Mark Reckless Welcomes £12 Million Extra For NHS In Medway

From today – 1 April – the NHS in Medway will enjoy an extra £12 million, to support key Government priorities such as the Cancer Drugs Fund, investment in talking therapies for those with mental health conditions, 4,200 extra health visitors, and support for carers’ breaks.

Spending on healthcare in our local area this year will total £435 million overall. The increase follows the decision by the Coalition Government to protect NHS investment over the next four years – investment vigorously opposed by Labour.

Across England as a whole, over £89 billion will now be spent on doctors, nurses and frontline services in the NHS – an increase of more than £2.6 billion over the year before.

Welcoming the increases in NHS funding, Mark Reckless said:

"We recognise just how important the NHS is to this country – and to patients here in Medway. That’s why the Coalition Government is protecting the NHS not just today, but for future generations.

"Next year alone, our constituency will benefit from an extra £12 million of investment going straight to doctors, nurses and other frontline services.

"Under Labour, billions of extra spending was swallowed up as the number of managers increased at five times the rate the number of nurses. Their plans would have meant cutting the NHS, denying patients the improved services we are putting in place.

"Their approach – to spend less and keep things as they are – would leave the NHS in crisis."

Mark Reckless Welcomes £12 Million Extra For NHS In Medway

Mark Reckless MP: A Budget For Growth, Jobs And Families

Today Mark Reckless MP welcomed the Government’s Budget with its plan to reform the economy to support jobs and growth, and to take steps to help families with the cost of living – including an immediate cut in fuel duty.

Key measures in the Budget to boost growth include:

• Tax cuts for businesses and entrepreneurs
• Scrapping burdensome regulations
• Radical reform of the planning system
• New investment in science and innovation; and
• More support for young people with additional apprenticeships and work experience places.

To help families facing the rising cost of living, the Budget also will:

• Immediately cut fuel duty by 1 pence per litre and delay April’s inflation rise in duty to next January. This means fuel duty is 6 pence lower than it would be under Labour.
• Introduce a Fair Fuel Stabiliser to tax oil companies more to stop above inflation rises in fuel duty
• Increase the Personal Allowance from by a further £630 from April 2012. That’s another real increase of £48 extra per year, or £126 in cash terms. Together with this year’s rise, that means a total of £326 extra each year for those working hard to support their families. And it means, just ten months into office, this coalition Government has taken 1.1 million low paid people out of tax altogether.

Welcoming the Budget, Mark Reckless MP said:

“Last year the Chancellor in the Budget brought Britain back from the brink of bankruptcy and I am delighted that the Chancellor didn’t have to come back for more today.

Instead this year’s Budget sets out plans to back enterprise and get Britain making things again. By cutting fuel duty immediately and cutting income tax for millions the Chancellor has done what he can to help families now.

Constituents have written to me about 40p a mile approved mileage allowance not being sufficient to offset the cost of driving and I hope they will be pleased that the chancellor has listened and increased this to 45p per mile.

This Budget has put fuel into the tank of our economy.”

Mark Reckless MP: A Budget For Growth, Jobs And Families

Mark Reckless MP Congratulates Medway Council

Mark Reckless, Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood, congratulates Medway Council for finding £23 million of required savings, whilst protecting front line services.

Mark said:

"This is an excellent testament to the work done by my Conservative colleagues on Council to ensure that residents still get good services and an efficient Council. We understand the need for Councils to make cuts, in the same way as our residents and their families have had to, and I praise the responsible way in which Medway Council, and in particular Finance Chief Councillor Alan Jarrett have done this with minimal impact to our Medway residents.

What we do not understand is why similar cuts are not being made to the E.U. budget. We are delighted that other councils are following our lead and calling for MPs to force cuts to the E.U. budget similar to the ones local councils have had to make".

Mark Reckless MP Congratulates Medway Council

Mark Reckless MP: The Case For An In/Out Referendum On Europe

Speaking yesterday (1st February 2011) in the House of Commons during the debate on the European Union Bill, Mark Reckless MP puts forward the case for a straight In/Out Referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union.

