Common sense is dead

If you have read today’s papers you will have realised for yourself the extent to which how, under this government, the country has lost all sense of common sense.

Firstly we read that heroin addicts are being given £15,000 of heroin a year on the NHS, yet cancer patients and Alzheimer’s sufferers are denied life enduring drugs. Does one assume that the government’s next initiative is to give alcoholics free whisky and obese people free MacDonald’s? Apparently the NHS heroin is an attempt to cut the amount of drug related crime. Well why doesn’t the government spend that money on compulsory drug rehabilitation for addicted convicted criminals? Surely that would be better use of the tax payers’ money and make for a better society in the longer term. Or is that too difficult for the authorities to deal with?

The papers are also dominated with the case of British Airways banning a Christian member of staff from visibly wearing a crucifix the size of a 5p piece. As I mentioned in a previous Blog entry, BA’s stance is outrageous and ought to be viewed as religious discrimination. I fully support everyone who is calling for a boycott of BA flights until they see sense and reverse their ridiculous PC policy.

And then there’s the case of a man who has over 32 convictions, known to be a potential rapist and murderer, yet is released into the public domain with an ASBO. Oh, but it wasn’t just any old ASBO, it was one of the most severe ever issued!!! Well that didn’t save the life of the lady he murdered just days after being released into the community did it. Surely the public deserves to be protected from such dangerous people and surely the authorities know that an ASBO will do nothing to deter such a violent person from committing crime. This is yet another example of a total loss of common sense from the authorities.

It all sounds quite depressing really, yet it just goes to prove that in the society created by this government, common sense never prevails. The decent law abiding people are increasingly becoming the victim of this government’s incompetence.

By-election Victory

WELL DONE ADRAIN WALMSLEY - CHESTER'S NEWEST COUNCILLOR

If anyone needs proof that the people in Chester are saying it is time for a change, last night’s by-election result in Newton St Michael’s is it. Our candidate, Adrian Walmsley, ran a positive campaign, playing to people’s hopes and not their fears, and it paid off. The Conservatives are listening to what people want and we are delivering accordingly, which is what democratic government is meant to do. The Lib Dems put forward their highest profile person in the area, an area they have dominated for over 20 years, and then embarked on a very dirty negative campaign : Newton’s residents have clearly spoken about who, and what style of Party, they want to represent them, and that is the Conservative Party.

We gained five new Councillors in the May 2006 elections, one of which was Marigold Roy in Newton St Michael’s ward: Adrian’s success demonstrates that May was not a one–off and that Chester’s residents really are looking for Change. The Conservative Party is the only party that is offering not only change, but giving people and communities a sense of hope and optimism. Adrian and Marigold make a great team and I know they will make a real difference to Newton St Michael’s – an area that has been under-represented for too long. I will continue to work with them both to make sure that Newton’s residents also get the representation they deserve at a national level.

So to the people in Newton, I can simply say – the future’s bright, the future’s blue.

Ratings

Tories 39% - Labour 29% - Lib Dems 22%

......and that's on the front page of the Guardian !!!!!!

This poll, in my view, endorses what David Cameron is doing to change the Conservative Party and is a huge vote of confidence. This is also Labour's worst poll rating since 1987, which sums up the state of the government.

I have to say though, this is no surprise. The best indicator of public opinion is to ask the public, and that is what we do in Chester week in and week out. Across all wards, there is a significant swing away from Labour and to the Conservatives - so this national poll confirms what we are being told on the doorstep.

A real test for us in Chester will be tomorrow's by-election, which is in a ward where we gained a Conservative Councillor in May 2006, after over 20 years of ward dominance by the Lib Dems. To take the second seat off the Libs will be a great result for our canddiate, Adrian Walmsley, who has worked tirelessly for his community and is therefore deserving of a victory.

It will show that in Chester we are gaining from both Labour and the Libs, and because we are the Party most in touch with public opinion in the city.

Good luck Adrian.

Stance on Tax

Once again, the Conservatives are being pressed by the media and Labour to give a commitment to tax cuts - I wholly support David Cameron's and George Osbourne's response to the Tax Reform Commission's recently published report - economic stability comes before tax cuts.

This does not mean that the Conservatives have abandoned any core principle: we still believe that low tax economies are the strongest economies, and we believe that economic growth can be shared between increased spending and tax cuts.

Some people ask, How can you increase spending and cuts taxes at the same time? Simple, for example, a 4% economic growth could mean half of that growth going on extra spending and the other half on reducing the tax burden.

A high tax burden, especially for businesses, can stifle economic growth by reducing economic competitiveness, and that is why George Osbourne is right to focus on simpler and fairer taxes for businesses.

