Mike Hancock CBE - Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth South

1A Albert Road
Southsea
Hampshire
PO5 2SE

Tel: 023 9286 1055
Email: email@mikehancock.co.uk

 Working for You - Always Putting Portsmouth First

Increase text size: Default font size and textLarger font size and textExtra large font size and text

In this section

Mike's Columns in the Portsmouth News

Give us better pensions, a tax cut and stop wasting money on unnecessary projects

01 August 2008

I am delighted the Council recently backed my motion to give the Freedom of the City to Harry Redknapp and Pompey’s cup winning squad. It is a well-deserved honour and like all Pompey fans, I am looking forward to the coming football season with the club in Europe for the first time.

Being Prime Minister is a bit like being a football manager. And if Harry has proved successful, then Gordon Brown certainly hasn’t.

Across the country, everyone is facing increased pressure from rising fuel and food costs. So the Lib Dems would give a couple on average earnings a £1,500 a year tax cut as part of a fully costed proposal. We would do this by making the tax system fairer. The scope for this is shown by the revelation that cleaners face a higher tax rate than the venture capitalists whose offices they clean. To equalise the tax system, I would have the super-rich wave good-bye to their tax dodges that less well-off people don’t get.

And I would spend taxpayers’ money better. This Government has wasted £7 billion on the Iraq War, £20 billion on a national NHS computer system that according to doctors hardly works and a projected £30 billion on unnecessary ID cards. That’s a total of £2,000 per taxpayer wasted on these three things alone.

Tragically more older people die during the winter from cold in this country than in Norway or Sweeden. And Britain has one of the worst state pensions in Europe. But pensioners would now be over £2,000 a year better off if the Tories hadn’t cut the link between pensions and earnings. So I want the link between earnings and the state pension restored immediately.

Just as a football manager must devise the right strategy and priorities for their team, so a Prime Minister must do the same for their country. This autumn Gordon should announce an immediate restoration of the link between earnings and the state pension, implement our proposals for £1,500 tax cut and stop wasting Government money on grandiose and unnecessary projects. Then he would be leading the country in the right direction!

Share this page:

Submit to delicious Submit to digg Submit to facebook Submit to reddit Submit to stumbleupon Tweet this post

Search News

News Archive

Latest Annual Reports

I publish regular reports back to my constituents and they are available to any constituent who wants one:

Annual Report 2008 »
Portsmouth Talk 2008 »

Get Adobe Reader

Liberal Democrat News

01 February 2012
The ASA ruled that the image used in an advertisement for L’Oréal Paris’ Revitalift Repair 10 was altered to change Rachel Weisz’s complexion, making it appear smoother and more even. It was judged to be in breach of industry code and “misleadingly exaggerated” the performance of the product.

The advertisement has been banned in its current form and the ASA has warned L’Oréal not to use digital retouching to misrepresent the effect of their products.

Commenting, Jo Swinson said:
“The beauty and advertising industries need to stop ripping off consumers with dishonest images. 

“The banning of this advert, along with the previous ASA rulings banning heavily retouched ads featuring Twiggy, Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington, should act as a wake-up call. Thankfully the advertising regulator has again acknowledged the fraudulent nature of excessive retouching.
 
“The Royal College of Psychiatrists has spoken out about the harmful influence of the media on body image and has highlighted the airbrushing and digital enhancement used to portray physical perfection as an area of concern.
 
“There needs to be much more diversity in advertising – different skin colours, body shapes, sizes and ages.  Studies show that people want to see more authenticity from brands.  Images can be aspirational without being faked.

“The Campaign for Body Confidence challenges the narrow ideal of beauty perpetuated by the media and other industries. Tonight the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image is hosting a screening of the documentary Miss Representation which explores the impact on society of such an intense focus on women’s appearance, instead of their achievements. 

“The film shows how media misrepresentation and under representation of women results in a leadership gap and the silencing of difference.”