Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It’s now twelve months since I was selected as the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Keighley and Ilkley.

Just over two months ago it looked very likely that a General Election was imminent – before Gordon Brown famously bottled it. Since then I have been preparing myself for the long haul with polling day no longer likely until 2009 at the earliest.

There is much work to do between now and then if my campaign is to be successful and, after a short break over the festive period, I cannot wait to get back on with the task.

For now, I would like to pass on my thanks and very best Christmas and New Year wishes to my campaign team and, of course, to you for taking the time out to read my thoughts.

See you in 2008.

Foreign criminals return to our communities

"Let me be clear: any newcomer to Britain who is caught selling drugs or using guns will be thrown out.

"No-one who sells drugs to our children or uses guns has the right to stay in our country."

These were the words of Gordon Brown just a few months ago at Labour Party Conference.

However, now we learn that immigration officials have “no interest” in deporting the more than 4,000 foreign prisoners who have served less than twelve months in jail.

These individuals include thieves, fraudsters and drug dealers – all being released back into local communities across the country.

It is another scandal under Gordon Brown’s watch and it has the potential to be the most dangerous one of the lot.

Will ID cards disappear like the discs?

The loss by HM Revenue and Customs of personal information belonging to every family and child in Keighley and Ilkley is still the cause of much concern for local residents.

The last census, carried out in 2001, revealed that there were 25,986 families and 21,520 dependent children living in the Keighley Parliamentary constituency and this number will have risen significantly since then.

Every one of these families and their children has had their security compromised by the loss of this data and many will understandably not rest easy until it is recovered.

Surely this catastrophe – since followed by several others including the loss of the details of three million learner drivers - will finally spell the end of the Government’s ill-advised national identity card scheme.

Won’t it?!

The Great Leader goes AWOL – yet again

It was at first glance quite an amusing sight to see Gordon Brown absent from today’s EU Reform Treaty signing ceremony in Lisbon. But in reality, it was a national disgrace and an international embarrassment.

Leaving the rights and wrongs of the Treaty itself to one side, one cannot help but conclude that today’s no-show was yet another example of the Prime Minister’s natural instinct to “get offside” when the going gets tough.

His ten years as Chancellor were littered with such examples. When Blair was in a hole, Brown was generally nowhere to be seen.

So much for the Great Leader we were promised just a few months ago when he entered Number 10.

Chief Constable right to speak out on cannabis

Full credit to West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison for having the courage to speak out against the Labour Government’s decision to declassify cannabis.

Speaking in a weekend newspaper interview, Sir Norman said the Government's move was “a mistake” which had led to confusion in the community about whether it was still an offence to use the substance.

“Declassification meant the power of arrest was taken away from the police,” he said. “It took away the opportunity for the police to jump on it. I would encourage the Government, in its current review, to reclassify it as a class B drug.”

The strength of this argument is evidenced by the fact that more than £1.2 million of super-strength cannabis has been seized across Bradford district in recent weeks.

This operation also included the confiscation of more than 200 cannabis plants at a house in Keighley.

Instead of wasting more time waiting for the review to reach its inevitable conclusion, I believe the Government should move immediately to reverse its reckless decision to declassify and allow the police to get on with their job.