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Dr Phillip Lee MP: I wish every success to Thames Valley Police Commisioner

By Dr Phillip Lee MP
November 21, 2012

It's been a busy couple of weeks in politics, both on the national and international fronts.

In Britain, unelected and unknown police authorities were replaced by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). PCCs now have the power to hire and fire chief constables, set budgetary priorities, and add an element of local accountability that has been missing from law enforcement management.

The turnout in this first election may not have been great, but this is a step forward in restoring the community’s trust in their police force. I hope, come the next elections in May 2016, that people will be able to look back on four years of community engagement and stable, effective, and efficient leadership from our new Commissioners. I wish our Thames Valley Police Commissioner, Anthony Stansfeld, every success and I look forward to working with him.

Other important stories over the past two weeks include three parliamentary by-elections, a Member of Parliament confusing public service with celebrity status, and an ongoing and increasingly worrying child abuse scandal at the BBC.

Internationally, President Barack Obama was returned to the White House for another four years, tensions have flared in the Middle East as the Israeli and Palestinian conflict has, once again, brought the world’s focus on to that troubled region, and, as ever, our brave servicemen and women continue to work hard in Afghanistan to protect our nation’s interests.

My own activities as your Member of Parliament have been particularly varied over the past few weeks. I have asked a number of parliamentary questions in the House of Commons, raising the question of Government support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the constituency; I am particularly keen to ensure that small construction companies can compete for public sector contracts.

As a member of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, I asked the Secretary of State for his assurance that nuclear power, which is the only credible option to ensure our ability to meet future energy needs, remains a key aspect of the Government’s energy policy.

Furthermore, I appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight on Thursday, November 15, to debate the merits of onshore wind power.

While I wholeheartedly support the aim of encouraging the market to provide as much energy as possible from renewable sources, I do not think the public should have to subsidise these systems, and neither should local communities be forced to live in the shadow of an onshore wind farm if it is against their wishes. All in all, a busy couple of weeks.

l If you would like to hear more about my views on national issues, or if you want to ask me a question about my activities in the constituency, please come along to my next public question and answer session.

I look forward to seeing as many of my constituents as possible at the Morgan Centre in Wellington Road, Crowthorne, at 7.30pm on Thursday, November 22.

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Most recent user comments 4 of 4

Is it true that he has pledged to clean up British politics as long as you can stick two hundred and fifty quid into his current account by the end of the week?

Timothy Jefferies, Mayor Of Crowthorne.
26/11/2012 at 14:05

Tom and Winstanley fully agree

It would be nice if our local paper covered what our local MP actually does - good and bad - rather than just PR issued by his office

Journalists should sniff out this info on Dr Who and be asking questions

CMK
25/11/2012 at 09:32

Winstanley - are you expecting Dr Do-nothing to answer your piffling little enquiry on his living arrangements ..... us poor people in his kingdom shouldn't worry ourselves with such things .... if he wants to screw the tax-payer out of more money that he isn't entitled to .. that’s up to him .. we should be grateful that he remembers, from time to time, that he has a constituency and that annoying group of people called the Electorate ....

Surely Get Bracknell can stop writing pointless stories about lost cats and write something worthwhile! The last MP resigned before he was fiddling expenses and claiming things he isn't entitled to ... and now we find our current MP is following the same path!

Tom Edwards, Bracknell
22/11/2012 at 15:22

Wow, thank you Phil - without your round-up of the salient points of the news in the UK I'd have continued to live in my usual microcosm of misanthropy.

However, I digress.

It's good to have you back - I notice that you neglect to mention the kerfuffle over MP's and the speaker attempting to stop the general public - you know, the people that employ you - finding out their rental arrangements in central London.

I decided to have a look over the paperwork issued by IPSA on Monday and sure enough found your details listing your monthly claim for rent.

But I'm confused Phil - as a constituent who works hard here in Bracknell, and raising a family of future contributors to our great society, I can't figure out why you get to rent a flat in London, at my expense, while you reside in Bisham.

Adam Afriyie is the MP for Windsor (nearer to you than Bracknell is) yet he hasn't claimed rent.

John Redwood MP for Wokingham has made no claims for rent either.

Then there's all the travel expenses you claimed too.

I know there's only so much space the Standard will let you have with which to illuminate us with your mastery of current affairs - which must account for why you've neglected to mention the snide stitch up your colleagues John Hayes and Chris Heaton Harris initiated in the Corby by-election. Or the fact that your parties fetish with austerity only extends to us 'plebs' while the nations favourite corporations get an easy ride over their tax affairs, the Chancelllor continues to preside over an economic clusterf***, and the Bank of England downgraded UK growth AGAIN!

Never mind - at least we got to appoint a new Tory quango-crat to run the police, with a democratic mandate dwarfed by the appearance of your colleague in a jungle.