I am looking for young VIPs for my Volunteer Intern Programme.

At the core of every successful election campaign is a group of committed volunteers engaging with voters and driving a positive message through a range of campaign activities.

My campaign in Batley and Spen is no different and already includes highly energised and skilled young volunteers from sixth forms, colleges and universities.

Therefore, I’d would like to invite a number of 16-21-year-olds in the Batley and Spen constituency to join the team which offers a structured volunteer programme.

Young people are essential to revitalising politics in the UK. The traditional party activist is, unfortunately, ageing and many from all political parties are not as active as they used to be.

Obama’s campaign in the US reached out to young people and they in turn engaged with the voters to drive positive messages. It is my experience that young people are attracted to campaigns if they feel that they are affecting change and there is a “professional” element to their participation and their skills are utilised.

One of my interns has just obtained an interview at Cambridge University and offered lower grade entry to a top ten Russell university because of his work with my colleagues and me; there is mutual benefit.

I promise that there is never a dull moment and, above all, the message is “you will have fun”.

The programme:

Flexibility is required but generally one weekend full day and one weekday evening per week

To apply:

Apply via email to: janice4batley@aol.com stating why you want to be part of my campaign; what skills you bring; your flexibility for travel to London; why the Conservatives should win the next election and a short CV 

Janice Small, PPC for Batley and Spen and Imtiaz Ameen, prospective local election candidate for Dewsbury Dewsbury South speak out against Islamic extremists in their communities.  They are calling on all Muslims in the West Yorkshire area to condemn the planned march of Islam4UK through the town of Wootten Bassett.

Janice has long campaigned for freedom of speech and civil liberties and ran Yorkshire MP David Davis’s Liberty by-election campaign last year.  She said:

“I believe that free speech usually exposes the extremists in our midst and am always happy to debate and expose others’ abhorrent views like the BNP and Hizb ut tahrir, but we cannot allow this group to effectively spit on the graves of our brave servicemen and women and would deeply offend our dead soldiers’ families”.

Janice was out and about in the snow this weekend and spoke to a number of Muslims who were quick to condemn the planned march through Wootton Bassett: matter what we think of our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and stand up to extremists whether from this group or the far right. Janice Small, Conservative PPC for Batley and Spen added that

“The Muslims in the constituency of Batley and Spen are outraged that this sick and unrepresentative group are trying to speak in their name. The people of Batley and Spen wholeheartedly condemn the actions of this abhorrent group and call on the Home Secretary to ban its march. We must support our troops no matter what we think about our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and stand up to extremists whether from this group or the far right”.

Janice has links on her website and Facebook page to sign a petition to stop this group:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240318/100-000-people-Facebook-protest-Islamic-extremist-march-military-town.html

Imtiaz explained: “ I am normally against banning marches but on this occasion the location of the proposed march is what has led me to reach my conclusion to seek a ban. I don’t agree with banning this group as its members will simply reappear with another name and by the time we have worked out who the new group is, they will have done plenty of unsavoury work without being noticed - Islam4uk is simply a re branding of Al Mohajiroun which was formed by ex Hizb ut Tahrir members. By leaving the group in its current form subject to it not breaking any laws, my view is that it is easier to police and keep a watchful eye on”.

Imtiaz’s posting on the influential ConservativeHome blog can be found at :

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2010/01/imtiaz-ameen-islam4uks-planned-march-through-wootton-bassett-must-be-banned-.html

“West Yorkshire is the battleground at the next election and the choice for voters is clear: Vote Labour or anything else but Conservative and get Brown again”.

I remain very optimistic about Tory prospects at the next General Election. I think Labour is exhausted, disunited and badly-led. It has wrecked the country's finances. It has presided over a catastrophic loss of confidence in parliamentary standards. Social mobility has collapsed. Anti-social behaviour has exploded. Brown and Blair led our brave military to defeat in southern Iraq.

