership on Thursday evening.

Speaking after the meeting, chaired by Cllr Keith Glazier and attended by only a handful of people, Nick said,

“Given the current economic climate and the importance of securing the future prosperity of Rye, it is of great concern that, year on year, there seem to be fewer people interested in coming to this meeting. The Rye Partnership needs to take a long hard look and ask itself why this is.

“In particular, I noticed that there were no young people whatsoever at the meeting, and I urge the Rye Partnership to reach out to young people locally and find ways, within the structure of the organisation, to empower them to help make decisions about Rye’s future.”

During the question and answer session of the meeting Cllr Keith Glazier admitted that the Rye Partnership had only done ‘indirect’ work to engage young people in its business.

How you consult, matters

Wednesday was the first day of ‘business as usual’ for the United States’ 44th President: Barack Obama.

Despite (as my granddad would have called it) the razamatazz of the Inauguration being done with, the sparkle of hope will remain.

What a phenomenal achievement it has been for the American people. Not only finally to get rid of ‘Dubya’, but to replace him with a man of thoughtfulness and erudition. A man of talent and potential. A man, no doubt, with the World’s hopes weighing heavy on his shoulders.

Let us hope that he will deliver. Especially for the people of Gaza.

I am half-way through Obama’s bestseller ‘Dreams from my Father’.

It is extraordinary that, following this memoir, first-published 13 years ago, in which Obama writes about (among other things) community organising in Chicago, the oppression experienced by Black Americans there, and the ceilings for Blacks in the workplace, he has been elected Commander in Chief.

There is no way that I can fully comprehend what this must mean to ‘people of colour’ in the USA.

But I have taken some lessons from Obama’s experience of Altgeld and South Side Chicago in the mid-late 1980s. He writes about residents, with help, becoming angry about the way the public authorities failed to listen to them time and time again, and failed to meet their needs. He writes that despite the election of a Black Mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, Blacks continued to remain in the worst housing, with the worst incomes and the worst prospects.

I don’t believe that we have the same sort of racism in the UK, nor the same sort of segregation. And I don’t believe we have Chicago South Side racism in Hastings & Rye. We do have a more active BNP contingent than we might want, but as I have written in this column before, this is as much to do with the Government’s inability to close the gap on inequality as anything else.

What we do have however are pockets of residents across our constituency that are excluded from the political process and who feel that politics makes little or no positive difference to their lives. ‘They’re all the same’ those politicians – just out to feather their own nest…

Over the past weeks, I have been actively involved in the consultation over communal bins in Hastings and St Leonards. I have been encouraging as many residents as possible to return their surveys to the Council, and saying as loud as I can that the vast majority of people that I have spoken to on the doorstep, and who have contacted me by email (from across the different consultation areas) have grave reservations about the scheme.

The consultation as an exercise has provided an interesting insight into the way that the local Council operates. And it will be even more interesting to see the Conservative Cabinet decision come March.

Given the mistakes early on in the distribution of information, as well as the number of people who say they have not been sent any consultation forms, there is a high likelihood that the Council has failed to contact all those people that will be affected by the proposed changes.

Whilst there were, as I understand it, two centrally organised explanatory meetings about the bin changes, there was no outreach built in to the consultation plans.
The public meetings that I attended were arranged by local residents themselves, not by the Council.

And, not surprisingly, these residents were articulate, home-owning, confident.

I am pretty sure that the Council will not have done any outreach consultation at all in the poorer areas of Hastings and St Leonards.

And it’s here that there’s a parallel with Chicago.

If we want people truly to believe that politics can help to change their lives and it’s worth them getting involved, or even just casting their vote, we have to start with the basics. We have to consider how we conduct our consultations.

I will be writing to the Conservative Leader of Hastings Borough Council to say so.

Foster urged to act against plot to conceal MP expenses

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye has called on Labour MP Michael Foster to vote against the Government’s Freedom of Information (Parliament) Order on Thursday of this week.

Nick said, “I have only just become aware of this Order which, I gather, was published in draft by the Government on Thursday last week, and is to be voted on in two days’ time.

“From the information I have read from the Unlock Democracy campaign, this Order seeks to remove parliamentarians from scrutiny under the Freedom of Information Act.

“Particularly, it seeks to ‘change the scope of the application of the [Freedom of Information] Act in relation to information held by the House of Commons and House of Lords regarding expenditure in respect of Members of both Houses. This includes information held by either House about expenses claimed by and allowances paid to Members.’

“I am horrified not only with the central premise of the order, but with the attempt of the Government to rush it through.

Campaign group Unlock Democracy has said in its press release today:

‘The Government is planning to put us all on a national identity database, force us to carry identity cards, keep the DNA of millions of innocent people on a database and to read all our emails, phone and internet records regardless of whether we are supposed to have done anything wrong. Their argument is always if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Why, then, is it one rule for us and another rule for politicians?’

Nick has challenged the MP to act:

“I recall that this ‘nothing to hide’ line was your own justification of the DNA database and other Government plans at a Hastings Against War meeting last year. Can I now have your assurance that you will be attending on Thursday, and voting against this Order?”

Local Liberal Democrats back Bill to end fuel poverty

Liberal Democrats in Hastings & Rye have expressed their delight that Liberal Democrat MP David Heath is bringing forward a parliamentary bill aimed at ending fuel poverty.

The Fuel Poverty Bill will bring in two measures:

• A major energy efficiency programme to bring existing homes up to the current energy efficiency levels enjoyed by modern homes.
• Social tariffs to limit vulnerable households’ exposure to high-energy bills.

Hastings & Rye Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson, Nick Perry, said:

“These proposals will be great for the environment whilst also making a real difference to pensioners and others struggling to pay their energy bills. It will make a real difference to the estimated five million households faced with the terrible choice between heating and eating this winter.

“The bill would also provide a much-needed boost to the local construction industry struggling in the recession.

“These proposals deserve the support of politicians from all parties. I hope that our Labour MP will give the bill his support when it is debated in the House of Commons.”

The measures in the bill have received the backing of many major charities and campaign groups, including Help the Aged, Friends of the Earth, Consumer Focus and the Association for the Conservation of Energy.

Council fails to convince on bin plans

Nick with Castle Ward councillor Peter Armstrong at the public meeting, Castledown Primary School

Following the meeting with Council officers organised by Castle Ward Forum on Wednesday night, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner Nick Perry said,

“West Hill residents have turned out in large numbers once again, and have re-affirmed their opposition to the proposed scheme.

“Hastings Borough Council officers did not have answers to many of the questions asked by residents, and it was clear from their answer to mine, that they have no evidence whatsoever that communal bins will improve recycling rates.”