Moving On

I now have a website which replaces this blog and on which there are new entries. Please visit www.annemariemorris.co.uk to keep up to date with what I am up to and to see my views on a number of current political issues.

Best wishes - and thank you for reading!

Anne Marie

Autumn - changing colours

It has been an action packed summer but now the nights are drawing in and autumn is with us. The leaves are turning colour and falling. While in this third quarter other countries are out of recession, we are still in recession. While the decline is slowing, we have experienced one of the longest and deepest recessions on record.

I have been visiting a number of local businesses following my business survey, and while many say the recession has bottomed out, none can say it is over. Mark Prisk MP Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise came down to listen and to learn this month. The biggest issue - business rates and the cost of red tape.

This month I have had the opportunity of sitting down with John Hart, our new Devon County Council leader to hear about future plans and with Nicola Bulbeck, Chief Executive of Teignbridge District Council. Both are well aware of the need for financial prudence. John Hart has some very clear plans which he has been spelling out this week - and more will come.

I also had very good meetings with both David Radford, Chairman of Devon Primary Care Trust and with Iain Tulley, Chief Executive of the Devon Partnership Trust responsible for mental health care provision across Devon. They are both considering my request to maintain some form of out-patient mental health care provision in the new Newton Abbot Hospital.

One of the biggest issues we face is the increasing challenge of providing for mental health care for the elderly. Dementia is still not well supported or understood and I am delighted by the work of the Senior Council for Devon who have done a great job of explaining the challenge of the disease and where to go for help.

I visited the recently re-opened village shop in Stokeinteignhead - a real credit to the villagers. Never mind the goods, it provides a real social life line to many. If you need a hand, volunteers will help with all sorts of practical advice and come around with you helping you to shop.

Communities are key and we have so many good examples. I was asked to open the Village Olympics in Ashcombe - a challenge of endurance, enthusiasm and fitness between three villages. In Shaldon the challenge was all mine as I competed in the women's and mixed rowing pairs as part of Shaldon Regatta. I used to row when I was younger - and fitter! At least I finished the course.

I had the great pleasure of visiting South Dartmoor College to talk to politics students about our electoral system - I was impressed by their knowledge and clear enthusiasm. They had lots of ideas for change. I was just so pleased to see them so engaged - after all politics will play a large part in determining their future opportunities.

But the Conservative Party Conference earlier this month where David Cameron and George Osborne set out their stall for the next election - expected by most to be 6 May 2010 was exceptional. A clear message about the need to rebuild the status of families and family life and of communities. And some very clear messages about the difficult steps needed to get the economy back on its feet.

The leaves are changing colour.

Summer, what summer?

While June was glorious, July has been a complete washout - and even August is now predicted as another wet month. But the English are always good at carrying on regardless - as so many of us have done at countless fetes and flower shows. But we have had some fun! I thoroughly enjoyed presenting the prizes with Cllr Dennis Smith and drawing the raffle at the Ipplepen Flower Show - some first class vegetables and flowers. At least that was under cover as was the Rotary picnic at Teign School - the cabaret was great - unless you don't like going to the dentist! The wettest day for me was undoubtedly the day I spent escorting Victor Elliot to visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace at her annual garden party - the skies opened and we were drenched. None the less a very special occasion.

Water events score highly with me as a former oarswoman and Amateur Rowing Association coach. The Barham Cup was overcast and the start was a bit choppy but the teams came through safely to Newton Abbot from Teignmouth - where we all enjoyed a few beers and burgers. Shaldon Water Carnival was a great family day. It was a great pleasure for me to judge the drawing competition and sandcastle squares. The Parade of Decorated Boats in the afternoon was as well attended as ever. I was invited to join the crew of Radio Caroline which was a great pleasure. A bit of drama when "Harold Wilson" tried to board the boat to shut the radio station down secured the prize for humour.

I was invited to visit Devon Air Ambulance at their base in Exeter. We are very lucky to have them. The ambulance service is not funded by the NHS - it's a charity, and a very well worth while one. It works in conjunction with the police at Middlemore and the NHS without whom it could not operate. It gives us a unique additional service complimenting the land based ambulance service. In other parts of the country, the air ambulance services are an integral part of the NHS, not an addition to it. This gives our team greater flexibility to meet patient needs. The biggest frustration for the team was the volume of red tape and paperwork to measure procedural targets taking time away from the really important issue of patient care.

Alan Partridge invited me to visit the Newton Abbot Scout Hut and be briefed on the scouting movement. A wonderful concept and a really good way of giving youngsters life skills and a sense of self worth that they don't get elsewhere. I was very impressed at how strong the movement here is - one of the strongest in Britain. My greatest sadness was to learn how much it cost to take part - too much for some families I suspect. What they also need is more Mums and Dads to volunteer to help. If there is anyone out there interested I am sure Alan would love to hear from you.

The caseload gets bigger each week - some planning and housing, some health and social care - its a very wide range. With Dawlish residents I visited Secmaton Lane to understand the planning issues they faced. I also went to hear the summing up of the bypass public enquiry. I think we have a long wait ahead of us. This month, I am starting to visit all the businesses that responded to my survey to really get to grips with their problems.

June Days

June was not a month for relaxing - despite the glorious sunshine! Since the election we have been out delivering and canvassing most days. Last Saturday we were 13 strong out all day in Newton Abbot. Many of you should now have received "People Talk" and those of you who read the Mid Devon Advertiser will have seen my views set out in a new fortnightly column on page two, an advertisement sponsored by Conservative supporters. Any feedback on what you would like to see me cover in future on that page would be welcome.

I sent out a survey last month to over 2,000 of our local businesses and have been delighted by the high response rate. We are now analysing the results and I will post them on my website http://www.annemariemorris.co.uk/ as soon as we have completed the exercise. If there is any business who would like to contribute and did not receive my survey, please do let me know and I will send out a survey to you. I am determined that our smaller businesses get the support they need - they are the unsung heroes of our economy.

I was delighted this month to be invited to attend the Federation of Small Businesses' annual awards dinner in my capacity as a Board Member of the Devon and Cornwall Institute of Directors - especially as one of the winners was our very own local taxi business - Teignbridge Taxis - well done! A special mention should also go to Anne Walker at International Dance Supplies in Newton Abbot who has just been named a winner of the prestigious First Women Awards run in association with the CBI and Lloyds TSB, a national award that recognises women who are the trailblazers and pioneers of Britain. I chair a networking group of local businesses of which IDS is a founding member and we are very proud of what she has done to keep the Newton Abbot business community flag flying.

Following my meeting with the Devon Pensioners Forum last month, this month it was the Senior council for Devon ,which represents the over 50s. We had our bi-monthly branch meeting and our quarterly Devon wide meeting of the Council's Assembly which I attended representing the Newton Abbot area which includes Kingsteignton. Key issues for us here locally are health and transport and we are planning a series of meetings to look at these issues in more detail to come up with some locally relevant recommendations. I had been approached by a local group wanting to see if we can establish a patient transport support group in Newton Abbot rather like Kingscare. I took this to the Senior Council branch meeting and we hope to meet with them to see how we can help. It must be a good idea!

