BANFFSHIRE and BUCHAN COAST Liberal Democrats

August Column

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Chance to meet on my 27th summer tour

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In the next couple of weeks I will be travelling around Gordon on my 27th annual summer tour. I do this every year at this time and the locations at which I'm stopping have been advertised in the local press and posters have been displayed at appropriate locations.

Of course, I regularly hold surgeries throughout the year at my constituency office in Inverurie and at other locations across the constituency, but this gives me a chance to reach every corner of the constituency.

It may appear that the time at each stop is quite short but I have found out from experience that this works fairly well. Sometimes I do have a queue or even a delegation but I catch up fairly quickly and nobody is kept waiting for more than a few minutes, if that.

Appointments are not necessary but if you want to check where I will be at any given time or to let me know that you will be looking out for me please phone (01467) 623413 or (01339) 889120.

I am happy to receive representations on any issue or to take up specific concerns so please feel free to come along. If the timings do not suit you but you still would like to consult me then phone either of the numbers above and I will arrange for an alternative appointment.

The itinerary also gives me a chance to drop by some of our local schools, shops, post offices or other businesses and find out what has happened or changed over the last 12 months. It gives me a chance to check on the state of the roads, the harvest or any other developments.

So if you have time to meet up with me on my rounds I will be more than pleased to see you.

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Challenges for a new school year

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The schools have now gone back after the summer break (and I always try to make sure my summer tour starts after the holidays). We have a new intake of Primary Ones; last year's Primary Sevens are taking on the challenge of their first year at secondary school and teachers are facing up to the new curriculum.

A new school year is also an appropriate time to focus on safety. I am still campaigning for national, high profile electronic signing and other safety systems for school buses.

Given the number of young people that suffer death or injury on our roads I am also very strongly in favour of campaigns to make youngsters aware of the risks of driving beyond their experience or ability and also to encourage passengers not to encourage or indeed allow the kind of driving that has caused too many tragic accidents.

With three primary schoolchildren of my own, I take a keen interest in the varied activities of the different ways that schools approach learning. Generally speaking, I find the atmosphere in our schools to be positive and stimulating and the environment is usually happy and content. I have also been pleased to welcome a number of school visits to Westminster over the past year.

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Investment needed to justify rail fare hikes

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It has been reported that rail fares, which have been set in the past to increase by 1% above inflation may rise by two or 3% above at a time when inflation itself is expected to peak at 5% -- which is pretty high for recent years.

This is apparently because the Department for Transport is seeking to reduce its budget and calculates that above inflationary fare increases may presumably reduce the subsidy they pay to the rail operators.

I hope however that proper consideration will be given to the effect of such increases. For example if it discourages people from using the railways then the revenue savings to the Department may not materialise.

I think most people who have chosen to commute to work by train, for example, have made a calculated decision and, presumably, therefore, are unlikely to switch back to using their car given that fuel prices are also set to increase.

I have to say, as far as the north-east is concerned, it would be more acceptable to face up to these increases if we had had the investment in upgrading and improving services that we have been promised and for which I, for one, am consistently campaigning.

I cannot for the life of me see why the Scottish Executive or Transport Scotland have been unable to come up with a positive response to the call for a new station at Kintore, let alone make progress on the promised Crossrail commuter link between Inverurie and Stonehaven.

Similarly, it will be disappointing if the coalition government continues with the Labour government's designation of the East Coast mainline as stopping at Edinburgh for investment purposes while running to Aberdeen for franchised services.

I have already raised this issue in Parliament and will continue to argue

to press the case for a commitment to rail investment for the north-east.

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Local plan's vision needs infrastructure backing

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Over the next few weeks the final stages of consultation over the local plan will be carried out. In spite of the current uncertain economic situation it is of course quite right for local planners to take a positive view of future development.

In that context, there are very significant development plans for Huntly, Inverurie Kintore and for the corridor north of Aberdeen, through Ellon to Peterhead,

and for the Bridge of Don.

Of course, these proposals will be controversial but they do show a positive vision for future developments in our region and they need to be backed up with a corresponding commitment from government.

I have said many times in this column that the north-east makes a huge contribution to the Scottish and UK economy and for that to continue we need to get the necessary infrastructure in terms of our ports, airport, road, rail and telecommunications.

If we don't have the vision for ourselves we cannot expect authorities elsewhere to back us up. By the same token, given the contribution we make and the positive shape of our development plans, we are entitled to look to governments in both Edinburgh and Westminster, notwithstanding the present economic constraints, to ensure that we can continue to make the brilliant contribution to UK plc that we have done to date.

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All parties face lively conference debates

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September will see Parliament return for two weeks and then break for the conference season. Labour are in the throes of their leadership contest which has seen them compete in a pretty negative frame of mind. It will need to come out of its denial for the state of the economy and re-invent itself for the future.

The Conservative conference will no doubt reflect the fact that they are pleased to be back in government but raise questions as to why they couldn't win the election outright and find themselves in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats, who gather in Liverpool this year, will no doubt be wanting to present the positive liberal achievements of the coalition, reassure their supporters that this really is a partnership government in which Liberal Democrats have a real and positive input, and from the delegates point of view, will focus on how the party can continue to maintain a distinct identity and develop new and liberal policy ideas for the future.

My own activity in the conference will focus mostly on international development issues. There will be a debate on our new international development policy paper at the start of the conference.

There is cross-party consensus on the UK's determination to achieve the UN commitment of 0.7% of GNP in overseas development assistance by 2013 but scope for real debate as to how this can best be achieved.

Hitherto, 90% of UK bilateral development assistance has gone to the poorest countries in the world but with China and India graduating to middle-income status but still accounting for more than half the world's poorest people, we need to decide whether we should maintain this concentration.

Of course by definition middle-income countries have a greater capacity and responsibility to help her own poor and the poorest countries, for whatever reason, cannot really deliver poverty reduction without outside assistance and maybe should get the lion's share.

Nevertheless, if we can co-operate with modest assistance to countries like China and India it may be that we can help reduce poverty faster than if we leave them to their own devices. And they indeed can become effective development partners in poor countries applying their own experience.

The floods in Pakistan are an example of the demands made on developed countries at times of disaster and crisis. We should of course help as much as we can and the UK is taking a lead. Nevertheless, the vision for long-term development strategy is to enable countries to help themselves both in terms of disaster prevention and rapid response whilst in no way limiting the world's willingness to step up to the plate when catastrophe strikes.

ENDS