Why vote Labour? Tom’s intro Salisbury Journal (Part 1)

Over the last few weeks the Salisbury Journal has allowed the Candidates to respond to questions. Good high pressure, short notice stuff in this short election campaign!

The opening gambit was to introduce yourself in strictly 300 words or fewer, I thought it would be interesting to blog the various questions and answers so I can judge the feedback I receive. So each day I’ll publish a question as posed by the Editor, Joe Riddle and my answer.

Intro:

Under the Conservatives the NHS faces financial crisis, waiting lists are up and targets are down. Our Social Care services have had a temporary sticking plaster repair. The economy is floundering and we are still borrowing at levels that Tory austerity measures were meant to stop. Schools are preparing to cut courses as education funding is cut with class sizes set to increase. The Police are now so undermanned that they have to choose what to respond to.

Labour will end the privatisation of the NHS. I support an integrated NHS and social care system that provides better joined up care for older and disabled people, funding dignity across the board and ensure parity for mental health services. Labour will invest in our economy to boost skilled jobs and trade. Labour will keep class sizes down. We will invest in 10,000 more police officers.

Labour will not raise the standard rate VAT, personal National Insurance contributions or income tax for those earning below £80,000 whilst raising the living wage to £10 per hour.

Labour will forge a new relationship with the EU, not as a member nation but as a partner. Where jobs, the economy and retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs union are our priority. Where work place rights and the environment are protected. Where EU nationals living here, can live in certainty that Brexit will not affect them.

I believe in a better, brighter future, one where our children can aspire to have their own home. One where we can look forward to getting older without fearing a failing care system as we slow down. One where achievers are no longer the privileged few and where everyone is treated equally and fairly.

For the many not the few

Cllr Tom Corbin

Labour Parliamentary Candidate

11^th May issue of the Salisbury Journal

Keep John honest, vote Tom Corbin

This election has the Conservative party running a negative campaign with blurred manifesto messages that disguise the true nature of their attacks on our future.

 

Labour has set out a positive manifesto. Only Labour offers a genuine reason for hope, for a different future where people are put first.

Last time, in 2015 I came second. Every vote for Tom Corbin, is A VOTE FOR ME! 

John Glen thinks you should rubber stamp his path back into Parliament.

In a Tory stronghold, if you want a Conservative MP to genuinely work hard for all their constituents, you have to give them reason to work for it.

If you want to keep John honest, vote Tom Corbin on the 8th June.

 

 

Of the other parties, regardless of the fact that Theresa May has already triggered article 50:

UKIP are still offering Brexit.

The LibDems are trying to offer false hopes of no Brexit.

The Greens are just complaining about the electoral reform.

All three parties are making pledges that they know will never come into fruition.

UKIP, LibDems and the Greens must be questioning their wider role in politics?

Locally:

UKIP have not campaigned at all.

The LibDems are operating a distracting Car Crash Campaign.

At least the Greens have managed to rally their supporters, but they are victims of their own political strategy of blaming everyone else.

I am campaigning for a better future for the many, not the few. Because I believe a better society is achieved when people are better supported regardless of age. I am proud to stand for a bold and transformational  manifesto.

Vote Tom Corbin

 

Theresa May will take your home away

Rich or poor, in your own home, put your trust in May and sign your life away. She’s replacing your home with life’s lottery. 

For everyone who ever worked to provide the home they truly wanted, Theresa May will take their every aspiration and hope away.

Vote Tory and we could have the biggest fix or failure of the housing market. After the 8^th June, if the Tories get in, there will no longer be a will to own your home.

Vote Tory and the future of Council housing is put at risk. The only winners will be private landlords.

Vote Labour 8^th June

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

It should have been May’s day.

Doing a Trump!

Not saying a lot.

In fact not saying very much at all.

So little, that you could write her speech on the back of a fag packet.

Me – Stronger and stable – better – together – me – May team – me stable – me stronger – give me your vote for a stronger negotiating position for stable better – me!

Being a bit of a political geek, to coin a LibDem supporter I met yesterday, I had earlier spent my time ironing my shirts watching Theresa May unveil her manifesto.

