Andy Newman for Labour

One of the biggest concerns that people talk to me about as a Labour parliamentary candidate is immigration. I think there is a commonly held view that the traditional generosity and tolerance of the British people towards strangers is being abused.

Certainly it would be wrong for people to come to Britain who have not contributed to our taxation system, and then start claiming benefits. We also need to ensure that when there is population migration, not just from abroad, but also from other parts of the UK, then there is sufficient infrastructure, schools, housing, hospitals and other facilities, to cope with the greater numbers.

However, there is also some mythology that builds up, and it is very useful that the TUC in the South West have produced an accurate fact sheet. Only 8% of the population of Wiltshire are immigrants, and while there is concern about the number of Romanians and Bulgarians who might come here, in fact they have been able to work in Britain since 2007 under the seasonal agricultural workers scheme, and have helped the UK economy by working, often in arduous low paid jobs, which employers have struggled to otherwise fill.

There are also key areas of skill shortage where workers from abroad can fill gaps, for example in the health service, and we even additionally benefit as the UK taxpayer has not paid for their education and training. For example, Hilary Walker, the chief nurse at the GWH , Wiltshire’s largest hospital recently said:

“There is a shortage of nursing staff nationally, so we have addressed this by extending our recruitment internationally, to Spain, Portugal and Ireland.”

Immigration is an issue where politicians do need to listen to the concerns of the population, but we must make sure that the debate is well informed, and that the value of immigrants to economic voters, which benefits all of us, is also acknowledged.

Labour candidate for next year’s European parliament election Clare Moody, joined me today petitioning for a freeze of energy prices in Bradford on Avon.

Published and promoted by Chippenham Labour Party on behalf of Andy Newman, both of 5 Elm Hayes, Corsham, SN13 9JW

Wiltshire council has suffered considerable cuts over the last few years, which residents experience as worse services. There is of course political debate about whether austerity is necessary, and I am unconvinced that the coalition is on the right track.

However,  according to figures from the Rural Services Network, the government’s austerity measures are doubly damaging in Wiltshire because the funding formula for rural councils gives on average 50% less money per head than urban councils. Yet the dispersed population costs councils more to service. Rural counties like Wiltshire have higher costs, a typically more elderly population requiring more services, and lower average household incomes than the big cities.

The Labour Party’s spokesperson for local government, Andy Sawford, has pledged to overhaul this unfair formula when Labour forms the next government.

However, the government has an opportunity to put this right during next month’s local authority spending settlement. Finding a fair solution for funding rural councils has support not only from the Labour Party, but also from 26 Conservative and Lib Dem MPs, who presented a petition to parliament last week. Sadly Chippenham’s Lib Dem MP is not yet supporting a change.

Published and promoted by Chippenham Labour Party on behalf of Andy Newman, both of 5 Elm Hayes, Corsham, SN13 9JW

Tristan Cork’s recent article in the Western Daily Press emphasized growing disquiet from the leaders of the Countryside Alliance about the failure of the Conservative / Lib Dem government to hold a vote to repeal the 2004 Hunting Act, which was promised in the coalition agreement.

The Hunting Act remains politically controversial, and many feel that the current law is sometimes illogical and perverse, for example it is legal to flush a fox from below ground if it is threatening game birds, but not legal to use the same method if the fox is killing lambs.

Tim Bonner, head of campaigns for the Countryside Alliance argues, “Many living in the countryside feel the Government is more interested in urban issues and that their votes are being taken for granted”

Indeed, there was some acknowledgement of this view in Tony Blair’s 2010 book  A Journey, where the former Labour Prime minister says that he regretted the legislation.

However, the Countryside Alliance is wrong to overemphasize what they call the “totemic issue” of hunting with dogs. Indeed 69% of even the rural population support the 2004 Hunting Act, and there is a broad consensus in support of the ban, whatever the failings of the current law, it does reflect the majority view. Any move to repeal and amend the Hunting Act would bog parliament down over an issue of secondary importance.

There are far more significant failures of the coalition government towards rural communities, for example the slow roll out of fast broadband, which is why Labour has promised to divert £75 million to rural areas for improving Internet access, that will boost the economy and grow jobs.

The coalition has scrapped the Agricultural Wages Boards that protected the poorest rural workers, it has failed to address the growing crisis of affordable housing in our rural communities, and the privatization of Royal Mail potentially threatens both the universal service commitment, and the uniform tariff that underpin so  many small and medium size businesses in country areas and small towns. The coalition government’s economic policy is tilted towards London and the south east of England, and the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies further jeopardizes our rural economy.

The cost of living crisis that threatens to engulf so many families is worse in rural areas, where energy and fuel costs are higher.

While feelings are strong on both sides of the hunting debate, and the current legislation is flawed, what our rural communities really need is a one nation government that seeks to bridge the divide between urban and rural communities.

