Karl McCartney Invites Prime Minister to see City's 'Excellent Progress'

Karl McCartney MP in a bright tie presented by local cadets

Karl McCartney MP, who represents the City of Lincoln, Bracebridge Heath and Waddingham West and Skellingthorpe, has invited Prime Minister David Cameron MP to visit the city.

The parliamentarian was speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions, whilst wearing a bright, stripped neck tie, understood to have been presented to him recently by the Lincolnshire Army Cadet Force.

Mr. McCartney asked the Prime Minister to visit Lincoln and see progress in the manufacturing and engineering sector. Karl said:

"Is my right honourable friend aware of recent, very good news in the manufacturing and engineering sectors in Lincoln? Hoval have seen an increase in turnover of over twenty percent to around £17.5 million, Italian firm Bifrangi have confirmed a £50 million investment in a new tooling press, one of the largest in the world, and Siemens are involved with the first new Engineering School in our country for twenty years, at the University of Lincoln. Would my right honourable friend accept my personal invitation to visit Lincoln and see for himself the excellent progress our city is enjoying under his Conservative-led Government?"

The Prime Minister responded:

"I am very grateful for my honourable friend’s invitation and I shall try and take it up.

"As I said earlier, [despite] the very disappointing [GDP figures] today, underneath there is a rebalancing that needs to take place and is taking place, in terms of manufacturing investment, in terms of exports and in terms of the government getting behind that with more investment in apprenticeships, more investment in technical hubs at our universities like the one at the University of Lincoln, and cutting business taxes so we get Britain working and making things again."

United in Condolence for Red Arrows Pilot

Edward Leigh MP offered his condolences to the family and relatives of the RAF pilot killed in the Red Arrows during Prime Minister’s Questions today. Mr. Leigh, whose constituency includes RAF Scampton, asked

"In joining me in giving our condolences to the relatives of the Red Arrows pilot killed at RAF Scampton yesterday, will the Prime Minister acknowledge the overriding need for safety, and that our campaign to save RAF Scampton from closure is not just based on sentiment for the historic home of the Dambusters but on the overriding need for the kind of safe, uncluttered skies above north Lincolnshire which the Red Arrows need to practice safely."

The Prime Minister, David Cameron responded: 

"I’m sure the hearts of everyone in this House go out to the family of the pilot who was killed in this terrible accident. It comes on top of a second accident that happened in the Red Arrows and this has obviously been a very tragic time for something the whole country reveres and loves."

The Prime Minister said he knows the Red Arrows consider their Lincolnshire home 'extremely important' and added that 'we must get to the bottom of what happened'.

Edward Leigh has campaigned for the Ministry of Defence to state its intention of keeping RAF Scampton open, especially as home to the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, known as the Red Arrows. Mr. Leigh has met with MOD ministers and written several letters putting the case for the base’s continued usefulness as part of Britain’s defence community and a large contributor to the local economy.

Cllr. Roger Patterson, Conservative (Scampton Ward) said: 

"I am very sorry to hear about the death of Flt Lt Shaun Cummings, of the Red Arrows. 

"Coming so soon after the tragic loss of Flt Lt John Egging it has really it the community of Scampton Hard. 

"Sometimes the things you take for granted are appreciated more when tragedy strikes and right now the community at Scampton realise how blessed we are to have The Red Arrows as part of our community, and we stand resolutely behind the team and all our brave servicemen and woman at Raf Scampton. 

"We are steadfast in our belief that The Red Arrows must fly again as soon as possible and continue to bring joy to the millions of people around the world who hold them in such high esteem and that they continue for many more years and that they do this from Raf Scampton because we as a community are proud that they are based here. 

"My sincere condolences go out to his family, friends and his team mates at such a tragic time."

Prime Minister Visits Lincoln

Local Rsidents will have noticed the excellent arial display by the Red Arrows early this morning, as they practiced for the arrival of a very special guest in the county, above Nettleham. David Cameron MP, the Prime Minister, attended a graduation ceremony at RAF College Cranwell, where he said the RAF is not just important to the nation’s security, but also 'completely and utterly essential'.

"Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, our fighters are standing ready to launch to protect UK air space."

"I know that, I get those telephone calls each and every time there’s a plane in UK air space that we don’t know about."

The Prime Minister made the speech after inspecting the officer cadets at RAF Cranwell. He watched a flypast by the Red Arrows and presented annual prizes including the Sword of Honour, the International Sword of Honour and the Queen’s Medal.

Mr Cameron, who is the third Prime Minister to visit RAF Cranwell, told the graduates the RAF would remain a 'formidable and world-class air force.

Above: David Cameron Answers questions from staff at Lincolnshire Co-Operative

Later, Mr. Cameron visited workers of Lincolnshire Cooperative as part of his 'PM Direct' inititive which follows on from his successful 'Cameron Direct' roadshow conducted inopposition.

Prime Minister, David Cameron Praises Young Activists

This evening Conservative Future - the youth movement of the Conservative Party - hosted a reception at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel for Branch Chairman from across the United Kingdom. This was to thank them for their efforts.

The reception was honoured to have both the Prime Minister, David Cameron MP and Party Co-Chairman, Lord Feldman address the gathering of around seventy guests. Both men backed a modern, dynamic and forward-looking Conservative Future and praised recently elected National Chairman, Mr. Ben Howlett, and the National Executive, for the hard work they have done, describing it as

"A vital component in the Conservative Party."

Claire Hilley, Conservative Future Deputy Chairman for Membership, said:

"Over the last few months we have been collating activists membership data in a bid to create Conservative Future's first ever centralised membership database which will allow us to communicate with our members nationally. I'm pleased to announce that we have gathered over 5,000 new activists contact details which puts us in a position to push for more members than ever before.

Conservative Future has the largest youth membership of any political youth organisation in the United Kingdom, surpassing both Liberal Youth and Young Labour.

Giles McNeill, Chairman of Gainsborough CF, said:

"It was a really good evening, meeting up with colleagues from across Britain's is always very welcome; I was particularly please to see representation from Northern Ireland.

"Naturally having the opportunity to speak with the Prime Minister is always a massive honour and privilege, and of course we can look forward to seeing him in the county in the near future."

David Cameron: Vote 'No' to AV today

Today is a big day for our country. It's AV referendum day and you need to make your voice heard. Unless enough people go out and vote, Britain could sleepwalk into a system that damages our democracy permanently. So I urge you to get down the polling station and vote 'No' to AV.

Remember, there are five big reasons why:

One - AV is complex. First Past the Post is so simple you can sum it up in seven words: the person with the most votes wins. AV is so confusing that when I was recently interviewed on the BBC, it became clear that one of their most experienced broadcasters didn't understand how it worked.

Two - AV is unfair. With First Past the Post, everyone gets one vote, and that vote is counted once. That's fair. But under AV, supporters of extremist or fringe parties can get their votes counted again and again and again. That's unfair. It's simply not right that the fifth vote of a Monster Raving Looney supporter counts as much as your first vote.