Working for Portsmouth

Welcome to my website. This is a website where you can contribute your comments and find out more about me and what I am up to in Portsmouth. I am hoping to use as little paper as possible because in an ideal world it would be good to have a paperless campaign, but I am aware that not everyone has access to email so you will be receiving the occasional leaflet through the door. However, I will update this website frequently so please visit it often to find out what is going on or where you can meet me.

Portsmouth is a great city, there is so much going on for everyone but there are things that we need to work on and I am determined to make things happen.

I have given up work to become a full time parliamentary candidate and, I hope, a full time Member of Parliament and I will have no other paid responsibilities or jobs while I perform that role.

So let me know what is happening in your patch and if you want me or a Conservative councillor to come and sort things out.

Conservatives Support Small businesses

The credit crunch is beginning to affect our small businesses and I am out on the streets with a survey to find out exactly how they are getting on. If you are a small business please complete the online survey. If you are not, there is a residents' survey which is coming up with interesting statistics. I am also handing out some information on rate rebates for small businesses and you can find out more out this at www.conservatives.com/smallshops

Conservatives have also called for a package of measures to help the economy and local businesses:

• Cutting tax on businesses that create jobs. The Government should give £2.6 billion of tax breaks to employers that create jobs. This scheme uses money that would otherwise be spent on welfare payments to give tax cuts to employers who hire new workers who have been unemployed for three months or more.
• Cutting payroll taxes for small companies. The Government should cut payroll taxes by 1p for small companies with fewer than 5 employees.
• Cutting corporate tax for all small and medium firms, reducing the small companies' rate of corporation tax from 22p to 20p.
• Deferring small business VAT bills. Small and medium firms would be able to defer their VAT bills for up to 6 months.
• Help businesses get the credit they need, by freeing up the credit market by creating a new state institution that underwrites lending from the banks to British businesses.

We must support our local businesses and make sure that this Christmas is successful for them.

Freedom of the City

While it was very disappointing to hear that Harry Redknapp has moved to Spurs, I was pleased that we were able to recognise his achievements with Pompey and the success of the football team at the Freedom of the City. There was some understandable booing when Harry came in but there was a lot of support and gratitude for what he has achieved. When Jeremy Hunt and I visited the Respect Club earlier this year, all the coaches said that Harry was an inspirational manager and always has time for everyone. He will be much missed.

The biggest cheer went to Tony Adams who had just taken over as manager and we wish him well.

I was really excited to be so near to all the famous footballers and have made my children very envious.

Surveys

The Conservatives are interested in hearing what YOU think about various issues, both local and national. We've created a new section on surveys so that you can express your own thoughts and let us know what topics you care about.

Click here to see our first survey, aimed at small businesses.

Great South Run

Spot the difference...
This was one of the biggest challenges of my life as I am not a natural runner but I managed it in 2 hours 26 seconds and have raised over £400 (I am still collecting money) for Cancer Research. I was also supporting the Southsea Traders and trying to raise awareness of what Southsea has to offer. I hope that all the runners had the energy afterwards to walk around Southsea and Portsmouth. The crowd were terrific even though it was raining and their cheers and encouragement kept people like me going as did the other runners. There were 19,500 runners so it will be interesting to know how much money was raised for charities. I am hoping to take part next year too and run a little faster....

Knife Crime

Following the large number of teenagers around the country dying from being stabbed, Cllr Linda Symes put forward a motion at Full Council in July which I back 100%. The motion was as follows:

That this council considers seek sources of funding to educate young people to be aware of the issues surrounding carrying knives. Although this has not been a major problem in this area, knife crime is on the increase in Portsmouth and in the wake of so many deaths of teenagers in other cities we should seek to prevent and educate young people before any incidents occur. This should be a multi-agency approach and sources of funding should be the Home Office, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry for Justice as well as partnerships with voluntary agencies.

I believe we should spend a lot more time in schools discussing these sorts of issues including anti-social behaviour and relationships. Young people are increasingly confused and as many parents are both working full time without the energy or time to talk to their children, perhaps it is now time for the education curriculum to devote more time to these types of issues.

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