Nanny State
The Education Select Committee, on which I serve in Parliament, was taking evidence from professionals last week. The government wants to impose something called the Early Years Foundation Stage on every nursery in the country - regardless of who actually runs each nursery or what the parents who send their children there might want.
Forcing this 65-point plan on every children's nursery in the country gives new meaning to the term "Nanny State".
How can a handful of Ministers and officials in Whitehall possibly believe that they know what is best for every child in Britain? These are the people who can't run their own departments effectively - and now they want to tell the rest of us how to run children's nurseries.
If politicians and officials ran supermarkets, there would be waiting lists of fruit and veg, and catchment areas of your breakfast cereal. So why do we let them run our children's nurseries and schools?
Posted on 29 May 2008 by Douglas Carswell
Where did all the money go?
Millions have been spent on local services in Tendring in recent years. Yet have our local services got better?
Here are just a few examples of how our taxes have been spent – without actually helping local people.
- Millions were spent on the new Harwich hospital. So why is our local hospital still two thirds empty? Why do local people still have to travel to get basic treatments not available locally?
- A fortune was spent on building the brand new Bishops Park College, yet there are question marks over its future. How can so much have been spent on buildings one year, yet local schools have to use portacabins in following years?
- Massive council tax hikes mean more money in Tendring council’s coffers. But do you believe the local services that they provide you and your community have got better?
- NHS grants made to a popular Clacton charity that supports vulnerable older people, have dried-up. Without much notice.
- Millions were pledged on a new set of sea defences for Holland-on-Sea. Somehow the money never actually got spent on the project, and local people are now left with crumbling sea defences – and the prospect of a hefty bill.
We know that lots of our money has been spent. But where did all the money go?
These are just some examples of the massive waste that has taken place on a vast scale – using your money.
Please help add to the list in the comment section below.
Posted on 27 May 2008 by Douglas Carswell
Commons Diary with Douglas Carswell MP
I introduced my first Bill in the House of Commons the other day. My Bill. would allow the people to have a direct say over the things that MPs debate and vote on. Instead of leaving it to Westminster politicians to decide what laws to debate, why not allow the people a direct say?
Allowing people to initiate new laws, like in New Zealand, would make politicians more accountable to the people. Not everyone in the cosy "gentlemen’s club" called Parliament likes my idea, but I believe it is time to shake up things in Westminster a little.
Well done to Walton Sea Cadets – again! The other evening Gary Dodd and his team organised a wonderful demonstration. Many of the mums and dads there were rightly proud. The Sea Cadets are a real asset and we can all be proud of them.
The Clacton Widows also invited me for tea the other day. We had a wonderful afternoon, and chatted about all sorts. Thanks so much to Eve Moodey and her team.
One reason I love gardening is the instant camaraderie with other gardeners. My new friends at the Jaywick Garden Club invited me along to their Garden Show at Golf Green Hall, which I really enjoyed. I had been invited by Chairman Ted Bullock to give a talk about some of the disasters in my veggie patch. There have been so many, I could have spoken all afternoon on the subject!
At Prime Ministers Question Time the other day, I got the chance to put a question to glum Gordon Brown. I don’t think my question cheered up Mr Brown’s day all that much. He starred daggers at me as he sat down. Maybe he should take up gardening?
The Frinton Residents Association invited me to say a few word at their annual meeting. Frinton is a beautiful town, and it has a wonderful sense of civil pride. It was great to see Frinton’s two district councillors Nick Turner and Giles Watling there. Well done to Brian McLellan, Heather McGrigor and the rest of the Residents’ Association for all their superb work for the local community.
I am looking forward to a Parliamentary meeting of the Citizens Advice Bureau. I can only sing the praises of the CAB, and of its local offices in Tendring, which do some extraordinary work. I know from my local surgeries just how much local people sometimes depend on it.
This week sees the beginning of the debate on the Human Embryo and Fertilisation Authority Bill. The ethical and scientific arguments thrown up by this Bill are many and complex, and I take them extremely seriously. I will be meeting groups from local Churches and from patient groups over the coming days. I will vote with my conscience – not with any party - and do what I believe to be the right thing.
Posted on 19 May 2008 by Douglas Carswell