Eurozone, Not Britain Should Pay For Portugal 'Bail-out'

European finance ministers are meeting today to discuss a request from Portugal to provide financial assistance to the country following previous ‘bail-outs’ of Greece and Ireland. The Treasury has failed to make clear so far today whether any UK contribution will be limited to that which may be entailed by our membership of the IMF or whether, indefensibly, it is proposed to use the EU natural disasters Mechanism.

I believe that the British taxpayer should not contribute to an EU bail-out for Portugal and that the Leader of Conservative MEPS, Martin Callanan, with Parliament in recess, speaks for the Party on this when he said that the UK should refuse to accept any liability for Portugal under the EU Mechanism.

Article 122 of the Lisbon Treaty states that other member states may be expected to help when another state experiences “difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control”. The chronic issue for Portugal is that it has only been able to grow at 0.7% per year since joining the Euro and has failed to control it’s spending, so Article 122 cannot apply to this situation.

This is a matter for the Eurozone and I cannot see any basis whereby we could properly use the Mechanism to bail-out Eurozone countries. To use the Treaty this way is simply not lawful. Britain decided not to join the Euro, so we should not be asked to bail-out countries that did join. I don’t see how we can ask the British taxpayer to prop up a supranational European currency they do not want and they did not ask for.

Eurozone, Not Britain Should Pay For Portugal 'Bail-out'

Mark Reckless MP: At Last, Democracy Is Coming To Policing

Originally posted on ConservativeHome Today and tomorrow the House of Commons will put its finishing touches to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. It is a long title for one key reform, putting a directly elected individual “in charge” – as the Home Secretary put it on Monday – of each police force. That reform will have huge ramifications as power in policing shifts from the Chief Constable to the elected Commissioner. Unsurprisingly, the Chief Constables don’t much like that. However, unlike police authorities, which have spent public money fighting their own abolition, most Chief Constables, if not necessarily their Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), accept very professionally that it is for elected politicians to set policy under which they operate. Police authorities are generally considered to have been the weakest of the ‘tripartite’ pillars of police governance, the others being the Home Office and the Chief Constable. Our plan to deal with that, which I passed to Douglas Carswell to develop further when he replaced me at the Conservative Policy Unit in 2004, was to transfer the police authority powers to people who are elected, so as to reinforce those powers with a democratic mandate. David Cameron wrote that plan into our manifesto in 2005 and has evangelised it ever since, so much so that he appointed the hugely impressive Nick Herbert as Police Minister, having seen him make the case for democratic control of policing when leading the thknk-tank Reform. The Prime Minister then promised in July 2006 that “We will enshrine operational independence in legislation”. It is unfortunate that some concessions have since been made to ACPO, but any apparent increase in Chief Constables’ powers will surely prove illusory once they face Commissioners empowered with a democratic mandate. If this bill fails to give the elected Commissioners the power they need to deliver what the public wants, then they will come back and demand that power, and Parliament will give them the power, as we have for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. I will nonetheless make the case today and tomorrow for us to get it right first time, to give the elected commissioners the powers they need now, and to give a clear steer to the courts that, in the Home Secretary’s words, the elected commissioners must be “in charge”. Chief Constables must of course make operational decisions regarding investigations and arrests independently of politicians, but it is for the elected commissioners to determine policy and set priorities. Moreover, if panels of elected councillors are to scrutinise elected commissioners and potentially second-guess their budgets, then we shouldn’t need the Secretary of State to third-guess that process. It may make sense to give the Secretary of State a reserve power to require a referendum if a local council wants a really excessive council tax increase. For policing, that power would surely better be exercised in extremis by the Panel which will scrutinise the police budget and represent the local councils and electorate which would pay for a referendum. David Cameron, Theresa May and Nick Herbert are truly driving home the Direct Democracy agenda with the police. They deserve our support.

Mark Reckless MP: At Last, Democracy Is Coming To Policing

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

Michael Gove Accepts Invitation To Open Strood Academy

Mark Reckless MP is delighted that, during education questions yesterday in the House of Commons, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, accepted his invitation to open Strood Academy when construction is completed in 2012.

Mark, who attended the Turning of the Sod ceremony at Strood Academy on Thursday 17th March alongside fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, asked the Education Secretary:

On Thursday, I saw the beginning of construction for Strood academy in my constituency. Does the Secretary of State appreciate the extent to which confirmation of that investment is appreciated in the local community, and would he visit my constituency to open the academy when construction is completed next year?

To which Michael Gove responded:

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I should be delighted to accept his generous invitation.

Michael Gove Accepts Invitation To Open Strood Academy

Discussing Immigration Controls For Foreign Students

Discussing the Home Affairs Select Committee report on immigration controls for foreign students on Radio 4's PM programme:

Discussing Immigration Controls For Foreign Students

Could You Rock The House?

Mark Reckless MP is looking out for the best local musical talent and venues to represent Rochester and Strood in the recently launched Rock The House competition.

‘Rock The House’ is a music competition with a political twist; supporting unsigned bands and artists, it will raise political awareness of the importance of music and other creative businesses to the UK.

