Category Archives: Articles

The best innovation in this new Parliament is the creation of days when backbenchers can choose the business to be debated. I held one of the first debates under this scheme last year on the need to promote economic growth. On Tuesday I was one of the instigators of a debate on the bail outs [...]

Both sides in the referendum campaign tried to use non politicians to get out their message. They wanted to portray a different kind of politics. Both sides ended up spending large sums of money retailing highly contentious claims in a desperate attempt to grab some headlines and make this rather abstract topic interesting and important [...]

When 250,000 people march in Central London to complain about cuts the government should listen, and should engage with their leaders in a sensible dialogue. There are many things I felt I wanted to say had I been invited to talk to them as Mr Miliband was able to do. I would have started with a [...]

Public spending is still going up by 6% a year, though there are plenty  of discussions about cuts. One of the reasons is the surge in interest payments we now have to make, as so much has been borrowed in the last couple of years. It makes controlling the deficit all the more critical, as we [...]

The problem with Coalition governments is you can end up with policies that neither party wanted and few electors voted for. The Alternative Vote is one such idea. I fought the Wokingham election against changing the electoral system. The Lib Dems fought it in favour of a proportional system. We both agreed the AV system [...]

During the General Election I explained  that the government had been borrowing far too much. I was clear that we needed to curb the rate of increase in borrowing and public spending, and warned that would mean cuts in some areas, and a tight set of budgets. I promised to do my best to ensure [...]

Last week we started work on the Localism Bill. This legislation underwrites the government approach. More matters should be settled locally, by the Borough Council or by groups of people concerned about local matters. National government and MPs will interfere less with all the local services, from education and social services to planning and transport. [...]

In the twelve months up to last October just 137 new homes were commenced by builders in my constituency. (NHBC statistics). This puts into context the big arguments underway  about how much new building the Council  should allow. Wokingham Borough is of course bigger than my constituency, but current build rates are way below the [...]

             The last couple of weeks have been taken up with the Euro crisis. The Greek bail out on May 2nd did not stop the problem spreading. As you have seen it is now Ireland’s turn to take the Euro misery of higher taxes, cuts in spending, and wage cuts.              I was not happy [...]

Conference platforms and Parliament have been alive with attacks on bankers. Treated as a caste apart, they have been the butt end of jokes, the subject of barbed comments, and the object of policies designed to tax them and curb them. I would like to be a brave politician, and to speak up for many [...]