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Chi visits Bewdly, a lovely little town on the River Severn. He can be seen munching on a delicious takeaway of Fish and Chips, with the classic battered orange chips, from the West Midlands best chippie - Merchants of Bewdley. Around him are a group of residents bursting with questions ranging from Bewdley to Britain on the global stage.
One resident asks how Chi will protect them from the flooding that they've experienced for the last 3 years in a row.
I have a cousin who lives in the old converted warehouses so I'm well aware of the flooding Bewdley receives when the Severn overflows, the fact this flooding is now so regular but still nothing is done about it is a real tragedy. As your MP I will bring this issue up in Westminster and ensure that Bewdley gets the flood defences it needs. Permanent flood defences will be erected as soon as we feasibly can and in the mean time we will use a mixture of temporary defences and the Beales Corner method which I'm sure many of you are familiar of! Bewdley's very own Beales Corner used pumps to protect itself from flooding in January and will we support this method along the river bank. Flooding is a genuine worry for the people of Bewdley and the people of Upper Severn as a whole and whether I am in government or opposition I will ensure that this issue is brought to the relevant individuals attention and a sensible settlement is reached.
In many ways the flooding is a symptom of climate change and the ensuing emergency. We Tories are committed to introducing concrete measures to deal with this issue and provide more than just a rhetoric. We will invest in more environmentally friendly transport measures such as hydrogen or electric cars and lorries to reduce emissions. We will also prioritise using renewable energy - we will release a National Energy Balance which states what energy the government will be using, where this energy is from and how much is renewable. This will show us how well we are doing in reaching 100% renewable energy, what we need to pursue next and what our realistic targets are. We take climate change seriously and we will deliver proper action on the issue.
Another resident asks how the Tories will be making the UK a prosperous state once more
Well that is a brilliant question! It's no secret that the Rose Government has severely hindered our economy and it's potential by restricting markets, restricting businesses and recklessly taxing and spending. The Rose Government introduced a new tax on skilled professionals such as doctors and engineers and I really don't think the issues of this tax can be over-stated. At a time where we want to attract world wide talents the government decided fit to introduce a new tax band, essentially launching a tax raid on highly skilled professionals. None of them will want to come to the UK if they have to pay an extortionate amount of tax for providing their services to this country. This tax is an attack on our NHS Doctors, our HS2 Engineers, our Justice System lawyers. It goes without saying we will not keep this tax bracket should we enter government,
We will also support businesses up and down the country through a variety of methods. We will establish Regional Development Offices in the Midlands and North of the country to help co-ordinate businesses in the area, provide advice and expertise on business matters and easy access and information on government support schemes - streamlining the process of business support. One of the hardest issues with starting up a business is the actual issue of the initial funding. This is the stumbling block at which 99% of businesses fail. We intend to combat this issue by expanding start-up loans for new businesses, making them easier to acquire and more effective when they're taken out. Continuing with the theme of small business issues we will also increase the Employment Allowance to reduce the cost of National Insurance on new and small employers, allowing them to avoid crushing costs and focus on growing as a business - vital for creating a prosperous economy.
We are heavily investing in Research and Development - by 2030 we will spend 4% of our GDP on Research and Development which is the equivalent of an extra £4.2 Billion per year until 2030. In an increasingly scientific and technological world where economies need to modernise to keep up Research and Development will play a key part in this. In countries such as South Korea and Japan where Research and Development support is high they have thriving technological sectors and we intend to compete with them on a global scale by the 2030s. These increases in RnD will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, create new industries and sectors and help create a future-proofed economy.
Someone pipes up asking what we will do for the NHS
The NHS is in the midst of a Mental Health crisis which it is struggling to win. This is in major part due to the poor standard of mental health support it provides and offers which is failing on a national scale. We will launch a top down reform of the NHS Mental Health Services which will shift the emphasis from crisis resolution to crisis prevention. Our Mental Health system is often so behind that people only get the true support they need when they are at a place of crisis, when suicide doesn't seem too far away. That is simply not good enough. We need to prioritise resources for preventing the Mental Health crisis, not presiding over it. One major focus of this reform will be CAMHS which is almost systematically failing our young people, for every person who has gone to CAMHS for help, there is a horror story to match it from someone else's experience with it. We will strip CAMHS back to its barebones and bring it back as a service which prevents mental health crisis, supports people when they need it and does not violate the trust placed in them.
We will also introduce a new change to GP Policy. Many GPs have unreasonable expectations of pensioners and vulnerable people to be able to attend the Surgery for an appointment at early hours such as 8am. This is unfeasible for many who rely on other people to assist them in the journey to the GP and is an all-round poor thing for our Health Service to do. It can act as a real disincentive for people who need to seek help from the GP and can lead to the booking of appointments with no one turning up which is a problem plaguing GPs currently. By preventing them expecting our vulnerable to attend at unreasonable times we will begin to take these issues away.
A car pulls up and asks what we will do about transport across the country
How ironic Chi mused. Let me talk to you about our National Infrastructure Strategy! Often Infrastructure investment is reactionary but delayed, political but unwanted, beneficial but wasteful. This all stems from the lack of a clear and coherent plan for investing in our infrastructure across the country. Much like our fight against the climate emergency, everything is done by piecemeal and this is not right, we need to treat it as an over-arching issue and we will do so. This plan will be backed by a sum of £25 Billion to invest directly into road, rail and air, transforming our country's infrastructure and the way we commute for years to come. This investment will reach all corners of the country and leave no community behind and have a real emphasis on green investment from the air to the roads.
What is Britain doing on the global stage under the Conservatives
We're really proud of Britain's position on the global stage and we are well aware of the influence that this position brings. We will continue our support for marginalised communities around the world from Uyghur Muslins in Xinjiang Province to Christians in Somalia. In light of the persecution of Christians we will implement the recommendations of the Truro report. We will also continue our support for new and fragile democratic states which are under threat from authoritarian forces. Through the use of the CFF and it's various tools and influences and through the training of armed forces by our own armed forces we will ensure that these nations can stand up and protect themselves from totalitarianism.
We will also extend citizenship to individuals oppressed under a Commonwealth regime. When Hong Kong's democracy was suspended we acted and ensured that there was an alternative to authoritarianism. We will do the same with other countries under the same scenario and ensure that individuals threatened by a hostile state have a refuge in the UK. On the subject of the Commonwealth, we will resubmit the Commonwealth Development Fund next term if we enter government and have a realistic chance of passing the Fund to benefit all nations of the Commonwealth who are often some of the least developed throughout the world.
On the international stage we will foster and maintain our close and friendly relationships with Europe on the spectrum of issues however where we feel our goals differ such as with relations with China we will not be afraid to strike our own path and diverge. This can be said for any and all issues although I'm sure it often won't come to this. We will also continue to negotiate ascension to the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership with a real focus on protecting British sectors and industries which could come under risk as a result of the CPTPP agreement.
Thankyou everyone for your questions! They're very much appreciated and I hope I've been able to convince you to vote for me on Friday! Let's get back on track.
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