Newbury Weekly News

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Thursday, May 11, 2017
2017GENERALELECTION
UKIP voters are being
urged to back Benyon
PEOPLE intending to vote for
UKIP in Newbury have been
asked to vote for Conservative
candidate Richard Benyon
instead.
UKIP has entered the tactical
voting fray in an effort to see
Brexit passed.
Mr Benyon campaigned for the
Remain campaign in last year’s
referendum, but has since
“supported the will of the people”
and voted to trigger the UK’s
withdrawal from the EU.
The chairman of Newbury
UKIP, Roy Tubb, said that Brexit
was the mainissue facing voters
and that Mr Benyon backing the
Government over Brexit “may
cause some diehard remainers to
desert him” .
He said: “ Recent electoral
history shows that Newbury
cannot be considered a safe
Conservative seat.
“With this in mind, UKIP
Newbury has decided reluctantly
not to field a candidate, because
that would only split the poten-
tial ‘Brexit vote’.
“The result of the referendum
needs to be accepted and
supported in Parliament.
“We suggest therefore that
UKIP supporters consider voting
for Richard Benyon, if only to
increase the chance of the refer-
endum result being properly
implemented.”
Mr Benyon said: “I think it’s
more about the fact they didn ’t
have anyone to stand here.
“I’ve not had any conversation
with UKIP. Undoubtedly they are
in trouble in this election and
their decision not to field a candi-
date in West Berkshire reflects
that.
“People are more concerned
about what Brexit means for
West Berkshire and their state-
ment rightly says that I
campaigned hard for Britain to
remain in the EU.
“I want the deal that’s reached
to reflect the needsof West Berk-
shire businesses, many of whom
trade with and in the EU.”
UKIP finished third in
Newbury during the 2015
General Election, with 10 per
cent of the votes cast (6,195), close
behind the LiberalDemocrats’ 15
per cent (8,605) and beating
Labour’s 8.4 per cent (4,837).
UKIP’s apparent endorsement
of Mr Benyon was welcomed by
Liberal Democrat candidate
Judith Bunting.
She said: “ It’s not often that I
agree with UKIP but in this case I
think they’re spot on – this is no
longer a safe Tory seat.
“The way that Richard Benyon
changed his position was very
disappointing. I don’t think he
has changed his mind, he’s
following the party line.
“He’s choosing party over the
people he represents.
“We need representation of
the people who live here, not a
representative who puts their
needs and political party’s
needs above those of the area.
“To the 48 per cent I say stick
with the Liberal Democrats.
“We are working in every way
we can to stop the destructive
hard Brexit course that Theresa
May is setting the country on.”
Mrs Bunting said that people
should have the choice of another
referendum once a final deal for
leaving the EU had been agreed.
Labour candidate Alex Skirvin
said that Labour would seek a
progressive deal that would not
endanger businesses.
He said: “ It goes to show that
Richard Benyon supports a hard
and dangerous Brexit and that
UKIP associating with him goes
to show what kind of values are
on offer in the election.
“There’s a clear choice
between progressive values
offered by the Labour Party and
regressive hard values offered by
the Conservatives.
“Labour accepts the result of
the referendum, but wants to
retain membership of the customs
union and single market.
“I would also say that the elec-
tion is not just about Brexit. It’s
about schools and local service
cuts, which have had quite a
devastating affect on the local
area and across the country.”
Torycandidate Richard Benyon
Tactical voting encouraged toensure Conservatives holdoffLibDemchallenge
LibDem Judith Bunting Labour candidate AlexSkirvin
Report by JOHNHERRING
email john.herring@newbur
twitter johnh_nwn
Greens warn of funding crisis in schools
WEST Berkshire parents
have beenwarned of a “fund-
ing crisis” in schools – and
Green Party candidate and
headteacher Paul Field has
said it will cause “dreadful
damage” to children.
In a letter sent to parents, 53
West Berkshire primary school
headteachers said that changes
in the way the Government
funds schools “will not bring
the benefits that we had hoped
to see for West Berkshire chil-
dren”.
The headteachers say they
will raise their concerns with
West Berkshire Council, local
MPs and the Government.
The National Association of
Head Teachers (NAHT) says
more than half of school leaders
in England andWales feel their
budget will be “untenable” by
2018/19.
Spending on education as a
percentage of the country’s
GDP has fallen every year
since 2010.
The Green Party’s general
election candidate for Newbury,
Paul Field, is also the head-
teacher at Basildon Primary
School and is one of the 53 local
primary head signatories.
A former chairman of the
PrimaryHeads Association and
current president of the local
NAHT branch, he attended the
NAHT conference in Telford.