I was very pleased to be able this month to spend some time at Rydon School where I am a governor with Year 5. We had a great time talking about what they had learnt about Henry the VIII and his wives - not a great advert for marriage! We talked about the science work they had been doing - including the solar system and the life cycle of plants - which led to a great trip around the school grounds as the children showed me the gardening club's work and the butterfly patch.

Saturday was particularly busy - it was armed forces day, a day to celebrate what a huge contribution our serving men and women make to the community. I am a member of the British Legion and joined everyone in Dawlish for a great celebration. It was also the Friends of Dawlish Hospital's fete - which added the treat of a great cream tea! And then on to Shaldon where the RNLI had a super fundraiser - and I enjoyed another scone or two! As Roger, my other half, and I sail, we are great supporters - not least because one day we may need them!

But the summer is a time to have some fun together - and that we are doing as local Conservatives in our community. We had a cheese and wine in Dawlish at the beginning of the month, we have a lunch party in Broadhempston next week and a wine tasting at the end of July in Preston, Kingsteignton. I should love to meet anyone who would like to come and join us at one of these events. All events are advertised on http://www.newtonabbotconservatives.org.uk/

July will be hotter - and busier!

Apology

It has been drawn to my attention that there was an error on my last Blog entry in relation to the designation of the party allegiance of Colin Authers in my report of the county election results. I have corrected the error and apologise unreservedly to Mr Authers.

Moving on - towards a general election!

The voters have spoken quite convincingly! Devon was a landslide in favour of the Conservative Party - and locally there was a strong vote for change. Across the country as a whole the Conservative vote share was 15 percentage points higher than Labour - a 9% swing. Of the seven Devon county council seats in the Newton Abbot constituency, as it will be at the next General Election, we now hold five - four substantial gains. John Clatworthy held his seat in Dawlish increasing his majority. John has now been joined by Dennis Smith who lives in Ipplepen (Teignbridge South), Mike Walters who lives in Kingsteignton (Kingsteignton), James McMurray who lives in Teignmouth (Teignmouth Town) and Chris Clarence (Teign Estuary) who lives in Shaldon. John Clatworthy has been appointed Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group in Devon County Council. This gives us a strong voice in Devon. One of their first challenges as a team will be to find savings and reduce the county debt. The aim - no council tax rise next year. Working together we can get things done!

It has been a rollercoaster of a week with very little sleep. But it was all worth it. The two seats out of seven we did not regain were the two Newton Abbot seats - but it was close. After the first count, Newton Abbot North was declared a Conservative win - on the recount it was a loss - but only by 191 votes. We also have an interest in the results for Exminster and Kenton. This seat includes the villages of Starcross and Kenton which are both part of the new Newton Abbot constituency. Here Alan Connett's majority was almost knocked out - he is now hanging on in there by just 33 votes. Now the task moving on is to prove to the electorate that we were worth the vote and deserve to go to Westminster at the next general election - whenever that election is.

Every day Gordon Brown seems to lurch from crisis to crisis. No one has confidence in him - not even his ever changing cabinet. Britain deserves better than this. Instead of thinking about what is best for the country, Labour has spent thinking about what is best for themselves. At a time of economic and political difficulty, we need a strong and united government. Instead we have a Government in complete chaos. But will the Labour back benchers be able to agree on a successor to force a leadership vote? Even if they do succeed will that individual take the country to the poles? Its a bit like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas! The British people should get to decide who runs the country, not Labour MPs!

These were the Devon County Council election results for the constituency:

Teignbridge South:
Dennis Smith (Con) 1,849
Aistair Dewhirst (Lib Dem)
Karen Eberhardt-Shelton (Green) 561
Mary Kennedy (Lab) 152

Dawlish:
John Clatworthy (Con) 2,236
Derek Collins (Lib Dem) 969
Margaret Fountain (UKIP) 901
Richard Fairfax (Green) 273
Graham Hesse (Lab) 236

Kingsteignton:
Mike Walters (Con) 1,269
Andrew Fear (UKIP) 886
John Smith (Lib Dem) 655
Jane Baker (Green) 267
Babs Errington (Lab) 229

Teignmouth Town:
James McMurray (Con) 1,209
Christopher Bray (Lib Dem) 1,120
Chris Whitlock (UKIP) 631
Roy Phillips (Ind) 228
Ros Langdon (Green) 177
Niall Duffy (Lab) 129
Colin Authers 129

Teign Estuary:
Chris Clarence (Con) 1,618
David Cox (Lib Dem) 1,306
Richard Stanton (UKIP) 642
Adrian Prter (Green) 211
Alan Lumb (Lab) 127

Newton Abbot North:
Anne Fry (Lib Dem) 1,323
Lorna Lowes (Con) 1,132
Lucia Capaldi (Green) 408
Robert Kennedy (Lab) 208

Newton Abbot South:
Gordon Hook (Lib Dem) 1,940
Anthony Ballinger (C0n) 1,169
Corinne Lindsey (Green) 441
Barry Kaye (Lab) 201

The European election results are just hot off the press. We won as many votes nationally as Labour and the Liberal Democrats put together. We came first, increasing our vote share and we're thirteen per cent ahead of Labour. It's clear that the Liberal Democrat's position on Europe is not resonating with voters. And no wonder, when they have reneged on their promise to support a referendum on the renamed European Constitution, voted to abolish Britain's rebate from the EU, and want to scrap the pound and join the Euro!

An election like no other!

Next month on 4th June the country will be asked to vote in local county council elections and European elections. Will these elections predict the outcome of the general election? The current expose on parliamentary expenses and MPs' conduct has had a profound effect on voters. Quite rightly they are angry. Some MPs seem to have forgotten the small print which says expenditure has to be wholly and exclusively for the purpose of being an effective MP - ie necessary to help them do their job. However the worst offenders are those who have in anyone else's book committed fraud - assuming what the Daily Telegraph has printed is accurate. Where fraud is proved they should be prosecuted.

And the effect on the voter? Well while the press predict a low turnout and a move in favour of smaller parties, on the doorstep the picture is a little different. Yes there are those that won't engage now and won't vote - but there are others who have grown increasingly interested in politics and who want to engage now as never before. They recognise that not voting would be a triumph for anarchy and a defeat for democracy. Making politicians more effective and more accountable can only take place if the electorate play their part. But as politicians we have to be more accessible and work to deserve the vote. It's a two way street.

It has been a busy few weeks. The Newton Abbot Senior Council is back on its feet under new chairmanship. Our focus is on transport issues and health. One particular problem we face is the availability of good home care visits to the elderly and infirm. To be effective, home visits need to be long enough to do the job - 15 minutes won't do - and the visitor needs to have sufficiently mastered the English language to be able to communicate. Right now this is not the case and this must change. As a group we are beginning to have a voice which Devon County will listen to and have made significant progress in a number of areas including raising awareness of the challenge dementia patients and their families face.

I have also been working with Transition Town Newton Abbot along with Conservative Future to begin to bring the message of sustainability to the town. We are creating a town garden on disused land just by Baker's Park. We had an Open Day and it was a real pleasure to welcome visitors - particularly young children and introduce them to the fun of planting and explain to them the role of the earth worm. You need good muscles to dig - but practice makes perfect as they say!

