I was pleased to welcome William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, as the guest speaking at a fundraising dinner last Thursday to raise money for the election campaigns in the Brigg and Goole and Cleethorpes constituencies.

The event also raised over £1,000 for good causes including £330 for the Goole Air Training Corps and £750 for the Help for Heroes charity.

With over 400 people attending, the fundraising dinner was a complete sell-out thanks to the attendance of supporters from across the Brigg and Goole constituency. William was incredibly funny but also spoke at length about the more serious challenges ahead should we form the next government. In particular he talked about the staggering levels of borrowing and debt currently being undertaken which William said on current levels equated to the government borrowing about £12 million every hour of every day on our behalf!

As with all my fundraising events, I am always keen to ensure that local good causes and charities receive a share of what we raise. That’s why it is great that over £1000 was raised for good causes with a military theme. £750 of the money raised on the raffle was donated to Help for Heroes whilst Mr Hague kicked off the bucket collection for the Goole Air Cadets, raising over £330 pounds.

I have always tried to support those organisations which support young people in our area. I recently saw the Goole Air Cadets in action on Remembrance Sunday in Pollington. The cadets helped at the reception held in the Village Hall in Pollington for the veterans of RAF Snaith and their families. They were impeccably turned out and they once again proved that, whilst we more often hear about the minority of young people who misbehave, we have some fantastic young people locally who are a credit to our area.

I'll be presenting the money raised to the 2357 (Goole) Squadron Air Training Corps in the next few weeks.

Prospective Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy has welcomed news that the term Humberside could be dropped forever from postal addresses thanks to a long-running campaign supported by Andrew Percy and Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart.

After more than two years of meetings, co-ordinating joint submissions and calling on Postcomm to drop the long-defunct title from electronic files used by the Royal Mail, commissioners have announced they will make a decision by the end of the year.

Andrew Percy said, "There is still some way to go on this yet, but this is the closest to getting a result we have been since Humberside was abolished in the mid-1990s.

"For years people who live in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull and Northern Lincolnshire have been complaining about the use of Humberside on postal addresses, despite the fact that the much disliked county was abolished over a decade ago. East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are proud counties with great histories and that is why Humberside was so disliked. Frankly, it’s a shame it has taken this long to get this far.

"I recently received a new database which contained the Humberside name on every address in the Brigg and Goole constituency. I simply refused to use the database until the county name was removed.”

Graham Stuart MP, who has been leading the campaign, added: “I have met with Royal Mail directors, senior members of the Postal Services Commission Postcomm, I have written numerous letters to both and I have co-ordinated joint submissions and pleas from other MPs and councillors across the area for Humberside to be dropped.”

A letter from Philip Groves, Senior Associate, Strategy and Market Development, at Postcomm, said: “Royal Mail has proposed to handle this question outside the immediate review of the Code of Practice and to consult the Postcode Address File (PAF) Advisory Board before deciding on the best approach to adopt.

“Our Commissioners will consider the proposed changes to the Code of Practice including Royal Mail's approach on the issue of county information in November and we hope to publish a decision this year which will include the issue you and your colleagues raised.”

Graham added: “I am delighted the commissioners are taking this seriously. I know many of my constituents will be delighted if it is finally decided to rectify this anomaly and drop Humberside forever."

Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE, Leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council said:  “I too am delighted that it is being taken seriously, as many people have contacted me to express their utter frustration that Humberside is still being used in addresses after all these years.  Hopefully commonsense will prevail.”

Prospective Brigg and Goole MP, Andrew Percy, welcomed the Conservative’s Shadow Transport Secretary, Theresa Villiers MP, to North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire last week, where she committed a future Conservative Government to action on the Humber Bridge tolls. Ms Villiers met with local campaigners and promised that a future Conservative Government would initiate a full treasury-led review of the Humber Bridge looking at all aspects of the tolls and bridge debt.

Photo: Andrew with Theresa Villers and Humber Action Against Tolls Campaigner, Jenny Walton.

