Election Address from Ray Earwicker

10.23.00pm GMT Wed 19th Dec 2007

Bracknell Constituency PPC Selection

Election Address from Ray Earwicker

As many of you will know I have been actively involved with the Local Party for many years and have held various posts including my present posts as Constituency Treasurer and Press Officer. During this time I have also served as both a Town and Borough councillor. In 1997 I was elected as Town Mayor of Sandhurst and in 2003 I became the first Liberal Democrat to serve on Bracknell Forest Borough Council since it became a unitary authority in 1998. In 2001 I was fortunate enough to be selected as your Parliamentary Candidate and I stood again in the selection process for the 2005 General Election.

I have always adhered to the well-established Lib-Dem principles of freedom, fairness and justice and will, as your PPC, once again campaign actively in support of the ideals we hold most dear whether it is about the environment, law and order, healthcare or providing more support for older people. We have seen the Government squander billions trying to make public services more efficient, the police more effective and education more successful but their record has been pitiful.

At local level the performance of Tory-controlled Bracknell Forest Borough Council has also left much to be desired. Council Tax has increased by the maximum amount for the past three years and is likely to do so again in 2008. Instead of injecting more resources into areas such as housing, social services and public transport, it continues to spend money on pet IT schemes such as the E-card and maintaining a multitude of consultancy and agency staff to produce largely worthless strategies and plans for the benefit of Whitehall.

Despite the Government's failed efforts, or may be because of them, we have seen the inequalities in our divided society grow and we need to address these as well as our many international interests and obligations. Our policies on taxation should do much to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth and our proposals to manage immigration and migration more effectively should help to win greater public support for our efforts to secure a more much free and open multi-racial society.

Attracting more support and particularly new members to our cause is never easy but I will continue to put forward the Liberal Democrat message and actively encourage others to join us. Without more members and especially more candidates in local elections it will be difficult to make further progress and become the main opposition to the Tories in Bracknell Forest.

I hope I can continue to count on your support in trying to achieve these aims and that once again you will be willing to have me as your PPC.