My Opposition in Windsor Constituency
Adam Afriyie MP: Conservative.
Here is the good news - I have met Mr Afriyie once and he is both charming and friendly.
Here is the bad news
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE:
I track Mr Afriyie's voting record in Parliament and at every opportunity he votes in favour of the privatisation, the break-up and the marketisation of the NHS. In simple terms this means that our future NHS will cost us a lot more in tax because we will also have to pay for company profits, shareholder dividends, additional managers and director bonuses. You too can track all of his voting record on www.theyworkforyou.com .
I am directly opposed to marketisation of the NHS because it is already causing a breakdown in communication between different companies who treat patients and this is bad for our individual all round health. Secondly our NHS is the the most cost effective in the world and the US system, that Mr Afriyie is taking us toward is pretty much the shoddiest and most expensive AND the private insurance system excludes more people than it helps.
I will fight to keep and improve our NHS. Read more here.
SEXISM:
Is Windsor MP Adam Afriyie sexist? He failed to stand up for women when he voted against the the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill in December 2014. Why did he do it? He was one of only 7 MPs who took such a hard line. Meanwhile 258 MPs of all Political colours did the decent thing and voted for larger companies to publish the difference between men and women’s pay.
Over a lifetime women earn, on average, £209,976 less than men, enough to buy a house! The purpose of the Bill, supported by MPs of all Political Parties, is to shine a light onto the injustice of women receiving less money than men for the same work. Why would Mr Afriyie not support such an important opportunity to develop greater equality of opportunity for women?
As a woman who worked full time for many years in male dominated professions I know only too well the extent of discrimination that is possible against women. The last thing I want to see is the continuation of bad employment practices that make life doubly hard for the young women starting their careers today. Mr Afriyie must know how hard it is for women to get fair pay; like me, If his Mum was the sole breadwinner in his family then why did he let women down? There is no excuse for his action, it looks like sexism to me.
FLOODING:
On the Thursday 15th January 2015 the MP for Windsor Constituency, Adam Afriyie failed to turn up to the very important special general debate in Westminster Hall on FLOODING. This is despite the fact that parts of his constituency were the worst hit by flooding in January and February 2014 AND the fact that he made a commitment to residents last year that he would fight tooth and nail for better flood prevention for them.
The reality for residents in Datchet, Wraysbury and Old Windsor is that both Adam Afriyie MP and Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead have either not bothered to 'fight tooth and nail' on this issue or they have failed spectacularly! RBWM have declined to offer funds for the Lower Thames Scheme (the riverside villas in Maidenhead and Bray are safe now). Adam Afriyie has achieved nothing other than a few sound bites.
Mr Afriyie's Conservative colleagues, Kwasi Kwarteng MP for Spelthorne and Philip Hammond MP for Runnymede and Weybridge; ie another 2 constituencies hard hit by flooding and immediately downstream from Old Windsor, also failed to turn up. My guess is that they all seriously think that they have safe seats in the South East and that they do not have to work for the resident's respect and their vote.
FULL TIME MP?
During the February Parliamentary debate on MPs having additional jobs, Mr Afriyie indicated that he thinks it is OK for MPs to have 2 or more jobs. I disagree and believe that representing a constituency is a full time job, if elected I will abide by the Labour Party's restrictions on second jobs and just get on with doing the best job I can for Windsor Constituency.
Here is the bad news
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE:
I track Mr Afriyie's voting record in Parliament and at every opportunity he votes in favour of the privatisation, the break-up and the marketisation of the NHS. In simple terms this means that our future NHS will cost us a lot more in tax because we will also have to pay for company profits, shareholder dividends, additional managers and director bonuses. You too can track all of his voting record on www.theyworkforyou.com .
I am directly opposed to marketisation of the NHS because it is already causing a breakdown in communication between different companies who treat patients and this is bad for our individual all round health. Secondly our NHS is the the most cost effective in the world and the US system, that Mr Afriyie is taking us toward is pretty much the shoddiest and most expensive AND the private insurance system excludes more people than it helps.
I will fight to keep and improve our NHS. Read more here.
SEXISM:
Is Windsor MP Adam Afriyie sexist? He failed to stand up for women when he voted against the the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill in December 2014. Why did he do it? He was one of only 7 MPs who took such a hard line. Meanwhile 258 MPs of all Political colours did the decent thing and voted for larger companies to publish the difference between men and women’s pay.
Over a lifetime women earn, on average, £209,976 less than men, enough to buy a house! The purpose of the Bill, supported by MPs of all Political Parties, is to shine a light onto the injustice of women receiving less money than men for the same work. Why would Mr Afriyie not support such an important opportunity to develop greater equality of opportunity for women?
