At a speech in Blackpool today at the White Tower, George Osborne set out our plans for a revitalised tourism industry in the UK.

The tourism industry is worth £114 billion to the UK economy every year, employs some 8% of the workforce and is our 5^th largest industry.  It supports 200,000 businesses. We know how much it matters to Blackpool and Cleveleys.

However under Labour tourism has been let down.  We have had 8 Ministers responsible for tourism in just 12 years, accountability and decision making have been devolved to quangos, and Visit England has been neglected.  This vital sector of our economy deserves better.

Our plans to help the tourism sector include:

• Lowering the rate to corporation tax for SMEs to 20p by reducing complex reliefs.  Over 80% of tourism businesses are SMEs, so this will give the sector a huge boost.
• Reducing the burden of red tape with a ‘one in one out’ approach to new regulations, as well as mandatory sunset clauses.
• Ensuring that no new business started in the first 2 years of a Conservative government will pay Employer National Insurance on the first 10 employees it hires during its first year.
• Building a network of business mentors, and providing loans to would-be tourism entrepreneurs.
• Taking action to undo the damage caused by Labour’s abolition of tax relief on Furnished Holiday Lets, which according to the Tourism Alliance could result in the loss of 4500 jobs.

Together, these plans will ensure a much-needed boost to the British tourism sector.  We want to attract more visitors from the lucrative emerging market countries in the Middle East and China.  And we want to increase the proportion of UK residents’ tourism spend that goes on domestic holidays from 38% to 50%.

At the end of George’s speech, I was pleased to take the Shadow Cabinet Member responsible for tourism, Jeremy Hunt, up to King Edward Avenue to meet the excellent group of hoteliers up there who make the street such a credit to the resort. They are ambitious and forward-thinking – and demonstrated to Jeremy just why they are also award-winning.

Another good day for Blackpool Conservatives as we lay out a future for Blackpool and Cleveleys – just as Labour spent another day navel-gazing over who they want to stand as a candidate.

Alcohol has been in the news a lot recently, with minimum pricing being looked at in Scotland, Labour thinking of banning ‘irresponsible’ drinks promotions in clubs, pubs and bars across the Country and general concern about 24 hr binge drinking culture of Broken Britain.  And last week was the turn of the Conservatives to air their views on drinking - and public health more generally.

Reading through the launch document, A Healthier Nation, I am pleased to see some of the focus is on encouraging behavioural change. A key element in Conservative thinking is the emphasis on personal responsibility and personal choice. The philosophical difficulties for me occur when one person’s choice becomes another person’s irresponsibility.

There is no question that alcohol abuse and excessive consumption are at the root of many social problems – there can be no disagreement that it fuels domestic violence, potential family break-up and anti-social behaviour. But, moderate alcohol consumption can be part of an enjoyable night out – no-one would suggest a return to the era of Prohibition, since it didn’t work.

The problems occur with the unregulated ‘all you can drink’ dentist’s-chair mentality of many drinkers.  This is a behaviour that I am not sure legislation and direct government intervention can eradicate completely.  Might minimum pricing just see a greater percentage of household income spent on alcohol and therefore make some of the social consequences of drinking worse? Or make responsible drinkers pay more for their once or twice a week tipple because of the bad habits of the few?  Would this just fuel supermarket profits yet further? This isn’t to say it’s a bad idea – but health policy must always be evidence-based and not prejudice-based.

Conservatives want to tackle binge drinking and all the social problems it causes by banning cheap alcohol being used as a loss leader in shops and supermarkets. Alcopops and super-strength beers will be taxed more heavily. We will treble duty on alcopops, we will significantly increase tax on super-strength beer and we will more than double tax on super-strength cider. And a tougher licensing regime will also be introduced so that problem venues which encourage irresponsible drinking can be tackled.

I have no desire to encourage the nanny state. People of an older generation may think back to a time when it was socially acceptable to drink and drive.  Drink driving, although still around, is now socially unacceptable.  Did this change as a result of the stick of a driving ban, or the carrot of social unacceptability?   Or did the ban lead to social unacceptability?

