Policy Suggestions

Ravenstonedale

Britain has never had such an engaged or educated public. All of us are living lives which would be unimaginable to our grandparents. This should be the most extraordinary opportunity for democracy, and as a Member of Parliament I began an exercise in tapping some of the energy and ideas of Cumbria, and Britain at large. So I began to invite policy suggestions from the public, and posted them below, for readers to consider and vote upon. People were encouraged to send in suggestions here.

I was keen for this page to serve as space in particular for readers to make some of the more simple and practical suggestions that arise out of their everyday lives and experiences. These were the small policy changes, often overlooked by advisers and specialists in Whitehall, which otherwise hold real significance and meaning to many across Britain.

My aim was to ensure the most popular and credible suggestions were put to government, and to see some of them included in the platform for the next election as well. I kept updating the list as suggestions came through.

BRIEF PARKING TO BE FREE IN ALL PARKING-BAYS

Town centre shops are suffering dreadfully from high business rates and online competition. Their survival is further threatened by the parking problems of potential customers. With this in mind, Eric Pickles has suggested that motorists should be allowed to park briefly on double-yellow lines. This is not such a good idea, because the double-yellow lines […]

NO HONOURS FOR TAX AVOIDERS

Unless in exceptional circumstances, only those who pay British taxes should receive British honours. It does seem shocking that national cash advance payday loans tax exiles, in places like Monaco should get an honour. Greater emphasis should be placed on Pro Bono Publico.

THE TELEVISION LICENCE SHOULD GO ON THE COUNCIL TAX BILL

An inordinate amount of the time of magistrate courts is taken up with dealing with people who have not paid their television licence. It would save a lot of this valuable time, and a lot surveillance and unnecessary administration if the television licence was incorporated fast and easy payday loans into Council Tax bills. Nearly every […]

GIVE MAGISTRATES THE POWER TO SEIZE THE CARS OF OFFENDERS

There are a simply massive amount of unpaid fines. It takes a great deal of magistrates time to chase these; and sometimes it almost seems as if the fines are voluntary, and in the end many are paid effectively out of Benefits. According to a BBC report in March 2012, almost 2 billion pounds was […]

REDUCE BICYCLE THEFTS

The government is very keen to encourage the use of bicycles. But many potential bicyclists are deterred by the extreme frequency of bicycle theft. The latter is increasing. The frequent thefts are also most inconvenient and distressing. More than a 100,000 bicycle thefts are reported to the police each year, but it is reckoned that […]

CARS SHOULD BE TOWED AWAY ONLY WHEN THEY ARE CAUSING AN OBSTRUCTION

Each council has a different policy towards towing away. But a number of councils allow the towing away of cars for very minor infractions, including briefly going over the time-limit in a parking zone. When such a car is towed away, the penalty is grotesquely disproportionate to any offence. The towing away charge can be […]

WATER METERING

Much faster progress needs to be made for water-metering. Price is by far the biggest determinant for peoples behaviour. Witness the 90% drop in the use of plastic bags when one chain started charging 5p for plastic bags. It is absurd today that people have permanent watering systems in their garden, using expensively filtered and […]

NUISANCE CALLS

People are still being bombarded, sometimes to a horrendous extent, with nuisance marketing calls. The current system is not working. The government should give more teeth to the regulators, increase prosecutions, and cut down on this illicit use of databases. Apart from the fact that calls are a damn nuisance, a vast amount are from […]