Today is a very sad day. An icon of strong leadership and of common sense, Mrs Thatcher led this country out of the dark days of the 1970′s. She will forever be held up as one of the great leaders of all times.
Today at the age of 87, she died peacefully following a stroke. My thoughts are with Mark and Carol Thatcher.
She was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and was an MP from 1959 until 1992.
A fantastic leader who will never be forgotten.
Read about our three main priorities in our manifesto.
http://www.cambsconservatives.com/manifesto-2013/
Also, did you know the Conservatives are the only party to support the current scheme for the A14 upgrade.
On Europe we want to trade with Europe but not be ruled by Europe.
I am proud to have been the prime mover leading the Conservatives to bring Superfast broadband to Cambridgeshire. The recent contract signing kicks off the project.
Politics is a funny thing. Many parties claim all sorts and seek to be the dominant party.
Independents claim everything, oppose everything and cannot deliver anything, however good as individuals they think they are.
The party with the most seats and with over 50% of the seats is the party in power. At the county this is the Conservatives and is likely to remain that way. The reality is the minority parties have little influence or ability to do very much. Independents have even less impact as appointment to committees is by proportionality to the number of members in a group.
When it comes to influencing the party in power the Lib Dems have struggled and tend to just appose everything. Although the three man Labour group has been much better at understanding how influencing works and have had some minor success. Independents tend to get frustrated and rely on single issues to keep themselves busy.
Practically, Independents, as the name suggests, are not team players. So, why does this matter? Let me give you an example. The A47 upgrade is a big issue for Wisbech. As the Conservative Leader I chose to get two of my hard working fellow Conservatives involved in the A47 collaborative work with Norfolk. This makes sense as they understand the local issues and as part of my group I have trust in them.
If an Independent was elected in Wisbech they would not be part of the A47 work so instantly Wisbech would have lost its voice on that important project. Nobody gains.
It used to be said that an independent can stick up for local people better. That is not true. All that happens is more noise is made and nothing happens. I’m afraid the days of noise and posturing are long gone. Now it is all about action and getting things done within a reducing budget. Independents are not able to get anything done.
Voting for am Independent is a wasted vote, unless it is a hung council of course !!!
A few weeks ago I bought a gizmo that monitors how far I walk, how many steps I take and how many calories I have burnt. It synchs up with my iphone and Mac where I log what food I eat. Simple really, eat more calories than I burn, misery – burn more calories than I eat eventual happiness. It is great for modifying behaviour or in shorthand it stops me eating cakes unless I go for a run first.
This is all in the interest of me losing some weight and getting fit for the cricket season. However, it has been interesting to see how far I am walking when out electioneering. Last week on one day I walked 10 miles!! Two other days I managed over 6 miles each day. I am so pleased I have a sizable number of supporters who help or my shoes would be worn out.
I guess in a city the houses are much closer together.
On the upside I have lost 3 kg in March. On the downside my feet are aching.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has given Cambridgeshire County Council nearly £1.2million to improve safety for cyclists at key junctions around Cambridge.
The Council has been working with local cycling and transport groups to find out where improvements were most needed. As a result, funding was agreed for three key junctions in the city.
Work on improving all the schemes will start later this year as part of the requirements of the funding.
A total of £500,000 has been allocated to install toucan crossings at the A14/B1049 Histon interchange and the A14/B1047 Horningsea interchange, as well as improving cycle lane approaches at the junctions of Gilbert Road and Histon Road, and Gilbert Road and Milton Road.
A further £450,000 is earmarked for the junction of Hills Road and Regent Street in Cambridge, adding new cycle lanes on Hills Road to enable cyclists to safely reach the front of the queue. The existing central reservation will be removed, traffic lights will be upgraded and the entire junction resurfaced.
In addition, £240,000 will be spent on improving the junction of Perne Road and Radegund Road. This will improve safety for children cycling and walking to St Bede’s School and Coleridge Community College. Traffic speeds on the roundabout will also be reduced.
I would like to thank Sustrans, Cambridge Cyclists’ Tourists Club (CTC) and Cambridge Cycling Campaign for working with us on the bid. I am delighted that Britain’s cycling capital, Cambridge, received funding, and safety improvements can be made to encourage even more people to cycle. We are working hard to improve facilities for cyclists. Cycling makes for a healthy, active, independent population and reduces traffic congestion.
Cambridgeshire County Council has organised a number of events this spring to encourage more people to get on their bikes. More information about these and cycling in Cambridgeshire is available on: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/cycling
Today I had the pleasure of being presented to Prince Philip at the Senate House in Cambridge. He was visiting to celebrate the launch of the Conservation Campus in Cambridge. He looked extremely well for his age and was chatty.
