news bulletin from aidan burley mp #15
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8/6/2019 News Bulletin from Aidan Burley MP #15
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Subject: NewsBulletinfromAidanBurleyMP#15
Date: Thursday,19May201112:13:33UnitedKingdomTime
From: AidanBurleyMP
In this edition:
Aidan Burley MP’s Diary Website of the Week:1,000 Miles in 24 hoursSponsored Ride
Aidan in Parliament:Aidan calls for PremiershipFootball Clubs to pay for
full policing costs of games Aidan in Parliament:Aidan asks PM to reformrules on taxpayers fundingtrade union officials to do‘political campaigning’ Aidan in Parliament:Defence Diplomacy Aidan in Parliament:Democratic deficit in policegovernance
Aidan throws weightbehind families’campaign to endwaste of NHS funds Photo news:New Terminal atBirmingham Airport
Police should becrime-fighters, notform-writers UK resoundinglyrejects AV Aidan in the media:MP Aidan Burley urgesfootball clubs to paymore police costs Aidan in the papers:Week in Westminster Aidan in the papers:Week in Westminster How to contactAidan Burley MP
Issue 15 – Thursday 19th May 2011
Since the last edition, Aidan has:
· Asked a Question at Prime Ministers Question Time
regarding taxpayer funded union officials .
· Questioned Home Office Ministers in the House of
Commons on the democratic deficit in police governance.
· Hosted a debate in Westminster Hall calling for Premiership
Football Clubs to pay for the costs of policing atmatches.
· Met local constituents and family members living with
muscle-wasting diseases as they gathered at Westminster to present a report to Health Minister Paul Burstow.
· Attended a Private Dinner with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer George Osborne in which he questioned himabout increasing cost of prescriptions in England compared to Scotland.
· Taken part in a transport roundtable discussion on how
improving the UK’s transport infrastructure will help theeconomy in general.
· Attended a meeting organised by the All Party Parliamentary
Group for Aviation.
· Met with the Chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Pattern.
· Accompanied the Secretary of State for Transport to the
opening of the new terminal building at BirminghamAirport.
· Attended a meeting of the Westminster Club at Cannock
Conservative Club.
· Questioned Defence Ministers in the House of Commons
about diplomacy.
· Welcomed neighbouring MP Jeremy Lefroy to the Cannock
Chase MP Help Zone . The Help Zone is open 10am to
4pm Monday to Friday for all local residents to drop in – noappointment necessary - for help and advice from one of Aidan’s team.
Website of the Week:
1,000 Miles in 24 hoursSponsored Ride
The fundraising page of local resident and ex-servicemanTim Jones, a member of the Royal British Legion Riders
Branch. On the 18th of June 2011, he will be taking partin the RBLR 1000. The challenge is to Ride 1,000 miles
in 24 hours on a motorbike to raise money for theRoyal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
The charity helps both veterans, but also currently servingpersonnel, offering financial and emotional aid to both
them and their families.
2011 is the 90th anniversary of the legion and Tim has sethimself a target of raising £500 and with your help, he hopes
to raise this and more. There is no minimum or maximumdonation, as every little will help towards the goal.
Anyone who would like to sponsor Tim, by giving anonline donation can do so here:
www.justgiving.com/riderstimjones-RBLR1000.
Aidan in Parliament:Aidan calls for Premiership FootballClubs to pay for full policing costsof games
Wednesday 18th May 2011
Click on the image above to watch Aidan’s Westminster HallDebate. Aidan’s speech begins at 16:30:25.
You can also click here to read the full text of Aidan’s speechand the Minister’s reply.
Aidan in Parliament:Aidan asks PM to reform ruleson taxpayers funding trade unionofficials to do ‘political campaigning’
Wednesday 18th May 2011
Click on the image above to watch Aidan’s questionto the Prime Minister.
The full text of the exchange is below: Mr Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase) (Con): There are currently 2,500trade union representatives across the public sector paid not toprovide the service that they represent but to carry out campaigningactivities that should be funded by the unions—and because the
unions do not pay their salaries, they can spend their subs on other things, such as subsidising that lot over there. Does the PrimeMinister not think it time that that was reformed? The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend raises an important point. [Hon.Members: “No he doesn’t!”] It is interesting that whenever someoneraises a point about union funding they get shouted down by theLabour party, because Labour Members do not want anyexamination of what trade unions do, or how much money they giveto the Labour party. [Interruption.] I think that they protest a little toomuch.
