Lincoln Liberal Democrats

Reg Shore

Dear Reg,

Today I launched my pamphlet, Lost labours, with Nick Clegg.

As somebody who has a long involvement with the Labour party, including editing the New Statesman magazine, I have been able to give a frank and honest appraisal of a decade and a half of New Labour. And in it I explain why I can no longer support them, and am instead turning to the Liberal Democrats.

Alongside one million other voters, I deserted Labour in 2005 in protest at Iraq in favour of the Liberal Democrats, the only party to oppose the war. My decision to back the Lib Dems in 2010 is based in a more fundamental appraisal of Labour’s record together with a positive assessment of the Liberal Democrats’ platform.

New Labour in office has had one all-consuming purpose: re-election.

Since 1997, their every working day was based around the task of prolonging their term of office. It filled in the ideological hollow and justified ever-encroaching authoritarianism and a pandering to the right on criminal justice and other areas of social policy.

In contrast, the Liberal Democrat analysis of the failures of the deregulated market has been consistently, and painfully, accurate. Nick Clegg’s tax reform plans, taking four million low paid workers out of tax altogether, are the most redistributive of any party. And the Liberal Democrat approach to criminal justice, human rights, foreign and social policy is close to mine.

People can only for so long be exhorted to hold their nose, to vote for a party they feel has let them down, simply because the alternative is worse. It is deeply damaging to politics to resort perpetually to the double negative. The Liberal Democrats offer a positive, radical and different vision. That is why they have my support.

Best wishes,

John Kampfner

John Kampfner

The New Statesman’s circulation reached 70,000 by 1945 and it became a key player in Labour politics

PPC profile questions
Constituency: Lincoln

REG SHORE

1. What was your first political experience?

My first political experience was more of a gradual awakening. When I was four, I discovered that not everyone lived in a Council house…nor did everyone live on a Council estate. When I was in my early teens I was disappointed by an education system that was geared to favour a different class from my own, that spoke a different language that I had to learn in order to compete in the world.

Joining the Lib Dem Family

2. Why did you join your party?

I joined the Liberal Democrats when Labour moved to the Right and began to emulate aspects of Conservatism; a creed, which I find utterly unpalatable. The Lib Dems were the only party who promised to seek the creation of a fair society and I have not been disappointed thus far!

3. What did you do before becoming a PPC?

I have been and continue to be a performing arts specialist and teacher. I have nurtured famous actors, artistically directed a theatre company, and attained three National Awards. As an Arts College leader, I led my school to Arts Specialist status on three occasions and gained Arts Mark Gold four times. I have been recognized by Ofsted as being an excellent teacher.
I was Leader of West Lindsey District Council during one of its most successful periods in which I steered it through unprecedented growth, reorganisation and economic regeneration; not to mention successfully dealing with a flooding crisis and an earthquake!

4. What are your biggest interests outside politics?

I create – theatre usually, but I am prepared to create almost anything such as art works, music, poetry – anything really.

5. What’s your favourite political song?

‘Yellow’ by Coldplay. Chris Martin says he wrote this with the ‘Yellow Pages’ in mind but as he’s a Lib Dem supporter, I suspect it’s really about the Party colours…sorry Chris! I enjoy performing and was part of a folk group for a time – most of our songs had a political edge and I relished the passion in this aspect of performance.

6. What’s your favourite political movie?

There are so many political stories that I would love to see as a movie – for example, Germinal by Emile Zola; a story about the ongoing class struggle in France, even after the Revolution. It’s a detailed and moving epic, which would make a great film and this genre really attracts me.

More up to date and closer to home, I love to see my British working class roots and the graphic problems of that era shown through film. To this end I adored, ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’, set against the backcloth of industrial Nottingham. Or ‘The full Monty’ – this hilarious film is set in the wastelands of the steel city, Sheffield. The scars on the landscape are there for all to see in this tragi-comedy, which tracks the consequences of Thatcher’s annihilation of our once mighty industrial base.

7. What makes you suited to representing your constituency?

I love Lincoln. I love its people. It’s a fantastic city.

I want to see it grow and thrive. I want it to become the tourist attraction that it deserves to be. I want to be a driver to find solutions to problems that are all too common across the Eastern and Northern tracts of Great Britain. I want to get to grips with the awful deprivation in some areas – some of the worst in Britain (on a scale of deprivation where the lower the figure the worse the deprivation, one Lincoln Ward is number 166 out of 32,000) And I want break the cycle of third generation unemployment that can be found in some areas, by developing jobs. I want to make a difference as I have done in Gainsborough, and as I have done in my school career.

