Last day of campaigning

After three and a half years as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Keighley and Ilkley, we are now down to the final few hours of the General Election campaign.

And, like David Cameron, I do not intend to waste a single second in my quest to bring positive change to the lives of local residents across this wonderful constituency.

Unlike several senior Labour politicians I have heard in recent days who think they have a divine right to people's votes, I believe I have to continue to work hard to earn the support of the electorate.

But equally, I believe the Conservatives have the correct policies to deal with the many problems faced by our country after 13 years of Labour Government.

For example, the Conservatives will take action to get our economy moving and halt Gordon Brown’s planned National Insurance increase to leave seven out of ten workers £150 a year better off than under Labour.

We will increase spending on health every year, while cutting waste in the NHS, so that more goes to nurses and doctors on the frontline, and make sure patients get access to the cancer drugs they need.

Conservatives will not cut the state pension, will protect Disability Living Allowance for over 65s and Attendance Allowance for pensioners and keep the winter fuel allowance, free bus passes and free TV licences.

We will keep child tax credits and protect them for those families on modest incomes.

A Conservative Government will fight back against crime, cut paperwork to get police officers on the street, and make sure criminals serve the sentence given to them in court.

And we will introduce an annual limit on non-EU immigration, tougher tests for marriage and student visas, and create a national border police force.

One of the most enduring - not to mention disappointing - aspects of this General Election campaign has been the need to correct Labour's endless stream of lies about what the Conservatives will do should we have the opportunity to form the next Government of this country.

But we have been straight throughout and hopefully demonstrated that by voting Conservative tomorrow, you will be voting for positive change.

If you live in Keighley and Ilkley, I hope you will support me at the ballot box.

And if elected, I promise not to let you down.

William Hague in Ilkley

I had the great privilege of welcoming Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Conservative Leader William Hague to Ilkley earlier today where, unsurprisingly, he was greeted like the returning proud Yorkshireman he obviously is.

William has been to support my campaign in Keighley and Ilkley on numerous occasions since I was selected as the local Conservative candidate in 2006. And, each time, his presence has given everyone involved - myself included - a huge boost. This morning was no exception.

As well as meeting local residents, shoppers and local business people along The Grove, he also took the opportunity to address the hundred plus crowd which had gathered to see him and to catch a word.

He was very happy to take questions across the full range of policy areas including Afghanistan, pensions and the collapse of Equitable Life.

And from where I was standing (i.e. right beside him), William certainly seemed to satisfy every query raised on how a future Conservative Government would tackle each of these most important issues.

After almost an hour in Ilkley, he headed off to Leeds for a scheduled interview with the Yorkshire Post and a series of voter-centred engagements across the city.

As an aside, you may be aware that William recently joined Twitter and has already attracted almost 7,000 followers including former Republican Presidential candidate John McCain.

Here is how he Tweeted about this morning's visit:

"Good start to the day's campaigning in Keighley and Ilkley. On the way into Leeds and just saw some sheep trying to eat Lib Dem posters."

A marathon sprint

A General Election campaign is a marathon and, waking up this morning, it felt like I had run one.

The truth is a little less heroic although running was, nonetheless, the cause of my suffering.

Because yesterday I had the privilege, for the second successive year, of climbing into the famous Cliff The Castle suit to take part in the 2010 Mascot Gold Cup at Wetherby Racecourse.

And running with me was the Conservative Keighley West Local Election Candidate Chris Herd, as Sir Ian "Beefy" Botham. As a local butcher, Chris was certainly the right man for that particular role.

In the end, neither Chris nor I were in any danger of "troubling the scorers" with regard to our finishing positions.

But our collective endeavours did manage to raise almost £400 for Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope, with some money still to come in.

Thanks to everyone who put their hands in their pockets to support this most special of local causes.

Lies, lies and more Labour lies

One of the most memorable moments of Thursday's second Prime Ministerial Debate, which like most people I thought David Cameron won comfortably, was when the Conservative Leader challenged Gordon Brown over Labour's lie-filled election leaflets.

Examples of these have, shamefully, been distributed in Keighley and Ilkley including one which falsely claims that a Conservative Government would put pensioners' benefits at risk.

As I have made clear every single day of this campaign but will happily do so again, the Conservatives will not cut the state pension but instead link it to earnings so that it goes up.

We will also will protect Disability Living Allowance for over 65s and Attendance Allowance for pensioners, keep the winter fuel allowance, keep free bus passes and keep free TV licences.

However, back to Labour's lies.

Yesterday, Conservative Campaign HQ produced an incredible 23 examples of Labour's scaremongering leaflets peddling lies about Conservative Party policies.

Amongst the large number of Labour candidates putting these out across their respective constituencies are no less than five Labour Minsters plus Gordon Brown’s own Parliamentary aide.

On Thursday night, Gordon Brown denied giving the go ahead for these leaflets.

But with his own ministers using them in their local campaigns, his comments have been shown up to be complete and utter rubbish.

So are these leaflets just the latest sign of Labour's increasing desperation to hold on to power? I think the answer to that question is obvious.

But no doubt local voters, in Keighley and Ilkley as elsewhere in the country, will have their own view.

Thankfully, they will also have the chance to express it on 6th May.

