Birch blocks questions on income and expenses

Cllr Jeremy Birch, leader of the Labour Group on Hastings Borough Council, has blocked questions from local Liberal Democrats about the income and expenses that he derives from the public purse.

In a manner strikingly different to that of Labour MP Michael Foster who, last weekend, published details of his expenses in the local press, Cllr Birch has refused to be up front about his earnings, saying that,

“It is published information – local authorities publish it every year as do public bodies. Check their websites and you can find out how much is paid to councillors in allowances.”

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye has written back to Cllr Birch asking him to confirm the roles for which he is paid by the taxpayer.

It is thought that Cllr Birch receives money for the following roles:

• Hastings Borough Councillor

• Leader of the Labour Group on HBC

• Cabinet member, HBC

• East Sussex County Councillor

• Board member of the Primary Care Trust

• Role with South East England Development Agency

• Role with the Arts Council

Nick said, “Maybe he knows deep down that he is riding a local government gravy train? I suspect that’s why Cllr Birch has been so reticent to disclose his gross income.”

Jeremy Birch is currently seeking to move County Council seats from Baird & Ore, to Old Hastings & Tressell on 4 June.

Labour can’t change East Sussex

So we are a week away from the County Council and European elections.

As my Conservative counterpart has mentioned in her offering this week, local people are still, understandably, fuming about the MP expenses scandal.

It seems that Jacqui Lait, the former Tory MP for Hastings & Rye, may end up getting de-selected in Beckenham as a result.

Her husband, Peter Jones, the Conservative Leader of East Sussex County Council, is also under pressure due to his own allowances and expenses situation.

And then there is Labour’s Jeremy Birch: this week (and in striking contrast with his colleague Michael Foster MP) refusing to provide up-front information about the income and expenses he receives out of the public purse…

The gravy train, which has been so obvious a temptation for some of our career politicians, runs well beyond the Westminster village.

We need change.

With just five County Councillors at present, and with dire results predicted, Labour is not able to change things for the better in East Sussex.

With thirteen, the Liberal Democrats are the main opposition to the Conservatives, and with your help, we are looking to wrest control of the Council next Thursday.

Liberal Democrats undertake to spend your money on your priorities.

As Stuart Murphy, our candidate in Old Hastings & Tressell has said,

“The Tories at County Hall have lost the plot. They are wasting our hard earned cash on spin and environmental hazards. The incinerator planned for Newhaven will cost £140 million. We want a greener County, and schools that are fit for purpose, as well as only sensible and essential roadworks.”

“Local Lib Dem councillors will put a stop to positively dangerous highways ‘improvements’ like the Frederick Road scheme,” says Stuart.

Liberal Democrats are rooted in our local community, and we are making sure that there is a real choice in the forthcoming elections.

Our candidates in the Hastings & St Leonards divisions are as follows:

Anne Gallop (Ashdown & Conquest); Anne Scott (Baird & Ore); Roger Weeden (Castle & Braybrooke); Oliver Maloney (Central St Leonards & Gensing); Christine Benner (Hollington & Wishing Tree); Tricia Kennelly (Maze Hill & West St Leonards); Chris Beaumont (St Helens & Silverhill); Stuart Murphy (Old Hastings & Tressell).

Our candidates for Brede Valley & Marsham and Rye & Eastern Rother are, respectively, Derek Greenup and John Smith.

I am particularly pleased with the calibre of our candidates; that we are fielding a diverse team, and that it is also gender-balanced.

I hope you will give them your vote on 4 June.

Nick asks Celebrity Chefs to back fishermen

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has written to celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to ask them to back Hastings and Rye fishermen in their fight to survive, and to get a fairer outcome from the Government in terms of quota allowance.

Both Oliver and Fearnley-Whittingstall are famous for their campaigns against social exclusion and also for sustainable, organic methods of food production.

Nick says, “It is imperative that we keep this issue in the eye of the press and the public. We owe it to our fishermen.

“On 14 May, the Minister was once again dodging the issues in Parliament. The Government is failing our fishermen.

“Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles is seeking an investigation of the issues via the EU Competition Commissioner, but we need to fight on as many fronts as possible.

“Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall have done so much in respect of lobbying on similar issues that it seemed a logical thing to do to ask them to get involved.

“I am sure that there is also a connection that could be made with the Seafood & Wine Festival, and I will be writing to Hastings Borough Council to suggest it.

“I am appealing to all local people to sign our petition in support of the fishermen – it is also online at www.har0ld.org.uk,” said Nick.

We don’t need another Jacqui Lait in Hastings & Rye

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has responded to the publication of Labour MP Michael Foster’s expenses, and hit out at his Conservative opponent, following the revelations in the national press about Tory MPs’ claims.

Nick says, “I am pleased that our MP does not have expenses skeletons in his cupboard. With respect to Michael and his staff, we should be able to rely on MPs’ honesty and diligence as a matter of course. I have never had questions about Michael’s probity. It is his voting record up at Westminster that I have questions about.

