View From The House - 14th October 2004

Reprinted From The Lichfield Mercury

I’ll admit something. Last year’s Conservative Party Conference was not good. In fact, it was awful. It was windy and rainy every day, it was in Blackpool (“Sorry, Blackpool”), and poor old IDS was tottering on his last legs. And because of all that, so was I.

But this year, it was very different. Bournemouth was mostly sunny, Michael Howard gave a wonderful and moving speech, and the Conservatives announced relevant policies - which will benefit all of us here in Staffordshire - with a clear timetable for their implementation.

Broadly speaking, they affect our schools, our hospitals, crime, Europe, immigration, and tax.

Our Schools. School funding is a major problem in Staffordshire. But so is paperwork. On average, our headteachers have to deal with 12 pages of new Government paperwork every school day. More worryingly, nationally, a teacher is attacked every 7 minutes of the school day and one in three 11 year olds leave primary school unable to read or write properly. On day 1 of a Conservative Government, plans would be announced to enable headteachers to expel disruptive pupils who spoil it for the others; in the first week, central government targets would be abolished and good schools would be allowed to expand to accommodate those children who want to go there. So, for example, if parents in Kings Bromley want their child to attend John Taylor High in Barton, it would be up to the headteacher to decide: not a bureaucrat in Stafford obsessed with official catchment areas.

Our Hospitals. Right now, around a million people are still waiting for treatment, 300,000 medical procedures last year were performed privately without medical insurance because NHS services could not be delivered on time and 5,000 people die each year from hospital infections. A friend of mine in Lichfield needs an angiogram (heart scan). He is being forced to do it privately out of his own pocket - he doesn’t have health insurance - because the NHS require him to wait around 6 months. Money will be directed away from the many bureaucrats in the NHS and into front line services instead. On day 1 of a Conservative Government, targets which prevent doctors and nurses from getting on with their jobs will be abolished; in the first week currently restricted information concerning individual hospital infection rates will be made public; and in the first month legislation will be published to give patients the choice of which hospital they wish to attend.

Crime. We need more policemen on our streets. As simple as that. A Conservative Government would recruit a further 40,000 police officers and reduce their paperwork which currently means a policeman spends 50% of his time filling in forms. That would make a huge difference in Lichfield and Burntwood where the thin blue line is stretched to breaking point.

Immigration. A recent report said that by 2020, our population will have risen by 6 million. And of that, 5 million will be immigrants. We are a small overcrowded island. It can’t go on like this. We will adopt the system they have in Australia and the US. From day 1, we will announce that student and holiday visas cannot automatically be extended into long-stay visas as at present. In the first month, we will introduce a quota system to restrict those visiting here. And we will set in train proper surveillance of everyone who enters the UK and everyone who leaves. Only 1 in 5 illegal immigrants are expelled. (Did you know Britain is one of the few countries which makes no proper note of who has left the country? That is why so many illegal immigrants are still here and the Government has no idea how many!) But equally importantly, it will ensure that genuine asylum seekers escaping persecution will find a safe haven here with room to make a new life.