Rugby's Fire Serice Consultation Meeting

Yesterday it was Rugby's turn for a local meeting concerning the proposals to reorganise Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service. I have previously attended meetings in Bedworth & Brinklow and Rugby's was a lower key affair since there is no plan to close the local Fire Station. However Rugby will be affected as when Rugby's appliances are out of the station attending a call, which can often be on the Motorway with the M1 & M6 passing round the town, cover is currently provided by Southam and Brinklow. There are a couple more consultation meetings across the county and the consultation period finishing soon. I have voiced my opposition and I know many others have also done so.

Diwali

I had a great evening on Saturday when I joined Kieth Ranu and about 250 others for the Diwali celebrations at Rugby Workers Club. Again several people wanted to talk about the Question Time programme but as the evening wore on there was more interest in dancing, entertainment and chatting with friends.

Canvassing Eastlands

Out with our survey on Saturday the main topic people wanted to talk about was Question Time on TV on Thursday. There was a degree of sympathy for the leader of the BNP who found himself under pressure from other panel members, the audience and the chairman in a programme almost entirely focussed on him and his party's followers. I felt that he had a right to be heard given the BNP success at the recent Euro elections but it was wrong for the format and questions to be devoted to one issue. It has caused people to consider the issue of immigration and community relations with a real feeling that the Govenment have failed to get a grip of this issue. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Jack Straws performance on the programme when he refused to acknowledge any responsibility for the miscalcuation of the numbers of people intending to come to the UK from the EU acession countries.

Tougher Scrutiny for Home Loans

When I was running my business, from time to time I would receive a letter from a Building Society advising that a member of staff was applying for a mortgage. The letter would ask for confirmation of employment details such as job title and how long employed. Up until about 10 years ago the letter would ask for confirmation of salary but about then that question stopped. This was because many mortgages were now "self-certified" where the lender relied on the borrowers statement alone about income, which is of course related to ability to pay. It was no surprise to me that this change accompanied the fastest rate of growth in house prices the country has ever seen. In hindsight this was an example of the reckless lending that led to the financial problems just over a year ago and of the lack of control of the FSA in regulating the mortgage market. So I was pleased to read todays announcement of plans for borrowers to once again face a mortgage affordability test and self certification mortages will be banned. Some times appropriate regulation can be the right course since soaring house prices are in no-ones interest in the long term. Read more here.

House meeting Hillmorton

Continuing my series of meetings at peoples homes across the consituency, yesterday I was invited to the house of Eleanor Thorneycroft where I met number of her friends and neighbours. I explained that I was there to answer questions and listen to points of view and inevitably with the focus again on MP's expenses following Sir Thomas Legg's audit that was an early topic for discussion. I explained that by the time of the next Parliamentary intake there will almost certainly be new rules in place and if I am succesful in Rugby, I will clearly abide by them. Having run my own business for 25 year I am quite used to preparing accounts for submision to the authorities and will continue to do so in any future role. We moved on to a very wide ranging discussion covering international issues such as our approach to terrorism; national issues including border controls and illegal immigration, family breakdown and the downward movement of decision making within government; and local issues such as the mast site development proposals and new charges for renting an allotment in Rugby. All in all I was put through my paces by a well informed group. If you know anyone who would like me to join them for a similar discussion, please let me know and I will be glad to come along.

Saving Brinklow Fire Station

Last week I attended a consultation meeting in Bedworth concerning proposals to close the Fire Station there and yesterday a similar meeting took place in Monks Kirby in relation to Brinklow. The new Chief Fire Officer presented the proposals which were drawn up by his predecessor and members of the public were invited to make points and ask questions. Brinklow is a smaller Fire Station, serving a rural community but many of the same points arose and, of course response times and the quality of cover the service will be able to provide in the future were the key issues. Despite a bias in the questionnaire that accompanies the consultation, there are many good points in the document such as increased emphasis on training, on fire prevention and reducing arson; and reducing Firefighter sickness levels. However it seems to me that these do not necessarily have to be linked to reducing the number of Fire Stations across the County from 19 to 12. Almost everyone in the room was of like mind and I know that there will be many responses urging that the closure proposals in the consultation are not implimented.

