The Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP

September Column (II)

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Cuts should be at the centre

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Whichever way you look at it the country is in a deep financial mess and we will all finish up having to pay for it one way or another.

Last week it was the Scottish budget - setting out the spending priorities of the SNP.

In November we will get the Chancellor's pre-budget statement which will have to itemise what we can no longer afford.

It ought to be a chance to cut extravagance at the centre - ID cards, Government IT contracts which all go over budget and over time and often don't even work and the highest tech defence spending which doesn't meet the needs of our front line troops.

The SNP's harping on about the shortfall on the grant provided by the UK Government leaves me cold. I am in favour of reform that gives the Scottish Parliament access to taxes raised in Scotland but in the present climate the SNP have to explain why they didn't maintain capital spending when they had the chance and how they are going to manage the budget they have got - that is, after all, their principal responsibility.

Suggestions that the budget was a boost to the North East fall short of the mark. Reports that there was to be a modest boost to council finances to acknowledge the need to support the oil industry were quickly denied with implications of pressure from Glasgow - the best funded authority in Scotland.

What appears to be lost on Edinburgh and London is that the North East makes a huge contribution to the economy of Scotland and the UK but that the bulk of the public sector benefit goes out of our region - in the form of business rates and personal taxes - by-passing local authorities and the health service, which are under pressure from increasing demand brought about as a result of economic growth.

Yet our hard pressed local councils are seriously underfunded, Much needed infrastructure projects such as the Western Peripheral Route are delayed, or, in the case of Crossrail, off the agenda.

Of course, in a recession, all spending is under pressure but there is little justification for London and Edinburgh pocketing all of the contributions we make to the economy and returning so comparatively little.

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Local taxes for local services?

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This was a theme I warmed to at the Liberal Democrats' party conference in sunny Bournemouth, where I spent last weekend.

I got a warm reception for suggesting we needed to be more radical with our local income tax proposals. Too much of our taxes are taken by central government who waste it on trying to micromanage from the centre - commissioning extravagant computer systems that end up delayed, over budget and not working.

This would not be necessary if local councils got most of their budget from income tax and central government took less and did not try to lock our democratically elected councils into a straightjacket, making it more difficult to deliver vital services.

Successive Tory, Labour and now SNP Governments have taken powers and resources away from local authorities, first by rate capping and then by nationalising local business rates. Only about 25% of local budgets are raised locally from the council tax which has been under enforced freeze for two years.

Councils should get most of their income from local taxes not from grants funded by the taxes we pay to central Government.

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It's not Buggin's turn, it's your turn

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The mood in Bournemouth was positive but frustrated that the media - especially the BBC - seemed to think they know the result of the next election which still has to take place.

I meet many people who believe the Labour Government is finished but do not believe the Tories are a credible alternative just because they benefit from the 'Buggin's turn' principle.

For more than 50 years since the war we have spent every few years turning out Labour in favour of the Tories and vice versa and it has only brought disappointment and tears.

I meet a growing number of people who tell me that this time they want a complete change and recognise on many of the big issues, Iraq, ID cards, the economy the Liberal Democrats have been the voice of common sense.

So this time, so the polling analysts tell us people just might turn their backs on the two larger parties and give the Liberal Democrats a chance. It would certainly liven up the election campaign.

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Licence turmoil and a pub with no beer

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The sun also shone on my summer tour where people raised a variety of issues. A recurring theme was the cost and delays of the new licensing scheme which has left us with a pub with no beer, a shop with increased hours but no extension to licensing times and landlords with massive charges which could force up student rents.

Otherwise I had the chance to catch up on local developments in shops, schools and other community activities.

I was glad to be able to say thanks and farewell to Abbey and Islay Stott who have finally closed the door on their shop and post office at Collieston after 47 years,

Their dedication and service is much appreciated and Collieston will miss it. I am only sorry it has not proved possible for anyone to fill the gap.

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Pharmacy plan threatens surgeries

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Plans to open a pharmacy in Tarves are proving controversial as it is said that it would threaten the dispensing services provided by the local GP practice and this in turn could undermine the viability of the outreach clinics provided by the practice in Tarves and Pitmedden.

The problem is not that a pharmacy is hoping to open its doors in Tarves. Rather, it is the knock-on effect that it could have on health services in all three communities.

"The branch surgeries currently provided by the Haddo Medical Practice are an excellent example of local and responsive services. That is why I am writing to the Chief Executive NHS Grampian to urge him to do nothing that would jeopardise their futures.

Local people, I know, are making their views known and they should be listened to

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Fewer MP's - beware Tory motives

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There are calls to cut the number of MPs and, no doubt many people will support that. However I would urge people to consider carefully how this might be done.

David Cameron wants to retain the present voting system and will, no doubt want to redraw boundaries in ways that favour the Conservatives to consolidate their hold on power if they were to win a General election.

The problem is that the first post the system is becoming more and more unrepresentative.

At the last election Labour polled 36 per cent of the vote on a 62 per cent turnout. This gave them a 70 seat majority in the Commons even though more than three quarters of the electorate did not support them. Of those who voted almost a third did not support either of the largest two parties.

Democracies require a reasonable connection between the way people vote and the outcome. This disjunction is a travesty of democracy.

Simply reducing the number of MPs without changing the system would make this mismatch worse.

Only a fair voting system could justify a smaller, more representative Parliament.

22 September 2009