I was invited to a very moving event at the Langstone Cliffe Hotel in Dawlish Warren - a dinner in favour of the charity "Richard's Wish" . Richard, a young boy, had been terminally ill - and a group of well-wishers had granted him his wish to go to a fabulous football match , meeting the players and being the VIP for the day. His parents have now established a charity to provide the "dream" for other children in the same situation. It was a great evening and a handsome figure was raised. And of course earlier this month I was invited to the formal inauguration of the new major of Dawlish, Geoff Wills - a great event and a great tradition.

Our Newton Abbot Networking Group met again to discuss key issues affecting the larger businesses in Newton Abbot - and I was invited to take on the chairmanship going forward. There are a number of issues - education and development for employees, planning issues and most important the Newton Abbot brand. As you come up the A380 or A 38 you would hardly know you had reached Newton Abbot. There is very little signage and nothing to indicate what the town has to offer. The town needs a strong brand to attract visitors and to reinforce its identity. This was a key issue we wanted to discuss with Teignbridge District Council. I also had a very successful meeting with the Dawlish Chamber of Commerce to discuss the issues affecting local businesses. Branding was also an issue here.

Earlier this month I had a meeting with the Devon Pensioners Association. We talked about the plight of those trying to survive on the old age pension and agree it needed to be linked again to the average wage. We also discussed the real challenge of council tax - a sum now so huge that for many it is almost 12% of their monthly expenditure - and for others much more. Council tax needs to be frozen and the pension needs once again to be a figure someone can reasonably live on - and be easy to claim.

I visited Downing Street to present my school's petition this month - with some 2,300 signatures. David Cameron visited Decoy School with me in support of what I have been trying to do. He is as concerned as I am that every child should have an equal and fair start in life. We had a great time with the children. One class interviewed him - a very professional job done and some very good questions asked! Philip Hammond, shadow Treasury Secretary also visited at my request to see for himself what is happening here n Newton Abbot during the downturn to manufacturing. We visited Centrax together and the Barr family gave us a very clear brief of what we needed to do to get the country working again and manufacturing back on its feet.

And of course the Devon County Show which I visited on the Thursday - great weather, great event - and well attended despite the downturn! The Ram Roast however at Kingsteignton was the local highlight - not enough ram baps to go round! Never have I seen it so well attended. Lets hope this weather lasts - the farmer tell me it will and they are usually right.

Lets see what June 4th brings!

What will the Easter Bunny Bring?

Spring is here, the daffodils have come...and almost gone and Easter will soon be upon us. Does Gordon Brown have an Easter Bunny to pull out of the hat? I think he hoped the G20 would produce a bit of a bounce by supporting his demand for further fiscal stimulus....but no such commitment was forthcoming from his European chums. Where is the real support for local families and businesses to come from? How about:

• cutting small company corporation tax rates from 22p to 20p?
• allowing small and medium sized enterprises to defer their tax bills for up to six months?
• cutting national insurance by 1p for six months for companies with fewer than 5 employees?
• introducing a £50bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme to underwrite lending from banks to British businesses?

and

• abolishing income tax on savings for basic rate taxpayers ?
• raising the pensioners personal allowance by £2000 to £11,490 for 2010/11?
• freezing council tax for two years?

Will Gordon be brave enough to adopt these Conservative ideas in the budget which will soon be announced? Somehow I think not.

This Spring at the forefront of my mind is how to get businesses better supported. I have spent quite a bit of time with local businesses, particularly those involved in tourism. I met with the Warren Trading Association out at Dawlish Warren and they are deeply frustrated about the lack of funding and promotional support from the government. I have invited Tobias Ellwood, Shadow Minister for Tourism, down to listen to their concerns and he will be visiting them tomorrow. Some have none the less fared better as the fall in sterling has attracted overseas visitors and encouraged people to holiday at home rather than abroad. Cofton Country Holidays invited me to visit during National Tourism Week -a very well run business which has found bookings going up. But for all those in the business, the weather is key - and people are booking later and later as a result.

Other businesses are feeling the pain but in many different ways. A visit to Forde Park Nursing Home was a real pleasure -such care for those who have in too many cases been long forgotten. But cuts in funding for those in need are evident here too. Anne Walker at IDS in Newton Abbot is weathering the storm and for her international business the fall in sterling has been helpful. Pat Masterson at the Newton Abbot Racecourse is ever resourceful in coming up with new ideas - and this is a special racecourse at the heart of the people of Newton Abbot. The Boys Night Out and Ladies Day promise to be enormous fun! Charles Baughan at Westaways Sausages is creating all sorts of sausages for - the Chinese market!...but is finding they are increasingly popular at home as the credit crisis crunches the weekly shopping bill.

I also visited the Mare and Foal Sanctuary at Honeysuckle Farm in Haccombe who are finding themselves totally inundated with horses and ponies needing rehoming - victims themselves of the recession as owners can no longer afford to keep them. They are at capacity and need all the help they can get to find new homes and more practically, more hay! They have an open day next Saturday at Coombe Park and I would encourage you to go along! How about adopting a pony instead of giving an Easter Egg? With a picture of the pony and its adopter to keep and an open invitation to visit, what fun! It is certainly the healthier option!

And then there are the host of constituent cases which need attention. Some are in relation to VAT and planning, others social services support and others health or child care related. I have had several calls about the Warmfront offering. Much is promised in terms of government supported central heating installation - the result does not match up to that promise causing deep frustration and serious ill health during the very cold winter which I hope is now largely behind us. We have also had a bail hostel problem which I have been advising on and which has now been satisfactorily resolved.

The Shadow Cabinet have been visiting us in Newton Abbot this year - Chris Grayling, Shadow Home Office, Grant Shapps, Shadow Housing and tomorrow Tobias Ellwood, Shadow Tourism. I am delighted to have such support and obvious commitment to the South West which has not in my view had the attention it deserves - and I am determined that is what it should have going forward! Baroness Virginia Bottomley also came down to support our Spring lunch and was very entertaining on her time in government as Minister for Health. This is a key target seat ...and one we can and must win!

...and the week was delighfully completed with a splendid evening at Powderham Castle to celebrate with the Earl and Countess of Devon the 50th anniversary of the opening of the castle to the public!

2009 - a year for the history books

Last year we saw the economy shrinking. This year we are in recession - and this is no ordinary recession. In Newton Abbot, Teignmouth and Dawlish shops are closing and small businesses are folding. The unemployment rate in Newton Abbot has doubled. We need a change of government to give the country the confidence it needs for a recovery. The money being pumped into the economy just isn't making a difference - and all those jobs Gordon promised to create building roads, houses and other public sector services cant be funded. It reminds me of the emperor who had no clothes....there is simply no substance to the promises made and no money to deliver them.

The Conservatives are planning now how they will deal with the worst set of public finances any incoming government in Britain has ever had to deal with. The national debt is set to double to a trillion pounds and our budget deficit is expected to be the highest in our history. We have to learn to live within our means and adopt a new approach to avoid waste and increase accountability. Conservatives have pledged to deliver much greater transparency so that for the first time anyone will be able to find out how and where their taxes are being spent and thereby hold the government to account.

