I am the Conservative Party's Parliamentary Candidate for Lewisham East. Welcome to my website!
Latest News - March 2010
Let's get young people into work
We need to make sure that these young people don't think that they are destined to be out of work too.
Jonathan Clamp made these points to David Cameroon last month. David wants a Conservative government to focus on improving young people's prospects.
These are some of our plans to do that:
Education
- Create 10,000 extra university places in 2010.
- Put a trained careers advisor in every secondry school and college
Training
- Fund 400,000 more apprecnticeships, work pairings and training places.
- Bolster community learning to improve skills and employability (this will be aimed at older workers too).
Employment
- Abolish Employer National Insurance on jobs created by new businesses for two years.
- Offer substantial loans to would-be entrepreneurs.
"By policies such as these, we want to give young people in Lewisham East a chance to shape their own future" Jonathan Clamp
Under Labour, the number of 16 to 24 year olds who are out of work is at a record high. With about 30,000 people in that age group here, Lewisham feels this problem acutely.
In addition, too many children do not have working role models at home. According to Lewisham Council's figures, there are as many as 17,000 children who live in households where there is no adult unemployment.
Number of hits on this site since 2 February 2009:
Helping homeless helps us all
St Mungo's staff know that the route out of social isolation for homeless men and women is the self-esteem that comes from work and good relationships with other people. But there are real challenges.
More than 1 in 3 of their clients have no qualifications at all.
Nearly 1 in 5 can't read or write well enough to fill in a form for a job.
Less than 1 in 20 are in paid employment...
... but nearly 16 in 20 would start a job tomorrow if they could.
(source: St Mungo's)
"Very often, many organisations see homeless people as too problematic and push them away," said Jonathan. "St Mungo's don't give up on those people."
Instead, St Mungo's gives confidence and life skills to homeless people - through cooking, literacy, gardening abd a host of other pathways to employment. In that way, many of St Mungo's clients get to break the cycle of 'no home, no job - no job, no home'.
According to St Mungo's, independent research shows that their work and learning services helped 125 people to find sustainable employment. It even saved the taxpayer £5.6 million last year.
You can learn more about the work of St Mungo's at www.mungos.org.
"Giving homeless people the chance to gain their independence is good for all of us," said Jonathan Clamp, after visiting St Mungo's Hostel in Hither Green. St Mungo's is London's leading charity for homeless people.
Jonathan got to meet some of the residents and was shown round the centre by Alan D'Arcy, manager for Lewisham, and Executive Director, Tanya English.
Freedom Pass - Update
Recently, we exposed the fact that the Labour Government may cut the funding for the Freedom Pass.
Conservatives are fighting to support the Freedom Pass. To date, Conservatives across London have raised more than 20,000 signatures calling on Gordon Brown to safeguard the funding for it.
In Lewisham East, we've had a great response to the petition that we launched in February at the Co-op on Downham Way and Sainsbury's in Lee Green. This issue has united peopleacross the political spectrum. Whatever political party you support, thank you for backing our campaign.
If you'd like to sign the petition please click on the link on the website.
Flash-the-cash Gordon
On the front page, we mentioned the power of saving and getting out of the debt cycle.
Gordon Brown take note!
Thanks to him and his Labour Government,
we are now spreading more of our money on paying off interest on the national debt, than we are on...
....schools
....police and prisons combined
....building new homes
.....tax credits to vulnerable people...
This is shocking.
Maybe Gordon should visit the Lewisham Plus Credit Union for advice on sound financial planning....
In Touch ...with Jonathan Clamp
Money Worries?
The 'credit crunch' is still very much a reality for people in Lewisham East. Labour just can't seem to get the banks to lend us money and unemployment is expected to rise further this year.
So I visited the Lewisham Plus Credit Union last month to learn more about the effect of the recession on local people and how people can get credit in difficult times.
So credit union is a financial co-operative run for the benefit of its members. Generally, people use credit unions because they are unable to get affordable credit through a bank account. This can cause a downward spiral. For example, without a bank account, it can be hard to get a job.
Recessions often result in an explosion of loan sharks. The cost of their credit can be huge. One of them I looked at online was offering interest of 272% on a loan of £300!.
By Contrast, Lewisham Plus Credit Union charges a lot less interest. So, if you have money worries, talk to the credit union to see if it can help you. Lewisham Plus Credit Union is open to anyone living in Lewisham East to join.
Inportantly, credit unions are mainly about saving - the best way to help people to break out of the debt cycle.
My own grandfather was part of the co-operative movement and I believe strongly in its central ideal. People taking personal responsibility for their lives and clubbing together with others in their community to provide mutual support.
This is what society should be about in hard times. This is what Conservatives believe in.
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Published & promoted by Brian Chipps on behalf of East Lewisham Conservatives,
77 Dartmouth Road, London, SE23 3HT
