Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

Dear Elector,

This election should be about you. It is about how you feel and what you want for your future and for your family. This General Election is particularly important for you, as it will make big decisions about what sort of country we live in in the next five years, and whether your future will be secure.

If elected again as your MP I will be there to put your views and worries to government. I will speak up for the Wokingham constituency. I will work with Wokingham and West Berkshire Councils to improve the local environment and services.

We need to strive to improve our public services, concentrating the money on those that matter most. We should use the best modern means to deliver great service at an affordable cost. I want people to be free to make more of their own decisions, leaving us all with more of our earnings and savings to spend. It makes little sense to take too much money off us, only to have to give it back again to help our families. Government should be there when we need help but should not seek to control and direct too many features of our lives. Conservatives offer higher tax thresholds for the 20% and the 40% tax rate, and no new tax on your home.

A Conservative government will continue to put excellence and ambition into our schools, allowing good schools more freedom to develop as they wish, and encouraging professional teachers. It will appoint more GPs and extend the hours and range of services on offer from the GP service. It will improve rail and road transport to make it easier to get to work, school and the shops. I will work with government, the local Council and NHS to ensure Wokingham gets its fair share of money and improvement.

We need to complete the long repair of our damaged economy. No country can run up unlimited debts, as Greece and others are finding out. Borrowing too much is not caring or kind, as it leads to drastic cuts in what matters, higher taxes and a poorer country. The banks are almost mended after the ruinous crisis of 2008, when Labour’s regulatory system failed badly. Under their control the banks lurched from offering too much credit and lending to providing too little. We suffered a big crash with high unemployment. The large number of new jobs now being created shows we are getting something right, as President Obama remarked. We need to carry on with steady progress in cutting our new debts and growing our jobs and prosperity.

We also need to repair our constitution and our democracy. Many people feel let down by modern politics. There is plenty of sound and fury, but is there enough consideration of what is best? Is there honest good government where and when we need it? I have sought to be a daily voice in Parliament and on my website setting out more of the facts and the underlying problems, urging government to mend what is broken and protect what works. Today we need to offer justice to England. As Scotland gains many more powers of self government, so we need to let England make more of her own decisions. If Scotland is to decide her own Income Tax rate, Scottish MPs at Westminster should not also get a vote on England’s Income Tax rate.

Most of us want to trade with the rest of Europe, be friends with other EU countries, and do things together where it makes sense for us and them. The UK has rightly decided not to join the rest of the EU in the Euro. We have no wish to gradually sign up to the full political union they will need to back their currency. If you share the same money as other places, you need to send money from the rich to the poorer parts of the zone, you need to stand behind all the banks of the zone, and need to make transfers of cash to Councils in need, to people on benefits and governments with large debts. The UK does not wish to be involved in such an expensive and difficult project. We need to define a good relationship with the emerging political and currency union on the continent which allows us to trade and do things together, but leaves us free to control our own welfare system, our own borders, our own criminal justice and other important matters that define us as a democratic nation.

I hope you like the ambitious programme we have for a better and stronger UK. I want you and your family to have access to great schools and good jobs, for you to keep more of what you earn, and to live in a civilised country where we can afford to help those in need and pain. To do so we have to continue with repairing our damaged economy and banks. We need to be prudent but not mean with our government expenditures. We need to believe in ourselves and our country. Tax cuts for all and home ownership for the many is better than the Lib Dem and Labour threats of higher income taxes, new taxes on some family homes and their mean spirit against business and enterprise that can deliver us more better paid jobs.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

Yesterday David Cameron told us that a Conservative government will sell more of the Lloyds Bank shares which the taxpayer currently owns. It is good news that Lloyds is now a stronger bank, capable of providing good service , helping to finance a recovery, and making profits and dividend for taxpayers.

I welcome the fact that taxpayers will get all our money back and some profit on the transaction. The state should not be owning banks, and we need the money to offset some of the extra borrowing the government is still doing each year.

Individuals wanting to buy a quantity of shares between £250  and £10,000 worth  will be entitled to a discount of 5%. Discounts are not unusual when large share transactions like this one are undertaken. I welcome the way the discount will go to the smaller shareholder buyers.

Turning the banks round was an important part of getting the recovery going. The crash of the banks thanks to the destructive monetary and regulatory policy followed by the Labour government in 2005-9 was the cause of so much pain. It is great to see economic strength returning.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 3o Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

Yesterday on the doorsteps I was asked several times what are the Conservatives offering  pensioners?

Let me remind those who are retired or nearing retirement of what the Conservatives are offering:

1. Uprate the State pension by the best of 2.5%,  inflation or earnings. The last government introduced this triple lock, and the Conservatives will continue with this Coalition policy if elected to government. Recently the 2.5% guarantee has been useful, as there is currently no inflation on the CPI measure, and earnings growth has been below 2.5% on average.

2. Offer freedom from income tax for standard rate payers for the first 1000 pounds of savings income.

3. Offer Pensioner savings bonds, with a 2.8% interest rate for a one year bond, and a 4% interest rate for a 3 year bond to boost income on savings at a time of low interest rates.

4. Continue with the winter fuel allowance, tv licence concessions and travel assistance for pensioners. Labour wish to limit some of these schemes by income of pensioner.

