I was not invited to speak at this meeting but went along as a member of the audience as I was curious to find out what our two MP’s who were speaking were going to do about the appearance of the BNP in Portsmouth and also what UAF had planned. It was well attended and we had to move to a bigger room to accommodate everyone. After hearing the speakers during which the Labour MP for Portsmouth North stated that we should not be sharing a platform with the BNP at the forthcoming debates, I was able to state that I thought that however distasteful the policies of the BNP are and ones which would bankrupt this country very quickly, we need to be able to expose them in the debates rather than running away from them.

Interestingly, the Labour MP stated that the last time that the BNP were in Portsmouth was in the 1970’s, which was when the last Labour government was in power. The person next to me in the audience stated that if the government had got the right policies in place particularly the economy, there would be no need for extremist parties in this country. When people are fearful of their jobs and future, they will look for scapegoats and protest votes. We have got the right policies to put the country back in its feet again and we need to articulate them so there will be no need to vote for fringe parties.

We were very fortunate to have Nicholas Soames MP to open our office and then attend a lunch of 70 people to explain why it is important to win Portsmouth South. It was also a good opportunity to quiz him on defence as he was a former defence minister and still interested in defence matters. He stated that our policy on the navy is very clear and has recently been articulated by Dr Liam Fox MP, Shadow defence minister, “we must also remember that we are a maritime nation dependent on the sea lanes for 92% of our trade. A time when the threat of disruption on the high seas is increasing is no time for Britain to become sea blind.”

The last Strategic Defence Review made a powerful case for naval aviation and maritime power projection and it is difficult to see what changes in the strategic environment have occurred that would change this particular element of our defence capabilities. We have repeatedly made our own position clear on the value of aircraft carriers. However, it would be wrong to restrict the scope of, or pre-empt, the Strategic Defence Review process itself which is exactly the same as the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrat Party who make no commitment to the aircraft carriers in their defence manifesto.

Another reason why it is really important to have a Conservative MP in Portsmouth South in a Conservative Government to fight for the home of the Royal Navy and its equipment.

This was a really good idea with the head of history and politics at PGS inviting all the local schools to participate in a democracy day ending with a question time debate with local parliamentary candidates. We were all invited to address the audience for exactly 4 minutes, I had timed my talk to make sure that it was less than 4 minutes but it seems the egg timer was not working properly and I was cut off early! The questions were wide and varied ranging from should the voting age be lowered to 16 to should we lock up paedophiles for longer. Sadly, many schools had to leave during the debate to catch their buses back to school so there were not many people left at the end to vote. I hope this event inspires people to get involved during the election and later in life although the questions asked were not going to show the real divisions between the parties.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley MP, visited QA hospital to see the new wing and find out about the issues concerning the health service in Portsmouth. We are totally committed to the National Health Service and have ring fenced the NHS budget as we believe that it is a service that everyone uses at various points in their lives and we must make sure that we have a first rate health service

The new wing and all the equipment is first rate at QA but we need to ensure that there is the budget to fund a first class service too.

I went to the Student Housing department today as student accommodation is a big issue in Portsmouth South both for students and for residents.

While I have been canvassing I have met many first year students in rented houses as there is not enough accommodation for them in halls of residences. The university has plans to build a new hall of residence at the Victoria Swimming Baths site but only for 300 students, there is a shortfall of 1,500 rooms for first year students at the present. The Student Housing department has very good measures in place to help first year students find houses before the new academic year starts when they organise 3 weekends for students with socials planned and a minibus to take them round all the available houses. They are concerned that students are not reading the contracts with landlords carefully enough before signing so if you are a student reading this, also read your tenant contract before signing or ask for help at the Student Housing Department. All this info is online at http://www.port.ac.uk/studentlife/accommodation/

For existing students Student Housing has a list of registered landlords which they publish on 18th March and they recommend that existing students do not rush out before that and commit themselves to houses before this date.

Portsmouth City council have recently set up a registration scheme for landlords and will have a list of all the landlords who fit strict criteria so it is a good place to start if you want to look into private renting check out the website at http://www.las.portsmouth.gov.uk/ or contact the council if you have a problem with your landlord.