To the side I had my trusty notepaper and pen ready at hand to note all the relevant headline pledges, with facts and figures.

It seems the protesters in Halifax had much more to say than May.

It was a very English version of Trump being played out with generalisations of “better”!

Had Jeremy Corbyn or any other leader of a political party failed to quote a single figure when rolling out their manifesto they would have been ripped apart by the opposition and the press alike.

May’s tactic is to undermine the opposition and the electorate by blurring her true intentions.

May’s arrogance towards the electorate is unforgivable. If she gets to govern the Country on the 9th June, there will be a great many people across the Country who will be in for a shock as they start to discover what she really has in store.

What have I gleamed since I finished my ironing…

Jeremy Hunt had a live car crash interview on BBC1 Breakfast show where he confused the Tory £100,000 paying for your social care limit from your assets – Goodness knows what happens if you don’t have dependents.

My railway colleagues quickly picked up on breaking the right to strike – aimed initially at the Tory backed Southern strikes, this will be quickly escalated by the Tories to other employment areas.

Doing away with free School lunches and instead offering breakfasts? – What is she thinking! Mayday obviously didn’t want to be a Thatcher, Thatcher the milk snatcher! – Suggestions welcome?

She’s scrapped her national debt plans – just as well – the national debt has doubled over the last seven years, the LibDem / Tory Austerity plan has failed, spectacularly.

Winter fuel allowance to be means tested – doesn’t actually cost that much to run – but does if you means test it – AND – over 2 million OAP’s never claim what is rightfully there to support their standard of living – so how on earth are vulnerable OAP’s expected to claim this? And how many 1 million, 2 million, 10 million?

Triple lock on pensions – abandoned! – The 2.5% minimum increase, gone!

No change to tax – abandoned – self-employed better watch out after Hammond’s gaffe two months ago!

Fudge it Brexit – confirmed! – Yes, “Give me your support” Mayday still thinks she deserves your support going into Brexit negotiations without stating what it is she intends to fight for, or more importantly what she wants to lose.  

So if you are young, working class, retired, own your own home, vote Mayday for a bad day, any day soon.

The protesters in Halifax had it right. They had a lot more to say. And today Labour has a lot more to say to May.

Move over May, it’s time to make way, Comrade Corbyn is ready to take the Country forward, one where people are treated with dignity and respect regardless of age, a country where people are not taken for a ride.

I’ll be voting for the man with a plan, you know the plan, the fully costed one, the one that genuinely puts your needs above the right wing press and big money Tory donors.

Jeremy Corbyn, the man who won’t go hand in hand with Trump. The man who has won two leadership elections, won the support of numerous trade unions that represent millions of British workers, the man who has never bowed to pressure from both within Labour and from the Tory press. The man who has turned the tide in the polls. The man who has now firmly sealed the Country on a two party leadership contest.

Strong and stable, Jeremy Corbyn with his bold vision, for the many, not the few.

The Tories accused Labour of going back to the seventies, so to celebrate the seventies I have attached another historic campaign picture!

House prices up, extortionate rents, stay at home children. The Tory housing crisis.

The Conservatives have tried three times in the past to get rid of council housing.

I fully expect them to come for council housing again.

Certainly May’s manifesto roll out gave me no real hope, she failed to quote a single figure for any of her vague commitments. More of that in another blog…

Some simple facts to make you angry:

Foreign investors own close to 10% of the UK’s housing stock.

In London the former Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson authorised mass foreign investment for development. The Capital’s skyline is full of new buildings that are virtually empty. Thus taking up valuable housing resource and helping to further drive up housing prices and rents across the country.

Boris went further, supported by the former Coalition Government, as they relocated London families who were not in receipt of income, to outside of London, a form of social cleansing that has also helped to drive up rents as the ripple of relocated families impacts hundreds of miles from the capital.

Private rents are soaring as Landlords surf the ripple by serving notice to tenants to then re-advertise the properties at greatly inflated prices.

The Conservatives have further capitalised on these increases by raising social rents to 90% of the ever increasing market rent rates. This has created a self perpetuating, growing bubble.