8. Why do you think you would be a good MP?

I have the ability to think creatively and imaginatively, searching out radical solutions to problems that are hard to solve. I can think strategically to seek out the steps necessary for sustainable answers – not based on quick fixes, but answers that will develop ‘stamina’ and create stronger foundations that serve and benefit those that follow.

Locally, I believe this can be achieved by bringing key players together. I can also add to the debate on the national stage, as we work towards developing an economy to rival our most efficient competitors and partners – for example, Germany or the Nordic states. Lincoln has the talent and the skills, but needs direction and leadership. I believe that I have this to offer.

9. What are your main policy interests?

There are several areas of policy that I find interesting including Economics, Business and Enterprise, and Transport, all of which are particularly important to Lincoln.

Being resident in Lincolnshire, I also have a instinctive affinity to the Natural Environment and Rural Affairs, but my expertise sits with Education as I have been a teacher most of my life and have a depth of understanding which helps when I am getting to grips with issues like ‘Closing the Gap’ – an initiative which seeks to recover the attainment that a child from a poorer background will lose against someone with the same IQ but from a better-off background.

10. If you had the chance to pass one law, what would it be?

I believe that our democracy needs further refinement in many ways – most crucially through proportional representation. The present electoral system does not represent the views of the people. In 2005, Labour got 36% of the vote gaining them 57% of the seats. The Liberal Democrats on 23% of the vote gained only 10% of the seats in Parliament. Our voting system must reflect the will of the people so that our Parliament is truly representative of the national voice.

My Labour opponent was elected in 2005 when a mere 22% of the electors chose her. We must seek a better way than this!

11. Who is your favourite political figure and why?

As with many others I admire Winston Churchill – who was himself a Liberal at one stage. I admire his style and his perceptive intelligence, his creativity and his resilience. He was a true Brit, which is quite ironic as he was half American – I like this too!

12. Summarise your beliefs in one sentence.

By working together we can achieve things that we can only dream of as one.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Lincoln, Reg Shore, has signed up to Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Commitment, aiming to make UK cancer outcomes among the best in Europe in the next ten years.

Lets beat cancer together - Making outcomes some of the best in the world

Reg said: “I am delighted to pledge my support for Cancer Research UK’s vital campaign. Cancer remains the public’s number one fear.
With a concerted effort from the next Parliament, we can give hope to the millions of people affected by cancer and their friends and family.”
More than one in three people in Lincoln will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime. In the last thirty years, the UK’s 10-year survival rates have doubled but cancer survival rates still lag behind the best performing countries in Europe such as Sweden, Norway and Finland. Cancer Research UK is calling on Parliamentary candidates to commit now so that if they are elected, they will help make cancer outcomes for patients in the UK among the best in Europe in a decade.

Reg believes Parliament ought to take action in five key areas:

• Detecting cancer earlier
• Providing world class treatment
• Preventing more cancers
• Tackling cancer inequalities
• Protecting the UK’s research base

Jon Spiers, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigning at Cancer Research UK, said, “To consign today’s cancer challenges to tomorrow’s history books, we must act now.

Our thousands of scientists and our millions of supporters are hoping to see MPs in the next Parliament step up to the challenge.”

For information on Cancer Research UK’s Commit To Beat Cancer campaign, visit: www.CommitToBeatCancer.org

Come and join us at Brayford Pool in Lincoln on Sunday 21st March at 1.00 pm for the second Liberal Democrat International Duck Race.

You can buy a duck (or even several ducks) and enter the great race for a chance of winning one of the top prizes.

