From: Conor Burns MP news@conorburns.comSubject: News Bulletin from Conor Burns MP #115

Date: 7 February 2014 13:04To: news@conorburns.com

In this edition: Conor Burns MPs Diary Conor in the media:95 Tory MPs call for EU lawveto Photo news:Bourne Academy SnookerAcademy Conor Burns MP Co-sponsors Bill to Control Off-Shore Wind Farms Photo news:Bournemouth and PooleCollege students visit Conorat Westminster Bournemouth MP Meetswith New National CoastalTourism Academy Conor in Parliament:Conor speaks in debate onEuropean Union ApprovalsBill Conor Burns MP holdsChallenge Navitus meetingin Parliament Conor in the papers:Fears Bournemouth couldbecome a target fortravellers as the only placein area without a transit site Conor in the papers:A stupid idea MP slamsplan to use helicopter toshow how high Navitus Baywind farm could be Conor in the papers:Letter to the Telegraph Conor in the papers:Alan Bennett: LadyThatcher was a 'mirthlessbully' How to contact Conor Burns MP

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Issue 115 - Friday 7th February 2014

Since the past edition, Conor has:

Met with the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, todiscuss the proposed merger between the RoyalBournemouth and Poole Hospitals.Spoken to BBC Radio Solent about the Mesothelioma Bill.Met with the newly-formed National Coastal TourismAcademy to discuss its efforts to create jobs in Bournemouth.Met with Healthwatch Dorset to discuss their work in the localcommunity.Had a meeting with Martin Underhill, Police and CrimeCommissioner for Dorset, to discuss efforts to make Dorsetresidents safer.Signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the House ofCommons to have a veto on existing and proposed EU laws.Held a surgery at the Triangle to help local residents with theirproblems.Hosted a meeting with Challenge Navitus in the House ofCommons to brief MPs on residents opposition to the proposedNavitus Bay Wind Farm.Been quoted in The Daily Telegraph about Alan Bennettsattack on Baroness Thatcher.Signed a letter to The Telegraph in support of the researchlevy to fund efforts against mesothelioma.Co-sponsored a Bill in Parliament to prohibit wind farms suchas Navitus Bay from being constructed within 15 miles of thecoast.Visited Bourne Academy to tour the facilities and be updatedon their snooker programme.Met with Bournemouth and Poole College students inParliament to answer their questions about life as an MP.Held a surgery at Kinson Hub to help local residents with theirproblems.Met with Amber Nabney from Kinson Primary School, winnerof a poster competition to raise awareness of carbon monoxidepoisoning.Has been featured in the Echo on traveller sites and NavitusBay.Appeared alongside Thomas Docherty MP on the Week atWestminster, discussing cross-party friendships. Click hereto listen.

