Joanne Cash

MPs Expenses - an opportunity for change

A  week is a long time in politics, and I can’t remember one that felt
longer. Whether in a moat or a swimming pool, it seemed we would all drown
in the wave of public anger about MPs’ expenses.

The expenses scandal is big but underlying it is something bigger. There is
a real need - a hunger even - for a new type of politics. Yes, the expenses
system is long overdue for abolition and David Cameron has shown his
leadership strength on this point but there are many other ugly aspects of
our parliamentary process which need drastic overhaul. This is essential if
we are to rebuild the trust needed to engage people, particularly young
people, in politics.

So, here are some of my proposals for reform:

1. Good old-fashioned manners. No more braying insults across the despatch
box. The things shouted by MPs in the house are often more befitting a pub
brawl. In any other place of work they would be disciplinary offences.

2. Compulsory attendance at important debates and on any occasion when an MP
votes.

3. Obligatory re-selection of MPs after 2 terms (US style) to ensure their
performance.

4. Registration of voting intention to allow those who intend to vote for a
party to have a say in selecting their local MP.

5. An end to excessive, needless, shoddily drafted legislation which there
has been no time to scrutinise.

6. The repeal of the shocking Act passed this parliamentary term to allow
existing legislation to be changed without recourse to parliament.

7. The enforcement of proper standards of conduct for MPs by an independent
disciplinary body and the means by which the public may make a complaint
about their professional conduct.

These are just a few of the ways in which we must create a more transparent
and  accountable parliament to do justice to and for the great British
public.

It truly is time for change.

Wipe Out Westbourne Crime - listening to your views

Yesterday evening I hosted a public meeting on crime in the Bayswater and
Westbourne areas. As I hate old-fashioned party politics I happily included
the  Labour  councillors and provided an opportunity for the public to directly question the area Inspector, Dan Thorpe.

I love meetings like this. People get to air their views and frustrations
and the police get to hear directly where the resources are most needed.
Everyone feels more engaged in their community and, with my barrister hat
on, it helps to show the Council and the police the evidence to support what
I am asking them to do when I campaign on crime.

It is also my favourite way of meeting people because they get to see me
doing what I do best which is fighting their corner. I was always the noisy
one in the class at school and loved debating and public speaking so it's
partly that. But it's also that when we join forces and support each other
we are at our very best. My husband and I have recently had a bereavement
and so I have had very personal experience of this and it's made me think
about it a lot.

Politicians  need  to  place more faith in people. By giving them more
opportunities to play their role in their communities we will achieve a lot
more.

If there are any crime related issues in your area that need discussing in a
forum such as this, please be sure to let me know.

A victory for the Gurkhas and a victory for common sense

Joanna Lumley is right. This week, the opposition parties united with
Labour rebels to do the right thing: to give Gurkhas who have fought for
this county the right to settle in Britain

This is a great victory for common sense and basic human decency.  It also
shows just how much this government has lost its moral bearings.

The greatest hope in this result is that it will help restore voters’ faith
in the democratic process and start to rebuild the trust with politicians
that is so badly needed.

Campaign Update - 24th April

I am horrified that our further debt is dependent on growth figures which the city says are over-optimistic. I resent this Labour Government’s cowardice for ailing to address the very necessary cuts in public spending. I am furious that they have neglected the need to overhaul the regulatory system.

The Chancellor announced that he would be borrowing £606bn over four years. That is more over the next two years than every previous Government put together, more than every Government since the Bank of England was first founded more than 300 years ago.

As the Labour MP Frank Field wrote on his blog, ‘’From the very start of the crisis the Government has consistently underrated its severity...Britain will proportionately be borrowing more than any other G8 country....worse is the outlook if significant increases in the long term rate of interest still do not attract the necessary loans to balance this year’s books. That could lead to a run on sterling.’’

But the moment I realised the extent of this nightmare was when I saw the smirks on the faces of Brown and Harman who sat each side of Darling. When he announced that the upper tax rate was to be increased to 50%, they could not contain themselves. Like all Labour governments before this one they vindictively rejoice at penalising the successful in ignorance that they are quashing enterprise and international investment in the UK and thereby punishing us all.

Campaign Update - 27th March

George Osborne saw what was happening early on. Last November, as he responded to the pre-budget report, he remarked with decision:  ‘’In the end all Labour chancellors run out of money and all Labour Governments bring this country to the verge of bankruptcy.’’

This week, Mervyn King may have saved us from the brink by publicly opposing the further borrowing on which Brown is so ken. If only he could save us from the shameful wasting of the public purse by other Labour MPs. Further revelations have exposed Tony McNulty, Employment Minster, and Dawn Butler, Assistant Government Whip, for funding two homes IN LONDON out of our money.

