Email from Peter Bone MP
Posted by Peter Bone, MP for Wellingborough, at 20:18, Mon 22 May 2006:
Newsletter from Peter Bone MP
MAY 2006
The last month has seen a meltdown for Tony Blair and his Government. After the local elections at the beginning of May, the Prime Minister sacked his Home Secretary, his Education Secretary, his Foreign Secretary and his Leader of the House. His Deputy Prime Minister has once again escaped retribution for his actions. His department has been taken away from him and yet he still receives the same benefits and pay.
Even more disturbing is the admission that foreign criminals have been left to roam our streets after being released from UK prisons. Moreover, the authorities are still unaware of the whereabouts of many of these criminals. Some have already reoffended and yet they are still allowed to remain in this country.
I am particularly concerned about these revelations considering that HMP Wellingborough is in my constituency. I have tabled several Parliamentary questions on the matter to ascertain how many foreign prisoners have been released from HMP Wellingborough and how many of those were considered for deportation.
I believe that foreign prisoners must be deported when released from UK prisons. It is a disgrace that the Government does not know the whereabouts of many of these foreign criminals who were welcomed into this country only to commit crime.
Continuing with the subject of law and order, another huge issue being debated in Parliament is the merger of police forces in England and Wales.
Under the Government’s proposals, Northamptonshire Police Force will be merged with Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire to create an East Midlands Regional Super Force.
I am extremely concerned about this proposal because I believe that Wellingborough does not receive enough local policing as it is.
Under the government’s proposals, our Police Headquarters would be moved from Northampton to Nottingham. Wellingborough has already lost its own Chief Superintendent who is now based in Kettering.
And on top of all this, the Government is expecting the taxpayer to foot the bill for these police mergers. The cost of creating an East Midlands Super Force will be extortionate but the Government is not offering any additional funding. This duty will fall to the council tax payer. The estimated one off cost of merging the five forces is 100 MILLION pounds. In addition there will be an extra 20 to 30 million pounds needed per year to run the force to the very minimum requirements that the Government has laid down.
It is incredible that the Government is forcing through something which the vast majority of people do not want and then telling them that they must pay for it themselves.
A debate was held in Westminster Hall on the merger of police forces in the East Midlands. It was well attended by East Midlands MPs and I took part in the debate. There was widespread condemnation of the proposals and I do hope that the new Home Secretary will take note of this.
I believe that this money would be much better spent on more local police officers out on the beat, catching criminals and deterring crime.
Another big issue this month is renewable energy and in particular wind farms.
There is a proposal to build a wind farm near Bozeat although no formal planning applications have been received yet.
It is also expected that a plan for a renewable energy plant on the old US Airbase in Chelveston will be proposed. This park will have both a wind farm and biomass production facility.
I have received very many letters, emails and telephone calls about these proposed developments as well as people coming to see me at my constituency surgery.
Many concerns have been expressed to me about the plans because the environmental costs of the projects may outweigh the environmental benefits. In the House of Commons, I questioned the Government on this issue. The Government’s answer and all my other parliamentary questions can be found on www.theyworkforyou.com
As this issue is of very significant importance to parts of the constituency I will be undertaking a large consultation exercise over the next few weeks.
I would be very interested to hear your views on the issue of renewable energy and wind farms.
My contact details are below:
Peter Bone MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Tel: 01933 279 343
Email: bonep@parliament.uk
In addition, I continue to hold my weekly surgeries in the constituency. If you would like to make an appointment, please contact my office on 01933 279 343.
Last month has been a very busy time in the constituency. I joined in with the many, many people who took part in the Waendel Walk. The event was a great success and it was wonderful to see so many people come from all parts of the country and overseas enjoying the local scenery.
On a much sadder note, I went to Rushden and Diamonds to watch them play Rochdale. It was a very memorable match until the last 30 seconds of injury time and I am very disappointed that the team have now been relegated. Let’s hope the team bounces back into the football league at its first attempt.
Recently I joined music lovers at the Castle Theatre to listen to the Raunds Temperance Band. They were playing to raise money and awareness of the great work done by Marie Curie Nurses. Marie Curie Nurses provide an invaluable service to cancer sufferers and I was very pleased to show my support for the charity.
Having spent a number of hours debating the Housing Corporation Delegated Powers Bill in Parliament, it was very appropriate that I was asked to open the Rockingham Forest Housing Association’s new office extension. Rockingham Forest has been listed in the top 18 housing associations and they continue to expand their operation in social housing. As an unremunerated Member of the Board it is very pleasing to see a Rushden based organisation doing so well.
I was equally thrilled to be asked to officially open the St Vincent de Paul Society bus. This will enable the Society to extend its already successful and valuable work with local people.
A hot political issue arose with the proposal to merge part of Higham Ferrers and Rushden into a new council ward. This clearly has upset many people in both historic communities and I was pleased to be able to attend a packed public meeting on the issue.
On a lighter note I had the strange experience of meeting Sven Goran Erikson at a Parliamentary meeting. It was an opportunity for MPs to show their support for England in the World Cup.
Let’s hope next month I will be able to report that Sven and the team have lifted the World Cup!
Comments
Commenting on this message is now disabled.
Posted by Robert Bowen, 12:13, Tue 23 May 2006: (Is this post abusive?) #
Dear Mr Bone, In answer to your E Mail with regard to the issue of renewable energy, we would rather have Wind Farms and the like in our country than more Nuclear Power Stations. Much more should be done to go down the road of renewables. I heard on BBC radio 4 program a while ago that if every house had 2 Solar pannels and a small wind turbine fitted this would allow for the Closure of up to 7 Gas/Coal Power Stations! Even if this statement is inaccurate it must be close to the truth. And this money would be better spent this way rather than wasting it on an illegal War in Iraq. When will our Governments accept that we are no longer the Great British Empire and we are fast becoming not even a world power, we should start getting our own house in order and stop sticking our nose in other peoples business. When the UK can show the rest of the world that we have sorted out all our problems of Race, Poverty, Environment and security; maybe then the rest of the world will sit up and take notice? And none of this will happen with a Labour Government in post, their answer is to throw more of our Tax Payers money at the problems, and they dont mind where they steal it from e.g. Taxing my private pension fund and the motorist, smokers and drikers. But Mr Blair will still keep Mr Prescote on, and we have to pay him his full salary and for what? "Typical Labour jobs for the Boys". We need to get a Government that is not run according to what the papers say! E.G. The Sun says Clark must go enough times, good old Tony does just that. What does that say to the rest of the world, "put enough pressure on the UK and they will fold".
Yours Truly
Robert & Maggie Bowen