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.

Brown's mini mea culpa

And today it came - sort of.

Yes, Gordon Brown uttered something about how he maybe, perhaps, just possibly might have done a teeny weeny bit more to deal with the financial markets when he was Chancellor. Oh, and he was talking about 10 years ago.

However, given the chance to offer the British people a proper apology for his pivotal role in the destruction of our wider economy and the hardship a great many people and businesses are now going through - no thanks, said Gordon.

Clearly, this morning's extremely minor self-criticism - during an interview with The Guardian - has been carefully calculated to allow him to say that, yes, he has admitted responsibility for something, small though it maybe.

But it's just so typical of the man.

Everything he and his little Downing Street cabal do is based on ruthless calculation. It's carefully staged-managed and it's aimed at seeking to gain personal political advantage rather than seek to help the country they claim to run.

Rumours continue to persist in the media that Brown and chief lieutenant Peter Mandelson are considering calling a General Election on Thursday 4 June, the same day as the European Parliamentary polls.

Unsurprisingly, it would be a carefully calculated move which hinges in the first instance on whether the Prime Minister can be painted as a saviour at the G20 summit in London at the beginning of next month.

From my point of view, I wish that General Election was tomorrow.

I am certainly ready and I believe the country is too.

Tragic news

I was driving through Keighley earlier this morning when the news broke that David Cameron’s six-year-old son Ivan had died.

As well as spending the last few days taking part in intensive negotiations on Bradford Council’s budget for the next twelve months, I have been making preparations for David’s planned visit to the district later in the week. Clearly, this visit is now very unlikely to take place.

My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with David, Samantha, Nancy and Arthur.

Ed’s Balls-up exposes true thinking

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls’ widely reported comment that he believes the current recession in this country is "the most serious for over 100 years” could well prove to be a pivotal moment in the life of this Labour Government.

Last week, at Prime Minister’s Questions, Downing Street was quick to point out that Gordon Brown did not mean to say the word “depression” during one of his now legendary non-answers.

And last night, the same beleaguered spindoctors did not try to deny that Ed Balls said what was reported but, instead, made clear that he didn’t mean to say it.

Putting these two “slips” of the tongue together, it isn’t hard to understand that Ministers at all levels are trying - and obviously failing – not to say in public what they are clearly saying in private.

It is time for them to come clean and make clear how bad they believe this economic mess is going to get.

No more lies – let’s have the truth.

Economic Recovery Committee announced

Today’s announcement by David Cameron of a new high level committee to discuss the ongoing economic crisis and review Conservative Party policy in this area is welcome news on several fronts.

First, the committee will include external figures of the quality of Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Next Chief Executive Simon Wolfson together with former senior civil servants and several Shadow Ministers. This should guarantee a wide range of informed views and therefore more robust conclusions on how our economy gets itself out of the mess Gordon Brown has created.

Second, it demonstrates that David Cameron is happy to put the country rather than his Party first – any good ideas will be on the table for the Labour Government to use should it wish to do so.

And thirdly, it gives a lie to Gordon Brown’s grossly inaccurate and overdone description of the Tories as the “do nothing party.” Whilst it is clearly the job of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition to scrutinise and criticise the policies of the Government of the day, it is also its job to put forward alternatives.

The formation of this committee is further evidence that, once again, David Cameron and his team are taking the latter responsibility very seriously indeed.

A self-inflicted crisis

As I write this, news is emerging across the country of further illegal strikes against the use of foreign contractors.

Clearly any industrial action which is contrary to the law of the land is wrong and I have no hesitation in condemning it.

But this is a crisis – and make no mistake, for it is now a crisis – which has is a direct result of Gordon Brown’s grossly misleading promise of “British jobs for British workers.”

By saying what he did, the Prime Minister deliberately raised expectations which he knew he would never be able to deliver.

Indeed, what Gordon Brown was advocating was every bit as illegal as the current strikes.

But yet again, it was headlines that he was after and he has certainly got plenty of these.

Unfortunately for him, they are definitely not of the kind he was hoping for.

Peers are not above the law

As someone who hopes to take his seat as the next MP for Keighley and Ilkley after the next General Election, I maintain a keen interest in what Parliament is up to.

Obviously the elected chamber, the House of Commons, is of greatest interest to me. But the House of Lords also has a very important role to play in our democracy.

Prior to its reform and the removal of all but 92 of the hereditary peers, the Upper House effectively had an inbuilt Conservative majority.

However, the creation of scores of new Labour life peers, first by Tony Blair and more recently by Gordon Brown, has reversed this.

The changes have also altered the atmosphere of the place. It has a harder, more professional edge and the Labour Whips in the Lords are every bit as ruthless in their approach as they are in the Commons.

That is one reason why the ongoing scandal surrounding four Labour peers accused of accepting payments to amend laws is so important, for it goes to the very heart of how that party and this Government conducts itself.

It also goes right to Gordon Brown’s door, not least because one of those accused – Lord Moonie – is a close friend of the Prime Minister and even stood down from his Commons seat at the last General Election in favour of the then Chancellor whose seat was being abolished.

I was therefore pleased to hear that Conservative Leader David Cameron, should he become Prime Minister, would change the law to expel peers found to break the code of ethics.

All politicians – whether they are local councillors or parliamentarians – should be dealt with very harshly if any allegations of corruption against them are found to stick.

And that includes members of the House of Lords.

Minister "green shoots" herself in the foot

Before yesterday, I hadn’t heard of Baroness Vadera.

But, after her “green shoots” comments yesterday, she is now a household name.

And, not only is she a Business Minister, but she is also apparently one of Gordon Brown’s closest confidents.

Her comments were described by some as “insensitive,” coming on a day when thousands of people found out they were to lose their jobs, and this is absolutely right.

However, of even more concern was the fact that it exposed the quality of advice the Prime Minister is receiving on the economy.

We already know that he is completely out of touch.

But it is distressing to learn that someone handpicked by Gordon Brown to guide him on business issues appears to be even more remote from the realities of life than himself.

You couldn’t make it up.

No guarantees with Labour loan scheme

Today’s Government announcement of a £20 billion loan guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized firms is a pale copy of Conservative Party policy and a move which seems unlikely to get the banks lending at the level required to help the economy.

The scheme will, in effect, enable the Government to insure banks against companies defaulting on loan repayments.

But David Cameron and George Osborne have argued for some time that £20 billion is not enough and, instead, Ministers should go further and underwrite £50 billion of loans.

Time will obviously tell whether this Labour Government has, yet again, made the wrong call.