Neighbouring Howden MP David Davis met with Andrew Percy at Goole Fire Station last week to add his support to the campaign against proposals by the Humberside Fire Authority to remove one of the full-time pumps at Goole Fire Station and replace it with a retained pump instead.

Prospective MP Andrew Percy says, "I was delighted that David has joined the campaign against these cuts, which directly affect his constituency. David and I met with local Councillors and Ashley Oldfield of the Fire Brigades Union to discuss these cuts and the effect they would have on the rural areas surrounding Goole as well as Goole itself. These cuts will also impact on the Crowle area of the Isle of Axholme in North Lincolnshire, demonstrating just how many local people rely on the hard working crews at Goole.

"We have received a massive response to the surveys we have been delivering locally regarding these cuts and it is clear that local people are very concerned about these proposals. We all need to work together to ensure that the Humberside Fire Authority sees sense and comes up proposals that do not reduce cover at Goole Fire Station."

David Davis MP added, "These cuts will directly impact on Howden and Howdenshire in my constituency which rely on cover from Goole Fire Station. That is why I am happy to join the campaign against these proposals. I would urge as many local people as possible to make their voices heard on this important issue."

Please complete our on-line survey and add your voice to the campaign against the cuts.

This week saw the publication of the Prime Minister's response to an 8,000 name petition calling for action to deal with bridge tolls on the Humber Bridge. Instead of a pledge of action, the Prime Minister instead stated that the bridge tolls were a matter for the Humber Bridge Board and thus the Government would not be doing anything.

Andrew Percy responded angrily saying, "Last week we had Government Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber Caroline Flint saying the government wont scrap the tolls and now we have the Prime Minister saying the issue is none of their business. What an insult to the thousands of local people who signed the petition. North Lincolnshire has four Labour MPs who claim to want action on the tolls and we now know from this response that this issue for them is more about photo opportunities than it is about real action.

"Everyone knows the issue of the bridge tolls is not an easy one to solve. However, for Labour to simply say it is nothing to do with them is clearly unacceptable. We want leadership from the Government to help us find alternative ways of managing the bridge debt and most importantly of all we need them to be actively engaged and open minded on the issue.

"Funny how the Government claims it can't act on the bridge debt of about £300-400 million but yet two nights ago our local Labour MP felt able to vote to increase our payments to the EU by an average of £2.7 billion per year from now until 2013."

At the behest of the Government, the Environment Agency has now published their River Trent Flood Catchment Plan which proposes to reduce flood risk management in the Isle of Axholme area in the coming years. Effectively, the EA accept that this will lead to an increase in flood risk in the Isle. Local Conservatives took to the streets this weekend to give people an opportunity to object to the proposal.

Prospective MP Andrew Percy explains, "We took to the streets of Crowle this weekend to deliver leaflets explaining this proposal to local residents. We are very concerned that the Isle is being put at risk to benefit bigger communities further along the Trent. Any increase in flood risk could have a serious impact on house prices and the local economy. Just a few months ago a similar plan for the River Aire was announced which led to massive protests from local people in the Lower Aire region.

Once again we are seeing rural communities in the Brigg and Goole constituency being offered up as sacrificial lambs to benefit larger communities many miles away. These flood catchment plans are required by the Government who just a few months before last year's floods made massive cuts to flood defence budgets nationally.

Local people want to see more money spent on flood defences, not less. Under these proposals the Isle could lose its pumping capacity and we would see no additional works undertaken on the Trent bank to improve protection."

Andrew and the local Conservatives have launched a petition against the plan, if you would like to add your name to the petition please complete the contact form here.

January updates have been posted for Andrew's campaigns. Find out what Andrew has been doing recently to:

• Save Our Post Offices,
• Stop Brown's NHS Cuts,
• and Save Free Parking in Brigg.

Complete the survey by clicking here!

The Humberside Fire Authority have gone out to consultation on proposals to reduce the cover at Goole Fire Station from two full-time pumps to one full-time pump and one retained pump. The response time of the retained pump would increase by 4 minutes which in a fire situation is a significant, and potentially life threatening, increase.

Prospective MP and Local Campaigner Andrew Percy has launched a survey of local residents to ensure that as many people as possible are able to make their views known to the Fire Authority. Click the link at the top of this article to fill it out online.

Andrew says, "I am concerned that these changes will put local people at risk and it therefore important that as many local people as possible make their views known. Considering Goole's position as an inland port and taking into account the recent industrial expansion locally, it does not seem sensible to reduce fire cover at Goole Fire Station.