As a woman who worked full time for many years in male dominated professions I know only too well the extent of discrimination that is possible against women. The last thing I want to see is the continuation of bad employment practices that make life doubly hard for the young women starting their careers today. Mr Afriyie must know how hard it is for women to get fair pay; like me, If his Mum was the sole breadwinner in his family then why did he let women down? There is no excuse for his action, it looks like sexism to me.
FLOODING:
On the Thursday 15th January 2015 the MP for Windsor Constituency, Adam Afriyie failed to turn up to the very important special general debate in Westminster Hall on FLOODING. This is despite the fact that parts of his constituency were the worst hit by flooding in January and February 2014 AND the fact that he made a commitment to residents last year that he would fight tooth and nail for better flood prevention for them.
The reality for residents in Datchet, Wraysbury and Old Windsor is that both Adam Afriyie MP and Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead have either not bothered to 'fight tooth and nail' on this issue or they have failed spectacularly! RBWM have declined to offer funds for the Lower Thames Scheme (the riverside villas in Maidenhead and Bray are safe now). Adam Afriyie has achieved nothing other than a few sound bites.
Mr Afriyie's Conservative colleagues, Kwasi Kwarteng MP for Spelthorne and Philip Hammond MP for Runnymede and Weybridge; ie another 2 constituencies hard hit by flooding and immediately downstream from Old Windsor, also failed to turn up. My guess is that they all seriously think that they have safe seats in the South East and that they do not have to work for the resident's respect and their vote.
FULL TIME MP?
During the February Parliamentary debate on MPs having additional jobs, Mr Afriyie indicated that he thinks it is OK for MPs to have 2 or more jobs. I disagree and believe that representing a constituency is a full time job, if elected I will abide by the Labour Party's restrictions on second jobs and just get on with doing the best job I can for Windsor Constituency.
LibDems:
TUITION FEES:
No doubt about it, they let their voters down in 2010 by allowing university fees to rise by 300%. In fact they let all aspiring students down!
They let us all down when they sided with the Tories to break up and privatise the NHS by passing the Health & Social Care Bill.
They let us all down when they sided with the Tories to follow an extreme programme of cuts WITHOUT putting in place anything that would stimulate growth; eg house building : In fact they crushed growth by lowering wages and raising VAT.
No doubt about it, they let their voters down in 2010 by allowing university fees to rise by 300%. In fact they let all aspiring students down!
They let us all down when they sided with the Tories to break up and privatise the NHS by passing the Health & Social Care Bill.
They let us all down when they sided with the Tories to follow an extreme programme of cuts WITHOUT putting in place anything that would stimulate growth; eg house building : In fact they crushed growth by lowering wages and raising VAT.
UKIP:
For many months the word was that UKIP would not field a candidate in Windsor because the current Tory MP was anti European enough for them. Local UKIP members read my blogs on my thoughts about this arrangement and that might have spurred them to change their mind and they did select someone very recently.
UKIP stand for getting rid of sick pay, maternity pay and holiday pay. It is hard to keep up with their policy changes but Mr Farage is known to favour the complete privatisation of the NHS and a flat rate of income tax; ie low and middle income people will pay a lot more and richer people will pay a lot less.
UKIP stand for getting rid of sick pay, maternity pay and holiday pay. It is hard to keep up with their policy changes but Mr Farage is known to favour the complete privatisation of the NHS and a flat rate of income tax; ie low and middle income people will pay a lot more and richer people will pay a lot less.
Greens:
The Greens have some good policies but they have failed to make a difference in Brighton where they have won Council seats and have 1 MP. They presided over bins remaining unemptied for weeks and rubbish lying stinking in the streets: The first rules of public health are clean water and empty the bins, they matter more than all the other health advice than anyone can give; the Greens failed on that test!
I care about the environment and public health and know that Labour can deliver on our environmental policies.
Green policy has suggested that children should not start school until they are 6 and then their should be no tests while they are at primary school: This will ensure that children from poor areas will be left to fall behind to the point they will never catch up. Poor children already have it hard enough so I would caution even considering a vote for green on this policy alone.
I care about the environment and public health and know that Labour can deliver on our environmental policies.
Green policy has suggested that children should not start school until they are 6 and then their should be no tests while they are at primary school: This will ensure that children from poor areas will be left to fall behind to the point they will never catch up. Poor children already have it hard enough so I would caution even considering a vote for green on this policy alone.
