Julian Sturdy

I am delighted that David Cameron has set out his plans under a Conservative Government to control the power of the state and make it more accountable to people. In a speech at Imperial College, he attacked Labour for having “diminished personal freedom and diluted political accountability” over the last twelve years. He promised, “At the heart of our programme for government will be our intention to change fundamentally the balance of power between the citizen and the state so that ultimately it is people in control of their government, not the other way round.”

David said a Conservative Government would revoke the “unjustified and unreasonable” powers that let authorities enter your home without your permission, and strengthen the right to trial by jury. He promised to scrap the ID card scheme and remove innocent people’s records from the DNA database. And he announced plans to open up information and set public data free:

“In the first year of the next Conservative Government, we will find the most useful information in twenty different areas ranging from information about the NHS to information about schools and road traffic and publish it so people can use it.”

David stressed that, taken together, these measures would “increase personal freedom and political accountability, restore trust, and help bring about the new politics we need so badly.”

Read David’s speech on giving power back to the people

These are difficult times in politics and there is a lot of questions that still need answering, but as we go to the polls today for the European Elections and also County Council Elections outside of York it is worth remembering that this week also sees the 20^th anniversary of the crushing of China’s hopes of democracy in Tiannamen Square. These elections are important today and I would urge everyone to exercise there democratic right to vote, for some 1.3 billion Chinese elections are still a dream. 

We have a very good team of candidates for today’s European Elections, Edward McMillan-Scott and Timothy Kirkhope our two local MEP’s who have worked so hard to fight for our regions interests in Europe, are re-standing and they are joined by four other very able candidates. You can read more about our European team, including pictures and profiles, online at www.yorkshireconservatives.com/europe

Also watch what David Cameron has been saying about these elections. He has stressed the need for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and explains that voting Conservative on June 4^th is the best way to force Gordon Brown to keep his promise to hold one.

Watch David’s latest video messages here>>