Archive for the 'Worsley & Eccles South' Category

Still Paying For Labour Leaflets

Published on November 6, 2007 in National Comment and Worsley & Eccles South. 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I wrote about Barbara Keeley MP’s dubious use of the House of Commons “Communications Allowance” - basically a propaganda fund for (usually Labour) sitting MPs at the considerable expense of the taxpayer.

It seems however that Barbara is bordering on saintly compared with another nearby Labour politician, Transport Secretary and Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly. Unlike Barbara Keeley, whose propaganda was implicit, poor Ruth went the whole hog and had to apologise. She is not the only one.

(ConservativeHome have the graphic of Kelly’s leaflet)

No Election

Published on October 11, 2007 in National Comment and Worsley & Eccles South. 0 Comments

It’s now been four days since Gordon Brown’s non-election announcement, and rightly he has not been let off the hook since. Locally, I would have relished an election and the opportunity to debate the Labour Government’s shameful recent record in Walkden and across Salford:

  • The incomprehensible decision to close the maternity and neo-natal units at Hope Hospital.
  • The proposed closure of St George’s RC High School, an absurd decision made by Salford’s Labour Council and approved by the Labour Government.
  • A shambolic Government approach to public transport funding and the effective imposition of congestion charging.

When Gordon Brown finally dares to call a General Election in 2009 or 2010, it will be local Conservatives who are putting forward the policies to move Walkden, Worsley and Salford forward. I look forward to the debate.

Political Propaganda - At Your Expense

Published on September 28, 2007 in Worsley & Eccles South. 5 Comments

Those few local residents who don’t chuck advertising leaflets that come bundled with their copy of the Advertiser straight into the bin recycle bag will notice that alongside the Optical Express sale leaflet is a four-page A3 publication entitled “Barbara Keeley MP News”.

Now, the publication in question is plastered in a nice red colour with yellow trim, it is filled with stories about what the Government is doing, and there’s a big picture of Gordon Brown on page two. You would presume that the production and distribution of this newsletter would be paid for by the Labour Party, right? Wrong.

So who does pay for it? Well, if you look at the tiny writing down the side of the front page, it tells you:

Paid for by the Communications Allowance, House of Commons

Yes, that means you, the hard-working taxpayer, is paying for our local Labour MP’s political propaganda, and I defy anyone to argue that these leaflets are anything but. Not only is Barbara Keeley using taxpayers’ money for her own self-promotion, but I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that this leaflet has arrived just as Gordon Brown is mulling over a snap election. That said, the newsletter is dated “Summer 2007″ (a bit optimistic) so perhaps she is just a bit disorganised.

Of course, had I left it at that point, someone - probably Chris Paul - would have come along and pointed out that the sitting MPs of all political parties do the same. I’m sure Chris has a few choice words for the equivalent newsletter from Withington Liberal Democrat MP John Leech. That’s absolutely true, but it doesn’t make it right. I hope that a future Conservative Government will abolish these propaganda allowances, rather than significantly increasing it as this Labour Government have done.

Write To Them League Table

Published on September 17, 2007 in National Comment and Worsley & Eccles South. 2 Comments

My attention has been drawn to the Write To Them League Table measuring the responsiveness of our MPs to e-mails sent by constituencies.

The table makes grim reading for Worsley Labour MP Barbara Keeley, who ranks a miserable 583rd of the 633 MPs who are registered on the system - she replied promptly to less than one-third of e-mails sent via the site. Hazel Blears doesn’t fare much better, at 514th and a response rate of less than 50%. Only Eccles MP Ian Stewart comes out with any credit, and even he only ranks 325th. Could do much better.