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

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Mike's Columns in the Portsmouth News

Labour have stopped listening!

16 May 2008

Last week, the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, Sarah McCarthy-Fry described the recent local election results as “very disappointing” for her party. She was right! This year is the first that I can remember when no Labour councillors at all were elected in Portsmouth.

Of course the scrapping of the 10p income tax rate had a large part to do with it. Sarah said that it was never the intention to penalise the low paid but clearly if you double the rate at which people start to pay income tax that is exactly what you do. And I am surprised that a woman who is a qualified chartered accountant did not realise that!

Last week, the Chancellor introduced a partial compensation package. There are still major problems though. Over one million people will still be worse off. The Government is having to borrow £2.7 billion to fund it. And it is unclear what will happen next year – more borrowing or higher taxes?

In September 2005, following the unfortunate deaths of Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook I wrote “that they both knew that the Conservatives paid the electoral price for becoming out of touch with ordinary people. Now Labour seem to be going the same way. To avoid the Tories’ fate, they must now deliver on public services and abolish unfair charges and taxes.”

The problem about the 10p tax rate is that it is just one example of how Labour have stopped listening in the past few years. They have closed local post offices. They have failed to invest the extra money for the NHS effectively. And they have not tackled the housing crisis – pouring billions into the pockets of private landlords through housing benefit, while council house tenants in Portsmouth will have £100 million taken away from their rents over ten years. The local elections saw progress for the Lib Dems – making gains over and above our previous high water mark four years ago when the same seats were last elected. It is clear, therefore that increasingly people are now turning to the Lib Dems for high quality local services, fair taxation, and real action to tackle global warming.

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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.”