BIRK ELECTION 2010

Apr 21 2010 by Matt Hurst, Heswall News

As a young voter I hope you will have noticed that I was the only MP in the last Parliament to call for a quicker and a fair balancing of the budget so that future generations are not crippled with repaying our debt.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies calculates that by the end of this next Parliament every household will be paying £3,000 a year more in tax just to pay the interest on the debt we have already run up.

That £60 per week more in tax will rise unless we get public expenditure levels down to the levels we can raise in taxation.

You don't have to be young to understand the concerns of young people, but it must help.

As the youngest candidate and a university lecturer, I understand the ambitions and pressures of young voters.

My party will provide 10,000 extra university places this year and 400,000 more training places over the next two years.

We will help young people get on the property ladder by permanently removing stamp duty for first time buyers up to £250,000, put green issues at the heart of government and play our part in tackling global poverty.

As a father of two, and as someone who works training young people, I do not recognise the demonisation they often receive from the media.

I would work to improve the perception of young people by working with them to develop services relevant to their own lives.

Lib Dem policies to improve education will help with their life choices. Increasing support for apprenticeships will equip them with skills to find well paid jobs.Tackling climate change by reshaping our economy away from financial services towards green industries and services will protect the environment.

They should be phased out by treating the capital cost like all other major transport projects around the country.

In principle I am opposed to the tolls, although at present there’s no spare public money to abolish them and the Conservative party cannot yet make that commitment.

However, if elected, I will continue to give full backing to moves by Wirral Conservatives to cut costs for tunnel users.

I will also meet with our transport ministers on a regular basis to press home the case for removing the toll.

I am a regular tunnel user and do not resent paying the tunnel toll.

I have a choice of taking the bus or train to Liverpool; it is never questioned that I pay to use public transport.

If a toll were removed I predict traffic chaos, increased congestion and poor air quality.

If money is available I would want to see the extension of the Merseyrail line at least to Prenton with new stations at Prenton and Beechwood.