Aidan in Parliament:Defence Diplomacy
Monday 16th May 2011
Click on the image above to watch Aidan’s question to DefenceMinister Gerald Howarth. Aidan’s question begins at 15:20.17.
The full text of the exchange is below: Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase, Conservative): Does my right hon.Friend share my recognition of the critical importance of defencediplomacy to UK interests around the world? Will he update theHouse on what progress he has made on making amends for thedecade of Labour neglect in this area? Gerald Howarth: (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State(International Security Strategy), Defence; Aldershot,Conservative): I can assure my hon. Friend that since taking officewe have set a new and vigorous pace to make up for thedeficiencies of the previous Labour Administration. As my 1924 mapof the British empire should remind everybody, the United Kingdomenjoys extensive historical ties with a large number of countries,giving us an unrivalled position. It is our policy to build on thatstrength through defence diplomacy, and we are doing so.
Aidan in Parliament:Democratic deficit inpolice governance
Monday 9th May 2011
Click on the image above to watch Aidan’s question toHome Office Minister Nick Herbert. Aidan’s question
begins at 14:49.55.
The full text of the exchange is below:
Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase, Conservative): What steps sheplans to take to increase links between police forces and localcommunities. Nick Herbert (Minister of State, Justice; Arundel and SouthDowns, Conservative): Reconnecting the police with thecommunities they serve is at the heart of our police reforms. Regular beat meetings and new local crime maps are already enablingcommunities to hold their local police to account. We will build onthis through the introduction of police and crime commissioners,providing an even more visible and accountable link between thepolice and the public. Aidan Burley: Under the current system, only 7% of the publicunderstand that they can approach a police authority if they aredissatisfied with the standard of service provided. Will my hon.Friend outline what he is doing to improve this democratic deficit inpolice governance and end Labour’s woeful legacy on policecomplaints? Nick Herbert: I agree: we are strengthening the police complaintssystem, while also proposing to strengthen police accountabilitythrough a democratic reform. Police authorities are invisible to thepublic. That will change when directly elected police and crimecommissioners are elected by the people who will be able to hold
their force to account; at the same time, the operationalindependence of chief constables will be protected.
Aidan throws weight behind families’campaign to end waste of NHS funds
Aidan with Cannock Chase constituents Elizabethand Philip Orme at a Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
meeting in Westminster.
Aidan Burley has pledged to back local families affected bydevastating muscle-wasting disease in their fight for specialistservices, which they say would change lives while saving the NHSmillions of pounds in costs. Aidan met local constituents and family members living with muscle-wasting diseases as they gathered at Westminster to present thereport to Health Minister Paul Burstow and to call for immediateaction to address the waste. The health service is currently wasting £31million each year ondistressing emergency hospital treatment for muscle-wasting disease
patients that could have been entirely avoided through proper accessto specialist care and equipment, according to a report published on
Wednesday (11th May) in Parliament by a national charity The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign's report Invest to Save estimatesthat nearly 40 per cent of the £81million annual cost of emergencyhospital care for the UK's the 70,000 people affected by muscle-wasting diseases is unnecessary and is a direct result of failure toinvest adequately in ongoing treatment to manage the conditions. It is estimated that as much as £7.1million is wasted each year inthe West Midlands alone.
Commenting Aidan said: "I was shocked to hear about difficultiesfaced by patients and families in accessing the specialist muscle-wasting disease care they so clearly require. I am offering my full support for improvements in health care for people in Cannock Chase and across the country, which would save the NHS money while changing lives." Cannock Chase constituent Elizabeth Orme added: "Muscle-wasting diseases are rare and GPs, hospital staff and physiotherapists oftenknow little about them. We need support and advice from peoplewho fully understand our conditions and how to treat them. I wasdelighted to meet Aidan Burley at the reception and to have the
opportunity to tell him why specialist care is so important to us. Aidan Burley's support for the Invest to Save campaign is absolutely crucial in ensuring that we see desperately needed improvements tospecialist care for people with muscle-wasting diseases become areality."
