Random Thoughts

How big a role would you like to see Britain play in the world and how much are you prepared to pay for whatever role you would like to see? This week there have been reports critical of our reduced defence spending and, in particular that, for the moment, we have no aircraft carrier. The British people are rightly proud of our Armed Forces and would ideally like to see them in larger numbers. 

             

After our Iraq and Afghanistan commitments the country is war-weary and has little appetite for further interventions. Last August when the Government was contemplating intervention in Syria there was little support and certainly after I opposed military action I received only one critical email and that was from someone who was not a constituent.

So at the same time as we want to intervene less, we would still like us to maintain a large military establishment. Yet another circle for the politicians to square.

Last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a rather subdued affair but the last question brought us all a smile; this is how Hansard, the Parliamentary record, reports it:

Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con): The Leader of the Opposition has said, “What Hollande is doing in France I want to do in Britain.” Given recent events across the channel, does my right hon. Friend agree that that is completely at odds with our long-term economic plan?

The Prime Minister: I did not catch all of President Hollande’s press conference yesterday, because I was appearing in front of the Liaison Committee, but one thing that I did notice is that the French proposals now are to cut spending in order to cut taxes in order to make the economy more competitive. Perhaps the shadow Chancellor, in his new silent form, will want to consider some of those ideas and recognise that this revolution of making business more competitive and trying to win in the global race is a proper plan for the economy.

Even Ed Miliband allowed a grin to cross his face. But behind the smiles there was a serious point. The French President came to power with a Labour Party style set of policies. Taxes went up and unemployment stands at over 11 per cent. So what happened? He’s now proposing spending cuts of £41.5 billion – far more than in the UK. So George Osborne hasn't needed a Plan B as the two Edsm Balls and Miliband, have been arguing for over the last three years.

French cuts are going to be painful as have ours but consider four cuts we can all welcome: the deficit cut, unemployment cut, taxation cut, fuel duty cut.

At a local level I received the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce’s latest economic forecast last week and it contained yet more good economic news: two-thirds of companies are expecting to increase turnover this year and as I go round the constituency there is certainly increased optimism throughout the local business community.

One final thought; the newly refurbished Cleethorpes Leisure Centre looked pretty impressive in the Telegraph the other day which made me ask- shouldn't the Council have refurbished the Scartho Road pool and had a few million to spend elsewhere? I think we all know the answer except that is, our Labour councillors.           

From the Westminster Column

How big a role would you like to see Britain play in the world and how much are you prepared to pay for whatever role you would like to see? This week there have been reports critical of our reduced defence spending and, in particular that, for the moment, we have no aircraft carrier. The British people are rightly proud of our Armed Forces and would ideally like to see them in larger numbers. 

             

After our Iraq and Afghanistan commitments the country is war-weary and has little appetite for further interventions. Last August when the Government was contemplating intervention in Syria there was little support and certainly after I opposed military action I received only one critical email and that was from someone who was not a constituent.

So at the same time as we want to intervene less, we would still like us to maintain a large military establishment. Yet another circle for the politicians to square.

Last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a rather subdued affair but the last question brought us all a smile; this is how Hansard, the Parliamentary record, reports it:

Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con): The Leader of the Opposition has said, “What Hollande is doing in France I want to do in Britain.” Given recent events across the channel, does my right hon. Friend agree that that is completely at odds with our long-term economic plan?

The Prime Minister: I did not catch all of President Hollande’s press conference yesterday, because I was appearing in front of the Liaison Committee, but one thing that I did notice is that the French proposals now are to cut spending in order to cut taxes in order to make the economy more competitive. Perhaps the shadow Chancellor, in his new silent form, will want to consider some of those ideas and recognise that this revolution of making business more competitive and trying to win in the global race is a proper plan for the economy.

Even Ed Miliband allowed a grin to cross his face. But behind the smiles there was a serious point. The French President came to power with a Labour Party style set of policies. Taxes went up and unemployment stands at over 11 per cent. So what happened? He’s now proposing spending cuts of £41.5 billion – far more than in the UK. So George Osborne hasn’t needed a Plan B as the two Eds Balls and Miliband, have been arguing for over the last three years.

