uuptoday.org

Cllr Angus Carson, UUP Assembly candidate for Strangford has said his party will use the Assembly to build quality local health services for the people of Strangford and Northern Ireland.

Cllr Carson said:

“The National Health Service makes real impact on all our lives whether as individuals, families or communities. The investments we make in our health service must be designed to secure access to quality healthcare and advice and it must reach all of us.

“The Assembly can bring local accountability, strategic direction and targeted investment to the health service which will stand in contrast to the unaccountable mismanagement of Direct Rule.

“The Ulster Unionist Party is committed to early intervention, local healthcare and advice and above all health services that are free at the point of need.

“In the course of the next Assembly the UUP is committed to seeing the introduction of free prescriptions for all, free eye tests, an investment package for dentistry, allowing pharmacists to prescribe for non-urgent conditions and developing the health service so that patients can have access to NHS staff and medical advice 24 hours a day.

“Only the Ulster Unionist Party is presenting a programme designed to bring the National Health Service back to its founding principles of providing first class, free health treatment for all and if elected will spend the next four years striving to achieve this.”

Cllr Angus Carson, Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate for Strangford, has said one of the next Assembly’s major tasks is the tackling of child poverty in Northern Ireland.

Cllr Carson said:

“The Ulster Unionist Party is committed to working with the community and voluntary sectors to formulate and propose policies that will offer hope to those in our society who experience poverty. One of these areas is the tackling of child poverty.

“It is a disgrace that in Northern Ireland today 108,000 children live in poverty – that’s over one third of all children. This problem must be addressed and must be a priority for those elected to the Assembly.

“Working in conjunction with the community and voluntary sectors the Assembly must devise policies to increase the proportion of children reaching proper levels of educational attainment in primary school. In addition we must ensure all children have access to quality care and early learning before entering school.

“The Ulster Unionist Party must ensure that a future administration combats the moral scandal of child poverty and helps create a fair and decent community for all of us.”

Cllr Angus Carson, UUP Assembly election candidate for Strangford, has said the introduction of free personal care for the elderly must be a number one priority for the next Assembly.

Cllr Carson said:

“The increase in home ownership in Northern Ireland has meant that many older people do not now qualify for free personal care which in turn has placed a heavy burden on many families who struggle to provide such care at home because they are unable to afford the high cost of residential care.

In addition many, who have to seek residential care, find that funding it means selling the home which they had intended should be an inheritance for their children.

This current policy fails many people of modest means who spent a lifetime working and paying their taxes. Penalising people in this way was not what the welfare state intended and the introduction of free personal care will return it to one of its founding values.

The Scottish Parliament has introduced free personal care for the elderly thus proving that not only can it be done but can be financed as well.

Introducing free personal care into Northern Ireland will cost between £40 and £50 million which amounts to 1.85% of the Northern Ireland health budget and is not an impossible sum to find if the will is there to find it.

In the Assembly the watchwords should be Welfare, Security and Dignity. The immediate introduction of free personal care for the elderly will contribute to achieving those goals.”

Cllr Angus Carson, UUP Assembly election candidate for Strangford, has said the introduction of free personal care for the elderly must be a number one priority for the next Assembly.

Cllr Carson said:

“The increase in home ownership in Northern Ireland has meant that many older people do not now qualify for free personal care which in turn has placed a heavy burden on many families who struggle to provide such care at home because they are unable to afford the high cost of residential care.

In addition many, who have to seek residential care, find that funding it means selling the home which they had intended should be an inheritance for their children.

This current policy fails many people of modest means who spent a lifetime working and paying their taxes. Penalising people in this way was not what the welfare state intended and the introduction of free personal care will return it to one of its founding values.

The Scottish Parliament has introduced free personal care for the elderly thus proving that not only can it be done but can be financed as well.

Introducing free personal care into Northern Ireland will cost between £40 and £50 million which amounts to 1.85% of the Northern Ireland health budget and is not an impossible sum to find if the will is there to find it.

In the Assembly the watchwords should be Welfare, Security and Dignity. The immediate introduction of free personal care for the elderly will contribute to achieving those goals.”

Ulster Unionists today questioned the new air tax which came into effect last week, doubling the previous amount of tax.

Speaking today Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford Angus Carson said,

“The principle of increasing tax burden for the most polluting industries is worth exploring. But I don’t see how doubling air tax to £10 on some internal EU flights, or up to £40 on international travel, will have any real impact on driving down CO2 emissions.

If setting up a new stealth tax was the aim then job done. But can doubling air taxes really benefit the environment ?

If the money raised gets ploughed into schemes designed to offset emissions, then that would at least be a start.

