Welcome to Fareham Labour Party's Website.

Message from James Carr:

The Labour Party candidate for Fareham 2010

In his speech to the Party conference in September 2009 the Prime Minister outlined many of the initiatives that have been implemented by Labour in the last 12 years of which we are, justifiably, proud.

These included:

• the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes for pensioners;
• sure start to help families with young children and give children a better start in life;
• a two week referral from GP to consultant for urgent suspected cancers;
• massive investment in education, including the school building programme, year on year improvements in exam results, more students in higher education than ever before and the education maintenance allowance (EMA);
• the disability discrimination act;
• fewer children living in poverty (J K Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, has donated £1 million to Labour in recognition of this);
• Increased maternity pay and paternity leave to help new parents;
• child benefit at record levels;
• the minimum wage;
• the ban on cluster bombs;
• cancelling third world debt and massively increasing aid to the third world.

Although I am personally delighted with these achievements they are not necessarily a reason for voting Labour at the next general election. You will be voting on our manifesto for the future compared to those of the other parties. I hope you will look at Labour’s plans for the future and also what may happen to some of the achievements listed above that may be threatened by an alternative government. It is very clear that a Conservative government will dismantle, or reduce the value of, a number of these. They will argue that it is a result of the credit crunch/recession/economic situation, whatever! The fact is they are instinctively opposed to these initiatives and would be delighted to remove them.

As a Labour candidate I will, of course, stand by the Labour Party Manifesto. However there are some issues that particularly interest me other than those that are official Labour Party policy and that I would argue for as an MP. These include:

• Curbing the activities of telephone marketing companies that harass us in our homes.

• Stopping the practice of businesses encouraging customers to telephone them and then keep them waiting for long periods while charging for the privilege. If companies paid for the calls they would answer much more quickly. The process seems to operate for their convenience, not that of the customer.

• Preventing companies from giving customers a poor credit rating without first going to court to prove that money is owed to them. This can prevent perfectly innocent people from getting a mortgage or other loan.

• Completing the process of reform of the House of Lords so that the second chamber of parliament is wholly elected.

• Limiting the power of the executive in Parliament, and the whipping process, so that MP’s are more independent.

• Changing the economic balance by increasing manufacturing industry using science and technology. (I suspect this will be in the manifesto).

I am aware that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have alienated many potential Labour voters. I should make it clear that I supported the removal of Saddam Hussein. He was an evil, brutal and murderous dictator. However there is no doubt that planning for the aftermath of the invasion was inadequate and there were no weapons of mass destruction. These were major errors. In my opinion Tony Blair became too close to George Bush and this seems to have clouded his judgement. I was never happy with this close relationship between a Labour leader and a right wing Republican President who I would never have supported.

There is no doubt that Afghanistan was involved in training terrorists and that al-Qaida was active there. I believe that it was, and still is, in Britain’s own self interest to try to stabilise the region, help the people of Afghanistan by developing infrastructure and schools etc. and hopefully leave a country that does not pose a terrorist threat. I also believe that the stability of Afghanistan is important for the stability of Pakistan and that this is also important for Britain. Some of our own home grown terrorists have been trained in Pakistan. Military action is best avoided, but sometimes it is necessary.

The banking crisis has caused serious global economic problems. I think there is a consensus among most knowledgeable commentators that the policies pursued by the Government have prevented a crisis from becoming a disaster. The car scrappage scheme, the reduction in VAT and quantitative easing; helped undoubtedly by the devaluation of the pound, have all contributed. However there are still many problems and potential pitfalls ahead. We have to get the economy back into balance and this will mean sacrifices. The best way to avoid as much of the pain as possible would be if the economy can grow. This will require investment, support for businesses, training for employees, encouragement for entrepreneurs. It will be a difficult balancing act. Paying back debt and encouraging growth. I think that the Tory policies will stifle growth.

---

  Solent Eco-town

" I am delighted that the Labour government is supporting financially the development of an eco-town consisting of 7000 homes north of the M27. We have to recognise that people need houses but it is important that we protect the environment. However with further development of the Solent region we really need to have a much better public transport system, i.e. a Solent metro system. If elected this is something that I would fight for. " - James Carr - April 2010.

Click here to complete our quality of life survey...