http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/please-go/

On Tuesday  10th March 2009 the UCL Conservatives met for the AGM, the constitution was ratified and elections for the committee took place.

The outgoing committee is pleased to announce the following results:

President:  Kieran James Weisberg

Treasurer: Iain  Martin

Vice President: Emma Double

General Secretary: Asa Bennett

Social Secretary: Emily Cheah

Website and Publicity Officer: Laura-Rose Saunders

Caerulean Editor: Tom Parkinson

The outgoing committee members feel the new committee is a useful mix of successful old and devoted new faces, seeing the promotion of Kieran Weisberg to President and the return of Iain Martin to Treasurer. The society will welcome Laura-Rose Saunders back to UCL from her year abroad in Russia as Website and Publicity Officer and sees the devoted  Tom Parkinson, Emily Cheah, Emma Double and Asa Bennett rise through the society ranks.  The new committee will set to work in the summer to prepare for the coming academic and (hopefully) election year. Lets wish the committee and the party every success and pledge to offer them every support.

Tickets have now sold out

On the 20th March 2009 the UCL Conservative Society will host this year’s Alumni Dinner!

We will be celebrating the success of our society with patrons, supporters, alumni and current members over a sumptuous three course dinner with a plentiful supply of wine. This year sees the introduction of a Pre-Dinner Drinks Reception with a Jazz Trio from the UCL Jazz Society followed by dinner in the Old Refectory amongst walls adorned with our former provosts.

Ticket have now sold out

The Treasurer asks that the few who have reserved tickets but yet to pay contact him as soon as possible via ( conservative@politician.com ) to discuss payment options.

Date/Time: 20th March 2009 at 19:30

Location: Old Refectory, UCL Wilkins Building, Gower Street

Dress Code: Black Tie

Tickets can be purchased safely via paypal and confirmation of your name on the guestlist will be issued electronically to an email address of your choosing. We will post a final guestlist 72 hours before the event or when tickets sell out!

Tickets are limited and likely to sell out quickly!

Tickets Prices:

Student (Members) - £25.00
Student (Non-Member) - £30.00
Alumni/Guest - £35.00

For further event information please do not hesitate to contact members of the committee.

Ticket Type

Student (Member) £25.00 Student (Non-Member) £30.00 Alumni / Guest £35.00

If you encounter any difficulties with purchasing your ticket, or cannot purchase one online, please contact our Treasurer - Kieran Weisberg on ( conservative@politician.com )

Yesterday members of the society took part in a debate hosted by Masaryk Society where representatives from UCL Conservatives, UCL Labour and UCL Lib Dems presented their case for what they think British foreign policy towards Russia should be.

Something that was frequently mentioned was dependence on Russian gas and oil. Oliver Cooper (Communication Officer) and Ed Johnson (Publicity Officer) presented the well thought out and rational Conservative view of mutual economic dependence, something that is currently tipped in Russia’s favour. Unlike some of the more obscure ideas, such as a return to communism from the UCL Labour Society or fascist approach from the UCL Liberal Democrats, the Tory suggestion made sense. If the ‘west’ fully opens up its markets and integrates with Russia then our economies will align and Russia would be just as dependant on us purchasing their fossil fuels as we are on them for selling it in the first place. Nonetheless, this draws in stark contrast to the revelation from Greg Clark MP yesterday when he attacked Labour for allowing the UK’s fossil fuel dependency to move in the “wrong direction” after new figures revealed our dependency has increased since 1997.

“The rise is equivalent to burning an additional 7.5 million tonnes of oil a year - and our dependency now stands at 91%.”

Greg, the Shadow Energy and Climate Secretary, said reducing the UK’s use of fossil fuels is “essential for ensuring our energy security and preventing catastrophic climate changes”.

And he stressed, “The reason this Government is failing is characteristic of Labour: it talks tough, signs up to targets, but has no plans to deliver on its promises.”