One of the main reasons that I went to see the Student Housing Department is that we get a lot of complaints from residents in streets which are increasingly being taken over by student houses. The biggest issue is noise and parking. It is not that students have wild parties every night or play loud music, most students seem to be plugged into Ipods, but the biggest problem is that they tend to walk down the streets talking loudly and waking up residents who have to work the next day. I came across one resident who now wears earplugs every night which is really sad. Unfortunately, bars and clubs now have cheap student nights throughout the week rather than just one night and alcohol is too cheap and soft drinks too expensive. It is tough for young people to realise the effect that this is having on their neighbours and residents but it is something that we are going to have to work on if this is not going to be a huge growing problem. I know the university is trying hard but the clubs and students must act responsibly too. Students who are continually creating issues in their street with noise or anti social behaviour can be excluded from the university so residents need to complain to the student neighbour liaison officer at the Student Housing department so they can deal with the problem – 023 9282 3214.

Students also have cars, Portsmouth is flat and compact so there should be no reason to have a car, it is easy to cycle or walk and the bus service is good. A student house with 2-3 cars makes a huge difference on our crowded streets, but as students are renting private accommodation and are adults, this is a difficult situation and not easily solved unless we have residents parking everywhere and limit the permits which would be irritating for everyone. Some other university cities ban students from bringing in cars so perhaps this is something that the university could consider. The university also ought to consider putting underground car parking in the Victoria Swimming Bath site which could be used by both students and staff to help alleviate the congested parking on local streets.

Press Release

Flick Drummond visited the Beneficial Foundation to learn more about their work with people with learning difficulties and other disabilities. The Beneficial Foundation is training 55 trainees with skills for work and independent living and many of their trainees are working in the garden maintenance department and in the poly-tunnels growing plants for sale. Other trainees are working towards nationally recognised qualifications through the National Open College Network.

Flick was interested in the ‘House within our warehouse’ which enables people to learn to look after themselves. ‘This is a fabulous resource in our community’, said Flick, ‘learning basic life skills gives people the confidence to begin independent lives and I am really impressed with the rooms of a house built in the warehouse where trainees can learn how to cook and housework’. Flick also looked at the poly-tunnels where the Foundation grows plants from seeds, ‘the plants looked in excellent condition and it would be great if they could find a large retail outlet to sell them. I was also thrilled to see the craft shop as I love making my own cards and always have a craft project on the go.’

You can find the Beneficial Foundation craft shop and plants for sale next to Fratton Park in at 16 Anson Road,  Fratton Industrial Park, Portsmouth PO4 8TB

It is really exciting to see the Portsmouth University Students Union trying to motivate students to vote in what is going to be a very exciting general election. Today, I gave an interview to the students’ union and they will be filming all the candidates and will put them on the union website. As I have two children who are at present at university and another two who are applying at the moment I feel I know the issues very well!

The university is no longer registering students in a block so every individual has to register. I am meeting a lot of students as I go round canvassing and many of them are voting at home which is great. However, there are around 16,000 students eligible to vote at the university and they could make a huge difference to the result in Portsmouth if they decide to vote here and if it is on May 6 they will all be in Portsmouth. If you are a student and want to vote here you need to register at the city council (you can do it online). If you want to vote at home, you need to apply for a postal vote or get your parents to be a proxy for you and fill out a form.

We have recently reactivated Conservative Future at the university, Matt Payne is the chairman and came with me to the interview. He is very keen to get everyone involved to come and help delivering and canvassing as well as meeting visiting MP’s. It is particularly useful for anyone studying politics as all that theory becomes real.

There are a lot of issues about the funding of universities and what they will have to offer if tuition fees go up. Students have now become consumers of education and will be expecting a high standard of teaching and more contact time with lecturers and tutors. One of my children has 4 hours of contact time a week, the other 25 hours, both pay the same tuition fees. This is going to be a big dilemma for universities and how we fund them. You can find out about Conservative policy on universities on our party website.

If you want to contact Portsmouth Conservative Future you can visit the website http://portsmouth.cfbranch.com

The case of the two Doncaster boys with their terrible crime shows how important it is to get the right support for families and how important a good social services system is. I am really pleased that we are concentrating on helping families in our draft manifesto which has come from the work that Ian Duncan Smith MP and his team have been working on for many years at the Centre for Social Justice (www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk). The Centre for Social Justice has been talking to many groups and families looking at what is going wrong in our communities and finding examples of organisations who are helping to get it right and learning why.

Toxic family upbringing can create havoc, not only on the children bought up in the dysfunctional family but the knock on effect they have on others in society. I frequently hear about how badly behaved children and parents are affecting the neighbourhood and anti-social behaviour is one of the biggest concerns from people returning my surveys.

All this type of behaviour stems from their background and it is important that we start making sure that as a government we focus on strengthening families, giving them the support when they need it and ensuring that there are good school and opportunities for those that have missed out on education the first time to rediscover a love of learning and skills. Many people who have been out of the workplace for some time feel demoralised and lack confidence which often has a negative effect on the rest of the family, and it is important that there is easy access to training which has a positive impact on finding jobs and building confidence.