George Osbourne's response to the Tax Reform Commission's report is:
“The Commission have given us a menu of options that merit serious consideration. Some we will accept, some we will modify and others we may reject. But the framework of our tax policy is now set. Sound Money means that stability will always come first before promises of tax cuts. We will not be promising up front, unfunded tax reductions at the next election. We will, however, rebalance our tax system. Green taxes on pollution will rise to pay for reductions in family taxes. This Report sets out some options for doing that. And we will also embark on a major simplification of business taxes that will pay for a significant reduction in our business tax rates. This report represents a major step in that direction. The battle for a simpler, fairer and more competitive tax system has begun.”

Sounds straightforward to me!!!!

Paul

BA is wrong

That's my view on BA's decision not to allow a member of staff, Nadia Eweida, to wear a crucifix that can be seen by the public. The Mrs Eweida is a strong Christian and wants to show that, in the same way as religious belief is shown by people who wear turbans, hijabs and religious bangles.

BA is mig-guided and even the Muslim Council of Britain supported Mrs Eweida's stance, describing it as an "expression of private religious belief".

I agree with Ann Widdecombe that the decision is "religious discrimination" and call for a boycott if it isn't reversed. Mrs Eweida plans to sue BA and I hope she wins her case.

Multi-faith means multi faith and there needs to be acceptance and tolerance of all faiths.

My real concern is that BA's action is causing great offence and is actually fuelling resentment and discrimination against members of other faiths, such as muslims, which it is setting out to avoid.

Post Office Closures

Yet again the government is set to damage communities across the country by slashing the number of post offices.

Alistair Darling MP, the Trade and Industry Secretary, has indicated that the government will not maintain the subsidy necessary by post offices, despite the fact that many are struggling because the government has taken away key contracts, such as paying pensions.

The number of post offices has been slashed from 22,000 to just over 14,000 and Labour wants that figure reduced considerably.

I have always been a staunch supporter of post offices as I recognise the vital role they play in communities. Many pensioners cannot travel miles and the loss of their local post office can bring hardship and exclusion.

In 2003, the government forced pensioners and benefit claimants to receive their payments via bank accounts. Those that couldn't have a bank account had the option of having a card account, but the government now plans to scrap the card accounts in 2010, putting the post office network under even greater threat and forcing pensioners to do business the government's way, not the pensioners' own preferred way.

Chester has had more than its fair share of post office closures and my Conservative colleagues and I will fiercely oppose the closure of any more. If you share my concerns and oppose post office closures, let me know by e-mailing me at paul@pauloffer.co.uk.

Many thanks.

Paul

Stop Brown's NHS Cuts

Gordon Brown's financial mismanagement of the NHS has led to widespread cuts to NHS services across the country, including:

• 18,000 jobs cut from NHS hospitals (Royal College of Nursing Press Release, 16 August 2006).
• Hospitals – large and small - facing cutbacks and closure.
• Trainee doctors and nurses facing unemployment.

In Chester, we have seen 53 beds close; loss of specialist nurses; cuts to respite care budget and a Digital Retinopathy Programme scrapped, to name just some cuts. Enough is enough.

We believe the NHS is a number one priority, so we are having a national campaign to put pressure on the government to stop the NHS cuts.

Click on the following link to add your name to our petition

http://www.pauloffer.co.uk/Surveys/NHS_cuts.htm

Thank you.

Paul

PC Madness

I was made aware of a conversation that a group in Chester had on Monday, which was about the type of Christmas cards that they should send. It was suggested that the words 'Seasons Greetings' should be used, or even no message at all, so that members of other faiths would not be offended. I, and most Chritians, find that suggestion offensive and it is UTTER NONSENSE.

I support us becoming a nation made up of multi faiths: that means we should learn to understand non-Christian faiths, but memebrs of those faiths must also learn to understand, and accept, the Christian faith.

I think we should welcome and encourage the celebration of festivals such as Eid and Diwali, and I personally send many Eid and Diwali cards to Muslims and Hindus. But we must also encourage the understanding and celebration of Christmas.

Playing to the obsessive political correctness brigade will only go to fuel resentment and do nothing to build a harmonised society.

My message is clear - Send Christmas cards that say Happy Christmas and welcome the receipt of cards celebrating other faiths.

Blair the Fraud

Last night's news headline was Tony Blair saying he would give our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan whatever equipment they needed. AND THAT WAS A HEADLINE STORY!!!!!!!!!

Does this mean that Blair admits our troops have not been given the equipment they have needed to-date? Is he admitting that he has sent our troops into war poorly-equipped?

The other thing this highlighted is what a fraud he is. Look at why he make this statement.

On Wednesday 4th October David Cameron said in his conference speech that our troops have told him they do not have the armoured personnel carriers or helicopters that they need. So on Saturday 7th October Tony Blair makes a big announcement that he will give the troops the armoured personnel carriers and helicopters that they need.

Well all I say is that this demonstrates why the Conservatives should not disclose any policy now, as Blair will copy it within days.