Campaigning in the Ilkley sun

Exactly two weeks until polling day now and yesterday, like most days of the campaign so far, it was nice to get out and about in Ilkley.

Yesterday afternoon I was very pleased to be joined, not only a number of local activists including well-known Ilkley Conservative Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, but also by several members of the national Conservative Party board.

As ever, the response on the doorstep from Ilkley residents was warm.

It was then on to Christchurch in the centre of town for the latest in a series of hustings across the constituency.

Very well organised by Churches Together in Ilkley, it was informative, lively and an excellent example of democracy in action - and quite right too.

Michael Gove in Keighley

I was delighted to welcome Shadow Schools Secretary Michael Gove to Keighley and Ilkley earlier today for a tour around the hugely impressive Keighley Campus of Leeds City College, due to open in September.

We preceded the visit with a short walkabout in Keighley town centre, accompanied by around 20 members of my campaign team.

Then it was on to the main event at the new £35 million campus where, in 2008, I joined the principal in formally launching the construction phase of the site.

It is a project very close to my heart, and not only because I am a former student of what used to be Keighley College.

But also because without the joint efforts of Conservative-led Bradford Council and the College to work together to locate, assemble and prepare the new 3.5 acre site adjacent to the town’s railway station, the dream could never have become reality.

The result is a modern, state of the art facility incorporating specialist vocational and general accommodation.

Despite the well-documented difficulties with air travel at the present time, we were able to buck the trend by boarding a plane – a "Keighley Airways" plane.

OK, in truth, it was just a mock-up, yet a very impressive mock-up which will shortly be utilised as a top-notch training facility for in-flight catering and attendance training.

As well as witnessing a remote-controlled robot do its stuff in what will be the hi-tech STAR Centre designed to encourage and stimulate interest in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), Michael welcomed the opportunity to meet and chat with members of staff and students.

And, if you’re in the mood for a chat, there’s generally no better company than hairdressers.

Before leaving, Michael expressed a willingness to return to the campus in September when it is fully operational.

By then I hope he will be playing a key role in a new Conservative Government.

Conservative Manifesto 2010

The Conservative Party today launched our General Election manifesto, imaginatively entitled An Invitation to Join the Government of Britain.

And the clue is in the title.

As David Cameron said this morning, for far too long politicians have behaved in a way which suggests that they and only they have the answers to the problems faced by this country. And clearly we don't.

The manifesto is therefore asking the country not just to vote for Conservative candidates on May 6th, it is asking people to become involved in delivering positive change on behalf of us all should a Conservative Government be formed on May 7th.

Have a look for yourself here.

Promoting Conservative plans to build a world class NHS

As my incredible team and I prepare for the first full week of the formal General Election campaign starting tomorrow, I would like to say a huge thanks to them and, most importantly, to the many residents of Keighley and Ilkley who have already indicated their support for our efforts come polling day on Thursday 6th May.

Yesterday marked a very special day on the campaign trail as we went out and about in Keighley and Ilkley town centres and beyond to talk to local people about what a Conservative Government would do to improve the NHS.

These plans include:

• increasing spending on the NHS every year over and above inflation
• ensuring the NHS focuses on the treatment of patients, not box-ticking
• giving patients more choice
• stopping the spread of hospital infections
• ending the scandal of mixed-sex wards
• increasing the number of single rooms in NHS wards
• making sure cancer patients get the drugs they need
• restoring access to an NHS dentist to a million people
• free dental checks for all school children and
• providing 4,200 more health visitors across the country

Under David Cameron, the Conservatives have become the Party of the NHS and I was delighted at the excellent and warm response our plans received from local residents.

The Shadow Home Secretary comes to town

Day two of the General Election campaign proper and, after an excellent start yesterday, we had another huge lift at lunchtime today with the arrival of Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling.

Following David Cameron's visit to Yorkshire last night, Chris was spending the day here including a stop off at the Worth Valley Police and Community Contact Point in Haworth.

And it was excellent to have him here in Keighley and Ilkley so he could see for himself what can be achieved when the community comes together to combat criminal activity.

But the efforts of local volunteers and partners should not take away from the fact that, over the last 13 years of Labour Government, police officers have been forced to spend 50 per cent more time doing paperwork than out on patrol.

Thankfully, a Conservative Government will ensure that the police are allowed to get away from their desks and back out on our streets tackling crime.

At last

After almost three years of dithering, indecision and trying to avoid the inevitable, this morning Gordon Brown was finally forced to call the General Election and to give the people of Keighley and Ilkley the chance to vote for change.

I have already been out and about in Keighley, in Silsden and in Ilkley handing out leaflets, hearing local concerns and shaking lots of hands.

But as someone who grew up in the constituency, who went to school here, who was educated here, who still works here and who has been the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate here since 2006, I believe I know what most local residents want.

And that is change.

There is a lot of hard work ahead between now and the close of polls at 10pm on Thursday 6 May.

But, with the support of my excellent campaign team, I cannot wait to get on with the job.

On reflection...

There will no doubt be lots of comment on the news tonight and in tomorrow’s papers about Tony Blair’s re-emergence on the campaign trail.

