Tory Party is Dying

They are quite literally dying.

For the Conservative Party to loose membership during a period of resurgence in opposition is truly astonishing.

Why has David Cameron scared off so many members? That is a serious question on capability.

Tory Council Waste

Hat-tip to Philip Gamble on his post highlighting the latest piece of Council tax payer waste that we as residents are forced to endure from the Medway Conservatives.

Despite massive cuts to education budgets and a Cllr Jarrett waxing lyrical about tough financial choices ahead, it seems the Medway Conservatives are still happy to flush our money down the toilet on advertising.

This blogger, who lives in Birmingham, noted the Medway Council ad on the left of his Facebook page several times over the past few days. It links to the recycling section of the council website. He lives 130 miles away from Medway.

Perhaps Councillor Jarrett is spending too much time shooting and fishing whilst officers spend your money on such schemes.

Why are Medway Conservatives spending council tax payers money to encourage taxpayers to recycle by advertising on Facebook?

Facebook does of course have a geo-locational option for adverts, but for some reason the whole of the UK now has a link to Medway's recycling changes.

Musings from Medway also asked friends in Manchester and Cornwall to check that they could also receive an advert on how to recycle from Medway Council, despite the fact they lived outside the authority boundaries. They could.

When voters are patronised by Medway Conservatives about tough choices around spending, they should perhaps control their own spending rather then hectoring and lecturing the opposition.

This is not the only case of squandering Council payers money.

Good use of tax payer cash?

Residents will have noticed the quite blatantly coloured political adverts and lamp post signs popping up across Medway. The colours are coincidently the campaign colours of Conservative Party. A pleasant blue and green hue.

As a Council tax payer to see Council funded signs on how to put litter in the bins is not only patronising in the extreme, it is a total and utter waste of money. I do not care what the colour, it just stinks of opportunism and more importantly, a waste of money.

Adverts like this do not put front line services first, they merely waste money at a time when the Council is claiming to the public that they are trying to cut back. It stinks of hypocrisy. It wreaks of partisanship and it serves the interests of no one but a few Council Cabinet members with career ambitions to fulfil.

When the Council is cutting staff and is squeezed for money it is perhaps in poor taste that they feel able to spend money on such adverts.

We all love Medway. Some more than others. I do not need a Council funded advert to tell me this. Especially at a time of austerity.

Will they stand up for commuters?

It is coming close to crunch time for the new intake of Medway Conservative MPs. Crunch time because as parliamentary candidates all three of our MPs courted the anti-fares brigade who championed the cause of commuters against the backdrop of ever increasing train fares.

Hundreds of commuters voted Conservative in May 2010 to keep train fares low. Organisations across Kent were backed by Conservatives to channel commuter anger and potentially harvest key anti-fare votes for the election this year.

Mark Reckless campaigned in March 2009, with the 'independent' Medway Fares Fair champion to reduce standard fares. The independent champion for Medway commuters also now happens to be a Council candidate for a Conservative ward in 2011.

The campaign to keep fares low was also backed by Tracey Crouch MP who championed the cause of a small increase in train fares on the 6th January 2009. She backed the campaign wholeheartedly. The campaign even congratulated the two PPCs for having 'an excellent track record in campaigning on local issues for Medway residents'

Rehman Chisthi MP also campaigned outside Gillingham station in 2009 as a PPC against the increase in train fares. He pledged to '2 cut train fares' to his constituents before being elected.

This blog supported the investment in our railways and supported a manageable increase of rail fares. It supported manageable increases to increase investment in modernised train stock, safer and modern stations and for better pay for low paid staff. It was challenged by Conservative campaigners for doing so.

It is now for Conservative MPs to deliver to commuters like they promised whilst in opposition and keep train fares low.

This blog will hold the same people who channelled the anger at fare increases to account.

We will soon find out soon whether our Medway Conservative MPs have the ability to keep increases at manageable levels. We will soon find out whether the independent campaign is truly independent.

This blog suspects that the Tories will deliberately target commuters to fund over-aggressive cuts

According to press reports, the Department of Transport is about to sanction eye-watering increases in train fares. A worry to hundreds of hard pressed middle class commuters who are currently struggling. Thousands of rail passengers across Medway face higher than expected annual fare rises of up to 10 per cent as the Government considers scrapping the formula for raising ticket prices.

If our Conservative MPs can not secure a below inflationary increase in train fares as they promised to their voters then Medway Commuters will feel betrayed.

It is a concern that the public opposition has ceased in favour of private conversations with transport ministers. It is a concern that commuter concerns have been ignored as they continue to commute every day.

The increase in fare's will prove once and for all whether Tories were paying lip service to commuter concerns or whether they were genuinely interested in campaigning for the commuter. We will find out soon enough.

