To collect the views of Welsh farmers, Kay is organising a free public meeting for interested farmers across north Wales to attend. The date for a North Wales meeting would be the 1st April at Glyndŵr University, St Asaph between 6pm and 9pm.

At this meeting there will be representatives from the European Commission, European Parliament and the farming unions will give brief updates on CAP followed by audience participation with the intention of receiving feedback along with a lively debate.

It would be great if you could join us for this event – if you would like to register or have further queries please call us on

029 2062 8685 or email us on

kayswinburnemep@welshconservatives.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

28th March 2011 - Mark Isherwood and Janet Finch Saunders were delighted to launch the start of the Bo to AV campaign in North Wales ably supported by Councillors and Activists.  Janet Finch Saunders said,  "The Alternative Vote System will fail our democracy.  AV will lead to constant co-alition government.  This is not in the best interest of our nation.  Please ensure that you use your vote to say No to AV."

 Nick Bourne AM said: “The Welsh Conservative message at the Assembly elections is a strong one, focusing on our priorities of health, education, economic growth and sound finances.

 “Labour’s had its chance and failed. Health targets are being missed, our education system is going backwards and we are the poorest part of the UK.

“It’s time for a new voice to represent the people of Wales. That’s the Welsh Conservatives.”

 Janet Finch-Saunders who is standing as the Welsh Conservative Assembly Candidate said " I am proud to be fighting to win this seat with some real common sense policies and a genuine focus on the health service for our residents in Aberconwy. For too long we have suffered as we have witnessed the frequent down grades to our local hospital and an absolute withdrawal of our only E.M.I unit"

She added, "Since the Welsh Assembly was formed we have only had Labour and Plaid policies here in Aberconwy - It is time for common sense and it is time for change"

The Secretary of State agreed that rising fuel prices are an issue.  She went on to state that the Wales Office try to engage on areas of significance to constituents and consequently the Parliamentary under- secretary of state, David Jones is looking into this matte.  She also confirmed she would encourage the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to include a fair fuel stabiliser in the forthcoming Budget.

Guto Bebb has previously offered his support to the Fair Fuel UK campaign. He stated “I understand that fuel prices continue to be a particular concern for motorists in Aberconwy, especially those living in rural areas.  This is why I have added my support to this campaign.  I am calling on people across the area affected by this issue, to add their name to the large number already signed up at www.fairfueluk.com.  It’s vital that local residents and businesses make their voices heard.”

He further added;

“Whilst our priority as a government is to ensure a controlled reduction in the UK budget deficit we cannot continue to expect motorists in rural areas such as North Wales to carry such a heavy burden whilst alternative transport options are simply not available.  As current prices we will see businesses in my constituency fail as a result of this single but vastly increased operating cost”

First we had the announcement in relation to the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The impacts are severe as we expected but what is even more shocking is the mess that we were left by the previous Government.

1. In total Labour left us a £38bn black hole over the next ten years. To repeat, they had committed to spend £38,000,000,000 more than the money in the defence budget over the next ten years.

2. The top fifteen (15) spending programmes are currently £8.8bn over budget with the delivery programme for these commitments facing a delay of 32 years UNDER THE LABOUR PLANS!

3. Last year alone the Labour Government increased their spending commitments on defence equipment by an incredible £3.3bn in one year and yet made no additional funding available.

So the background is horrendous to say the least. However, the announcements at least attempted to make sense of the chaos left to the Coalition by the Labour Party – but there was a heavy price to pay.

The loss of the investment at St. Athan in South Wales was a serious blow to my colleague Alun Cairns, the Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan and there are some unpalatable changes in all three services. However, as a result of this review there are important positives which we need to highlight;

Royal Navy

• There will keep a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent
• Seven attack submarines and 19 Frigates and Destroyers will be maintained
• All three naval bases will be retained

Army

• All 36 Infantry Battalions are to be kept
• There will be a new structure of five deployable Multi-Role Brigades
• There will be no changes to Army Units involved in Afghanistan

RAF

• Move to a fleet of Carrier Variant Joint Strike Fighters and a Typhoon Fleet by 2020
• New state of the art Strategic Airlift aircraft consisting of C17s, A400Ms and A330s
• No impact on operations in Afghanistan

Having attempted to digest all these announcements we then met the Minister for Culture, Jeremy Hunt, to discuss his proposed new funding arrangements for S4C. As I was attempting to get to grip with the details the story appeared on the BBC. I suspect that tomorrow will be exhausting. There will be the fallout from the Strategic Defence and Security Review and the funding announcements of the BBC and S4C coupled with the Comprehensive Spending review being revealed at 12.30.

Interesting times!

Guto

The event, sponsored by Trinity Mirror and Scottish Power, was excellent with an attention to detail which would not be found in many far grander televised award events. The St. George and their staff showed why we as a community should be proud of Llandudno as a tourism destination – I was incredibly pleased to see the way that Llandudno could rise to the occasion so effortlessly.

However, the real success of the evening was the quality and breadth of the award winners. These were people who had turned adversity into opportunity, tragedy into a chance to serve others and often, through sheer willpower, had managed to make a real difference to entire communities and the lives of numerous individuals.

