Gary's views

MP’S ALLOWANCES

I can go no longer without addressing the thorny issue of MP’s allowances, a matter of great public concern. It is fine for the media and public to be sceptical about their Members of Parliament, but if that lack of respect falls below a certain level the bedrock of our democracy is threatened. We are approaching that tipping point now.

Something needs to change.

There are three kinds of allowances. The first is to run our offices, rent, computers, photocopiers and the like and to tackle the mountains of post, e-mails and phone calls that we get every day from those who have elected us and are looking for help or wish to express a view. This is about £20,000 a year and excites little controversy.

The second allowance is to pay the salaries of the hard working staff who deal with all of the above and generally provide the services that local people demand, as well as conduct research into various issues I am tackling at Westminster and material for speeches etc. This is about £100,000 per year and is essential to do the work. The controversial part of this allowance is we can employ a member of our family. In my case, I have employed Jan on a part time basis since the children left home to help with articles, research, media scrutiny and surgeries. If she did not work for me she would have to work for somebody else and so we would never see each other, so I am happy to defend this decision.

The real hot potato is the second home allowance, especially in relation to London members. This is about £24,000 per annum to defray the cost of staying away from home 3 or 4 nights a week. As it takes 4 hours door to door to get to Westminster from my constituency, a place to put my head in London is necessary, as it is for most of us. The rules permit us to buy or rent or stay in hotels. They also permit the purchase of furniture etc for that second home. As our salaries have been pegged in recent years, this allowance has crept up. It seems that some have abused it. This now needs to be addressed - urgently. But how?

I support the independent review now announced and we will just have to accept its findings whatever it says. What do you think should happen?

WASTE

Last Friday I went to inspect the obsolete New England Quarry on the other side of the road from Lee Mill which is one of the possible sites for the disposal of all of our rubbish for the next 20 years.

Let me start at the beginning. Commendably, 3 of our councils, Plymouth, Torbay and Devon have entered into an alliance to tackle the problem of where to dispose of all of our waste now that Chelson Meadow is full and anyway we are trying to move away from landfill. The partnership has gone out to the private sector to seek bids about how to solve this problem but has also designated four sites locally for possible waste disposal. These are on former MOD land at Ernesettle, the old Imerys site at Coypool, the New England Quarry already mentioned (owned by Viridor) and former MOD land at Wrangaton. I understand that either Ernesettle or Lee Mill are the most likely outcomes.

The preferred solution is almost certain to include a giant incinerator that will burn vast quantities of waste every day, releasing benign (so we are told) gases into the atmosphere through a seventy metre high chimney. The stuff that is left (clinkers) will either be sold or buried in a small landfill site alongside.

All of the possible locations have substantial problems. The waste from Torbay and south Devon will be transported to it every day, so more vehicle movements are involved. The environmental issues are significant. The incinerator will clearly be very visible and another blot on the local landscape, especially the chimney. The impact on surrounding land and rivers of the gases will have to be fully investigated. Perhaps worse, the numbers of lorries rumbling in and out of the site every day will create a nuisance to nearby neighbours. The Lee Mill option will involve 40 more lorries driving through the village which I think is unacceptable.

The process will take about 2 years to get through with much consultation along the way and the feelings of those affected will run high, understandably.

But our waste has got to go somewhere. Supermarkets have got to get better at reducing packaging and we have all got to get better at recycling. But even if we do, there will still be millions of tons of rubbish to be disposed of every year, so this project looks certain to become a reality. Another interesting challenge looms.