Surrey MPs column - Staines and Ashford News

Full-time politicians; good for Stalin, bad for democracy

BY THE time this reaches readers, another rule change for MPs will be in operation. Read

Big issues being overshadowed by MPs' expenses

The expenses saga rolls on and with new stories highlighted each day. Newspapers are competing for new angles in circulation wars. Public reaction of anger is more than understandable. Read

Message to the PM: 'For God's sake, go'

The message to Gordon Brown’s Government from the voters of Runnymede & Weybridge on June 4 was loud and clear: “for God’s sake, go”. Read

View From The House: Second home is crucial

THE recent coverage given to my expenses claims leave me little choice but to comment. I am saddened and embarrased by what has happened nationally and locally. The British public are rightly very angry. Read

MPs who abused the rules should fall on their swords

A View From the House by Ian Taylor, Conservative MP for Esher and Walton Read

A View from the House: We are all tarred and responsible for hopeless system

If a week is a long time in politics, the last three have seemed like an eternity. Read

'Expenses crisis could be catastrophic for democracy'

Failing to write about the expenses crisis engulfing parliament would reinforce the perception that MPs don’t understand the seriousness of what is happening whilst doing so could add fuel to the fire. This then is my attempt to address the issue without making matters worse. Read

View from the House: Scientists lead the way in combating swine flu

EVERY household has received a government leaflet explaining 'swine flu' and how to react. So far the potential global pandemic seems to be under relative control, with few deaths. Read

View from the House: Banishing pointless targets will protect vital services

THE Budget set out the scale of the problems facing Britain's public finances. A £175bn gap between what the Government spends and what it takes in tax receipts. Read

View from the House: How will borrowing more solve this financial crisis?

I was taken to task in the letters pages after my last column for daring to express opinions that the majority of those I represent agree with. Read

Rescue the savers badly hit by the recession

Savers and pensioners are suffering badly in this recession. Over the past year, someone with £10,000 of savings in an easy access high street account has seen their income halve from £50 a month to less than £25. Read

You makes your choice, and pays your money

Over the next few weeks hundreds of MPs will check thousands of expense claims prior to publication under FOI. Some will approach this task with trepidation as they contemplate the forthcoming disclosure of questionable expenses. Read

A view from the House: Tax levy is dragging businesses down a road to ruin

The Government could push companies and small shops to the wall by hiking their business rates during the recession. As business rate demands are being sent out across Esher and Walton, many businesses are seeing startling rises in their bills this year,with the prospect of even bigger hikes next year. Read

View from the House: it's important that we continue to reach for the stars

Doom and gloom. Famine, flood, pestilence, terrorism, environmental degradation, recession. It is enough for us to cry, 'Stop the world, I want to get off'. Read

View from the House: G20 summit can never produce global salvation

Much is being staked by Gordon Brown on the G20 summit of leaders of the world's biggest economies in London on April 2. He foresees a "global solution" to the problems of financial regulation and stimulation of economies to get us out of recession. Read

'Language that stirs the lynch mob'

The saga of Sir Fred Godwin’s pension from the Royal Bank of Scotland ought to alarm every one of us – not only because of the size of annual payment to a person who presided over the catastrophic collapse of a major bank but because of the government’s reaction. Read

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