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The visit last week of Ken Clarke (pictured left hosting a meeting with me), George Osborne and Lord Freud highlighted just how important my party think this City will be as we set about rescuing our country from the mess it has been landed in by Labour incompetence and profligacy.

The article below was published in The Derby Evening Telegraph on Sat 12 Dec.

Tories’ Osborne and Clarke hail Derby’s key role in ‘renaissance’

Saturday, December 12, 2009, 07:30

SHADOW Chancellor George Osborne believes Derby has a key role to play in helping the economy recover following the recession.

And he has pledged that if the Conservatives are elected to office next May, he will do more to help the city’s key manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce, Toyota and Bombardier, along with their suppliers, to improve their productivity and raise the skills of their workers.

Mr Osborne and Shadow Business Secretary Ken Clarke are currently touring the country to explain their plan for getting the country back on its feet.

In October, the Conservative Party launched its Get Britain Working manifesto, which aims to get more long-term unemployed people back into jobs and raise the number of apprenticeships.

Yesterday, they were in Derby to spread that message. At an event hosted by the Confederation of British Industry and Derby College, around 100 business leaders listened to Mr Osborne’s plans.

And before that event at the college’s Roundhouse campus on Pride Park, Mr Osborne and Mr Clarke paid a visit to Derby’s biggest employers, aero engine-maker Rolls-Royce.

They were there to find out more about the company’s highly-successful apprenticeship scheme.

Mr Osborne said: “One of our key aims is to create more apprenticeships. We are looking to create around 1,000 extra places in Derby alone.

“Rolls-Royce already has an excellent apprenticeship scheme. Being in power is our goal, but one of the advantages of being in opposition is that we have the time to get out there and consult with leading companies such as Rolls-Royce.

“That is why we chose to come to Derby in the first place, because it is home to many of our leading manufacturers.”

In the past, Rolls-Royce has received state aid from other countries to build factories. One example is a new test facility which received funding from the German government.

Mr Clarke said: “Companies like Rolls-Royce are not just vital to Derby, they are vital to this country.

“High-value, high-tech businesses are this country’s future. They make things which other countries want.

“We should not let these companies face the challenge on their own.”

Mr Osborne and Mr Clarke said that backing manufacturing would help restore balance to the UK economy.

Mr Clarke said: “For more than a decade, manufacturing has been neglected and too much reliance has been put on our financial services sector in London.

“We have seen the implications of doing that with the downturn. There needs to be a renaissance in manufacturing.

“We have the companies and we have the capability.

“In Derby, companies have been successfully manufacturing for years. What we want to do is help them to be more successful.

“And it is not just about the Rolls-Royces, Toyotas and Bombardiers. It is also about helping the supply chain who have encountered their own difficulties with issues such as credit.”

A major Derby employer which is waiting to see if the Government will back its expertise is train-maker Bombardier.

Earlier this year, the Government announced Japanese firm Hitachi as the preferred bidder for the £7.5bn Intercity Express Programme, which will replace the UK’s ageing high-speed train fleet.

Although Hitachi has pledged to build a new factory in the UK, much of the high-value research and development work will be carried out in Japan.

Bombardier bid unsuccessfully for that contract, which would have filled a big gap in its order book. The company, which employs 2,400 people, recently laid off 140 people and is still awaiting the Government’s decision on another multi-billion pound deal, Thameslink.

The Derby Telegraph launched a campaign calling on the Government to reconsider its decision on IEP, which received support from Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers.

Yesterday, Mr Osborne and Mr Clarke were asked whether they would have another look at IEP if they were voted into power.

Mr Osborne said: “I would be willing to look into it. I think this issue exposes other underlying problems in our economy.”

Among the audience at the Roundhouse was Colin S Walton, chairman of Bombardier UK.

Following the speeches by Mr Clarke, Mr Osborne and the Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform, David Freud, they took part in a question and answer session.