But public health is not just about irresponsible drinking.  I was talking to a friend who is a family doctor the other day.  In our discussion we talked about life expectancy and how it has increased over the years in some places but has plateau-ed out in others.  His reply was “If people stopped smoking, drank less, took moderate exercise, and we could screen against prostate, bowl and testicular cancer and ensure all heart attack victims got an ambulance within 8 minutes, we would pretty much crack inequalities in life expectancy”.

A simple solution you think.  But here in Blackpool, despite the best efforts of NHS Blackpool and the Victoria Hospital, life expectancy is well below the national average – for males it is about 6 years less on average.  We can put the screening in placeb or provide the ambulance, but it can’t make people stop smoking, drink less or take up exercise. Only a change in attitude can make that happen and I think that this is where societal change comes in.

The Conservative Party’s Public Health Policy can be summarised in these four points.

1. There must be a focus on reducing health inequalities, in a locally led public health strategy and throughout government – from the strengthening of support for families with young children to reducing preventable winter deaths among elderly people.
2. Some parts of public health policy need to be led nationally – immunisation programmes, emergency planning or behaviour change campaigns. Wherever possible, these should be evidence-based and linked to the latest advances in social psychology and behavioural economics, so that they work intelligently with the way real people live their everyday lives.
3. Responsibility for improving public health, and the budget to do so, must be decentralised as far as possible – away from central government control and out to local communities.
4. Councils, communities and independent providers should be rewarded for reducing health problems like obesity, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse – when they make serious savings for the NHS and the taxpayer, they should be rewarded for it.

Perhaps the most exciting news for Blackpool and Cleveleys is that we will introduce a new ‘Health Premium’ to target resources towards areas with the poorest health to progressively reduce chronic health inequalities. The public health funding we devolve will give enhanced support and incentives to deprived communities, where health problems tend to be much worse. Based on the results achieved, the ‘Health Premium’ will incentivise and reward the improvements in the health of the poorest communities. NHS Blackpool already does a superb job co-ordinating multi-agency working – this will mean it can do even more!

Public health is a massive issue – the cost is enormous in terms of health, quality of life, the effect on those around us and the tax burden.  I don’t want to come across as ‘preachy’ as I do believe in people living their own lives as they see fit, but we can’t carry on like this.  Life is so enjoyable when we are well, fit, active and able.

They have a new innovation in the House of Commons called Topical Questions. This allows Oral Questions to Ministers to be put down nearer to the day in case something exciting happens that they want to cross-examine Ministers on.

At the moment, it seems to consist of Labour MPs thanking Ministers for visiting their marginal constituencies trying to save their bacon. Whilst it puts the Ministers on the spot – which is a good thing – it also reveals how little they actually know of what they’re supposed to be responsible for! “I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman that, but I will write to him, and then I will tell him” as one Minister replied yesterday – is that to tell him he’s written, or to tell him the answer?

Joan Humble had a classic yesterday. I am sure she was trying to take credit for the Council’s efforts to put the Blackpool back into Blackpool Tower – but it didn’t quite come off (nor is it going to, frankly):

T10. [312982] Mrs. Joan Humble (Blackpool, North and Fleetwood) (Lab):

Further to the Secretary of State’s visit to Blackpool, when I and my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden) had an opportunity to show him much of the regeneration taking place in the town, has he had an opportunity to consider what role his Department can play in the exciting plans for Blackpool council to take over the winter gardens and tower as part of that regeneration strategy?

Ms Rosie Winterton: I know of the support that my hon. Friend has given to this project, which I understand is being looked at jointly with the regional development agency and the Department for Transport. It is an exciting project, and such regeneration is important. It is another example of the Government and local councils understanding that, in times of economic difficulties, it is important to intervene in such areas-unlike the approach of the Conservative party.

