Jack Perschke » Community

David Cameron’s Video – Why Vote Conservative?

Jack — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:20:57 +0000

If you’re umming and aaahing about whether or not to vote Conservative at the next election, I hope this helps.

More Damage to Stricken Hippodrome

Jack — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:35:41 +0000

Another fire struck the Hippodrome yesterday – how long can we leave this listed building to rot in the centre of our city?

Something has to be done. Under Conservative proposals it will be easier for communities to form Community Land Trusts so that local people can come together to stop this kind of decay from setting in.

We need to do somethign together but first we need to change this failing government.

David Cameron Backs Sure Start in Derby and Beyond

Jack — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:41:28 +0000

Today, the Conservative Party have set out how we will help the poorest families in society. David Cameron shared a platform with the thoughtful Labour MP Frank Field. He has explained how we will keep Sure Start, and how we will strengthen it by recruiting 4,200 new Sure Start health visitors to provide universal support to families with children under five and a more effective way of reaching out to the most vulnerable families in Derby and across the country.

We believe Sure Start needs to work better because the people who need it most – disadvantaged and dysfunctional families – are not getting enough of the benefit. We will improve Sure Start by taking it back to its original purpose of early intervention, increasing its focus on the neediest families, and better involving organisations with a track record in parenting interventions. Drawing on the key principles behind our wider public service reform programme – practicality, independence and accountability – we will create a new kind of Sure Start Children’s Centre to replace failing existing provision.

This is part of our mission to build the strong society based on the values of responsibility and aspiration. For that, we need responsible individuals. We can help people take more responsibility for themselves by focusing on the three areas where character is formed in our early lives – in the family, at school and through the influences of wider society – and take action to ingrain responsibility through each.

Big Eric

Jack — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:17:25 +0000

Last Thursday I was delighted to listen to the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Eric Pickles, discuss the future should the people of the United Kingdom elect a Conservative government.

The thing that really delighted me was the passion with which he talked about being a party for everyone. We cannot afford to be a party for the white middle classes. Everyone has to see the benefit of a Conservative revolution. If you’re unemployed in an inner-city or crofting in the outer-Hebrides, you should be able to feel the benefit of a future Conservative government.

Now that benefit may not be the one we’ve become used to under a centralized, high spending Labour government. It may be less tangible than a rise in job seekers’ allowance. I believe that benefit will be felt in terms old fashioned things that we’ve forgotten about under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The things a Conservative government will bring are economic stability, social mobility and a future worth passing on to the next generation.

We can’t keep mortgaging our children’s inheritance. The environment and the economy have been pillaged for too long. Eric made it clear to everyone that listened – a future Conservative government will improve our lot today and help us salvage something from this government’s mess that is worth passing on.

Voluntary Sector

Jack — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:20:11 +0000

We want to see a transformation in the role of community groups, social enterprises and the voluntary sector to help build a stronger society for all of us.

A Conservative Government would create a more supportive environment for philanthropy and volunteering, reduce the bureaucracy faced by charities and voluntary groups, and enable them to earn a return on any investment they make in providing public services.

We would enhance the role played by charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises in tackling the problems facing our society, with a series of measures including:

Reforming the Gift Aid system of tax relief on charitable donations to encourage more people to give to charity
Ending the hi-jacking of lottery funds for Ministers’ pet projects by replacing the Big Lottery Fund with an independent Voluntary Action Lottery Fund, which would spend all its income on worthy causes
Enabling charities and voluntary organisations to make a fair return on money they spend on providing public services, just as private businesses already do
Creating a single, simple website to advertise Government grant schemes, helping smaller charities to win a fair share of Government funding
Encouraging regular volunteering by giving central Government employees an annual volunteering leave entitlement
Reforming the criminal records checks system, which is currently slow, bureaucratic and puts people off volunteering.
Creating Social Enterprise Zones – areas where relaxed tax and benefit rules would help social entrepreneurs and the voluntary sector deal with problems such as drug abuse
Creating a new Office of Civil Society and Civil Society Select Committee to fight for the interests of the voluntary sector in Government and Parliament

Download our policy paper on volunteering

Local Government

Jack — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:17:19 +0000

We are the largest party of local government in Britain, with almost 10,000 councillors across Britain.

Conservative councils are greener, helping to improve the local environment and protect green spaces in our towns and villages. They are safer, fighting the crime, anti-social behaviour, vandalism and graffiti that ruin people’s quality of life. And, at a time when people are being hit by the economic downturn, they offer better value for money.

We believe strongly in local democracy. Too many decisions which affect local communities are currently taken by officials in Whitehall. A Conservative Government will change that by:

Giving more powers and freedoms to local councils, and making town halls more accountable to local people
Abolishing Labour’s quango state, for example by scrapping the unelected regional assemblies
Giving councils greater control over the spending of money that they receive from Whitehall
Allowing local residents to veto high council tax rises in order to keep council tax down

Our aim is to empower and embolden people to take action themselves, whether as individuals or as members of independent organisations, voluntary groups and social enterprises.