This week’s events would provide further illustrations of why the public are so cynical and distrusting of politicians. Their Prime Minister has to be publicly shamed into fiscal responsibility by the Governor of the Bank of England, Labour MPs are dishonestly lining their pockets with public money and Labour peers are being investigated for cash-for-amendments.

Joanne welcomes Conservative local newspaper plans

Joanne has welcomed Conservative plans launched today to help struggling local newspapers in Westminster North and up and down the country.

The plans announced by David Cameron and Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt will review bureaucratic regulations around the ownership of local newspapers and will allow local newspapers to consolidate, both with each other and across platforms into online, TV and radio.

This will mean local newspapers will have the freedom to adapt to the digital world and develop new business models for the future. Most significantly this will encourage local newspaper groups to invest in ultra local television services. 

David Cameron said: “Local papers are closing and staff are being made redundant in the face of falling advertising revenue and competition from the internet and local authority free sheets. That's why today the Conservative Party is going to announce plans to sweep away the bureaucratic rules that mean that a rigid law decides who owns what bits of the media in local communities. This will give local newspapers more freedom to adapt to the digital world and to develop new business models for the 21st century.”

Jeremy Hunt added: “The current rules were established in a pre digital era. It is now time to allow new industry models to emerge that will encourage investment not just in local papers but local online services and new local TV companies.”

Joanne said: “I am fully behind the ideas put forward today by the Conservatives to help struggling local newspapers.  We are lucky to have great local newspapers in our constituency, so it would be a travesty if the Labour Government’s bureaucracy and regulations mean they are reduced to cutbacks.”

Campaign update - 'Campaign for British Free Speech'

The momentum of my campaign to repeal Labour's excessive and unnecessary legislation of censorship and control is continuing to grow. Legislation over the past 10 years has chiselled away at the freedom of expression we take for granted. We can no longer protest outside Parliament, write freely about each other's religions, safely expose corruption and threats to our security or protect the sources who provide vital information.

Already my 'Campaign for British Free Speech' group has attracted more than 650 supporters on Facebook, including the Editor of the Guardian and several leading columnists and MPs.

The discussion board is as lively and contentious as you would expect when the subject matter is as important as this.

You can read the full list of those who have signed, or contribute to the debate, by joining my Facebook group - Campaign for British Free Speech - at www.facebook.com or sign my online petition on this website.

Campaign for Free British Speech

 

Joanne Cash this week launched a campaign to reverse changes in the law and re-establish the importance of free speech in the UK. Her Facebook group 'Campaign for British Free Speech' has already attracted more than 650 members in just a couple of weeks.

Joanne recently chaired the high profile debate on Press Freedom at the Convention on Modern Liberty where she was joined by Fatima Bhutto (niece of Benazhir Bhutto), the writer and journalist Nick Cohen, author and journalist  Andrew Gilligan and Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian.

Joanne was so struck by the strength of feeling and the sense of frustration she witnessed that she determined to raise awareness of the importance of defending our freedoms and upholding our civil liberties and to engage people in these issues:

 “Legislation over the past 10 years has chiselled away at the freedom of expression we take for granted.
We can no longer protest outside parliament, write freely about each other’s religions, safely expose corruption and threats to security or protect the sources who provide information.

Joanne hopes that her campaign will persuade the Labour government to repeal its excessive and unnecessary legislation of censorship and control: “British democracy was the greatest in the world and we must fight to restore the freedom of speech which helped to make it so.”

If you share Joanne’s concerns, you can show your support for this campaign by signing the online petition below, joining the ‘Campaign for British Free Speech’ Facebook group, or by getting in touch with Joanne on 020 7625 3805 or at 209 Shirland Road, W9 3JP.

Sign up to support Joanne's 'Campaign for British Free Speech.'

ID Fraud Campaign leads to arrest

A resident on the Derrycombe House has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in ID fraud after Joanne contacted the police on behalf of local residents who had reported seeing her going through their bins and removing letters and personal correspondence.

Joanne recently launched a campaign to combat ID Fraud in Westminster North. This constituency contains some of the most at risk areas in the country:

“I am delighted to see that my campaign to stop ID Thieves targeting residents in Westminster North is already making a real difference.

 I am pursuing a number of other cases on behalf of residents and anyone with any concerns should feel free to contact me at my office on 0207 625 3805. The issue is even more urgent at this time of economic pressure – the last thing people need is money stolen from their accounts or someone else’s bad debt registered to their homes.

This campaign shows what can be achieved when we work together to combat crime. “

Download Joanne's Campaign Literature - Spring 2009

Click here to see Joanne's Annual Survey in full.

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