Errr …. Rosie, Blackpool Council is Conservative-controlled. I’m glad you think regeneration is important and that it is an exciting project. But would you have said that if your briefing notes had told you Blackpool Council was Tory? I wonder whether Joan and Gordon pointed out to nice Mr Denham on his visit all the things that have happened regeneration-wise since May 2007 when Labour got kicked off the Council?

Quietly and determinedly, the Times Comment writer Libby Purves has been ‘lobbying’ through the pages of her newspapers to change perceptions of what Blackpool has to offer. She was inspired by attending “Showzam!” last year, and sees the potential for Blackpool to capitalise on its unique heritage assets.

That potential has taken a massive leap forward, as she pointed out in her most recent column, with the Council’s attempt to purchase the Tower and Winter Gardens. It would be easy to mock this as a sort of ‘nationalisation’ but I would rather see it in the spirit of a ‘community asset transfer’ of sorts. In much the way the Grand Theatre is run in trust for the people of Blackpool, I hope some sort of similar community involvement and/or trust can be established in time to run the Tower and Winter Gardens in a similar way.

The Winter Gardens, in particular, desperately needs both investment and a clear sense of direction. I, personally, don’t think its future lies as a major conference centre any more. What it needs is to capitalise on the hidden treats that so often get overlooked, as there is far more to the Gardens than just the Ballroom, with some wonderful 1930s nooks and crannies. These are all covered in a book Libby highlighted (“The Most Magnificent Palace of Amusement in the World”) just published by Professor Vanessa Toulmin of the National Fairground Archive. It is a timely reminder of the glories of the Winter Gardens for those who would happily just see the site flattened! It is available from Central Library for those who are interested.

It is also a wonderful example of the wealth of pictorial archives we can draw on in this town to better improve understanding of our local heritage. I spent a wonderful morning last month at Central Library with the libarians and the Head of Heritage discussing a wide range of issues: the future of libraries, the range of exhibitions at the Grundy, World Heritage Status (key project if I am fortunate enough to be elected), the possibility of a Museum of Seaside Life and most importantly, how to make more people aware of what there is, whether tourists or locals.

I had no idea what a treasure trove the Council possessed – and no idea either what a massive task they had in trying to catalogue and preserve everything they had. There was a wealth of historic material from the tourism promotion office alone – wonderful Art Deco leaflets promoting the wonders of Blackpool – not to mention the enormous amount of material from the Illuminations Department. A tiny team of volunteer archivists is doing a sterling job of trying to catalogue and then preserve to professional standards a startling array of material. It is a herculean task which seems to have no end.  Have a look at the catalogue for the Cyril Critchlow collection on the Council website (http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Services/G-L/LibrariesArchives/Home.htm) and you will see what I mean. One entry for Volume 34, page 51 reads

“Complimentary ticket for “All Laughter Show” North Pier 1985. featuring Les Dennis and Dustin Gee”.

Not everyone’s idea of a great night out, I’m sure – but just one item in over 300 pages (and that’s just  the catalogue) of items which give a proper flavour of all Blackpool has stood for down the years. In 50 years time, historians will be properly able to assess Blackpool’s contribution to our national life because of the work currently going on in the library. And I hope local people will benefit too in a better understanding of the town they live in.

For a “semi-historian” like me, it was like being locked in Santa’s grotto – I had to tear myself away. If I didn’t have a campaign to fight, I’d be volunteering to catalogue it all myself!

We should always welcome potential improvements to Blackpool’s transport infrastructure, but people are right to say “I’ll believe it when I see it” when they hear the Government committing to electrifying this stretch of rail. This has more than a whiff of pre-election desperation to it. Yes, we need electrification to Preston, but we need to think about what routes are most important for the local economy – and that means better connections with towns in Lancashire and West Yorkshire to attract visitors, and that means resolving the bottleneck in the middle of the Manchester – which the Government have been noticeably quiet on. If you ask anyone with an interest in transport in the North, they will tell you that solving that is the big challenge. This isn’t a serious solution to Blackpool’s rail problems.

