New Year - New Challenges

I have two resolutions and they come as political and non-political

The first one is to cycle more often. I cycle quite a bit but mainly as a fair weather cyclist. Given Kingston is quite small it really should be something we all do, if we can.

The second resolution is to do something about Council Tax. The level of Council Tax has become a sad joke as the Government has abused it and local councils have u8sed the excuse to rapidly expand their staff numbers. We always blame the Government for it but as a Council we have some power in our hands. The tax is really hitting single householders and the elderly hard but is also now cutting into the spending of families. I am aware that there are other methods of taxation available to raise tax locally and I for one would be keen to see Councils having more tax raising power rather than relying on Government grant for so much of their spending. However, for now the tax system is not going to change and we must do what we can to help the vulnerable and those being penalised by this tax.

For once in my political career it is good to be a Conservative and exciting times lie ahead for the party, Kingston and the Country.