Published and promoted by Chippenham Labour Party on behalf of Andy Newman, both of 5 Elm Hayes, Corsham, SN13 9JW

I was interested to read in the Gazette and Herald that Coun Chris Caswill has resigned from the Liberal Democrats:

Many voters will agree with his reasons:

Coun Caswill said he had expected Lib Dems to “listen to and engage with the views of local communities, and support them when in conflict with powerful interests”.

Coun Caswill said he was keen to use his new independence to argue the case for the National Health Service, and had been shocked by the support of the Lib Dem party, including local MP Duncan Hames, for “the privatisation of the NHS, for secret courts and the destruction of legal aid and judicial review, for the demonisation of the poor, for assaults on support for the disabled, for the bedroom tax, for brutal cuts in local authority funding, for the scrapping of the Educational Maintenance Allowance for the less well-off kids – indeed for the whole attempt to put the burden of our economic problems on the disadvantaged and the hard-working poor”.

He said: “Up until now I have hoped that Liberal Democrats would at least commit to trying to reverse some of these dreadful policies, but it’s now clear that they will not.

“More recently, the party has committed itself to support for fracking and for nuclear power and has sat silent while Conservative ministers have rubbished climate change and imposed a badger cull against all serious scientific advice.

“These are the directions in which the party leadership has taken the Liberal Democrats and it is not a direction which I’m prepared to go.”

Published and promoted by Chippenham Labour Party on behalf of Andy Newman, both of 5 Elm Hayes, Corsham, SN13 9JW

I am delighted to learn that Wiltshire College has plans for a brand new £21 million college campus in Chippenham. The new three storey buildingwill be open to students from September 2015, and will support apprenticeships in engineering, construction and hair and beauty as well as additional vocational training.

The next Labour government will require large companies to train a new apprentice for each skilled worker they hire from outside the EU. Across the UK, this policy will create up to 125,000 high quality apprenticeships. Labour plans to double the number of high-quality apprenticeships, which lead to well paid, secure jobs.

The apprenticeship scheme would affect foreign nationals brought in under Tier 2 of the points-based immigration system – those offered a skilled job to fill a gap in the workforce that cannot be filled by a settled worker.

Labour will also require companies bidding for government contracts to train apprentices.

Published and promoted by Chippenham Labour Party on behalf of Andy Newman, both of 5 Elm Hayes, Corsham, SN13 9JW

The Conservative chancellor, George Osborne, has announced that the unemployed “will be made to attend the job centre every working day”.

Has Mr Osborne any idea how impractical this idea is for people in rural areas, either unemployed people will be spending £25 or £30 per week on bus fares, or will be spending literally hous per day walking on dangerous country roads.

With around one million unemployed under the age of 25, the problem is not that our young people don’t want to work, but that there are not enough jobs, due to Mr Osborne’s failed economic policies

Andy Newman

Labour parliamentary candidate – Chippenham

The Conservative led coalition government has been a disaster for Britain. As David Blanchflower wrote in the Inependent

The economy Osborne inherited was growing nicely. Indeed, it grew 2.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 through to the third quarter of 2010; but since then, the total growth is 0.8 per cent – and that growth is entirely down to the 2012 Olympic Games. Four of the past five quarters have been negative. It is quite clear that trying to deal with the deficit hasn’t taken care of growth.

Faced with a global economic crisis, the Labour government with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, and Alistair Darling as Chancellor, had introduced a number of specific and targetted measures that boosted the economy. The car scrappage scheme, the cut in VAT, quantative easing, all saved thousands of jobs. The intervention to save the banks safeguarded the livelihood and prosperity of millions of ordinary, hard-working people, by preventing an economic meltdown.

Not only has the coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats undermined the economy, their policies have made Britain a more divided and unequal society. The bedroom tax has penalised the poorest and most vulnerable, while tax cuts have been given to the super rich.

The tax cut for millionaires saw 13,000 people earning over £1 million get an average tax cut of £100,000, while families will be an average of £891 worse off this year because of changes introduced since 2010.

We should be very proud of what was acheived by the Labour government between 1997 and 2010. By 2010, there were 41000 more teachers and 120000 more teaching assistants, 80000 more nurses and 44000 more doctors, and 4.5 million families received tax credits of an average £65 per week.

There was meaningful devolution to Scotland and Wales, abolition of Clause 28, introduction of civil partnerships, sure start, paternity rights, improved maternity rights, right to Trade Union representation at work, a statutary route to union recgnition, the minimum wage, sure start, expansion of NHS, school building programme, vast increase of NHS and school staff, working time directive, working tax credit, family credit, etc. Not to mention an end to the war in Ireland, and the start of a meaningful peace process.

The Labour Party stands for a fairer and better Britain, a Britain that is on your side in hard times.