The aim is that pensioners should also share in economic success, and not see their pension rise by less than those in work see their wages rise.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

I amplanning to visit all parts of the constituency during the election campaign, knocking on doors and visiting places. So far I have been out and about in Emmbrook, Evendons, Norreys, Winnersh,Earley, Shinfield and Burghfield. On Saturday I will be in Wokingham town in all four wards.  I will also visit Swallowfield on Saturday.

It is not possible to knock on every door or meet all who might want to see me through these visits. So I am encouraging more people to use John Redwood On Line on the local issue pages of www.johnredwood..com

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

The Conservative Manifesto promises the money for 30 hours child care a week to families where both mother and father go out to work and they have a child or children aged 3-4. This doubles the current position of 15 hours free child care a week.

The modern reality is many families do have two working parents. Child care is expensive, and everyone wants their child to have good quality child care they can trust. That means paying decent salaries to people capable of looking after the children well in a safe and interesting environment for the child.

This policy should be most welcome to young families in Wokingham. Bringing up young children is a costly activity, and often coincides with other large bills as the family moves into a family home with all the attendant costs. 30 free hours of childcare a week should be a welcome help.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

The Conservative Manifesto makes clear our wish to see more people in work, and more people in well paid and rewarding work.

The party has pledged that no-one on the Minimum Wage will pay any Income tax. There will be  future rises in the Minimum Wage under the current annual independent review system.

We also want more jobs to pay well above the Minimum wage. That’s why Conservatives are proposing 3 million new apprenticeships for the next Parliament. People with skills can command better pay levels, or can set up their own businesses and pay themselves directly based on the results of their efforts.

The good news of the last five years has been the rapid increase in the number of private sector jobs in our economy, and the fact that many UK people have taken one to get out of unemployment or to receive higher pay. We need another five years of good jobs growth, which in turn requires economic and tax policies that preserve and extend the current recovery.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

When I wrote my election leaflets more than a month ago I decided to centre them on tax cuts for all, and on home ownership for the many. I had argued for good policies to allow people to keep more of what they earn, and to help more people own a home. I am pleased that the party has come up with a Manifesto that gives a central role to these aims.

We already knew about the Help to buy scheme which assists people to borrow enough to buy a home as a first time buyer. The Budget gave us the Homeowning ISA to assist in saving for the deposit, with a government top up to your savings to speed it up. The Coalition  government introduced  better discounts for those buying their own Council home.

Yesterday we learned about the Conservative plan for a   Right to Buy extension to Housing Association properties. This is a most welcome move. All homes sold under this scheme will be replaced one for one with a new build social home. People will qualify for a discount of up to 70% of the market value of their property, cash limited to a maximum of £77,900 in Wokingham.

Conservatives also announced a Brownfield Regeneration fund of £1 billion over four years. This will be money so that Councils can clean up old sites and provide any access or other facilities they need so the land can be used for new homes. The aim is to build  more affordable homes for rent and purchase.

Conservatives also intend to build 200,000 starter homes, with a 20% discount to any first time buyer under 40 years of age.

Having your own home is a natural aspiration. It has got too difficult for some wanting to start out on the housing ladder. These schemes should make a difference and bring some dreams to reality.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

One of my aims in speaking for England over the last year was to persuade the Conservative party that it needed to produce a Manifesto for England.

The main parties have traditionally produced distinctive manifesto documents for Wales and Scotland, but never produced one for England. As the next Parliament will legislate to give much more power to Scotland, including powers over Income Tax, and as the last Parliament did give the power to N0rthern Ireland to settle its own Corporation tax, the need for a Manifesto for England, and a policy for England, is clear.

The Conservative party is the only mainstream party to say that we now must tackle the problem of England. In future matters settled in Cardiff for Wales and in Edinburgh for Scotland should be settled by just the English MPs at Westminster. As Scotland gains greater independence to settle her own tax rates and collect her own taxes, so we need to adjust the financial settlement between England and Scotland to reflect the passage of those revenues to Edinburgh.

In the  next Parliament England will need strong voices, to ensure a fair settlement. I am pleased the Conservative party has listened to the needs of England.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

In Emmbrook on Saturday I was asked if the Conservatives would renew their pledge to raise the threshold for Inheritance Tax. I said I did expect some reduction in Inheritance Tax to figure in the Manifesto to be launched  on tuesday, but we would need to check the detail when the manifesto was published.

It is now widely expected that everyone will be offered an increase in their IHT threshold to £500,000 from £325,000 where they wish to pass on the family home, giving a couple a total allowance of up to £1 million.

Conservatives were not able to implement a higher threshold in the last Parliament because Lib Dems did not support the policy and would not vote for it. Lib Dems and Labour still disagree with this policy, so it will require a Conservative majority government to put it through.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

With a little more than three weeks to run before the election – the period of a traditional election campaign- I encourage Wokingham constituency voters with points to make and questions to ask to join this on line forum.

I will be out and about in each part of the constituency, but will not be able to contact  many of you personally  unless you get in touch electronically.

Please state that you live in the Wokingham constituency, and put at the top if you want a private answer without publication of your point. If that is your preference please give me an email or postal address to reply to. Otherwise I will publish your comment or query and my response.

Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU