Julian Sturdy

This is not turning out to be a very good week for the Government and Gordon Brown as the Northern Rock crisis worsens, and a bungling Government department has lost 25 million people’s personal details in the post. It is now reported that this bungling Government department has been hit by more than 2,100 reported breaches in security in the last year, clearly indicating that ”Dicsgate” was not a one off and to make things worse they have now decided to write out to all 25 million people whose details have been lost to say sorry at our expense.

Public confidence in the Government is starting to drain away, Mr Darling was seen to be a safe pair of hands by Gordon Brown, that doesn’t say much for the rest of the Cabinet.

And to make matters worse England have failed to qualify for the Euro 2008, after a dismal display against Croatia last night.  

I have to also mention the politics show on BBC1 last Sunday, that saw the two Liberal Democrat Leadership contenders turn on one another as the shows host produced a document  that had come out of Chris Huhnes’ office, entitled Calamity Clegg criticising him for flip flopping on policy. What once had been such a dull leadership contest has suddenly turned into a fight night special, looking forward to round two. If you missed it click on Calamity Clegg to catch it again, well worth the watch.

I read in the York Press yesterday about the dramatic rise in hospital bed blocking at York Hospital, 6,735 bed days lost the equivalent to 18 beds blocked out of the hospitals 650. T he reason for the the delayed discharge which is having an impact on patient care across the hospital is due to the lack of adequate nursing home provision and the local authorities not being able to provide the relevant care needed.

As a society we are continuing to live longer, yet the provision of nursing homes and the funding for adequate care in the community is continually squeezed by local authorities under pressure form central Government. The situation will not improve unless action is taken, most elderly people want to return from hospital to the comfort of their own home as quickly as possible and this is what care in the community is meant to achieve. For elderly patients to be forced to remain in hospital because there are not enough carers or adequate funding available is not acceptable in today’s society. The cost of bed blocking to the NHS in financial terms and to patent care is huge especially at a time when our local PCT is in such financial difficulties and having to make cuts across the board, this situation will only make their position worse.

Sorry I have not entered a post for some time, I have been having a few problems with my  broadband service however eventually BT have managed to solve the problem after a number of telephone conversations. I hadn’t realised how reliant I have become on the internet until the last few weeks without it.

They say a week in politics is a long time, well Mr Brown must certainly be thinking this as he looks back on the election that never was, in fact if Gordon had not bottled it we could have been going to the polls today. The question he will be asking himself is will there be a better opportunity?    

The Daily Telegraph is reporting today that Gordon Brown is under pressure to suspend rises in fuel duty as the threat of another fuel protest draws ever closer. The paper is saying that the Treasury is expected to pick up an unexpected £3 billion tax windfall from soaring oil prices.

With petrol prices set to pass through the £1 litre barrier Gordon Brown could be heading for a Winter of discontent if the fuel blockades go ahead.

The road haulage industry has every right to be furious at the soaring price of diesel and the impact it is having on their businesses. This Government has to realise that it can’t just keep using the industry as a cash cow, something will have to give at some point. However is the run up to Christmas a good time for more fuel blockades, given the impact it could have on businesses as stock deliveries dry up and they struggle to meet retail demand across the country in what is their busiest time of the year.

It would certainly give Gordon Brown and the Labour Government a big headache, however public sympathy for the the blockades that has been there in the past could soon disappear when Christmas becomes disrupted.        

Back on the home front even without a General Election things are very busy, I held a surgery in Dringhouses last Saturday which was very successful, there were plenty of people wanting to come and meet their Conservative Parlimentary Candidate and share with me their views on this Labour Government all very encouraging. A big thank you to Matthew Litten who held the surgery with me, Matthew is the next Conservative Councillor for Dringhouses & Woodthorpe in York. 

Posted by Ellee Seymour

I had an excellent fringe meeting yesterday at the Conservative Party conference to highlight the urgent need to dual York’s northern ring road. We were very fortunate to have MEP Timothy Kirkhope on the platform, and a large number of North Yorkshire county councillors who attended pledged their support.

