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View From The House - 1st March 2001Reprinted From The Lichfield Mercury On Friday 16th February, students from all five high schools in Lichfield and Burntwood assembled in the packed Guildhall to take part in the schools speaking competition I started back in 1993. The subject this year was particularly difficult: whether medical research transcends morale objections. But the students rose to the occasion: each team of three did wonderfully. I was relieved that I was not one of the judges. In the end, someone had to win. The Michael Fabricant-Arthur Price of England Cup for best school team went to Nether Stowe High School and the cup for best overall speaker went to Kerry Holt of Chasetown High School who battled through despite laryngitis! I felt really proud they were from schools in my constituency. And Gwyneth Dunwoody MP was impressed too. The veteran Labour MP and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons had come to Lichfield to act as chairman or “Speaker” of the Debate. The long saga of the future of the Victoria Hospital in Lichfield and the Hammerwich Hospital continues. It may well be that recommendations will be made shortly by the Health Authority. I will be looking closely to see what will happen to our maternity unit, to our medical wards, to day surgery, and to our minor injuries unit. Thankfully, there are signs that the Dialysis Unit in Lichfield may now be saved. I certainly hope so. But what a shame that this Government’s policies have meant that local hospitals all over the country are having to close or reduce their services. I was pleased to hear that waiting lists are about to be tackled in a different way. Instead of minimising waiting list numbers, a Conservative Government would publish and guarantee waiting times. After all, if you are waiting for an operation, it is irrelevant if there is a low waiting list if you still have to wait a year. It is the waiting time that really counts. Similarly, a Conservative Government would restore police numbers to at least the level they were at before Labour gained power. This is desperately important here in Lichfield and Burntwood. Putting it crudely, Tony Blair has slashed over 200 uniformed patrol officers (“bobbies on the beat” or in their cars) in Staffordshire. The Rural Crimes Unit and Mounted Police have been disbanded and violent crime in Staffordshire has risen by 43%. Is it surprising? Police officers not only arrest criminals, they deter crime from happening in the first place. It is a sad fact that many older people feel threatened by rowdy behaviour at night in Lichfield and I will not forget an angry meeting in Chase Terrace recently where residents told police officers of gangs of youths making their lives a misery. But extra policing needs extra resources from central Government. It has not been a priority from this Government! A week or so back, I introduced a Bill in the Commons which would require the Government to conduct and publish a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits of our membership of the European Union. Although the Government didn’t officially support it (Tony Blair has a love affair with Brussels), a number of back-bench Labour MPs broke ranks and supported the Bill which went through its first stages. Good for them! Sadly, with an election imminent, there won’t be enough Parliamentary time for it to become law. But whether or not the European Union is a good thing financially is Britain’s best kept secret! The American Government recently conducted a detailed analysis. They reckoned that our membership of the EU is costing us billions of pounds each year after taking into account all the money in and other benefits from EU membership. If that is true, this is money that could otherwise be spent of British pensions, British schools, British hospitals, and, yes, British policing - instead of schemes on the continent. It is just a thought………. Tony Blair says that EU membership has created a net 300,000 jobs. Perhaps that is true, but no-one has seen any of the calculations. I wonder whether he just made up the figure in his head? The American analysis says that EU regulations (which the British obey and many continental countries ignore) and the payments which flow out of Britain into Brussels costs us jobs. Who are we to believe? Our Government should conduct its own investigation - and make the results public! |
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