The government’s ID cards programme is “utterly discredited”, according to Antony Little, the Conservative’s Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South.
The criticisms follow an announcement by the government that the scheme is to be delayed because of an 18-month trial for workers at Manchester and London City airports.
Cllr Little said that the delay was evidence that the grounds for ID cards was “constantly being rewritten” and called for the money to be used to support the economy instead.
He said: “The ID cards project will put the personal data of every citizen in this country at risk and the costs are enormous. At this time of economic hardship, how can the Government seriously expect the public to pay out billions for this expensive white elephant?
“A Conservative government would scrap Labour’s plastic poll tax.”
A local Conservative councillor has blasted the government for miscalculating maintenance grants for students by £200m by saying that the overspend was “disastrous”.
The situation occurred after Gordon Brown, in one of his first acts as Prime Minister, announced an expansion of the maintenance grants system in order to ensure there was enough provision for students entering university from 2008/09 onwards.
However, due to a £200m overspend, maintenance grants are to face cuts.
Antony Little, who is Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, has said that the miscalculation means that 65,000 students actually applied under false and inaccurate information.
He said: “The new grants system has fallen apart at the seams. From next year there will be different regimes for first year, second year and third year students at universities as the cuts to maintenance grants take effect.
“It’s a complete insult to students for the government to claim that their disastrous £200m miscalculation is a ‘success’”.
A leading city councillor has called on cyclists to take greater care when travelling across Norwich. Antony Little, Tory group leader at City Hall, has said that residents in Norwich have contacted him after several near misses on the city’s busiest roads at peak times during the day.
Cllr Little said: “One particular accident black spot is the Eaton Road junction on Newmarket Road, particularly when children are going to and from school. Residents there are concerned that those cyclists who break the Highway Code are not only putting themselves at risk but other motorists and pedestrians too.
“I call on all road users to act responsibly at all times to avoid tragedy.”
Conservative spokesman for Eaton Ward, Niall Baxter, added that he had been campaigning on this issue for some time. He said: “A balance needs to be struck whereby the roads are safe enough for cyclists to use, meaning that they have no need to use the pavement.
“It is understandable why some cyclists worry about safety on the Newmarket Road, so our priority should be to make the road safer so that everybody feels they can use it. This will make the situation better for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.”
The first ever Conservative “Question Time” is to take place this Friday at the UEA, giving students the chance to grill representatives from the local party and the wider conservative movement.
The event, organised by the UEA Conservatives, will see a group of centre right speakers taking questions from students on a wide range of subjects, such as local government, taxation, freedom of speech and higher education.
Councillor Antony Little, Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, will also be on the panel.
Cllr Little said: “Hopefully the event will act as an introduction to the many perspectives of right of centre thinking as well as providing a forum for passionate debate for students at UEA.
“Students will also be shown the different ways they can get involved in politics, such as standing in local elections, blogging or campaigning on a particular issue.”
Speakers include Tim Aker (Taxpayers’ Alliance), Patrick Sullivan (Conservative Future Campaigns Director) and Edward Hallam (Young Conservative Blog). The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend.
The government is not doing enough to tackle violent crime, according to Antony Little, Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, following the publication last week of statistics which show violent crime increasing by almost 25%.
Cllr Little said that the Conservatives would fight crime by cutting unnecessary police red tape which would allow officers to be deployed onto the streets, free from restraint, to tackle the crimes which affect everybody in society. The Tories would also increase prison capacity, ensuring that offenders who should be in prison do go to prison and receive proper rehabilitation in order to reduce re-offending.
He said: “These figures fatally undermine eleven years worth of government spin on violent crime and show how completely out of touch Labour is with what is going on in our streets and neighbourhoods.”
“By improving police visibility on the streets and ensuring that sentencing is both tough and robust, a Conservative government will not be afraid to fight crime head on.”
Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, Antony Little, has spoken out strongly against Labour’s handling of the economic situation, branding it a failure, whilst stating what the Conservatives would have done instead to establish a more responsible economy.
On the same day that figures were published showing that GDP had fallen by 0.5%, Councillor Little said that the Conservatives would do everything possible to help people cope for the difficult times ahead and promised that a Tory government would fix “our broken economy” with a responsible fiscal policy bolstered by independent oversight together with a renewed role for the Bank of England to formulate a responsible financial policy.
Speaking to a group of UEA politics students, Cllr Little said that the fall in output was a defining moment in Gordon Brown’s premiership and stewardship of the economy.
He said: “The country will not forget that it was this Prime Minister who stripped the Bank of England of its powers to supervise the City, that it was he who actively encouraged the risk-taking culture in our banks and that it was he who promised time and again that boom and bust had been abolished. It is now plain for all to see that these central claims made over ten years as Chancellor were completely false.
“The government should now try to help families and businesses but in a way that does not leave future generations to pick up the bill. Sadly it will be millions of families, pensioners and companies that will pay the price for Labour’s failure to prepare for this moment.
“The Conservatives understand that taxpayers’ money should not be thrown on a bigger and bigger state. We will deliver practical help to enable small businesses and families to survive the downturn.”
