James Wharton MP

Last night I attended concert put on by Yarm School.  The evening was to raise funds for the new organ fund at All Saints church, Linthorpe road, Middlesbrough.  It was well attended and the choir and musicians were superb.  It was very good of my old school to invite me along and I hope to attend further such events in the future.

This morning I attended the Tees Valley Finance for Business Forum breakfast meeting in Wynyard.  It was well attended with representatives from businesses and organisations across the area.  I was particularly pleased to see Five Lamps represented and to have the opportunity to discuss local issues with a number of companies which operate in Stockton South.

I met a number of Yarm Town Councillors and found dismay that a by-election has been called, apparently by the Labour Party.  Three of the ten signatures calling the by-election were from known Labour Party members, who stood for Labour during the last local elections in May 2007 and were defeated.  If the by-election goes ahead the cost to Yarm residents will run into thousands of pounds. 

There is no sign yet that Labour will even field a candidate, adding insult to injury.  I respect the right of residents to call an election if they feel the need for one, rather than replacement councillors being co opted, but on this occasion it appears Labour have engineered the by-election for their own Party political gain.  I would not be surprised if they do not even field a candidate, after all they appear to have abandoned Yarm almost entirely.

Today’s Northern Echo have printed my letter about the economic problems we face:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/letters/3843298.The_economy/

The Labour MP for Stockton South has, rightly, been found guilty of misusing taxpayers money for political purposes.  I want to be clear that not one penny of taxpayers’ money has ever been spent by my campaign.  All of the leaflets, letters, posters, surveys etc that my team and I distribute are paid for by money we raise.  Labour would do well to try this, instead of relying on misused taxpayers funds to pay for their political activities.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/3841584.
Labour_MP_fined_by_watchdog_for_misuse_of_expenses/