Brownsover Saturday

After the focus on national policy at conference last week it was refreshing to be out talking about more local issues in Brownsover South on Saturday morning. Matters people raised included inconsiderate parking by rail users close to the station and the price increase in the new multi storey car park; the success of the new recycling arrangements; and the local impact of anti-social behaviour. It was great to have newly elected County Councillor, Carolyn Robbins with me who is actively involved with all of these.

Conference Final Day

MP Alistair Burt's thoughts about this week's conference

Defending Fire Stations

After a morning at Conference, I drove down to Bedworth with North Warwickshire Candidate, Dan Byles to attend a meeting to discuss proposals to make changes to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. There is a number of ways in which it is proposed to improve the service residents receieve but unsurprisingly, the one to get the most attention is the one to reduce the number of Fire Stations across the County. A consultation document has been issued which includes the option of closing Nuneaton and Bedworth Fire Stations and replacing them with one new station between the two towns. This is of concern to me as Bulkington and villages to the north of Rugby constituency are covered from Bedworth. I felt that the consultation had it weaknesses but was prepared to hear what the Deputy Fire Officer had to say in support of this idea. The longer the meeting went on, the more clear it became to me that this particular part of the proposal hasn't been properly thought through and they strike me as too loose, too vague and too one sided. I will be attending a further meeting in Brinklow this coming Monday, Oct 12 when residents will be able to have their say on proposals to close the Fire Station there.

Dragons Den

Yesterday I took part in a fringe event organised by the European Information Alliance. 3 speakers competed for my vote & that of others with presentations on the management of the IT processs in Government; governance of the internet; & the role of IT in the UK economy. We covered how to improve IT procurement in the public sector, a matter of interest to many of us given recent failures an cost, delivery time & security; how to ensure safe use of the internet, particularly by children; how to ensure IT jobs stay in here by ongoing training and innovation.; the vaiability of broadband across the country, an issue of concern to me as I live in a village where speeds are often frustratingly low.

Porkie Pies

One of the many stands in the Conference, this one offering a product "endorsed" by Gordon Brown!

Conference Day 2

Speeches from George Osbourne & Ken Clarke.

Conference Day 1

Great atmosphere at the Conference; looking forward to some interesting discussion and announcement over the next couple of days.

Listening to Young People

On Friday I joined a class of 17-18 year olds studying citizenship at the Rugby site of Warwickshire College, many of whom are hoping to take up careers in the uniformed services. I spoke about the role of a Parliamentary Candidate and the selection process, before being asked questions. I later took part in a Question Time type debate when some of the students joined me on the panel. I was asked about my motivation in seeking to become an MP which led to a lively debate about expenses. No surpise to find that the students feel the same way an most people about some of the items that were claimed for! We moved on to many of the matters that would be raised by a wider audience, with emphasis on local matters including road congestion in the town centre and safety late at night. It reaffirmed my view that there are very few issues that are exclusive to young people and that they are just as concerned about the things that matter to the country as a whole. Great to see some friendly faces in the audience in the form of some of my son's team mates from Rugby Lions, who came up with some good questions and thoughtful contributions.

The Sun's change of allegiance

In my business career I quickly learnt that if a contract didn't go your way, or if you lost a customer, you don't 1. abuse the decision maker (Mandelson) 2. show your anger & frustration at the decision (Brown) or 3. denigrate the customer or his product publicly (Tony Woodley). Who's the nasty party now?

Rugby Town Juniors Football Club

I was reminded recently that I hadn't been to see my nephew & Godson, Harry Pawsey, playing for his new team, Rugby Town Juniors Under 15s, so I promised Tony Potter, team coach that I would go along on Sunday. It enabled me to visit the fantastic set up that the club have at Kilsby Lane and I was able to see the team win 2-1 with a fantastic winning goal from Harry in the last ten minutes. Great team performance & a number of lads with real talent enjoying themselves. I expect more of the same on my next visit!

Old Laurentians Vice-Presidents Lunch

I had some great years playing Rugby in Rugby for the Old Laurentians Rugby club and was really pleased to be invited to be a Vice-President a few years ago. Actually it's not that great an honour as there are over 100 of us, but it's a great way of keeping an involvement with the club while being relieved of some cash. On Saturday many of us met up for a lunch before the first XV game againt Earlsdon which OLs won 36-23. Photos are taken from Ray Todds's gallery on the clubs website here: http://www.oldlaurentianrfc.co.uk/2008/Home.html