Archive for July 1st, 2013
Monday, July 1st, 2013
The welfare crackdown unveiled by George Osborne last week has won strong backing from voters in a new opinion poll.
The ICM survey for The Sunday Telegraph also shows that the public backs the Chancellor’s plans to leave the state pension out of an overall “cap” on welfare payments. The findings come as Ministers prepare to announce measures this week to stop foreigners abusing free NHS treatment and curbs on rogue landlords who rent properties to illegal immigrants.
The poll, in which ICM Research interviewed a sample of 2,006 adults aged 18+ online on 26-28th June 2013, gives the Conservatives a boost because of the support for measures outlined by Mr Osborne in the Spending Review, last week.
David Cameron and Mr Osborne are viewed as the best team to manage the economy by 30 per cent of voters, comfortably ahead of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls on 23 per cent. George Osborne wins the support of nearly two thirds of voters, 64 per cent, for his plan for an overall cap on benefits spending which would exclude the state pension. Just 23 per cent say the cap should include the state pension, a move floated by the Labour Party.
A range of welfare measures announced by Mr Osborne last week wins high levels of support, with 87 per cent backing the cutting of benefits for jobless immigrants who refuse to take English lessons.
Conservative Party Co-Chairman, Grant Shapps MP, said, “This shows that the public overwhelmingly back the Conservative idea that people who want to work hard and get on in life should be given every opportunity.”
Monday, July 1st, 2013
The proposal from Cllr Robert Pritchard, Deputy Leader of Conservative controlled Tamworth Borough Council, to honour LCpl Watchman V (and his successors) with the “Freedom of the Borough of Tamworth” has received support from both local residents and the Mercian Regiment.
Two letters have been published in the latest edition of the Tamworth Herald praising the proposal and Brigadier Andrew P Williams OBE, Colonel of the Mercian Regiment, has sent his support to Cllr Pritchard.
Brigadier Williams said, “As Colonel of the Mercian Regiment I’m delighted that Tamworth has chosen to honour Watchman in this way. Watchman and his predecessors were mascots to the Staffordshire Regiment for very many years, a relationship now surviving with the Regimental Association.
“He is in so many ways a vivid example of the close links that we have with the county, and of course with the Borough of Tamworth in particular. The Mercian Regiment places great emphasis on its sense of family and on its links with the community from which it recruits, and this Freedom is a great honour for not only Watchman but the wider regimental family as well.”
In his letter to the Herald, Tamworth resident and former member of the North Staffs regiment, Chippy Lees, said, “Giving Watchman the Freedom of the Borough of Tamworth is a truly wonderful idea.”
A second letter from an unnamed resident also praised the proposal, the resident wrote, “Watchman is an important tradition of our county’s regiment that we need to protect. This is a fantastic gesture on behalf of Tamworth Borough Council and I can see no reason why anyone should oppose it.”
Cllr Pritchard added, “I am really please with the support, it is a very very positive response to our proposal.”