But at least one country has seen fit to make a change - the inauguration of President Obama was a sight for sore eyes. Never in my lifetime has so much hope been placed in one man. A man of courage ...with a plan for change. And it is change we need here. And it is not just change in Britain PLC - but change in Devon. Devon seems to have been forgotten. We languish at the bottom of the funding league table on so many things. The funding level for our schools is but one. At 145 out of 148 the Government is spending £659 per child less on our children than those in neighbouring Bristol - yet our teachers are paid no less, our school buildings are no cheaper to maintain, indeed our transport costs are higher. Some 2000 parents agree with me that something has to be done and I am now finalising my petition with their support to get this changed. I have discussed the issue with Michael Gove, Shadow Minister for Education and he is fully supportive.

During the course of the New Year I have visited a number of local businesses and they are deeply frustrated. The VAT reduction has helped no-one. Business rates and National Insurance contributions are killing small businesses - along with the Revenue's very hard approach to pay deadlines - the extensions being granted are thin in the extreme. The banks who seem to be one of the key villains of the piece continue to refuse credit to businesses. And the new guarantee scheme to encourage bank lending is so vague as to be meaningless. The guarantees that were needed were for businesses, not banks. We all have to weather the storm..and the bad news is that the good businesses are as vulnerable as the bad.

Let Gordon have the courage to go to the country......but with opinion polls giving Conservatives a 15 point lead, that looks less and less likely.

A Busy Winter

With the rain and the frost, in every walk of life comes more activity. I have been busy launching a Social Action Campaign to keep the place clean and tidy. Along with a number of volunteers we cleaned up the playing fields in Starcross which was very much appreciated by the Parish Council and local residents. Andrew Mitchell MP was there to launch my campaign. It was good to be able to make a real difference.

On Halloween I spent time out with the Newton Abbot police. PC Cayless was very informative as we drove about the town dealing with quite a wide variety of issues. The police take pride in what they do and PC Cayless explained that the reason he had joined the force was to be able to help people. The young need help and advice and the approach he tries to take is to protect them.

We saw some underage youngsters on their way to a Halloween party. They were stopped and the cider and beer they had poured away and the cans crushed. The police diet that night was varied but included a blue light run to attend to a suspected school break in, dealing with a shoplifter and a vagrant and a number of other alcohol related crimes.

I have also been spending some time with the business community. I was made very welcome at Drake's Tooling. While there is a very severe downturn it is clear there is a real opportunity for the engineering sector. This view was reinforced at a meeting I had with the Clydesdale Bank who are looking at a 40% growth in business in this sector. This is something we can build on.

And of course there has been a full diet of meetings and events including a Trafalgar night dinner in Shaldon, Law Day in Newton Abbot with the Court Leet and the Newton Abbot Town Ball and Newton Abbot Civic Service, the Exe Estuary group and a Halloween event in Mamhead to name but a few!

A Government in Waiting

While the Conservative Party - along with the rest of us - wait for the real consequences of what Gordon Brown and Tony Blair have between them done to the country to be not just visible but understood, the country moves further and further into a deep recession. The Conservative Party is the government in waiting. The sooner we have an election, the better off we will be.

Labour may be looking a bit healthier but this will be short lived as the economy comes back to bite them. It never fails to amaze me how short memories are. It was Gordon Brown that destroyed our pension system when he changed the tax treatment of Advanced Corporation Tax. It will be interesting to see what Gordon does to pensions this year - some are suggesting ,somewhat fearfully ,that having spent so much on shoring up the banks he may not be willing or able to afford a proper inflation related annual increase.

Gordon had to shore up the capital and liquidity of the banks but this wasn't his idea - but rather that of the Treasury. But while what happened was necessary it was much too late. Many commentators have said, quite rightly in my view, that this recession has been as much about emotion and a failure to act decisively as it has been about the obvious shortcomings of our banks and our financial services systems and regulation.

And what plans does Gordon have to get the country back on its feet - other than those he has stolen from the Conservative Party? None! It was our idea to protect pensions and savings locked in banks - not Gordon's - and he still hasn't passed the legislation to move the savings ceiling to £50,000. He still hasn't bitten the bullet and reduced fuel related tax revenues - he has just asked the oil companies to be better behaved!

Conversely at our annual Conservative Party Conference we unveiled a number of immediate changes we would put in place to help people deal with the rising cost of living and the threat of unemployment. These include:

• a two year freeze on council tax which will save a typical Band D household over £200
• a fair fuel stabiliser so that fuel duty is cut when oil prices rise
• a reform of Post Office Card Accounts to enable direct debit payment of utility bills saving holders £100 a year
• a breathing space for good small businesses otherwise threatened with going bust to save jobs
• raising the stamp duty threshold permanently to enable 9 out of 10 first time buyers to pay no duty
• working with lenders to ensure repossession is a last resort
• simplifying the tax system to reducing business taxes and eliminate the couple penalty

But the Conference covered much more. The Conservatives would put an end to NHS targets which measure the wrong things and impede rather than improve patient care and choice. We would also bring discipline back to the classroom by allowing the headteachers word on such issues to be final. We would increase the much needed number of apprenticeships in the country giving £2000 to those small businesses taking an apprentice on. We would suspend the forced post office closure program on the day we are elected. But none of this and much much more received any coverage!

Come on Gordon - don't just sit there. If you really think you are doing so well - ask the country and call an election!

A summer of ups and downs

Too much going on...and no time to write about it! Apologies to regular readers. The summer is always a busy time but this one has been exceptional. Not least because of the increasing activity of the various organizations with which I am involved. The Senior Council is now fully established and up and running. The Newton Abbot area branch of which I am secretary has been the most active in the county and is now seen as one of the models for success. We have been lobbying on health care, disability and other social care issues and are actively involved with a number of local issues - such as the ill thought out plans for pedestrianization and bus movements in the center of Newton Abbot itself.

It has been a busy time at school too - exams, school plays, sports days - and at Rydon we have appointed a new headmistress, Sally Maunders, a very worthy successor, who as deputy head has demonstrated huge energy and commitment. At Knowles Hill we have been looking at the school's branding and its name. What the school have come up with together is brilliant - and the new name, Newton Abbot College very appropriate given the school's new direction. And then of course there have been all the challenges of looking at how we as a school can work more closely with both local primary schools and fellow secondary schools - the models and options are endless and need very careful thought and consideration.

I have also spent some time with local businesses, getting to know the management team and gaining a better understanding of their issues. Centrax is probably one of the most prestigious businesses we have in Newton Abbot and one of the most long standing. Following the closure of the railway activities in Newton Abbot, Centrax saw an opportunity to come in and use the skills of what would otherwise have been a redundant workforce. It now leads the world in gas turbine technology. Still a family business, the Barr family are very committed to Newton Abbot and the community. I was most impressed by the team and found the tour of the factory absolutely fascinating. I was also treated to a tour of the new building work and extension at IDS, the dance wear supply business, the brain child of Anne Walker - a great step forward and the source of much needed new jobs in Newton Abbot.

And of course there have been all the flower festivals across the villages which have shown very clearly that the old arts and crafts are alive and well - I have visited so many it would be hard to single any one out. Water sports have also been a huge source of fun. I spent one very enjoyable Sunday at Teignmouth Yacht Club watching the rowers - while I used to row myself, it was on a river - the sea is much more challenging and I take my hat off to those competitors - all very much fitter than I! The RNLI fete was a very wet affair - but everyone soldiered on - except the band!