Mr Walton explained to the panel the problems faced by his suppliers in securing credit from banks and asked what a Conservative government would do about it.

Mr Osborne said: “Creating a better banking system is the biggest challenge a new government will face. I’m very aware of the frustrations that many businesspeople in this room feel.

“The current government has made attempts to free up credit. One or two ideas have worked, but the majority have been a failure.

“We are currently working on a strategy that would help get credit going. It will be an absolutely crucial part of our overall economic strategy.”

Mr Clarke and Mr Osborne also said they would push for a simpler tax system and cut the burden of over-regulation on business.

Mr Clarke said: “Large companies have large human resources departments to deal with all the regulation.

“Small businesses do not have this luxury and they don’t have the time to wade through the latest changes in regulation. It costs them time and money.

“We want to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship. One of our policies will be to make new businesses exempt from paying national insurance on the first 10 employees they take on over a two-year period.”

Mr Osborne said: “In this week’s Pre-budget report, the Chancellor announced a 0.5% increase on national insurance. A tax on jobs at a time when businesses are trying to recover does not make sense.

“This increase is due in 2011 and if we are in power, it will be something I will look at.”

One of the most telling questions came from one of the students at Derby College, who asked him whether he and the Conservatives could be trusted to deliver on its promises.

He said: “I was in charge of David Cameron’s campaign when he was elected leader of the party and he is delivering. Many of our policies are being stolen by the Labour administration.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the voter if they want change. What I will say is that I am committed to Derby and the East Midlands region.”

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.

Our welfare policy paper sets out a radical programme of reform that will provide ladders of opportunity for millions of British people. It will be the biggest shake-up of the welfare state for 60 years:

• Every claimant potentially able to work will be engaged in welfare to work activities aimed at helping them back into work as quickly as possible
• For those unable to find work there’ll be long-term community projects to help them get back into a working environment
• Those not willing to take part will face tough sanctions

Our welfare programme will be delivered by private and voluntary providers, who will only be paid when someone gets and keeps a job.

Combined with our commitment to end the couple penalty in the tax credits system, our radical welfare plans will help lift almost half a million children out of poverty.

Download our welfare policy paper to find out more

PENSIONS 

We need to reinvigorate a culture of savings in Britain. We will raise the basic state pension in line with earnings to help stop the spread of the means test. At the same time, we will look at how we can simplify the rules and regulations around pensions to encourage companies to offer high quality pension provision to all employees.

We have called for emergency pension protection in the light of the troubles in the financial markets, but Labour have so far refused to act. We want the rules which force people to lock themselves into long-term pension arrangements, either on their retirement date or their 75th birthday, to be suspended until the current turmoil has receded.

A Conservative Government would help the millions of pensioners who have suffered from a decade of Gordon Brown’s tax raids by raising the tax allowance for pensioners by £2,000 to £11,490.

SUPPORTING OLDER PEOPLE

As well as recognising the contributions older people make to society, we also need to help those elderly people who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society.

So a Conservative Government will look at ways of creating more peronalisation in health and social care, and more patient power.

In addition, we want to see much greater use of direct payments and individual budgets, which give people real control over their care. ]]> http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/welfare-and-pensions/feed/ 0 http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/international-development/ http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/international-development/#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:16:46 +0000 Jack http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/?p=156

With billions of people around the world living in poverty, we have an urgent moral and practical imperative to make our international development policy more effective.

Moral, because it is our responsibility to help those struggling with hunger, illiteracy and environmental instability.

Practical, because failed and impoverished states are incubators of disease, insecurity, and extremism, and so represent a clear threat to our national interest.

A Conservative Government will focus on improving three key areas of international development:

1) Aid

We are committed to achieving the UN target of spending 0.7% of national income as aid by 2013. Our top priority will be to ensure that every single pound of taxpayers’ money delivers the maximum impact – so we will establish an Independent Aid Watchdog to monitor the performance of the Department for International Development.

