Sutton Guardian Q & A with Paul Burstow

11.56.29am GMT Wed 20th Apr 2005

Biography

Paul (42), was born at St Helier Hospital and educated at local schools. He has lived in the area all his life. Married to Mary they live in Cheam with their three children.

Paul served as a Sutton councillor from 1986-2002 where he was responsible for the Council's pioneering 'green' policies. He was elected as MP in 1997 and re-elected in 2001 when he doubled his majority.

Paul has been praised for his work on behalf of older people. The Guardian newspaper described him as "One of the most knowledgeable and effective politicians on older people's issues". Help the Aged nominated him as their Older People's Champion.

Paul is also a Parliamentary Ambassador for the NSPCC, backing their Full Stop campaign.

In 2003 Charles Kennedy promoted Paul to Shadow Health Secretary. Earlier this year the London Evening Standard named Paul as the hardest working out of London's 74 MPs.

Main issues

I want the new Hospital to be built at St Helier not on the Sutton Hospital site.

Liberal Democrats have always opposed Michael Howard's Council Tax, after revaluation it will become even more unfair. Replacing Council Tax with local income tax (LIT) makes a typical household £450 a year better off even before revaluation. After Labour and Tory revaluation plans most homes in this constituency will move up one or more Council Tax bands, bills will rise 20% or more. LIT based on ability to pay needs no revaluation.

Put more Police on our streets to tackle yobs, counter vandalism, deter criminals and make people feel safer. Liberal Democrats will recruit 10,000 more Police, paid for by scrapping ID cards.

I want back garden land protected wherever possible. The Government and Mayor should not bully councillors into agreeing to more housing than our roads, schools and health service can take.

THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Education

Chris Budge, Acting Head, Avenue Primary School, Belmont: "While we are committed to doing the best we can for all children, schools can feel overwhelmed by the number of new initiatives being introduced and the constant pressure for change. How would you address this and ensure adequate time and resources to establish the best new practices?"

ANSWER

Labour have drowned teachers and pupils in red tape and tests - we will give teachers time to teach.

Our children are now the most tested in Europe, but overdoing tests does not improve their education - it just increases stress and wastes money on bureaucracy. Teachers and parents know how every child is doing day to day by spending time with them, not by bureaucratic tests every few years. We will give teachers time to teach, and children time to learn, by abolishing unnecessary tests and red tape in every school, and providing a record of pupil achievement instead.

We will use the £1.5 billion Child Trust Fund money to cut class sizes from 30 to a maximum average for each school of just 20 for children up to 7, and 25 for children up to 11 - so every child gets the best possible start.

Health

Dr David Coldrey, Old Court House Surgery, Throwley Way, Sutton: "Isn't it about time that the country dropped the hot potato of the NHS and adopted the superior French health care system which is funded through a combination of taxation and compulsory private health care insurance?"

ANSWER

No.

I disagree with the premise of the question. You don't get something for nothing. Just changing how we pay for health is not the answer. What is required is sustained investment in the NHS.

It is only in the last three years that the NHS has started to receive funding at levels closer to most other European health systems, France included.

The Conservatives starved the NHS of investment and caused the staffing crisis by cutting the numbers in medical and nurse training.

I am committed to an NHS free on the basis of need funded out of general taxation. I am opposed to the Conservative plan to spend £1.2 billion of taxpayers' money subsidising the private operations for those who can afford them.

I want patients to have real control over all aspects of their healthcare, not just a choice of which hospital to have an operation.

Immigration

Rosemary Bloxham, Chair of Refugee Network Sutton: "Do you feel that when asylum seekers and refugees are used as a political football to gain more votes for an individual party that this may lead to more incidents of racism and intolerance towards minorities?"

ANSWER

YES.

Migrant workers make a net contribution of £2.5bn a year to the UK economy.

Liberal Democrats would increase openness with an independent assessment of the level of need for migrant workers every year, by sector of industry, for example health. For industries with a need for migrant workers we would operate a sector-based 'Green Card' scheme to run parallel to the mainstream work permit system.

We would re-introduce exit controls to alert the authorities when an individual's leave to remain has expired but there is no record of them leaving the UK.