!Conor in the papers:95 Tory MPs call for EU law veto Daily TelegraphSaturday 11th January 2014 Parliament must be given the power toveto every aspect of EU law, 95Conservative MPs demand in a letter toDavid Cameron. In a major intervention, the backbenchers have written to the PrimeMinister urging him to change the law to give the Commons authorityto block new EU legislation and repeal existing measures that threatenBritains national interests. Such powers would enable the Government to reverse the spread ofhuman rights law, relieve businesses of red tape from Brussels andregain control over immigration, they say. They believe the veto ispossible with a new Act of Parliament. At least six more Tory MPs back the letter, but are unable formally toput their names to its demands some because they are ingovernment jobs. David Cameron has promised to renegotiate the terms of Britainsrelationship with Brussels and put the arrangement before voters in areferendum by 2017, which would give the public the option to leavethe European Union. MPs who have signed the letter include James Clappison; ConorBurns; John Baron; Anne Main and Sir Gerald Howarth, the formerDefence Minister. Several Eurosceptic ministers, including Cabinetministers, also privately support the call for a national veto, TheSunday Telegraph understands. Currently, Parliament has no automatic veto over EU laws. The PrimeMinister can use Britains veto to block only the most sensitiveEuropean plans such as on defence and the EU budget duringsummit negotiations with other national leaders in Brussels. A growing number of laws and decisions are made in Brussels withoutany guarantee that Britain can stop them, as they require the supportof only a qualified majority of EU member governments to bepassed. A committee of MPs which scrutinises EU laws last monthrecommended that a national veto be introduced. But David Lidington,the Europe Minister, has rejected the idea of one national parliamentbeing able to veto EU plans. However, the MPs letter, sent to the Prime Minister this weekend,calls on Mr Cameron to adopt the policy. Each time you have stood up for British interests in Brussels, youhave achieved a great deal, it says. Building on your achievements, we would urge you to back theEuropean Scrutiny Committee proposal and make the idea of anational veto over current and future EU laws a reality. The letter states that a new national veto over EU laws would enableParliament to disapply EU legislation, where it is in our vital nationalinterests to do so. It adds: This would transform the UKs negotiating position in the EU.The letter says the veto which would require a new Act ofParliament could be used to deliver key reforms to Britainsrelations with Europe. These include making it possible to gain control over immigration fromwithin the EU, which is currently unlimited. Mr Cameron has said hewants the right for workers to have free movement within the EU to bequalified. The veto would also make it easier for Britain to regain control overthe application of European employment and social laws, as well as togain a complete opt out from the EU charter of fundamental rights. In their letter, the MPs are careful to praise the Prime Minister andoffer him their fullest support for his insistence that nationalparliaments, not bureaucrats in Brussels, are the true source ofdemocratic legitimacy in the EU. However, clarity about how we will achieve these objectives is vital forour credibility, the letter says. The Tory leadership has known of the growing demands forParliament to be given sovereign power to block EU laws in the formof a veto for several weeks. However, some MPs believe Mr Cameron is in denial over thestrength of feeling inside the party and in the country. Conservativewhips are said to have warned MPs not to sign the letter. Mr Jenkin, the chairman of the Commons public administration selectcommittee, said the identities of all 95 formal signatories are includedin the letter but most of the names are not intended to be made public.The support for the letter reaches well beyond the 30 disgruntledTories who are regarded as serial rebels. It eclipses the rebellion which saw 81 Tories defy the party whip toback calls for an EU referendum in 2011. In an article for The Sunday Telegraph today, Mr Jenkin says: Theprivately declared supporters of this letter represent more than half theback benches. We speak for the mainstream of the modernConservative Party in Parliament and in our constituencies, and forthe voting public, both in the UK and throughout Europe. Graham Brady, the chairman of the Tory Partys backbench 1922Committee, which is responsible for overseeing Conservativeleadership elections, said he supported the calls made in the letter. Mr Brady, the MP for Altrincham and Sale West, declined to saywhether he had signed the letter, but said he strongly supported thecall for a national veto. Recent events relating to control of our borders have highlighted theproblems that arise when the British Parliament does not haveultimate control of British laws, he said. Dominic Raab, the Tory MPfor Esher and Walton, a signatory, said: It is vital to send a messageto Brussels that we are serious about renegotiation and that the statusquo just isnt an option. A spokesman for No 10 said the Government would study the letterclosely but warned that a national veto would cause major problemsfor trade. We need to look at what it would mean in practice. Wevealways been clear that Parliament is sovereign and more power fornational parliaments must be a key part of a new settlement, thespokesman said. But if individual national parliaments regularly and unilaterallyoverturned EU laws the single market wouldnt work and even aSwiss-style free trade deal with the EU wouldnt be possible. The Prime Minister is the only one of the three main party leaderscommitted to giving the British people an in/out referendum onmembership of a reformed EU, the spokesman added.

Photo news:Bourne Academy Snooker Academy

Conor Burns with pupils from the Bourne Academys SnookerAcademy.

Conor Burns MP Co-sponsors Bill to ControlOff-Shore Wind Farms On Friday, 17 January 2014, Conor Burns MP co-sponsored a billbrought before the House by Christopher Chope MP which sought torestrict the size, scope and funding for wind farms within 20 miles ofthe coast. If passed, the Control of Offshore Wind Turbines Bill would placeseveral controls on the size and proximity of wind farms such asNavitus Bay. It would prohibit turbines from being built fewer than 15miles from the coast of England and Wales and 20 miles from anyworld Heritage Site. Furthermore, no turbine built within 20 miles ofthe coast of England and Wales could exceed a height of 100m, norcould a group of such turbines exceed 100 in number or beconstructed within 15 miles of another group. Finally, no tax-payerfunded payments in excess of the current price of electricity would bemade to turbine-generated power. Following the debate, Conor said Navitus Bays proposals to site awind farm so close to Dorsets Jurassic Coast amount to madness. Ifear that any wind farm so close to Bournemouth could have a realimpact on tourism and jobs a fear heightened by Navitus Bays ownresearch. Any Bill that would prevent such a wind farm being sited soclose to shore is to be welcomed. The Bill returns for a second reading on 28 February 2014.!