Hope to see you there and good luck

HIGHER EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE by REG SHORE

Young people I have spoken to are deeply passionate about what kind of a world we are all creating; they want a release from the chains of the old ways; they demand change.
They seek a fairer world built upon honesty and principle; a place where they can use their talents to help build a brighter tomorrow; free from speculators who gamble with our economy for the want of a fast buck. They seek a country that invests in young people because it recognizes their worth; a country that is safe, progressive and forward thinking.
The future of this nation lies in their hands and Governments seem to be making it more difficult to get on.
Labour promised 50% more people into universities. We now learn that hundreds of thousands of potential students will miss out on places this year due to higher education spending cuts. Targeting universities for cuts in this way is setting us up to see record numbers of bright young people turned away this summer. The Conservatives have sat back and let this happen. They have done nothing to oppose these cuts, because their own education policies don’t bear close inspection.
The extent to which Labour has let down young people, casting them onto the scrapheap of insecurity and unemployment, will surely be one of its most shameful legacies. As an educationist I am appalled by the present state of education funding and this includes tuition fees, student loans, compromised bursaries and cuts to Higher Education.
Remember Blair’s warcry, ‘Education! Education! Education!
We now know the truth behind those words. Students will pay higher tuition fees, they will suffer increasing debts and have less choice. More and more people now decide not to go to University because they cannot afford to. It is laughable that a socialist government offers discounts for those who pay off their loans early when only the well off can afford to do this.
A young lady, relatively fresh out of university, works for me. She attended Brunel University and had to take out a £20,000 loan in order to fund her studies and this was despite help from her father. She recently started to repay that loan which has risen, in a few short years, to £25,000.
You will be burdened with paying off debts, at times in your lives when you can least afford it.
Some hold out a blind hope that the Tories will rescue this. Unfortunately, from their track record, they will tell you one thing and do the other. They have rules for the rich and others for the poor. But they don’t put those in their manifestos. For example, access to top universities for students from poorer backgrounds is still woefully inadequate. Conservatives prefer selective Grammar Schools, which overwhelmingly favour the better off. I do not hold out much hope that they will come to the rescue of state Higher Education.

Liberal Democrats’ biggest spending commitment is to education. We will Scrap Tuition Fees, as we have already done in Scotland, so that new graduates will not be saddled with thousands of pounds worth of debt at a time when they are already struggling to find a job and make ends meet. Liberal Democrats believe that a university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost: We have a fully costed plan to do this over a six year period.

Liberal Democrats believe that people who find themselves out of work should also be helped to find suitable training courses without worrying about the costs so that adult learners can access the training they need.

Recently, a relatively young ‘mature’ student in Lincoln, who under-achieved at school and was out of work, decided to try to build a future for himself. He was accepted for a prestigious level 3 Music course in London, which offered later access to a degree course. He could find no source of support whatsoever.

Without parents to help him and Government schemes proving impossible to access, despite being eligible for and being awarded an Adult Learning Grant, he got nothing.

It was later discovered that the college had tried several times to register for this particular scheme but was told that all funding was exhausted and therefore students would have to ‘whistle’.

As well as studying for a full time course he was also working, virtually full time, just to exist. He was recently offered an unconditional offer from Leeds University – but this struggle exemplifies what young people have to go through to get on.

Liberal Democrats believe that high quality education and training, accessible to all, is crucial to the achievement of a fair, free and open society, by helping people to gain the skills, knowledge and aspiration to move onward and upward. It improves the productivity of the nation and our employers and above all, it widens people’s horizons and opens up new choices and experiences to them

We say education is important because we mean it.
The educated or skilled citizen will access higher pay and therefore return higher level of tax payments. There is of course the added value of their positive input into society. I believe that the value that young people can add is priceless.
I believe that young people the right to reach their full potential and denying that opportunity is immoral and shortsighted.
There is an issue about the impact H.E. cuts will have upon research and development in Universities, especially as this Government is presently advising that these budgets could be used to support maintaining courses.
In a world where we need to maximize our ability to compete with global competition, it is essential that we have people with the tools to strengthen and then maintain our position as a potent force, with the strength and depth to help generate the new industries essential to our nations future.
We need to rediscover our talent for making things as well as placing bets on the international money markets.
What kind of a society do we want to see?
More of the same?
Beware, the old landlord is on his way back, having simply been out to change his clothes.
The choice is ours!

Reg Shore
Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate LINCOLN

Whodunnit?

What is it about politicians accepting responsibility?

When the Audit Commission says something positive about an issue that they have independently and scrupulously investigated the politicians can’t wait to highlight their triumphs in the press because it is invariably seen by them as their personal achievement.

However, when the same body draws our attention to weaknesses or problems, we find the same voices shouting in denial. When the Audit Commission discovers unpleasant facts, or signs of failure, politicians can become deaf to facts and figures, and completely dismissive of thorough research. There is an old saying – success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan!

This has happened a couple of times recently. You may recall that it was reported that the ex-Leader of West Lindsey was supposedly criticised in an audit into the Council’s Planning and Governance. They didn’t say what he wanted to hear so he challenged their findings and to my knowledge is still doing so – despite the fact that his own party clearly think that there is substance in the matter as, having had sight of the report, suspended him forthwith.