In the interim, offsetting schemes can fill the gap. Can the government confirm that the entire extra tax revenue will go directly into protecting our environment and reducing CO2 emissions?”

Ulster Unionists today questioned the new air tax which came into effect last week, doubling the previous amount of tax.

Speaking today Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford Angus Carson said,

“The principle of increasing tax burden for the most polluting industries is worth exploring. But I don’t see how doubling air tax to £10 on some internal EU flights, or up to £40 on international travel, will have any real impact on driving down CO2 emissions.

If setting up a new stealth tax was the aim then job done. But can doubling air taxes really benefit the environment ?

If the money raised gets ploughed into schemes designed to offset emissions, then that would at least be a start.

In the interim, offsetting schemes can fill the gap. Can the government confirm that the entire extra tax revenue will go directly into protecting our environment and reducing CO2 emissions?”

Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate for Strangford, Angus Carson, has demanded clarity from his DUP opponents on what is meant by testing Sinn Fein’s commitment to supporting the police over a “credible period of time”.Mr Carson, an Ards Councillor, said:

“The DUP says that it will not enter into government with Sinn Fein until it has tested Sinn Fein’s commitment to supporting the rule of law over what it terms a “credible” period of time.

On the one hand there are very senior DUP figures saying that ‘credible period of time’ means Sinn Fein won’t be admitted to government for what they term a “political generation” whilst on the other hand the DUP has indicated a willingness to enter into coalition government with Sinn Fein after the March election.

The electorate demands the DUP spell out exactly what it means by ‘credible period of time’. Does it mean it will be years before the DUP ‘gets into bed’ with Sinn Fein, in which case the government will have abandoned its whole devolution idea and moved to its plan B, will or does it mean the DUP is going to ‘get under the duvet’ as soon as the election is over – in which case the DUP’s ‘credible period of time’ will have amounted to about three weeks.

At the moment the DUP is playing the game of ‘wait and see’ on the issue of when it will enter government with Sinn Fein – something which the electorate will remember not so long ago the DUP said in an election manifesto was “out of the question”.

The DUP must do the decent thing and tell the electorate what it means before the people vote. The DUP’s present stance of ‘We’ll tell you what we’re going to do after you’ve voted” is not only unacceptable but is an insult to the voter. The Strangford electorate demands that Iris Robinson and company tell us what they mean”

Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate for Strangford, Angus Carson, has demanded clarity from his DUP opponents on what is meant by testing Sinn Fein’s commitment to supporting the police over a “credible period of time”.

Mr Carson, an Ards Councillor, said:

“The DUP says that it will not enter into government with Sinn Fein until it has tested Sinn Fein’s commitment to supporting the rule of law over what it terms a “credible” period of time.

On the one hand there are very senior DUP figures saying that ‘credible period of time’ means Sinn Fein won’t be admitted to government for what they term a “political generation” whilst on the other hand the DUP has indicated a willingness to enter into coalition government with Sinn Fein after the March election.

The electorate demands the DUP spell out exactly what it means by ‘credible period of time’. Does it mean it will be years before the DUP ‘gets into bed’ with Sinn Fein, in which case the government will have abandoned its whole devolution idea and moved to its plan B, will or does it mean the DUP is going to ‘get under the duvet’ as soon as the election is over – in which case the DUP’s ‘credible period of time’ will have amounted to about three weeks.

At the moment the DUP is playing the game of ‘wait and see’ on the issue of when it will enter government with Sinn Fein – something which the electorate will remember not so long ago the DUP said in an election manifesto was “out of the question”.

The DUP must do the decent thing and tell the electorate what it means before the people vote. The DUP’s present stance of ‘We’ll tell you what we’re going to do after you’ve voted” is not only unacceptable but is an insult to the voter. The Strangford electorate demands that Iris Robinson and company tell us what they mean”

Cllr Angus Carson, Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford in the Assembly elections, has said the DUP must explain how it is going to deliver on its claim of retaining academic selection in schools.

Mr Carson, a leading Ards Borough Councillor, said:

“The current form of academic selection is the 11Plus but it is being ended by law and the DUP cannot stop that happening.

“At St Andrews what the DUP did was negotiate for the Assembly, if it wished, to replace this outgoing 11Plus with an alternative ability based test. It then claimed this meant the DUP had saved academic selection.

“However, since making that claim, the DUP has been forced on to the retreat. For the DUP to deliver the retention of academic selection they must enjoy the support of nationalist MLAs – who oppose academic selection. The DUP’s claim depends on the likes of Sinn Fein doing a ‘u-turn’ on its education policy position.

“What on earth has been saved? Parents will expect answers.”