Launched by Mike Weatherley - MP and champion for the music industry - Rock The House offers entry categories covering both Live Bands and Live Music Venues - and is open for entries now.

Bands and venues are invited to enter themselves, via their local MP, who will make nominations to a judging panel of music industry heavyweights on behalf of their own constituencies.

Entries can be submitted until the closing date of 31st March 2011. Further details and the official application form are available online at: http://www.rockthehouse.me.uk/ and winners will be announced by the end of May and all competition finalists will be invited to attend an exclusive star-studded event on the Terrace of the House of Commons on 30th June.

Local bands and venues in the Rochester and Strood constituency are asked to email rockthehouse@markreckless.com or send in a CD/DVD with details to his constituency office at Mark Reckless MP, Suite 6, 4A Castle View Mews, Castle Hill, Rochester ME1 1LA.

Sponsors and supporters include: UK Music, Future Publishing, EMI, Yamaha, Consumer Focus, Incorporated Society of Musicians, and All Party Parliamentary Group on Music (APPG).

Could You Rock The House?

Mark Reckless MP On Unjustified CRB Checks

Mark Reckless MP discusses the issue of councils carrying out unjustified CRB checks for job applicants

Mark Reckless MP On Unjustified CRB Checks

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 MP Assured Ahead Of Digital Handover

Local MP Mark Reckless has received reassurances from Ed Vaizey MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, that residents in Rochester and Strood will not be left behind when the analogue signal is switched off in 2012.

Mark Reckless MP asked the Minister what steps his department planned to take to assist the elderly and people on low incomes with the planned transition from analogue to digital television and received the following response;

Mr Vaizey:

Mr Vaizey: The Government and the BBC have set up the Digital Switchover Help Scheme (DSHS) to offer those 75 or over, disabled and visually impaired people and care home residents practical help to make the switch to digital television on one of their sets.

We estimate that over 7 million households will be eligible for help through the switchover period.

By January 2011, DSHS had mailed nearly 4 million people and completed 430,000 installations and deliveries.

Participating in the scheme costs a subsidised £40. However, help is available free of charge where the eligible person is also in receipt of certain income related benefits.

The help scheme is rolled out in each TV region as switchover approaches and every eligible person in that region is contacted directly by post in the run up to switchover.

The help scheme will:

- provide easy-to-use equipment that suits a person's needs;

- help with installing equipment;

- fit a new dish or aerial, where they can, if it is needed to make the new equipment work;

- give people an easy-to-understand demonstration of how everything works;

- provide a free telephone support service and a comprehensive network of trained and accredited installers that will be able to deal with any queries about installation or use; and

- develop links with local charities and voluntary groups to identify ways in which they can help support aspects of the Help Scheme.

The scheme is funded through £603 million ring-fenced within the BBC's licence fee income over the period of switchover.

Mark also asked what steps will be taken to alleviate the difficulties which many households in Rochester and Strood currently experience with digital television reception ahead of the analogue switch off;

Mr Vaizey: In common with other areas of the UK yet to undergo digital switchover, it is the case that reliable coverage of digital terrestrial television (Freeview) signals is currently unlikely to be available in some parts of Rochester and Strood. The primary reason for this is that until digital switchover takes place, the power of the digital transmitters is necessarily restricted to relatively low levels in order to prevent interference being caused to the existing analogue signals. However, when switchover takes place, the power of the digital transmitters will be raised to, on average, 10 times their current levels which will significantly extend their coverage. By the time that the nationwide switchover process is complete, digital TV signals will reach the same number of households as the analogue signals they replace (approximately 98.5% of the UK population).

Viewers in Rochester and Strood can potentially receive signals from a number of TV regions. Viewers that receive Meridian and London ITV services will switch fully to digital in 2012; while any that receive Anglia ITV services will switch later this year.

Mark Reckless MP Assured Ahead Of Digital Handover

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

Mark Reckless Meets Young Scientist Of The Year

Mark Reckless MP recently met up with Tom Hearing, UK Young Scientist of the Year 2010, during filming at the House of Commons for a BBC TV science show to be broadcast later in March.

Mark Reckless Meets Young Scientist Of The Year

Campaign For Equal Tuition Fees

Local MP Mark Reckless met with student campaigner Jennifer Watts earlier this week to discuss the inequality of tuition fees between English and Scottish students.

Jennifer, a local gap year student, is starting a campaign to end this discrimination. Mark welcomed Jennifer to Westminster to discuss some questions she had, such as whether or not introducing tuition fees in Scotland would mean that the increase in fees in the rest of the UK could be less drastic.

At the core of the discussion was the fact that the English taxpayer effectively props up the Scottish Government’s devolved budget, enabling Holyrood to provide Scottish students with free education, whereas English students have to carry debts of tens of thousands of pounds into their working life. Fair?

Speaking on the issue, Mark Reckless said:

“I agree with the issues Jennifer has raised. I support the campaign she has started to address the imbalance and to raise people’s awareness in an effort to make the system fairer.”