“Let me be clear that I completely understand the public’s disgust with our MPs. Especially in this time of recession.

“Some of the Conservative MPs’ claims take the biscuit. And we now hear that our former Tory MP Jacqui Lait may be deselected in Beckenham due to controversial expenses,” said Nick.

“Whilst this scandal is a tragedy for our democracy, I am pleased that the electorate are beginning to see that the change in the Conservative Party is only skin deep.

“We do not need another Jacqui Lait in Hastings & Rye,” he said.

Last week Nick made a position statement on the expenses scandal. He also called for all the candidates for the Hastings & Rye constituency to go public with their views on MP expenses:

Nick said, “I am glad that the Liberal Democrats in Parliament have fought so doggedly for total transparency on MPs expenses. We have made a number of proposals for reform which I hope will be taken up by Sir Christopher Kelly and his team. Nick Clegg has committed our party to accepting the Kelly recommendations in full.

“Personally, I strongly believe that an MP’s primary residence can only ever be in their constituency. MPs who represent constituencies outside of Greater London should be supported financially to secure accommodation in London (as the job requires), but there should be no possibility of them making a capital gain out of such accommodation.

“I would prefer MPs to be prevented from buying houses at the taxpayer’s expense. The most cost effective route should be prioritised.

“Finally, there must be root and branch reform of the way that MPs’ staff are hired, and their offices, run. These matters should not be part of the expenses system at all. The processes must be totally fair and transparent.

“It is my hope that the Kelly recommendations will cover all these points.

“You, the electorate, have a right to know the priorities of your candidates in Hastings & Rye as we approach, ever more quickly, a new Parliament,” said Nick.

The two Speakers and the end of a Parliament

It is always a delight to have a cup of coffee with Pam Brown.

An extraordinary lady, and an extraordinary servant of Hastings, she invariably has a sage word and a twinkle in her eye.

It was Pam who reminded me on Monday morning of one of the historic connections between our area and the House of Commons – embroiled as it is at the moment in the MP expenses scandal.

For if you look it up on the internet as I did afterwards, you will find that, every year, the meetings of the fourteen members of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports (three of which – Hastings, Rye and Winchelsea – form part of our constituency) are presided over by its Speaker.

This Speakership is rotated between the seven Head Ports, and transfers every year on 21 May – which, as it happens, is tomorrow.

Among some of the esteemed former Speakers is one P Brown (Mrs).

According to my internet sources, the position of Speaker of the Cinque Ports is one of only two offices with that title in the United Kingdom – the other being the Speaker of the House of Commons…

And what a dismal disappointment he has been.

Like Nick Clegg, I was keen that the debate about Michael Martin’s Speakership did not become a personal one, and that he will not become a scapegoat for the real and present failings of the current Parliament, and Government.

However it must be said that in his role as Speaker, Michael Martin blocked every effort that my party made to establish total transparency in respect of MP expenses and other parliamentary matters.

His speakership is rightly consigned to the history books.

But in truth he has not been a lone roadblock to reform. Both the Labour Party and the Conservatives have connived over the John Lewis list earlier in the Parliament.

And, as a result, there is something positively karmic about the way the Daily Telegraph has unmasked MP expenses offenders.

A General Election is the right and proper way for MPs to face the righteous anger of the public – particularly as many ordinary people are struggling to cope with the uncertainties and hardships of a recession.

I think this call is less opportunistic coming from a party that has worked tirelessly to achieve transparency in Parliament, rather than the Conservatives.

I have made a separate statement this week about my own position and priorities in respect of MP expenses (please see my blog for details).

I feel that it is incumbent upon me as someone who seeks to be a strong advocate for our constituency at Westminster to be clear about what I believe.

And I think that all the candidates for Hastings & Rye should be doing the same.

The electors have a right to know our priorities on these issues.

Not least because a General Election may come sooner than we think.

Let’s be clear on MP expenses

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has spoken out on the MP expenses scandal, which has savaged the nation’s faltering trust in politicians.

Nick is calling for all the candidates in the Hastings & Rye constituency to make their views on MP expenses plain to local people.

Nick says, “Working in mental health care, I know that there is a time to speak, and a time to listen.

“It is clear that the nation’s MPs must listen to the public’s anger about the expenses scandal, when most ordinary people are also trying to survive the recession.

“As someone who seeks to be a strong voice for our constituency at Westminster, I feel that I must take the opportunity to be clear with the electors as to my position on these issues.

“I am glad that the Liberal Democrats in Parliament have fought so doggedly for total transparency on MPs expenses. We have made a number of proposals for reform which I hope will be taken up by Sir Christopher Kelly and his team. Nick Clegg has committed our party to accepting the Kelly recommendations in full.

“Personally, I strongly believe that an MP’s primary residence can only ever be in their constituency. MPs who represent constituencies outside of Greater London should be supported financially to secure accommodation in London (as the job requires), but there should be no possibility of them making a capital gain out of such accommodation.