Update - 06/10/10

As if by chance the Campaign for Better Transport released a poll yesterday which was picked up by the Metro this morning.

According to the CBT there are hints that the Tories are to target middle class commuters who are already 'paying way over the odds'.

The report suggested that fares are going to be increased markedly because of the decisions made in the spending review to sanction over-aggressive cuts. It is suggested that the Government will raise the current cap on annual fare rises from 1% to 3% above inflation which is against the stated aims of the Medway Conservative PPCs prior to the General Election. The CBT calculated that if fares kept rising at this level every year to 2015, passengers could be paying 37% more for most tickets by the next general election.

That translates to £1,700 extra for an annual season ticket from Hastings to London! The daily trip from Brighton to London would rise by £1,164 to £4,268, while Gillingham commuters would be forced to find £5,236, an increase of £1,428 on the current fare.

The YouGov Polling for the CBT entitled 'Commuters - would you take this lying down?' shows that 74% of regular rail users in London and the South-East could switch their support away from political parties that introduced an increase in the cap on rail fares. And their votes could make all the difference in key battleground seats in London and the Home Counties.

As if by chance Tracey Crouch MP has written on her blog yesterday that her 'recognition of the hard work the low paid staff do to make sure that the Chatham train user is safe, has been interpreted as an endorsement of Southeastern.' That is not the case. We all want safer train stations, cleaner trains and modern rolling stock but we also want our MPs to fulfil campaign pledges on fare increases.

It does appear though that Tory MPs are trying to have their cake and eat it now they are in government. For anti-fare campaigners, closely aligned to Conservatives who supported them, to sit silent whilst these fares could increase by eye-watering levels shows the state of mind of the current Conservative Party and its activist base.

Why should the public have any confidence that Medway Tory MPs should be held to their word? They have been shameless about child benefit cuts, VAT rises and NHS re-organisations. It seems the manifesto is not worth anything. Promises have been casually ignored.

Commuters will not stand idly by as we suffer exorbitent increases in fares after copious promises by Tories prior to the General Election.

We are yet to see the outcome from the Department of Transport and this blogger is jumping the gun because it believes that Medway Tory MPs should be under no illusion about this when they meet Theresa Villiers. We expect them to deliver on campaign promises.

As if by chance, Mark Reckless has, coincidently, added this to his blog.

Medway Tory MPs were elected on the express promise of small increases in train fares to commuters. If fares do go up by the 37% over five years then surely they must expect the average Medway commuter just to be perhaps, left to feel, well, lied upon for their vote!

Tories target the Medway Middle Class

George Osborne today demolished the universal principle at the heart of the welfare state today with the withdrawal of child benefit from 1.2 million families, prompting warnings that he was punishing the party's middle-class base and undermining stay-at-home mothers.

The middle classes are now under full assault by a millionaire public school boy who has never worked a day in his life outside of politics.

Insisting he was making "tough but fair" reforms to tackle the national deficit, Osborne told his party conference he was withdrawing child benefit from parents. It will mean a loss of £1,055 a year for one-child families and almost £2,500 for those with three children.

In addition to the cuts in benefits the Conservatives have

- Threatened to put up rail fares by 20% which will hit hard-pressed commuters especially in the South East

- Undermined economic recovery by over-aggressive cuts which has reduced growth and spooked consumer confidence

- Risen VAT to 20% despite 'cast iron' guarantees in the General Election that VAT would not increase

In an attempt to protect his rightwing flank, Osborne balanced his attack on middle-class benefits by announcing a £26,000-a-year cap on the total value of benefits received by workless households.

The changes, due to be introduced in 2013, will save the Treasury £1bn a year in child benefit and £250m in housing benefit payments as it seeks to eliminate the UK's £109bn structural deficit by the end of this parliament.

Although the prime minister, David Cameron, had warned his party that the "rubber was about to hit the road" on spending cuts, many senior backbenchers feared the manner of today's attack on child benefit was badly misdirected.

The Treasury acknowledged the cut would lead to the anomaly of a two-income family earning as much as £86,000 not losing the benefit while a family with the father earning more than £44,000 and the wife staying at home will lose all of it.

The Centre for Social Justice, the thinktank set up by the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, expressed "concern" at the measure and urged the government to "explore alternative options" before implementation in 2013.

The children's minister, Tim Loughton, said the benefit – to be withdrawn through the tax system – could be reinstated once the deficit is tackled. Osborne did not make this commitment himself today.

Duncan Smith said he did not love the announcement, but said the decision was necessary to raise £1bn.

Phillip Hammond, the transport secretary who insisted during the election that universal principle surrounding child benefit must be protected, admitted the cabinet had agonised about the decision.

