As the three main party leaders prepare to lock horns over the economy in tomorrow night’s final televised debate, the candidates vying for the Congleton seat give their views on country’s financial future. All the candidates standing at the General Election have been invited to spell out their views on set topics every week. Several have chosen not to participate and are presenting their campaign in the manner which best suits them
GORDON Brown said he’d abolished boom and bust, but under Labour we’ve suffered the longest and deepest recession since records began.
He said we were the best placed country to deal with the global downturn, but we were one of the first to enter and the last major economy to come out of recession.
The economic figures issued this week show economic growth by only 0.2% in the first quarter of this year even worse than most predictions.
A re-election of a Labour Government with more debt, waste and taxes, risks further recession and Labour risks killing the currently weak recovery with their planned National Insurance rise, which is a tax on jobs.
Britain cannot go on with Labour’s model of an economy built on debt. Debt is not a foundation for genuine prosperity.
We need a change of government, a new Conservative Government, determined to make Britain open for business again.
We will support production, manufacturing and business investment through job creation and training. We will cut waste by reforming public services to deliver better value for money and end unnecessary quangos. We will support savers, and work hard to reduce the country’s debt levels – and in turn interest payments.
Over 95% of businesses in the Congleton Constituency are SMEs (small and medium sized). A Conservative Government will give particular help for SMEs, which is good news for this area.
The small company’s rate of Corporation Tax will be cut from 22p to 20p. We will reduce the burden of red tape with a “one in one out” rule for new regulations, create a simple National Loan Guarantee Scheme to provide affordable credit for SMEs, aim to provide SMEs with 25% of government contracts, cancel Labour’s planned National Insurance rise - in short- we will help Britain back to work.
IT IS really all about the economy. Never a truer word was said and the economy more than anything else divides the approach of the three main parties in this election.
The economic tsunami that swept the globe has been catastrophic for some businesses and individuals. To decide which will be the best party to manage the economy we have to look at the facts.
Every other party will blame the current Government for the state of the economy but the recession would have happened regardless of who was in power.
The recession came from the un-checked, mis-selling of mortgages to people who couldn’t afford it in the US - this is fact.
The perfect economic storm that resulted from this is a matter of history, but it is fact that Labour, under Gordon Brown saved the economy when we were 24 hours from a financial meltdown.
The resultant stimulus package that was introduced by the Labour party is a model that economists will use for many years when looking at how to deal with recessions.
The Conservative party opposed the stimulus package and would have cut public spending too early.
The result would have been a depression which would have brought more damage to the country than any level of debt. The experienced team of Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling will manage the finances of the country and protect public services. This is what the Labour Government offers nationally.
I plan to help build a local economy that we can be proud of by ensuring that the Congleton Constituency becomes a hub for the high tech industries of the future.
This will result in more people living and working in this constituency and the resultant improvement that this has to all businesses.
THE economy is in a mess and whichever party wins the election, it will have to make some drastic cuts in public spending, increase taxes or both.
We are being honest with the electorate by identifying areas where we can make cuts. The Child Trust Fund, Trident, and the ID Card scheme are some of the places where we would make savings.
We would use some of this money in our first year in office to invest in jobs, thus stimulating the economy.
We plan to make our housing stock more energy efficient and bring empty homes back into use offering loans or grants.
We would increase the money spent on renewable energy schemes such as off shore wind farms making use of our excellent experience in deep water installations.
We would improve our public transport system by replacing polluting buses, building more rail stock and reopening local lines and stations including the Sandbach to Northwich line.
Our proposals to raise the tax threshold to £10,000 would save most wage earners £700 a year and pensioners £100.
This money would circulate in the local economy helping to revitalise it. We would pay for this by bearing down on those who avoid tax, our mansion tax on property worth over £2m and taxing capital gains at the same rate as income. These measures are part of our fairness agenda, ensuring the well off pay their fair share.
We would ensure that the banks start lending again especially to small and new businesses. We would separate the retail and more speculative parts of banking. This would enable some guarantees for traditional banking thus encouraging risk taking.
MUCH has been said and written about Britain’s current economic mess, but none of the three old failed parties have provided any answers.
UKIP would initially address the fiscal deficit, by taking the £23bn of UK gross contributions to the EU and use it to reduce the level of UK taxation, abolish almost £60bn of EU regulatory costs to re-invest in our economy. These savings would be in addition to the £6-7bn identified by the other parties.
UKIP would also abolish the unnecessary quangos imposed upon us by Brussels, saving almost £100bn per annum, which UKIP would use to pay down the national debt.
UKIP also proposes to abolish VAT at 17.5% which the other parties propose to raise to 20% in line with the European average. UKIP would replace this with a local sales tax, capped at 9%, providing independent income for local authorities.
UKIP also proposes to phase out employers’ national insurance over the term of a parliament, removing the tax on jobs and freeing business for growth.
The overarching goal of UKIP’s policies on jobs, enterprise and skills, is to promote a new vibrant culture of producing goods and services related to them. Our policies will create more skilled jobs and more innovation whilst eliminating the massive trade deficit crippling our economy.
UKIP proposes to stimulate private and public investment in Britain’s manufacturing and engineering base, a ten year enhanced defence equipment programme, a 25 year programme of building power stations, a comprehensive programme of flood protection and coastal defences, and a programme which would enhance our road and rail infrastructure. UKIP would also invest in prison building.
By implementing our proposals on the economy, we can realistically achieve all the aims set out in our manifesto.
NO-ONE will tell us the truth over the state of the countries economy but, if it were one of us, we’d be staring at the bailiffs by now!
Why are we in such a state? It’s not just the bankers but as a country we import so much, we hardly make anything these days and where companies have been successful some one buys it out and ships it abroad.
We need local skilled jobs so that our school leavers and university graduates can carry on living in our community and not have to move away to find the little work that is available. This lack of job opportunities has a knock on effect around us like affordable rental housing, diversity of shops and thriving high street in our towns.
If people work locally they spend locally, they use local facilities, we are seen as a set commuter towns and Cheshire East perpetuates this by investing in other areas.
This constituency has non-controversial employment land we have the willingness and people who want to work, all we want are the chances. Westminster will never deliver this only your local MP, who by working with local businesses that want to expand and promoting our area as the best place to operate from.
Being independent does not mean working alone, they can choose whom they work with and do not have corporate backers who want their pound of flesh.
Independents always work for their communities because they are part of that community.
I want to see our economy thrive it makes where we live that much better, it keeps families together, it keeps our high streets alive and it is somewhere where we want to be.