The law makes asylum seekers' dependent on benefits because they are not allowed to work. This is crazy, the law should be changed so asylum seekers can work to pay their own way, and use their skills to benefit us all. For example, there are 1,000 medically qualified asylum seekers who are not allowed to work.

Tax/economy

Paul R Cawthorne, Sutton Business Federation: "Sutton currently has a thriving economy with potential for significant growth for existing and new businesses. As the majority of working residents are employed in the Borough, if you are elected, how will you help Sutton businesses to prosper and thereby retain or increase local employment?"

ANSWER

Liberal Democrats will cut the red tape and bureaucracy that are holding business back - especially small businesses, which are so important to Sutton's local economy.

We will reform business rates to allow small firms with a rateable value of less than £25,000 to claim a business rate allowance of up to £1,500. This means a saving of over £600 a year for the majority of small businesses.

We will cut the Department of Trade and Industry's bureaucratic and wasteful functions and transfer its useful roles to more appropriate departments. This will save over £8 billion of taxpayers' money which we will invest in higher priorities, such as education and training.

I fought and helped to save local Chemists from closure and against Post Office closures. I will carry on my campaign to keep the Post Office to its promise to build up services in the remaining branches.

Iraq War

Yvonne Bracken-Kemish, chair Sutton Humanist Group: "The mistreatment of prisoners by American forces at Guantanamo Bay and American and British forces in Iraq has been well documented. Is the use of torture to obtain information justifiable under any circumstances?"

ANSWER

NO.

If the rule of law and respect for human rights mean anything torture cannot be acceptable.

I was invited to visit New York in December 2001 after the attack on the Twin Towers as part of an all-party delegation of MPs visiting the UN. The attack had galvanised the UN, it had united the world in the fight against terrorism. That unity of purpose and the prospects for a safer world were shattered by the decision to invade Iraq.

I voted in the House of Commons against the war. I believe that Tony Blair was and still is too close to George Bush. The Conservatives have been no better; they failed to provide an effective opposition.

The UN Weapons Inspectors should have been allowed to complete their work. I believe that had MPs known how flimsy the intelligence evidence was Parliament would not have voted for war.

Transport

Gari Sullivan, of campaign group Commuter Voice: "Public transport in the rest of Europe costs 70 per cent less than it does here. What systems would you put in place to ensure a reduction in fares?"

ANSWER

We have no plans to cut fares. Most European countries have higher levels of tax to subsidise their public transport.

We have published a costed Manifesto, which can be read at therealalternative.org, which sets out all our plans for Government and how they would be paid for.

Conservative privatisation left the railways in a mess, but Labour has not solved the problems. Rail strategy has been too short-termist.

Liberal Democrats will streamline the system, with fewer, larger rail franchises given longer contracts in return for more investment and better services. We will use savings from the roads budget to prioritise station safety, and to restore the key upgrades postponed or cancelled by Labour.

When I was on the Council I pioneered the introduction of local hoppa bus services in the borough. I have successfully campaigned to get Transport for London to agree to extend the S4 into north Sutton soon.

Road Safety

Jack Hamilton, South Sutton Neighbourhood Association: "A parliamentary select committee for transport report on road traffic speed estimated that the social cost of road traffic deaths and injuries in Britain is 17 billion a year. What would your party do to reduce the carnage on our roads?"

ANSWER

By 2010 we aim to reduce road casualties by 40%. A key element of this strategy would be the development of 'Home Zones' in residential areas to reduce vehicle speed. Such scheme would only be introduced after consultation and where residents support them.

Home Zones, common in places like Amsterdam, give legal priority to pedestrians over cars and reduce speed to around 10-15mph through changes to street design. This approach builds on the work that Sutton Council has been doing over a number of years which has cut the number of road deaths in this borough.

Children walking to school get fit for life - but it must be safe. Fewer school-run car journeys also mean less pollution, less congestion and fewer road deaths. Supporting local Councils nationally Liberal Democrats would promote Safe Routes to School with calmed traffic, safe pavements, good lighting and grown-ups on hand to conduct "walking buses".