Campaigning in Enfield Town on Saturday 24 April 2010

Enfield North Parliamentary Candidate Nick de Bois, Enfield Southgate MP David Burrowes and I were joined by Justine Greening – MP for Putney and Shadow Minister for London.

Justine gave a great interview to the local press at Chase Farm Hospital where she explained that May 6th was the last chance for Enfield residents to save the hospital by voting Conservative – the only way to prevent Labour’s planned downgraded of the A&E facilities there.

Afterwards, we went to Enfield Town where we spent some time outside Pearsons discussing the importance of preventing Gordon Brown’s Tax on Jobs (the government’s proposed National Insurance increase) and other ways in which a Conservative government will put in place the policies needed by Enfield’s small businesses.

I had a fascinating discussion with a lifelong Labour voter who conceded that – because he was very happy with the quality of services provided by Enfield’s Conservative Council – he would think twice before voting Labour as he doesn’t want a Labour council!

It reminded me how important this election is, and why us Enfield Conservatives are working so hard to ensure a Conservative victory on May 6th.

Nick de Bois is the parliamentary candidate for Enfield North, the seat he also fought in 2001 and 2005. A father of four, Nick is also MD of Rapiergroup, an international marketing events company.

via ConservativeHome’s Platform: Nick de Bois: In these testing economic times we must urgently argue the case for less – not more – intervention and regulation.

An excellent article by Nick – worth a read!

The River Nith burst its banks in the Whitesands area of Dumfries after the area experienced its wettest November day on record

Quite rightly, people’s thoughts are focused on the tragic loss of life (including PC Bill Barker who died in the line of duty helping people after a bridge collapse in Workington) and also the huge clean-up operation that will be required afterwards.

But shouldn’t we also stop to think about the impact of climate change on our lives, and consider whether or not events like this are likely to become more common?

Whether or not you believe that humans are responsible for the obvious changes in the Earth’s climate, those changes are a fact.

Increasingly unpredictable weather events are affecting many parts of the world – from Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in 2005 to Hurricane Felix that killed hundreds of people in Nicaragua in 2007 and the floods that left thousands homeless in eastern Africa in the same year.

Trends would suggest that increasingly volatile climatic events are going to become a regular feature of our lives and whilst we are right to focus our efforts now on helping the victims to get their lives back together we also need to make sure that we are considering the reality of climate change in our future plans.

Rising water levels, wider variations in temperature and a wetter but warmer climate are all realities for Britain.

We must mitigate the impact of these facts on British life by sensibly considering them in our planning and development activity.

The Government cannot pursue a strategy of allowing the population of our cities to grow unchecked; this places enormous pressure on the infrastructure in those cities, not least the need for housing.

The building of housing in flood-plains must stop. The Government must develop a clear strategy for dealing with the need for additional housing, whilst also looking to address the regional imbalances caused by mass immigration and demographic shift.

Mainland Britain is a beautiful island, but one that can only comfortably support a certain size of population – before we cram any more people in, we must make sure that our population can be safely and comfortably housed – targets for huge numbers of houses in former flood-plains across the south-east of England are simply unrealistic.

We must also put more effort into the protection of our environment, and that means better planning, and more considerate use of our planet’s resources.

In my area, northern Enfield, I am particularly keen to prevent further development in our Green Belt. This band of greenery around London is essential to the quality of life of all Londoners, and we must minimise development there.

Whilst I understand the need for new housing, I believe that this must be carefully-balanced against environmental considerations, and I will personally resist further building in the area.

Bridleway through Whitewebbs Park in Enfield from Pete's Walks