In this section
- Section Home

Archive
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008

Blog RSS feed

No Need for Congestion Charging with a Conservative Government

A Conservative Government would drop Labour's demands for Congestion Charging to be included in TIF bids for vital transport infrastructure funding.

With the recent resignation of Ruth Kelly as Transport Secretary, Cambridge Conservatives call upon Labour to drop their congestion charging blackmail and allow Cambridgeshire to submit a bid for the funds that we need to support the growth planned for our area without having to wait for a Conservative Government.

Andrew Bower

Two-year freeze in council tax welcomed.

The announcement of a council tax freeze at the Conservative Conference will save a typical Band D household over £200 a year. 

The Liberal Democrats finally get a mention in 'The Sun'...

"Taxes for Libs"

"WE RARELY waste space on the unworldly Lib Dems.

They spend too much time trying to raise taxes, increase spending and surrender to Brussels.

That’s why they are on a miserable 16 per cent in the polls.

But what’s this? The sandal-wearers have had a brainstorm. They want to SLASH spending, CUT taxes and ditch plans to join the euro?

Why don’t they save time and just join the Tories?"

 

.... Because the leadership will say anything to gain a vote, is the most likely answer.  Just as they chased Labour supporters in earlier elections to maximise an anti-Conservative vote, now the Lib Dems are trying to be 'more anti-Labour than thou' in search of Conservative support.

The choice at the next election is between a Labour or a Conservative government.  Ticking the 'don't know' box will not move Labour out of Downing Street, and having a 'don't know'' MP means that the city will never get a voice heard at the heart of government, able to influence debates and stand up for the city's interests on the issues that matter.

Richard Normington

Lib Dems Refuse to Reform Scrutiny at Guildhall

Once again the Lib Dems running Cambridge City Council ducked an opportunity to improve the quality of decisions made by the council at a full meeting of the council last night.  They should learn from the County Council, which this year won an award for the quality of its scrutiny.

Since the Local Government Act 2000, district councils, like the City Council, have been required to adopt one of a number of 'strong government' models.  Cambridge therefore replaced the old committee system with a set of 'executive councillors'.

Unfortunately the Lib Dems have chosen to stuff all of the scrutiny committees with chairmen from their own group, rendering those committees completely useless at holding the executive to account.

While City Conservatives respect the right of the elected ruling Lib Dem group to try to implement its own set of priorities, the crony scrutiny system is unacceptable.

Both Lib Dem and Labour county councillors from within Cambridge have been known to praise the County Council for running an effective scrutiny system and allowing opposition councillors to chair scrutiny committees and even the Lib Dem leader, Mr Clegg, has praised (p. 6) his party in Kingston for running such a system.  We challenge the local Lib Dems to think again.

Andrew Bower

Today's Letter on Post Office closures

This letter was published in today's Cambridge Evening News, but not in the online edition:

Richard Normington 

Union reveals Cambridge City tax collection rate worsens.

Cambridge City Council’s tax collection rate worsened by £110,000 compared to last year, according to figures released today by the GMB trade union. 

More Reasons to Doubt ID Card Plans

Today the Government announced losing the details of a further 5,000 people, this time employees of the Justice Ministry. See “Data on 5,000 justice staff lost" - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7602402.stm.

If They Haven't Heard You, You Haven't Said It

If there are issues that concern you or your family, and you want to know where the City Conservatives stand on them, don't wait for the local press but use the feedback forms to get in touch.

“If They Haven’t Heard You, You Haven’t Said It,” is a quote from a former Downing Street adviser. One of the roles of this website is to enable Cambridge residents to read views and comments that are not found in the local papers. This absence is not due to a lack of press releases, or not attending meetings, but because the information is not always taken up by the media.

Examples this year of news omissions or diversions include…

• Labour’s Stamp Duty Dithering – No coverage of City Conservative comments. Quote from Lib Dem MP used.
• Post Office Public Meeting – No coverage of City Conservative comments. Quotes from Lib Dem MP and Labour candidate used.
• Action to Help with Energy Bills and add to the Post Office's Services – No coverage of Conservative comments. Quotes from Lib Dems – in two stories – about Post Office closures used instead.
• County Council’s Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee – No coverage of City Conservative comments. Article in line with Lib Dem attacks.
• Policy Exchange Report – A quote was used, but about the think tank that published the report and not the Lib Dem who wrote it.
• Congestion Charge and Eastern Development Discussed by the City Council’s Scrutiny Committee – No coverage of City Conservative comments. Quotes from Lib Dems, Labour and even the Cycling Campaign used.

Richard Normington

Next Page