Press release

Office: 01634 243234

Janice Small 07889 927430

www.batleyandspenconservatives.com

Janice4Batley@aol.com

Janice Small for

Batley & Spen

PPC for Batley and Spen, Janice Small, outlines a manifesto for change in Parliament to restore trust, honour and dignity.

British politics is in trouble. The anger from the public against MPs has been frightening, and as someone who wants to be your next MP I have to set out my agenda for change. As in my press release of 11 th May, I fully back David Cameron’s lead and stance on this issue, but I would go further.

As a member of the centre-right think tank, Direct Democracy - you will be aware of two of my colleagues, the main ‘thinkers’ in our group: Dan Hannan MEP, the man who ‘YouTubed’ the Prime Minister from the European Parliament and Douglas Carswell MP, the man who tabled the no confidence motion in the Speaker, we set out our agenda for a new Britain.

We have written two books on how to restore democracy and trust: An Agenda for a New Model Party and The Plan, a considerable amount of our thinking has been adopted as policy by David Cameron and which I would like to share with the voters of Batley and Spen.

The message is simple. Any politician that wants to champion change needs to change politics first and this is how we do it:

First, change the way we are selected

Change requires that we stop selecting our Parliamentary candidates by a small section of the electorate, namely the local political associations. I am lucky that my association consists of a cross section of society, background, age, ethnicity and councillors. But many are not so blessed.

Too few constituencies will be decided by marginal seats – the battleground to decide on how we elect to form a government is made by just 120 marginal constituencies. Too many MPs are ‘bed-blockers’ - unreformed, out of touch and with fantastic majorities that no amount of anger or swing could remove them.

We need real US style open primaries. Any who is registered to vote in the constituency should be allowed to vote. I was selected by this method.

Once elected, MPs should be subject to recall by voters. Constituents, provided they can muster a sufficient number of others who agreed, should be able to force a vote on whether to recall the member from Parliament and have a by-election. It would mean that MPs could not slowly decline in their safe seats.

Then we have to cut the number of MPs. David Cameron said this will be done by a boundary review and envisages a cull of around 10%. I would go further and reduce the number by 20%, reducing the cost of government.

Second, make politics more transparent

Parliament regularly exempts itself from regulations that it imposes on others. For example MPs are not subject to the usual tax scrutiny and do not have to provide receipts for expenses under £250.

My party championed the Sustainable Communities Act with cross party support which became law. Part of this Act allows for Local Spending Reviews. The Government is resisting this because it does not wish us to know what they spend in our name. Communities, through their local authority, have the right to challenge that expenditure allocation.

More and more taxpayers’ money is being spent by unelected quangos. In Gordon Brown’s first year in office, spending on so-called “executive non-departmental public bodies” rose by 16 per cent. The Taxpayers’ Alliance, has estimated that £64 billion a year is now spent by unelected quangos – equivalent to £2,550 for every single household. So the need for proper transparency in public spending is urgent. Yorkshire Future needs to be called into account about its expenditure and value. I personally would like to see the Regional Development Agencies (quangos) abolished and their remit given to locally elected councils. Local Spending Reviews would give transparency.

But in a consultation paper recently issued by the Department for Communities & Local Government, the plans for reports on local spending under the new Act have been severely watered down. Only spending information by councils and NHS Primary Care Trusts will be published – and this is already in the public domain. Ministers have broken their pledge to publish figures on quango and central government expenditure in local areas. This is astonishing arrogance by the government.

Third, take politics to the people

People are angry at high taxation, the way their money is wasted, “my vote doesn’t count”, “you’re all the same”. Just watch the BBC’s Question Time which, last night, was put out at 9pm on prime time TV, where the audience’s anger was palpable. I don’t know what the viewing figures were but last night’s audience reaction was mild in comparison to the previous two weeks.

How to give more power to the people:

The centralised and unreformed NHS, numerous quangos and countless police forces make policy without much reference to politicians or voters. Therefore:

• More powerful local government, at the moment they are emasculated by central government and regional quangos
• Locally elected police chiefs – accountable to the electorate, not the Home Secretary. If you want more police on the beat, a crackdown on drugs, less paperwork and bureaucracy, then locally elected police chiefs are for you.
• Locally accountable health services that are delivered.
• The European Union passes 75% of all regulation in this country and Parliament does not hold it to account, merely rubber-stamping decrees from Brussels. The Parliamentary Scrutiny Committee that sits in Parliament is a useless, toothless beast. The EU has the ability to exercise its diktats without proper democratic scrutiny. Oh, and by the way, let’s have our say on the Constitution (I refuse to call it the Lisbon Treaty) – give us our vote, Gordon
• Open selections for heads of executive agencies
• More referenda, if enough people sign a petition say, one million, then a vote has to be held

How Mike Wood can be more transparent

Local MP Mike Wood employs six staff. How can he justify this? Considerable numbers of MPs employ a researcher, someone to handle constituency communications and perhaps a part-time, expenses only intern. I know one MP, who has what is considered to be a deprived area, whose office has answered 14,000 pieces of correspondence and helped the same number of people since being elected in 2005, and with only 2.5 staff. What are Mike Wood’s staff doing? Perhaps he should publish their individual salaries, job titles, expenses, pensions and explain the amount of time spent in Parliament, the constituency and whether they work on Labour Party business and campaigns.

Mr Wood’s record in Parliament:

• He has an inconsistent record on voting transparency. You either want a transparent Parliament or you do not
• He has only spoken in two debates in the past year. Why?
• He has only voted in 49% of votes in Parliament, well below average. Why?
• He has received only 12 answers to written questions last year. Why?

Given the six staff, I am sure the public would like to know how he and his staff spend their time.

Transparency is key to restoring trust in politics.

Expenses

Mr Wood has published his expenses. He regularly claims between £300-500 for food.

Mr Wood regularly claims for cleaning in his constituency home. Why? Is he not capable of using a duster?

If I am elected as MP for Batley and Spen, I will not claim for food, we all have to eat and it is a disgrace that MPs claimed for food. I have accrued enough furniture in the 25 years that I have owned my own home so will not be claiming for furnishings, including bedding, etc. If I am lacking in furnishings, then there is always the excellent Redbrick Mills at my own expense, of course.

That’s my plan for change.