http://www.nemadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/1022600_restaurant_tycoon_pledges_25m_to_east_manchester

In an excellent announcement for East Manchester, Iqbal Ahmed, one of Britain’s leading businessmen is planning that if Gordon Brown’s New Labour government doesn’t follow through its plan for investment in the area, then he will. His plans for a hotel development will be welcome news for East Manchester, who were recently disappointed that the announcement for a Supercasino were being put on hold, despite beating tough competition for the investment.

East Manchester is lucky that businessman such as Mr Ahmed are more than prepared to promise what the Labour Party can’t, and invest in the future of the area.

Well, after 10 years of waiting, and Gordon’s Brown’s first Queen Speech. What a disappointment. Gordon Brown could have offered real change, a real break from the Blair age of spin. Instead, he offered re-announcements of policies, and very little movement to a greener, more business friendly, family friendly Britain as offered by David Cameron.

Take the announcement to raise the leaving age for school to 18. We already have problems with truancy with the current set of children - what problems will we have with 17 and 18 year-olds. An announcement which would have given real choice to parents and young people would have been to offer a breadth of options for post-16 education, employment and training.

Take another announcement, on yet another regulator, this time to fine hospitals which fail hygiene standards. Why not announce a new generation of hospital matrons, with real power to clean up hospitals.

The reason is that this government, as with the Labour Party at all levels of the country, just hasn’t got to grasps with the opportunities and challenges this country faces. We need localised public services, not the NHS and Schools run from Whitehall. We need power given to the public service professionals, not to statistical targets set in London. What we do need is real change, not the illusion of change offered by Gordon Brown. What we need, is a Conservative Government.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7070070.stm

In a move announced today, SNP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that the SNP-led Scottish Government was removing the right to buy your Council House. One of the most successful measures of the Thatcher Government, millions of Britons and hundreds of thousands of Scots were able to join the rest of society in owning their own home. By owning your own home, you were able to truly control your own destiny, and invest in your own, and your families future.

I find it highly unfortunate that the SNP have decided to pull up the ladder for young Scots. The policy, supported by the Liberal Democrats, will not make any difference to the Housing problems within Scotland and the rest of the UK, but they will help prevent many young people joining their parents and grandparents in property owning. What was also surprising was the lack of mention of the SNP manifesto pledge to give a £2,000 grant to first time buyers.

 I find it a great shame that the SNP can’t support aspiration. In the recent Scottish election, they played the aspiration card, with promises to lower Business Rates. This is the exact opposite of that, and feel its very sad that the SNP has already gone behind the spirit of their manifesto.

“Changes to the original constitution - such as jettisoning references to a European flag and anthem - were made to ‘head off any threat of referenda’, Mr Giscard d’Estaing says.”  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7069181.stm 

A direct extract from the BBC, quoting Giscard d’Estaing. This is man who wrote the original EU constitution, and he has stated that the only changes from the old to the new constitution are simply cosmetic. D’Estaing is not unique however - nearly every major European leader (not including our own Prime Minister), agrees with him. What will it take for Gordon Brown to give us what he promised in his manifesto, a referendum on this Constitution. Or will he, as with the election, bottle it!

The B of the Bang cost a staggering £1.4m, and has gone the way of the Millennium Done. Very few people will doubt how that money have been better spent. As shown in so many cases in the past few years, Labour prefers big projects with big pricetags. Smaller projects around Sportcity could easily served the community considerably better than this extravagant design.

Welcome to my new blog. I’m hoping that I can use this blog to give a viewpoint from a Liberal Conservative living in the heart of East Manchester. I am passionate about the city, and feel that only by changing the political representation in the city can Manchester demonstrate its real potential.