Justine McGuinness, West Dorset Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson, met West Bay Harbourmaster Tony Preston yesterday to see first-hand the hard work carried out at the busy harbour. West Bay harbourmaster Tony Preston returned to duty from holiday this week and laughed off complaints about being ‘inappropriately dressed’.

Readers flooded the Bridport News with letters of protest after one resident wrote to the town council criticising Mr Preston because he was ‘difficult to distinguish from any workman around the harbour.’

Justine McGuinness and town councillor Martin Ray braved freezing winds yesterday to tour the harbour and offer their support to Mr Preston who told them: ‘All I need is a bike-horn and a tutu.’

Wearing his clearly-marked harbourmaster’s jacket, he told Ms McGuinness that he was more often seen in a drysuit, securing the mooring chains in the soft mud on the harbour floor or removing dead sheep from its waters.

Justine McGuinness commented:
‘West Bay helps drive our local economy. Many people’s jobs and businesses depend on visitors to West Bay. The hard work that Tony Preston puts in to keep the habour safe and running smoothly should be supported. With the opening of the new pier only weeks away, Tony is obviously in for a busy season.’

Mr Preston is now preparing for the formal opening by Prince Andrew of the Jurassic pier on March 8.

Vincent Cable MP, Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor, on a fact-finding tour of the county, joined Justine McGuinness in West Dorset yesterday (Tuesday 15 February) and heard that some local business people even have to take second full-time jobs to keep their hig Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vincent Cable, promised swift action if his party takes power in the next few months.

He announced that the Liberal Democrats would restructure Business Rates.

Justine McGuinness explained why Mr Cable had visited: “The Liberal Democrats are the party of small businesses. I asked Vincent Cable to come to West Dorset today to meet local business people and hear first hand the issues that impact on their businesses. Certainly talking to people today I know our proposals to restructure Business Rates are welcomed.”

Henry Stark, owner of Dorchester’s Get On Board surfing and lifestyle clothing store, told them that while he made a small profit, there was no way the shop could foot its wages bill without the full-time job he had to take to make ends meet: “My profit goes back into buying more stock,” he told the politicians. “Yet I still have to pay tax on it before I can do that.”

At nearby Potter’s Cafe, Lynne Trulocke told Cable and McGuinness that while there was no VAT on food, she had to pay the tax on her sales and had no way of claiming it back: “It just seems completely unfair to me,” she commented.

Mr Cable told her that Liberal Democrats were urgently examining ways of easing the tax burden on small businesses:

“Business rates should be restructured so that they relate to the ability to pay,” he said. “Big stores would pay more and smaller shops less. It’s not anti big business because we need big business, but the playing field should be levelled out.

“We’re also looking at a scheme to give small companies a tax credit to enable them to cover the costs of complying with government regulations. In a small business with ten employees or fewer - and there are a lot of those in West Dorset - that could make a big difference.”

On their whistle-stop tour Ms McGuinness and Mr Cable also visited the Freshwater Beach Holiday Park at Burton Bradstock where they met Scott Condliffe who runs the park, which is a family business. Here they heard a familiar West Dorset story of an employer keen to take on local people but frustrated by the huge cost of housing on the Jurassic Coast. The people he needs, particularly younger staff, cannot afford to live in the area: “You’d think it would be quite easy to get a cook,” he said. “But without offering accommodation, we are really struggling to find one.”

West Dorset’s Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson, Justine McGuinness welcomed Baroness Diana Maddock and Rt Hon Alan Beith MP to Dorchester on Friday 11 February, where they were the guest of honour at a packed Dorset Liberal Democrats Dinner. Alan Beith MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed told the audience: “At the forthcoming elections we must remind people that the Liberal Democrats stand for freedom.” He commented on the growth of and increasing support for the Liberal Democrats.

Also at the dinner was Annette Brook MP for Mid Dorset and Poole North and the Liberal Democrat Dorset County Councillors, led by Cllr Gil Streets MBE.

Mark Oaten MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary joined Justine McGuinness, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for West Dorset, today in calling for more Police Officers for rural West Dorset. Speaking after meeting local police officers and “walking the beat” in Dorchester, Mark Oaten said:

“With the current security climate and problems with drinking in our towns and city centres, there are heavy demands on the police. However, that does not mean we can ignore policing in rural areas. The Liberal Democrats believe that extra provisions should be made available to rural forces, and would introduce an extra 700 policemen to the region.”