Mark Reckless MP: The Case For An In/Out Referendum On Europe

Mark Reckless Quizzes Police Minister

During last week's meeting of the Home Affairs Select Committee Mark Reckless MP took the opportunity to question the Minister for Policing and Justice, the Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP, on the role directly elected commissioners could play in making better use of taxpayers' money.

Q168 Mark Reckless: In Kent we have already identified £11.5 million of savings through collaboration with Essex, and there are one or two other examples—Herts and Beds comes to mind—where there has been good progress. But generally the savings from collaboration have been rather disappointing, and I wondered whether you thought Ministers might be able to accelerate this, or whether you would look to the directly elected police and crime commissioners to be able to drive out much more substantive savings through collaboration?

Nick Herbert: I think I agree with you that progress up until now has been too slow, but I think that is partly because there hasn’t been the kind of fiscal driver to do it. Now that police forces know that they are receiving less grant for the next four years, that is, I think, changing the incentives, both for chief constables and for police authorities. It is driving much more interest on the part of police forces in collaboration, outsourcing, better procurement, and so on. Because they all share the same desire as we do in the Government, which is to maintain the front-line policing service and the service that the public receives and find savings in other ways, in better use of taxpayers’ money.

Mark Reckless Quizzes Police Minister

Local Residents Work 22 Days Just To Pay Labour's Debt Interest

New research has shown that someone on average earnings in Rochester and Strood will spend 22 days just paying the interest on Labour’s debts.

Labour left the country with an annual overspend of £156 billion, greater than at any point in our peacetime history. Money spent just paying the interest on their £790 billion debt bill is money that could otherwise be spent on front line services.

Commenting, Mark Reckless said:

“Labour’s addiction to debt means each and every taxpayer now has to spend weeks of the year working just to pay the interest bill.

“If we listened to Labour the debt would be £100 billion higher. They must never be put in charge of our public finances again.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

New research has shown that someone on average earnings in Rochester and Strood will spend 22 days just paying for Labour’s debt interest bill. Labour left office with the country owing £790 billion, more than at any time in our peacetime history (HM Treasury, Public Finances Databank, Table Key M, link).

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts debt interest spending of £42.7 billion in 2010-11 (OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, Table 4.14, link). There are 30.5 million taxpayers, so on average each taxpayer will pay £1,400 in debt interest (HMRC, Number of individual income taxpayers, link).

Figures from the ONS show median earnings in Rochester and Strood are £22,959 (ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 10.7a, 8 December 2010, link).

This means that 6.1 per cent of an average person’s income goes on debt interest.

This works out at 22 days spent just paying for debt interest.

Local Residents Work 22 Days Just To Pay Labour's Debt Interest

Statement On Tuition Fees

Yesterday in a tense and emotional atmosphere, with student protest around Parliament, MPs voted by 323 to 302 votes to raise tuition fees from just over £3000, to £6000, and potentially to £9000.

I was one of the 302 who voted against that government proposal. Five other Conservative and twenty one Liberal Democrat colleagues joined me in the 'No' lobby. It is not easy to vote with only a minority of my side of the House but I know that it was also not easy for many MPs who did vote with the government to make their decision. I also pay tribute to Tracey Crouch MP who was as principled in her abstention as those of us who voted either for or against.

I found it particularly difficult to justify the suddenness of the move with one student required to pay only around £3000 but then another student, potentially a sister just one year behind at school, expected to pay two or three times more with very little warning. I also believe that as MPs we should make decisions and whenever possible try and explain those likely decisions before an election, rather than use a report from someone who is not elected, however distinguished, to justify a decision (the Browne Report).

I was enormously impressed by the students who put their case to me on this issue. They asked me why they should have to pay so much when Welsh and Scottish and in many cases EU students did not have to pay at all. I then showed David Willetts, the universities minister, detailed statistics showing that 46% of EU students due to repay a loan from the British taxpayer were in default. I have also asked govenment ministers how thay can justify an 80% decrease in grant to universities in the context of a 60% increase in our net payments to the EU.

