Tory MP backs Lib Dem Policies?

Ribble Valley residents will no doubt be intrigued to hear of the views of Nigel Evans MP on “green taxes”. In the House of the Commons debate on the Budget he said: “Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that any "green taxes" should be revenue-neutral?”

This intrigued me, so I looked up the Tory party website to find out what their policy on green issues is. Unfortunately there aren’t any.

However Nigel will be pleased to hear that there is one party that has fully costed proposals on green taxes that are revenue neutral.

The Liberal Democrats want to reverse the decline in green taxation under Labour, and use the revenue to cut income tax. They will cut income tax by 4p in the pound and increase taxes on carbon emissions and other resource usage that causes global warming. So the more you go green, the more money you save.

So if Nigel wants to support revenue neutral green taxes perhaps he should be in a party which has policies espousing them. I can always give him a membership card.

Hold the Tories to Account

Yesterday the Conservatives held a debate where they demanded an inquiry into the Iraq War.

Yet for the Tories to demand an inquiry into the Iraq war is like Ronnie Biggs wanting an inquiry into the Great Train Robbery.

It is flattering that the Conservatives at long last have come round to the Liberal Democrats long-held belief that there must be a full inquiry into the war as soon as possible. However, it would have greater strength if they admitted the key role they had in letting this catastrophic decision be made in the first place.

If David Cameron, William Hague and Nigel Evans want any legitimacy in this debate, the first thing they should do is say sorry for the way they propped up the Labour Party as it pushed us into an illegal war.

Tory Post Office U-Turn

I was surprised to read the in Clitheroe Advertiser of 28 Feb that Nigel Evans MP has become a supporter of the Post Office.

The reason for this is that under the last Conservative Government, which Mr Evans was a member of, and that David Cameron was a senior adviser to, 3,500 Post Offices were closed.

When the Labour Government announced the current wave of closures on 14th December 2006, the Conservatives had no solutions at all to solve the Post Office crisis.

Whilst they gave us warm words on the need to support Post Offices, there was no explanation as to how they would keep branches open.

Liberal Democrats on the other hand have a fully costed plan to save Post Offices from closure. This would keep Post Office Ltd in the public sector but split it away from the Royal Mail. It would also then raise £2 billion from the sale of a minority of shares in Royal Mail and invest this money in the Post Office network. This would mean new equipment and new services. The plan would also free the Post Office from Royal Mail controls that prevent branches doing business for other parcel delivery companies.

So before Mr Evans starts campaigning about Post Office closures, he should admit that he has pillar-box-red blood on his hands.