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Andrew George

Promoting the Politics of Courage

Archive for the ‘Parliamentary Sketch’ Category

Parliamentary sketch – Jingle bells

Posted on: 4th December 2014

If I get any time for pre-Christmas shopping, I’ll shop local. There won’t be any “Black Fridays” or “Cyber Mondays” for me. You can hardly move without bumping into a new gigantic supermarket here in West Cornwall. But it would be easy to overlook the fantastic local businesses we have in our midst right here […]

Parliamentary sketch – Just murmuring about togetherness

Posted on: 27th November 2014

The word is out. Excited flocks of starlings chase across our sight. The sky is silk and infinity. I wish I could stay to see the spectacle of their murmuration – for me, one of the most dramatic and enthralling displays of the natural world. But I must chase (less excited – more grim determination!) […]

Parliamentary sketch – 20th November 2014

Posted on: 20th November 2014

My most recent round of casework surgeries (in Helston, Penzance, St Keverne, Zennor and Pendeen) generated large, wide ranging and many distressing cases. The one issue which perpetually comes top of the list of concerns is the consequences of not having enough decent and genuinely affordable homes for local families. Before I was elected as […]

Parliamentary sketch – 13th November 2014

Posted on: 13th November 2014

Since we live in a world where people appear more interested and animated by their mobile devices than the people around them, more interested in listening to their headphones than to those around them and more engaged when social networking than when socialising, events like Remembrance Parades are all the more poignant and significant. As […]

Parliamentary sketch – Leaving with heads held high

Posted on: 30th October 2014

British troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan this week.  Meanwhile historians will dip their pens and pass judgement on whether the mission was a success, failure or score draw. There is no single score card against which we can rate the originally US-led mission in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. It […]

Parliamentary sketch – Recalling what you wish for

Posted on: 23rd October 2014

Should electors be given the power to petition to get rid of their local MP between elections? OK.  OK.  I get the point.  I don’t want to be trampled in the stampede! Anyway, as I was about to say, MPs have been considering this week how electors can hold their MPs to account, other than […]

Parliamentary sketch – NHS staff – to be valued, not costed!

Posted on: 16th October 2014

Let’s hear it for the hardworking and dedicated staff working on the frontline of the NHS. This is their lot:  years of wage freezes, being threatened (by the Conservatives) with lower ‘Regional Pay’, having to pay through the nose for nurse registration (entitling them to the right to be poorly paid!), struggling with inadequate registered […]

Parliamentary sketch – A better way of doing coalition government?

Posted on: 10th October 2014

Four and a half years ago I cautioned my Party that we shouldn’t encase ourselves in a straitjacket when entering Coalition with our mortal enemies – the Tories.  Two recent events show that Parties in a Coalition should give each other room to retain their identity. 1)     When my Bill to reverse Government policy on […]

Parliamentary sketch – With a heavy heart and many misgivings…

Posted on: 2nd October 2014

If politics is about facing up to hard choices then decisions about committing armed forces into conflict is amongst the hardest of all. A year ago I defied Party Whips, spoke and voted against the Government’s proposed military intervention in Syria.  By a small margin (7 votes) those who took my view succeeded; the Government […]

Parliamentary sketch – homing in on a key issue

Posted on: 18th September 2014

About 30 years ago I was urging political leaders to take action to counter the growth of second home ownership and the detrimental impact it was having on our local communities.  I had proposed a new planning law which would give local communities the chance to put a cap on numbers.  It’s good to see […]