Photo news:Bournemouth and Poole College studentsvisit Conor at Westminster

Conor talking to students from Bournemouth and Poole Collegeat the House of Commons.

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!Bournemouth MP Meets with New NationalCoastal Tourism Academy Last Friday Bournemouth West MPConor Burns met with staff fromBournemouths newly-formed NationalCoastal Tourism Academy (NCTA) todiscuss its work to boost tourism andcreate jobs in Bournemouth and incoastal destinations across the UK. The National Coastal Tourism Academy was launched in August 2012,and aims to provide coastal tourism businesses with access toeducational and professional training in order to help increase theirgrowth, generate jobs and develop the wider tourism industry. It isjointly funded by central government, industry, Bournemouth BoroughCouncil and Bournemouth University. The Academy, working with the local tourism industry, aims to developBournemouths competitive edge through exceptional customerservice and tourism skills, thus enhancing the visitor experience. Following his meeting, Conor said: Tourism is incredibly important toBournemouth, contributing in excess of 425 million to the town peryear. Over 6 million visitors come to Bournemouth annually, and theysupport over 16,000 local jobs. I am therefore pleased to learn of thevital work that the NCTA will be doing to bolster the visitor economy ofthe UKs top resort. Anything that can build in Bournemouths successas a tourist destination is to be warmly welcomed. For more information about the work of the National Coastal TourismAcademy, please see their website atwww.coastaltourismacademy.co.uk.

Conor in Parliament:Conor speaks in debate on European UnionApprovals Bill!

Click on the image above to watch Conor's contribution. The full text of the exchange can be read below: Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset, Conservative): They arefour British institutions that have had to take the European shilling andsign up to promoting closer European integration to get access tomoneyinstitutions that are meant to be under British charity law andpolitically independent, except when it comes to Europe, when theyget handouts to be biased in what they say. Conor Burns (Bournemouth West, Conservative): Does my hon.Friend agree that, although the Minister is right that the sums aremodest and the grants may well go to organisations of merit that theUK would fund anyway without the need to be given our own moneyback, the programme will undermine us powerfully as we go to ourconstituencies to try to persuade our electorate that we are sincereabout getting powers back to Britain and putting them to the public in areferendum? Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset, Conservative): My hon.Friend is absolutely right. The Bill is cretaceous Click here to read the text of the full debate.

Conor Burns MP holds Challenge Navitusmeeting in Parliament On Wednesday 15th January, Conor Burns MP welcomedrepresentatives from the Poole and Christchurch Bays Association(PCBA) to Parliament for a drop-in meeting about the Navitus BayWind Farm. The PCBA, which represents over 40 residentsassociations around the Dorset coast, and has established theChallenge Navitus campaign group, explained to interested MPs whylocal residents are so opposed to the proposed wind farm. The event attracted MPs from across the country, including membersof the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee and provided aforum for the PCBA to make their case against the proposals. Following the event, Conor Burns said: Since taking office, I havebeen overwhelmed by the level of opposition raised by constituents tothe proposed Navitus Bay project. The wind farm would have analmost immediate detrimental effect on the local tourism industry andwildlife, and people across the country have raised their own concernsthat our spectacular beach and cliff views could be compromised. I amdetermined that the any wind farm should at least be sited further outto sea, out of sight of the shore. PCBA member Philip Dewhurst said: All the local MPs have beenvery supportive in opposing this development, particularly ConorBurns, who has been lobbying hard at the highest levels. A majority oflocal residents are opposed, and Conor has made sure that the issueis well understood in government. Research conducted by Navitus Bay Development Limited itselfshows that 14 per cent of visitors will not come back to the town if theturbines are visible from the shore, and a third say they would not visitduring the 4-year construction period, which would prove devastatingto our local tourism economy, which generates 425 million annuallyfor the town.!