Critics said the simplicity of the measure would bring perverse disincentives, such as the loss of £2,500 in child benefit if a family with three children were to have a rise in income of £300 from £43,500.

Hammond admitted the simple system would bring anomalies, but he said the Treasury had to choose between these and a complex system of means testing.

Treasury sources refused to guarantee there will not be more cuts to universal benefits, such as the winter fuel allowance, when the spending review is announced on 20 October. It is expected the government will raise the age at which the allowance can be claimed.

The Tories promised not to scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance but rumours indicate that thousands of people between the age of 60-65 will face a hard winter. The Tories shameless and disgraceful behaviour targets the most vulnerable in our community.

The cap on benefits – likely to raise £300m – has prompted warnings from housing charities of an exodus of the poor from southern inner cities as the 50,000 affected families face benefit cuts worth an average of £93 a week. Shelter said the poor would simply not have the cash to pay high cost rents in the private rented sector.

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Yvette Cooper, said:

"Instead of boosting jobs and growth, the government is making families with children pay more.

"We support child benefit for all children and all families. Of course there are difficult choices to make and we need more welfare reform, but it's better to get the economy growing faster and raise more tax from the banks than to cut support for children in middle income families."

The decision on child benefit was defended by senior Lib Dems even though at their conference a fortnight ago they voted to protect child benefit.

The Tories have targeted the hard working and hard pressed middle classes. It is time Labour stood up to fight in their interests.

VOX Pop on Ed Miliband

Looks like more work to be done. Early days yet for Ed Miliband.

Boris Island is back (again)

Whenever you think the Boris Island idea has been killed it seems to resurrect itself from the dead.

According to the Sunday Times today, the idea of an island airport remains firmly on the ground and is being discussed in the highest offices of power. The Chancellor and Prime Minister themselves are being actively lobbied by industry and by Conservative MPs to go ahead with the proposal which will concrete over the Estuary and create a air-traffic corridor of noise and pollution over the Medway conurbation.

Many readers of this blog may be sympathetic to the idea of an airport in North Kent because it will provide needed employment and economic development. However the public overwhelmingly reject the idea and it was a key issue on the ballot paper in 2003, when the Conservatives deliberately used the issue as a dog-whistle with the public and it has remained as such ever since. Many Conservative supporters on the Peninsula joined to campaign against the airport; they will feel concerned at these proposals.

This blog has commented on the constant back and forth of the campaign over the last two years and is vehemently opposed to the Conservative Party proposal for an airport in North Kent. Originally promoted by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson it has gained momentum because of a failure of local Conservatives to challenge the proposal aggressively for fear of electoral harm. This blog opposes the airport because of the harm to our environment and economic drag on house-prices coupled with increased pollution and noise from aircraft.

It now seems that despite the assurances given to Chatham & Aylesford MP, Tracey Crouch that the government remains open to the idea of an Island Airport in North Kent. A proposal which is a short step away from the return of Cliffe Airport.

The Sunday Times exclusive reveals that George Osborne has received representation on the idea behind a mega-airport in North Kent and is intensely relaxed about the idea of causing distress to thousands of residents across Medway. George is apparently open to consultation on the idea because of the unfeasibility of expansion at Heathrow.

The impact of the airport will also harm the wildlife reserves at Cliffe which is ironic given Mark Reckless has recently visited the site this week. Is he telling his Conservative Association on the peninsula everything he knows?

The article in The Sunday Times also makes clear that staff close to the Prime Minister themselves are open to the proposals and have scheduled air-time to discuss the project in detail with the Prime Minister and his key decision-makers. This is hardly the position of an individual who is opposed to the idea out of principle.

It is now clear that despite the assurances by local Conservative MPs the issue remains very much alive. We were given countless assurances by Conservative Parliamentary candidates that no airport would be built.

Instead; we now have major feasibility studies and proposals published. Parliamentary groups formed, debating in open and key Treasury and Cabinet Office officials being lobbied on the idea.

The campaign to oppose the Island Airport by Medway Conservatives is as laughable as it is lacklustre. This blog would contend that it is being deliberately kept low-key in an attempt to retain Conservative Council seats in next years local elections on the peninsula. A Tory airport in the Estuary would decimate the natural environment and would risk significant house price reductions for residents. It is simply not acceptable that public pressure is not being applied.

The Conservative group on the Council is running a quiet campaign of opposition which has only allowed Boris Johnson and senior Tories to gain momentum on the idea.

The opposition to the airport has been marked by a low budget 'pie in the sky' poster. The Council has the ability to manage effective campaigns to promote the idea of a City in Medway but for some reason the anti-Island campaign has been muzzled and ineffective. We have no active campaign to lobby the Council supply-chain, no lamp-post posters and no campaign in the Medway media.