Justine McGuinness commented:

“I know the police officers locally work very hard, but I have heard so many horror stories about the long waits faced by local people who call the police. Clearly our police need more resources. Only the Liberal Democrats have set out plans for a minimum policing guarantee as part of an overall ‘Policing Contract’ between local police authorities and the communities they serve. It could stop the trend to cut back on police in rural areas and would be better for us here in West Dorset.”

In the last six months of 2004 there were about 8,000 crimes reported in West Dorset. Many of them will never be solved - across the country only one in four crimes is cleared up.

Ms McGuinness added:

“Current crime levels are far too high. It is all very well politicians in London having a shouting match over who is toughest on criminals, but that is not going to solve the epidemic levels of crime and detect crimes. We urgently need many more police visible in our communities here in West Dorset. It is highly visible policing that deters and catches criminals.”

The Dorchester section of Dorset’s Western Division has three Sergeants, 27 Constables, six Special Constables and two Police Community Support Officers to provide 24 hour policing cover for a mainly rural area in excess of 200 square miles.

The section is split four ways with officers designated as Community Beat Officers with a responsibility within each of the beat areas.

Today leading Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten MP (Shadow Home Secretary) will be shown streets in ‘marginal’ West Dorset where voters have vanished by local Lib Dem Justine McGuinness. In parts of West Dorset, including Dorchester, Bridport or Sherborne, nearly one in 10 houses is not listed on the electoral roll. On the street with the most vanishing voters, North Allington in Bridport, the figure rises to one in every four houses.

West Dorset is one of the most marginal seats in the UK. Sitting MP, front-bencher Oliver Letwin, has a ‘waffer-thin’ majority of 1,141. The Lib Dems only need a 1.7% swing to take West Dorset at the next General Election.

West Dorset has had no boundary changes. However, following changes introduced by the Government and the Conservative controlled District Council’s decision to cut the budget for encouraging people to register, the roll has fallen. Over 3,300 addresses occupied by voters on the electoral roll in 2004 do not appear on the 2005 register. Those homes housed over 5,000 voters, who now are unable to vote.

West Dorset’s Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson, Justine McGuinness said: “Homes do not simply disappear on this scale. I am sure there are plenty of tax payers living in these houses, yet their names seem to have vanished from the register of voters. This is a disgrace in a modern democracy.

“In West Dorset at the next General Election every vote will count. This is one of the most marginal seats in the county. I would urge anyone who wants to vote at the next General Election and at the County Council elections in May to check that they are registered to vote. If you are not on the register there is still time to get a vote.”

The electoral roll is not just used for elections it is also used by finance companies for credit checks. People not on the register may find it difficult to take out loans and may find other credit applications refused. Only people named on the register can vote at elections, but it is not to late as the district council does update the roll every month.

Comparing the register of electors in 2004 to the current roll in January 2005, over 8.4% of the homes in West Dorset have vanished from the register of voters. In Bridport this figure is as high as 12.2%.

Marking the anniversary of the Higher Education Act and commenting on recent research that shows top-up fees may triple student debt, local Lib Dem Justine McGuinness has hit out against mounting student According to figures gained by the Liberal Democrats, student debt in the South West could top £910m each year by 2010.

Figures show the Government’s plans to charge students up to £3,000 a year tuition fees will lead to enormous levels of debt in every region in England. Regionally the total student debt in each year could total:

Commenting West Dorset’s Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson, Justine McGuinness, said:

“Having benefited from free universities themselves, Government ministers have pulled up the ladder of opportunity behind them.

“Universities have confirmed that the Government’s plans will not raise enough extra money to meet their needs. The Liberal Democrats are the only Party to have come up with a viable, sensible and costed alternative to this disgraceful policy. The Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to scrapping tuition fees to ensure that young people from all backgrounds can go to university on the basis of their ability, not their finances.

“With four consecutive polls showing the Liberal Democrats as the first choice for students, it is clear that Labour will be held to account at the ballot box for their u-turn over top up fees.”