A new direction for Bury South

Tomorrow I am off to the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool.  It will be the first one I would have attended and it will give the Party the opportunity to announce some of our new policies.  Hopefully by the end of next week the question on everyone’s lips ‘will he or won’t he call a general election’ will also be over – and we should know the answer.   I will write further on my return from Blackpool. 

As I sit here keenly watching the news and Gordon Brown’s speech at the Labour Party Conference yesterday we must not forget that at the last General Election, Gordon Brown promised us a referendum on the EU Constitution and that now he is breaking that promise.

He claims we don’t need one because the new document is called a “Treaty” rather than a “Constitution”. But it doesn’t really matter what people call it. The fact is that the new Treaty is basically the same as the Constitution and it means giving away more powers to the EU.

It would create a new EU president and lead to the loss of at least 60 of our national vetoes. It gives the EU the power to make treaties and introduces a new ratchet clause that would make it easier for the EU to taken on even more powers in the future.

Just before becoming Prime Minister Gordon Brown said “the manifesto is what we put to the public.  We’ve got to honour that manifesto. That is an issue of trust for me with the electorate.” That manifesto included the promise of a referendum and it is up to all of us to make sure that he honours that pledge.

The campaign for a referendum is supported by people from all parties – in fact more than eight out of ten of Labours own voters want a referendum.

If you would like to play your part in making sure that Gordon Brown keeps his promise, then I hope you will offer your support to the cross-party “I want a referendum” campaign by signing their online petition 

Let’s hope this will make Gordon Brown listen!

Having had a restful few days with my family celebrating the Jewish New Year I started the week with my usual round of meetings and visits.  Monday afternoon saw the launch of a new trailer purchased through the Bury East Local Area Partnership and Area Tasking Team.  Initially the trailer will be positioned in the Pimhole area to help tackle fly-tipping and littering.  This trailer will enable local residents to have somewhere to go and report fly tipping and littering and give residents a pride in their area.  Hopefully this can be relocated throughout over parts of the Borough.

Last night I gave a talk to a group called Northern Lights about my work as a Councillor and a PPC.    Thanks to Geraldine and Mike Simon for hosting this event and to Belinda Black for inviting me along to talk.
 

Last night I attended a meeting held at Prestwich Conservative Club organised by Sheila Blaby the Bury South Association President.  It was an interesting evening of lively debate and discussion about the issues that affect us most including crime, health, congestion charging, immigration and the direction that David Cameron is taking the Party.  Thank you to all who attended and I hope that you found it as useful and informative as I did.

Today the Public Services Improvement Policy Group, chaired by Baroness Perry and Stephen Dorrell MP, has published its final report. The report makes recommendations to eradicate the inequalities in access to good schools, good health and good housing which are found throughout our public services.  The report entitled Restoring Pride in our Public Services, is the result of 18 months of public hearings, research and expert advice. It makes over 150 detailed recommendations to the Conservative Party. The full report is available to download from here.   The Conservative Party want to hear from everyone their views on issues that affect them and as such invite everyone to join in the Stand Up Speak Up initative to help shape our election manifesto by taking part in meetings being held across the country or by logging on to the Conservative Party website.  For more details about the one in Bury South on the 10 September please call the office on 0161 773 4888 or email me on michelle@michellewiseman.com