The Conservatives' opinion poll advantage has been remarkably stable since Brown bottled his autumn 2007 opportunity for a honeymoon election. The Tories have cornered all three ends of Robert Worcester's (MORI opinion polls) iron triangle of political success; (1) our leader is preferred to theirs; (2) we are more trusted with the economy; and (3) we are seen as united. We also have the superior elections machine - outgunning Labour and the Liberals in local government, parliamentary by-elections, web-based activity and in fundraising. However, I am not complacent in Batley and Spen. The voters are making up their minds. They like what we are saying, are fed up with Gordon Brown and are worried about their children’s education and the UK’s bankruptcy. West Yorkshire is the battleground at the next election and the choice for voters is clear: Vote Labour or anything else but Conservative and get Brown again.

The great fact is that government is going to be hellish after the election ( whoever wins). The new government will have to make the deepest cuts that any British political party has ever made.

There'll be no time to relax into the job. There'll need to be an emergency budget to reassure desperately anxious international investors.

Every cut will be opposed by the unions and their £25m war chest. The war chest that they openly admit will be used to fight us every step of the way. Does anyone get a feeling of déjà vu back to the 1970s? It will be Red Robbo and Scargill all over again. I remember doing my homework by candlelight; the rubbish piling up in the street and the dead lying unburied. We cannot go back to those times. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected to mend a broken economy and it’s the same in 2010 but in addition this time we need mend a broken society too. The unions took us on then and they are threatening to do so again. And, this will be the first time cutbacks have been made in the internet age. Every local and national interest group will mobilise online to fight cuts.

Labour's march through the quangocracy will ensure that much of Britain's government will remain under the Left's control even with Tories in charge of Whitehall departments. Left-leaning heads of quangos and charities will lead the opposition to cuts (and they'll be presented as independent minds on the Today programme).

To cut the size of the state without a clear electoral mandate in these circumstances will be a very risky enterprise even if The Mail, Telegraph and Tory base rallies to the cause. So voters, we need your votes, we cannot risk a hung Parliament. Remember, we are ring-fencing NHS and education spending.

There is an additional constitutional reason for securing a mandate. If elected, David Cameron's government will be the first Conservative government not to have a majority in the Lords.  The Lords will be much more likely to block measures that weren't signaled in the manifesto. Again, Lords’ Reform needs to be put firmly back on the agenda with an eighty per cent elected Upper House.

The extent to which David Cameron seeks a mandate as well as a majority at the next General Election remains the big strategic choice. I am glad that David has led the call for a TV debate against Brown. We do need a 'TV moment' where David is unambiguous about the pain ahead. David and George Osbourne need to be able to say that they warned the country that they would do these difficult things and they are now doing them. The message should be framed as necessary to put Britain back on track; 'We are going through a tunnel but there is a great future for Britain at the end of that tunnel'. We need a clip from David that will be replayed on TV in the years to come as the truth-telling moment when David made it clear what was coming. Our austerity message needs to be infused with special measures to help the very poorest.

So, here’s to 2010 and a General Election. I do hope the people of Batley and Spen send a resounding message to Labour and Gordon Brown and vote Conservative whenever that election may be called. It will be a hard fought election, notwithstanding the bias in the electoral system, which means that we have to be 10 points ahead to even secure a majority of one. So, every vote counts and we will not take your votes for granted.

David Cameron will almost certainly be prime minister and I do hope with all my heart that I am sitting with him to get this country back on its feet, to put the Great back into Great Britain and to mend our broken society. But that’s up to the voters of Batley and Spen. I promise to use my vote in Parliament at every opportunity, to raise many questions on your behalf – even though it may be uncomfortable for my government - and represent you as an MP, as a legislator, and not abuse your trust in terms of expenses or time spent in Parliament. If I don’t vote, raise questions and take part in debates then I will not be doing my job properly.

Best wishes everyone and a Happy New Year.

Janice

Promoted by Maurice Cook, Spring Villa, 16a Church Lane, Brighouse, HD6 1AT

Janice's response to the Pre-Budget Report rip-off for ordinary families

To give people hope for the future, the country needs to change direction. Conservatives are honest, united, determined and ready to deliver the tough and radical change Britain needs to rebuild our broken economy, mend our broken society and fix our broken politics.