Photo news:New Terminal at Birmingham Airport
Aidan Burley MP with Transport Secretary Philip Hammondat Birmingham Airport for the official opening of its new
£13 million ‘one terminal’ building.
Police should be crime-fighters,
not form-writers Aidan Burley has welcomed theHome Secretary's commitment tofight crime by slashing policebureaucracy. In a speech onMonday, Theresa May outlined apackage of ref orms which willsave 2.5 million police hours a
year – the equivalent of 1200 officer posts. The reforms will cutpaperwork above all by restructuring the police's performance reviewprocess, and simplifying crime recording. They will change theculture of policing by moving away from the tick box, cover-your-
back culture of today. This is a truly radical change with Governmentcommitting to trust the police to get on with their job. Although Labour promised to cut bureaucracy, the police saw morepaperwork not less. The police were directed by Whitehall diktat andspent their time chasing centrally-defined targets, rather thanresponding to the needs of local communities. Despite recordspending, bureaucracy and form-filling kept police behind desks. Areport last year by the police inspectorate found that only eleven per cent of police officers were visible and available to the public at anytime. The Coalition Government is introducing a series of measures aspart of their plan to fight crime:
· Slashing bureaucracy. The new package of reforms will save
an estimated 2.5 million hours of police time, the equivalentof 1200 officer posts. Steps have already been taken to saveup to an additional 800,000 hours of police time by scrappingthe stop form and limiting stop and search reporting.
· Removing all targets. All Labour's targets for the police have
been scrapped and replaced with a single goal: to cut crime.
· Providing transparent information. Street-level crime maps on
police.uk provide accurate information so local communitiescan see how police are dealing with crime in their area.
Commenting Aidan said: "This is a watershed moment for policing across Cannock Chase. After years of rising paperw ork, Government i s taking effective steps to cut crime by tackling the bureaucracy that keeps the police behind desks, not out on the streets. "Dealing with the paperwork from a simple burg lary can require1,000 process steps. Labour claim to support redu cing bureaucracy but couldn't even answer whether the police should spend more timeon paperwork or patrol when I questioned the then Shadow HomeSecretary Ed Balls in January". "Only this Government is prepared to trust the poli ce to get on with
their jobs – rather than tying them up in paperwork and red tape.That's why I support the Home Secretary's decision to scrap all
police targets and instead set the police just one goal: to cut crime".
UK resoundingly rejects AV The proposal to move from a FirstPast the Post system to anAlternative Vote system for electing MP’s was resoundingly
rejected by UK voters by13,013,123 no votes to 6,152,607yes votes. In Cannock Chase the majority was even clearer, with 19,151(77.3%) people voting no and 5,621 (22.7%) voting yes.
The Prime Minister said the British public have given the most clear and resounding answer to keep first past the post.
Moving forward, David Cameron stressed that the Coalition willcontinue to provide "a good, strong, decisive gover nment in the long t erm national interest of this country." And he added, "That's what we've been for this last year, and that'swhat we're going to be for the rest of this Parliament." Commenting, Aidan said: “The British people have given a clear message, and that is that they want to continue to use the First Past t he Post system to elect MP’s. At no point was there a clear reasont o change the system that has served us well for hundreds of years,and allows the people to kick out an unpopular government. This isexcellent news for the future of our democracy. The time for silly distracting constitutional tinkering is over. It is now time to fully focus on getting our economy working again, reforming welfare and
schools and delivering on what people care about in their daily lives."
Aidan in the media:MP Aidan Burley urges football clubsto pay more police costs BBC News website
Wednesday 18th May 2011
Premier League football clubs should pay mor etowards the cost of policing games, a Staffordshir eMP has said. Conservative MP for Cannock Chase Aidan Burley said as policef unding is cut, top-flight clubs should make bigger contributions. Clubs pay for policing inside and immediately outside grounds butforces cannot claim back what they spend on using extra officers for big matches.