Cllr Little highlighted Tory proposals announced earlier this week to allow small companies to delay paying VAT and giving them a cut in National Insurance which should ease them through the difficult times.
Taking questions from the floor, Cllr Little acknowledged that that despite there being political consensus over the recapitalisation of the banks, the truth of Labour’s failed economic policy should not be hidden and that the Prime Minister had failed to regulate public and private debt in Britain.
He said: “We need a responsible attitude to economic development that fosters more balanced economic growth. Labour accuse us of talking Britain down, but it is this Labour government which has brought Britain down. Only the Conservatives are offering the change that Britain needs.”
Small businesses in Norwich will be saved under plans unveiled by the Conservatives. Struggling companies will be allowed to delay their VAT payments giving them breathing space and also helping to keep local workers in employment. The Conservatives would also cut National Insurance for the smallest businesses to help them through the difficult times.
Antony Little, Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, said that if these plans were implemented immediately many Norwich firms would be rescued from going to the wall.
Councillor Little said: “Along with our plans to freeze council tax and cut small business tax, these are measures that could be implemented immediately to help cash flow and in some cases prevent companies from going to the wall.
“It is vital that small businesses are helped so that jobs in Norwich are not lost. A Conservative government would be doing everything in its power to save local firms across the country as they are the lifeblood of the British economy. They are the measures a responsible Conservative government would take.”
Antony, in his role as Conservative Leader in Norwich, used an emergency question to council to ask if the Council could cut the number of days to pay an invoice. The Executive Member said they would look into what they could do to help.
Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, Antony Little, has spoken out strongly against Labour’s handling of the economy whilst stating what the Conservatives would have done instead. He said that despite there being political consensus over the recapitalisation of the banks, the truth of Labour’s failed economic policy should not be hidden.
Speaking to a group of UEA politics students, Councillor Little said that Gordon Brown had failed to regulate public and private debt in Britain. He promised that the Conservatives would fix “our broken economy” with a responsible fiscal policy bolstered by independent oversight and a renewed role for the Bank of England.
Councillor Little said: “The country will not forget that it was the Prime Minister who stripped the Bank of England of its powers to supervise the City, that it was he who actively encouraged the risk-taking culture in our banks and that he promised time and again that he had abolished boom and bust.”
He said: “We need a responsible attitude to economic development that fosters more balanced economic growth. Labour accuses us of talking Britain down, but it is this Labour government which has brought Britain down. Only the Conservatives are offering the change that Britain needs.”
I am literally just back from a pretty exhuasting couple of hours on the doorsteps around Christchurch Road. Amazingly the cloud seems to have kept people indoors and there were plenty of people to chat to about their issues. One thing that came through loud and clear was the failure of the government to tackle anti-social behaviour; it’s strange that as a SNAP Chairman in Bowthorpe and Costessey I see the work that goes on behind the scenes and the amount of investment the police are getting. Yet residents don’t feel as if they are being supported and think that yobs are running the streets. Note to Labour: maybe endless investment isn’t working here – is there something we are missing? Employment, education, family breakdown? Also there was a strong feeling against Labour’s re-organisation in the NHS and the creation of polyclinics. I spoke to 3 retired nurses all of whom were shock by the plans. One (blush!) even came to watch Niki George and myself pass a motion against the plans in council last month.
Generally people felt that Brown’s time was up. Again and again they asked when the election was; and the truth is that both he and I dont know! The feeling od the doorsteps was positive – we got 2 new members and residents saying that they hadn’t voted Tory in years but were going to next time. Perhaps thats why Brown isn’t so keen on the election?
Emily’s new toy is a singing daglo orange plastic bag which belts out a samba tune. I do hope the batteries run out, but no signs of that yet.
Yesterday morning a big campaign group went out around the University to do some survey canvassing, and the views of people can be summed up in two words – transport and economy.
There was a lot of anger locally about the speeding traffic down some of the main roads (and the council response to this) but also the state of the roads and pavements. There are some atrocious cracks and holes that need urgent attention. However the grass verges are destroyed and the areas where 2 buses are forced to pass leave holes like a canoe run in the road where one bus has to mount the verge to get pass the other. Sadly, again, little seems to be done to solve these issues and residents feel that they are “on their own” – once again. They seemed genuinely pleased to be able to explain their issues to the Conservatives and there is a feeling that they have been let down.
However the overwhelming majority of people were very worried about their financial situation in the coming months and years. I met businessmen who were having to lay off staff, builders without work because of the slowdown of the housing market and a family who are being forced to cut down on buying food to make ends meet. And the blame for this was all laid squarely at the feet of the Prime Minister (interestingly not the Chancellor – most people think this all has its legacy in Brown’s days at the treasury).
Overall a lot of people were very disengaged with the whole political process. They felt very much the choice was between the Conservatives and Labour; we didn’t find a single open LibDem voter in a ward they used to hold with a sizeable majority. People are moving away from Clarke and Labour but haven’t yet found their way to the Conservatives in this part of Norwich. It’s our job to give them a reason to do so.
Today I am speaking at a public meeting at the Greenstock Festival at Heigham Park; I do hope that despite the weather you make it!
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