Immigration

Jack — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:16:14 +0000

Immigration can be a real benefit to the UK, but only if it is properly controlled with its impact on the economy, public services and social cohesion taken into account.

Our approach will ensure that we admit both the right people for our economy and also the right number of people. For economic migrants from outside the EU, we propose a two-stage process:

The first stage is making eligible for admission those who will benefit the economy
The second stage is an annual limit to control the numbers admitted with regard to the wider effects on society and the provision of public services

A Conservative Government would also apply transitional controls as a matter of course in the future for all new EU entrants.

To enforce such controls, and to prevent illegal immigration and combat criminals who compromise our security, we need a new, integrated approach to managing our borders.

So we will introduce a dedicated Border Police Force to bring together all the agencies responsible for border control.

Unlike Labour’s Border Agency, which does not even include the police, our force will have the power to stop, search, detain and prosecute the terrorists, traffickers and illegal immigrants who currently slip through the net. Only then will we be able to start making Britain safer.

Housing

Jack — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:15:39 +0000

We need more homes – but they must be built in a way that protects the environment and provides the infrastructure to support local communities.

That’s why local people need to decide where new homes should go, instead of Whitehall bureaucrats. And that’s why we will use incentives to encourage new homes to be built, rather than letting unelected quangos impose unsustainable development on communities.

Labour’s planning rules have resulted in a shortage of family homes and the bulldozing of homes with gardens – and they have prevented the market building new homes with parking spaces and gardens. A Conservative Government will change these rules as a matter of urgency.

Mr. Brown’s property tax hikes have helped kick a whole generation off the housing ladder. We will address this by:

Scrapping Stamp Duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £250,000, so that nine out of ten pay nothing
Abolishing Home Information Packs which have made moving house even more expensive and difficult

Whereas Labour have curtailed the right of social tenants to own their home, a Conservative Government will make it easier for social tenants to own or part-own their home. This will not only help people up the housing ladder, but also ensure residents have greater pride and a greater stake in their community.

Health

Jack — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:15:10 +0000

Few things matter more to our country than the NHS – it’s an institution that binds the nation together.

And a Conservative Government will work tirelessly to earn the trust of the patients and staff of the NHS.

We will always provide the funding the NHS needs and are committed to real increases in health spending
We will scrap Labour’s plans to cut A&E and maternity services, which are not supported by evidence that patient access and care will be improved, so that patients have access to high-quality services at their local hospital
We will protect family doctor services by opposing Labour’s plans to impose impersonal “polyclinics” at the expense of local GP surgeries
We will make money available for 45,000 more single rooms in the NHS over five years, almost doubling their current number. This will mean every patient going into hospital for planned care can have a single room if they want one
We will reform the way drugs are priced so that all new treatments that are clinically effective are made available, ending the situation whereby cancer drugs that are routinely available in the rest of Europe and not provided in this country

Most importantly, we will set the NHS free from the ministerial meddling that has resulted in money being diverted from patient care to wasteful bureaucracy. We want to deliver an NHS that provides the best health standards in the world, and ensure every patient is able to choose a good healthcare provider for their needs.

Our draft NHS Autonomy and Accountability Bill, published in 2007, set out plans to release NHS staff from top-down interference and allow them to concentrate on doing what they do best: providing top-quality care to patients.

A vital part of this is the creation of an independent NHS Board to take responsibility for dividing up NHS funds between different parts of the country away from Ministerial meddling. This body will allocate money fairly and in a way which will help secure equal access to healthcare for all.

Find out more about our health policies by downloading Our Plan for NHS Improvement

Family

Jack — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:13:57 +0000

A strong and stable family provides children with the security and affection they need. By supporting the family, we can increase opportunity and ensure everyone has the best possible start in life. Our ambition is to make Britain the most family-friendly country in the world.

Our efforts to reduce educational inequality, end child poverty and tackle crime will be undermined if we do not support families.

So a Conservative Government will give families the support, flexibility and financial help they need.

Financial help:

Money worries can put a huge strain on relationships – so we will end the couple penalty in the benefits system and recognise marriage in the tax and benefits system

Flexibility:

We will introduce a new system of flexible parental leave which gives mothers and fathers 12 months’ leave to split between them
We will extend the right to request flexible working to all parents with children under the age of 18, and ensure the public sector becomes a world leader in providing flexible working opportunities

Support:

We are committed to introducing a universal home health visiting service to help families through the challenges that come with a new child. The number of health visitors will be raised by 4,200 – and new mothers will be provided with a guaranteed level of support for the first five years
We will support a diverse childcare system, with parents’ needs met by a variety of providers, including childminders and private, voluntary and independent nurseries

Find out more about our policies to help families by downloading Our Plan for Social Reform