He said: “The current fund-
ing crisis will be familiar to
many local voters.
“For a Government to delib-
erately mislead people with
statements about funding being
better than it has ever been is
outrageous.
“They know that in real
terms schools will lose £3bn by
2020 and their dishonesty is an
insult to both the electorate and
the professionalswho serve our
communities.
“The consequences of this
current policy will be devastat-
ing and wide ranging.
“They will cause dreadful
and permanent damage to our
schools and the futures of our
children.
“Education is at the heart of
any civilised society and
impacts every one of us.”
Conservative candidate
Richard Benyon said he had
held frequent conversations
with headteachers and minis-
ters about the issue.
“I know that while the major-
ity of schools continue to have
rising budgets, some of them
don’t,” he said.
“In one sense ,it’s good news
that there’s very low levels of
deprivation in West Berkshire.
“In terms of school funding,
high levels of deprivation have
seen very large increases in
some areas.
“In West Berkshire they
have seen small decreases.”
Mr Benyon said he thought
that schools could survive the
funding arrangements, but the
impact of increases to wages,
national insurance and changes
to pensions and the apprentice-
ship levy was causing concern.
He pledged to support local
schools in parliament if he was
re-elected as MP.
The Labour Party announced
their education policy on Tues-
day, promising to increase
school funding by £4.8bn and
introducing free, life-long
education in colleges.
Labour candidate Alex
Skirvin said concern over
education was an issue with
voters.
He said: “Education matters
to me because it was my pass-
port to a more secure, skilled
and prosperous life.
“I’m proud to have attended
a state school and been the first
person in my family to attend
university.”
He backed Labour’s educa-
tion planannounced by shadow
education secretary Angela
Rayner, which includes restor-
ing the educational mainte-
nance allowance scrapped in
2010.
The policy would be paid
from £20bn by reversing cuts to
corporation tax introduced by
the Conservatives.
Mr Skirvin said: “The
parents we’ve talked to say that
we should be spending more on
education rather than wasting
it on pursuing an obsession
with grammar schools.
“I’m a firm opponent of the
Tory grammar schools agenda.
“Every child has a right to a
quality education – not the right
to sit a single, life-defining
exam at the age of 11.”
Liberal Democrats broke
their pledge to oppose an
increase in fees when they
entered a coalition with the
Conservatives in 2010.
The Lib Dems plan to invest
£6.9bn into schools to protect
pupil funding.
Candidate Judith Bunting
said that West Berkshire
schools would benefit from an
additional £28m from her
party’s policy.
Mrs Bunting, who has
worked in education and as a
science and medical journalist
and broadcaster for more than
20 years, said: “Education is at
the heart of everything we
believe in and everything we
do.
“When headteachers write
to parents like this it’s time to
be worried. We must protect
the education of kids.”
n Primary school headteachers’
letter – see page 16
Green Party candidate PaulField
addresses theNational Association
ofHeadTeachers conference
Lib Dem’s homeless pledge
THE Liberal Democrats have
committed themselves to
ending the “national scandal”
of rough sleeping across
Britain, including in Newbury
and West Berkshire.
Latest figures show that 14
people were sleeping rough in
the district last autumn –
although local charities put the
figure at 25 – and Lib Dem
candidate Judith Bunting said:
“It is a scandal that so many
people are sleeping on the streets
in 21st-century Britain.
“Here in Newbury, we all know
that as well as the people who
have been ‘counted’, many more
sofa surf or are in insecure
accommodation for only the
occasional night, and we know
we have single homeless people
and couples who are sleeping
rough.
“That is why I welcome this
commitment by the Liberal
Democrats to end homelessness
in the UK.”
The series of measures to end
rough sleeping, laid out by the
national party, include introduc-
ing a Housing First provider in
each local authority that would
put long-term homeless people
straight into independent homes
rather than emergency shelters.
The news comes as a coalition of
homelessness charities have
called on political parties to end
rough sleeping in Britain.
Mrs Bunting said:“By increas-
ing practical support for home-
lessness prevention and properly
funding emergency accommoda-
tion, we can end rough sleeping
in Newbury and West Berkshire
and across the country.
“We will ensure that each local
authority has at least one
provider of Housing First
services, to allow long-term
homeless people to live indepen-
dently in their own homes.
“The evidence suggests that
supporting people with a long-
term, stable place to stay is far
more successful in tackling
homelessness than constantly
moving them through the chain
of different temporary
accommodations.
“Under this Government,
homelessness has soared and
young people are being stripped
of housing benefit, threatening to
make matters even worse.
“This election is a chance to
change the direction of this
country and stand up for a can-do
Britain that is open, tolerant and
united.”
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Newbury Weekly News