David McLetchie
- Name:
- David McLetchie
- Party:
- Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
- Constituency:
- Edinburgh Pentlands
- Election result May 2003:
- 12420 votes (37.21%), first of five candidates
- Election literature available in Aspect:
-
- Election policy statement:
- STOP THE TOLLS
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. VOTE SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE.
The Scottish Conservatives are the only Party to have opposed Labour's Road Tolls plan in both the Scottish Parliament and the City of Edinburgh Council.
Edinburgh Pentlands is a two horse race between Labour and Conservative. The choice is clear. You can vote for the Labour Minister for Tolls or you can vote for David McLetchie to stop the tolls before they start.
The Scottish Parliament has been a huge disappointment, not least to many of the people who voted for it in the Referendum back in 1997.
Money has been wasted on an unprecedented scale, typified by the £300million overspend on the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. Taxes have gone up but our public services are no better and far too much time and attention has been focussed on irrelevancies rather than on issues such as health, education and law and order in our communities which are what really matter to people.
It's time to do something about it. With your support here in Edinburgh Pentlands, we can make a fresh start, set the Parliament straight and give Scotland the government its people deserve.
David McLetchie
David McLetchie on the Holyrood fiasco:
"The scandal of the new Parliament building sums up everything that's wrong about the last four years. Money wasted. Perverse priorities. An arrogant indifference to public opinion. Overweening government. The Scottish Conservatives will cut government in Scotland down to size, halve the number of ministers, reduce the number of MSPs and reform the Parliament to make it work more effectively on your behalf."
David McLetchie on tackling crime:
"The Scottish Executive thinks we have enough police officers in Edinburgh. I do not. Since 1997 crimes of violence have increased by 22% and the overall crime count is up by 12%. Frankly our police force is overstretched given all the new demands upon it. That's why the Scottish Conservatives are committed to allocating an additional £45 million to forces throughout Scotland specifically for community policing. We need more police on the streets to deter and detect crime and a criminal justice system that backs them up."
David McLetchie on our health service:
"Despite all the extra taxes that we've paid and the best efforts of its staff, in many important respects the NHS is simply not delivering the standard of care our people have a right to expect. Waiting lists and times are longer than they were in 1999, hospitals are understaffed by nurses and the number of cancelled operations is up by more than 4,000. The NHS is crying out for real reform.
We need to halt the increasing centralisation of the service, give more power to hospitals and GPs and create a genuine partnership between the NHS and the independent sector so that all our health facilities are used for the benefit of NHS patients."
David McLetchie on taxes and red tape:
"We've had 53 tax increases since 1997 including Gordon Brown's increase in National Insurance contributions which started this month. Council Tax in Edinburgh has risen by 28% since 1997 - more than double the rate of inflation. Our businesses pay a rate which is 9% higher than it is in England. Red tape is also proliferating - more than 1300 sets of regulations have been passed by the Scottish Parliament alone in the last four years.
The Scottish Conservatives are pledged to a real terms freeze in council tax over the next three years and a cut in business rates to restore a uniform level across the UK. We will stop Labour's plans for road tolls in Edinburgh and scrap the £2,000 graduate tax which our students will shortly have to start paying.
We are determined to cut unnecessary red tape in Scotland and will demand that every government department scour the statute book and bring forward to Parliament for repeal all laws and regulations of no proven worth or need."
STOP THE TOLLS ON 1st MAY
THE ELECTIONS to the Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh Council are a not to be missed opportunity to stop Labour's tolls plan in its tracks
The tolls scheme will unfairly penalise people who live in Edinburgh Pentlands. For example residents of Balerno and Currie live outside the proposed outer cordon and will have to pay £2 per day to go anywhere in their own city, never mind the city centre. Moreover streets in other areas such as Oxgangs, Colinton and Morningside will become even more congested as motorists try to avoid the city centre tolls cordon.
