The Good- The Bad and The Ugly!

DO WE need the wealthy and the privately educated? Former Prime Minister Sir John Major has burst back onto the political frontline over the past few weeks – first with his thoughts on energy prices and more recently his thoughts on social mobility and an expression of regret that there are too many rich privately educated among the ruling elite.

Taken as a whole, judiciary, business, politics, the civil service he's probably right but in politics things are changing and for the better, at least in the Conservative Party.

Of course there are still privately educated MPs but among those first elected in 2010 there are many representing the areas in which they grew up and who were educated in their local state school. On Wednesday evening I attended a meeting with four of my colleagues representing northern constituencies and all of them went to the local grammar or comprehensive. Does it matter?

Moving onto another group who we like to single out for special treatment – the rich. We tend not to like them; or is it just certain members of elite groups such as bankers and bosses of some businesses like the utilities? But what about footballers or movie stars? They don't attract as much hostility and most earn in days what the PM earns a year.

The reason I ask is that I read a newspaper piece last week that reminded me of the very significant contribution the well-paid make through their taxes. Apparently just one per cent of taxpayers – those earning more than £160,000 of which there are about 300,000 – will contribute just under 30 per cent of all income taxrevenues this year and that almost 59 per cent of all income tax comes from just 10 per cent of taxpayers. Should we be thankful?

On Friday I was among a group of MPs representing constituencies that could benefit enormously from investment in the off shore renewables sector. It gave me the opportunity of both supporting policies designed to secure the benefits that could be delivered to our area but also to emphasise that we must be mindful of the existing jobs that rely on competitive energy supplies and the need to ensure reasonable gas and electricity to domestic consumers. Much of the investment we are seeking to attract will come from the wealthy who may, perish the thought, be products of a private education. If that investment provides hundreds of jobs will that matter?

The PM has been heavily involved in the work to attract investment to our region and fully recognises the needs of existing industry and the importance of keeping domestic energy prices at acceptable levels.

So if we are to keep tax levels down we need the rich otherwise everyone else would be paying more. Have Ed Miliband and Ed Balls realised this?

So back to John Major: I fully endorse his wish to see people from a wider range of backgrounds reaching positions of influence as I'm sure will most readers of this column. If they become well-paid in the process and relieve your tax burden will you heave sigh of relief?

Read more: http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/Barton-MP-asks-need-rich-tax-levels/story-20256051-detail/story.html#ixzz2mbashNQn

Parliament

MANY people form their view of what Parliament is like based on Prime Minister's Question Time but apart from that half-hour what goes on is serious, but often dull.

Every Bill after being debated goes to a Bill Committee where they are considered in detail and when it's a subject as dry as the accounting procedures of local councils, important though it is, is not something to get the adrenaline flowing. During the last week I've attended four sessions, with six more to come on the Local Audit & Accountability Bill. At one point a group of students arrived and stayed for 20 minutes. The same person was speaking for the whole time, not electrifying but it showed the grind of the process.

I have written before about what a pleasure it is to meet constituents who visit Westminster.

A couple of weeks ago I met Abigail Heywood, a Franklin College student who had been invited to become a Leader in the National Citizens Service (NCS) and attend a reception in the Houses of Parliament.

When Abigail wrote to me she said she went on NCS with Grimsby Town FC – a life changing social programme. She helped with maintenance and made up 'veg boxes', cleared a waste area in Cleethorpes, ran a sports and crafts workshop at Nunsthorpe School and helped out at the Firemens' Fete. It was a pleasure to meet her. Full details of the scheme are at https://www.gov.uk/government/get-involved/take-part/national-citizen- service

If any reader would like to take a Westminster tour all that is necessary is to contact your MP's office.

Despite the Election being 18 months away the rhythm of politics is now entering its pre-election phase.

The fixed-term Parliaments Act means we now know the date of the Election (May 7, 2015). It's interesting that the Labour Party has started to make some policy announcements. For the opposition party this is difficult – do you wait or show your hand early on? What's interesting is that Labour acknowledged there will be difficult spending decisions but still refuse to apologise for the mess they left behind.

