Chris Naylor calls for community, compassion, competence

In a Nov 14th speech to Ludlow Chambers of Commerce Chris Naylor, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for South Shropshire will set out his commitment to community, to compassion, to competence.

"For so many of us in South Shropshire community is key. In our rural communities. And in our bigger towns. We want mixed communities where the less well-off can live alongside the better off. Where there’s a mix of facilities - playgrounds for children, community centres for older citizens, primary schools, shops’ he says.

"But so many central government policies go against that. When more people work from home and want to support their communities. How schools are funded means primary schools are at risk of closure. Our rural bus services and our services between towns are only funded for a few months at a time and are unreliable. Our local authorities have suffered cutback after cutback and can no longer afford the outreach services essential to local life.”

"And now the government is showing its lack of compassion too - by cutting back on benefits for the poor, in their latest move hoping to save £4bn by cutting payments. Great for the Westminster Chancellor of course - but hundreds of thousands of families already on the breadline are forced to cut back even further. When energy and food prices continue to rise."

“But even those citizens for whom community and compassion are less important must surely be concerned by this government’s lack of competence. School budgets have just been suddenly reduced by millions - because the government got the figures wrong. HS2 has been axed, even after billions have been spent - because the government,13 years in, realises they’ve been paying ten-fold more than they should have. Hundred of thousands of asylum seekers and refugees are stuck in hotels for years at huge cost to the taxpayer because the government is taking years to process their claims and decide whether they can stay."

Chris Naylor will be inviting comments from Chamber of Commerce members on the issues of most concern to them, and discussing how a Lib Dem MP might help. He has pledged to spend at least 3 days a week in the constituency building local partnerships and communities, and to donate at least 10% of his salary to local causes.