| |   |  | | | | | | Hypocrisy over expenses Published in the Surrey Comet and Kingston Guardian Dear Sir, I welcome Ed Davey MP’s statement on his expenses. It shows how low our view of Parliament has sunk that his willingness to commute from Surbiton to Westminster is seen as admirable. However he has still only published general totals, not a fully itemised account. I am sure his spending on “Equipment” does not include a 42-inch plasma screen, but he must bite the bullet and publish the details. I am worried by what appear to be Liberal Democrat double standards. Ed Davey’s party leader has indicated that the Lib Dems have no intention of paying back a £2.4 million donation from a convicted fraudster. This will allow Ed Davey and other Liberal Democrats to continue to fund their campaigns from the proceeds of crime. They cannot dismiss this as “laughable and ridiculous” (as the Lib Dem leader has done for their expenses misdemeanours); if they have any integrity they must return the money. It is time for wholesale change in the relationship between the public and politicians. Gestures for the sake of spin are not good enough. At every level of Government openness must be the norm. It’s time for powers to be returned from Europe to Westminster, from Westminster to London and local councils, and from councils to people themselves. The first step in this devolution of power is to make sure we have MEPs who will stand up for Britain in Europe. I ask readers to remember this at the European Elections next Thursday 4th June. Yours faithfully Helen Whately Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton | | Let's fight this violence Published in the Surrey Comet and Kingston Guardian Dear Sir. I was pleased to be able to support Kingston’s Best Bar None awards, presented to pubs and clubs for tackling alcohol-related disorder. The award winners deserve this recognition. Since I have been the candidate here, reports of violence in the town centre are rarer, although there is still more to do. Building on the success, it’s time for all night-time venues in Kingston to take part and open up the schemes to other parts of the borough. There is one element left out of this partnership; the public. One of the bar managers said to me last night: “We can’t stop people getting tanked up before they arrive.” We have to address this too. Yours faithfully Helen Whately Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton | | EU Referendum Published in the Surrey Comet on 15 March 08 Dear Sir, Our MP was elected on a promise to campaign for a referendum on the EU Constitution. His decision to abstain in Parliament last week broke this promise and showed extraordinary arrogance towards the constituents who voted for him. Hundreds of people signed our petition for a referendum; I am shocked that Ed Davey ignored their wishes and broke his election promise. He will defend himself against accusations of U-turn on the grounds that this treaty differs substantially from the original Constitution. This defence does not stand up to scrutiny, literally; compare the two documents and the similarities overwhelm the differences. The treaty has far reaching consequences, bolstering EU institutions without resolving their democratic deficit and making inroads into British sovereignty in critical areas like justice and foreign policy. It is exactly the sort of treaty he and his party said they wanted a referendum on. Our MP's decision to sit on the fence rather than take a stand followed a media stunt in which he was barred from Parliament. This was clearly a premeditated act to gain headlines for a campaign that had no risk of succeeding – a disappointingly familiar tactic. I think people in Kingston and Surbiton deserve better from their MP: their MP should put their concerns, and the national interest, before party and personal publicity. Yours faithfully Helen Whately Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton | | Save Our Post Offices Published in the Surrey Comet on 27 February 08 and in the Kingston Informer on 28 February 08 Dear Sir, I would like to thank everyone who turned out on Saturday to support the Save Our Post Offices Campaign. Many boroughs are affected by the Government’s post office closures but I don’t know of anywhere else where local people turned out to protest at the closure of each and every one of their threatened Post Offices. I extend a special thank you to Edward Davey MP and the Labour candidate Max Freedman - it is vital that we can put aside out political differences and rally together for our local communities. The support of Shadow Secretary of State, Chris Graying MP, as well as Stephen Hammond MP, member of parliament for Wimbledon, show the strength of Conservative backing for this campaign. Conservatives are taking the needs of people in Kingston and Surbiton very seriously. With hundreds of signatures already supporting the Save our Post Offices campaign we are sending a clear message to Post Office Ltd that our post offices are precious to us. However, this is a going to be a tough fight as the Government is set on closing 2,500. We must keep the pressure up throughout the consultation process; if you haven’t already signed the petition, please do so. There are forms at all the threatened post offices and in local shops or you can sign online either at my website or on the Surrey Comet’s petition on the council website. Yours faithfully, Helen Whately Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston & Surbiton | | The Election that never was Published in the Kingston Informer on 12 October 2008 Dear Sir, Last week’s collapse of Lib Dem opinion poll results seems to have prompted a barrage of attacks on me on this page. I was questioned on why I haven’t supported Ed Davey’s campaign on the financial settlement Kingston receives from Government. Clearly the high council tax suffered by Kingston residents needs to be addressed, but the main reason for my caution in supporting Davey is this; as his campaign has been going on for over 10 years now, what is the likelihood that it is going to make any difference in future? Another letter sought to paint Cllr David Fraser’s tireless campaign to save Hobkirk House as “scaremongering”. Cllr. Fraser gathered medical evidence showing the risks of closing the day centre, helped concerned users find a voice and mobilised the support of local residents. The accusation was totally misplaced. If only our MP had stood up for the users of Hobkirk in the same way as Cllr. Fraser. Finally, reading Ed Davey’s column, I am concerned that he and Ming Campbell seem confused over whether their tax proposals relate to individual or household income. Gordon Brown’s decision to postpone the election means we will have to put up with the status quo for another two years. I am disappointed but not deterred; there is so much I can do here in the meantime, from working for better healthcare and community services to helping people let down by the Government or the Council. When the election is finally called, I want Kingston and Surbiton to have the opportunity to select an MP who can and will make a difference. Yours faithfully, Helen Whately Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston & Surbiton | | Liberal Democrat Tax Proposals Published in the Kingston Guardian, Kingston Informer and Surrey Comet Dear Sir, Ed Davey MP plans to raise taxes on households earning over £60,000 as part of a Lib Dem policy of hammering the well-off. A tax targeted at households earning over £60,000 is not a tax on the super-rich; it is a tax aimed at the aspirations of many people in Kingston and Surbiton, which would hit hard-working families facing rising mortgage costs and bills. The queues outside Kingston's Northern Rock are a sign of the instability of an economy shored up by record levels of debt, but the Lib Dems are still talking about how they can penalise hard work and aspiration. Does Mr Davey realise who he's hammering? Yours faithfully, Helen Whately Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston & Surbiton | |
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