As Labour's North Eastern Vote Melts Away - The Scene Is Set For A Tory Surge

A fascinating poll in this morning's Telegraph showed that the Conservatives are 6% ahead in marginal constituencies in the North of England - a huge swing since the last election that is well above the national average.

This new poll confirms what I am seeing in North Durham that voters are sick and tired of a complacent local Labour establishment. Local people are ready to turn to the Conservatives. Indeed, in many cases, this will be the first time they have voted Conservative.

Our canvass returns are excellent so far in North Durham. We have canvassed many thousand householdsand over 50% of people have told us that they will either certainly be voting Conservative or strongly consider it. They are all very angry at Labour's legacy of unemployment, anti-social behaviour and lack of vision. The people of North Durham are angry about being taken for granted by an out of touch Labour Party.

The people of the North East and North Durham have had enough of n arrogant Labour elite. The people of the North East are ready to give the Labour Party a bloody nose in 2010.

Consumers Are Right To Be Angry Over Unfair Banking Charges Verdict

Consumers are right to be angry at the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn previous court rulings that the OFT should investigate whether bank charges were unfair. This stinks of wealthy judges backing wealthy banks against the man in the street and the ordinary consumer.

It is quite clear to me that banks charging up to £40 for a customer exceeding their overdraft limit is not only unfair. It is outrageous. Don't forget that the OFT described the charges as "difficult to understand, not transparent, and not subject to effective consumer control".

There needs to be a competition review of banks - particularly now that so many of them are kept afloat using our money. This must cover banking charges. The banks must be ready to compensate people who have been unfairly charged. It is not acceptable that banks have treated their customers so badly, whether it be over mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance or these unfair banking charges.

Meeting The Rocket

I was thrilled to meet one of the real sporting greats at an event last night. Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan showed off his genius at the pool table, as well as being an absolute gent. An all too large part of my youth was spent in 'Supa Snooker' in Consett, never quite being able to understand how the guys who play the game on TV make it look quite so easy.

The Rocket is, without a shadow of doubt one of the greatest players ever to pick up a snooker cue. He probably has more natural talent than anybody (with the possible exceptions of Jimmy White and Alex Higgins) in the history of the game.

He was telling me how professional snooker players are spending a lot of time in China - where the sport is massive at the moment and growing all the time. Fingers crossed that the sport now goes from global strength to global strength.

Labour's Failure To Tackle Crime Hits The Poorest The Hardest

I spoke to the Durham Union on Friday in favour of the motion that "Britain is too soft on crime." The Shadow Justice Secretary, Dominic Grieve MP, was also speaking The Durham Union is a great venue and there were some really classy contributions from both sides of the debate.

My argument was quite simple - it is working class areas who suffer most from crime and it is working class areas that suffer most from this Government being soft on crime. I made the point that if you suggested in any council estste in the country that we were not being too soft on crime, you would be laughed out of town. If you live in the 20% most deprived areas of the country you are twice as likely to be a victim of violent crime than if you live in the 20% least deprived areas.

In the UK, there were 4 million instances of anti social behaviour last year alone, as well as over a million violent crimes. For 50,000 of these violent crimes, including around 800 GBH offences, the offenders were issued with nothing more than a caution - a ticking off.

At the same time, the Government has completely failed to do anything to improve education and rehabilitation in prisons. It has presided over a society where poverty has increased and inequality has widened. It has so burdened the Police in red tape that Police officers spend more time filling in forms than they do on the beat.

We need to do more to tackle crime and tackle the causes of crime. This Government has blatantly failed on both counts and has let down the poorest in society.

The Durham Union clearly agreed - they voted at the end of the debate that Britain was, indeed, too soft on crime.

Labour Are No Longer The Champions Of The Poor

Labour have comprehensively failed to help the most vulnerable. They have betrayed the great traditions of the Labour movement and presided over rising unemployment, declining social mobility, widening inequality and rising poverty. The Government has comprehensively let down those who placed most faith in it.