But so far, one quote from former Labour Minister Peter Kilfoyle - who ran Tony Blair’s Labour leadership campaign in 1994 - sticks out:

"I think he epitomises all that people see as wrong about New Labour. I do know that he's a great turn-off to a great deal of people."

Indeed, and yet he’s still more popular in polls than the current Prime Minister whose inspirational leadership has led Mr Kilfoyle to admit that he was “never a fan or supporter of Brown” and to describe the current Cabinet as “the least politically able” of his lifetime.

Mr Kilfoyle is due to stand down as a Labour MP once the General Election is called.

I hope, after May 6th, both he and Gordon Brown have very long and happy retirements.

Gordon Brown: In office, but not in power

Over the weekend, Alistair Darling confirmed he had threatened to resign from the Labour Government if Gordon Brown moved him from the Treasury in the last Cabinet reshuffle.

And, on the back of these comments, the Prime Minister was forced to offer a public assurance that the Chancellor would remain in post if Labour manages to cling to power after the General Election.

Back in 1993, former Tory Chancellor Norman Lamont famously accused the then Prime Minister John Major of being “in office, not in power.”

But at least Mr Major had the personal courage and political strength to sack his next door neighbour first, thus prompting Mr Lamont’s immortal and bitter line.

A cynical Budget from a cynical Labour Government

Today’s Budget – delivered by Alistair Darling but with Gordon Brown’s finger prints all over it – was a cobbled-together mess of cheap political gimmicks, stolen Conservative ideas and fanciful statements.

Meanwhile, our country remains saddled with a £167 billion budget deficit this year with no hint of a plan from this clapped out Labour Government for how to deal with it.

Thank goodness the General Election is now only a few weeks away – and counting…

It’s official - Brown DID mislead to Iraq inquiry

Yesterday finally Gordon Brown admitted he had misled when he told the Chilcot inquiry that defence spending had increased every year under Labour.

But, true to form, his “clarification” contained yet another untruth.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Gordon Brown said that defence spending had fallen "in real terms" in "one or two years".

But the truth is that, under his watch, defence spending fell in real terms in FOUR years including during the height of the Iraq War. This has been confirmed by the House of Commons Library.

Sadly, nothing should surprise us about Gordon Brown any more – and yet it should.

Our country and, in particular, our servicemen and women deserve so much better.

Labour's union paymasters

On the day that super-union Unite moved a day closer to disrupting the travel plans of thousands of British Airways customers this coming weekend, it was timely of Conservative Chairman Eric Pickles and Shadow Schools Secretary Michael Gove to publish a document outlining just how dependent the Labour Party’s General Election campaign is on Britain’s biggest union.

The dossier sets out in detail the fact that, in the three years since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, Unite has spent more than £11 million of its members’ money on buying influence within the Labour Party.

This extends from placing a key union operative inside 10 Downing Street, to taking effective control of many cash-strapped constituency Labour parties and installing Unite activists and officials as Parliamentary candidates.

At the head of Unite’s operations is its Political Director Charlie Whelan best known for being sacked as Gordon Brown’s poisonous spin doctor when the new Prime Minister was in the Treasury.

Whelan’s influence over the now Prime Minister is, once again, all-enveloping and certainly not in the best interests of this country.

Have a look at the document published earlier if you need any further convincing:

http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2010/03/~/media/Files/Downloadable%20Files/newmilitanttendency.ashx

And the award for best actor goes to…not Gordon Brown

I do wish Gordon Brown would stop insulting our intelligence.

After Alistair Darling’s complaints about the "forces of hell" – in the form of the Prime Minister’s aides - being unleashed on him after he warned the recession would be worse than feared in 2008, yesterday we were treated to two counter-lies from Gordon Brown.

First, Mr Brown went on breakfast television to deny any responsibility or knowledge of the briefings against his Chancellor.

And then at Prime Minister’s Questions, he made a point of snuggling up to Darling in a farcical attempt to pretend they were best friends.

As David Cameron aptly put it in the House of Commons chamber, “any closer and they will start kissing.” Quite.

At the risk of becoming desperately repetitive, I do wish Gordon Brown would finally find some courage and call the election. Please?!

Shallow attempts at Durham-ing up support

I see Gordon Brown’s and his Labour party pals are in Durham on the latest leg of their General Election campaign tour of Britain – paid for by you and me.

Today is the ninth so-called “away day” where, following a short Cabinet meeting and a stage-managed Q&A session in front of a sympathetic and stage-managed audience, individual ministers will fan-out on a series of visits aimed at attracting more votes for this breathtakingly bare-faced Government.

Each of these all-day stunts costs the taxpayer something in the region of £200,000 a time – and that’s before you add in the amount lost to the public purse as a result of paying Cabinet members a full-day’s salary whilst they are not doing their jobs.

On the day we discovered this Labour Government became the first in our nation’s history to borrow money in January - £4.3 billion of it – and increased the total bill for UK borrowing this year to £4,800 for each and every family, it does leave something of a bitter taste in your mouth.

Not that it will bother Gordon Brown and his cynical band of political opportunists one little bit.

Time for transparency

In the midst of a flurry of other high profile political stories this week including the Labour Housing Minister saying he believed that, for some people, having their home repossessed could be "the best option," you may have missed Conservative Leader David Cameron launching the Transparency section of the party's draft General Election manifesto.