Assorted visits to hear the police and residents talking about crime in Kingsteignton and to a local GP surgery to hear from the GPs and Patient Participation Group about the health issues facing residents if planned reorganizations went ahead, keep me abreast of what needs to be done - and where I have been able, I have taken local issues up for local groups and lobbied the shadow cabinet to take on board some of these critical issues in their planning for the future. I lobbied with Holcolme residents and those of Stokeinteignhead to stop the post office closures and obtained legal advice for the groups - but this government will not be stopped in its total disregard for the needs of the community. Finally I am also pleased to report that I have been elected a member of the Devon and Cornwall Board of the Institute of Directors, a body tasked with taking local business issues forward and giving them a national voice.

And then in late July I found myself in hospital. Ten days later I finally came home minus a gall bladder and with strong advice to take it easy - not my usual way! Torbay Hospital did an excellent job and I should pay tribute to the hard work of the doctors and nurses. Torbay too often gets knocked - it doesn't deserve it. But it is very clear this dedicated team achieve what they do against all the odds and we must urgently look at how we can provide the people and the medicines needed. I am an executive coach and marketing consultant and I found the experience of being in hospital hugely relevant to what I do. Most of my coaching clients are senior executives in NHS trust hospitals around the country - and "patient experience" is top of their agendas. I now have first hand experience.

So August sees me resting in the sunshine in Mallorca....getting ready for an action packed autumn on my return!

Wow....What a Victory!

May 2008 will go down in the history books as a very special month. Local election results to die for and Boris elected as Mayor of London. And as if that was not enough, Crewe falling to the Conservatives by a landslide majority - a first in 30 years. I have had so many telephone calls of congratulations and sheer relief that things are changing. We have two years to go until the next election....and it seems both very far away and very close.

It has been a busy couple of months quite apart from my commitments as a school governor at Rydon and Knowles Hill, and now Secretary to the Newton Abbot Area of the Senior Council Senior Council for Devon:

April

• launched Patrons Club
• Attended Dawlish Civic Dinner at the invitation of the Mayor
• Attended launch of Newton Abbot Community Plan - and won a bottle of fiz!
• Attended CPRE Annual General Meeting - the energy and food supply issues were hotly debated
• Issued press release on Newton Abbot Racecourse parking - picked up by Herald Express
• Visited Newton Abbot Indoor Market to hear about traders issues
• Palm Radio interview on the removal of coach parking at the racecourse
• 4Networking meetings to invite local traders to work with local schools
• Hosted coffee mornings in Mamhead, Starcross, Powderham and Kingsteignton
• Entertained Mark Harper MP, Shadow Minister for Disability and visited Shopmobility
• Joined Teignmouth Yacht Club and attended new members evening
• Invited to attend Sea Cadet Presentation and Service at Teignmouth and a reception at Bitton House

May

• Joined litter pick team at Dawlish Warren to clean the beach
• Visited street traders and market stall holders
• Met with local councillor and WBB re New Cross Development in Kingsteignton
• Beat the Bounds at Ipplepen
• Attended Teignmouth Town Council Annual Meeting
• Attended Devon County Show with Conservative Future
• Invited to County Show Reception organised by leading regional professional firms
• Met with local haulage company with Anthony Steen MP to address unfair competition issues
• Attended meetings with Holcombe residents to address proposed closure of the post office
• Canvassing, survey delivery across the constituency
• Met with national museums in London to explore local schools initiative in Devon
• Talked with local kidney dialysis patients concerning their future treatment

The most significant chunk of time has however been spent working with the Seale Hayne Future Group. While of course we need houses, we also need agricultural and educational provision. Seale Hayne, as a leading agricultural college, had been a a key asset to Newton Abbot - a beacon and example of what is best. It also brought young people to the town, created jobs and stood out as an icon for the town. That all changed. Plymouth University acquired it in the 1990s since when it has gone from bad to worse with no investment in its future. Plymouth have now agreed to sell it to a Scottish housing developer expected to build some 1200 houses on the site, and if we are lucky maybe they will be required to build a primary school. On the table was a proposal for something much more interesting - a plan to build a truly sustainable community incorporating a university and bringing employment to the town. It could have been Devon's Eden Project....and it still might be. Watch this space.

But in the next few weeks we must focus on saving Holcombe Post Office - not just as an end in itself but because of all it represents in this community - and many others like it. If the Post Office are calling for more government funding nationally yet again, would you back a promise from this government that there will be no more post office closures in a years time - I don't think so!

A wintery Easter ...and British Summer Time just a week away!

I am looking forward to the longer evenings...and some better weather! Walking the dogs every morning is a very muddy and slippery affair. The day of the storms which saw Teignmouth flooded was quite exceptional. I walked around Newton Abbot to see just how high the river would rise that morning and was staggered. Flood defenses must become more of a priority for the council - things are going to get worse not better. The new hospital in Orleigh Park might remain dry but the water was certainly right at the top of its banks in a number of places close by and the pools of water trapped by clay deposits numerous.

The Senior Council for Devon, on the Assembly of which I sit representing Newton Abbot, is making progress. This month we approved a new constitution and elected a new chairman, executive officers and the board of directors. The next step will be getting the local branches working properly and feeding up to the board, issues which need to be addressed by Devon County Council. Key issues are likely to include transport and health care provision. Our next local branch meeting is at 10.00am 17 April at Kingsteignton Community Hall. Please do come along and find out what we are trying to do and let us have your thoughts and ideas. While we are called the Newton Abbot branch, we also cover Kingsteignton and Bovey Tracey. There are separate branches for Dawlish and for Teignmouth which will also be holding meetings shortly.

Farmers have been top of mind this month. I was invited to attend a meeting of Devon Farms, a group established to promote tourism in our rural communities and provide a source of much needed income to local farmers diversifying into bed and breakfast and self-catering holidays. It was a fabulous celebration of all that this dedicated group have achieved. Gary Streeter MP was there to address us and we were treated to a great food, good company and an opportunity to meet the stock man and his wife with their prize cows on Fowlescombe Farm, just outside Ivybridge, where Richard Barker was kindly hosting the event. Now I understand why farmers are so attached to their animals. But on a more serious note there is great concern at how little support the government is giving to their businesses. The central budget promoting tourism has been slashed by half and it is these sorts of businesses which are paying the price.

I have also now established a farmer's forum and on 17 March we met for the first time at Bulleigh Park Farm, thanks to Angela and Phil Dallyn. A number of issues were raised but the most vociferously discussed were the red tape issues. Farmers know how to farm, let them get on with it! The government do not understand how to deal with infection and have failed to recognise that disease is here to stay - it is naive to think we can keep our borders as barriers in the global market farming has become. We had representatives from the Young Farmers and the NFU who came to hear what was being said. I was impressed and delighted to hear from one young farmer who thought the main reason stopping the young coming into farming was quite simply the price of land. Land coming on the market is being snapped up by those who want and can afford to pay above the agricultural price for land just to have the farm house. Sometimes the land that goes with it gets worked by a local farmer but then usually just for hay and silage rather than something more productive.