The main announcement was the energy price freeze. The natural inclination is to take it; but would you if it meant higher increases before and after? And what if the freeze is introduced when prices are falling? The allegation is that the "Big 6" are manipulating the market. All of us may be inclined to that view but before any government can act they must have evidence. The Energy Bill gives Ofgem greater powers to investigate.

Out on Patrol

Many of you will have read last Monday’s Telegraph report of my night out on patrol in Cleethorpes with the Humberside Police Commissioner, Matthew Grove, the police and our magnificent ‘Street Angels.’

The role of Police Commissioner was the subject of much debate when the legislation was passing through Parliament a couple of years ago but most of the commissioners are settling into their roles and providing both real accountability and developing links with the local communities throughout the Force area. I can see their role extending over coming years perhaps incorporating responsibility for the other emergency services.

After last week when the three Police Federation officers appeared before Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee to be questioned about their part in the downfall of former Cabinet Minister, Andrew Mitchell who can doubt that the police must be democratically accountable.

But I digress; the officers I meet as I go about the constituency are dedicated to serving the public and we owe them our thanks and appreciation. Certainly those I saw in action on the streets of Cleethorpes were able to diffuse some rather tense encounters using a mix of humour, firmness and authority.

Turning to the ‘Street Angels:’ they are a dedicated group of individuals who give up many of their Saturday nights to walk the streets until 2.30 a.m. keeping an eye out for anyone in distress or perhaps a little worse for drink. Organised by Churches Together in North East Lincolnshire they are people of faith who are genuinely concerned about their local community.

Similar groups operate in towns and cities up and down the country. They are admirable in every way.     

As well as the police there was a representative from the Fire and Rescue Service and North East Lincolnshire Council. All of these people on the streets at vast expense to the taxpayer so that people can, in some cases, drink too much.

I’m no killjoy nor do I want to do anything to harm the night-time economy since lots of local people work in the clubs and bars and I supported the introduction of 24 hour licensing in the hope that it would bring about a culture change but, like other north European nations such as Germany and Holland we seem unable to adopt the drinking habits of the more southern European countries and perhaps that means we need to restore a little more regulation.

One culture change that does seem to have taken place is that many of our younger people seem to go out with the intention of getting drunk, something that was very much less prevalent until more recent years. The availability of cheap alcohol from supermarkets seems to be the reason. In years gone by people went to the pub and moved onto a club around 11 o’clock where they were able to enjoy themselves until around 2 a.m.

I’m opposed to minimum unit pricing because it penalises the responsible drinker who wants to enjoy a few beers a bottle of wine at home but I do think there is a case for preventing the supermarkets from selling booze at below cost. Perhaps this coupled with returning to a slightly more regulated system of licensing hours might mean we make life a little less fraught for the taxi operators we spoke to, the police, the staff at A & E, the staff at the Takeaways and as I mentioned earlier ease the burden on the taxpayer. What do you think? Please let me know at martin.vickers.mp@parliament.uk

One rather surreal moment occurred around midnight when we decided to have a bite to eat. On our travels around Cleethorpes we were accompanied by Adrian Gill the feature writer and restaurant critic for the Sunday Times who writes under the name of A.A. Gill. As we took our place in Valentinos Italian restaurant in the Market Place I mused on how often a London restaurant critic turns up unannounced at a Cleethorpes eatery. My pizza was first-rate; will we ever know what Adrian thought of his steak? Check out the Sunday Times for the next few weeks, that’s if it wasn’t in yesterday.   

Conference Season

SO THE Party Conference season is over and though many of the themes in the key speeches will form the backdrop to the political scene through to the General Election the individual speeches will soon be forgotten.

Inevitably after a period of recession 'cost of living' issues figure large; recessions result in declining living standards so now that the economic indicators are looking up, we all want to feel the benefits. That's why the Chancellor made clear in his speech that petrol duty will be frozen and as the deputy-chairman of Parliament's All-Party Group for Fair Fuel I find this particularly welcome.

The petrol duty freeze is just one policy that is putting money back into people's pockets, another is the big increase in the amount that can be earned before being taxed.

Whether it's the oil companies, the energy utilities or indeed services provided by local councils, if they seek to exploit their customers it should be no part of Conservative policy to support them. Conservatives should always be on the side of the consumer.