As people in Keighley and Ilkley are very well aware, billions of pounds have been wasted by this Labour Government through costly bureaucracy, public sector non-jobs and an explosion of unelectable quangos. We can't go on like this.

The Conservatives have therefore committed to introduce change that will do more for less.
This means transforming the way the state goes about its business, using decentralisation, accountability and transparency to reduce dramatically the cost of Government.

And we will also committed bring the operation of Government out into the open so that everyone can see whether you are receiving good value for money.

A David Cameron-led Conservative Government will therefore:

• Put all national government spending items over £25,000 online.


• Put online the salaries and expenses of the 35,000 most senior civil servants.


• Abolish any quangos that do not: perform a technical function; perform a function that requires political impartiality; or act independently to establish facts.


• Open up Government data and publish datasets in full and online.


• Call a moratorium on the creation of new Information Computer Technology (ICT) projects; no ICT project will be commissioned without first seeing if it can be done for free or at very low cost.

These are very sensible but necessary changes that we need and which will, hopefully, receive the support of residents across Keighley and Ilkley.

And, remember, they will only be introduced if you choose to elect a Conservative Government.

PR for GB

Gordon Brown’s “death bed conversion” - as others have described it – to the need for a revised voting system takes his cynical and shallow approach to self-preservation down to an entirely new level. Not that we should be surprised, of course.

The 1997 Labour manifesto promised a referendum on ditching the current first-past-the-post system – before this commitment was ditched in the wake of their landslide victory. And the idea re-emerged in subsequent manifestos before, again, not being delivered.

And now, with only weeks to go before Parliament is dissolved and a General Election is finally held, Mr Brown has arranged for MPs to have an urgent vote on the matter.

So why now? Well, as ever with our illustrious Prime Minister, it is because he senses an opportunity.

Despite the Conservatives continuing to hold a multiple point lead in all the weekend polls, the fact that the current electoral system is skewed against my party means a hung Parliament is obviously possible.

And, how might Gordon Brown be able to persuade the Liberal Democrats to prop up a minority Labour Government should no party win an overall majority?

You’ve guessed it - with a promise to have a referendum on their pet project of a new method of electing MPs.

It’s pathetic really, particularly given the huge list of problems he has created – such as the largest budget deficit in history – and should be seeking to put right.

But forget your problems and my problems – it’s the Labour Party’s problems which matter most to Gordon. As ever.

Twisting the facts – and twisting my stomach

I was opposed to the war in Iraq and said so publicly before the first missile was fired.

But given the “facts” on WMDs laid out by Tony Blair in the days and weeks leading up to the conflict, I can understand why others – including my own party – took a different view.

However, as we now are all now very well aware, there were no WMDs, meaning British troops went to war on a false premise.

You might think that former Prime Minister Tony Blair would since have displayed a bit of regret and contrition – embarrassment, even – at what he had done.

But, of course, Tony Blair doesn’t “do” regret, contrition or embarrassment.

What he does “do” is fine lines in arrogance and bare-faced lying, as his performance at the Iraq Inquiry – which is still going on as I write – is clearly demonstrating.

Early this morning on the radio I heard the mother of the first British soldier to die in Iraq speak of her love for her son – and her understandably less warm views on Tony Blair who sent her boy to his death.

I genuinely don’t know how this man gets to sleep at night.

Change urgently required as national debt continues to mount

Figures released today show that the Labour Government borrowed an eye-watering £15.7 billion last month – an all-time record for December.

And it gets worse.

Because it has also been revealed that total borrowing for the first nine months of the 2009/10 financial year was an incredible £120 billion – the highest since records began in 1946.

The theme of my campaign to be the next Conservative Member of Parliament for Keighley and Ilkley is “Change.”

These figures underline why.

New Year, New Crisis for Labour

I hope you had a relaxing Christmas and have since got off to a positive start in this New Year.

Someone who clearly hasn’t got off to a good beginning is Gordon Brown who has begun 2010 in much the same way as he spent large parts of 2009 – dealing with yet another crisis over his leadership.

I was as surprised as everyone when I first heard that previously loyal ex-Labour Ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt had plunged the knife into their long-time Cabinet colleague in the expectation that several members of the current top team would do the same.

But, like Gordon Brown himself and the General Election that never was in 2007, they bottled it.

Be in no doubt - this is a Labour Government in total meltdown. There has to be an election by June of this year – even Gordon Brown can’t get out of that one. And many Labour MPs are fearful over their own futures.

Indeed, self-preservation is clearly much higher up the personal agendas of Labour MPs than the problems faced by the people they claim to represent such as the economy, jobs, the NHS and schools – not to mention the difficulties faced by our troops in Afghanistan.

Political opponents of this dying Government, such as me, can chuckle at the damage Labour Ministers and MPs do to each other on what now seems to be a daily basis.

But I can assure you that it brings me no pleasure whatsoever when the damage being inflicted is to our country and, more specifically, to local residents in Keighley and Ilkley.

The sooner we have that General Election, the better it will be for us all.

A March election? Fine by me!

There’s been a lot of newspaper speculation in recent days that Gordon Brown is considering holding the General Election on 25 March rather than 6 May.