We had National Tourism Week this month and I went to visit three of our local tourism entrepreneurs to listen to what they had to say. Cofton Country Holidays in Starcross are an example of just what can be achieved. They have been awarded eight consecutive Gold Awards for Conservation by David Bellamy, in recognition of their commitment to protecting, preserving and maintaining this glorious corner of Devon. They pride themselves in sourcing everything locally. They would like to see some changes in the tax legislation to make it easier to employ part timers who are doing seasonal work like this. My last stop was to visit Nigel Bell at Sampsons Farm. Probably one of the few independent restaurant hotels of its kind, in the constituency, Nigel has a hard time making ends meet. The market has changed and he has found that the summer holiday market has largely moved abroad to guaranteed sunshine. The market he has diversified into - weekend breaks and the corporate market - is much harder to sell. His plea is for the government to recognise that small businesses are just that - small. They need greater flexibility and cannot survive on a one size fits all approach to business as a whole.

I was delighted to be appointed a governor of Knowles Hill School this month and am very much looking forward to working with Gareth Davies and his team. In a very short time he has turned the school and its prospects around. And schools were very much front of mind when I addressed two 4Networking business group meetings this month in Newton Abbot and Exeter. My plea was for business to recognise that there has to be a symbiotic relationship between businesses and the communities they operate it. This government won't help business but communities will. Key here is their relationship with schools. And on the subject of community I raised the issue of Post Offices and posed the question - what can we as successful business people do to support them? If Essex can come up with a plan, we should be lobbying Devon to do the same. I was lobbying Richard Younger Ross to support the Conservative proposal to the House last week to freeze the current closure plan and I urged them to do the same.

Europe has of course been another key issue. I had organised three Referendum street stalls asking members of the public to hold Gordon Brown to account giving them post cards to complete and return asking for a Referendum. Neil Parish our MEP came out to support us and we had an excellent response. But this government is stubborn to a fault. The call for a referendum in parliament went unheeded. And what a dreadful budget. I won't rehearse its ills here, we are already too familiar with them. Suffice it to say Gordon has taken his party to an all time low in the polls in 25 years giving the Conservative Party a 16 point lead. I am now being lobbied quite rightly by small haulage companies - if Gordon puts the extra tax on fuel in the autumn , many of them will go out of business - and that starts a further cascade of business failures.

But I did have some fun on Easter Saturday. The Newton Abbot Court Leet invited me to their annual bread weighing which this year took place at the Ship Inn on Walborough Street. Hot cross buns from a number of local bakeries were weighed and sampled by those assembled and found to be very good eating indeed! Certificates were duly presented and then the remaining goodies auctioned raising over £100 for Rowcroft , the Portrieve's charity for the year. The next event is the beating of the bounds next month - walking shoes will be needed to gain access to those parts of Newton Abbot rarely visited by most of us!

Spring is around the corner - but Gordon is still in permafrost

The daffodils are coming through and Spring seems to be well on the way - for most of us. For Gordon Brown it must seem like perpetual winter. The economy goes from bad to worse and rising prices and the credit crunch are hitting us all. Food and energy prices keep going up but with no knock on benefit for farmers. And the spotlight has for some time been on the woeful shortcomings of politicians - oh why can't they behave! Don't go into politics today unless you are really committed to making a difference and improving the quality of other people's lives - not your own.



After a brief break in January, I have been out and about in the constituency. Last week I was at the Wednesday morning stock sale in Newton Abbot. There was a good turnout and a surprising number of sheep and cattle for sale. Better still the prices fetched were significantly up bringing a bit of a smile to farmers' faces. I had a good meeting with Anthony Rew who is taking over the NFU Devon chairmanship this year. We talked over the many issues needing to be addressed, particularly the TB epedemic among the badger population. He is very supportive of the farmers group I am getting together - we need to act now. The point to point at Ideford Arch was great fun as ever and very well attended - and was a good opportunity to have my ear bent about the many other issues facing the rural community!



Seale -Hayne has taken up much of my time. I met with the Seale-Hayne Future Group at the end of last year and since then have been working with them to see what we can do. The original intention of Sir Charles is being at best ignored and at worse totally overidden. It is a complicated story of a charitable trust going through so much change that the principles and processes to preserve that intent have got lost. Only some £750,000 was left after the transfer of Seale-Hayne to Plymouth University in the late 1990s and this was used to establish a new trust to provide bursaries and other funding to related and appropriate causes. And now in 2008 Plymouth is selling up the very same asset for what many expect will be a figure in excess of £20 million. Justice still might be done if the sale is to a bidder with similar intentions to those of Sir Charles but that seems less and less likely....but there are still things that can be done.

I had a delighful meeting with one of our oldest residents in Dawlish, Lucy Poole - a staunch Conservative and still with a razor sharp brain at 102. She has a remarkeable memory and is righfully proud of many children, grandchildre and great grandchildren. Dawlish has been through much change in her time. The battle of the supermarkets will result in even more change. It seems to be that the old saying, "location, location, location" is as relevant to buying a family home as to big business. Sainsbury's have the better site and I fear Tesco's will lose out accordingly. A recent survey showed over 90% are in favour of the Sainsbury's option. The public meeting next week which I believe both supermarket chains have declined to attend should be decisive.

I have been spending this month getting out to meet school heads to better understand their issues and concerns. Teignmouth College made me very welcome last week. A school with a vision of where it wants to go and which is well on its way to achieving it. The improvement in GCSE results is impressive as is the extraordinary choice of subjects available to students. While it has an outstanding reputation for its maths provision, quite a rarity these days, it also has some quite outstanding arts facilities and talented pupils to go with it. This week I will be visiting Knowles Hill. A good education , like good health is without doubt one of the most important things we can give our children and the generations to come. And what we need more of is good quality vocational training, which Teignmouth College have spotted and made provision for.

I was very flattered last week to be elected Newton Abbot's representative on Devon's Senior Council. While I have been involved for some months now in the council which is being established under the auspices of Devon County Council, this was an honour I had not expected. I have been working with a number of the caring agencies on a variety of issues but this new body should give us something we have not had before - a voice - and a joined up one at that for all of us over 50 whether or not working and whether or not able bodied. Devon County Council are putting money behind this so we must give it our best shot and get it to work!

Last but not least I have been getting to know local businesses better. I run my own local marketing business and am a member of the Federation of Small Businesses. The FSB have been organising business breakfasts on a monthly basis in Teignmouth and Newton Abbot which have been great networking events and those I have met have been a huge support in times of crisis. One very kind fellow businessman helped me out with an urgent fax - my fax was down and these days there are no local fax bureauxs. I called for help - and without question got it. There is an enormous bond and lots of goodwill - we are all struggling to make our businesses work - and together we are much more likely to achieve that.

I think my January has been rather more productive than Gordon's - he needs a bit more sunshine to thaw out. The trouble is ...I doubt he will get it any time soon.

Happy Christmas!