Conservatives have bold plans to deal with the big problems the country faces.  To deal with Labour's Jobs Crisis we have published our detailed plan to Get Britain Working.  Labour are now the party of unemployment - we are the party of new jobs and new opportunities.  To deal with Labour's Debt Crisis we have been honest with the British people about the tough decisions we need to take.  Unlike Gordon Brown, we won't duck them and treat the British people like fools.

Labour's Pre-Budget Report
Because Labour have failed to take the tough decisions on spending before the election, there will be higher taxes and higher interest rates if they win the election.

Now we know the real victims of Gordon Brown's class war - hard working families. The central measure in the PBR was a tax on jobs that hits everyone earning over £20,000 - well below the average wage. Of all Labour's tax rises, this will be the one that it is the Conservatives' priority to avoid.

Because Labour are weak, they failed to deal with the £178 billion deficit and cancelled the pre-election Comprehensive Spending Review. Instead they have been forced to admit that a Labour victory at the election would mean:

·       £7.8 billion higher taxes - £370 more per family - after the election;
·       Of this, £6.5 billion - £310 more per family - is a rise in National Insurance, a tax on anyone earning over £20,000;

·       Labour's planned tax on jobs is now £200 a year on someone earning £30,000 a year, or £60 on average earnings of around £23,000.

Gordon Brown stopped the Treasury taking action on the deficit
The Conservative view that we need to deal with Britain's record debts sooner is now endorsed by the Treasury itself. Gordon Brown stands charged of the most serious allegation - that he has overruled the advice of the Treasury and put his own political interests ahead of the economic interests of the nation. If he has imperilled the jobs and prosperity of millions for the sake of his wretched political dividing lines, then he has betrayed the responsibilities of the office he holds.

We now need urgently for the Treasury to publish its own plan for dealing with Britain's debts, so we can see the truth and get this country back on track. This would not have happened if we had an independent Office for Budget Responsibility, as we propose.

IFS analysis shows hidden tax rises and spending cuts in the PBR
The Pre-Budget Report unraveled within 24 hours, as we see just how deceitful the Chancellor has been. How depressingly cynical that Labour were not straight with the public about spending cuts and tax rises. Why do we have to wait for the small print to see the truth?

Labour's cynical benefits cuts
When they look at the small print, families and the disabled will be bitterly disappointed that what was presented as a permanent increase in benefits, including child benefit and disability living allowance, in fact turned out to be a temporary rise for the period of the election, followed by a real terms cut.  How depressingly cynical - it tells you everything you need to know about how this Government has lost its moral compass. People will not be fooled by this.

Labour plans to cut NHS spending
Analysis of the PBR shows that, as a result of their planned National Insurance rise, £446 million of which will come from the NHS, Labour plan a real cut in health spending.  A Conservative government will protect health spending - because there are huge challenges facing the NHS in the years ahead - and we will try to avoid Labour's National Insurance rise.  Of all Labour's tax rises, it is our priority to avoid their tax on jobs.

We desperately need a change of direction.  A Conservative government will take three key steps to rebuild our broken economy:

·       First, we still face a financial crisis.  So we need to get banks lending again.  For nearly a year, we have been calling for a National Loan Guarantee Scheme to underwrite bank lending to businesses, to save businesses and protect jobs. And we think that instead of paying our significant cash bonuses, retail banks should be rebuilding their balance sheets so they can start lending to businesses again.

·       Second, we face a debt crisis.  To restore investor confidence, we need a credible plan to get the £175 billion annual deficit under control.  That means taking the tough choices in public spending we have set out, such as a one-year public sector pay freeze except for the lowest paid.

·       Third, we face a jobs crisis.  So we need a plan for growth. We will abolish all tax on jobs created by new companies for two years; we will introduce a radical new programme for everyone who is unemployed so we can Get Britain Working again; and we will create a high-skill economy by building a new generation of technical schools, creating 100,000 new apprenticeships, and funding 10,000 extra university places.