Press Releases

13 October 2009: Mary Macleod at Conservative Party Conference
Hounslow Borough mentioned as a good example At the Conservative Party Conference last week in Manchester, the London Borough of Hounslow was highlighted as a good example for the rest of the country to follow. Mary Macleod, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, was speaking in the Economy debate, just before George Osborne MP, the Shadow Chancellor, made his speech. Mary commented, “We need to create an environment to encourage enterprise and innovation, encouraging people to take opportunities of creating new businesses to build up our economy for the future. We can help by not increasing taxes, including council tax. “In the London Borough of Hounslow we have not increased council tax for the last three years and still have delivered efficiencies and performance improvement without impacting front-line service - much needed after 35 years of Labour rule locally.
What is important now, is that we get our economy back to where it needs to be as soon as we possibly can. We are the Party that created a strong, sustainable economy before and the people of this country can trust us to do it again.”
16 June 2009: Mayor of London visits Hounslow
64% of residents think he is heading in the right direction Mayor Boris Johnson walked through the Hounslow town centre on Friday to meet local residents in the Borough. He had just been to Hounslow Manor School to launch ‘Freewheel’, a free mass cycling event to be held in Hounslow on 9th August around some of the Borough’s green spaces, with the aim of encouraging less confident cyclists and their families to get their bikes out. Boris had recently sent out a survey to approx. 20,000 local residents in Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, Osterley and Hounslow. He asked if people felt that London was heading in the right direction. 64% of residents said that it was. Mary commented, “Boris, as Mayor of London, is delivering many of his election promises. He has put more police on buses and train stations.
He has banned alcohol from public transport. He has extended pensioners’ Freedom Pass to 24 hour operation and given veterans free travel. He has frozen the Mayor’s portion of the council tax and scrapped the £25 congestion charge on family vehicles. He has redirected money from GLA marketing budgets and spent it on parks, planting more street trees, funding more crime fighters and cracking down on illegal minicabs. Operation Blunt 2 has lifted thousands of knives off the streets of London. “In his first year of Mayor, Boris Johnson has really delivered change for Londoners. More needs to be done, but 64% of local residents think that he is heading in the right direction and doing the right things to improve this great city of ours.”
11 May 2009: Local support for Gurkhas
Mary Macleod supports the campaign for Gurkhas living in the UK Mary Macleod, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, visited Dharma Tamang, the President of the Hounslow Branch of GAESCO (Gurkha Army Ex Servicemens Organisation) at the weekend, with Cllr Paul Lynch. Mr Tamang last week appeared at the Home Office Select Committee when they discussed Gurkha entry and residence rights and fought alongside Joanna Lumley in the campaign for justice for Gurkhas. Mary commented, “It was a pleasure to meet Mr Tamang as I wanted to show my support to him and the work he is doing. I believe that people who fight for our country should have the right to come and live in our country. Former Gurkhas, and other foreign-born ex-service personnel, have already contributed to our society, and have therefore earned the right to come here. I am delighted that a Conservative Government would allow pre-1997 Gurkhas the right to settle in the UK. I am also committed to helping newly arrived Gurkhas and Nepalese integrate fully within the local community.”
15 April 2009: Fighting Crime Locally
Chris Grayling MP, Shadow Home Secretary, looks at crime in the Borough Chris Grayling MP, Shadow Home Secretary, visited the Borough on Wednesday 25th March to look at crime in Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, Osterley and Hounslow. Mr Grayling began his visit by being part of a panel in Chiswick Town Hall at a public meeting that was open to all local residents to look at ways of reducing crime in the local community. Mary Macleod, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, chaired the meeting and was joined on the panel by Superintendent Phipps from the Metropolitan Police, Cllr John Todd and Margaret Bourne from Victim Support. Superintendent Phipps described the complexities of policing in the Hounslow Borough with 140 languages, between 212-260,000 people living in the area and with half of those arrested for petty crimes, testing positive for drugs. The police though have made progress with surveillance on gateways into high-risk burglary areas, following suspect vehicles and removing Class A drug dealers from the area.
Cllr John Todd highlighted the initiatives that the Council have undertaken in relation to reducing crime – increasing CCTV cameras in underpasses, organising a leadership course for young people who have been in trouble and creating drink free zones. Chris Grayling, in his role as Shadow Home Secretary, highlighted four areas which he saw as a priority: zero tolerance on low level criminality such as broken wing mirrors, anti-social behavior and graffiti before it leads to more serious crimes; ending the caution culture that has developed to save police paperwork and achieve targets; reviewing the licensing laws; and reducing the amount of paperwork that the police have to deal with. Mr Grayling’s visit ended with a tour of the Borough with the Drugs Squad to see the impact of drugs locally and to hear what the police were doing to identify those involved in selling drugs and the challenges they had to deal with to ensure a conviction. Mary commented, “Something needs to be done about burglaries, vehicle crime and drug-related crime in London to make sure we all are safe at home, at work, on the street and in the community. Drugs are having a detrimental impact on the lives of local residents and this issue needs to be dealt with immediately.”
1 April 2009: Conservative Candidate Makes Expenses Pledge
Mary Macleod, Conservative candidate for Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, Osterley & Hounslow, has promised not to claim the additional expenses allowance if she is given the honour of representing her constituents in the House of Commons. The candidate points out that many residents commute into central London on a daily basis and that no area of the constituency is too far from Westminster. “If I am elected by Brentford & Isleworth to represent the constituency in Parliament, I promise that I will not claim the Additional Cost Allowance. I will be there to promote the interests of my constituents and to be their delegate in the House of Commons, and therefore must be accountable to them on all levels and at all times. It is important that we use taxpayers’ money appropriately and do not waste it for personal gain. We urgently need to clean up politics and speed up the review on MPs’ expenses.” Last year Mary called for a tightening of Parliamentary expenses.
Members of Parliament in the past, as well as having a budget for managing their offices and parliamentary work, have also been able to claim an ‘Additional Cost Allowance’. This is meant to help MPs meet the cost of maintaining a second home. Mary commented: “there are constituencies a long way from London and therefore circumstances where these expenses are justified. But they must be open and transparent and should not be used by those in commutable distance from London. This is money coming from the public purse and therefore must be accounted for. I do not believe that two MPs should be able to charge accommodation costs for the same house if they are living there as a married couple. This is a shared second home, so the allowance should be shared. In business, we are required to give receipts for any amount we are claiming… and this should apply, even more so, for Members of Parliament, when their expenses are being paid for by the tax payer. If we want politicians to be trusted, then they must act in a trustworthy way. An open and transparent system and an immediate stop to any abuse of expenses, will help to make this happen.”