It's Boxing Day - not exactly "deep and crisp and even" but rather warm and damp with beautiful winter sunshine. And that was just what was needed for the traditional Boxing Day dip by the pier in Teignmouth. I sponsored rather than "dipped" but it was great spectator sport and a great way of raising money for the RNLI. On then to Shaldon for the annual three-legged race - or should we say "pub crawl" starting this year from the Shipwrights public house by the playing field. A fantastic turn out and some first class costumes - including one pair who had dressed themselves up as the missing NHS and Pension computer disks that Gordon Brown's administration would appear to have lost! Very topical! But the winners for their dress were a quite remarkable pair of eyes - each eye ball was some four feet wide with the competitors barely visible through each pupil! In the under 18 category - a very young pair as "118 118" won. And finally on to Bradley Manor in Newton Abbot for a very festive boxing day gathering as these things should be done - as a thank you to all those who have worked so hard during the year. I sometimes despair at how materialistic Christmas has become with the original Christmas spirit and message largely drowned out.

But what a busy time Christmas is in Teignbridge. I sat and counted how many carol services, Christingle services, blessings of the crib, nativity plays, Victorian markets and mulled wine and mince pie thank you parties I have been to in the last 10 days - some 26! The Christmas message is alive and well here - and the quality of these events a real tribute to those involved. The Victorian market in Stokeinteignhead provided my Christmas cake, the Victorian evening in Newton Abbot my Christmas table centrepiece. While the RNLI carol service in Teignmouth was exceptional in its quality and professionalism, there are so many other gems across the constituency, of which Starcross sticks in my memory as one of the best - but then I have always enjoyed my carols most by candlelight and the delicious mixture of poetry with more traditional readings was quite special - as was the apple cake which followed!

I was elected an associate governor at Rydon School in Kingsteignton last month and I feel very privileged - it is a very special school. The teachers and the children had worked very hard on two productions, one was a delightful version of the nativity story with carols to new modern tunes that really got the feet going with the beat- and I was very pleased to see the angels had wings! The other was a story about a very miserable snowman who just would not cheer up - until at last he saw Jesus in a manger! Great fun and clearly enjoyed as much by the children and the audience.

And on the national stage, Gordon Brown is not having much luck - yet more and more lost records - and this time in the States! Why were they there - what happened to the "buy British " mantra? The Liberal Democrats have now elected Nick Clegg - and we wait with bated breath to see what that brings. While a number of MPs in the South West have been elevated to the now substantially enlarged Liberal Shadow Cabinet, that did not include Mr Younger-Ross. What will 2008 bring? Predictions are not good - a failing economy, a Prime Minister who does not enjoy the trust and confidence of the people - where is the next banana skin? Was Gordon listening to the Queen on Christmas Day - please God he was and takes seriously the debt we owe to the courage of our troops and begins to properly fund their health and safety as they continue to fight a war of his making.

Best wishes to you all for 2008. Keep the comments coming. If you would like a reply let me have an e mail address - its a bit difficult to reply to anonymous contributions!

Remember, Remember.....

November is a time to remember. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is a time to remember what so many others have done for so many of us. I was very moved to see so many with me at the three Remembrance Day services I attended in Newton Abbot, Dawlish and Shaldon. I laid a wreath with great pride. Perhaps best of all was the sight of so many young people and young families. We so often think of them as the generation that knew only peace. Today, sadly that is simply not true.

The last few weeks have been full of reminders of our proud history. Shaldon celebrated Trafalgar Day with a first class dinner in the church hall. As I addressed the dinners, I reminded them why we won..and the French lost. We were a better, well trained force which despite our numbers won the day..and a lot of that was down to morale and sheer will power..to win! And we will do that again when Brown is forced to call the next general election. Gordon missed his chance and it won't come again. David Cameron is moving from strength to strength in the opinion polls and consolidating the vote. Labour will deserve to lose the next election and we will deserve to win it.

Newton Abbot has its own proud history which we also regularly celebrate. The Earl of Devon and I were guests of the Newton Abbot Court Leet at its annual Law Day on 20th October. Reports of all the activities of the year were given - with great hilarity on occasion - and I was asked to deputise for the new Portreeve, Alan Vizor - which included paying his fine for non-attendance!

But most important of all has been the time spent with constituents listening to and helping out with problems. As has already been well publicised on TV I worked with residents of Holcombe village to help them in their battle with the Tax Inspector - and we saved the village £19,000. I have now a number of cases where much to my surprise there is huge discrimination against the young -and disabled. The system seems to cope with disability which is age related but not with a disability such as arthritis when it happens to someone in their twenties. Does it seem right to you that a young 28 year old mother of two should lose all help and financial support when she is lucky enough to find a young man willing to become part of that family and take on many of the burdens. Apart they were twice as well off, together they are struggling to pay for the most basic items of food and clothing.

Planning seems to be the bete noir for many and the present governments approach is most unhelpful. Is it right that loft conversions should be allowed to proliferate at the expense of personal dignity and privacy? I have three cases now in Kingsteignton where loft conversions have seriously affected individual's human rights. It is one thing to find that the privacy you enjoyed to look out into your garden without being overlooked has been eroded. It is quite another to find neighbours turned into "peeping Toms" looking in to watch a family having its evening meal, or worse still to watch an elderly and immobile person receive medical and nursing treatment and support. The police have taken an interest and the Human Rights Act may provide some relief - but surely it should never have come to that.

It was a pleasure to welcome Michael Gove to the constituency with his education brief for the party. Together we visited Coombshead School and I think I can say I was quite simply blown over by the quality of the media studies offering. We watched the children put together a live radio broadcast which goes out not just to the school but to local residents in Newton Abbot. The school has a fully equipped broadcasting facility. The printed daily newsheets and the full blown newspaper they produce are very professional and is produced in conjunction with the Western Morning News. Michael was interviewed by one of the students - bringing back fond memories of his early days as a journalist!

Michael and I were also able to visit The Maltings Drop In Centre - and what a professional first class job they do. Yet again it was clear how completely inappropriate the state system is. We met three young girls, all had been made homeless through no fault of their own, all wanting to get on in life and to study and work. As a young person it is financially not possible to work and study if you want a roof over your head. Because of the way housing support works and education grants work, studying is only affordable if you don't work! Where is the logic in that! I had not appreciated what a housing problem there was for youngsters here. Finding accommodation for children and young adults from broken homes is exceedingly difficult, particularly for those that fall into the gap age between being technically a child and technically an adult.

While Richard Younger-Ross did not not attend, I was able to attend the public meeting at Newton Abbot Racecourse concerning the changes in health care provision for those with Mental Health care needs. The St Michael's ward on the current site is to close when the main hospital is relocated from the centre of Newton Abbot to Jetty Marsh. Inpatient care is to be moved to Torbay. I am disgusted that this has only come to light now with no time to make sensible plans for the change and clearly no will to consult. It is simply not acceptable to say that this is a now cast in stone and cannot be changed. There are safeguards set down in legislation which require any such change to be consulted on and Devon County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee must be held to account to insist on a thorough investigation into the change with an opportunity to refer any change to The Secretary of State for Health. I will hold them to account!

I am delighted to report that I have recently been appointed an Associate School Governor at Rydon School in Kingsteignton. It is a fabulous school with much to be proud of and I very much look forward to my first meeting next week. I am also as you know a member of the Shadow Senior Council for Devon. Slowly but surely we are working towards developing a body to represent the views of those over 50 so that there is a real voice for change. The constitution is now being developed as well as links with other groups, including I am pleased to say the Junior Council. The gap between the generations seems to have widened over recent years which is a real loss to both. A joint meeting between members of the Senior and the Junior Councils is planned next month.