All this impacts hardest on low earners and the young, no matter where you live. Everyone is feeling the pinch, with many middle earners now spending two thirds of their income on private rent or mortgage payments.

By 2020 it is estimated that a first time buyer will need to be earning over £60,000 a year.

Housing is being used as a prime source of investment by the super wealthy.

The Conservatives have failed to tackle the housing crisis and I believe they have every intention of continuing to fail. In so doing they are taking away the opportunity for young people to ever aspire to have their own home, let alone own their own home.

Labour will tackle the housing crisis head on giving priority back to those who reside in the UK by investing in council housing and affordable housing.

The picture is of the new St. Peter’s Place development taking shape. Scheduled to be 1250 homes with 40% affordable and social housing mix. However this does not preclude foreign investment from buying to let the other properties.

 

 

Keep John honest, vote Corbin on June 8th

Fighting a good cause in a Tory stronghold

Doorstep quote “Can’t win here, won’t win here.”

The Tories are admittedly sat on a massive majority in Salisbury, but don’t be fooled into thinking your vote is wasted.

Nothing makes the Tories sit up more and take notice than to see their share of the vote fall.

Labour has come a strong second in every election that has taken place since 2010.

Don’t be fooled by the LibDems, they just want you to believe they are a force in Salisbury, like UKIP their vote has collapsed.

The UKIP vote has gone blue, which gives further momentum to the right wing factions of the Tory party.

Re-emphasising the last point, the UKIP vote has gone to the Tories. If you don’t go out and vote Labour on the 8^th June you will be rubber stamping the path for the Tories to do whatever they want over the next 5 years.

If you want a Tory MP to be fighting for their constituents you need to make sure they cannot take their vote for granted.

Every vote for Labour keeps a serving Tory MP on their toes.

Every vote counts.

The Green party wants a progressive alliance. That is to say the Greenpeace movement that developed a political arm now wants to align itself with a mainstream party, realising it cannot further its causes on its own.

The Labour party has been a progressive alliance for over one hundred years. Green votes have undoubtedly reduced the number of Labour Councillors by diluting the left wing vote against the Tories. Nobody voting Green wants a Tory Councillor or Tory MP, but that is exactly what they have secured across the country.

Clare Moody, Salisbury resident and MEP for the South West and Gibraltar elected in 2014 and Labour Councillors are making a difference in Salisbury and South Wiltshire:

Police Crime commissioner election 2012 – Labour came second

Salisbury City Council Elections 2013 – Labour came second

European Elections 2014 – Labour came second

General Election 2015 – Labour came second

Police and Crime Commissioner Election 2016 – Labour came second

Salisbury City Council 2017 – Labour came second

Only Labour can take the fight to the Tories.

Keep John honest, vote Corbin on June 8^th

LABOUR for the MANY not the FEW

This picture might be a few years old, but the message remains the same.

As Jeremy Corbyn said, it is no coincidence, learning from the Sunday Times rich list that a third of those (listed) donate to the Conservative party.

The Conservatives look after money and money looks after the Conservative party.

It is therefore no wonder that the Tories malign the Labour party when it tries to narrow the wealth gap between the highest earners and lowest earners.

Under the Tories families in poverty has increased whilst top end earnings have soared.

The LibDems want to blanket raise tax against everyone which will again impact greater on the lower wage earners than those at the top.

Labour will increase tax for the top 5% earners, those earning above £80,000.

Only Labour will target tax evading companies.

Labour works for the many, not the few.

I have a sense of humour, but I don’t do daft politics!

Labour on the doorstep.

With only hours to go before the polling stations open for the Council Elections I have met with many people who will be voting Labour.

I have a sense of humour but I don’t do daft politics. Given recent and in my opinion dangerous antics from some of my opposition you can be rest assured that I will stick to meeting and greeting but much more importantly listening and representing.

Sometimes you learn about things that no waving at passing cars can tell you. Yesterday for example I learnt about Indigo Children and debatable efforts to neutralise extreme levels of intelligence with use of medication. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not casting an opinion, I’m just saying that people will tell you things when you are in a position of trust and I don’t feel that pulling stunts shows that you have the interests of others at heart.