Whilst I agree with the Conservative representatives at the Masaryk debate, we must shift away from the fossil fuel ideology. Conservatives traditionally look for long term policies, and fossil fuels just don’t cut it. We should encourage the growth of the renewable industry and accept the necessary changes in energy production. Sooner or later we will run out of fossil fuels – why bother continuing to use limited financial resources on coal/gas/oil power plants when we can develop alternative means.

After all, Vote Blue – Go Green…

A brawl today erupted in the South Korean National Assembly over a contentious free trade agreement with the USA. One can’t help but feel that the opportunity to spray a fire extinguisher over Gordon Brown would be a catalyst to greater political involvment in this country. For footage of this please click the link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7789552.stm

Interestingly this isn’t the first time this has happened in South Korea. Two months ago another brawl broke out over a potential investigation into a Presidential candidate:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7695329.stm

The Taxpayers Alliance has done work into the cost of predicted government borrowing spends following the Pre-Budget Report. Taking into account inflationary costs and other such factors they came to the following figures:

World War One Total Debt Increase: £255,106,544,018

Total Debt planned 2008/09 - 2013/14 (PBR): £512,000,000,000

Nothing too disconcerting then… 

For the original article click here:

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/media/2008/11/politicscouk-prebudget-borrowing-double-that-of-wwi-.html

On Monday Alistair Darling delivered his much anticipated Pre-Budget Report. This was undubtedly the most important set of announcements for the UK for many many years but what are we to make of it?

In it the Chancellor announced a cut in VAT of 2.5% as the main means to stimulate the economy, as well as giving pensioners a £60 Christmas payment. Taxes on all earnings above £150,000 a year will have to rise to 45% in three years time to cover the cost in the long term, whilst there will be similar rises in national insurance payments. Alcohol, tobacco and fuel taxes are all also expected to rise to offset some of the cost of the cuts. The economy was predicted to shrink 1.25% in the coming year but is expected to exit recession by the end of the financial year 2009-2010.

First if all I think we should recognise that a cut in VAT of 2.5% means bugger all to the average consumer. Essentially a cut in 2.5% on everday products isn’t going to constitute a great deal of savings, except on larger purchases such as cars. What then is the point of such a tax cut? It doesn’t seem that it is going to get people rushing out to spend their money as people are currently too wary of doing so. For many shops and restaurants these cuts might represent a brief respite from falling profits but only if they don’t pass the cuts on as cuts in the prices of their products. I’m not a believer in the country spending its way out of a recession but if you’re going to do it, do it properly!

Labour’s actual long term response just seems to be - increase the tax burden. I can’t help but feel that we are going to head into a spiral of increased national debt combined with increased government spending leading to increased taxation; forcing the wealthier away from the UK. This is classic Labour and although not nearly as extreme as the Labour fiscal policies of the 1960s and 1970s, it does seem that unless we tread carefully we are going to be heading that way.

As for their predictions on the recovery of the economy, our recent poll, allbeit mostly of students going on hunches, suggests that the slump may last longer. Most people actually thought that the slump would last roughly a year longer than the government has predicted. If that were to be the case, we wouldn’t just be looking at a government borrowing of £118,000,000,000 but something even higher. I hope that we are wrong.

 For further insight in to the cut in VAT these articles might be interesting:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/angela_monaghan/blog/2008/11/24/prebudget_report_vat_cut_will_guarantee_deflation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/24/pre-budget-report-consumer-affairs 

On Saturday 22nd November a small group from the society helped Chris Philp (PPC for Hampstead and Kilburn) on a leafleting day in West Hampstead. Despite the occasional angry dog, the leafleting was completed successfully and many signatures were collected for the petition to stop the local 999 police response station from closing.

Of course this was all helped by a hearty pub lunch and a pint of guinness (or Strongbow for those with more violent tendencies) paid for by Chris. Many thanks to those who came and many thanks to Chris for the lunch! We look forward to helping out again in the future.