I was able to meet up with Shadow Roads Minister Robert Goodwill who is visiting York on Friday and he has endorsed the dualling campaign. This is a great bonus, he fully understands how important it is to support these issues and to help our business communities, as well as commuters.
I am planning to meet Shadow Home Secretary David Davis at a meeting later today to discuss the totally unacceptable proposed cuts to our already fully stretched and dedicated police force which could see 300 police fewer officers in North Yorkshire if the Home Office gets its way.

I have been proud to promote these vital issues on behalf of the citizens of York Outer to ensure that we get the fair deal we deserve and that our views known by those who can make a difference.

Here is a a short video about me and the issues in the York Outer seat. It shows me at home and on my farm, out in the community and discussing my campaign to dual York’s northern ring road which I am highlighting at a fringe meeting on Monday at the Conservative party conference.

Thank you for watching.

The Political Party Conference season is upon us once again. First up are the Liberal Democrats who are holding their conference in Brighton this week where Ming Campbell is trying to convince his party that he is the right man to lead them into the next General Election.

One interesting development that has come out in the small print of the Lib Dem’s latest tax plans is their support for European-style house price taxes. Such a new house price tax system was introduced in Northern Ireland in April by Labour Ministers and  a 1% house price tax was also recommended by the Lib-Lab Scottish Executive in a report on town hall taxes last year. If introduced this system could mean typical bills of over 2,000 a year on families in York with the potential for regular revaluations to top it up. Ouch!  

Back on the home front, I attended Elvington village Parish Council meeting last night. They have done a fantastic job in securing a vital local flood defence scheme for the village that without their hard work and the support of their current MP John Grogan would not have been achieved. I believe Parish Councils play a very important role in our local communities and should be supported by local Politicians as Mr Grogan has done in Elvington and if elected I certainly intend to carry on that work.       

After Six weeks of hard work the Heworth Without by-election which was brought about by the sad death of Councillor Bill Bennett came to a close on Thursday night. I predicted the final result would be very close again after the Conservatives won the seat from the Liberal Democrats by 35 votes in May, well unfortunately it wasn’t as close as I thought it might have been.

Following a hard fought campaign on all sides  and with a greatly increased turnout of 62% which I think is very impressive for a local authority by-election Nigel Ayre (Lib Dem) won the seat with 914 votes against Adam Sinclair (Conservative) 703 votes giving a majority of 211. There were three other candidates standing and you can see the full result by clicking on the by-election link above.   

The Liberal Democrats managed to deliver seventeen leaflets (Yes 17!) during the campaign and despite receiving a number of complaints from residents about the excessive amount of leaflets their tactics obviously paid dividends for them.   

I have just got back from delivering the dawn raid leaflet out to all our pledges, followed by a more relaxing stint telling on one of the polling stations, so I thought I would just give you a brief update before the knock up campaign gets started.

The Liberal Democrats are up to their usual tricks, to put it into a football term “they are playing the man rather than playing the ball” however I think it is going to be very close tonight. We have run a very positive campaign talking about the local issues and our candidate Adam Sinclair has worked exceptionally hard and all will be reveled later on tonight at the count.

I will post the result of the by-election in the morning.  

I have had another busy week out campaigning for the by-election in Heworth Without. Last night we had a fantastic turnout of supporters helping deliver our main leaflet which allowed myself and a few others to carry on canvassing for Conservative supporters. I called on one farm towards the end of the night which had diversified into marquee’s, on chatting to one of the owners we both quickly realised that they had actually provided the marquee for my wedding some five years ago now, surprising who you catch up with when you are out canvassing.

The by-election will be contested next week on Thursday 6th of September so not long to go now, I will keep all readers informed of our progress.

Another great win for Leeds United today, now only minus three points.

As readers will soon realise I am a big Leeds United fan.   

Ellee Seymour along with my friends at York University have been suggesting for some time that I should sign up to Facebook, well with Geoff’s help I have just taken the plunge.

You can find me on Facebook as Julian Sturdy.