For more information on this issue, Jennifer has created a website: http://equalunifees.webs.com/

Campaign For Equal Tuition Fees

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

Local MP Welcomes MidKent College Students To Westminster

Local MP Mark Reckless met with students from Mid Kent College today at Parliament and answered their questions on topical issues such as student fees and the forthcoming referendum on a possible change to the Westminster electoral system.

Arriving back in Westminster following recess and before many other MPs, Mark was happy to welcome the students to the House of Commons and respond directly to their questions.

Mark said:

“It was a pleasure to meet such mature and interested young adults, who will be part of the future of our country. It’s really positive that young people are showing an interest in the political system and the issues that affect us all. I particularly welcomed the opportunity to listen to the concerns of young people studying in my constituency.

I am always happy to welcome students and members of the public from my constituency to Westminster in small or large groups. Anyone wishing to visit should call my Westminster office on 020 7219 7135 and we will do our best to accommodate any requests.”

Local MP Welcomes MidKent College Students To Westminster

Welcoming Regina Suleymanova

Mark would like to welcome Regina Suleymanova who will be working as an intern in both the Westminster and constituency offices for the next couple of weeks.

Regina, a constituent of Mark's, graduated from Hull University last summer with a degree in psychology and previously attended Rochester Independent College and Chatham Grammar School for Boys (Mixed Sixth Form). A member of the British Psychological Society, Regina enjoys playing the classical piano and is a green belt in karate!

Mark is always very happy to consider requests for internships from young people in his constituency who may be considering a career in politics, or are looking for more general work experience. If you would like to register your interest, please email interns@markreckless.com

Mark hopes that Regina enjoys her time working as an intern, and the experience proves to be of value as she begins her working career. Welcome!

Welcoming Regina Suleymanova

Support Ireland, Not The Euro

Mark Reckless MP speaking in the House of Commons during the Second Reading of the Loans To Ireland Bill on 15th December 2010



Mark's speech was made following a series of questions in the chamber on the issue of the Irish bail out, starting with a question to the Prime Minister David Cameron during PMQs. These are set out below (courtesy of TheyWorkForYou.com)

Loans to Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time): Loans to Ireland Bill (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: The package is described as a bail-out of Ireland, but it is important that we recognise that Ireland has not asked for the bail-out and that it is not the package that the Irish would have wished. Ireland and the IMF proposed to write down bank senior debt-that is, default on an element of that debt-because they recognised that it would be very difficult, although not impossible, for Ireland...

Loans to Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time): Loans to Ireland Bill (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: All we are doing is passing on to Ireland the quarter per cent. or so of benefit that we gain by being a better creditor than the eurozone. Most hon. Members feel that we should help Ireland, but I agree with my hon. Friend that it is not necessarily helpful to Ireland to have a huge amount of extra debt on top of the great debt it already has. On that basis, I understand his point.

Loans to Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time): Loans to Ireland Bill (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, notwithstanding previous assurances, this loan will not rank pari passu with the EU funds extended under the mechanism, but will be subordinated to them?

Loans to Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time): Loans to Ireland Bill (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: It is enormously welcome that this country is working with Iceland and Ireland to support them in these very difficult times. The Chancellor has mentioned the current 7.5-year swap rate; can he tell us how much higher it is than when he first announced our participation in this bail-out?

Loans to Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time) (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: We may have heard one or two "Hear, hears", and I am certainly someone who wants to speak on Second Reading, but let me make clear my appreciation for what my hon. Friend is doing. Any responsibility for the curtailment of time for Back Benchers should rest squarely where it belongs, which is with those on the Treasury Bench.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: National Asset Management Authority (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: What assessment his Department has made of assets held by the Republic of Ireland's National Asset Management Agency in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: National Asset Management Authority (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: Given the difficulty NAMA is having in managing these assets and the Republic's already over-indebted situation, would it not make sense for us to take some of those assets off its hands, as consideration for financial support we may give?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (15 Dec 2010)Mark Reckless: The BBC reports that the German Finance Minister wants to set an interest rate to punish Ireland. Will the Prime Minister confirm that this country wants to help Ireland?

Support Ireland, Not The Euro

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

Christmas Message To Our Armed Forces

Video courtesy of Winkball

Christmas Message To Our Armed Forces

Mark Reckless MP Questions Government On Train Fares

Mark Reckless MP asked the Secretary of State for Transport to explain the Government’s policy: “on the application of a cap on fare rises on train services provided by Southeastern under its franchise agreement which enables a different rate of fare rises to that applied by other franchisees” and requested that the Minister make a statement on the issue.

The Government Minister replied that: “The Southeastern Franchise Agreement agreed by the last Government specified that from 2007-2011, regulated fares on the network would be capped at RPI +3 per cent”. She explained that: “next year will be the final one in which Southeastern has a different fares regime to most other parts of the network. From 2012, RPI +3 will become the standard formula for prices regulated by the Department for Transport, including Southeastern”.

Mark Reckless said: “I believe that Kent was not given a fair deal by the last government, which agreed a contract with Southeastern providing for our fares to rise faster than elsewhere. This will stop after January and Southeastern will henceforth be treated the same as the rest of the country. I hope that Southeastern, having been given four years of higher fares than other providers, will now improve their service to passengers”.

Mark Reckless MP Questions Government On Train Fares