West Midlands Police spent £2.2m policing the four top clubs in2008-9. Speaking at a debate at the House of Commons, Mr Burley revealedthe figures which were obtained under the Freedom of InformationAct. He said last season West Midlands Police recouped £1.4m of the£2.2m it spent - but up to £722,232 of the cost of policing gameswas met by the taxpayer. The force is looking to make a budget cut of £123m by 2014. Large policing operations are put in place for certain games,including derby matches between Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Last December, dozens were arrested and treated in hospital after aCarling Cup game between the two clubs. At the debate, Mr Burley said the heavy police presence at suchgames costs more than flagship events like Wimbledon or rugbyinternationals at Twickenham. He said: "The taxpayer is subsidising wealthy football clubs to thetune of millions of pounds a year and my simple question... is why?
Police filming hooligans Trouble has flared at several derby games inthe West Midlands "The idea the taxpayer pays for the adverse affect is what I'mchallenging." But a spokesman for the Premier League said clubs should not besingled out. Dan Johnson said: "There are lots of events in big cities likeBirmingham, be they at the NEC, be they party political conferenceswhich come to Birmingham on numerous occasions and that's allpaid for by the taxpayer. "But I come back to the fundamental point that football is an industryand individuals who attend football matches have already paid for their policing."
Aidan in the papers:Week in Westminster
Thursday 19th May 2011
Last week is best described as ‘aHouse of Commons week’. It started with me questioning the Policing Minister about the‘democratic deficit’ in policing, which means that at present only 7%of the public know who to contact if they have a complaint. Do you know who it is? The answer is your Police Authority. Butdoes anyone actually know how to contact them? Or who to contact? I have long time campaigned for greater transparency and
accountability in police forces, and am strong supporter of directlyelected Police and Crime Commissioners – coming next May. Theywill provide the public with a single accountable figure who localpeople will be able to contact about the performance of their force. Mid-week I attended the Westminster launch of Muscular DystrophyCampaign’s new report ‘Invest to Save’ - which highlighted £31millionof NHS waste each year on emergency hospital treatment for muscle-wasting patients. This could have been entirely avoidedthrough proper access to specialist care and equipment. During the launch I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful local
constituent called Elizabeth Orme, who is an inspiration to us all.She is coping magnificently with her illness but I was shocked tohear about difficulties faced by patients and families in accessing thespecialist muscle-wasting disease care they so clearly require. I verymuch hope the Government takes note of this report and puts itsvery sensible recommendations into practice. Finally on Friday, before returning to the constituency, I accompaniedTransport Secretary Philip Hammond to Birmingham Airport toofficially open its new £13 million ‘one terminal’ building, which Imust say is an impressive sight. Growing up in Birmingham, I have to say that walking though the
terminal building brought back memories of my childhood and thatfeeling of excitement at waiting to go on holiday. Unfortunately thistrip was purely business!
Aidan in the papers:Week in Westminster
Thursday 12th May 2011
Parliament retuned last weekfollowing the Easter break,although if you happened to turnover to BBC Parliament you may have noticed a few more emptygreen benches than usual. For many MPs, last week was insteadspent campaigning in their constituencies for the local elections. On Election Day I was in the Chamber supporting the TransportSecretary Philip Hammond at Transport Questions in my role asPPS. The relative calm around Westminster also gave me theopportunity to catch up on constituency correspondence and preparefor the busy few weeks ahead.
I was delighted last week to have the opportunity to proudly showmy support to the Staffords regiment which is currently serving inAfghanistan. We must never forget the bravery and dedication of allour armed service personnel who risk their lives every day to keepus safe. It is indeed thanks to these brave men and women who arestanding up for Western values that we are able to take part in freeand fair elections. On the elections, I would like to offer my congratulations to all thoseCouncillors of all political persuasions who were elected last week inCannock Chase. However, I would also like to pay tribute to all thosewho lost their seats for the dedicated service they have given our
District. A particular tribute must go to former Council leader NeilStanley. We have occasionally differed, but I know he has alwayswanted to do the best for our area. As a former councillor myself, I know full well how vital the role of acouncillor is to local communities and what an important part theyplay in our wider democracy.
5 ways to contact Aidan Burley MP:
By Phone: 01543 502 447By email: [email protected]
By post: Aidan Burley MP6 High Green Court,Newhall StreetCannock, WS11 1GR
In person: Click here for details of how tobook an appointment at AidanBurley MP’s regular help andadvice surgeries.
www.aidanburleymp.org
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