!Conor in the papers:Fears Bournemouth could become a targetfor travellers as the only place in areawithout a transit site Melanie Vass, Bournemouth EchoTuesday 4th February 2014 Bournemouth could become atarget for travellers this summer asthe only area without an officialtransit site, it is feared. If Dorset and Poole both have a site ready for this summer,Bournemouth will be the only place where police will not be able touse enforcement powers against illegal encampments. There are hopes Bournemouth will eventually be able to share a sitewith either Poole or Dorset but at the moment the law states thatenforcement powers can only be used where vacant pitches on atraveller site are available within the same local authority area. Bournemouth Council leader John Beesley has ruled out thepossibility of finding a suitable site within the borough. Cllr Phil Eades, Mayor of Poole, said: I honestly believe that if Poolecomplies with the legislation, travellers will stop coming here. They will go somewhere that hasnt complied like Bournemouth.The travellers know the law. Bournemouth Council leader Cllr John Beesley said it wasdisappointing that the government had not yet cchanged the law toallow Bournemouth to use sites in neighbouring council areas. But he said they stood by their position that they did not have anyacceptable sites. The record in Bournemouth has been very robust in making sure thatwe protect our car parks and open spaces as vigorously as wepossibly can. We have very good intelligence on possible unauthorisedencampments and if one occurs, council officers move swiftly to takethe necessary legal action to move them on as soon as possible. Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns, above, said: The fact thatBournemouth hasnt got provision does mean that police wont havethe powers to move travellers on. However, even if we had provision and that was full, the police wouldstill not have the powers to act against another illegal camp. It leavesus in a disadvantaged position but then again weve done all thefeasibility studies and none of the sites had any degree of publicsupport.

!Conor in the papers:A stupid idea MP slams plan to usehelicopter to show how high Navitus Baywind farm could be Steven Smith, Bournemouth EchoSunday 2nd February 2014 An idea to use a helicopter todemonstrate the height of the windturbines proposed for the Dorsetcoast has been branded stupid. As reported in the Daily Echo, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwoodrequested that Navitus Bay Development Ltd commissioned thehelicopter to hover at agreed heights and distances fromBournemouths coastline, which the developer has agreed to do. But the idea, put forward after talks with residents groups, has beenslammed by Mr Ellwoods Parliamentary colleague and groupsopposed to the wind farm. Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, said: I dont think a singlehelicopter hovering in the bay is going to convey in any sense anaccurate visual representation of what hundreds of high turbines aregoing to look like. One of the reasons Im convinced its a stupid idea is the way thatNavitus Bay Development Ltd has jumped on it and agreed to do it,when so far its visuals have been inaccurate and it is afraid to showthe public what it will really look like. Philip Dewhurst, of Poole and Christchurch Bays Association, whichrepresents 50 residents groups and has launched a Save ourSeaside campaign, said: To get a true picture of how intrusiveNavitus would be, youd need to imagine not one, but thousands ofhelicopters one estimate says 21,000 to simulate the size of thisgiant forest of skyscraper-tall mega turbines. The UK already has more offshore wind than the rest of Europe puttogether and day by day the economics become more shaky. Bill Hoodless, also from the association, added: I think the helicopterplan is a genuine idea from Tobias Ellwood to help provide a heightindication of a wind turbine. Perhaps we should not pre-judge that it would be useful if bylooking at the helicopter we can also visualise all the turbines. David Lloyd, of opposition group Challenge Navitus, said it wouldmislead rather than inform people. At best it will be a dot on the horizon and it will not indicate the sheerdensity of the proposed development. He urged people to look at the visuals on its website, which he saidhad been independently verified. This is just one negative aspect of the development, he added. The helicopter would hover at 100, 150 and 200 metre heights at nine,12 and 15 miles from the shore. Formal consultation on the project has now concluded and the firm isgearing up to submit its planning application. The application is likely to be submitted to the Government in thespring.Navitus Bay says the final number of turbines cannot yet be decidedas technology is rapidly developing. There could be as many as 218 as high as 200m. In reacting to the criticism, Tobias Ellwood said: I have little faith inthe digital images that Ive been presented with. There is no solutionto show how they will look and, absolutely, this is not ideal, but letssee what it can do. The company is willing to do it and it will not cost the taxpayeranything. My view is the more information that we have to paint a more realisticpicture of what the impact will be, the better it is for us to make anaccurate judgement as to what that impact will be. Mike Unsworth, project director at Navitus Bay, added that thedemonstration would not happen until the spring. The demonstration it still yet to be scoped in any detail. In any case,this exercise would not aim to replicate the visual representation of thewind park, but simply give the public a reference point within theproposed developments offshore site area, which currently does notexist, to understand the distance of the development from the shoreand the height of the turbines, he said.

