Economy

The recession is hitting south-west Lincolnshire hard. Every week brings new business closures and job losses.

While it is true that Britain is one of many countries suffering the effects of a global downturn, Gordon Brown has left Britain's economy particularly ill-prepared. He borrowed in a boom and left us with one of biggest budget deficits in the advanced world. As a result, the Britain cannot afford the big upfront tax cuts that some other countries are introducing to combat recession. He also encouraged the risk-taking culture in our banks and stripped the Bank of England of its powers to stop the banks from lending too much.

National Action

The most important task for a Conservative government will be to restore stability to the British economy and responsibility to our public finances. But we can still think that there are things the Government should do to help families and businesses right now.

  • £50bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme to underwrite
bank lending to businesses and get credit flowing again
  • tax cuts for new jobs with a £2.6bn package of tax breaks to get people into work, funded by money that would otherwise go on unemployment benefit
  • cut the main rate of corporation tax to 25p and the small companies' rate to 20p, paid for by scrapping complex reliefs and allowances
  • six-month VAT holiday for small and medium-sized businesses funded by a 7.5% interest rate on delayed payments
  • 1% cut in National Insurance for six months for firms with fewer than five employees, paid for from the above changes to the company tax regime
  • abolish Stamp Duty for nine out of ten first-time buyers and raise the Inheritance Tax threshold to £1 million.
  • freeze council tax for two years by reducing wasteful spending on advertising and consultancy in central government.

Local Action

Local Conservatives are determined to ensure that south-west Lincolnshire benefits fully from economic recovery whenever it comes.

Grantham needs an East-West relief road to cut congestion from the town centre. It also needs modern office developments close to the railway station and to the A1 to appeal to dynamic businesses that can offer new jobs on better than average wages. The Conservative-controlled county and district councils are working closely together to achieve these critical improvements to Grantham's economic infrastructure.

The most important thing for Stamford's economy is to preserve the beauty and character of the town, which make it a magnet for tourists and shoppers alike. In Bourne, the main need is for new shops to open up in the town centre. Local Conservatives are committed to using the local authorities' powers over transport, planning and economic development to support the future prosperity of all three market towns in south-west Lincolnshire.


Nick Boles

07 JAN 2010

Let the voters have their say

While most people in the country have been worrying about how to get to work through the snow and ice and who's going to look after their children while their school is closed, everyone in Westminster has spent the last two days talking about the latest Labour plot to get rid of Gordon Brown.  I don't know about you but I am heartily sick of these stories.  Gordon Brown has been Prime Minister for the last two years.  The British people had no say in his election to that office.   At the very least, they deserve an opportunity to pass their own verdict on his tenure of it.  And a general election is the way to let them do it.

05 JAN 2010

My NHS, your NHS, our NHS

David Cameron has kicked off the Conservatives' campaign for change with a billboard promising cuts in the budget deficit and not the NHS.  Our opponents doubt the depth and sincerity of the Conservatives' commitment to the NHS.  But I hope that no-one will doubt David Cameron's - or mine.  David has talked of the huge debt he and his family owe the NHS for the way doctors and nurses looked after Ivan and helped make his short life a more bearable one.  What some of you may not know is that I have my own personal reason to thank the NHS.  In the spring of 2007, before I moved to Lincolnshire, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease,  a cancer of the lymph system.  Although I had private health insurance at the time, I relied on the NHS for every aspect of my treatment.  And the care I received throughout several months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy was superb.  Can the NHS be reformed and improved?  Of course it can.  But can I countenance a Britain without it?  Over my dead body.