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.”
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.”
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!
When City Hall originally bid for unitary status, a lot of Conservatives out there in the yonder didn’t take the threat seriously – generally because it was, and still is, simply ridiculous that the areas worst performing council should apply more more powers. A lot of such Tories thus stuck their heads in the sand and hoped that the treasury / boundary commission / government would do their jobs for them and kill the unitary bird stone dead. I have to say that I believe the stalled start for the anti-unitary campaigners is one of the reasons why this has got as far as it has. Anyway …
Today I read in the local press that David Cameron has declared that if unitary has not passed before a general election then the party will scrap it altogether. (Read , and note that the comments are attributed to Shadow Local Government Minister Bob Neill rather than Cameron himself, but hey-ho). This is significant because it is the first time that the party has come out specifically against the plans in this way. At heart I’m sure a lot of Tories are pro-unitary, but most of us don’t want to pay £100m for the priviledge.
This move by Cameron / Neill will worry Labour – they know their only chance of stopping the “One County” bid is via flame-haired Communities Secretary Hazel Blears blocking it, but many Tories now know the only chance to block unitary full stop is by winning that general election.
I hope that all these anti-unitary Tory Councillors sitting on their big fat majorities remember this and get campaigning in key Norfolk marginals to ensure we win those seats then – wouldn’t it be ironic if they won by a country mile in their own seats only for us not to win the key seats and for Labour’s bonkers plans to progress.
So given all this, the continued spending of taxpayers cash makes my blood boil. Too much has been wasted by all sides on this now; Labour will be praying for this to move quickly, the Tories will try and block and then pray for that election. All this time, we all know who the biggest losers are.
Although I am fairly sure that both Keith Driver and Mary Cannell are pretty zen about the latest batch of “Spotlight” leaflets doing the rounds in Lakenham slamming the performace of the Labour council and government (see my post below), it seems that Labour high command are less satisfied with them and it seems an all-out witch-hunt is now underway to find the culprits. As the leaflets are anonymous and carry no imprint, they may struggle.
But I am now told by a very senior Labour source that they now strongly believe it to be the work of UKIP; or at least individuals within UKIP anyway with or without party permission. Let’s be clear; I’m not aware they’ve done anything illegal but Labour are clearly spooked by this method of campaigning.
The answer may lie in a conversation I was having with a fellow (non-Tory) Councillor this week. If the county elections go ahead as planned next year, then Lakenham will be one of a number of crucial seats for Labour in Norwich. If the county elections follow the pattern of city elections, the Labour group at county could be heading for wipeout and third place on the council. Don’t forget Labour currently hold the county divisions of Wensum (now solidly Green at City level), Mancroft (ditto), Bowthorpe (all 3 City seats are now Tory held) and Catton Grove (where the Conservatives hold 2 of the 3 City seats). So, what’s special about Lakenham? Firstly it is the seat of their County Leader Sue Whittaker but secondly it was won by the LibDems last May with a half decent majority. Whittaker may look rather nervously at all this – UKIP may be no electoral threat, but their anti-Labour campaigning could tilt the electoral wind against her. So for the health of the Labour Party in Norfolk, the “vindictive” leaflet is keeping some at Labour HQ awake at night.
UPDATE: Of course! A friend reminds me … whenever Labout elect a leader at county hall there is the usual debate about which urban area the leader comes from – Norwich, KL or Yarmouth. Norwich Labour are very determined that they should provide, as the county capital, the leadership and the City were thrilled when Whittaker got the job from Kings Lynn North & Central Councillor Irene MacDonald a while back. If Whittaker loses her seat, Norwich Labour are concerned that the top job would revert to a non-Norwich Labour Councillor within just a few years of them having obtained it. The obvious successor to Sue Whittaker is Bowthorpe’s Gail Harris … but given the drubbing Brenda Ferris got in Bowthorpe in ‘08 you wouldn’t bet on Harris holding on either. So Norwich Labour are fighting for Whittaker to hold on for more than just party pride – they are doing it for city pride too. Mind you, the Labour Group at County post-2009 may not be worth leading!
There must be seething Ministers and the sound of smashed Nokia’s across Downing Street tonight with the news that Tory Leader David Cameron will be visiting war-torn Georgia. Mean a lot to the average voter? Perhaps not, but it will mean a lot in Brown’s Bunker …
The massive advantage that the ruling party has is, well, being in power. A Prime Minister should strut his stuff on the international stage wherever and whenever possible and not, for example, hide in the dark to sign important international treaties. A Prime Minister should judge the national mood and do just enough of this to look statemanlike without ignoring the “home front”. Actually, I mean a good Prime Minister should do that. It is something that the Leader of the Opposition just can’t do. He can do photo calls outside of Tesco, he can deliver a speech to the CBI and he can appear on the Today programme. Hence whenever a Leader of the Opposition gets a sniff of international back slapping he takes it and whafts it around all over the place (the Cameron and Obama stuff was plastered all over the party branding for ages). But if a Leader of the Opposition is snubbed (Michael Howard was famously not allowed in the White House) then you know you are in trouble. The World Stage is the only place Brown can go where he knows Cameron can’t follow … not so much the last, as the best, fox he has.
The Cameron trip is a brilliant move because it kills that fox dead, it raises the Cameron profile both home and abroad as inevitably our next Prime Minister and makes Cameron look af if he was born for this stuff. The pictures of Cameron abroad (for example, with troops etc) always look refreshed and civilised – Brown always looks uptight.
But this is more than just Cameron’s usual PR savy stuff; he’s been allowed to get away with it and that’s what’ll be the biggets regret at No.10. Cameron has been clear and direct on Georgia – the Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary (who are, no doubt, in constant contact !!!) have dithered and been slow in their response. Apart from being morally right, it is also politically right to be fast out of the traps on this issue. Would Blair or Thatcher have held back – would even John Major have done so? No, but this goverment looked like the rabbit in the headlights on Georgia. So a power vacuum is created and Cameron has filled it now. Whatever Labour do – even if, say, Milliband goes go out there – they’ll be walking in Cameron’s footsteps.
This is great for the Tory Leader and another disaster for the government team. And when they look at it all, and are honest with themselves, they’ll know they are to blame.
I’ve read the now-famous Miliband artical and have caught up with the news. Unfortunately I am ending up agreeing with Michael Portillo, who was on Newsnight a few moments ago.
I don’t know if this is a coded attack on Brown (or Cameron) or if this is a very subtle leadership bid. But I do know that we now have a Foreign Secretary so strong that he can afford to do this, have Brown mis-interpret his comments and still stay in his job.
Whatever the hidden message of this article, the political message is clear: Miliband can be bold because he’s now totally unsackable.
, , | 
Posted by antonylittle 
, , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 
, , , , , , , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 