This Labour Party, which is a pale shadow of the moral crusade of the past, can no longer claim to be the party of the vulnerable in society. It is no surprise, then, to see a poll in The Guardian this morning, which shows that the Conservatives are now regarded as being the party "of the poor" by more voters than regard Labour as the same thing.

If elected as MP for North Durham, creating a fairer equal society will be one of my real priorities. I will be prepared, unlike lobby fodder Labour MPs, to act as a champion for the poor and the vulnerable.

Test Match Cricket Should Be On Free To Air TV

Test match cricket should be on free to air TV. I strongly believe this and I'm delighted that the DCMS sponsored independent commission has reached the same conclusion as me. For the long term health of the game, as opposed to the financial health of already bloated county clubs, test match cricket must be exposed to the widest audience possible.

This year's Ashes series (shown on pay per view TV) had an average audience several million smaller than the last home Ashes series (shown on free to air Channel 4). Whereas 2005 was a great nationally unifying series, 2009 was a great sporting event that suffered too much from being tucked away on a satellite subscription channel.

As I previously blogged, "the last series was watched on TV by over 10 million people and these ratings could be achieved because the Ashes were on free to air TV. A wide range of viewers made up these massive viewing figures. The casual viewer who wouldn’t normally watch sport, and certainly wouldn’t subscribe to a sports channel. The poor and elderly who may not be able to afford the subscription to satellite TV. The schoolkids who chanced upon the TV coverage and found new sporting heroes to emulate.

Since the TV rights were sold to Sky, TV audiences have gone from over 10 million to under 1 million. Terrestrial coverage brings with it accidental viewers in a way that satellite coverage can not. It means that cricket can become the background to many a family summers day. Removing cricket from terrestrial television is depriving the game of the all important oxygen of exposure. Surely the loss of a massive stream of potential interest can only be detrimental to the future of the game."

The ECB's decision to sacrifice the future of the game for the Sky dollar was short termist and wrong and I am pleased that the DCMS commission has intervened to stand up for the long term health of the sport. Why would the ECB willingly tuck cricket away on Sky knowing that more than half of the under 18 year olds in the country have no access to Sky?

The governing body complain about potential lost TV revenue. But that shows a real loss of imagination and long term vision. Any loss in TV revenue could be made up for with increased advertising revenue with advertisers knowing that their product will be exposed to a much larger, free to air audience. Exposure to millions more aspiring youngsters, dreming of being the next Flintoff, Pietersen or Broad is worth a return to free to air TV in itself.

The ECB should be responsible about their sale of TV rights. Their present attitude is hugely detrimental to the future health of the game.

Real Labour People Are Deserting The Labour Party

It has become clear to me, from talking to thousands of voters from across North Durham, that people who traditionally vote Labour have told me that they are sick and tired of the Labour Party and will be voting for a Progressive Conservative candidate in North Durham at the next election.

This week, three high profile Labour figures have also suggested that, to an extent they are tired of the Government and their failure to act to combat poverty and safeguard civil liberties.

First off was Tony Benn. I'm a massive fan of Tony Benn - I think 'Arguments for Democracy' and 'Arguments for Socialism' are first class texts. He has been one of the foremost figures warning about the deterioration in civil liberties over the past twelve years. He has consistently made the case that the anachronistic powers of the royal prerogative give the Executive way too much power against a weakened Parliament. His speech about the Maastricht Treaty, warning that "I cannot hand away powers lent to me" was a hugely powerful exposition of the democratic argument against a European superstate. I was, therefore, delighted to hear that in an interview with The Sunday times, he said that his "views on civil liberties and Europe were closer to the Conservatives than Labour." He said, "There are issues I find myself in agreement with some of the Tories on, particularly on civil liberties... As I grow older I have reached the conclusion that issues unite people, whereas ideologies divide them."

At the same time, Clare Short, the former Cabinet Minister under Tony Blair has said that, "the Conservatives have committed to keeping up the budget and keeping up the commitment on poverty and keeping a separate department, so I am pleased about that.”