Andrew Percy says, “Theresa Villiers came to the bridge to announce that a future Conservative government would undertake a treasury led review of the tolls which will look at all possible options for the bridge. I explained to Theresa the way in which the toll divides the local economy, limits employment opportunities and also costs patients who need care on the north bank dearly. I’m pleased to say that Theresa confirmed that the Humber Bridge was one of the most important issues in her in-tray.”

Shadow Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers MP continues, “If the Conservatives are elected as the next Government, we will commission a Treasury led review of the Humber Bridge tolls and their economic impact.

"The review we propose will be an objective and thoughtful analysis of the relevant issues around the tolls. This decision is the direct result of the determined and effective campaign run by the region’s newspapers, local councillors and campaigners such as Andrew Percy who have all worked incredibly hard to highlight the very real concern about the tolls within the communities living near the bridge and put the case for change.

"While it is true that the state of the public finances means that there are no easy solutions here, we believe that it is vital to look at the whole issue in the round and carry out a thorough investigation of the facts. The review we propose will be an objective and thoughtful analysis of the relevant issues around the tolls. We will look seriously and carefully at all the options with an open mind and give the communities affected by the issue a fair hearing.”

Andrew adds, “If elected, the Conservatives will be the first Government in the history of the bridge to commit to a full treasury led review of the tolls and the bridge debt. The involvement of the treasury is vital as that is where the debt is held and only with their involvement will anything be done about the underlying debt issue. Unlike the  recent short term announcements, which are more about the forthcoming election, this announcement goes much further by offering us the possibility of real long term solutions to the toll issue. ”

Photo: Me with Ivan Oulds, Chairman of the F40 group

I am on my way back from London today after attending the f40 conference. This organisation represents the local authorities who receive the lowest amounts of pupil funding from the Government. Both North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire fall into this category. The government provides our local schools with millions less than they would get if we received the national average. Anyway, the conference was really interesting with some good speakers and I was pleased to hear them all from start to finish. About five minutes from the end my opponent turned up, just in time for the free lunch no doubt. He contributed nothing, missed all the speakers and so I felt sure he dare not claim to have actually attended it.

Well! I asked someone to check his twitter, I can't bear to read the self indulgent ramblings myself, and sure enough there is a tweet, complete with photo of our Ian attending the conference!!! Turning up ten minutes before the end does not count as 'attending'. Maybe he had good reason for being late, I don't make criticism of that as it could happen for a thousand reasons. What I object to is the attempt to give the false impression that he was actually there in any meaningful sense. Labour spin is very much alive and well in North Lincs. I didn't partake in the buffet myself as I took one of our local headteachers to meet with a Shadow Minister to discuss the funding issue in more detail. Some of us believe in doing a job properly, not paying lip service to an issue!

I spoke at the public meeting in Epworth on Friday night which had been called by residents to discuss the proposed Station Road development and new health centre. Cllr Liz Redfern and I put a leaflet round to everyone in Epworth to let them know about the meeting, so it was great to see so many people in attendance. The clear feeling from the meeting was that residents felt that Epworth had grown enough and that a development of some 320 homes would not be acceptable.
 
From the very start, Liz and I have expressed concerns about the ability of the infrastructure of the town to take such a large development and we have seen nothing to change our view. Many people have approached me expressing confusion at what exactly is being proposed and what the significance of the consultations which have circulated the town are. I'm afraid to say that these consultations have left many people with the impression that the proposed development is much more advanced than it actually is.
 
We need to wait and see what the outcome of the next stage of the Local Development Framework is. This is the formal Council process which will set out clearly which land is available for development and what is not. The Station Road site was not in the last stage of the LDF, and the next stage will not commence until next year.
 
Liz and I will be keeping a close eye on that and should the Station Road site be in the next stage of the LDF we shall do everything we can to ensure that residents know how they can make their views known. I want to thank everyone who turned up to the meeting last Friday and special thanks must go to everyone involved in organising it.