I cannot justify it, and voted accordingly.

Statement On Tuition Fees

Over A Third Of Irish Want To Leave Euro For Pound

I commissioned top Irish pollster RED C to ask the following question to a representative sample of 1,000 people across the Republic of Ireland between 29/11/10 and 1/12/10:

“In light of the current financial crisis, would you support Ireland leaving the Euro and re-establishing a link with the pound sterling, or not?”.

Over a third of the sample answered ‘Yes’.

Support was strongest among the younger age groups and people with children. A majority of those who have already lost their jobs want Ireland to leave the Euro and return to sterling. Even 43% of Sinn Fein supporters now want to return to the pound (see full results).

In the 1990s I was UK Economist for Warburgs and argued that “the UK and Ireland would be especially badly affected by monetary union with the Continent” with Irish bank lending exploding out of control under EMU (see link1 and link2). The fall-out from that has now caused ruling Fianna Fail to fall behind Sinn Fein, even losing in my grandfather’s old seat in Donegal (Henry McDevitt TD 1938-43).

The EU thinks it can order whoever forms Ireland’s new government to slash spending and hike taxes to bail out the European Central Bank (ECB) and European investors in Irish banks. The EU is also demanding that the Irish people submit weekly reports on what they spend and is imposing an interest rate which is intended to punish rather than help.

Such behaviour by the EU may be a miscalculation because it rather assumes that the Irish have nowhere else to go. That is not the case. Individually tens, and perhaps soon hundreds, of thousands are emigrating to England and elsewhere to escape the Carolingian economic settlement.

Collectively, Ireland wants to renounce its politicians’ self-serving guarantee of senior bank debt but, despite IMF support, this has so far been vetoed by the EU and the ECB. Ireland also needs monetary policy better suited to its economy so as to avoid repeated boom-bust cycles in bank lending under the Euro.

The EU may successfully bully Greece or Spain, calculating that it would be too risky for them to reintroduce their own currency, but Ireland has another option. Already over a third of Ireland want bilateral arrangements with the UK, instead of what is on offer from the EU and the Euro, and that is before the EU measures begin to bite.

Over A Third Of Irish Want To Leave Euro For Pound

Debating The EU Budget

Debating The EU Budget

Mark Reckless MP Calls For Reduction In EU Budget

Mark Reckless MP has called for a reduction in the UK's contribution to the EU ahead of tomorrow's Comprehensive Spending Review.

Speaking alongside Sir Menzies Campbell on the BBC's Daily Politics show, Mark expressed his concern that the UK's contribution to the EU is set to rise at a time when the coalition government is forced find savings and cut public services in order to address the economic mess left by the last Labour government.

On top of the £1.9 billion increase to the EU budget the UK will be paying in 2011, the European Union has asked for a further increase of £380million to cover the cost of 'admin'. Mark recently joined 37 other Conservative MPs in supporting Douglas Carswell's amendment calling on the government to cut the UK's contribution to the EU.

Speaking on the Daily Politics, Mark said;

"In our country it is not the government that is sovereign, nor is it the EU. It is the Westminster Parliament, and if we say the EU budget is reduced, the government will reduce it.

Take child benefit for example. We're finding a billion by not giving it to top rate taxpayers although the commitment was to do so previously. There are now suggestions it will be taken away for children over sixteen. But at the same time I find that we are paying £70million every year to children elsewhere in the EU in child benefit who aren't even here. Now surely that is something we should consider. We can't have the EU as the only area that is exempt - that is going up 60% - while finding these reductions elsewhere. We must make savings."

Mark Reckless MP Calls For Reduction In EU Budget

“This Reckless Tory Budget would not have been possible without the Liberal Democrats”

I managed to find a seat in the Chamber earlier, but it was next to the Liberal Democrats, and one or two colleagues caught my eye as Labour's acting leader, Harriet Harman, trotted out the above line of attack.