“I would prefer MPs to be prevented from buying houses at the taxpayer’s expense. The most cost effective route should be prioritised.

“As my current earnings are considerably less than £65,000, I am clear that I could meet additional personal expenses out of an MP’s salary. However, I do think it is reasonable to permit (standard class) travel expenses.

“Finally, there must be root and branch reform of the way that MPs’ staff are hired, and their offices, run. These matters should not be part of the expenses system at all. The processes must be totally fair and transparent.

“It is my hope that the Kelly recommendations will cover all these points.

“You, the electorate, have a right to know the priorities of your candidates in Hastings & Rye as we approach, ever more quickly, a new Parliament.”

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Labour has failed the poorest

Your starter for ten: do you know what Jo Moore was famous for?

No?  Well Jo Moore was the Labour spin doctor who, on 11 September 2001 (the day of the Al-Qaeda attack on the Twin Towers), said that the day was a good one for burying bad news.

I know that there is no real comparison between the events, and there is certainly no indication that Labour is using the MPs expenses scandal in this way.

 

Nevertheless there are significant stories coming out at moment that are not receiving the media coverage that they otherwise would, because of the (justified) furore about MPs expenses.

One such story was featured in The Guardian newspaper on Friday last week about the Government failing to hit its targets on tackling poverty and reducing inequality.

Larry Elliott and Polly Curtis say that, ‘Britain under Gordon Brown is a more unequal country than at any time since modern records began in the early 1960s, after the incomes of the poor fell and those of the rich rose in the three years after the 2005 general election.

‘Deprivation and inequality in the UK rose for a third successive year in 2007-08, according to data from the Department for Work and Pensions that prompted strong criticism from campaign groups for the government’s backsliding on its anti-poverty goals.’

These are the hard facts.

Here in one of the most deprived consituencies in the country, our Labour MP will insist on trotting out the various policy initiatives which he believes demonstrate that the Government has acted effectively in helping the poorest.

This is the Labour party line. And Michael Foster may well come to regret tying his own political future so closely to that of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Our MP may be right that Labour has done more for the poorest than the Conservatives have done in the past, or would do in the future.

But the fact remains that Labour has failed miserably to make the case for, and then deliver, a more socially just Britain.

Lib Dem Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary Steve Webb said last week,

“This Government’s promise to make Britain a fairer place where income does not affect a child’s life chances rings hollow. In 1999 the Government pledged to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020.

“Ministers must take urgent action and radically rebalance the tax system to help those on low and middle incomes to stand a chance of meetings it target.”

There has been much punditry in the national media about the need for a new Parliament to sort out the total mess which is MPs expenses.

Whilst this particular scandal is savaging the already low esteem in which the nation holds its politicians and the political system, I would argue that there is another, equally pressing, reason to call a General Election.

We need a politics in this country which is willing to speak up, and speak honestly on behalf of those low income families that are paying more tax as a percentage of their income than the very wealthy.

We must keep our eyes fixed on the important goal of tackling social and income inequality in Britain, because of all the practical community problems that occur as its side-effects.

The Liberal Democrats have a coherent message on these issues, and (thanks to Vince Cable) we have fully costed plans.

They will be the cornerstone of our General Election manifesto.

Lib Dems launch ‘Save Our Fishermen!’ petition

Following recent meetings with Hastings & Rye fishermen, local Liberal Democrats have launched an online petition at their newly upgraded website.

The text of the petition is as follows:

“To: The Minister for Fisheries, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I, the undersigned, support the Hastings & Rye Liberal Democrats in demanding that the Minister for Fisheries re-instates the percentage of the Channel quota granted to the under-10m sector in February 2009.”

Local parliamentary campaigner Nick Perry said,

“Jacqui Lait’s Conservatives and now Michael Foster’s Labour has brought our local fishing industry to its knees. Sharon Bowles MEP has written in protest to the Fisheries Minister about the Government U-turn, and has made a formal complaint to the EU Commissioner for Competition. Our fishermen have been wronged and this must be investigated.”

Stuart Murphy, the Lib Dem County Council candidate for Old Hastings & Tressell said, “I am disgusted by the failings of both the Conservatives and New Labour. I am asking local people to use their vote on 4 June, and to vote for a party that will stand up for local people and our valued local heritage.”

Vince Cable comes to 1066 Country

Flying visit from Vince on Saturday.

What a wonderful asset for us Liberal Democrats.

I read on the cover of his recent book that Rory Bremner has said that he is ‘the man that gives politics a good name’.

I couldn’t agree more.

Jack in the Green does Hastings proud

I went with the family to take part in the Jack in the Green celebrations today.

What a great day out it is for all ages.

I am really pleased that we have such a passion for our traditions in this area, and that so many people from so far afield come to share them with us.

It was a bit chillier than we might have liked, but a great time was had by all!

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