Also, well done Cameron for making Blair sit up and listen to the troops.

Labour's state control

When I was canvassing today in Newton St Michael's, I had a really interesting conversation with a lady who highlighted the difference between Labour and the Conservatives.

She is a single mum who is working full time and has been made to feel like a criminal the way the government clawed back the amount they had over-paid her in tax credits. Not wanting to be beholden to the state, she is doing a HNC so that she can better her prospects for the future. She received no help whatsoever from the state towards the cost of the HNC and had to borrow the £800 course fees from her father. This is not an isolated case.

The Conservative Party is the party that believes in ambition and opportunity. Here is a lady who, under Labour, is not encouraged to be ambitious and certainly not given any opportunity. She has made me realise that if it is not Conservative Policy to provide people like her with free access to higher education, then it ought to be and I will raise the matter with our policy teams.

As for this person, and many others like her, I wish her luck and hope that she learns to realise that her beliefs and values are core Conservative values, not socialist values.

Conference Speech

One of today's key debates was on Localism and I had the priviliedge of being able to take the stand and talk of my opposition to the government's regionalisation with respect to Chester.

My speech was:

“Last week we had a demonstration of extreme hypocrisy. At Labour’s conference their delegates spoke out about democracy and local accountability, yet in practice they do the opposite as they continue to press on with the expansion of regional government.“

“The people in the North East resoundingly rejected Prescott’s regional plans, yet the people in Chester, the North West and other regions have been denied an opportunity to have our say. Instead, Prescott thought he knew best and gave us a Compulsory Regional Assembly Programme, C.R.A.P. for short.”

“In Chester we have a housing moratorium, not because we don’t need new homes, we do, but because unelected bureaucrats in the North West Regional Assembly, the North West Regional Development Agency, the Government Office North West and the Government Office Liverpool are promoting a Regional Spatial Strategy that says Chester is a second level priority area when compared to Manchester and Liverpool. This is nothing short of social engineering and is damaging to Chester’s future.”

“I believe that Chester, like every village, town and city across the country, is a first level priority and must be treated as such. We need to make sure that after the next general election we have a Conservative government so that we can abolish these quangos and restore true democracy and allow local decisions to be made by locally elected representatives who have local accountability.”

The Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Oliver Heald MP said, “Paul undoubtedly gave the best contribution to the debate and spoke out about Chester with passion and pride. After the debate Paul gave me a detailed briefing about the effects of regionalisation to Chester and I assured him that a Conservative government will abolish regional assemblies and give the people of Chester the ability to decide their own affairs.”

Party Conference

Party conference started today with a great speech from Cameron and amongst an electrifying atmosphere.

Us staunch Tories know what it is like to go to a conference and witness the plotting and gloom. What a joy to know those days are long long gone. Labour have just experienced the in-fighting and a sense of defeat at their conference whilst we are clearly in a period of rock solid unity with an ever growing belief that we can win and return to government after the next general election.

I'm hoping to get a speaking slot in the Localism debate on Tuesday, so will keep you posted. Chester needs someone willing to stand up and speak out on the issues that matter. Loss of democracy and local decision making is becoming a real issue for Chester, and I will stand up and highlight out concerns - if given the opportunity.

Paul

Freshers

Today was Freshers' Fair at the University of Chester, and what a success we had.

Our stall was inundated with politically interested students and over 50 have signed up to join. Who says young people are not interested in politics or the Conservatives?

One thing that we noted were the audacious and blatant lies from the Lib Dems. They displayed a poster saying they were 100% committed to free education. When challenged about their graduation tax and the fact that they would charge students at the end of their course with fees than are even larger than Labour's - they didn’t care. Just another example of how they will say anything and openly lie in an attempt to get a vote: Shameful but not surprising.

Back to the Conservatives and therefore honesty and positive messages: "To our 50 new members, welcome and thank-you."

'Special' Announcement

Chester Conservatives have put together a policy proposal that could significantly increase the number of Special Constables on our streets, for very little cost.

Specials are volunteers and unlike Community Wardens, they DO have the power of arrest, so they can be very effective in tackling anti-social behaviour within local communities. Being volunteers they cannot receive payment, but under Local Government legislation they can be given a 50% discount off their Council Tax by the Local Authority.

In Cheshire we have half of the number of Specials that we had in 1997 and less than half of the number that the Police Authority want, so the Conservatives are asking the ruling Lib Dem and Labour administration to back our call to offer this discount to all successful applicants.

I'll keep you posted and in the meantime, put pressure on your local authority to do the same.

Lib Dem Drug Madness

Everyone expects the Lib Dems to come up with some rather whacky policy ideas, but there is a difference between whacky and damn right naive and dangerous and during their conference the Lib Dems reaffirmed they are the latter. The North West's Lib Dem MEP has called for all drugs to be legalised, with heroin, cocaine and ecstasy to be sold over the counter in local chemists.