I first met George Osborne twenty years ago during freshers' week at university, so I did a little bit of a double take today as I saw him walk into the Chamber, have the Prime Minister pour him a drink, and then launch into the most important budget statement for a generation.

George seems to have grown into the role of Chancellor very quickly. As well as being politically sensitive and astute, I feel that he delivered just about the best economic package he could, given the mess which he has been left to clear up.

Only halving the deficit over five years, as Labour proposed, was never a serious plan, because investors would not have lent us the money at a price we could afford. We will eliminate the current structural budget deficit over the course of the Parliament to restore confidence in our credit, our currency and our country.

Harriet Harman is right. This Budget would not have been possible without, at a minimum, Liberal Democrat acquiescence. It is surely better though - however much Harriet Harman dislikes it – to have Liberal Democrats and Conservatives actively working together to clear up the mess which Labour have left behind.

We are all in it together. Today's Budget sets out, not Conservative cuts, but the best efforts of our national coalition to put our country back on track.

A Do Nothing Budget

I covered budgets as an economist until 1997 but count myself lucky not to have had to examine the entrails of Labour's 15 budgets professionally.

However, there can be no doubt that this budget does less than any budget in living memory. We have a 'do nothing' budget at a time when there has never been a greater need for action to restore confidence in our country.

David Cameron, who was on very strong form, could not have put it better in his response, saying:

"The risk is not in dealing with the deficit now but in not dealing with the deficit now - what we need is a credible plan to deal with the government's debts starting now".

It is bad enough that the government says it will borrow £167bn this year and then boasts that it is only 11.8% of GDP, although I suspect that they are erring on the side of caution and the plan is to announce an undershoot on the 22nd April and present an 11½% deficit as a triumph of Labour economic management!

What is truly shocking is that the government still insouciantly plans to borrow £163bn next year, over 11% of GDP for the second year running.

No wonder the pound is down a cent and a half and gilts are down over a point. The key point everyone needs to understand though is that the market reaction would have been far, far worse, except that they are betting that they will soon have a Conservative government to clean up Labour's mess.

A lot is riding on us and, as a candidate, I will be doing everything I can do over the next six weeks to help put David Cameron in Downing Street, so we can make a start on putting our country back on track.

A Do Nothing Budget

Labour Chaos On Cuts

Labour's attacks on spending have backfired as the spotlight turns on their internal contradictions on cuts.

Treasury Ministers say there will be "extremely painful" cuts under Labour, but Gordon Brown says spending will carry on rising.

Treasury figures already imply 17% cuts in non-protected departments under Labour, but Gordon Brown keeps adding new protected areas without saying where the money is coming from.

The National Audit Office say that Labour’s defence plans are already "unaffordable", and Bob Ainsworth has announced defence cuts, but today Gordon Brown is promising more spending on defence. If Labour are now protecting defence spending then cuts in other departments will be more than 20%.

Ed Balls says education spending will carry on rising, but Alistair Darling claims he has only protected "front line" schools spending.

Peter Mandelson says you can't make cuts this year but is cutting more than £300 million from his own Department this year.

Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown disagree over what to do if growth is stronger than expected – Darling says he wants to cut the deficit but Brown says he wants more spending.

Today Peter Mandelson couldn’t decide whether to attack the Conservatives for cutting too soon or for cutting too little. Perhaps he should spend more time filling the vacuum at the heart of Labour policy.

For more information, click here to read our document or view the document in the player below.

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Labour Chaos On Cuts

A Labour Election Victory Would Mean Higher Taxes And Interest Rates

Today, Alistair Darling delivered the last Pre Budget Report before a General Election.

Because he failed to take the tough decisions on spending before the election, there will be higher taxes and higher interest rates if Labour win the election.

The central measure was a tax on jobs that hits everyone earning over £20,000 - well below the median wage. That is Labour's definition of the "well off". Of all Labour's tax rises this will be the one that it is the Conservatives' priority to avoid.

