The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with our debts. That’s why sticking to George Osborne’s plan to bring Britain’s spending back under control and drive down the deficit is vital in order to avoid higher interest rates and taxation in the future.
But this doesn’t mean Britain should stand still while we sort out our debt problems - far from it. This government is determined to create the right conditions for jobs and growth.
Improving our transport system is one of the best ways to do this. Despite the deficit, we have secured the funding needed for the long-awaited upgrade of the Northern Line which will mean a better, more frequent and reliable services for Barnet residents.
We’re also getting tough with the banks and doing everything we can to get them lending again to small businesses so that they can create jobs. At the same time, we’re fighting back against obstructive health and safety regulations and reforming outdated employment laws to bring the law back on to the side of business and enterprise.
We’re clamping down on immigration and challenging human rights legislation that prevents us from controlling who’s living in our country. And we’re increasing investment in the NHS, as well as taking forward reforms to enable it to deal with the challenges of the future.
We’re reforming welfare to make sure it’s a lifeline in time of need, not a life style choice. And we’re investing in providing the skills, training and personal support needed to help people find long-term work. That includes delivering an extra 250,000 apprenticeships.
We also believe that good schools are crucial for fairness in our society to give everyone the chance of a good start in life. That’s why so many of our great schools in Barnet are joining the Government’s Academies’ programme. This will give them more freedom to innovate, enabling them to provide even better educational opportunities for kids in Barnet. We’re also raising exam standards and putting the rigour back into the education system.
For many years, I have campaigned for Barnet to have its fair share of police. So it’s great news that Boris has been investing in the police and getting officers out from behind their desks and on to the streets. As a result, Barnet is keeping its local police teams; and overall, the borough will have benefited from an extra 50 police officers by May 2012. The Mayor is also making our transport network safer by putting an extra five hundred uniformed transport police officers on the buses and tubes across London.
I have continued my efforts to protect Barnet’s environment, including my campaign against a new waste disposal facility at Pinkham Way.
But with the crisis across the Channel in the Eurozone, there are no easy shortcuts to economic success. I spent many years campaigning against UK membership of the Euro. Our economic problems would be a thousand times worse if we had joined as Labour and the Lib Dems wanted us to. But we are still deeply affected by the crisis in Europe as our biggest export market.
That’s why at this time when families are being squeezed by the price of petrol, food and household bills, we’re doing all we can to help families now by cutting petrol duty, safeguarding the winter fuel allowance and freezing council tax. And we're re-linking pensions to earnings so elderly people will be £10,000 better off in their retirement.
There are still difficult times ahead but we’re laying the foundations to ensure we deliver a brighter better future.