Day 3 - making a difference!

(apologies for the delay in posting this article, which was due to technical difficulties)
Missed the entire morning of Conference to accompany Annabel Goldie MSP and David Mundell MP to the Conservative Social Action project.

Social Action is at the heart of the modern Conservative Party and for me defines what it is we offer Britain at a time of great social and economic uncertainty. By involving ourselves in projects that are at the heart of our local communities and which deliver tangible benefits to local people we demonstrate the true nature of conservatism in the 21st century. Having travelled to Bosnia earlier this year to participate in one of our international Social Action Projects it was good to get stuck into a project closer to home and which clearly meant so much to the children who looked on as their Club was transformed.

This year's project was renovating Radcliffe Girls and Boys Club. This small Club sits at the heart of a community with its fair share of difficulties. Through its events it offers a community resource that pulls the local community together and although it can't be described as modern it is much loved and valued by those who use it.

After a morning of painting fascia board (filmed by BBC Scotland when I wasn't exactly looking too gainly) and tidying up grounds it was time to hop into a taxi back to the Conference secure zone for meetings with a variety of lobbyists and environmental groups. Having been coated in paint the smell of turpentine certainly makes you stand out in a crowd of people hoping they are preparing for Government.

Of particular interest is the sheer number of people lobbying on sustainable energy solutions - highlighting once again the threat to Scotland that the lights might start to go out unless we take immediate action. It is also good to hear from our international, blue chip companies who want to play their part in a cleaner, more sustainable planet by evolving their business model to ensure optimum levels of recycling and energy recovery.

By mid-afternoon I become acutely aware that while everyone else is in suits I am in my jeans and social action t-shirt - sticking out like a sore thumb. The Scottish Chairman's wife very kindly proclaimed it made me look more human than the assembled throng but it was time to nip back to the Premier Inn for a shower and change into a suit - very kindly no mention of the odd smell from Mary.

On the eve of David Cameron's speech, to what will be the final Conference before a General Election where we hope he will be elected Prime Minister, it is hardly surprising the main topic of conversation is what we will hear from him tomorrow. What will it include? How will he play it? Should he take risks? All subjects discussed at length while David and his core team prepare for a day of vital importance to the fortunes of both the Conservative Party but probably more importantly our country!

But sometimes it all becomes a bit much (even for the most dedicated of Conference goer) and time to take a break from the Conference village. So I join Peter Lyburn, Hamira Khan, Marilyn Orcharton and a select group of others nipping out of the secure zone and down Manchester's "Curry Mile" to the self-proclaimed world famous Sanam Restaurant. Wonderful food to match the company and then back to the Conference Hotel to attend a Candidates Reception before an early bed having been asked to speak in the "Great Britain" debate that opens Conference tomorrow.

There really is a genuine excitement about tomorrow's leaders speech. Britain needs a leader to take it from its broken state to one of optimism and confidence and I am in no doubt David will show tomorrow that he is that man!

Why Our Energy Does Not Need Another Tax!

If reports in this weekends newspapers are to be believed, we should expect a windfall tax on our energy companies in the very near future.

While the need to help those who will not be able to heat their houses this winter due to the price increases announced by our utility companies is not in doubt, the method of helping those most in need is something our Labour Government must ensure does not leave the rest of society paying dearly for.

Any windfall tax on gas and electricity companies will, over time, be borne by those of us who pay their bills. This may not appear as an immediate burden in our bills but we can all be assured that over time these companies will find ways to pass the burden of their taxation onto us all.

With so many people already being forced into fuel poverty by government inaction in the face of international commodity price rises the answer is surely not to lift people in fuel poverty out of this categorisation only to put those just above the current measure into fuel poverty as gas and electricity prices rise to pay for their windfall tax!

The two simple and easy ways for Government to help control energy prices in the UK are to introduce a fuel price escalator, as already proposed by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, and to work with the energy industry on long term energy security for the UK in order that our gas and electricity companies can depreciate their capital projects over the medium to long terms - enabling them to reduce this cost to their balance sheet and in turn the price we pay them today.

So my message to Gordon Brown and his government is don't make the same mistake you made with the pensions industry, which ruined a UK industry once considered the best in the world, by introducing a windfall tax on our energy companies. Instead make it clear that our gas and electricity companies are vital to the UK's strategic national interest and will be supported by government with a view to energy security for an island nation currently reliant on massive imports of material and energy to survive.

Stabilising Fuel In An Unstable World

At last, the chance of a little bit of common sense to help those on low and fixed incomes to pay for their fuel!

Earlier today the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, unveiled a radical new plan to soften the impact of future fuel price rises on families. Put simply, his 'Fair Fuel Stabiliser' would reduce duty when fuel prices go up, and raise it when fuel prices go down.

To give people some perspective as to its potential impact, if a Fair Fuel Stabiliser had been introduced at the 2008 Budget fuel would now be 5p per litre cheaper, shaving £3.50 off a tank of fuel for a Ford Mondeo. If, however, instead of rising, oil prices had fallen below the $84 forecast in the Budget fuel duty would have risen to ensure the government received its revenues forecast from fuel.

In essence George is proposing a mechanism that ensures government does not profiteer from rising oil prices but which guarantees them their revenues from fuel will remain unchanged regardless of the cost of the crude material. George described his stabiliser as, "A common sense plan to help families, bring stability to the public finances and help the environment by making the price of carbon less volatile", and I agree!

Why Are We Waiting For The Lights To Go Out?

It's now only a matter of time until lights start going out across Scotland because of electricity shortages.

With many of our ageing fossil fuel and nuclear power stations nearing the end of their working lives and scheduled for decommission our government continues to procrastinate over how to replace their output. For me, it is governments job to ensure Scotland and the UK are energy self-sufficient in the unpredictable world we live in today.

So what, you may ask, is our Labour government and SNP Scottish Executive's solution? Renewables, renewables, renewables is the mantra from Westminster and Holyrood, even though everyone knows this simply will not fulfil our energy requirements given the unpredictability of output from the wind turbines that are being thrown up all over our countryside.

You only need to ask the residents of Eaglesham about the effectiveness of wind turbines to know that when the wind is not blowing hard enough they don't turn, when it blows too hard they don't turn, when the wind blows from the wrong direction they don't turn and often for no apparent reason they simply don't turn.

With the UK needing to import gas, coal and oil to fuel many of our existing power stations and given our international obligations to reduce CO2 emissions the only solution to bridging our electricity energy gap while meeting these targets is nuclear. Business knows it, science knows it and ordinary people who study the issue know it.

Over the past week Business Insider have been running an online poll posing the question, "Will Scotland face an energy crisis if it doesn't build new nuclear power stations?". As I write this blog, 95% of respondents have to date replied 'YES', clearly demonstrating the concern of Scotland's business community that our failure to go nuclear before now almost certainly means an energy crisis looms for Scotland in the relatively near future.

It simply is not good enough for government to delay any further. British Energy, BNFL and any other interested electricity generator must be allowed to get on with providing Scotland and the rest of the UK with new modern nuclear power stations capable of providing us with energy security well into the 21st Century!

When the lights start going out it will be too late to start planning a sustainable energy policy. The nuclear option is the only sensible option for Scotland and the UK.

I am a great believer that if something is foreseeable it is avoidable. That is why I say let's get on with the inevitable and start building nuclear power stations! We must act now in the interest of our long-term economic prosperity and in doing so will ensure future generations don't accuse us of lacking foresight!

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