Mark Ashwell Blog

The aim is to LEAD THE SPIRIT OF WOKINGHAM by

- Promoting enterprise and innovation

- Pushing for partnership across Berkshire  

- Inspiring and including our young voter

- Unlocking the talent and expertise of our retirees

 The mission is to facilitate Community, Government and Business  working together.

I had a fantastic few months talking over Wokingham people’s opinions and ideas. The Home Page button marked ‘Issues and Policies’ gives you more detail, but here are the subjects you found most important and a summary so far on each of them.

Debt – we will not let the politicians leave our debt for our children to clear up. Recovering from debt will be expensive and painful, but we must take action.

Enterprise – It seems that yet again we have work to do before we can say ‘Britain means business’. It is only the creation of wealth that will take us through our forthcoming challenges. Sleeves up, cut the red tape and let’s get on with it.

Political Reform – The majority of the country’s votes are simply thrown away. It seems that our coalition government might call a referendum on reform of the voting system this needs actively supporting. I also want the local party machine to have a choice of at least one local person to be a candidate. I also want MP’s to stand for a maximum of two terms – this will attract experienced people and discourage career politicians. Independent politics needs a fair hearing and are vitally important in today’s democracy: 2340 votes are proof!

Education – Let the professionals do their job and that job is to inspire children with desire to learn more. Teachers must not be forced to provide ‘tick in the box teaching’.

Immigration – Quality not quantity, We’re not bigots, we are a fair and open minded nation. We need people with the right skills and we need a government that will control numbers.

Freedom. We will not tolerate the creeping sense of state control, underhand taxes and a straightjacket society. If we allow the individual to be free, then we will all prosper.

Europe – Being with Europe is not being European. Being British, French or German etc is to be celebrated and we encourage all countries to retain their identity and at the same time have respect for others. Enjoy an economic partnership and respect our differences. Attempting to merge thousand year old cultures will fail.

Local Issues: Housing – We will continue to fight against the continued build up of housing in Wokingham and West Berkshire. Since 1931, Wokingham has increased in size at 16 times the rate of the rest of the UK, destroying a thousand year old local culture. Town Centre Development. For years now, I have been fighting for a town to be proud of – this will continue. Our Youth. Somewhere to go and something to do. What they want to do, not what we think they want. Engage and connect. Our career starters. I will do all that is possible to give our young workers a great start in working life. This means pulling businesses, community groups and local government together. Retirees. Respect; this is the age of experience, it is preposterous that we ignore this talent. Local Independent politics. we will encourage and support appropriate independent candidates in Town, Parish and Borough elections

COME AND JOIN THE INDEPENDENT THINKERS OF WOKINGHAM

Email me mark@markashwell.com and I will get straight back to you

John Redwood told us that to get a Conservative Government, we have to vote Conservative in Wokingham. Wrong! It seems that if you chose Liberal Democrat in Wokingham, you also voted in a Conservative Government. I am sure there were many who chose Lib Dem simply because they saw them as the best way to vote against the Conservatives. How do they feel now ? I remember at the count the Lib Dem leader (Prue Bray) telling us how the Lib Dems are the only alternative to a vote for the Conservatives in Wokingham. O yes Prue, voting Lib Dem gives us a choice alright – Hobson’s Choice !

I am trying to work out how this Coalition is going to be good for the Lib Dems other than giving them a bit of experience in government. I really hoped they would hold out for a fair electoral system, but they agreed on a referendum for the Alternative Voting system. This will give the Lib Dems about 20 / 30 seats extra for them, but nothing for anyone else. The Big Two and a Half continue to rule as usual.

But in spite of all this, my natural optimism hopes the Coalition will be a success. I believe we face such a difficult financial position that our politicians must give us honesty and clarity. There is talk of a 20% VAT rate, but this in itself raises only £12 billion of the £150 billion deficit we will face this coming financial year. It is cuts that are the only way to redress the deficit if we are not to destroy our economy with more tax hikes. Even the recovery cannot be consumption led as we are already £1,600 billion in debt as consumers.  Recovery will come from enterprise and this will not blossom in an atmosphere of multiple tax rises.

Another reason I want to see this coalition work is to prove to the nation that parties working together can give us great government. The idea that parties with huge majorities is the only way to save the nation, I hope will be finally put to the sword. Since the seventies we have had two parties with huge majorities and today we find ourselves facing the greatest debt we have ever experienced in peace time. Narrow minded, unchallenged decisions ruled – to our detriment.

So best of luck to the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, for the sake of the nation I hope it works – but don’t tell me that voting Conservative is the only way forward or that voting Lib Dem is the only alternative. Such views are now just voices from the past.