And although I’ve said it before, I’m very happy to say it again: let’s get that election called and let’s allow the people of Keighley and Ilkley to have their say.

The day Skipton and Ripon came to Silsden

I was recently very debted to my colleague Julian Smith, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Skipton and Ripon, who brought several members of his team to join up with the Keighley and Ilkley team to campaign for me in Silsden.

Julian is an extremely impressive and capable individual who, I know, will prove to be an outstanding Member of Parliament.

Here's a short film of what we got up to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gewuok3D3vE

A common sense approach to health and safety

David Cameron’s attack on the health and safety culture which has sprung up across this country under Labour has received a positive response from the public – and rightly so.

Some of the examples he gave in yesterday’s speech – such as children being made to wear goggles by their head teacher to play conkers, and trainee hairdressers being banned from using scissors in the classroom – have gained the biggest write-ups in this morning’s newspapers.

But the most important remarks he made were on what a Conservative Government would do to begin to get the balance right, namely:

• Establish clear and specific principles about when health and safety legislation is appropriate, and when it is not, so we can evaluate whether existing or future legislation is necessary.
  
• Propose practical changes in the law to both bring an end to the culture of excessive litigation while at the same time giving legal safeguards to those who need them most.
  

David also announced that former Trade Secretary Lord Young would lead an extensive review into how the health and safety culture could be curbed. This would focus on a small number of specific questions:

1. How can we best protect what are effectively 'Good Samaritans'? Is it possible to extend legal protection for all people acting in good faith – especially public service professionals?
   
2. How can we help alleviate some of the health and safety oversight that currently burdens small, local and voluntary organisations? At the moment if their work benefits the local council they fall under health and safety law.
   
3. Civil Liability Act – do we need to define civil liability for negligence in statute? At the moment there is no single Act of Parliament that ties all this work together. Lord Young will examine whether such an Act would be necessary and effective in reducing our excessive health and safety culture.
   

All of these measures are sensible, practical and realistic – virtues the Labour Government have dismally failed to demonstrate in its approach to health and safety matters over the last 12 and a half years.

Cameron’s Conservatives still keen on green

One of David Cameron’s greatest achievements so far as Conservative Leader is to have hugely and rightly strengthened the party’s commitment to tackling climate change.

And this was underlined once again earlier today in a speech by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne (left of picture), who said a Conservative Government should pay people to recycle, not “punish them…with bin taxes.”

The fact is that, by 2020, the United Kingdom must reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill by almost two-thirds if we are to meet targets laid down by the European Union. Creative thinking is therefore urgently required.

Since the spring, Windsor and Maidenhead Council - controlled by the Conservatives - has been working alongside a US company specialising in “pay to recycle schemes.”

The project, funded by savings in landfill tax, has already attracted the support of more than half of eligible households – and boosted recycling rates by 30%.

As a result, the average participant household is set to receive around £130 a year in vouchers to spend in local shops, including Marks & Spencer.

To quote George Osborne in his speech yesterday: “We’ve shown on the ground in one area of the country that this approach works – so it’s make it happen across the country.”

As the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Keighley and Ilkley, I am only too happy to endorse this view.

Paying tribute to heroes past and present

Like so many millions of others across the world at 1100 GMT this morning, I observed the two-minute silence to mark the exact moment when the guns fell silent on Armistice Day 1918.

But today was different to previous Armistice Day services I have attended for two reasons.

Firstly, this year was the first time that no British survivors of the trenches were able to be present at any of the commemorations. Harry Patch, 111, Bill Stone 108 and Henry Allingham 113, who attended services last year, have all sadly died during the course of 2009.

Secondly – and speaking as an ex-soldier myself - I cannot personally remember such a high level of public interest in the Remembrance commemorations and the Poppy Campaign than we have seen this year.

The reason, of course, is very obvious.

The almost daily reports of British casualties in Afghanistan is having a huge impact on our nation’s psyche, and a great many people simply wanted an opportunity to demonstrate their total support for our brave servicemen and women.

The arguments regarding the rights of wrongs of that campaign are perhaps best left for another occasion.

But the respect for our Armed Forces, both past and present, has to my mind never been higher in modern times than it is today.

And that fact, in the midst of the current doom and gloom, can only be viewed as a positive development.

Labour: We got it wrong on immigration

Yesterday, Alan Johnson finally admitted what Conservatives have been arguing for many years: that this Labour Government has massively failed our country on immigration.

This admission is a very welcome development but it also marks a clear change in approach from the Home Secretary.

Because, only three months ago, Mr Johnson said he did not “lie awake at night” worrying about the fact that his Government’s soft approach to immigration had led to an official projection that the population of this country would rise to 70 million within 20 years. Two thirds of the projected increase, according to the Office of National Statistics, will be through migration or by births to new migrants.

So, what motivated Mr Johnson’s sudden outburst of honesty?

Could it be that he still fancies his chances of replacing Gordon Brown as Labour’s latest unelected Prime Minister in advance of the General Election, as many newspapers continue to report?

There seem few other explanations.

Let’s talk about the real issues

Parliament returned to businesses again this week and, sadly, MPs expenses are back at the top of the agenda.