French cuts are going to be painful as have ours but consider four cuts we can all welcome: the deficit cut, unemployment cut, taxation cut, fuel duty cut.

At a local level I received the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce’s latest economic forecast last week and it contained yet more good economic news: two-thirds of companies are expecting to increase turnover this year and as I go round the constituency there is certainly increased optimism throughout the local business community.

One final thought; the newly refurbished Cleethorpes Leisure Centre looked pretty impressive in the Telegraph the other day which made me ask- shouldn’t the Council have refurbished the Scartho Road pool and had a few million to spend elsewhere? I think we all know the answer except that is, our Labour councillors.           

Half Full?

Are you a glass half-full or half-empty person? Do you always consider the past better than the future? More of that later.............

Clearly there were many full glasses when the Sunday Times magazine reporter A.A. Gill visited Cleethorpes in October. There has been much comment following on from the article he wrote for last week's Sunday Times magazine that gave a less than flattering, and in some ways totally inaccurate description of both Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

The author had a bad start to his visit. As someone who travels to London and back most weeks I know better than most that we urgently need a direct rail service to the capital. (I'm writing this piece en route from Birmingham where I met with Virgin Trains and I took the opportunity of pressing the case to them as they are bidding for the East Coast franchise). But back to Mr Gill's efforts to get to Cleethorpes which he says took longer than a flight to Moscow. For some bizarre reason his office booked him to travel to Peterborough and then to Lincoln via Sleaford and then Lincoln to Grimsby. No wonder he was a bit grumpy when he arrived!

Gill’s phrase ‘a meagre high street’ is, of course, not referring to the Town’s main shopping street; St. Peter’s Avenue which is certainly not ‘meagre’ and is indeed a thriving ‘high street.’ This sort of inaccurate statement is unacceptable.

‎He clearly chose to ignore easily obtainable facts about the importance about the fish market and that the Grimsby/Immingham dock complex is the largest in the country.

Our area is not without problems; some of them very significant, such as under-achievement by many of our young people who are not obtaining the required educational standards. Of course we need to be addressing these failings but we mustn't pretend it's all doom and gloom.

Cleethorpes, as a resort, has succeeded in turning itself around. The days of decline in the 70s and 80s when the steady expansion of foreign package holidays was damaging for so many UK destinations are gone. 

Did Mr Gill mention our successes in Cleethorpes in Bloom? We certainly mentioned it to him‎.

He says that this corner of Lincolnshire is ‘thin, worn-out, underprivileged, unlovable.’ The scenes he describes could have been in any town in the country. Is there a town without its worn-out and underprivileged area? Of course not. Gill rightly states that there was a friendly sort of atmosphere on the streets and I had the distinct feeling that he was warming to the people he met and was going to produce article similar to the one that subsequently appeared. Take away the reference to Grimsby & Cleethorpes and view it as a commentary on contemporary society and it highlights some issues that can’t be ignored We can't ignore the fact that allowing clubs to open until 3,4 and 5 in the morning costs the taxpayers huge amounts of money and we need to ask if that can be justified.

Will it impact on the tourist trade? In South Yorkshire where many of Cleethorpes’ visitors come from I doubt that on a sunny Sunday morning next summer when considering where to go for the day they’ll be saying ‘we better give Cleethorpes miss – remember that article by A.A. Gill, we better go to Skeggy instead. (If they do they’ll certainly be disappointed!) The best response is to relax, take note of the serious aspects, focus on them and treat the rest for what it was – an article by a waspish journalist who is known for his critical style.

Back to optimism and pessimism; another article I read last week was about what makes a political party an election winner at any one time. The answer, and the accompanying statistics did bear out the conclusion which was that the party must have an optimistic message and the leaders who could deliver the vision.

Too much of our politics is negative and ‘against things’ – the Conservative message at the next election will rest on having seen through the recession and having created conditions to allow businesses to grow. Far from being an underprivileged corner of England we are entering one of the most exciting periods in our recent history. Happy new year.