Crawley's Winning Team For 2015

Four weeks today the 7th of May, is the general election as well as local elections in Crawley, which are in 12 neighbourhoods - the entire town except Broadfield and West Green. Crawley Conservatives has a very strong team of candidates this year, headed up by Henry Smith who has been a fantastic champion for Crawley and who is seeking re-election as our Member of Parliament for Crawley.

Crawley’s 2015 Conservative local election candidates:

Bewbush - Patrick Reid
Furnace Green - Cllr Duncan Crow
Gossops Green - Lisa Vitler
Ifield - Martin Stone
Langley Green - Andrew Jagger
Maidenbower - Kim Jaggard
Northgate - Tina Belben
Pound Hill North - Kevan McCarthy
Pound Hill South - Cllr Beryl MeCrow
Southgate - Jan Tarrant
Three Bridges - Cllr Bob Burgess
Tilgate - Francis Guidera

Conservatives To Deliver A Further 3 Million Apprenticeships

Last week in my Crawley Observer column, I wrote about employment and apprentices - a real success story for the Conservative-led government. By contrast, Labour have spent this entire parliament resisting all the benefit reforms and economic measures that has helped to make work pay. They not only deserve to lose the election, they deserve to lose big.

"It is a statement of fact that every Labour government has left office with higher unemployment than when they took office, including the last one from 1997 to 2010. By contrast, one of the big successes of the current Conservative-led government has been the creation of an extra 1.85 million jobs, meaning that the UK now has record levels of employment.

While being pleased about this success, we should never get complacent. In a global and rapidly evolving economy, it is essential that British people have the right skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow as well as for the jobs of today. This particularly applies to our young people who were so badly let down by Labour when they were last in government, with one million young people being abandoned as NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training).         

The good news is that youth unemployment in Crawley is now at a record low and that we Conservatives are placing a great emphasis on apprenticeships. Last week the Prime Minister launched the new ‘degree apprenticeships’ so that young people can earn a degree whilst training on the job. We want all our young people to reach their potential and to be equipped with the skills they need to get on in life. By combining real, paid work with high quality training, apprenticeships can help our young people get on the career ladder.

Since 2010, we have already delivered over two million apprenticeships and are committed to delivering a further three million by 2020. The new ‘degree apprenticeships’ take this to the next level. Designed by businesses, universities and colleges these combine the academic study of a degree with the practical experience of high-skilled jobs. Apprentices will be able to earn bachelor’s or even a master’s degrees as part of their apprenticeship.

Equipping people with the skills they need to get on in life and backing businesses to create jobs are key parts of our long-term economic plan. These degree apprenticeships will help build a Britain where everyone has the reward of a meaningful job and a decent standard of living."

A Leadership Coup At Crawley Council?

Two weeks ago in my ever popular Crawley Observer column which is below the picture, I wrote about the economy and the importance of getting that right so that we can fund public services for the long term. Speaking of the Crawley Observer columns, has Cllr Peter Lamb been secretly replaced as Leader of the Council by Cllr Chris Oxlade? I ask this as for several weeks now, Cllr Lamb's Leaders column has been written by Cllr Oxlade.

I offer further evidence for this potential secret leadership coup, as there has been a published change of Cabinet responsibilities at the Council. The (former?) Leader has officially taken over part of Cllr Chris Oxlade's Community Engagement portfolio, by becoming the Council's representative on the Sussex Police and Crime Panel.

I could be on to something here or Labour could just be cynically  promoting their Parliamentary candidate by giving him maximum publicity in his Councillor role. However, whenever one of my group tries to ask a question at Full Council about the blurred  boundaries of the Crawley Labour Parliamentary Candidate being promoted by the Council in his Councillor or his DJ business role, the Labour Mayor always rules the question out of order.       

"Another senior business leader has warned about the economic risks of Labour winning the general election. The Chief Executive of Boots is quoted as saying that Ed Miliband’s plan for power was not helpful for business and would be “a catastrophe” for Britain. It was very telling that in response, rather than address the issues raised, the Labour Party launched a co-ordinated social media smearing campaign against Boots’ Chief Executive.

I place great emphasis on the economy because it underpins everything government and councils do and everything we would like to do. While not being unduly influenced, we do need to listen to businesses that are the wealth creators and politicians need to create the right conditions for business to thrive. Ultimately, a successful economy provides the funding for all the public services we rely on.

No politician should be trusted to deliver on protecting our public services if they are unable to deliver the right economic conditions that provide the money to fund them. Labour is claiming they can fund public services and eliminate the deficit by clobbering the rich. On the face of it, this may sound attractive as the majority of us are not very wealthy so we are led to believe that most of us wouldn’t be affected. However, Labour are taking us all for mugs by trying to appeal to the worst instincts in people, that being the politics of envy.

History has shown that taxes that punish success and encourage wealthy people to move their money abroad and invest elsewhere, has a damaging effect on our economy. As has been evident since Labour crashed the economy in 2008, when the economy suffers we all suffer. In reality higher taxes does not raise more revenue. What it does do is create a downward spiral where thresholds at which taxes are paid have to be lowered meaning the majority of us end up paying more tax in order to stop government revenues falling. Be very wary of politicians claiming they will clobber the rich saying that it won’t adversely affect you, because eventually it always does."