10 February 2009: Community Cohesion at Work

Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion visits Hounslow
Baroness Warsi, Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion, visited Hounslow yesterday to see some of the work that has been done locally within the community. Along with Mary Macleod, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, she visited HAAYA (Hounslow Asian and African Youth Association) and met some young people who are participating in some of the HAAYA projects.

Mary commented,

“HAAYA has done some excellent work in the local community, in trying to bring out the best in young people living in Hounslow. They get involved in educational and cultural projects with the aim of improving the morale and aspirations of potentially disadvantaged or disillusioned young people. It is really important to give youngsters the confidence to achieve whatever they want to in life.”

Sayeeda and Mary then attended a Hounslow Community Reception with Conservative Councillors and local businesses and residents, hosted by Urban Spice restaurant.

Saira Khan, an entrepreneur, former contestant in ‘The Apprentice’ and local resident, introduced Sayeeda to the guests.

Saira talked about her experiences of being brought up in Britain and the values of hard work, focus and determination, which have helped her get to where she is now.

In her address at the Community Reception, Sayeeda mentioned how important it was to work across religious and ethnic groups and bring them together in the community. She did not feel that giving government funding to just one ethnic or religious organisation helped in creating community cohesion.

Sayeeda said,

"Community cohesion is how we all live together with ease, how we feel comfortable in our communities and the way in which we bind together as a nation. As shadow minister for community cohesion and social action, I am working towards a Britain where everyone has equal opportunities to succeed and has a valued place in society."

30 January: Candidates get an insight into local mosque

Mary Macleod, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, recently visited the Hounslow Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre on Wellington Road South. Also present on the visit to the Mosque were Tony Arbour (Member of the London Assembly), Cllr Mark Bowen (Deputy Leader of Hounslow Council and Parliamentary Candidate for Feltham and Heston), Cllr Barbara Reid (Council Lead for Environment and Planning), Christine Quick and Fauad Hafeez from Hounslow Central and Ranjiv Godfrey from Hounslow Heath.

Mary commented,

“We were given an excellent tour of the Centre and met the teachers and children in the school. It was really interesting to get an insight into a community Mosque and hear about the work that they do.

My thanks to all those who invited us there and made us feel so welcome.”

“Community cohesion is very important within London. We need to build stronger, more integrated communities where people from different backgrounds can celebrate their diversity whilst sharing common civic values and national pride. A Conservative Government will help foster community cohesion but will also recognise that it is a social responsibility. Everyone must do all they can to make this a fairer and more just society – helping others, creating opportunities and ensuring that no-one is excluded.“