http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articlearchive.php Recent Press Articles from Paul Holmes and Chesterfield Liberal Democrats en-GB Paul Holmes and Chesterfield Liberal Democrats http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Paul Holmes and Chesterfield Liberal Democrats 2010-08-01T09:05+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000031/the_parliamentary_commissioner_for_standards.html My personal integrity and reputation for honesty are important to me. That is why I was delighted when Sir Thomas Legge and his team of accountants gave my expenses claims for 2004-2009 the all clear. I was obviously pleased when a BBC reporter could say to me on air in February that "my expenses claims were exemplary" and when the Telegraph last year rated me as one of the 'best value for money MP's in Derbyshire.' 2010-03-26T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000029/view_from_the_commons__there_has_to_be_change.html With 10 weeks or less to go before the start of the General Election, Parliament continues to operate with an unreal air. MP's spend their time shadow boxing over election promises and debating legislation, most of which does not have time to become Law. 2010-01-22T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000030/gordons_last_queens_speech.html Wednesday 18th November saw the eighth Queens Speech since I was first elected and doubtless the last Gordon Brown will ever write for the Queen! The next 5 days were given over to debate on different aspects of what the Government had and had not promised to do before Gordon is finally forced to face the electorate in a few months time. 2009-12-11T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000028/stopping_the_super_tanker.html It is often said that once the juggernaut of a Super Tanker is underway then it can take a mile or more to stop it, even when the engines are thrown into full reverse. Getting the Government to admit it is wrong and change direction is much the same! 2009-11-20T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000027/planning_problems.html Most people rarely give planning issues a second thought. Until that is, an application is made that directly affects them. Then they might ask "why on earth is the Council even considering such and such an application?" Answer - because by national law they HAVE to consider any legally made application. Some ask "why did/didn't the local MP allow this application to go ahead?" Answer -because an MP has no power whatsoever over Planning Applications. 2009-10-16T00:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000026/relaxing_in_the_recess.html A favourite summer 'silly season' story for the national press is to keep running items on the 'disgracefully' long holidays MP's are having in expensive and exotic locations. Never one to let the facts ruin a good story they of course ignore anything that does not fit their pre conceived ideas. Journalists from national newspapers contacted my office to see where I was holidaying. Upon being told that I was camping on a farm in Devon they carefully left me out of their stories the next day! 2009-08-28T00:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000024/mps_expenses.html Public anger at some of the abuses of MP's expenses is entirely justified. 2009-05-29T00:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000025/yes_minister.html Older readers will remember the brilliant TV series, Yes Minister, in which senior Civil Servants and Ministers gave each other -and the voters -the run around with incomprehensible jargon and verbal tangles. 2009-03-13T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000023/parliamentary_debates_and_santa.html Recently a debate was held in Parliament on the threat to Britain's inland waterways posed by Government funding cutbacks. I took part in the debate so that I could highlight the fantastic job that has been achieved by local volunteers in Chesterfield. They have turned Chesterfield Canal from a stagnant ditch in 1979 (when I first lived at Tapton), into the thriving canal of today with working narrow boat and well used by walkers, cyclists, fishermen and birdwatchers. A linear green lung as I described it in Parliament. 2008-12-02T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000018/taking_it_easy.html A recent story in some national newspapers has been one of outrage at the news that Parliament is to take a 24 day break over the Christmas/New Year period. Now I should start by pointing out that this decision was taken entirely by the Labour Government and imposed without the rest of us having any say at all - and yes the break from London/Parliament is too long. However it is always astounds me that the press (who know better), spread the myth that MP's do nothing at all except on the days when they are actually in London. In reality as much work is done at home in the constituency and elsewhere around the country as actually takes place in the House of Commons. 2008-11-14T00:00+00:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000019/not_my_fault_guv.html Gordon Brown is trying to present a clear message about the dire economic situation facing Britain, -'none of it,' he says, 'is his fault it is all down to international events beyond his control.' This of course contrasts very strangely with his claim that from 1997-2007 the (credit fuelled), economic boom we enjoyed was all because of his actions as Chancellor and none of it was due to international events! 2008-10-03T00:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000020/things_can_only_get_worse.html Depressed Labour activists are rumoured to have changed the words of Labour's adopted election anthem in 1997, substituting 'get worse' for 'get better'. The recent loss of the Glasgow by election to the SNP could of course be written off as a one off by election spectacular -except that it is not a one off. Labour has now defended 3 rock solid majorities in Parliamentary by elections since the 2005 General Election and they have lost every one. Dunfermline to the Liberal Democrats, Crewe to the Conservatives and Glasgow to the SNP. 2008-08-22T00:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000017/learning_from_the_past.html Last Saturday I attended the Old Whittington Gala, a vibrant and well attended annual event which is a credit to its local organisers. Napoleonic soldiers paraded outside the Revolution House, a superb brass brand played, children climbed in and out of the police van and the wide variety of stalls did a roaring trade. A newcomer this year was the RAAW stall (Residents Against Asbestos Waste), a local group who are doing an outstanding job of campaigning against the application to put an asbestos waste transfer site smack in the middle of a densely populated urban area. 2008-07-04T12:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000015/the_national_mood.html The way in which a national mood spreads across the whole of the UK is fascinating to observe. In 1995 a wave of revulsion against harsh Thatcherite policies and Tory sleaze swept the country. The Conservatives were first thrown out of thousands of Council seats around 1995 and then out of national office in 1997. 2007-04-20T00:00+01:00 http://www.paulholmes.org.uk/articles/000013/we_live_in_strange_times.html A few weeks ago Parliament voted to privatise key parts of the probation service and Labour MP's sitting opposite me cheered because they had narrowly forced this controversial measure through. More recently still Conservative and New Labour MP's - including all but Dennis Skinner here in Derbyshire - combined to ensure that Britain took a premature decision to renew the UK's nuclear deterrent for another 40 years. 2007-04-06T00:00+01:00