Free markets deliver better services, but as Adam Smith said in his famous work The Wealth of Nations: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices … But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies, much less to render them necessary."

Strip away the 18th century language, and what it amounts to is that you need a certain level of regulation otherwise the temptation of suppliers to form a cartel could prove irresistible. A completely free market is not suitable; it needs some constraints and who better than a Conservative government to recognise that requirement?

One of the more interesting meetings I went to at the Party Conference was entitled 'Do Tories get the North?' It's simply a statement of fact to state that in some of our northern cities there are very few Tory councillors. Labour, of course, have their own black spots where support is low and in a few cases almost non-existent. The answer to the question posed by the Conference meeting is yes – a subject I'll return to next time.

Fuel Duty Frozen

 So the Party Conference season came and went and though many of the themes that figured high in the key speeches will form the backdrop to the political scene from now through the nineteen months up to the General Election the individual speeches will soon be forgotten by all but the political classes.

Inevitably after a period of recession ‘cost of living’ issues figure large; recessions result in declining living standards so now that the economic indicators are looking up we all want to feel the benefits as soon as possible. That’s why the Chancellor made clear in his speech that petrol duty will now be frozen for the rest of this parliament and as the Deputy-Chairman of Parliament’s All-Party Group for Fair Fuel I find this particularly welcome. Our Group was just limbering up for a campaign to remind George Osborne of the arguments for again freezing the duty but, thankfully, he didn’t need any reminders! At long last we have rid ourselves of the duty escalator introduced by Gordon Brown.

He petrol duty freeze is just one policy that is putting money back into people’s pockets another is the big increase in the amount that can be earned before being taxed.

Whether it’s the oil companies, the energy utilities or indeed services provided by local councils if they seek to exploit their customers either because they have got a monopoly or due to weak regulation then it should be no part of Conservative policy to support them. Conservatives should always be on the side of the consumer. Free markets deliver better services and usually at a cheaper price but as Adam Smith said in his famous work The Wealth of Nations:

‘People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices…. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies, much less to render them necessary.’

Strip away the 18^th century language and what it amounts to is that you need a certain level of regulation otherwise the temptation of suppliers to form a cartel could prove irresistible. A completely free market is not suitable for today’s economy; it needs some constraints and who better than a Conservative government to recognise that requirement.

A Week in the Life....

ONE OF the privileges of my work is the endless cast of characters I meet.

Looking through the diary covering the couple of weeks since my last column it has included a president, a prime minister, a member of the Royal family, senior people from the world of shipping, and of course scores of constituents all with their wide range of views.

If we begin two weeks ago on the Monday morning it was back to London after a weekend that included a constituency surgery, to Blundell Park to see Town lose to Nuneaton, time to reply to some more of the messages sent before and after the vote on Syria, and on Sunday it was the Mayor of North East Lincolnshire's Civic Service. These civic gatherings are an important part of the life of the Borough and a reminder of the many organisations and people who give so much to enrich the lives of us all.

For that afternoon's Question Time it was the team of Defence ministers answering and the main debates on rural postal services followed by cycling. With public attention focusing as it does on the Wednesday lunchtime gladiatorial contests between Messrs Cameron and Miliband it's often forgotten that each parliamentary day begins with ministers from one department or another facing questions.

Unusually I had to return to the constituency in mid-week as Shand Engineering at Stallingborough were being presented with their second Queen's Award for Industry – a remarkable achievement for one of our long-established local businesses. On this occasion it was the Duke of Kent who was representing the Queen.

I was back in London in good time for the vote at 7pm leaving plenty of time to catch up with the e-mails.

On the Thursday I met with a couple of visiting constituents who, like most visitors to the Palace of Westminster are amazed and taken aback. Later in the day I spoke in a debate on 'Councillors on the Front-line  and with 26 years behind me as a councillor I felt qualified to make a contribution. Many MPs have council experience and of the eight who delivered speeches that afternoon we had well over 100 years of council service.

The Friday and Saturday surgeries provided another opportunity of meeting constituents, some with problems they felt I could help with, others wanting to give me the benefit of their views or to lobby me to support or oppose some proposal or other. It was also my week for doing one of my supermarket surgeries.