Conor in the papers:Letter to the Telegraph The Daily TelegraphThursday 16th January 2014 SIR Recently, the House of Commonsvoted against an all-party amendment tointroduce a levy on the insuranceindustry to fund research into mesothelioma, the deadly asbestos-related cancer. This is regrettable and short-sighted. Britain has the highest rate of mesothelioma in the world and, over thenext three decades, it is likely to kill more than 50,000 people unlessnew treatments are found. Yet funding for research still lagsshamefully behind that invested in cancers of comparable mortality,such as skin cancer and myeloma. That the insurance industry helps redress this funding shortfall througha modest ongoing contribution is fair, given that resultant medicaladvances are likely to occasion smaller compensation pay-outs forpatients exposed to asbestos in the workplace. The industry hasaccepted this, making the failure by insurers and government to agreea framework enabling a sustained contribution even more frustrating. In the current climate, exploring new ways to finance medical researchis vital. We hope that todays Lords debate on mesothelioma researchfunding will prove more productive in negotiating this impasse thanprevious, thwarted efforts. Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench); Lord Avebury (Lib Dem);Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab); Conor Burns MP (Con); BaronessButler-Sloss (Crossbench); Tracey Crouch MP (Con); BaronessFinlay of Llandaff (Crossbench); Kate Green MP (Lab); LordMonks (Lab); Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench); AdmiralLord West of Spithead (Lab); Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru); Dr SarahWollaston MP (Con)

!Conor in the papers:Alan Bennett: Lady Thatcher was a'mirthless bully' John Bingham, The TelegraphSunday 29th December 2013 Alan Bennett, the playwright, hasissued a bitter attack on the lateBaroness Thatcher as a mirthless bully, bemoaning the fact that shewas afforded a ceremonial funeral instead of being buried in thedepths of the night. He also lashed out at Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, assimpering, likened the Chancellor George Osborne to a figure fromthe 17th Century and accused his fellow Yorkshireman Eric Pickles,the Communities Secretary, of being in the grip of ideology. Tory MPs dismissed his remarks as politically motivated and fuelled bya highly developed imagination while Lord Tebbit branded him pigignorant. Mr Bennetts comments appear in a series of diary extracts for 2013published by the London Review of Books. The extracts contain a confession to trespassing in Rievaulx Abbeyin North Yorkshire, the disclosure that he urinated on what may havebeen the grave of William Shakespeares father and a proudadmission to tearing down a leaflet for Ukip he found pinned to achurch noticeboard and throwing it in the bin. Elsewhere the extracts contain digs at Sir Richard Branson, theprivatisation of the Probation Service, town planners, the Richard IIISociety and the capitalist system. In an entry for April 17, the date of Lady Thatchers funeral at St PaulsCathedral in London, he wrote: Shots of the cabinet and the ex-cabinet at Lady Thatchers funeral in St Pauls just emphasise howconsistently cowardly most of them were, the only time they dared tostand up to her when eventually they kicked her out. He added: What also galls is the notion that Tory MPs throw in almostas an afterthought, namely that her lack of a sense of humour was justa minor failing, of no more significance than being colour-blind, say, ormildly short-sighted. In fact to have no sense of humour is to be a seriously flawed humanbeing. "Its not a minor shortcoming; it shuts you off from humanity. Mrs Thatcher was a mirthless bully and should have been buried, asonce upon a time monarchs used to be, in the depths of the night. Conor Burns, the Tory MP, who was a close friend of Lady Thatcher inher later years, insisted that the public caricature was far from thetruth. Margaret was actually a very warm, kind and soft person, he said. "In her public life, of course, she was robust and determined andconsistent. "I would say the reason most of her Cabinet, as Mr Bennett put it,didnt stand up to her was that overwhelmingly they agreed with herand thought she was doing the right thing for Britain. But he added that although Mr Bennett may dislike the Conservativespolitics they would continue to enjoy his plays. Mr Bennett has a very highly developed imagination which makeshim a great playwright, I would have thought that his thoughts onMargaret Thatcher, whom he didnt know, are derived more from thatthan anything else. In an entry for April 8, Mr Bennett describes spending the morningpaying bills for water, gas, coal and council tax. He wrote that while he did not resent paying bills before theprivatisation of the utility companies, he is now filled with the sensethat he is lining the pockets of overpaid executives and theshareholders who charge what they know they can get away with. He went on to confess he deliberately pays his bills as late as possibleadding: I am no crusader but I wish there was a consumersorganisation which could coordinate individual resistance to thesecompanies, setting up non or late payment on such a scale that itwould put a dent in the dividends of the shareholders and the salariesof the executives concerned. He added: This was written a few hours before I learned of LadyThatchers death and its an appropriate epitaph.

Three ways to contact Conor Burns MP:

By Phone: 020 7219 7021By email: conor.burns.mp@parliament.ukBy post: Conor Burns MP

House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA

www.conorburns.com

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