´óÏó´«Ã½

The MPs in Northamptonshire believe the county gets a raw deal - and they want to do something about it.

"I'm meeting with the police," Louise Bagshawe, Corby's Conservative MP tells me. "They are worried about frontline policing but during the campaign I was worried about the number of full-time officers they wanted to replace with community support officers."

Concerns over Northamptonshire police being under-funded go back a long way. Back in 2004 the then Labour MP Tony Clarke was frustrated that extra money was not coming through the system - despite an earlier agreement that the government would change the way it allocated police funds to the county.

Now police in Northamptonshire could lose up to 100 cars, motorbikes and vans from the force's fleet of vehicles as part of cost-cutting measures: around 25 jobs have already gone and that's before budget cuts of around 20% from the government Spending Review kick in.

Ms Bagshawe supports the government cuts wholeheartedly. "I couldn't do it better myself," she said of George Osborne. She's happy with the development that came to Corby under Labour. Its 50-metre pool is now open and so is the £30m Cube "civic hub" but the new MP thinks enough is enough.

"I went around during the campaign telling people that's it, there won't be anything more built at the moment, we just can't afford it." Nevertheless, she was elected with a majority of 1951.

There have been worries too about the funding for education in the county and as MP Peter Bone (Wellingborough) told me, there's also been under-provision for health funding in Northamptonshire too.

"When I asked why we get less than other counties I was told that we don't get less. It's just that others get more."

Historically it seems, Northamptonshire has suffered from its proximity to the London borders, while not benefiting from help like London weighting.

It's not only fighting for Wellingborough that gets Mr Bone going, it's fighting against Europe. He's fairly phlegmatic about the budget increase...

A fortnight ago David Cameron won the backing of 10 other European countries to reduce the proposed 5.9% rise and limit the increase in the EU's budget to no more than 2.9% which would cost us a mere extra £450m a year.

"It's the reduction in the rebate that's the real problem. During this Parliament, our contributions to the European Union will increase by £17.5 billion, and that's because each year the rebate goes down.

"People simply don't realise this is happening. At a time when we are cutting defence, education, local government and the rest, around a quarter of the cuts we're making amount to what is going to go in funding to the EU.

"You can say it in a speech in the House but no one hears it."

So here it is.

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?