Restoring Authority To Parliament

Congratulations to my friend Douglas Carswell for proposing the motion that Speaker Martin step down.

Douglas has taken no pleasure in leading this necessary, but far from sufficient, step to restore authority to Parliament.

He was criticised by some for not respecting traditional convention.

Douglas though comes from a tradition, perhaps more radical than whig, that demands necessary change. It is that tradition and the demand for Direct Democracy which it inspires which will be key if my party is to make politics work again.

The radicals demanded economy and accountability, expecting the latter to drive the former. We are in the same position today.

The first step to ensuring that public services are value for money must be to ensure that those who control them are accountable to those who pay for them.

Douglas has led Parliament in making the first step in this direction but there remains a very long way to go.

Photo Credit: Archbishop Cranmer

Restoring Authority To Parliament

Britain Needs A General Election

A message from David Cameron

I've been up in Lancashire today launching our campaign for the European elections. These elections matter and only by voting Conservative will we get the changes we all want to see in Europe.

Our candidates are the kind of people Brussels needs more of. And they've all signed our pledge to stand up for the kind of things Brussels needs more of: delivering more for less, cleaning up the political system and, of course, giving us the referendum that we were promised.

So I hope you will give them your full support. But the big election, the election we really need, is still to come - and it can't come soon enough.

I've wanted a General Election for some time but now the sheer scale of the problems facing Britain today - the recession, the debt crisis, and now the political crisis - has changed everything.

They've made having an election not just a "nice to have", but an absolute "must have". Some MPs are calling for a new Speaker, but that alone doesn't get to the heart of the matter.

This political crisis has been caused by the politicians, so I don't think the politicians alone can solve it. The public have got to be involved. They have to be given a chance to voice their anger and approve of a new way forward.

That's why I'm announcing today that we are turning the campaign we had planned for these elections into the campaign Britain now needs: a campaign for a General Election to be held as soon as possible.

Conservative candidates and activists right across the country will be collecting signatures for a petition demanding that Gordon Brown calls a General Election.

You can help kick-start this campaign right now - just click here to sign the petition online, and then send the link to your friends and colleagues.

If we all Sign for Change we can send a message that the government can't ignore.

Britain Needs A General Election

Campaign Succeeds - Congratulations To Southeastern

Southeastern Trains have published their new draft timetable for services from 13 December 2009.

The proposed service represents a victory for Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Cllr Mark Reckless, and local campaigners.

For years only one Cannon Street service has stopped in Rochester and the fast services to Victoria have only stopped at Rochester off-peak, leaving commuters from Rochester to London having to either get a slow train, drive or have a long walk to Chatham, or get a connecting train via Chatham.

This will now change as Southeastern acted on feedback received following the Commuter Feedback Survey organised by Mark Reckless and Fares Fair campaigner, Chris Irvine, in March this year.

Mark met with Southeastern on 8th April to explain that a key element of feedback received was for fast Victoria and Cannon Street trains to serve commuters from Rochester. He first reported on markreckless.com on 25th April that Southeastern might agree to do this.

Southeastern have now confirmed they will run 07.10, 08.11 and 08.32 fast services from Rochester to Cannon Street in addition to the current 06.46 (changing to 06.41) service.

All will take about 45 minutes to Cannon Street. There will now be five, rather than one, fast, direct evening services returning from Cannon Street to Rochester.

There will also be new fast, direct services from Rochester to Victoria at 08.22 and 08.52 and commuter evening return services will stop in Rochester.

Reacting to the news Mark Reckless said:

"This is the culmination of a long campaign which I have led with the support of Cllr Phil Filmer on behalf of Rochester commuters. Many will gain up to an extra half an hour a day, whether at work, in bed, or with the family, because of this excellent decision by Southeastern, who I congratulate on having listened and responded to local people."

Others, who don't commute by train from Rochester, may also benefit from reduced congestion as many commuters who currently drive to Chatham can walk to Rochester instead.

The timetable is in draft form and, although it goes most of the way to deliver the campaign goals, Mark will be asking Southeastern if they would consider having at least one further fast train stop at Rochester for Cannon Street between 07.10 and 08.11 and for Victoria between 06.41 and 08.22, since this would allow us to promote Rochester as having a full commuter fast service to London.

Campaign Succeeds - Congratulations To Southeastern

Professional Responsibility Is The Key To A Better NHS

David Cameron promised to make sure nurses and NHS workers can "exercise real professional responsibility" in his speech to the Royal College of Nursing Conference.

He attacked the targets and bureaucracy that hold nurses back - and said, "The right way to a better health service is by getting the best out of the people who work in it".