This is unfortunate on two levels.

Firstly, because the ongoing scandal – and it is a scandal – brings great shame on our country and many of our politicians and that can be good for no-one. That said, it is clearly right that the mess is cleared up and those individuals who overstepped the mark pay back what they owe – and, where appropriate, be prosecuted.

But there is a second reason.

Many commentators thought that the issue of MPs’ expenses would dominate Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. However, what they forgot was that the session was due to begin with Gordon Brown reading out the names of the 37 servicemen who had died in Afghanistan since the House of Commons last met.

It took the Prime Minister almost four minutes to read out the name, rank and regiment of each of the individuals who had fallen, each detail listened to very sombrely by all of the MPs in the Chamber.

And it is issues like the Army’s current role and objectives in Afghanistan, together with the ongoing recession and the need to rebuild our economy that our politicians and the wider nation should be discussing and debating – not the how much and for what our MPs’ have been claiming in expenses.

The sooner we can draw a line under the matter and move on to dealing with the bigger problems that affect this country and its people, the better it will be for us all.

Party almost over for Labour

The Labour Conference comes to an end in Brighton later today, and thanks goodness for that.

I don’t know about you, but I am becoming rather sick at the sight of Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson, Harriet Harman and Ed Balls being given free rein to talk down to us and tell “what the British people are thinking” day after day from the Conference platform and night after night on the news.

I’m out and about talking to so-called “ordinary people” much more often than they are and, with regard to Keighley and Ilkley, I can assure the Labour high command that local residents here have long since had enough of them.

Following, no doubt, yet another patronising speech from ambitious-beyond-her-talents Harriet Harman this morning, the Party Conference roadshow will move on to Manchester next week for the main event – the Conservative Party Conference.

I do hope that you, like me, will find what the Tories have to say much more inspiring and fresh that what we’ve been subjected to over the last few days from Labour.

Another Labour tax on families

The Labour Government has confirmed it intends to slap a broadband tax on families before the forthcoming General Election.

The new tax will be charged on everyone in this country with a fixed telephone line.

We should be seeking to stimulate investment in broadband which is so vital for this country to compete effectively in the global market.

But putting yet more financial burdens on already hard-pressed families is not the way forward.

Once again, Labour ministers have got it wrong.

Normal service is resumed

Today marks that special moment when all remaining pupils go back to school following the summer holidays, and some sense of normality and routine returns to the lives of parents up and down the country.

Meanwhile, with Gordon Brown now back behind his desk for almost a week, the now familiar pattern of U-turn and chaos is back at the heart of government.

This is not to say that his line-up of deputies including Harriet Harman, Jack Straw, Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson did any better whilst they were supposedly “running the country.”

But nobody can quite mess things up as effectively as Gordon “Where Can I Hide?” Brown.

The ongoing Libyan controversy is, of course, self-inflicted on so many levels.

And if he thinks a quick flying visit to Camp Bastion is going to suddenly win support for his tragically flawed approach to the ongoing war in Afghanistan, well, he’s simply more deluded than ever.

On the bright side, at least the countdown to the General Election is now properly underway.

Thursday 6 May 2010 is still thought to be his preferred date but, for the sake of Keighley and Ilkley not to mention the nation as a whole, I hope polling day is much sooner than that

A break but not a rest

After another 12 months of frenetic political activity, I am about to head off for a break.

However, with the General Election getting closer by the day, the campaigning will continue and I will still be out and about in Keighley and Ilkley at various points in August, knocking doors and delivering leaflets with other members of my team.

And there’s another reason why I don’t want to go too far away.

With Gordon Brown on holiday, Peter Mandelson is apparently in charge of the country and so I think it best to be closer to home!

Have a good summer.

Further contempt for our Armed Forces

News that the Ministry of Defence will go to court today to try to reduce the amount of compensation awarded to two injured soldiers is yet further evidence – not that it was needed – that this Government has the welfare of our servicemen and women well down its list of priorities.

Both men had their very modest awards increased after complications with their wounds – but the Government believes they should only be compensated for their “original injuries.”

This is nothing short of scandalous and hardly sends the right signal to our troops currently fighting and dying in Afghanistan, not to mention those soldiers shortly due to fly out to relieve them.

It also underlines how out of step Gordon Brown and his dwindling team are with the current mood of this country.

The fog of Labour

There is a very serious debate raging at the moment over a lack of proper equipment and, in particular, helicopters for our troops in Afghanistan. And, as ever, the Labour Government is being dishonest with the British people.

First, it is a simple fact that Chancellor Gordon Brown pushed through a £1.4 billion cut in funding for helicopters in 2004.

And second, whilst he and his ministers have been running around saying that British helicopter numbers in Afghanistan have increased by 60% since 2006, what they have failed to admit is that our troop numbers have doubled since then.

As someone who served with the British Army during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, I know only too well how vital the availability of helicopters is in treacherous areas where roadside bombs are an inherent danger to soldiers’ lives – for South Armagh substitute Helmand Province.

They are not a luxury but a necessity and the very least our men and women in uniform should expect when deployed in such a theatre of operations.

But, once again according to Gordon Brown and co, our troops and their commanders could not be happier with their lot.

