David Amess

Conservatives are today revealing the full extent of the influence that Unite, the BA strike union, holds over Gordon Brown’s Labour Party. Under Gordon Brown, £11 million - 25 per cent of all Labour Party funding - has come from this single union. 148 Labour MPs and PPCs are bankrolled by the union. And Unite’s Political Director, Charlie Whelan, is helping to run Labour’s election campaign.

David Amess, Member of Parliament for Southend West, visited Darlinghurst School on Friday to present them with their well-deserved Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark 2 Award. The Primary Quality Mark provides a framework that promotes, supports and celebrates the improvement of literacy and mathematics in schools. David was delighted to visit the school and personally congratulate teachers and pupils on their achievements.

David Amess MP visited Westcliff High School for Boys on Friday to talk to students about the Conservative Party and the forthcoming elections. The school is running a ‘Mock General Election’ to shadow the main general election. The voting system is the same, with each form becoming a constituency and each of the three main parties able to put forward candidates from each form.

A budget will be announced on 24th March with absolutely no chance of any of the proposals becoming law before Parliament is dissolved in April and the General Election is formally called. I get the distinct impression that the three year build up to this election has not been helpful in enthusing people to engage in politics again. I do hope that the atmosphere which is still a mixture of apathy and boredom will change. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the government and the way our country is r

This is a humiliating climbdown for Gordon Brown as his attempt to rewrite history has failed and his fantasy figures have been exposed.  The Prime Minister had insisted that the defence budget had risen in real terms every year under Labour - however, Commons figures prove that the budget had actually fallen four times while he was Chancellor. Gordon Brown has made repeated and fundamentally false claims, misleading Parliament, the public and worst of all the Armed Forces and their families.

David Amess, Member of Parliament for Southend West, today questioned the Transport Minister on the likely effects on air quality in the area of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. In February of last year, Labour gave the go ahead for a third runway at Heathrow despite mounting opposition.

David Amess, Member of Parliament for Southend West, this week took part in a panel discussion and debate on “How can we stop winter deaths and end fuel poverty?” The pre-election cross-party debate was organised by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. It was David Amess MP’s Private Members Bill that became the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000, which committed the Government to implementing a strategy to eradicate fuel poverty in England and Wales within a period of no more than 15 years. 

David has today issued the following statement:

This is not a new story. It appeared in a national newspaper in October last year and this was Mr Amess’ response at that time:

Statement by David Amess MP, 19th October 2009

Whoever forms the next government on May 7th, the reality of the seriousness of the state of the British economy will be clear. Our situation is dire, with huge debt as we face a double-dip recession. The government will not be able to delay addressing the situation - action will have to be taken immediately. It is quite clear that today’s Budget will not address this serious situation and restore confidence to the markets. There can be no doubt that the Labour Party has its