Careful readers might note that no date was set by which the track would be electrified. No mention was made – at all – of any plans to restart direct rail services to London. No indication from Virgin that electrification at some unspecified point in the future might see them restart the service. So all that hot air about a direct service to London is just that – hot air.

All we got was a distant prospect that one day the line would be electrified – and we had that anyway!

The Conservative Party will be launching a blueprint for transport in the North in the New Year. I think you will find it a little more substantial …

A few months ago, many of you will have received from me a survey concerning the provision of health and care services. We received hundreds of responses, which I have been following up since. I now want to report back to you on what I have done.

I have met with three organisations to discuss the most common findings of the survey: Blackpool Victoria Trust’s Chief Executive Aidan Kehoe, NHS Blackpool’s Chief Executive Wendy Swift and the team at the Blackpool Carers Centre. My discussions were based

At the hospital, I raised the following issues:

• Ensuring that the dignity of patients is maintained and that mixed sex wards and toilet facilities are eradicated.
• Improvements are made to hospital parking facilities.

At NHS Blackpool, I discussed:

• Local public health priorities and how to reach out to those who most need help but are often those hardest to reach.
• Accessing GP services, and the appropriateness of a target-driven culture.

At the Carers Centre, we spoke of:

• The problems with the benefits system that make it so hard for carers to claim the benefits to which they are entitled.
• The ways in which young carers can be identified and supported.
• The need for GPs to identify carers and consider their special health needs.

These are just some of the issues raised. With a background in health policy, I am committed to improving the quality of NHS healthcare and social care in the area. I know those I met with are too. That doesn’t mean there won’t be the occasional hiccough when things go wrong, as they sometimes do. But if I am fortunate enough to be elected your Member of Parliament, I promise that you will have a diligent and effective advocate on your behalf.

Along with the Tower, the Winter Gardens are the essential component of Blackpool’s civic heritage in my view. We cannot allow the complex to wither and decline. But that doesn’t mean we don’t ask the question of what to do with the complex given changing demands. To argue for differing usages is not the same as calling in the wreckers’ ball.

A lot of attention has been given in the past to the National Theatre Museum transferring to Blackpool – but the will was never quite there to make it work. Better links with the Grundy to put on displays like the Supremes is as far as that will go. But I do think ‘heritage’ or ‘nostalgia’ tourism will have a key role to play in Blackpool’s medium-term future.  Why not a National Museum of Seaside Life? As the first working-class seaside resort, Blackpool would be the ideal location to trace the impact of the growth of leisure time on daily life over the past couple of hundred years. I am sure parts of the Winter Gardens complex could be utilised for that, with a more varied entertainment/shopping outlets surrounding it. Another opportunity for an artist’s impression no doubt.

There was an interesting passage in a column by Richard Morrison in The Times today about how seaside resorts can rebrand themselves – provoked by The Apprentice‘s attempts in Margate which start on TV very soon (I’m writing this whilst I wait!)  Morrison talks of some seaside towns which have turned a corner: “They have all turned their backs on the hopeless burgers-and-slot-machines ethos that clings to the British seaside resort like a mouldy shroud. As a nation we are far more discriminating, cosmopolitan and demanding in our leisure tastes than we were even 30 years ago … Only at the seaside do traders and local authorities imagine that they can woo crowds with food, facilities and rides so squalid that they should be treated as toxic waste”.

A bit bleak, perhaps, but Blackpool will always be, Janus-like, trying to face both ways at once. How does it appeal to the nation’s sense of nostalgia and love of heritage without remaining stuck in the past when the market and the level of quality expected has moved on. People have happy memories of Blackpool, and it exerts a powerful pull on the national psyche, but we cannot move forward by trying to create yesterday’s Golden Era when every hotel was full to bursting.  Clearly our future does not lie solely in casinos, nor in endless stag and hen parties. But where does it lie?

I have written enough for one blog posting, and I have plenty of views on that last question I shall share with you in the weeks to come, but do email me at paul@paulmaynard.co.uk with your views too!