The phrase “fog of war” is a well-worn one in times of conflict.

However, under this Labour Government, we can talk about fog being deliberately placed in the way of the truth almost each and every day.

Tragically, our soldiers are being made to pay for the deceit over a lack of helicopters with their lives.

Countdown for the conmen

This morning’s confirmation from Peter Mandelson that the planned Comprehensive Spending Review is to be scrapped is further confirmation that Labour does not wish the public to see which Departments will receive cuts to their budgets after the General Election should they be successful.

This country’s debt is now approaching £1.3 trillion – a mind-blowing figure –yet Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling want to continue the pretence that Labour will continue to spend in the years ahead rather than tackle the increasingly desperate economic problems we face.

There appears nothing that this wretched Labour Government will not do or say in their attempts to fool the British people and cling to power.

But, thankfully, the citizens of this country are not stupid and the vast majority will not be fooled.

The day of comeuppance for Gordon Brown and his diminishing band of followers is getting ever closer.

A Major difference in character

The events of the last few days surrounding Gordon Brown’s future have led me to cast my mind back almost exactly 14 years to when then Prime Minister John Major was facing increasing murmurings about his own leadership.

I’ve since found and now reproduce below an extract of the famous statement he delivered in the garden of Number 10 following his decisions to resign as Conservative leader on 22 June 1995. It makes interesting reading:

“I've been deeply involved in politics since I was sixteen. I see public service as a duty and if you can serve, I believe you have an obligation to do so.

“I've now been Prime Minister for nearly five years. In that time we've achieved a great deal, but for the last three years I've been opposed by a small minority in our party. During those three years there have been repeated threats of a leadership election. In each year, they have turned out to be phoney threats. Now the same thing again is happening in 1995.

“I believe this is in no one's interest that this continues right though until November. It undermines the Government and it damages the Conservative Party. I am not prepared to see this party I care for laid out on the rack like this any longer.

“To remove this uncertainty I have this afternoon tendered my resignation as leader of the Conservative Party to Sir Marcus Fox, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, and requested him to set the machinery in motion for an election of a successor.

“I have confirmed to Sir Marcus that I shall be a candidate in that election. If I win, I shall continue as Prime Minister and lead the party into and through the next election.

“Should I be defeated, which I do not expect, I shall resign as Prime Minister and offer my successor my full support.

“The Conservative Party must make its choice. Every leader is leader only with the support of his party. That is true of me as well.

“That is why I am no longer prepared to tolerate the present situation. In short, it is time to put up or shut up.”

The fact that Mr Major went on to preside over a massacre at the polls two years later is almost irrelevant, as the Conservative Party was essentially incapable of being led at that time. Indeed, he was much more popular with the British public than the party itself.

But my point is very simple – Gordon Brown does not possess either the guts or the principles to “do a Major” and gave his own party a chance to have a say on whether he should continue as their leader.

Instead, he prefers the classic Brown techniques of authorised briefings against perceived opponents – Environment Minster Jane Kennedy resigned yesterday after being his latest victim – strong-arm tactics from his whips and sheer, old-fashioned delusion.

I would imagine historians will, in years to come, judge John Major much more kindly than they will Gordon Brown.

HRH Gordon Brown

In the midst of the continuing hoo-hah over MPs' expenses, Gordon Brown now finds himself accused of failing to secure an invitation for Her Majesty The Queen to this weekend's D-Day 65th Anniversary commemorations in France - in case she over-shadows his own regal presence.

The Queen has no official engagements on Saturday and Buckingham Palace has made clear it would have accepted an invitation had one been forthcoming.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Brown defended the situation saying that the event was intended, "for prime ministers and presidents."

It must therefore have escaped his attention that presidents, like kings and queens, are heads of state meaning Her Majesty should certainly be there.

But that, of course, would mean the Queen standing alongside Presidents Obama and Sarkozy rather than the Prime Minister himself.

Gordon Brown's premiership has long since defended into farce but this, in my view, takes it to an entirely new low.

A General Election is the only way that trust can be restored

I was very happy to support David Cameron’s call earlier this week for an immediate General Election as a means of restoring people’s trust in our political system.

As an elected politician of 11 years experience and a political anorak for many years before that, I have never known a situation like the one we have at present. And there is a very good reason for this - it is unprecedented.

The ongoing scandals surrounding MPs’ expenses - MPs from all parties – has brought shame on our Parliament and our country.

Over the last few weeks, we have had wave after wave of party leaders and others including the Speaker running to the fore claiming they have the solution to the problem.

And yes, clearly I would say this, but I think only David Cameron has come anywhere close to making the rights calls and taking the proper action against those individuals in his own party who have stepped out of line.

But there is a bigger issue that must be addressed –people must be allowed to have their say on their local MP’s conduct.

Parliament belongs to the people, not MPs, and people must have faith in their Parliament.

Mandates must be renewed and a General Election must be called.

Please click on to http://www.signforchange.com/ if you want to support the Conservative campaign for this to happen.

Brown dithers and deflects whilst Cameron is ready to lead

In the midst of the ongoing and, at times, jaw-dropping controversy over MPs’ expenses, the deepening recession continues to bite in an equally shocking manner.

