35th Anniversary of the Centre for Policy Studies

It is 35 years since the Centre for Policy Studies was founded by Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher to promote timeless Conservative principles of freedom and individual responsibility.
To celebrate this anniversary, Lord Saatchi has restated some of its key principles as follows:


A rising tide lifts all ships.
A bigger cake means a bigger slice for everyone. But first you have to create the wealth to make the cake bigger.
Caring that works costs cash – the Good Samaritan shows that first you need to money in order to do the good works.
Lower tax is good – for moral reasons, because it means more freedom and choice for individuals; and for economic reasons, because lower tax rates can mean higher tax revenues and more wealth creation.
A smaller state is required; the Government is already far too big.
A man or woman has a right to spend what he or she earns, to own property, to have the State as servant and not as master; that these are the essence of a free country and on that freedom all our other freedoms depend.
People are not numbers in a State computer; they should be seen as individuals.
Everyone has the right to be unequal. No one, thank heaven, is quite like anyone else.
The spirit of envy can destroy; it can never build.
The essence of mankind is the power of choice; the glory and dignity of man is that it is he who chooses, and is not chosen for.
Human dignity resides in independence, individuality, self-determination.
The greatest restriction on the liberty of the citizen is a complete absence of money.
It is wrong that the majority of people in Britain are financially beholden to the State. This makes the State the master; the complicated tax and benefit system the chief instrument of its power.
A paternalist government, based on the benevolence of a ruler who treats his subjects as dependent children, is the greatest conceivable despotism and destroys all freedom.
When a man or a woman stands up for an ideal or strikes out against injustice, people are filled with hope; which is why idealism is more satisfying than pragmatism.
People have been tortured and died for these principles which, so at any rate they believed, were universal and binding on all men; part of the human essence in virtue of which men were rightly called men.
We cannot break these principles, without feeling that we had forfeited all rights to human respect. We could not betray them and face ourselves or others.

See:www.cps.org.uk.

Amen to all the above.

John Bercow - Speaker of the House

Many congratulations to our MP John Bercow on being elected as Speaker of the House of Commons. John will continue as MP for Buckingham as well as being Speaker, and will continue to represent us at Westminster. Traditionally, Speakers have been unopposed in General Elections.

Roald Dahl Festival in Aylesbury 4th July

Aylesbury town centre is set to come to a standstill on Saturday 4 July when the town celebrates the work of legendary children’s author Roald Dahl.

This year’s Roald Dahl Festival is themed around Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and promises to be a spectacular event with a colourful parade of children in costume, and life-sized characters made by local schools with help from professional artists.

The annual event, organised by Aylesbury Vale District Council, starts with a colourful street parade – a culmination of weeks of work by local children who have created costumes and giant animated puppets based on characters and themes from the book.

The parade starts at 11am from the bottom of Market Square and snakes around the town centre accompanied by music and dancers, finishing at the Civic Centre.

Spectators can become even more involved in the parade with character hats and masks available in six designs for £4 from the Civic Centre and the County Museum.

After the parade, there are lots of other Roald Dahl-themed activities to take part in at Aylesbury Library, The King’s Head, Kingsbury, St Mary’s Church and Buckinghamshire County Museum.

The County Museum in Church Street will be hosting a family fun day from 11am to 4pm with free activities and reduced entry to the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery where visitors can explore the magical world of James’ Giant Peach or be whisked away in the Great Glass Elevator.

There will be a fun-filled day for all the family in Aylesbury Library, starting with a special Bounce and Rhyme session for younger children at 10am. The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden will have representatives in the library all day, telling stories and providing craft activities.

Kingsbury will be a thriving area of music, street theatre and children’s art and craft activities led by the council’s play services together with the Queens Park Arts Centre. An information stand will also be available to help you to make the most of your day.

The King’s Head will be running children’s story readings, activities and competitions throughout the day, along with a lucky dip, tombola and raffle. There will also be a free activity day at St Mary’s Church between 11am and 3pm.

Councillor David Thompson, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “Roald Dahl’s books continue to delight and inspire people of all ages. It’s nice for Aylesbury Vale residents to be able to come together each year and remember Dahl and share the magic he created.”

Born in Wales in 1916, of Norwegian parents, Dahl was one of the great children’s authors. He wrote classic books including James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG.