He told delegates that a Conservative Government would give them "the professional responsibility to get on with the job they signed up for"

"We're going to scrap all those top-down, centralising, interfering targets that undermine your professional responsibility."

He outlined three areas which are crucial to ensuring nurses can exercise real responsibility:

- Improving training, by making it more accessible and more practical
- Providing more time for care, by slashing the bureaucracy on which nurses spend a million hours a week, according to the Royal College of Nursing
- Creating an improved atmosphere of respect, with "zero tolerance" on violence and a "clear right" for nurses to have their voice heard

David made clear, "It is the patience and care of nurses that nurses patients back to health - and if we're in government, you have my word that we will do everything we can to support you in that."

Read David's speech to the Royal College of Nursing Conference

Professional Responsibility Is The Key To A Better NHS

Canvassing On The Esplanade

Today (Sunday 10th May) Mark and a group of 15 local supporters hit the Esplanade to canvas voters ahead of the European Elections which are being held on 4th June. We were also joined by Therese Coffey who is standing as one of the Conservative South East candidates and it was great to have her with us on such a sunny day.

Canvassing on a Sunday is always a risky venture as a lot of people are either not at home, or simply have other things to be getting on with, and given today's wonderful weather we would not have been surprised if we managed to find only a handful of people willing to spend some of their valuable time answering questions on how they're planning to vote in the forthcoming elections.

But find them we did, and we were really glad to have come away with such a positive response. In the space of a couple of hours we managed to cover the entire Esplanade and found little or no support for Labour, but plenty for the Conservatives. For a lot of people, this election will not just be about selecting the party they want representing their interests in Europe, it will also be their first opportunity to deliver a verdict on Gordon Brown and the inept government he is imposing on this country. And we can tell you, judging by some of the comments we got today there are a LOT of angry people out there who are planning on wiping that grin off his face.

One gentleman we spoke to really didn't pull his punches. He runs a small business and is finding it really difficult in the current economic circumstances to keep things ticking over. The thing he was most angry about was the fact that, despite Gordon Brown's rhetoric about helping small businesses through the recession and the endless rhetoric on making the right decisions, the help that Labour say is being provided just doesn't exist. It's all just paper talk.

We've had policy announcement after policy announcement, promise after promise but the plain fact of the matter is that on the ground the help that this business needs like many others all over the country simply isn't there. It's all just empty promises and bluster from a failed government with a failed leader. Needless to say, he is planning on voting Conservative on June 4th.

We sincerely hope this business does manage to survive through the recession. The Conservative party have been calling for real help for small businesses like this man's from day one of the recession, but our calls for help have fallen on deaf ears and if this business does make it through the downturn then it will be in spite of Labour, not because of it.

This country needs real change, and on June 4th you can help deliver that change by getting out and voting Conservative.

Canvassing On The Esplanade

Feedback On Southeastern Meeting

On Saturday Mark Reckless launched the new Reckless Direct feature on his website which allows Mark to report back live to constituents on local issues that are of concern. Making use of Web 2.0 software made popular by leading bloggers such as Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale, Mark Reckless is once again showing how recent innovations in online interactivity can be used to provide a better experience for local constituents at no cost to the taxpayer.

Mark chose to launch this new feature by using it to report back to commuters who participated in his recent Passenger Survey. As part of his campaign to get a fairer deal for Medway commuters, Mark Reckless recently met with Mr. Mike Gibson of Southeastern trains to discuss issues that were raised by the public, and some of these are summarised below. You can read the full transcript of Mark's feedback on the Reckless Direct page of his website.

There were three main issues discussed at the meeting, and they were;

1. Train company complaints about THEIR difficulties in the recession and lobbying to prevent passengers getting any benefit from any fall in retail prices.

2. Southeastern's proposal to charge a 30-35% premium on CTRL fast services to St Pancras

3. The very large amount of feedback Mark received that the fast(ish) services to Cannon Street and Victoria should stop at Rochester.

With regards to issue 1, Southeastern now accept that they will be held to their RPI linked fares franchise and are no longer lobbying for changes. They accept that they need to find efficiencies internally and that the recession is properly pushing them to do that.

Issue 2, Southeastern say they have done a lot of market research with City and Canary Wharf business associations, etc and this says that people think that it might be attractive to commute in from Medway, even at a 30-35% premium.

Mark pointed out that that is all very well, but those people are not living in Medway now! People here tend to commute to work that is near to Victoria and Cannon Street and will not gain much, if anything, from faster services to St Pancras.

It is possible that over time, say 5-10 years, people with jobs convenient to St Pancras may be tempted to move to Medway, but they are not here now and Mark cannot see the services attracting many people if that premium is much above 10-15% initially.