Yesterday we learnt that 244,000 people had lost their jobs over the last three months – the largest quarterly rise since 1981 - taking the total number of unemployed to 2.22 million.

And today we had further confirmation that the Labour Government was much too optimistic with its economic forecasts in last month’s Budget after the Bank of England announced that the economy would contract by 4.5% this year – a full 1% more than that predicted by Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling.

David Cameron rightly received credit for his leadership in taking swift and very strong action on Conservative MPs’ expenses yesterday whilst, yet again, Gordon Brown dithered.

And whilst Gordon Brown continues to spend his time trying to deflect blame for his central role in the economic crisis which is costing so many people their jobs and homes, David Cameron and George Osborne have never looked more ready to take responsibility in Government for placing us back on the road to economic recovery.

Shameful treatment of Gurkhas

This morning’s newspapers make grim reading for the Labour Government in general and Gordon Brown in particular.

The Prime Minister’s attempt to block Gurkha soldiers from being given equal rights of residence in Britain showed once again how out of touch he is with the public mood.

"Better to die than be a coward" is the motto of these incredibly brave men who form an integral part of the British Army.

As such, the least this country can do is show its gratitude by allowing them to settle here if they wish to do so.

Despite Gordon Brown’s attempts to suggest that changing the rules would lead to a flood of Gurkhas and their families, this was never going to be the case.

A very large number have already said they do not plan to come here but simply wanted to have the same rights as other soldiers who have served this country – as they should.

As a former soldier myself, I am very aware of the incredible achievements and dedication of the Gurkha Brigade.

Their dignity and decency contrasts very sharply with the shameful behaviour and attitude demonstrated by Gordon Brown and also those other Labour MPs who yesterday attempted to deny the Gurkhas justice.

I was very sorry to learn that Keighley and Ilkley MP Ann Cryer was one of them.

Ready for the gun

Sometimes in life – especially if you’re a politician – you have to step forward, take responsibility, show leadership. And be prepared to make a complete fool of yourself.

It is with this in mind that I have agreed to run as 'Cliffe the Castle' in the Mascot Gold Cup 2009 at Wetherby races on 26th April for Sue Ryder Care - Manorlands Hospice.

The race is over the final furlong (220 yards) with six fences between me and the finish line. Before the race I will also be involved in the 'Best Turned Out Mascot' competition when the mascot that has raised the most for their chosen good cause will also be named.

Manorlands Hospice – at Oxenhope in Keighley - provides specialist palliative care for patients from Airedale, Craven Bradford and Wharfedale with cancer and other life limiting illnesses.

Manorlands relies on voluntary contributions for the majority of its income and never charges patients for any of the care they receive. Last year the hospice cared for 650 patients and supported hundreds more relatives, carers and friends of patients.

Obviously, I want to raise as much as I can and would therefore welcome any contribution you feel able to make.

The easiest way to do this is by donating online at www.justgiving.co.uk/krishopkins

I hope you can help.

Will there be bloopers in The Gordon Show?

As world leaders arrive in advance of the G20 summit in London, one must hope that something positive emerges when the final communiqué is issued although I’m very doubtful that it will.

But whatever way you look at it, it is simply impossible not to escape the obvious conclusion that the whole event was conceived by Gordon Brown - who is now attempting to stage manage it - simply for the purpose of making him look good in front of a domestic audience.

However, each of the other Prime Ministers and Presidents taking part in the discussions have their own political agendas.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, has a General Election to worry about in six months’ time. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has also made ominous noises that he intends to do things his way.

So will it all go wrong for Gordon?

Alongside my day job and my campaigning activities in Keighley and Ilkley, it really will be an engrossing spectator sport to keep an eye on over the next 36 hours.

Hannan: The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Govt

It might easily have escaped your notice that, earlier this week in Strasbourg, the Prime Minister found himself the subject of an incisive and rather brilliant three-minute political attack from Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan.

Gordon Brown had just addressed the European Parliament and trotted out his now routine list of reasons why what has happened to our economy was nothing whatsoever to do with him despite 10 years as Chancellor and two as PM.

But then Mr Hannan struck.

The reason why I say you may have missed his speech was because both the BBC and ITV decided against showing it.

Thankfully, it was picked up by YouTube and, as I write this, more than 1.1 million people across the world - including a very large number in the US - have clicked on to have a look.

I would encourage you to do the same: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs

Governor slaps down Brown

Gordon Brown, a tribal politician of the very worst kind, is now finding himself completely out on a limb on what to do next to tackle this country’s deepening recession.

He is currently travelling round the world, trying to play the statesman in advance of next week’s G20 summit where he desperate hopes for “Gordon Saves The World” headlines.

However, his favoured and so far only approach to the economic crisis – i.e. throw more of our money at it – was balked last night by Bank of England Governor Mervyn King who rightly said that this country could not afford another “fiscal stimulus.”

It is advice that the Prime Minister should heed. This country has racked up a debt it will take generations to pay back and it has all happened on his watch, both when he was Chancellor and in Number 10.

This is a man who wasted £12.5 billion on a temporary VAT cut which experts said at the time would never work – but he did it anyway.

He is a man out of control and, fuelled by narrow-minded personal and political ambition, he has left our economy equally out of control.