It was humbling and gratifying to see the Aberconwy area walk away with no fewer than five awards. These were;

1. Abigail Williams, from Llandudno, in the Young Person of the Year Category
2. Friends of Queens Park, Craig y Don, in the Team Effort Category
3. Ysgol Nant y Coed, Llandudno Junction, in the School of the Year Category
4. James Singleton, Dwygyfylchi, in the Sporting Champion Category
5. Theresa Evans, Llandudno, in the Person of the Year Category

My sincere congratulations to all and to every other nominee in what was an inspiring evening. As the deputy editor of the Daily Post said;

“we often read about the bad things in society on the front pages of our newspapers but occasionally it pays to recognise and acknowledge the immense good work that is undertaken each and every day in our communities”

Guto

It should be noted that I do not agree with AV and I will campaign against the concept next April prior to the vote in May. However, as a member of the 1922 Committee I and other members of the Conservative back benches gave the Prime Minister the right to offer a referendum on AV to the Liberals and as such I feel duty bound to support the legislation that will give rise to a vote on the matter.

I returned to the Bill in a very useful meeting of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee which was held on Thursday morning. The practical implications of the proposed changes to constituency boundaries in Wales are significant and whilst the intellectual argument against a reduction in the number of Welsh Members of Parliament from 40 to 30 was certainly not made by the Labour members of the committee I strongly believe that some of the practical challenges highlighted by the Electoral Registration Office for Newport and followed-up by myself with the two ministers give rise to a degree of concern.

It should be noted that David Jones MP put in a very combative performance as a witness whilst Mark Harper MP was informed and persuasive in his responses to many of the questions raised. This issue will come back next week in the house and I will attempt to highlight some of the concerns which have been identified by the Welsh Affairs Committee this morning.

Other notable events this week was the first appearance at PMQs for Ed Milliband and dare I say it he probably won on points. Early days though. I was also involved on Wednesday evening in a rebellion on the issue of UK funding for the EU. As a signatory to an amendment calling on the government to reduce our contribution to the EU in line with the sacrifices being asked of the British people I felt duty bound to vote against the government despite the decision of the executive not to accept the amendment. However, Justine Greening, the Minister was excellent and despite the rejection of the amendment I feel confident that we as a coalition of a combative and effective minister fighting our case in Brussels. I wish her well.

Guto

1. I do not support the principle of Universal Benefits. At a time of serious financial difficulties for this country it is not clear why high income families should be receiving state handouts.

2. The level of income which can be defined as 'high' is a difficult issue. It was remarkable how a vox pop on Radio Wales in Llanrwst found only one person concerned by the change whilst a similar survey for S4C in Cardiff found every mother expressing doubt about the policy. What this shows is that whilst £44,000 IS a very significant income in many parts of the UK it is not a king's ransom. However, I would be willing to accept a proposal that saw a gradual withdrawal of the benefit at £44,000 if it was based on the family income.

3. The issue of family income is the crux of the matter. As the proposal stands a family with one wage earner on £44,000 would lose every penny of the benefit whilst another family with two wage earners on £43,000 each would retain the benefit even with a family income of £86,000. I simply cannot see the fairness in such a proposal.

I have written to the Chancellor on this issue and the text of the letter is available below;

The Chancellor of the Exchequer

Guto

Update

Interesting view from the Daily Express!

http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/204406

However, I will not have the time to administer the blog as I have done in the past and so for that reason I have decided to disable the comments section. However, I am always happy to engage in debate – details of public meetings are on the website or alternatively feel free to phone me or e-mail me.
My details are as follows;
London Office Number: 020 7219 7002
Constituency Office: 01492 583094
E-mail: guto.bebb.mp@parliament.uk.

Update

Well what a surprise! I have actually received quite a few e-mails stating that I should allow comments. As long as readers are happy to accept that my monitoring will be 2/3 time a week then why not!

Consultations with local businesses (a slow process due to Data Protection Legislation) found that the increase in business rates vary from two cases where the increase is 35% and 36% to eight cases where the increase is in the region of 50% (most are at 50.6%). There are then two outliners where the increase has been 111% and 83% respectively. All these businesses are in the central Penmaenmawr retail area and all the businesses will, as a result of the new rateable value, face a real increase in their payments despite the change in the multiplier from 48.9p in the pound to the current 40.9p. When I recall the numerous occasions when Plaid Cymru supporters indicated that the changes in business rates would be ‘neutral’ (as many winners as losers was the claim if I remember correctly)it is difficult to see how this can be the case in view of the evidence collected from 14 businesses in Penmaenmawr.

Why the uniform increase in the context of Penmaenmawr? Is it a direct result of the substantial investment that has been made in the retail area over recent years? It seems almost perverse that public money has been spent by several agencies in order to re-vitalise the commercial heart of the village and their investment is now being undermined through the decisions taken by another government agency to increase rateable values by a margin which bears no relationship to the commercial realities of operating a business in the village.

It should also be noted that two businesses within a walking distance of the centre of the village have suffered rateable value increases of 121% and 309%! Whilst not in the central retail area these businesses have also contributed to the renewal of the commercial potential of the area and there is a real question as to how such significant increases can be justified.

I’m aware that a number of businesses are appealing their valuations due to the commercial impact of such above inflation changes on their businesses. In addition to supporting fully these individual appeals I have written to the Valuation Office requesting an explanation as to why Penmaenmawr has been subject to such huge increases. I have also offered to take officers from the Valuation Office on a fact finding tour of businesses in the village to show them that neither rental charges or the level of trade have increased in any way which could conceivably justify the massive increases in rates identified.

On a final note – if readers of this blog are aware of similar circumstances where all the businesses in an area are losers from the rates revaluation then get in touch. I would be delighted to take issue with the Valuation Office with respect to any area where the vast majority of traders are losers and not winners from the revaluation process.

Guto