Former Welfare Minister under Tony Blair, Frank Field has said that David Cameron's speech on poverty, "declares war on Labour's reason for existence... it is a wonderfully bold beginning."

In all these cases, Labour figures are realising that a Conservative Government is more likely to acheive progressive ends than a tired Labour Government. Their shift is being replicated throughout North Durahm and the North East by people who have voted Labour all of their lives who are set to vote Conservative at the next election.

We Must Do More To Tackle Unemployment

Figures released today show that unemployment nationally now stands at 2.46 million. In North Durham, some 2,504 people are claiming Job Seekers allowance, compared to 1,286 in January last year. That is a shocking increase of 94%. That is 1,218 more families being affected by the davastation of unemployment.

Unemployment is the worst of all economic problems because of the impact it has on individuals, families and communities, as well as the impact it has on our economic productivity as a region and a nation. That is why I believe the Government could and should be doing more to tackle unemployment.

I am calling for a comprehensive programme to tackle unemployment. This means the creation of 200,000 new apprenticeships and training places over 2 years. It means creating a proper National Loan Guarantee Scheme to get credit moving again, as well as helping businesses to create new jobs. It means the provision of high quality careers advice and guidance to help people find work as quickly as possible.

We must marshall all the resources at our disposal to tackle unemployment. It will be my priority if elected as MP for North Durham.

Labour's Shameful Betrayal Of Young Britons

The impact of Gordon Brown's recession has been devastating on young people. We just have to note a few of the key areas in which this Government have betrayed young people during the recession:

• We have the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe.
• We now have a record number of 16-24 year olds not in education, employment or training.
• The number of unemployed graduates is nudging 100,000.
• The number of apprenticeships has fallen by more than a third in one year.
• Over 150,000 university applicants didn't get a university place and, because of Government reforms, over 175,000 students still hadn't received student finance by mid October.
• The Government has placed caps on training funding, royally messed up the Further Education budget and forced many colleges to cut back on their course offerings.

Just when you thought that this Government could not worsen their betrayal of young people this morning, it has emerged this morning that they are secretly planning cuts in training of extreme severity. They are suggesting cutting £350 million off the training budget, affecting unemployed young people and also young people. Most of the advocated cuts actually affect front line services. It is shameful that the Government are considering such a move.

What we need is an expansion in training opportunities, so that this recession does not create a lost generation of young people. We need 100,000 new work based apprenticeships and training places. We need the creation of more Further Education places, to bolster the excellent work that FE already does. We need the creation of more university places to ensure that we can compete in a skills based global economy.

We must be investing in our future rather than, as Labour are doing, taken a scalpel to our potential.

Welcoming The Launch Of County Durham Monopoly

Great to see that a County Durham version of Monopoly has been launched. Such North Durham landmarks as the Riverside Ground and Chester-le-Street railway station are captured in the board game, as well as other landmarks from across our breathtaking county.

Hard to disagree with the Dean of Durham, who suggested that "it’s great to welcome the new County Durham version.”

You can get the County Durham version of the game here.

Time To Tackle The Problem Of Violent Crime

In the past few weeks, there have been violent robberies in both Stanley, where a man with a knife threatened a member of staff at a cheque centre, and Ouston, when a man with a handgun attempted to rob the local Post Office. With such frightening local incidents, the people of North Durham need no reminding that there has been a surge in violent crime in recent years.

SInce Labour came to power, violent crime has risen by 70 per cent in the UK. The latest British Crime Survey showed that there were over a million violent crimes committed on strangers in 2008/09. At the same time, burglary has gone up by 3 per cent in one year and personal theft has increased by 5 per cent. These are truly shocking statistics. And one of the really shocking things is that so little is being done about it. Indeed, a recent report showed that a number of violent crimes are being routinely ignored by the Police.

That is why we need to get more Police Officers on to the streets and give them real powers to deal with violent crime. If there is one consistent theme from the people of North DUrham when I speak to them on the doorstep, it is that they want more Police on the streets to tackle crime and make them feel safer.