Back in London last Monday – that was the day President Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority was in Westminster. Whatever side of dispute between Israel and Palestine you favour like all them this one will eventually be decided around a negotiating table and the President made clear his willingness to talk.

On Tuesday morning the Transport Select Committee held a session with the Shipping Minister.

One of my afternoon meetings was one organised by Dementia Friends which gave us the most fascinating explanation of Alzheimers I have seen.

Also on Wednesday Prime Minister David Cameron held one of his regular meetings with a group of backbench members and since I had been fortunate enough to catch the Speaker's eye during Prime Minister's Questions it provided an opportunity to discuss the delays in determining the Able UK planning application that is presently with the Department of Transport.

I also met with a representative of the Health Lottery – a much smaller operation than The National Lottery but importantly one that has supported a number good causes in my constituency.

Surely there's room for a little competition in the lottery market?

The important thing common to all those I meet is that they have had a story to tell president or pensioner and the more people we meet the more we understand the vast range of issues that face governments across the world and how to deal with the inherent contradiction that people don't like change but want improvements to our schools, the NHS and so much more and improvement means change.

Syria Intervention

LAST Thursday was one of those occasions when Parliament was unquestionably the main forum of the nation. The debate on Syria was passionate and well-informed with the outcome in doubt until the last vote was counted.

Not only was Parliament performing its historic role of holding Government to account but in doing so two important changes were taking place; our constitution was evolving and our foreign policy undergoing a major change.

Constitutionally, governments can authorise military action under the Royal Prerogative – the armed forces serve the Crown not Government. This is a right that must be maintained in that prime ministers must always be able to react to a sudden emergency but in circumstances such as Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, Parliament will from now on have the final say over peace and war decisions, and rightly so.

Our post Second World War foreign policy, even after the Suez fiasco of 1956, has been dictated to a considerable extent by our role as an imperial power. That will now change: despite having some of the finest Forces in the world, our military is much reduced. We will remain influential, still punching above our weight as a permanent member of the security council, a nuclear power and member of the G8 and G20, but our capacity for military intervention will, in the main, be restricted to when there is a clear British national interest.

Another interesting point about the build-up to last Thursday was the emails I received from constituents. So much of the correspondence MPs receive are emails generated by lobbying organisations and special interest groups to which people attach their name and fire off to their MP. These have their place and I always to my best to respond to all of them, but ahead of the Syria debate all the messages were personalised; people had sat down and typed out their thoughts. Like the contributions to the parliamentary debate these were passionate and informed and all were opposed to military intervention. Of course, I'm always mindful that it is those who oppose things who are more likely to be motivated to make their views known, but even allowing for that it is unusual not to receive any messages or calls, as in this case, expressing the opposite point of view.

It's interesting to reflect that I received far more emails expressing opposition to the pilot badger culls than the use of chemical weapons though, as I mentioned above, this is because there were mass emails made available by campaign groups. I don't say this to be in anyway critical because it is right that, as a nation we should do all we can to maintain the highest standards of animal welfare, but to emphasise that smaller amounts of personal correspondence can be more effective.

My other observation on the debate is how members on all sides were agonising over their decision. MPs are often depicted as being lobby fodder blindly following the dictates of the whips, but on this occasion 39 coalition members voted against their Government and many others abstained. Of course, as a Conservative I wanted to support the Prime Minister and the Government, but on this occasion, even after a one-to-one discussion with David Cameron, felt unable to do so.

Last week's good news for our area was the Government decision to give the go-ahead for the Able UK development. Yes, there are still a couple of lose ends to tie up but after four years we are almost there. Four years is too long and we've got to further refine our planning system to speed up these major decisions but that's easier said than done as the interests of local residents and the impact on them must always be a major consideration.

What must be speeded up is the time that organisations such as Natural England take to work through these applications. We are in a competitive situation and investment can so easily be lost to our continental neighbours.

The final go-ahead will be yet another indication of the Government's support for the area, already the site is designated as the country's largest Enterprise Zone and, coupled with the improvements to the A160, the Immingham by-pass and the Humber Bridge toll reductions show real commitment to maximising the area's potential.