And of course there has been much more activity besides and I have found myself all over the constituency at various events including Kingskerswell , Abbotskerswell, Ogwell, Haccombe and many more. If I have to chose I would rather "do" than write. My apologies to my regular readers for too long a gap since my last entry, but sometimes you have to make a judgement call - and I believe my time has been better spent making a difference rather than writing about it. I hope you agree.

A week is a long time in Politics!

Not for a long time has politics been so much in the eye of the media, nor has it been so volatile. Ming Campbell's decision to resign as leader of the Liberal Democrats last night was yet another momentous change which will no doubt send the polls into flat spin again with Nick Clegg the front runner to succeed him. This will leave Brown even more exposed as the old man of politics...and these days he really is looking old. And will this influence how Brown performs on the European issue? I think we all expect Mr "bottle" to try to persuade us that all is well across the water and that no red lines have been breached! The man is a wimp and if his party had any sense they would see he is not the man to win the next election - probably in 2010. One way or another Brown's career as PM is not going to be a long one.

But the tragedy of all this is that the real job of running the country seems to be taking second place. What is Mr Brown's vision - and how will "Darling " afford it? I don't think either of them know. Shame on the pair of robbers who stole the Tories tax ideas - not only does their announcement on inheritance tax go against their party's principles - but it was quite simply a media stunt! The new threshold of £600,000 was achievable anyway under existing legislation. Most of us reading the Sunday papers recognise that we are going to be very much worse off under Darling's proposals for Capital Gains Tax, while the private equity target he had in mind is largely unaffected. Is this incompetence, unintelligence or both? These proposals are bad for business, bad for families......and may land up being bad for Labour

While the media remind us of our real woes - a shortage of NHS dentists, inadequate access to GPs, an obesity problem which will be on a par with smoking - what is Brown doing? Lots of promises, little action....just another review! Our health service must be de-politicised. And what of our businesses? The postal strike has really hit home - one of my constituents is having to spend an extra £10,000 a week to meet customer needs. Can the government really just sit on its hands and say - not our problem - Royal Mail have to sort it? Sorry - this sounds just like the approach to Foot and Mouth first time around - a response too late which inflicted lasting damage on the industry. Enterprise has been the great strength of this country but with this type of attitude is it any surprise we are losing our best and brightest abroad?

Its election time!

Well it looks like it just might happen. Gordon Brown has kept us on our toes for weeks and now he may be hoist with his own petard. He needs to call an election this coming week - or call it all off and live with the roller coaster of a recession which seems to be fast approaching. And this time Gordon cannot blame anyone else.

And if he goes to the country he will find that 11 point lead very fragile. Britain has dropped from fourth to tenth in the international competitiveness league tables under Labour. The British Chambers of Commerce now estimate that the cost of new regulations on business under Labour has topped £56 billion. There have been more than 14 new regulations every working day under Labour and the average British company has to spend £14,270 a year implementing new legislation. Under Labour, lending has been rising at a rate of over 10 per cent per Annam, making the debt mountain now greater than Britain's total GDP. And during his ten years as Chancellor, Gordon Brown introduced 111 stealth tax rises, including the abolition of tax credits on pension funds' dividends and increases in stamp duty - can we really forgive and forget that?

This is a man of promises but not principles. There have been nine major reorganisations of the NHS in nine years, estimated to have cost a total of £3 billion - but we now have a health service in total disarray with more administrators than nurses. And now he wants us to believe he will put the NHS first on his priority list for reform! According to a report by UNICEF, the UK is rated the lowest out of 21 OECD countries for child well-being. 1.25 million young people aged 16-24 are not in work or full-time education - almost 20 per cent more than in 1997. And the UK has a higher proportion of its children living in workless households than any other EU country and the highest proportion of lone parents in Europe. Almost half of 11-year olds cannot read, write and add up properly. According to the latest international comparisons by the OECD, the UK has fallen from 8th to 19th for maths results and from 4th to 12th for reading results. Over one third of adults in the UK do not have a basic school-leaving qualification. This is not a family friendly man.

Post offices have been closing at a rate of nearly ten per week under Labour. 4,875 sub-post offices have closed since 1997 and the Government has announced plans to close a further 2,500. 52 per cent of households in rural areas do not have access to a regular bus service. Violent crime has doubled and gun crime has increased by 80 percent and a quarter of all offenders are under 21. There are over half a million illegal immigrants. Under Labour immigration has tripled. Since 2004 over 700,000 arrived from EU Accession States. Can we really be surprised that we have a broken society. Society is not safe in Mr Brown's hands.

Only a Conservative Government will strengthen society, empower individuals and bring back meaning to the words-the family, economic stability and peace. Watch this space, watch David Cameron.....you will be surprised.

Family, Responsibility and Opportunity

If there were ever any doubt, I think it is now clear that the Brown "bubble" has burst. The papers today are full of the news of our financial woes - something for which Gordon can blame no-one else. If you have a mortgage, as I do, the financial burden is getting more and more painful. Even though there seems to be a move to reduce our forces in Iraq and an outside chance that Gordon may consider a referendum on the EU, that is unlikely to be enough to give Mr Brown the certainty I think he needs to go to the country.

And I am pleased to see David Cameron stick to his guns - he is a Conservative and always has been. I quote from the Telegraph yesterday: "So let me spell it out. I am a Conservative because of the values that I have believed in all my life:family, responsibility and opportunity. I am a Conservative because I believe that those values lead inexorably to a political agenda whose central mission is to give people more power and control over their lives... because we want people to rely on their family, not the state; because you can't take responsibility for something unless you have control over it; and because true opportunity means having the freedom to achieve all you can in life."

Compassionate Conservatism doesn't mean abandoning a belief that lower taxation increases economic growth, or a belief that Europe should be about free trade not political union, or a determination to fight crime and give power back to citizens and take it away from criminals. But unless we address the fundamental causes of the breakdown in our society we won't be able to deliver. We need a health service run to deliver quality health care - not to meet artificial targets; we need an education system that gives our children real choice and a real prospect of employment, led by teachers, not children; we need families to feel supported not undermined by the state and a raft of legislation - without them we have no society.

In Newton Abbot and across Teignbridge we face daily attack on our public services, be it our paramedics and nurses or our fire fighters. Gordon Brown seems quite uninterested in the personal consequences to individuals of his cuts and has no interest in listening to the case put by local people who know first hand what the consequences will be. Post offices are set to suffer the same fate. Gordon does not know how to listen - and in time he will pay the price. In Newton Abbot, I will listen, I will do my homework and check the facts, and I will fight for those who look to me for help if that will deliver a better future for all of us living in Newton Abbot and its surrounding villages.

I have received much correspondence about the bypass - keep it coming! The more I know the better able I will be to champion the cause. And for the avoidance of doubt that cause is the reduction of traffic congestion and provision of much needed housing - BUT in the right place, at the right time, at the right price and after full and frank disclosure and consultation. Lets get it right...and not say after the event, why did we let Asda happen? "Anonymous" whoever he or she may be, asked me if I had evidence of the planned development which is a large part of the justification for the current bypass proposal. I would refer "anonymous" to an article in the Herald Express on page 22 dated April 26th 2006 and to the Kingskerswell Bypass Economic Impact Study of 2002.

Another week in politics!