It is a humbling moment to think that 2,340 Wokingham people voted for me. I was beaten only by the 3 main parties – who have a huge party machine behind them, exclusive access to the national media and over a 100 years to build their message. Consider this: 2,340 people turned their back on these huge organisations and listened to a small voice from their community. Thank you for making your choice and also for the fantastic words of support I received from so many people. Here are the results for Wokingham:

During the campaign for MP, some people have said “Redwood will get in – he’s got a majority of 20,000”. Wrong! One lady even said “Wokingham could have a donkey for a tory candidate and the people will still vote Conservative”. Wrong! John Redwood’s majority has been falling over the years, it is down to 7,000 and is only the 363^rd safest seat in Parliament, out of 643 seats. There are thousands of first time voters coming onto the scene and thousands more who have walked away from voting in the past. Your vote can make the difference, please don’t say “why bother”.  We can do this, wake up in the morning and say “Today, I’m going to make history”. Only by voting Independent can we tell the world “WE DESERVE BETTER”. I have been working on this campaign for much longer than the main parties and I have spoken to and listened to many voters around the constituency. As a result, I still don’t believe we are a particularly conservative community. I believe people want someone who cares, will fight their corner and support their aspirations. And most want this government out, as I do. If you vote for me, I will fight against the continued existence of this government, not because it is Labour, but because it has performed so badly. So come on, stand up and vote, tell your friends and family to do the same. Please vote for me and we can really get this place moving.

I’ve just had a look at the Town Council’s diary of events on:

http://www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk/council-events.html

It’s good to see the Town Council sponsoring events like the May Fayre, our money coming back into the community is always a good thing!   Have a look at their list of events and put them in your diary.

Grab your kids, your lover or Mum and Dad, it’s all happening at Wokingham’s May Fayre – it’s on today, it’s open now until 5pm. The May Fayre is run by the magnificent Wokingham Lions charity and this year all proceeds go to the local children’s charity ‘Building for the Future’ and the Wokingham Community Hospital. Have fun; meet your friends, even those who are strangers – this is your day. Learn more about these amazing people:

http://www.buildingforthefuturewokingham.org/

http://www.wokinghamlions.org.uk/

I’ve had a fantastic few months talking over Wokingham people’s opinions and ideas; So I’ve listened, I’ve learned and I’m ready! The Home Page button marked ‘Issues and Policies’ give you more detail, but here are the subjects you found most important and a summary of our manifesto on each of them.

Debt – we will not let the politicians leave our debt for our children to clear up. Recovering from debt will be expensive and painful, but we must take action.

Enterprise – It seems that yet again we have work to do before we can say ‘Britain means business’. It is only the creation of wealth that will take us through our forthcoming challenges. Sleeves up, cut the red tape and let’s get on with it.

Political Reform – The majority of the country’s votes are simply thrown away. In Wokingham alone 23,000 votes out of 46,000 were ignored. These voices need to be heard, even though the main two parties don’t want to listen. I also want the local party machine to have a choice of at least one local person to be a candidate. I also want MP’s to stand for a maximum of two terms – this will attract experienced people and discourage career politicians.

Education – Let the professionals do their job and that job is to inspire children with desire to learn more. Teachers must not be forced to provide ‘tick in the box teaching’.

Immigration – Quality not quantity, We’re not bigots, we are a fair and open minded nation. We need people with the right skills and we need a government that will control numbers.

Freedom. We will not tolerate the creeping sense of state control, underhand taxes and a straightjacket society. If we allow the individual to be free, then we will all prosper.

Europe – Being with Europe is not being European. Being British, French or German etc is to be celebrated and we encourage all countries to retain their identity and at the same time have respect for others. Enjoy an economic partnership and respect our differences. Attempting to merge thousand year old cultures will fail.

Local Issues: Housing – We will continue to fight against the continued build up of housing in Wokingham and West Berkshire. Since 1931, Wokingham has increased in size at 16 times the rate of the rest of the UK, destroying a thousand year old local culture. Town Centre Development. For years now, I have been fighting for a town to be proud of – this will continue. Our Youth. Somewhere to go and something to do. What they want to do, not what we think they want. Engage and connect. Our career starters. I will do all that is possible to give our young workers a great start in working life. This means pulling businesses, community groups and local government together. Retirees. Respect; this is the age of experience, it is preposterous that we ignore this talent. Again, let we must bring Business, Local Government and the Community in Wokingham to bring us together.

These are your issues, you have been my brains, now let me be your voice. Please vote for me on May 6^th and YOU WILL MAKE HISTORY.