2) Trade

We will put maximum effort into achieving an ambitious, pro-development global trade deal, because trade will do more to eliminate poverty than anything else.

3) Conflict resolution

We will give much greater importance to conflict prevention and resolution – because a nation mired in conflict remains vulnerable until the fighting stops, no matter how much aid or trade it receives.

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.

Gordon Brown has left Britain’s economy ill-prepared for a downturn: he borrowed in a boom and left us with one of biggest budget deficits in the advanced world; he stripped the Bank of England of its powers to supervise the City; he actively encouraged the risk-taking culture in our banks; and he claimed to have abolished boom and bust.

It is now vital that we restore stability to the British economy and responsibility to our public finances. Unfortunately, Brown’s economic mismanagement means we can’t offer big upfront net tax cuts like some other countries.

But we can still help families and businesses right now.

• We will freeze council tax for two years by reducing wasteful spending on advertising and consultancy in central government
• We will abolish Stamp Duty for nine out of ten first-time buyers and raise the Inheritance Tax threshold to £1 million. Both of these changes will be funded by a flat-rate charge on non-domiciles.
• We will provide tax cuts for new jobs with a £2.6bn package of tax breaks to get people into work, funded by money that would otherwise go on unemployment benefit
• We will cut the main rate of corporation tax to 25p and the small companies’ rate to 20p, paid for by scrapping complex reliefs and allowances
• We will introduce a £50bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme to underwrite
  bank lending to businesses and get credit flowing again
• We will give small and medium-sized businesses a six-month VAT holiday, funded by a 7.5% interest rate on delayed payments
• We will cut National Insurance by 1% for six months for firms with fewer than five employees, paid for from the above changes to the company tax regime
• We will encourage a new culture of saving by abolishing income tax on savings for everyone on the basic rate of tax and raising the tax allowance for pensioners by £2,000 to £11,490 

To repair the broken economy in the long run, we need economic responsibility. That means:

• A responsible fiscal policy, bolstered by independent oversight.
• A responsible financial policy, bolstered by a renewed role for the Bank of England
• A responsible attitude to economic development that fosters more balanced economic growth

It is only the Conservatives that are offering real economic change.

Download ‘Reconstruction – Our Plan for a Strong Economy’ to find out more ]]> http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/economy/feed/ 0 http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/business/ http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/business/#comments Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:42:33 +0000 Jack http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/?p=79

Our goal is simple: to make Britain the easiest and best place in the world to set up and grow a business.

Under Labour, business has become increasingly burdened by corporate taxes, red tape and the lack of enterprise leadership in government. As a result, we are falling down the global scale of economic competitiveness.

A Conservative Government would help businesses struggling in this recession by:

• Establishing a temporary National Loans Guarantee Scheme to get credit flowing again and help protect jobs
• Allowing struggling firms to defer their VAT bills for up to six months
• Cutting small firms’ payroll taxes
• Helping companies with the costs of hiring new staff by giving tax breaks for new jobs

And we would ensure Britain is one of the most competitive economies in which to do business in the future by:

• Cutting the main rate of corporation tax
• Cancelling Labour’s planned increase in the small companies tax rate, and cutting the rate instead
• Reducing the burden of regulation to give businesses more freedom and greater flexibility
• Simplifying employment law to make it easier to hire people
• Improving skills training and apprenticeships
• Reforming the Regional Development Agencies to create a vibrant, business-focused force
• Strengthening UK Trade and Investment to give British business a powerful voice abroad
• Increasing government procurement from small firms

We recognise the huge contribution business makes to society – and that’s why we want the modern Conservative Party to be not just the party of business but the party of responsible business.

By ensuring government and business work together, rather than micro-managing from the top down, we will achieve far more for British society than Labour have ever done.

Find out more about our policies to help Britain’s businesses by downloading our plan for a strong economy ]]> http://www.newderbymp.co.uk/2009/03/business/feed/ 0