Our policies include recruiting 4200 more health visitors, having continuity with one health visitor is crucial especially in giving confidence to new parents. They know how to recognise any problems and will continue a good level of support until the child reaches school. I know how important my health visitor was to me in giving me confidence with my first child.

Early intervention is important and I am really pleased that we will be creating Early Years Support Teams with all the funding and bureaucracy bought into one team so there is no duplication and missed families in the process. Sure Start, which has been criticised by professionals that it is not helping the families it was set up to work with, will be focussed on the neediest families. This make good sense as every family will have a health visitor but not every one needs extra support all the time.

Lastly, I am a supporter of recognising marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system. If it helps a parent to stay at home longer to look after young children because it alleviates financial pressures, then that is a benefit to society as a whole. Parenting is not recognised enough in this country as the most important job that any one can do, and this is one way of recognising that. We need to make Britain more family friendly with flexible working and affordable child care along with help to those who give up their careers to look after children, and I am really pleased that we will continue to support the provision of free nursery care for pre-school children through a variety of providers, including child minders and private, voluntary and independent nurseries.

You can read our draft manifesto on the website www.conservatives.com

Press Release Tuesday 19 January 2010 from Flick Drummond

Education, education, education

Parliamentary candidate for Portsmouth South, Flick Drummond, welcomes the Conservative draft manifesto on education. Launched yesterday by David Cameron the main area of focus is on the quality of teaching. Flick commented ‘as a former school inspector, it was always obvious that quality of teaching is paramount in the classroom. Everyone can remember the individual teacher that inspired them or put them off a subject and I fear that many teachers today are so burdened by endless form filling and a restrictive curriculum that it is easy to forget how important they are in a child’s life. A good or bad experience at school can affect our whole lives and we must get it right for everyone.’

The draft manifesto makes it clear that flexibility will be given to headteachers to reward good teaching and also to remove teachers who are not performing to high standards. Discipline is to be returned to schools with headteachers being given the power to expel pupils who are troublesome. ‘Disruptive pupils make it very difficult for the rest of the class to concentrate but we must make sure that they are provided with alternative schooling and help so they don’t miss out on education and become isolated from society. I would like to see education becoming a lifelong goal for everyone so that people can continue to learn and develop throughout their lives’, said Flick, ‘we should all be given the chance to correct our mistakes but not at the expense at ruining other people’s learning experience. Our draft manifesto will be good for education in Portsmouth where we have some incredibly hard working inspirational teachers but they need to be given the power and freedom to make learning exciting’.

You can find out more detail about the draft manifesto at the Conservative website www.conservatives.com and can also ask David Cameron questions on the policy.

Ends.

www.portsmouthnews.tv have interviewed me on this subject.

Press Release  7 January 2010

Flick Drummond reports that Cold Weather payments will be made to qualifying people in Portsmouth

“We have had one or two people calling our office concerned that they have been told that our area does not yet qualify for cold weather payments despite the fact that for the last two weeks we’ve had frost on the ground.

“I contacted the Department of Work and Pensions who have informed me that they have  triggered 1 cold weather payments for the Portsmouth postcode areas. This year you will get £25 when the average temperature where you live is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below, over seven consecutive days during the period from 1 November to 31 March. Specified Meteorological Office weather stations are used to obtain this information.

“It would be hugely concerning if, after two weeks of freezing weather, the cold weather payments to pensioners were not being made. There are very many people in this area for whom this severe weather is a cause of huge worry over heating bills. I am pleased, however, that the Department of Work and Pensions have confirmed that cold weather payments will be made in Portsmouth.” Payments will be made directly to those who qualify.

Extra information from the Department of Works and Pensions.

You do not need to claim. We automatically pay anyone who can get a Cold Weather Payment. Tell your pension centre or contact Jobcentre Plus if you think you should have received a Cold Weather Payment but you have not had one.

Who is eligible?

You may be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment for each week of very cold weather in your area if you get Pension Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance with a support or work related activity component in the main phase.

• Employment and Support Allowance – introduction

• Pension Credit

You may also be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment for each qualifying week if you are getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance in the assessment phase and have one of the following:

• a pensioner premium, higher pensioner premium or enhanced pensioner premium

• a disability premium, enhanced disability premium or severe disability premium

• a disabled child premium

• Child Tax Credit that includes a disability or severe disability element

• a child who is under five in the family