David Simpson, Hart District Council, Hampshire County Council

Hampshire Conservatives have refused to accept the Independent Remuneration Panel’s (IRP) recommendation that the amount of expenses claimed for miles done on Council business should be the same as the HMRC limit. HMRC tax anything received above 40p per mile. Hampshire pay councillors 53.8p per mile.Every Liberal Democrat Councillor accepted the proposal as expenses should refund money paid to be on Council business and is not there to  create a profit for councillors.The Tories rejected the IRP and have refused to reduce the amount claimed.

One Con’ Councillor even explained that he needed it to keep his car on the road as it only did 24 mpg and cost £400 road tax – the car being his pride and joy.

Liberal Democrats protested in vain that if you want expensive cars that is a life style choice and it is not necessary to carry out council business.

Every Liberal Democrat has signed up to an agreement that they will only claim the HMRC limit from now on – regardless of how much profit the Tories want to make from the council taxpayer we will not. 

Here is the story in the Southern Echo

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5026476.Councillor__can_t_afford_Jag__without_higher_expenses/

This comes after Conservatives on Hampshire Fire and Rescue tried to INCREASE the amount to 60 p per mile and they have now said they do not want the IRP to make a report in the coming year! After protests by myself that I would not agree to anything without knowing the amount they grudgingly le thte Officers explain the 60 p and then reduced it back down to the existing still a lot more than the 40 p.

Tories announce plans to allow Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Inspectors to read all your personal bank account statements.

PAYE to go

George Osborne’s latest ill thought out wheeze is to do away with PAYE and tax all money as it goes into your bank.

They claim this will remove the burden of calculating the Tax and National Insurance deductions and, therefore, red tape, from business.

In reality it will put a bigger burden upon the State as more inspectors are employed to comb through everyone’s bank accounts and then ask where every penny comes from.

Naturally the black economy where everything is paid in cash will boom.

At least it will help the Banks meet their target of phasing out cheques as no one will accept one, even for a loan repayment, in case it gets taxed.

Centralising Conservatives will now create a snooper’s charter that allows the State to know even more about how you live your life.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7273132/Tories-plan-biggest-shake-up-of-income-tax-system-since-Second-World-War.html

Commenting on the Tories’ mistaken claim that 54% of teenagers in deprived areas fall pregnant before their 18^th birthday, Nick Clegg’s Chief of Staff, Danny Alexander said:

“The Tories seem to think that half our teenagers are pregnant, our cities are like The Wire and that people will get married for a few extra quid.

“If they really believe Britain is like this, it’s remarkable that Conservative MPs can pluck up the courage to leave their houses.

  “They should lower their drawbridges, spend less time tending their moats and duck houses, and join the rest of us in the real world.”

Commenting on Michael Gove’s defence of Conservative plans to set up Swedish-style “free schools”, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said: 

 “The Tories’ schools plans are deeply flawed both in terms of money and on the curriculum. 

 “Michael Gove’s plan to cut the education budget means his ability to establish new schools will inevitably depend on raiding the budgets of existing schools. 

 “On the curriculum, Conservative plans are in even more of an incoherent muddle. 

 “Michael Gove plans to impose an absurdly detailed curriculum on most state-funded schools, while allowing free schools to adopt a pick-and-mix curriculum – even if this means dropping core subjects such as British history and modern languages. 

 “It is impossible to justify in any logical way a system which imposes such centralized uniformity on 23,500 schools while allowing a small minority to teach whatever they like at the taxpayers’ expense.” 

In a packed meeting at Heckfield Memorial Hall only three people voted against proposals to build social housing for local people in the village. 

A presentation was introduced by a trustee of the land, which is adjacent to Chamberlains Meadow, and then Mags Wiley form Hampshire Alliance for Rural Affordable Housing (HARAH) explained how their job was to act as honest brokers between villagers and potential site owners.  

She explained there were six people registered as in need of affordable homes and that the developer would be Hyde Housing Association. 

A number of technical problems were highlighted such as boggy ground poor sewage pipes and so on but each of these could be dealt with by Planning conditions. 

Developers will now go away and design homes that fit into the Conservation area before showing them to and consulting further with villagers. Then if people are agreed on the design they will be putting in a Planning application to Hart District Council. 

Nb There were two members of Hart’s Planning committee there who both stressed nothing they said should be taken to mean they would for or against any particular application that may come before the Planning Committee as only at the committee would all the facts be known. They took no part in the vote. 

Government figures published today show that the cost of running quangos has risen by almost £10bn since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, to £46.5bn, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, Jenny Willott said:  

“Gordon Brown has taken Labour’s obsession with unelected and unaccountable quangos to a new extreme.  

“This is an obscene amount of money to spend on bodies that lack transparency and effective democratic control.   

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party truly committed to bringing in a better politics for less.

Commenting on George Osborne’s speech in which he set out eight benchmarks against which voters would be able to judge a Tory government’s success on the economy, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable said:

“As one Tory economic policy lies in tatters, George Osborne stumbles on to the next. 

“This is the third time the Tories have changed their economic policy in as many weeks.       

“George Osborne’s latest announcement of eight benchmarks is motherhood and apple pie politics. 

“We all want to see a stable, growing economy. The question is how we get there, and on this the Tories have no answers. 

“The Liberal Democrats want to split up the banks so that taxpayers no longer have to underwrite reckless risk taking. 

“We will create a fairer tax system with an income tax cut which will make work pay for those on low incomes. 

“Through targeted cuts in spending we will be honest about how to reduce the deficit. “And by setting up an infrastructure bank we will ensure that public infrastructure projects get the private funding they need to revolutionise our economy. 

“That is how you usher in an economy that is fit for the challenges ahead.” 

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: 

“Hot on the heels of the control orders embarrassment, another dubious Government measure has been deservedly slapped down by our courts. 

“It is simply not acceptable for Labour to behave as if we are a banana republic and go around arbitrarily arresting people or confiscating their property without due process under the rule of law. 

“The Government’s desperation to circumvent Parliament is creating bad laws, legal defeats and hefty bills for the taxpayer. It has to stop.”   Chris Huhne was Commenting on the Supreme Court ruling that special Treasury orders that freeze the assets of terror suspects are unlawful the key word being suspects not convicted terrorists. This means virtually anyone in the country could have their assets seized – as the Icelandic banks found out – under terrorism law. 

Commenting on proposals set out in the Government’s draft Animal Health Bill today which would see livestock farmers pay half the cost of preparing for animal disease outbreaks, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Tim Farron said:      

“It’s grossly unfair for ministers to make livestock farmers pay, given the 2007 Foot and Mouth outbreak came from Government-licensed premises. 

“The Government’s decision to pass the buck is a disgrace. 

“Farmers understand the need to protect public health. But in the current economic climate there can be no justification for shifting the cost to livestock farmers.” 

Commenting on today’s Equality and Human Rights Commission proposals to scrap the default retirement age and introduce more flexible hours, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone said: 

“The Equalities Commission has got it right.  

“The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to the Equality Bill that would end this arbitrary injustice – now the Government must act.    

“The threat of enforced retirement at 65 is totally unacceptable and the sooner it is scrapped, the better.”