General election

We have campaigned on a number of issues to help small businesses drive the recovery of the region’s economy during the election campaign and want to see our MPs take these issues to Westminster.

Accessing credit at an affordable cost is still too difficult for many small businesses and we want to see more action to get credit flowing. This can be achieved by greater competition in the banking sector and by creating regional stock exchanges.

We want more action taken to get small businesses paid on time. The average time taken to pay has increased and is impacting on the cashflow of many. An easy step would be to strengthen the Late Payment Directive to help achieve this.

We also want to see more concerted action from local authorities to “Think Small First”.

This will mean more proactively promoting Small Business Rate Relief and helping more to sell their goods and services. Investing in small businesses helps retain more money in local communities and provides more innovative solutions.

We look forward to working with the region’s MPs to help more small businesses survive, grow and prosper.

Simon Hanson, North-East Policy Manager, Federation of Small Businesses.

BEFORE the General Election all the parties were saying that they stood for change, but the change they talked about will not make much difference to most of us. The law-abiding, decent, tax-paying public will continue to carry on as they always have done with little or no change in their lives.

There will also be no change in the amount of illegal immigrants who come to this country or in the amount of benefits paid out to them.

There will be no change in the amount of benefit cheats who receive more than others who work. There will be no change in the amount of aid we give to other countries. There will be no change in our illegal war and in the toll of young soldiers killed as a consequence.

Ordinary, decent people will continue to be prosecuted and severely dealt with for mundane, non-criminal offences while violent criminals will continue to be dealt with leniently.

There will also be no change in the politicians who will continue to claim exorbitant expenses and feather their own nests.

The only thing that may change is the occupancy of No 10.

Change – what changes?

Nothing.

B Peacock, Middleton in Teesdale.

THE lack in general of political education in the public is clearly and sadly demonstrated in the booting out of Vera Baird from the Redcar parliamentary seat.

She was the most powerful political voice, the hardest working MP the people of the area had, and they dumped her for an unheard of Liberal Democrat with no power behind his voice or his seat in Parliament.

They have just created a political and geographical wasteland for themselves, and showed a complete lack of patience and understanding of the work done by Ms Baird. To her credit, at the election count, she vowed to be back. Hopefully, that will be fairly soon.

The Conservatives are the worst thing that could happen to this country, and the people of the North-East should build a political wall around themselves to protect them from the Tory waves that will endeavour to wash them away.

The gates should be open to all those who come with positive approaches and an appreciation of the growing prosperity of the region and its ability to deliver.

CD Kirk, Brompton, Northallerton.

IT’S over – and it’s just beginning.

The people have shouted, loud and clear, that we don’t want Tories or Labour governing on their own any more.

We don’t want any more fast, decisive, unchallenged decision-making for the wealthy or for the poor and needy (which doesn’t happen).

Thank you for past services.

Close the door on the way out. We want fair government for all – with all involved.

They both fought harder then ever before and neither came out on top. So much for first-past-the-post. Turn the page.

Single Transferable Votes, please.

Thank you, Nick Clegg.

George Appleby, Clifton, York.

JUST a few lines on the result of the parliamentary vote in the City of Durham constituency. Labour got in by just over 3,000 votes. The opinion of a lot of city folk is that if the Mayor of Durham, a Liberal Democrat, had been put up instead of candidate Carol Woods the party would have won.

Dennis Southwell is a very well respected man in the city and although I voted Labour, if he had been standing I – with a lot more people –would have given him my vote. Something to think about next time.

Frank Richardson, Durham City.