Bristol MPs expense claims top £1 million

 

 

 

By Tom Moseley, Parliamnetary Correspondent

EXPENSES claims for MPs in the Bristol area topped £1million last year, it has been revealed.

But across the country there was a sharp drop in claims as tighter restrictions and fear of a public backlash after the 2009 expenses scandal took hold.

New figures released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), set up in the wake of the scandal, show MPs’ claims from after May’s General Election up until March 31.

Read Full Post »

Bristol MPs praise Obama during UK visit

 

 

PRESIDENT Obama won over Bristol MPs of all political shades with a “masterclass of oratory” as he addressed both Houses of Parliament earlier this week.

The US leader reaffirmed the special relationship between Britain and America as “one of the oldest and one of the strongest alliances the world has ever known”, during the keynote speech.

He was the first US president to be granted the rare honour of speaking to both Houses in the historic Westminster Hall, previously accorded only to a handful of eminent figures like Nelson Mandela, Charles de Gaulle and the Pope.

Read Full Post »

Hopes raised for M4 link road

Click here to see the original story on the EP website

THE Government has held out hope to motorists that the long-discussed plans for a link road to connect the M4 and the Avon Ring Road could be revived.

Transport Minister Norman Baker told MPs there was no way it could happen in the current spending round but encouraged them to get campaigning in preparation for the next transport funding settlement in 2015.

Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore

Kingswood Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, who secured a Parliamentary debate on the issue at Westminster Hall yesterday, insisted “the need for transport infrastructure is greater than ever before” around Emersons Green.

As well as the burgeoning population, which is set to expand by a further 3,000 after the creation of a new housing estate, the development of the Bristol Science Park means the area will be a magnet for international investors.

“Currently corporate inward investors from across the globe are considering investing in the Bristol and Bath Science Park,” Mr Skidmore said. “For international companies, transport links to the Science Park are vital, particularly to Heathrow. “Above all, they can see visiting the Science Park that the M4 is but a stone’s throw away.”

Mr Baker said the road had not been ruled out indefinitely but campaigners would need to address the conclusions of a report carried out by government officials in 2006 that said the link road was not needed.

Read Full Post »

Kingswood MP secures House of Commons debate on M4 link

Click here to see the original EP story

Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore

By Sam Lister, Parliamentary Correspondent

THE battle for a new link road connecting the M4 with the Avon ring road will be taken to the House of Commons tomorrow.

Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore has secured a debate in Parliament’s Westminster Hall to pile pressure on ministers to back the proposals.

The road would connect the motorway to the Rosary roundabout next to the Sainsbury‘s supermarket in Emersons Green, creating a new Junction 18a between the M32 junction at Hambrook and the A46 junction at Tormarton.

The project would cost at least £41.9 million but supporters claim it would generate £274 million for the local economy by improving access.

Transport Minister Norman Baker

Earlier this year Transport Minister Norman Baker said there was not enough cash in government coffers to pay for the scheme in the next five years but during the debate he will be told the case is now more urgent than ever.

The Coalition government ruled that all new projects must have an economic benefit before funding could be allocated in the wake of the recession.

Mr Skidmore will argue the link road would do just that by improving access to Bristol‘s Science Park, which is set to create 6,000 new jobs in the area.

And large-scale residential developments will mean an extra 3,000 houses, putting even more strain on local infrastructure.

Cars travelling to the M4 from the ring road now have to use the Hambrook junction with the M32, which is congested at rush hour and many other times of the day, or take the single-carriageway A420 to the A46 at Cold Ashton.

The link road plan has been on the cards since 1985 and it was backed by both Labour and the Tories on South Gloucestershire Council during the 1990s. But it was abandoned in favour of improving cycle and public transport provision by the Liberal Democrats in 2000.

Businesses in the area continued to push for the link, but despite the Tories taking control of the council in 2007 and Labour being in government until last year, the scheme has yet to make it off the drawing board.

Conservative MP Mr Skidmore said: “I’ve been leading the fight for the link road for local people in Emersons Green and the surrounding area. The need for an M4 link to the ring road is more pressing now than ever before. With the future development of nearly 3,000 homes in Emersons Green East and the establishment of the Science Park, which will bring 6,000 jobs to the area, we must have the infrastructure in place to make the Science Park a world-class facility and help the local area cope.

“A link road to the motorway would help to secure investment. I realise that at over the next few years there isn’t the funding available for the project, but I am campaigning to ensure that ministers will look to the future and not rule anything out.”

The debate will be held tomorrow afternoon.

Read Full Post »