Mark pointed out that the 30-35% premium is not commercially sensible since they would make more money from 6,000 commuters paying a 15% premium than 2,000 commuters paying a 30-35% premium.

Mark Reckless's bottom line is that 30-35% is much too much, and Mr Gibson has promised Mark that he will be allowed to put his case and concerns to their Pricing Team before the decision is made.

And finally on issue 3, Mark pressed Southeastern strongly on getting fast services to Cannon Street and Victoria to stop at Rochester during rush hour. This was a major issue raised to Mark in the feedback to the survey.

Southeastern really listened to Mark that this would encourage more people to use the service as there are a lot of people in Rochester who can comfortably walk to Rochester, but not to Chatham.

This would also bring environmental benefits - and this is an important issue too for Southeastern with it receiving a public subsidy. Many people would no longer need to drive to Chatham station from across Medway, and Mark has agreed with Cllr Phil Filmer that the Council will support Mark in pressing Southeastern on this.

Feedback On Southeastern Meeting

Southeastern Update - Live Webchat 25th April At 4pm

Once again I would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the recent transport survey I undertook as part of my campaign to get a fairer deal for Medway commuters on Southeastern trains.

I recently met with representatives of Southeastern to discuss the concerns that were raised through this survey and I would now like to report back to you on the results of this meeting.

Tomorrow (25th April), in what will be a first for local politics here in Medway, I will be hosting a live webchat on this site to take your questions on commuter services as they are now, and how they will look in the future. With the inflation-busting fare increases in January, possible future increases, and the new high speed service to St Pancras due to start running in December there's plenty to discuss.

If you wish to take part in this exciting new initiative, then please make sure you log on to this site tomorrow at 4pm, go to the Reckless Direct page and put your questions and feedback direct to me.

Unlike the representatives of other political parties here in Medway, we don't just talk. We listen. And this is your chance to be heard, so please join me tomorrow.

Southeastern Update - Live Webchat 25th April At 4pm

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

Forthcoming Events

Just a quick note to tell you about some exciting events we have coming up in the next couple of months that are open to all, members and non-members alike. For more info and booking details on all the forthcoming fundraising events we are running here in Medway along with a general guide to the multitude of local festivals taking place in Rochester and Strood over the summer, make sure you visit my Events page - Click Here

On April 30th we are hosting the first in a new series of political discussion groups with the first theme being 'The EU: A Conservative Perspective'. Our guest speaker for the evening will be former Gravesham MP Jacques Arnold and tickets are priced at a very reasonable £5 per person which includes a light buffet. The venue is Strood Conservative Club, 40 Cuxton Road. Given the forthcoming European elections we are expecting interest to be high for this one, so don't delay in booking as spaces are limited.

And on 11th May I am hosting a special evening at the Shozna Indian restaurant in Maidstone Road, Rochester. This restaurant is a real favourite of mine and has been serving up award-winning food for many years. Tickets for this event are priced at a very reasonable £20 per person and reservations must be made by 7 May due to expected high demand. You can find out more about the Shozna restaurants by visiting their websites - Click Here

And finally, on 21st May we will be holding the second in our new series of political discussion groups, again being hosted at the Strood Conservative Club. Our guest leader for this evening's debate will be Adam Holloway, the current MP for Gravesham. Tickets are again priced at a recession-busting £5 and all are welcome, but make sure you book early to avoid disappointment.

Remember, by attending events like these you are not only helping the efforts of your local Conservative party, you are also helping to bring about the change this country really needs. Fighting an election against this incompetent Labour government doesn't come cheap so any help you can give us is very much appreciated.

Booking Info and More Events - Click Here

Forthcoming Events

It's Time To Back-Up The Law Abiding Majority

Chris Grayling has spoken about the urgent need to "tackle the blight of antisocial behaviour" in order to fix our Broken Society.

The Shadow Home Secretary highlighted Home Office statistics showing three million acts of antisocial behaviour recorded last year, adding, "And that's only a tiny fraction."

Pointing to the tragic events in Doncaster this week as an example of "a society that is losing its way", Chris said, "They are only the latest and probably the worst example of a whole series of incidents where children are killing or maiming other children."

We have proposed:

- Strengthening the hands of the police to deal with the problems
- Introducing grounding orders for young troublemakers, which can be easily enforced
- Making those who commit serious acts of antisocial behaviour pay for the damage and do community work.

Chris said, "Antisocial behaviour will be punished and the payback will be fast and tough."

And he stressed, "Too little has been done in the past decade. Under a Conservative Government that will change."

It's Time To Back-Up The Law Abiding Majority