Hustings Part Two

Well, as I said last night, we had a great hustings meeting in Staines last night. There was an excellent turnout, and a broad range of questions. We were asked about everything from Education, to Trident, Government support for Faith Groups, and Immigration. We were well tested on our respective parties policies, and also on issues that are traditionally left to individual MPs to make personal decisions on. The audience were keen to hold us to account, and talking to many people afterwards, they said it had been helpful for them to hear us live, and it would inform their voting intentions considerably. Facing a large audience is a good test of a prospective MPs mettle. It is amazing how quickly the microphone seems to reach you as you gather your thoughts (very quickly!) to give your answer. When a question comes out of left field, suddenly even the keenest of candidates looks at the mic as if it was on fire! We have another hustings event tomorrow night at Kempton Park, and it will be interesting to see how that goes now we have heard each others answers to a lot of questions!

Hustings Part One

I have just got back from tonight's hustings meeting in Staines. I am going to get some shut eye so will not do a post on the whole thing tonight, but I can say that I had a really good time and the questions were excellent. The audience were great, and I can't wait till Friday in Sunbury!

Sofa Politics

Tonight I was invited into a family home to discuss the election and answer some questions. It was almost a warm-up for tomorrow night's hustings in Staines! I was asked about the economy, environment (including Runway Three), hung parliaments and schools. They had clearly discussed all these at great length among themselves, and grabbed the opportunity to get a candidate in the flesh to elaborate on their policies. It is a feature of this election that the majority of people really are engaged in it, and want to know what we all stand for. They have strong opinions that they want to share, and are taking a lot of care exploring what the parties have to offer. I am very hopeful that there will be a better turnout than in 2005, which I would have thought scarcely possible 12 months ago. In case you're wondering, I was assured I had the support of all the family on May 6th. If only I could get to every living room in Spelthorne!

Knocking On Doors

Today we were out in Staines knocking on doors. During the election, you will hear countless politicians talking about what they heard 'on the doorstep'. I may even say it myself along the way. That's because there really is no substitute for hearing what local people think about the issues that matter to them. I was fortunate enough to have one of our Lib Dem MEPs for our area, Sharon Bowles, with us today. For those of you who don't yet know, Sharon is the Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Sounds dull? Well, it's actually a very powerful position. Sharon is using the post to tackle parts of the world economic crisis. One of the key things she is doing right now? Tackling banker bonuses on a European wide scale. Watch this space, because it looks like her intervention may just bring them to book! So you can imagine I was delighted that she came to talk to residents today. We covered everything from Runway Three to, of course, the economy. Sharon was great, and people appreciated having their MEP face to face and happy to take up their concerns. We're having a great start to the campaign proper!

Watch Out For That Tree!

For the first time today I had a press photographer hopping backwards up the road in front of me, trying to get a shot of me campaigning in Staines. I can assure you that it is nigh on impossible to march purposefully up the road looking photogenic when all you can think is 'don't fall over that wall' or 'watch out for that tree!' Fortunately the member of the paparazzi (can I call him that when we were properly introduced and had a good chat about football?) was very nimble and had clearly developed a sixth sense for these things. Hopefuly that means he got a decent shot!

Talk To People

We had a great day talking to the people in Staines today. The topics bring up are so varied, from the economy to Shortwood, the environment to sleaze. When we get in front of voters and explain our policies, we get such a good response, and today was no different. Voters deserve to speak directly to their representatives, and to challenge them on important issues. There was plenty of that today, and it is really enjoyable to put our case. After two years meeting local people, I still feel I have so much more I want to say, and more importantly I know there is much more I need to hear. We will be getting to all the communities of Spelthorne again over the next few weeks.

Snapshot

Today I have been speaking or writing to residents about a wide range of issues, so I thought I'd mention it on here as a snapshot of the things raised by local people. I have, for example, been trying to reach a neighbourhood watch co-ordinator about CCTV and lighting in Stanwell, but we keep missing each other! I have written to a resident in Staines who asked me to outline our policy on Heathrow. I spoke to a person in Sunbury about A2 housing association. I emailed a lady about IFAW's manifesto for wild animals. That is just a sample of what has been going on today. It's great that when a General Election comes round, people take the opportunity to ask questions of their candidates and work out who is the best one for them. Today I think I gave three people an answer they were happy with, and one I know did not like what I had to say. But that is why we have elections - to let opinions be heard, and for people to exercise a right to choose who represents them. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow...

A Night In Playbox

I was at a meeting tonight of the campaign to save Shortwood Infants School and Playbox playgroup. Tonight there were parliamentary candidates, county and borough councillors as well as parents, support staff and governors. This is a testament to how quickly the campaign has been mobilised and how hard the campaigners are working. Lots of ideas were exchanged, as well as a plan for the next 4 years for the school to grow it's numbers and build stability for the future. There are still questions for the council to answer as I said before, but key is to keep engaging the local community and keep up the pressure. The publicity has started really well, but the story needs to stay fresh for the media to keep running on it. I think that the ideas we shared tonight will help move things forward. I have a commitment from our county councillors to carry on providing information that can be useful to the campaign, and I hope to help with campaigning experience too, although frankly this group of people are doing a fantastic job already!

Facts And Figures

I have been at a meeting with my County Council colleagues tonight discussing the threat of Shortwood Infant School's closure . We are pulling together as much information as we can to pass on to the campaigners there. There are so many factors that need to be included in this consultation that seem to be missing from the council's document, so it's vital to get as much info into the public domain as possible to inform the debate. We'll be working on this some more over the weekend.

Shortwood Infant School

Surrey County Council have announced potential plans to close Shortwood School. There were two public meetings at the school today, and I went along to the second one this evening. I don't think I have seen many more passionate defences of a community facility than I heard from local people tonight. Whilst the school has low numbers of pupils, it was clear that parents think the school is fantastic, as do the ex pupils, ex teachers and other local residents who had their say. The overwhelming feeling is that they have not had the support, publicity or understanding of the County Council, and that many people only heard about the school by word of mouth. Many also feel that long standing rumours of closure have put people off making the school their 1st preference. Talking afterwards to the acting head, and other campaigners, it was clear that they will defend the school and fight closure all the way. The community love this school and value it dearly. Councils have a tough job balancing needs and budgets, but their own figures show, to my mind, that short term desire to close the school will cause real problems in the near future, over and above the hardship some parents will face now if the school closes. After tonight they have my wholehearted support.

Bankers Petition

We had a really good morning on Staines High Street with our new bankers petition. We are calling on the Chancellor to put a 10% levy on bank profits, break up banks to separate the casino (risk taking) operations from the high street banks, and close tax loop holes for the very rich. We asked local shoppers whether they would support the petition, and the response was excellent. What we found this morning was that people were all set to rush to M&S, but mention the banks and they stopped to talk. This is clearly an issue that won't go away, and the anger is still there. Vince Cable has led this debate from the beginning, and again today people were full of praise for him. We may well do this again before I send the petition off to Alistair Darling. One little aside: we chatted to a long time Labour campaigner who said they were supposed to be campainging this morning in the same place, but he was the only one there. Even their candidate had not shown up! It really is a 2 horse race in Spelthorne!