Yesterday I read that our own MP is now doing the same. The Commission have found that despite 10 years of Labour Government there are still major issues regarding Child Health. Instead of taking it on the chin and using the knowledge to make things better, we find Ms Merron issuing a statement clearly implying that things are really quite rosy in Labour’s garden.

Today we are yet again treated to the shortfalls of our MPs as we discover the extent of their expense excesses. You would think that this would be an opportunity for a little humility from our local member, Ms Merron. A little bit of, “I dun it but I’m sorry and it won’t happen again” would go a long way with most folks. Unfortunately, what we get is the usual denial along the lines of ‘I acted properly but it was an error.’ Errors from 2007 to 2009 to be precise! In Ms Merron’s case she repaid £6,305 overpayment for mortgage interest payments on her second home. In effect this is an interest free loan, starting in 2007, using taxpayers’ money, to secure ownership of a second property. Try convincing the average homeowner that this is not a gravy train.

Let's Get Real

Taking responsibility for our actions and showing by example must begin at the top, and can begin by people showing moral courage to stand by their actions, right or wrong. If individuals can take ownership of failure as well as success we could be able to build truly caring and unselfish foundations to political life in Britain; then we would be seen to be doing the right thing, at all times!

Reg Shore
Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Lincoln

I thought I would take this opportunity to express my admiration for a large group of young people (and older ones too) who spent Saturday night (30th January) outside, at the Old Cemetery, Rosemary Lane, in a temporary cardboard city, on one of the coldest nights of the year.

Their aim was to draw attention to one of the problems of our time – homelessness.

Reg and Jonathan Goldsmith

This major issue can be witnessed virtually any day as you walk through the city. I have witnessed the homeless in several locations including; under Brayford Bridge, in the High Street and under Pelham Bridge as well as the Polish encampment, on the banks of the Witham.

The charity Crisis estimates that some 380,000 people are without a home, almost equal to the population of Manchester. It projects that this figure could rise to one million by 2020 on present trends

Crisis found 33 percent suffered complex problems including mental ill health and addiction. They are urgently in need of specialist help including psychiatric assessment and care, detox and rehabilitation support. Many are not in touch with specialist drug or mental health workers and few are even registered with a GP.

I recall a tragic story in Lincoln from just a few years ago where a former pupil of mine, suffering from a raft of personal problems including addiction, health and mental health issues, died alone in a disused service station right in the heart of our city. It was heart breaking.

However, less obviously but probably much more widespread, is the related problem of ‘couch surfing’. These are people who also have no home of their own, for whatever reason, who simply move from one house floor or sofa to the next, depending on the kindness of their friends for a roof over their heads. They live in constant insecurity, are vulnerable to all manner of danger and are in no position to start to build any sort of a life in an increasingly challenging and competitive world.

We desperately need to address these issues and develop a much more caring and people centric society that gets the best out of people and does not leave them to wither on the vine.

I am extremely grateful to all the workers and people down at the YMCA for highlighting this important concern but I am particularly thankful for the hard work of one volunteer at the centre, Jonathan Goldsmith, for his vision and hard work. Well done to everyone involved. You are showing us all how effective young people can be. Now let’s hope that the authorities make the efforts required to support the needy in this city.

Reg Shore

1. Jonathan Holmes asks: “As a student, I am struggling to survive on the financial support available.  Would any of you support the proposed rise in tuition fees at a time when many people are struggling to afford university in the first place?”

Rise in tuition fees?

Letters to the Editor, Lincolnshire Echo Saturday, October 31, 2009

In response to the letter from a Conservative councillor to the Echo on Tuesday, in which he names me and challenges the readership to, ‘take a closer look at Lib Dem policy’, I would like to make the following comments.

Firstly, contrary to his assertion that we fear scrutiny, I would absolutely welcome people to, ‘take a closer look at Lib Dem policies’, where they will find that we are the most progressive and innovative of the three main parties – leading the way in all areas of policy.

The writer adopts the usual pre-election campaign stance of most Conservative politicians and we’ve heard it all before – the use of fear tactics.
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Letters to the Editor, Lincolnshire Echo Friday, October 23, 2009

I enjoyed the letter in the Echo on October 12 where the writer, clearly a Labour supporter, referred to Dick Taverne as an excellent man.

I wholeheartedly agree. He is a visionary, a world-class leader and a very good friend to Lincoln.

It is therefore important that your readers are made aware that his choice for the next election in Lincoln is Liberal Democrat Reg Shore.
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