Politics Still Matters

Going door to door over the weekend, canvassing for Labour candidates in the Euro Elections, I've lost count of how many times people have -mostly - smiled sympathetically and just asked "why are you still doing this"?

They mostly mean, of course, why are volunteer, unpaid party foot soldiers like me - and my many party colleagues who were out on Saturday - still prepared to face up and take the flack on behalf of our elected politicians in the midst of the expenses furore.

The answer is that despite the appalling behaviour of some individual politicians I still believe that electing labour party representatives into office locally, at Holyrood, Westminster and Strasbourg really matters.

In Europe it matters because its only the socialist group who are working to create jobs, protect working people, enforce better regulation of financial services and deal with climate change.

Here in the Highlands it matters because Labour is doing everything it can to save jobs, keep businesses afloat and get Scotland back on track. Its a Labour government that has rescued Scotland’s banks – not to help failed bankers, but to save jobs, mortgages, homes and savings. Its Labour who has increased people’s spending power by giving people a little extra in their pockets to support the economy; lower mortgage payments, increased child benefits and raised pension credits. Its Labour who is helping small businesses with the Loan Guarantee Scheme and making sure that HM Revenue & Customs is just a wee bit more helpful when the tax bills are due.

In Inverness it matters. Last Friday's Courier exposed the shocking social inequalities in the heart of the City. As usual, its those with the least who pay the price when our current economic model fails. Those are the people who should expect Labour to stand up for them, not make it worse.

We need to grow our way out of this recession, not cut our way out of it.

That's why I'll be proud to be out on the street in Aviemore this weekend, standing up for Labour values for all our communities.

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My Pledge on Expenses

The Westminster expenses scandal raises a cloud of suspicion around all those who seek to represent their political parties.

As a measure of my intention to try and restore an element of trust between voters and political representatives, as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate I would like to put on record the following five pledges which will govern my conduct if I am elected to Parliament.

1. As a parliamentary candidate I will subscribe to the highest standards of integrity, transparency, accountability and financial economy


2. I seek elected office not for personal gain but to serve the public and our democracy, which I consider an honour and a privilege


3. I will publish my expenses online within a month of submitting them and publicise them annually in full to my constituents


4. I will hold regular meetings with my community and will regularly report back to my constituency party


5. I will apply the principle of best value to all decisions I make which involve the use of public money to cover my duties, including for travel and accommodation.

A great many of our current Members of Parliament already embody these principles in their day-to-day conduct and their example should be recognised. We cannot return to a system where only those who are already independently wealthy can put themselves forward for election to Parliament, so necessary reforms to the system of MPs’ expenses and allowances should reflect the need for those representing constituencies outside Greater London - especially from areas like the Highlands - to claim for appropriate accommodation and travel expenses. In the absence, however, of a decision on the final form of the new system, these pledges will act as my guide if I have the honour of being elected to the House of Commons.

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Liberal Tax Cuts don't Add Up

I listened to Danny Alexander on Radio 4's Question Time last Friday and had to admit that we both seem to share some pretty similar political values. Having read his regular column in the Courier last week, however, I find myself concerned.

In his comment on Labour's budget, his main argument was that we should be reducing income tax for low and middle income households in order to offset the worst effects of the recession. This echoed the Lib Dem proposal during this year's Scottish Parliament Budget discussions to cut income tax by 2p.

What he totally fails to say, however, is where the inevitable cuts in government spending that would result will need to be in order to fund such tax cuts.

Labour has made a deliberate choice to invest in jobs and services as the way of driving ourselves out of the recession. Just as President Roosevelt did with the New Deal in the US in the 1930s. It worked then and I believe it will work for us now. You can't deliver such investment - least of all during a during a recession - and make broad tax cuts (Labour increased marginal tax rates on those earning more than £150k).

Are the Liberals just saying what they think people want to hear (who does not want a tax cut) rather than being serious about investing our way out of this crisis? Or are they really planning for cuts in services?

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Cuts in the City

Working in London today. In the City. Allister Heath - who I don't know from Adam - is the editor of City AM, a widely read morning free-sheet. In a strident editorial, he wrote about what he regards as the coming political "revolution".

On Labour's prospects "... there is now almost no chance ... of anything other than a Tory Government in a year's time". And on what that will mean "Until a few week's ago, it seemed as if the Tories would turn out to be a soft touch on tax and spend. No longer...... All large projects will be scrutinised, almost all public spending commitments renegotiated........ Its time to prepare for the new order."

There are many good people and businesses in the City - I work for some of them - who are still investing in companies that are creating wealth and jobs. But the devastating spending and service cuts that Heath predicts is what many of those who should be taking responsibility for the economic mess we are in are now looking forward to. Cuts for the rest of us whilst they enjoy the benefits of the "new order".

Even in this most difficult of times, this is why we need to fight and fight for every Labour vote to protect jobs and services for all of the people in this country.

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MPs Expenses in the Real World

What sort of political world are we now living in when tonight's BBC 10pm news is led by 15 minutes of reporting of MP's expenses and only then by news about the potentially devastating loss of steelworkers' jobs on Teeside at Corus and the deaths of 4 of our soldiers in Afghanistan?

There is no point in trying to blame the media for this. We all know how they work. Quite simply, some Westminster MPs - and I hope it extends across all parties - have allowed their wanton and thoughtless use of an out of date expenses system to categorise all politicians as "in it for themselves". We need to change the system, but the damage has been done.

I am active in politics because I want to make a difference. I am a Labour Party member because I want to shape a world in which the vast majority of ordinary working people can enjoy prosperous, safe and satisfying lives based on Labour values of social justice and equality of opportunity. I have put myself forward to be an MP so I can have the opportunity to represent these ideals. To make sure that defending jobs in Teeside - and wherever else they are under threat - is how we get our headlines, not defending our personal lifestyles.

I know that the same values motivated all of my Labour parliamentary colleagues when they were elected. I despair at how the fee and expenses system in Westminster is now obscuring this. Tonight, in the midst of this recession, we should be talking about saving jobs in Teeside, or why we are in Afghanistan, not the personal spending of ministers.

The independent review by the Standards Commission is desperately needed. I hope it is radical. We need to get back to real politics.

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Climbing and Politics in Torridon

Staying in Kinlochewe with a bunch of old friends for a few days climbing in the Torridon Hills. Great to be away from the news bulletins for a bit - our lodgings don't have a TV. But the changes - for the good - in this area are plain to see all round. Road upgrades have opened the area up for safe journeys for both visitors and locals. Schools seem to be thriving - some of my pals are just back from a day at Gairloch and commented on the new high school there - and mobile broadband in the village means a few of our party can do some essential business whilst we are here. Best of all, I passed a small development of new affordable houses today - being built by Albyn -which no doubt will provide some decent homes at a fair rent for the local community. All good investments, which are making a difference. Investment that needs to be continued, not cut.

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