Category Archives: Articles

All the talk in Westminster is of “shovel ready” building work. The government is keen to give the economy a push by allowing or initiating new projects. They want better roads, more power stations, faster broadband, improved railways, new free scho online payday loans ols and new homes. They are trying everything to see how [...]

It’s been a busy two weeks in Parliament. The Commons sent a clear message to the government that we would like reductions in the EU budget. It would be quite wrong at a time when the government is talking about cuts at home to let the EU budget grow. Domestic spending contains many more important [...]

It was good news that the UK economy bounced back last quarter. Over the last two years many new jobs have been created. Unemployment here in Wokingham has remained mercifully very low. Conditions remain difficult, however, for families and businesses. I will continue to recommend the government to take more measures to promote growth, and [...]

Last week I went to Birmingham for the Conservative party conference. I spoke at four events, on growth, on our relationship with the EU, on schools and on public spending. Sharing a panel with Matthew Hancock, the new Business Minister, chaired by Oliver Letwin, we discussed with the party members what additional cuts in spending [...]

MailOnline October 8, 2012 Monday 1:27 PM GMT ‘Treasure Island’ of free healthcare and benefits for foreigners must end, says senior Tory BYLINE: MATT CHORLEY, MAILONLINE POLITICAL EDITOR LENGTH: 436 words . Former Cabinet minister John Redwood uses behind-closed-doors policy session to demand an end to handouts for foreign visitors . Calls for curbs on [...]

It is time to bring most of our troops home from Afghanistan. When Labour put our army into that country, they did not envisage a ten year plus commitment or warn us of such a long stay. When the Coalition took over they did impose a deadline of the life of this Parliament to complete [...]

What a way to run a railway. We have seen several years of high fare rises. Now comes confirmation of yet another large rise in fares, by as much as 6.2% on some routes. With incomes going up on average by around 1.6%, that’s another tight squeeze on people’s living standards. Part of the problem [...]

Well done to all our Olympic athletes. Thank you to their coaches, families, schools, Colleges and other backers. The nation has enjoyed the spectacle, taken pride in a games well executed, and shown pride in the great success of many competitors from Team GB. Now there is discussion of the legacy. An important part of [...]

As I listened to the Secretary of State for Transport’s statement on new investment for the railways just before Parliament broke up, I thought it was about to time to renew Wokingham’s bid for better treatment from the railway industry. I was promised by Network Rail that the new station contract would be let early [...]

Most electors want Parliament and the government to fix the economy. The squeeze on the private sector has been going on for four years now. We would like some relief from the tax rises, the inflation rises, the higher government imposed costs and charges. There was some welcome news that at last the inflation rate [...]