Staines News - Columnists - View from the House

Ian Taylor MP: Value our right to vote

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:36:00 GMT

Outgoing Esher & Walton MP expresses concern that half the young people eligable to vote actually do so, in his latest Surrey Herald column.

David Wilshire MP: Junketing? Helping to save the world is more like it

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

LAST year's parliamentary trauma revealed few people understand what MPs do. That is our fault, not theirs. We have failed to explain - allowing critics to judge us by how often we vote and how many questions we ask.

Philip Hammond MP: Surrey is suffering after 13 years of Labour

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

BY THE time you read this column, the prime minister may already have called a March general election. If not, it will be only a matter of weeks before he makes the announcement for May 6. Much has changed since Britain last

A View from the House: Warm welcome home for Royal Artillery

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I MET recently with a delegation from the Royal British Legion at Westminster to get behind the charity's call for MPs of all parties to support the armed forces. I also discussed the legion's manifesto and the changes that it is calling for.

View from the House: Reform is the way forward

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I WILL pass on having a preelection party political kickabout on why Gordon Brown decided electoral reform needs instant attention. The issue is too important. There are some serious democratic matters at stake.

View from the House: Scheme to protect children appears to be working

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

THE murder of little Sarah Payne in 2000, by a man later found already to have been convicted of sex offences, shocked the nation.

View from the House: I promise to work with my successor

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

AT THE end of this week, all local electors will have the chance to select my successor as Spelthorne's prospective Conservative Parliamentary candidate for the next general election. The procedure being used is a far cry from the one used when I was first selected in 1986.

View from the House: Time for change and some pain

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

PREDICTABLY, I am going to have a moan about the weather. At the time of writing, Boy has still not returned to school and frankly, it seems like years since he was last in school uniform and clutching his book bag. In fact, I wonder if I have perhaps been in some sort of coma or Bailey's induced stupor and years have passed and at any moment he will burst into my office sporting a suit and briefcase and announce he's off to work.

View from the House: A year to build bridges and tackle the recession

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

NEW Year's resolutions are often swiftly forgotten as the routine of daily life recommences and life's challenges are faced. This year I am, as ever, optimistic.

View from the House: Voters will not tolerate petty jibes

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:52:00 GMT

NEW Year's resolutions are often swiftly forgotten as the routine of daily life recommences and life's challenges are faced.

View from the House: If Heathrow suffers, Spelthorne suffers

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:35:00 GMT

IT has not been a good few weeks for Heathrow – which means it has not been a good few weeks for our local economy.

View from the House: Pre-budget lacks credibility

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:45:00 GMT

Last week in Westminster we heard the Chancellor deliver a Pre-Budget Report that had more resemblance to a Pre-General Election Budget.

View from the House: Let's start living within our means

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

AS WE approach the end of a difficult year, we can count ourselves lucky in Runnymede & Weybridge that we have not been more severely affected by the worst recession since the war.

View from the House: Stop pointing the finger over global warming

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

YES, the climate is changing - as it has been doing for the past four billion years - and will continue to do so for as long as our planet exists. But, no, it is not a fact that we human beings are causing the change.

View From the House: Road users should have their say

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

TWO unrelated events, affecting opposite ends of the constituency, have focused my attention on the problem of regulating the use of our scarce road space.

View from the House: Goal is a safe, secure olympics

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

ONE of my recent contributions to the policy debate - an important part of an MP's life at Westminster - was to give two lectures at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on security and terrorism.

View from the House: Witch hunt will undermine democracy

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A FEW readers of the following will rush to their keyboards and send me yet more hate mail. If that is the price of speaking up for democracy, human rights and the rule of law, so be it.

'Time for serious debate on the postal service'

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:47:00 GMT

Tory MP for Esher & Walton, Ian Taylor, says the time has come for a serious debate on what kind of postal service is needed in the digital age.

View From the House: Bitter pill must be taken now

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

ALL summer long Gordon Brown has clung on to power, hoping that something would turn up that he could credibly (or half-credibly) describe as an economic recovery - and claim the credit for it.

Some 'vital' cuts can feel more painful than others

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:00:00 GMT

IT HAS been a turbulent 12 months since the true extent of the financial crisis became headline news.