The common stories on the doorstep and on our street stalls often run along the lines of “what are you going to do to give my kids a better life”, to “my thirty something son is stuck at home unable to afford to buy their own home” or “we need to get rid of the Tories if we are going to have a better life” and “the NHS will only be safe in Labour’s hands” are all common place.

Curiously the state of the roads and pavements has dropped down the priority list, it seems to me that people have become so accustomed to the appalling state of Wiltshire’s roads that it has almost become a moot point. However I also believe that in many households there are now much bigger pressures than the state of the roads.

The question that will be answered at the ballot box is have people made the connection between the way they vote and the type of investment and strategy that is implemented in their local area.

£6m for failing vanity project in Salisbury

£6m for failing vanity project in Salisbury

John Glen has made much of the funding drawn down from the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership SWLEP funding for the Maltings Development, funding to clear old builders rubble from the Central Car park site.

I would normally welcome all monies that come into Salisbury. The Maltings development is however flawed from the start because the Wiltshire Council Tories signed over the land for development prior to the 2013 Council Elections with a far too narrow remit which only includes retail, homes and eateries whilst losing all City centre long stay car parking and retaining only half the number of spaces currently available in a short stay multi storey car park.

Within Salisbury there is plenty of scope for expanding upon the hospitality and entertainment sector, but these opportunities were literally written off by poor Conservative planning. Whilst homes in the City Centre will easily be populated the need for more shops and places to eat is questionable when we are failing to provide more things for people to do in the City. John Glen also makes the point that local people can have an input into this development.

Well I have been trying for four years as have many of my councillor colleagues, the only small glimmer of hope is the possibility of a coach/ bus drop off point being incorporated. The one thing that keeps getting repeated is that the developer has to come up with a design that meets the criteria that was drawn up.

In real terms this development is dead in the water until such time that retail starts to boom again, which given the rise of internet shopping is unlikely or until such time that the Tories and the developer can find a way to back out of their quagmire without losing face and find a way to renegotiate the terms.  The development encompasses the City Hall, Library, Maltings including Sainsbury’s Central Car Park, all the way to the Dual Carriageway and the Coach Station.

The initial plans envisaged having one large “anchor” store and smaller units and eateries, with a 350 space short stay multi storey car park. With proposed housing situated toward the river and Millstream Approach.

The long term future of the Library and the City Hall has not been determined at any stage. The Tory strategy of removing long stay parking from the City is also still up in the air, although plans to develop Salt Lane and Brown Street short stay car parks seem to be on hold for now.

There are plenty of reasons for optimism but at the moment I still feel there is a mountain of issues to overcome and a complete lack of appetite on the part of the developer which one would guess means there is not enough anticipated profit to make the project viable.

Let’s face it the youth could do with more local amenities. I have consistently campaigned for an area where a multiplex or similar with more to attract the youth and young families to our City with easy access to Bus stops, the train station and long stay car parking provision. Southampton’s West Quay shopping offer, works because it has excellent public transport links and easy access for families. For Salisbury to compete it has to have a different offer.

I doubt there will ever be an option on the table where the developer simply hands back the land to Wiltshire Council to negotiate a better plan, but Salisbury needs it if we are to be competitive in the future.

Standing up for #Salisbury and South Wiltshire

I am very happy to announce that I have been selected to stand for Salisbury and South Wiltshire for the June 8th General Election.

Last time we came second to the Conservatives, cementing a pattern of voting where we have established ourselves as the main political opposition party in the region.

Salisbury’s Clare Moody proudly serves as MEP for the South West and Gibraltar.

Labour Councillors currently serving (bearing in mind the Council elections are on the 4th May).

I will over the coming days and weeks update with topical blogs. Please feel free to follow, like and share on my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

This election will be framed by Theresa May’s rudderless Brexit strategy, Tory failures on the NHS, social care services, mental health parity, education cuts and an upcomig generation who will never be able to afford a private rent, let alone buy a house. The Tory strategy of a more productive workforce is biting. It’s time to bite back.

The Tories are strong against the weak and weak against the strong.

Labour works for the many, a value that is at my absolute core.

Tom