Somerton & Frome

We need to reward hard work, get Britain making things again, deliver value for money in government and sort out the banks.
We want the banks to work for the people, instead of the people bailing out the banks. And we need to learn the lessons from the financial crisis. Within weeks of the election, a Conservative government will launch the most radical overhaul for a generation in the way that banks are regulated and policed, in order to support the economy and protect consumers. We will:

· get credit flowing to businesses with large scale government guarantees, building on our proposals for a National Loan Guarantee Scheme;
· sweep away Gordon Brown’s failed system of regulation and put the Bank of England back in charge of controlling the overall level of debt in the economy;
· introduce a new levy on the banks;
· push for international agreement to separate the riskiest investment banking activities like large scale proprietary trading from ordinary retail banking;
· create a tough new Economic Crime Agency to crack down on white collar crime and serious economic crime;
· promote responsible consumer finance with a powerful new Consumer Protection Agency taking over from the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading; and,
· set up a free financial advice service and a free annual financial health check, to help families get their finances on track.
Gordon Brown and the Lib Dems want to stick with the same failed system that got us into this mess. Only a Conservative government will change the system to support the economy and protect consumers

This will be very disadvantageous to Somerton and Frome residents and all the others who use the A303 as part of their everyday lives

Plans to dual all of the single carriageway sections were postponed by John Prescott. Since then congestion has got steadily worse and avoidable deaths on the existing single carriageway sections continue. .High speed rail links between major cities will not improve transport for those who live and work in rural areas.

View From The County

- the Conservative Group at Somerset County Council Reports:-

website: www.somersetconservatives.org.uk
Email: somersetconservatives@live.co.uk

Don’t Believe Everything You Read! There have been plenty of accusations made about the Conservative’s budget at County Hall. However, as usual, the Lib Dems have been distorting the truth. Lib Dem Lie: Conservatives are cutting £2.4m from the adult social care budget Conservative Truth: This is not a cut; it’s just a smaller increase than our care providers were looking for. Providers are still getting more money in 2010/11. We value the work that these providers do with some of our most vulnerable members of society. However, we must face the reality of the current economic situation. Many other local authorities are giving providers no increase at all, including south-west Councils such as Cornwall, Devon, Swindon, Wiltshire and BANES.

Lib Dem Lie: Conservatives have cut £5m from the roads budget. Conservative Truth: Conservatives have renegotiated the Highways contract. As a result we now get a better service but at a lower price - £5million a year lower than the Lib Dems signed up to. The Conservative Administration at County Hall is able to do more for less. It is true that the condition of the roads has deteriorated due to the recent severe weather. However, 25 specialist teams are now working across Somerset to repair potholes caused by this winter’s weather. In addition, an extra £500,000 has been put into the budget for road surfacing.

Conservatives Keep Their Manifesto Promises
In the Election Manifesto for the June 2009 Somerset County Council elections, the Conservatives made three main pledges:
1. Freeze Council Tax
2. Improve Somerset’s Roads
3. Reduce Debt

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Annunziata Rees-Mogg, prospective MP gave her strong backing to a new set of rural policy proposals by the Conservatives. They would return power to rural communities, protect rural services and revive the rural economy across Somerset.

The new policy paper, launched as part of the Conservatives’ Rural Action campaign, sets out a series of proposals to end Labour’s notorious ‘decade of disrespect’ for rural communities. They include plans to:

"Rural Somerset has suffered a decade of disrespect by Labour. Local services have been scrapped, rural communities have been denied a say, and power has been taken away from them.

"We need a new approach to reverse Labour’s centralisation and interference from Whitehall bureaucrats, so that rural communities and the rural way of life across Somerset are fully respected.

"Over the past decade the Government has shown itself to be deaf to the concerns of the countryside. Conservatives will ensure that our rural voice is heard loud and clear, protect our rural services and help revive our rural economy."

In the elections of June 4th, Conservatives WON control of Somerset County Council, ending 16 years of Liberal Democrat rule.

The Council now consists of 35 Conservatives, 21 Liberal Democrats and 2 Labour Councillors.

In the accompanying election for 6 MEPS in the South West Region, Conservatives gained one more seat, electing Giles Chichester, Julie Girling and Ashley Fox to the European Parliament!

In his 2005 Budget, Prime Minister (then Chancellor) Gordon Brown boasted that inflation was "the lowest for 40 years"
- Have you looked at your Gas, Electricity and Council Tax bills recently?

Things people say….
"All I have as an MP is a degree of influence but no opportunity to make things happen." David Heath MP
(The House Magazine, No. 1197, Vol. 32, London: Dod’s Parliamentary Communications Limited, 4^th December 2006, p. 36.)

and-
A Final Thought from the doorstep... In the words of Winston Churchill "a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." If only our current government had learned from history, perhaps we would not be in the worrying mess we are. Luckily the Conservatives do learn from the past and our plans of establishing a credible fiscal framework to control public finances, combined with help for businesses and families through targeted tax freezes and cuts will mean we are prepared for recovery by creating a better, more balanced economy.