The tolls will hit motorists on lower incomes particularly hard. For them it's already a financial struggle to run the family car given that we pay the highest fuel taxes in Europe - the introduction of tolls could add another £500 a year to the cost.
Tolls will not reduce congestion in Edinburgh. Financial support for improved public transport should come from the taxes we already pay without tolls being levied on top.
The present MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Iain Gray, is the Minister for Transport in the Scottish Executive. He has already granted approval to Edinburgh Council's scheme in principle. He is the Minister for Tolls.
The Scottish Conservatives led by David McLetchie are the only party to have opposed the tolls scheme in both the Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh Council. The rest all voted for so called congestion charging. By voting for David McLetchie and the Scottish Conservatives you can do something about it and help to scrap the tolls.
David McLetchie pledges to:
1. Scrap Labour's tolls plan.
2. Preserve our city's green belt and open spaces.
3. Strengthen community policing in Edinburgh Pentlands.
4. Cut taxes and red tape.
STOP THE TAX AND WASTE
Tax and waste sums up the Labour approach to governing our country, aided and abetted in Scotland by their Liberal Democrat allies.
This is perfectly summed up by the scandal of the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. The final bill is likely to be at £340m -nearly 9 times the original estimate. The money wasted on "Follyrood" could have built 100 new primary schools or 25 new secondary schools or 3 brand new state of the art hospitals, Instead it has been money poured down the drain on a palace for politicians.
David McLetchie says: "We must learn the lessons of the Holyrood fiasco, Scottish Conservatives are committed to cutting government and parliament in Scotland down to size. We would halve the number of ministers and reduce the number of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament in line with the planned reduction at Westminster. We want a more focussed, harder working parliament which concentrates on real issues such as health and education, rather than some of the nonsenses of the last four years.
We are paying more in taxes than ever before, There have been 53 tax increases since 1997 but many public services are no better. For example, patients are waiting for longer on longer lists for hospital treatment and there are real concerns about standards of attainment and discipline in many of our schools.
The Scottish Conservatives are committed to cutting waste and to real reforms which will improve services and provide value for money.
SAVE OUR GREEN SPACES
The green belt and green spaces within our city are under renewed attack from over development following the approval given by the Scottish Executive to the building of another 175 flats on the playing fields at Meggetland. Applications for sizeable developments at Currievale and elsewhere in Currie and Colinton are pending and have attracted strong local opposition.
David McLetchie has been active in his opposition to major new housing developments in the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, He says: "As we know Edinburgh is an attractive place to live and work and the strong housing market in the city has put a lot of development pressure on green spaces and our green belt. We must act to preserve our quality of life. That means putting up the "house full" sign so far as most of the city is concerned and encouraging development outwith the city boundary e.g. in the Borders where improved road connections and a new rail link would encourage people to live there and commute to work in Edinburgh, to the benefit of us all".
David McLetchie says:-
"Taxes. Taxes. Taxes. It's the same old Labour story whether it's Council Tax or business rates or this month's increase in National Insurance contributions. And it's not as if our public services are any better. Waiting lists and waiting times in the NHS are actually longer than they were four years ago. Violent crime is on the increase and too many of our communities are plagued with vandalism and disorder. Money is being wasted left, right and centre. It's time to do something about it here in Scotland.
Scottish Conservatives are pledged to cut taxes and red tape, put more police officers on the streets, reform our health service and deliver value for money."
- Personal details used in election:
- David McLetchie has been the Leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament and a regional MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians since he was first elected in 1999.
An Edinburgh man through and through, he is deeply committed to this city and its people. A solicitor by profession he is well equipped to represent the interests of people in Edinburgh Pentlands.
David is married to Sheila who is a theatre nurse in the Royal Infirmary and has a 21 year old son, James, by his first marriage to his late wife Barbara. Away from politics, he is an enthusiastic golfer and a devoted supporter of Heart of Midlothian.
- Further information:
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http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/david_mcletchie/