Trust Vince

Vince Cable has been rated as the most trustworthy politician in a poll conducted for the Times. The paper thinks this was inevitable, given his straight talking on the economy. Vince has been warning of the dangers that became a catastrophe for many years, and it is a testament to his judgement and skill that this has been recognised by voters across the political spectrum. The public have come to realise that it is the Lib Dems who have the credibility on the economy these days. The Government were, and still are, slow and lumbering when reacting to events rather than providing proactive solutions. As for the Tories, George Osborne is so lacking in ability to handle the economy, he never even appears in live debate on the TV, only in prepared soundbite interviews. Check it out for yourself. If Newsnight have a live segment, the Tories put up anyone else but Osborne, and he certainly won't go head to head with Vince. Woe betide us if Osborne is the next Chancellor.......

London Irish

London Irish RFC are looking to move their facilities to a much bigger site in Sunbury. To pay for the move, they want to redevelop their existing site, off The Avenue, for residential use. Yesterday and today, there was a chance to see the plans and talk to them about them. What is clear to me from my visit this afternoon, is that the local area cannot sustain this development. Local people already know that their GP surgery is overstretched, they have problems with speeding, and the traffic at certain times of day in the area is terrible. Sunbury Cross grinds to a halt all the time. There are too many houses squeezed onto the site. The Labour Government have long guided local authorities into higher density housing than people want, but Spelthorne council have an astonishing record of allowing overdevelopment. Residents told me exactly what they thought whilst I was there. I believe that local residents will reject these plans, and I will support them. I hope London Irish and the council listens.

Football Mad?

England have just become runners up in the European championships. The ladies that is. It's a fantastic achievement by Hope Powell's team, and great progress. When though are we going to start giving them the support they deserve? Many women's national teams in this country are very successful (like the England cricket team for example), but get a fraction of the funding of their male counterparts. It's time we gave proper support to our successful teams, regardless of their gender.

Heathrow Runway Three

I am currently sitting watching Ed Milliband fail to justify a third runway at Heathrow on Newsnight. How the Government can seriously expect us to believe that they are committed to tackling climate change, whilst endorsing an expansion of aviation is beyond me. Heathrow certainly needs improving, but not expanding, and it's high time the Government reversed it's decision to allow runway three. The plan now appears to be that every other area of carbon emissions will need to be cut by 90% before 2050, so that the airlines can continue to fly on largely unaffected. This is a subject I will come back to many times in the coming months, especially as Spelthorne's MP wants the new runway, and so does the council......

By-Election in Laleham and Shepperton Green

Well, our campaign is up and running, with an excellent candidate in Richard Dunn. We have been across the whole patch already, and as it's made up of several different villages and areas, we are determined to listen to locals and tackle issues that matter in each place. The Tories across Spelthorne are complacent, and people deserve better.