Nineteen years after his death, aged 74 (his grave is in Great Missenden’s St Peter & St Paul’s parish churchyard), Dahl is more popular than ever. His books still sell around a million copies every year and there is even a day of celebration in his honour.

For more information about the festival, visit the council’s website at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/dahl or call 01296 585210 .

New Council for 2009-10

The Annual General Meeting of Aylesbury Vale District Council was held in the Civic Centre, Aylesbury on 13th May.
There are a number of changes in the Council leadership for the forthcoming year: Cllr Janet Blake has been appointed Chairman of the Council in succession to Cllr Netta Glover, and Cllr Neil Blake has been appointed the cabinet member for resources.
I am honoured to report that I have been appointed to succeed Cllr Neil Blake as the Chairman of the council's Audit Committee.
This is an important committee which has the responsibility of approving the annual financial statements on behalf of the council, and also reviewing the risk management and internal audit work. It is a great privilege to have been chosen and I am looking forward to chairing my first meeting on 29th June.

Stop Aylesbury Vale Incineration

SAVI is the recently formed pressure group which is campaigning to stop the plans to build a new incinerator at Edgcott near the Calvert landfill site.

There are concerns about the health effects of incinerators, the impact of the additional waste lorries on our country lanes, and the threat to our beautiful historic woodlands such as Finemere Wood and Romer Wood.

Please see their new website via the link below, which contains a petition to Gordon Brown:

http://www.besavi.co.uk/

I made a strong representation to the County Council against the proposal to locate the incinerator at Calvert during the public consultation exercise last year.

Gordon Brown promises to look at Aylesbury

Full marks to David Lidlington MP who used his question at Prime Minister's Questions today to raise the issue of youth apprenticeships in Aylesbury, and managed to extract a promise from the Prime Minister to look into the situation.

A report on the exchange:

12.20 When youth unemployment is rising, why, asks Tory MP David Lidington, are apprenticeship budgets being cut in his constituency? Brown insists more is being invested in apprenticeships but promises to look at the situation in Aylesbury.

Let's hope that for once he keeps his promise.

Update: in his blog, David explains what prompted him to raise the question:

'In this weeks’ Prime Minister’s Questions I asked Gordon Brown to explain why the Government’s Learning and Skills Council (LSC) had cut the funding that it had promised training providers in Aylesbury for the next academic year. It seems to me that at a time when unemployment is rising amongst young people we need to invest in training to help ensure this country’s future.

Both ATG Training and Aylesbury College have warned me that the LSC’s indicative budgets would mean a big reduction in training. At worst, this could make it impossible for them to continue some courses which apprentices have started in good faith.

I have now written to the Prime Minister, asking that he looks into the particular difficulties that Aylesbury College and ATG Training face.

I will make sure to post an update once I have received a response from the Prime Minister.

To find out more, please click here to view the Hansard from 6th May Westminster Hall debate.'

How AVDC is helping local businesses during the recession

At yesterday's Council meeting, the Cabinet member for Economy and Housing, Cllr Michael Edmonds, gave an excellent presentation on the various measures by which AVDC is supporting the local economy during the recession, summarised as follows:

1. Small Business Grants: 50 local businesses have benefited with £ 200,000 paid out as grants

2. Vital Villages Scheme: grants to support village businesses which are a local focal point, such as the village Post Office in Steeple Claydon which received a grant recently

3. Prompt payment of creditors: all local creditors are paid within 10 days to improve cashflow

4. Golden Welcome Scheme: £ 40,000 avaiable for businesses relocating to Aylesbury Vale from the LABGI funds

5. No increase in car parking charges in Aylesbury, and free parking on Sundays and at Christmas to encourage the town centre shops and businesses

6. New Enterprise and Innovation Centre to be opened in Aylesbury soon to give advice to business start-ups and small businesses

7. District Link, the Aylesbury Vale quarterly business newsletter

8. Over 300 business enquiries handled by the Council over the last year

9. New plans for efficient management of the Council's commercial property portfolio through a private sector joint venture partnership

10. Participation in Action Group to improve the appearance of Aylesbury Town Centre

11. £ 100,000 invested in successful public events in Aylesbury town centre over the past year, including the recent activities over the Easter weekend