Whoever is the lucky candidate to serve Wokingham as their MP after May 6th, I want to send out a request and a challenge to the parties. I keep looking at the debt figures and the forecast for the annual deficit over the next five years and it is unquestionably grim. It is in my nature to be positive about all things and when threats appear in my life I am not the type of person to run for cover. I always want to know the facts. Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England has said that the winning government could be out of power for a generation. This is because the debt is so severe that cleaning it up will make the next government so unpopular, it will take years to recover. This did not happen to Margaret Thatcher and the reason for this is that she was able to focus the nation on the gravity of the task ahead. If the new government does not get the nation on its side, then I am afraid Mervyn King’s prediction will come true. I therefore send out a challenge to Wokingham’s leaders and its people. To the fellow candidates of the major parties in Wokingham, I ask us to pull together and agree the facts behind the debt crisis. We can then spend time explaining the task ahead. This is not about how to manage the crisis as that is political territory, I want to convey only the facts – the numbers and the targets. Once this has been agreed, we talk to the local business, community and government leaders to put the message out about the implications for Wokingham. If we explain the targets and the choices and keep the community informed, we have a much better chance of working as a team.

Tonight on TV, the parties meet for their final showdown; the subject is the economy and I predict they will not tell us the truth. At the very start of my campaign I forecast that the parties will try to avoid the difficult questions. I said that if they avoided the question of debt then it will be our children who will suffer in the future. I cannot stand the thought of this happening, because there will be enough for the next generation to contend with. An aging population, paying for OUR pensions, new energy and the environment will be huge challenges without them also inheriting our debt. I hate watching the parties bickering instead of facing the real issues. More than ever we need to stand together and handle these challenges together. This is a time when we should be united. I believe we as a people are ready for the challenge and I am angry that the parties are not. They are completely disconnected from us. I just want the chance to get amongst them and shake them out of their party obsessions and pathetic cheap shots. Given the chance, I will go to Westminster and call for them to all focus on the challenges ahead.

I can understand why they don’t want to talk about the economy, because it involves pain. This election is so balanced that they will not take the risk of creating any image of people suffering. I understand this, no one wants to see anyone in difficulty. Remember John Major saying ‘no pain no gain’ – he was right about the pain, but it was the glib sound bite that stuck with us, just as did Norman Tebbit’s response to unemployment in the northern towns “Get on yer bike”. People from their bankrupted towns did get on their bikes, looked for work and lived in cardboard boxes around the streets of London as a result. We’ve been here before and this happened not long ago.

I want to go through some basic numbers which I am more happy for anyone to challenge. They will show the severity of the issue:

We as a country make about £1,400 billion a year and the Government picks up about £6oo billion in tax revenue. It will need to use some that money to pay the debt (cuts) and also raise additional tax. Our debt is £850 billion and this year alone we borrowed about £170 billion. In five years our debt will rise to £1,500 billion unless we get a grip. Government interest payments will top £40 billion per annum, which is larger than what we spend on Defence.  Let’s go back to the £600 billion the Government raise from us – can you see how much more tax we would need to raise? Let’s also look at the borrowing forecast for the next five years, which is about £130 billion a year. Can you see the enormity of the task ?  Governments and lenders tend to judge debt by relating it to national product called GDP. Our debt in 2002 was 29% of GDP, comfortably below the Government’s own upper limit of 40% (the point at which even they get worried). It is now 60% and it is forecast to be 100% in five years. We have been here before. In 1976, the world’s lenders of debt to the UK became worried about our ability to pay back the loans (as in Greece and now Spain and Portugal) and we as a country had to go to the International Monetary Fund for a loan. The IMF lend money on the condition it is paid back at a given level. Paying back the loan sent the country into a tail spin of cuts and tax increases. This is the point – our debt to GDP ratio was 40% and as said it is now 60% and threatening to go to 100% in five years. Consumer debt is £1600 billion. Consumers (that’s us) will be responsible for clearing their own debt and this will be a challenge in the environment we are now in.

If you watch tonight, look for someone saying we need to find over £100 billion a year, not the 3 or 4 billion they talk about. After we define the repayment figure, we need to look at how it is to be raised (tax and cuts) and then we will come to the crux of the election. When will the repayment of the debt start and where will the money be found from?

Mismanagement in our political system in endemic. We need to sort out our economic problems now and not leave it for our children to grow up and inherit. Politicians have disengaged from the real people as we see in today’s newspapers. I will continue to engage with my community and I will not let this and other issues be swept under the carpet. I will also be a Reforming MP and demand that local parties are allowed to have at least one local person on their list of candidates. This did not happen in Bracknell, the local party had six candidates to choose from, but all nominated by central office. I will also demand  MP’s have a maximum of only two terms in office. These two changes will give people the chance to choose a local person and also take away the scourge of inexperienced career politicians who mess up our future and the future of our children. ONLY an Independent candidate will call for these changes because the club culture of the political parties will refuse to do so. I will be your Independent, Community and Reforming MP.  I’m up for this amazing challenge – are you ?

Apparently he called her a bigot because she was asking about immigration. He had his head in his hands and knows this is a disaster. But I don’t know what the question was on immigration. There will be more on this.