I have found syringes discarded in Chester's streets; spoken to parents who fear that their children have too easy access to drugs already and have seen the devastation addiction can bring to a whole family, not just the drug user. 80% of theft is to feed a drug habit and that will still be the case even if the sale was legalised.

We need to protect people from the dangers of drugs, not make it easy for them to get hooked. Easy access to drugs is not part of the solution; it is part of the cause. This just goes to show that despite their rhetoric, the Lib Dems are as daft and as dangerous as ever.

Back on the Blog

I had experienced major technical difficulties trying to link this Blog into my web site pauloffer.co.uk, but everything is resolved, thanks to David at digitallight.co.uk.

So keep checking this page regularly to read my Blogs giving my thoughts on national and local Chester news and events.

Regards.

Paul

Spend a billion to save a billion!!!!!!!!!!

The admission of management incompetence within the Department of Health has been revealed this week by the size of the Management Consultancy bill for advice on how to rectify the cash crisis the government has created.

Almost £1billion has been spent seeking advice on how to save money in the cash-strapped NHS. Now the government claims the NHS cash shortfall is £950m, so, allowing for rounding up, the government is spending a billion pounds to get advice on how to save a billion pounds. Is there any logic in their madness?

Locally we are picked up part of the bill, with the Countess of Chester being billed over £10,000 a day for advice on how to restructure its finances. How can the government justify such wasteful measures when paitent services are being cut and doctors and nurses are being sacked?

This is waste and incompetence to the extreme.

Blair's contradictions on crime.

After 9 years and 40 pieces of criminal justice legislation and umpteen promises that crime is being cut, Tony Blair last week admitted that the criminal justice system is actually failing the public.

So what does he do this week? He continues his commitment to scrap our local constabularies in favour of regional forces, with the potential loss of 25,000 policemen, replacing them with less qualified Community Safety Officers. Does he really think that this regionalisation will improve the public's faith in the criminal justice system and restore their confidence in the ability of the police to make their streets safer?

I know a week is said to be a long time in politics, but surely even the Prime Minister can see that he is now contradicting himself within a matter of days.

Chester Conservatives have always opposed the merger of Cheshire and Merseyside police forces as we know it will weaken and not strengthen local policing. Complete the Online Poll and let me know your views.

Cocaine but no Cornets!!!

That's the effect of the latest political correct nonsense.

In recent months we have seen in our own local papers that drugs are readily sold at school gates, with little apparent intervention from the authorities. We now read that Labour councils in some parts of the country are considering banning the sale of ice creams outside school gates because they are bad for children's health!!!

I'd rather my children had the opportunity to buy a lolly rather than a joint: but hey, I'm obviously old-fashioned and simply out-of-touch about what is harmful for my children.

Rights vs Responsibilities

For those of you that know me, you will be aware that I have a real issue with this government's obsessions with rights. In my 2005 General Election literature, I clearly stated that, in my view, commit a crime you start to forfeit your rights. I stand by that view today.

The news is once again dominated by criminal's rights taking presedence ove the law-abiding public's rigths. Armed hijackers, rapists and serious offenders have all be treated leniently, thus endangering the public, because of their rights.

WHAT ABOUT THEM HAVING TO ACCEPT RESPONIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR WRONGS.

The European Human Rights Convention has created an unacceptable shift of balance in favour of the criminal and it must be reversed.

I also read that a group of prisoners are taking the government to court because it is against their rights to be banned from taking drugs in prison. How long will it be before we are told that prison is against criminals' right and so will be outlawed?

The government must, first and foremost, protect the public. This has to take presedence over the rights of individual criminals, so it is time to have a review of the European Human Rights Act. At worst, make serious amandments to it - at best - scrap it. British Law did a good enough job at protecting us before this European Act was forced upon us.

Best Local Election Result for Decades

FIVE new Conservative Councillors in Chester was the result of last night's local election. We won three seats from Labour:

• Arthur Harada took the Labour stronghold of Lache Park.
• Razia Daniels took Handbridge & St Mary's.
• Jeremy Langdon took Elton.

and we took two seat off the Lib Dems:

• Marigold Roy had a massive swing to take Newton St Michael's.
• Jill Houlbrook took the Lib Dem stronghold of Upton Grange.

The City Council make up is now 26 Conservatives, 19 Lib Dem and 14 Labour and 1 Ind.
A massive well done to all our candidates and the whole team. This is the best result for decades and a result of hard work and campaigning positively on the issues that matter to residents.

Although we polled 49% of the vote and got more votes than Labour and Lib Dems combined, it is believed that Labour and Lib Dems still intend to continue with their Alliance. This just goes to show their utter contempt for democracy and total disregard for the opinions of the electorate. Only 22% of people in Chester voted Lib Dem, yet the power crazed Libs are insistent on running the Council.