Medway Conservatives should start to address this issue seriously because those in power are clearly malleable and open to u-turns. We can not afford to have our community scarred by overhead noise and pollution.

It is time Tory Councillors stopped putting petty partisan interest above that of our community and start to oppose the Island Airport vigorously.

New Generation for Medway

Today, the three Medway Constituency Labour parties in Rochester & Strood, Chatham & Aylesford and Gillingham & Rainham have made a joint pitch to the residents of our towns to be part of a new and progressive generation of new activists, Councillors and campaigners for our towns.

Ed Miliband, the new Labour leader, has been elected with the full support of the Medway Labour membership, from each of the three constituencies which comprise the Medway conurbation. He was backed by the majority of voters across the national electoral college in what was a contest and not a coronation.

A new generation is not just a national campaign slogan. In Medway, we are well on the way to seeing the selection of a candidate under the age of 30 in the majority of marginal wards in Medway for next years local elections. This is not to state we do not want experience on the ballot paper as well, but we want a diversity of experience from all generations. We want a wide pool of talent from different backgrounds. We have attracted a new generation who may not have been natural Labour voters in the past.

We want a symbolic and generational change in local politics away from the same tired blue rinse who have badly managed Medway for seven years in direct control.

Ed represents a shift to a new generation and a shift in policy from the previous New Labour period under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. An era with significant achievement but which was increasingly conducted under a cloud of spin and PR, which had been disconnected with the mainstream majority of residents by the end of its tenure in May 2010.

For the press to state that New Labour was an unbridled success ignores the lessons from 2010. The Conservatives changed to win power. Labour must change to win power again. The natural party of government need not be the default. The Tories have a closed minded position on internationalism, on climate change, on equality, on globalisation, on the ability of government to improve lives and empower and build enterprize and business success.

The small business owner in Chatham owes nothing to Tories who have bodged the two-way road scheme and put up rates on their business. The tax payer in Strood owes nothing to Tories who have squandered £850,000 on the Aveling & Porter demolition only for it to become a car park. A car driver in Gillingham owes nothing to Tories who snoop using CCTV cars. A young parent owes nothing to Tories who have scrapped free swimming schemes and a young student owes nothing if he can not get a job because of cuts to the Future Jobs Fund and local Connexion services. People owe nothing to the current Conservatives in Gun Wharf.

Labour will seek to appeal to those who feel squeezed and disheartened by the Cameron cuts and to people who feel that government is not on their side. These are the mainstream majority of residents in Medway. We will appeal to those distrustful of the big state but do want a government which empowers people, improves schools, hospitals and yes, funds the Police. We will appeal to people who want to support small and medium sized business but do not want cuts to research & innovation budgets or cuts to infrastructure programmes such as Heathrow. We will appeal to residents who want a first-class health service free at the point of use; where education is always a priority; and where you and your family are treated equally and can feel safe and secure.

We will be realistic on deficit reduction but will focus on fair taxation to those who have the broadest shoulders. Millionaire bankers and tax exiles should pay their fair share of tax and not like Lord Ashcroft be allowed to siphon of millions of pounds to Belize whilst funding the Conservative Party.

Maybe you already vote Labour at election time? Maybe you don't? Maybe you have thought about joining but not actually done it? Maybe you think you are too young, too old or too busy? Maybe it's because nobody has asked you.

We're asking you now.

Ed Miliband made clear that Labour had to change to win for Britain. Labour has much to celebrate but his leadership will recast a new progressive left for Britain

Labour in Medway will push for:

• Support for small business and entrepreneurs across Medway. Low tax for small business and no return to the strikes of the 1980s. Ed believes in a fairer more liberal Britain not an outdated ideology of strikes.
• Action to reduce the deficit but not over-aggressive and ideological cuts which will undermine public services for the vulnerable whilst harming consumer confidence in business. We need a consolidated and caring approach to cuts.
• Focus on reducing the impacts of immigration on hard working families who feel the system has been designed against them. We will challenge the root causes of people's concerns including lack of affordable housing, jobs and local support services for mothers like Sure Start
• Funding for police to keep crime low and opposition to the politicisation of senior police positions which will waste money
• Opposition to the privatisation reforms in the NHS. Support for patient-centred targets including cutting waiting lists and patient-centred approach to NHS reform
• More ethical foreign policy. Apologising for Iraq. A two-state solution in the Middle-East.
• A living wage for young people and families and a reduction in child poverty across the UK
• Opposition to Tory cuts to education budgets to Mid Kent College and Kent Universities which undermine the future for Medway young people

The election of Ed Miliband represents the turning of a new page for Labour in Medway. Be part of that future as an activist, Councillor or local representative.

Be the future for Medway.