Because Labour is weak they failed to deal with the £178bn deficit, cancelled the pre-election Comprehensive Spending Review, and instead said that a Labour victory at the election would mean:

- £7.8 billion higher taxes - £370 more per family - after the election
- Of this £6.5 billion - £310 more per family - is a rise in National Insurance - a tax on anyone earning over £20,000.
- Labour's planned tax on jobs is now £200 a year on someone earning £30,000 a year, or £60 on average earnings of around £23,000
- And the ring fencing means a real terms 10% cut in all other Departments over just two years

Other tax increases include:

- A £440m inheritance tax rise
- A new £440m phone tax
- £220m on workplace canteens
- £500m pension tax rise
- No help on business rates; and failed to abolish small corporation tax rise

Yet even with the tax rises there is no credible plan to deal with the deficit:

- Still no honesty on spending as the Spending Review has been cancelled until after the election
- No credible plan to deal with the deficit. Debt stabilises in 2015/16 - a year later than at the Budget
- Borrowing £789bn over the next six years - doubling the national debt again to £1.5 trillion
- The pledge to halve the deficit in four years has already been dismissed as not enough by Mervyn King, the CBI and the OECD - it would leave the deficit higher in 2013/14 than when Denis Healey went to the IMF

The PBR has been slammed by business:

Richard Lambert, Director-General of the CBI: "The Chancellor has made a serious mistake imposing an extra jobs tax at a time when the economic recovery will still be fragile. Increasing the National Insurance contribution will hold back job creation and growth. He has also missed the opportunity to increase the UK's credibility by reducing the public deficit earlier. We are no clearer today as to how the Government plans to reduce public expenditure."

David Frost of British Chambers of Commerce said that the National Insurance rise is: "Terrible news...It's an additional cost for business when they can least afford it."

Miles Templeman, Director-Generalof the Institute of Directors: "The key theme of this year's PBR is prudence postponed... A further tax on jobs at a time like this is madness."

John Wright, FSB National Chairman on the tax on jobs: "this is extremely damaging for employment in the UK."



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A Labour Election Victory Would Mean Higher Taxes And Interest Rates

A Sad Day For Britain

In the mid 1990s I worked as UK economist for what was then Warburgs and stayed up late after every Budget to analyse the small print.

This time the headline is enough and it is a terrible day for our country - borrowing next year of £175bn - a number barely conceivable when Labour attacked us back then for a peak in borrowing of £46bn.

We returned that deficit to surplus within five years. It will be a lot harder this time and for one main reason. Labour aimed to borrow in the good times. At least we tried to balance the budget over the cycle. Instead Labour's policy was to aim to borrow enough so that our debt expanded in line with the economy. Of course, as soon as things went off track - as they always do - the deficit ballooned.

Labour then made it even worse by purposely borrowing even more. America may (or may not) be able to give some boost to its economy through fiscal means but sterling is no longer the world's reserve currency. As a medium sized economy heavily dependent on foreign capital we have to reassure those investors that we are solvent and good for their money.

Gordon Brown has done the opposite. Instead of trying to bolster confidence and slow the outflow of foreign money he has driven it away by announcing borrowing that those investors know we cannot afford. The consequence is a collapse both in sterling and in lending for our homebuyers and businesses.

Confidence will only come back when government shows that it will put it's house in order to get borrowing under control. Year after year the public sector has been feather bedded. 10% three year pay deals have been given away. As inflation falls they are going to become much more valuable to their recipients than expected, at the same time as hundreds of thousands lose their jobs in the private sector. Many would be more than happy to replace their public sector counterparts for significantly less pay and without a gold-plated pension.

However, this government ignores that and goes on wasting our money. It pretends to it's clients that it can carry on with this munificence and that only the Conservatives would make cuts.

Of course that it rubbish because no British government will be able to borrow this much money for very long.

There are only two options:

- either Britain votes in a Conservative government to sort out the mess and push through big savings planned as well as we can;
- or it re-elects a Labour government that before long will be making whatever cuts it is told by the EU and the IMF.

A Sad Day For Britain