The Cambridge Conservation cluster is the biggest in the world and has a great history. Darwin, a hero of mine, studied here and set the scene for things to come.
David Attenborough was the guest speaker. He took us back in time and painted a wonderful word picture about the importance of conservation. A very charismatic speaker, full of passion and a unique perspective on life.
We also heard some great speeches from four of the campus students who are studying for a masters degree.
Glad to see Labour have published a manifesto. Locally, Labour are currently honourable, hardworking and know how to operate as a minority party. Coming to see me on important issues has always been productive.
It seems that if certain Labour candidates get elected that is all set to change. They will move from a sensible team of three trying to negotiate and discuss issues into something else altogether. From being focussed on the people they represent it is possible they will turn into a Political campaigning party.
I am aware that if certain Labour candidates get elected, history shows that officers are likely to be bogged down with minutia, feeding self serving individuals. Lets hope not.
The Labour manifesto is as expected and contains most of our current priorities, protecting the vulnerable, continuing to protect children and stimulating the economy. There is much about spending more money, without any idea where it will come from.
They do seem to be fixated about what they believe to be unfair. It looks as if working to a reduced budget is classed as unfair despite us having little control over that. They have included national issues, administered by the district councils, such as the changes to benefits.
Still, a fair stab at it. Shame no explanation how it will be funded but that is Labour all over, spend, spend, spend.
Oh and before anyone says our manifesto is not costed, it is. It is called the County Council business plan and can be found on the Councils website.
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CMSWebsite/Apps/Committees/AgendaItem.aspx?agendaItemID=6420
Can be found here?
http://www.cambsconservatives.com/manifesto-2013/
It seems, at the moment, that it is the only manifesto from any party that can be seen.
The campaign trail is exciting, hard work and this year creates very cold hands. I have delivered leaflets and chatted to lots of people. I have had lots of offers to deliver leaflets which has been very welcome. When I stood in 2009 Neil Scarr (Independent) came a close second with a significant personal vote. This is not surprising given how hardworking as a SCDC councillor he is. I am grateful that this time round not only is he not standing against me but he is helping to deliver my leaflets for me. And we have become firm friends.
So far, people seem very positive about the great things the Conservatives have been delivering over the last couple of years. They certainly welcome us helping to stimulate the economy whilst at the same time supporting vulnerable people. Get the first right and it helps to fund the second.
Lots of people have mentioned a widespread astonishment that the Lib Dems at the County Council and at SCDC will not support the A14 upgrade. People are really cross that the Lib Dem run Cambridge City council are refusing to help bring this essential upgrade forward. The question I keep getting asked is “don’t they realise this will save lives and help to save jobs. Are they mad?” People will have to work this out for themselves but the Conservatives are now the only pro A14 upgrade party.
I have been particularly impressed with James Hockney standing for Waterbeach. He is extremely hardworking and is focused on what is important for local people. He regularly lobbies me to ensure that Waterbeach remains a village and not turned into a town. Whilst I am aware it is on the governments list of potential development sites so much would have to happen before it even got close. This is not something to worry about for many, many years to come and anyone thinking it is an election issue now does not understand these matters and can only be scaremongering. First we must sort out the A14, which the Lib Dems dont support. Then the A10 would need upgrading significantly. And, more importantly of all, we already have planning permission granted for tens of thousands of housing at Northstowe, Alconbury, Clay Farm, North West Cambridge etc etc.
Brilliant effort team.
Cambridgeshire County Council’s gritting teams have for the first time carried out 100 runs during a single winter season and they look set to be kept busy as the cold weather continues.
A fleet of 39 specialist gritters – four of them newly acquired for this season – and their team of around 100 highly trained drivers – are on call 24/7 ready to hit the road loaded with some of the 10,000 plus tonnes of salt which is stockpiled at depots around the county.
The run tonight at 7.00 pm will be the 100th time this winter that the fleet has been called into action to keep Cambridgeshire highways safe and secure and traffic on the move – the first time the run rate has hit the century mark.
Gritting runs are triggered automatically by sophisticated weather monitoring equipment which alerts Highways chiefs when temperatures are expected to fall below freezing – on some occasions the fleet will carry out as many as three runs within a 24 hour period when weather conditions and temperatures are particularly bad.
In addition specialist brine spraying equipment mounted on two four-wheel drive quad bikes will again be available to treat harder to reach foot and cycle paths in Cambridge and backpack sprayers will be used to ‘spot’ treat other areas as necessary, including 11 foot and cycle bridges in Cambridge.
Treatment runs cover a network of primary routes across Cambridgeshire designed to keep commuter and passenger transport traffic flowing with secondary routes covered when resources allow.
Salt bins, which are kept stocked by the County Council, are also available to local parishes and the county council works in partnership with the district councils to try to ensure maximum treatment of winter-weather affected areas.
