This morning I received the terrible news that Cynthia had passed away in the early hours. I have known Cynthia for many years and she was a great friend. She was elected to the Council in 2007 as Councillor for Tintwistle, and was the Deputy Mayor of the High Peak. Whilst on the Council she always stood up for Tintwistle at every opportunity. She recently acted as starter for my High Peak Hike 2009 and my abiding memory of her will be waving the Union Jack flag to get us on our way.

We will all miss Cynthia a great deal, both amongst the High Peak Conservatives and the whole community in Tintwistle too. I personally will miss her for her advice, help and great personality.

The local Labour activists have jumped on comments made by Dan Hannan MEP regarding the NHS and have tried to turn them into an indication of Conservative policy. I have already said that I thought Dan's comments were wrong and in no way do they represent our policy nor my own thoughts. Trying to turn them into some sort of policy statement as Labour are doing locally, is wrong and just playing political games. Mr. Levitt even tries to quote history from 1948 as a yardstick for 2009 policy. Interesting from a man who was a member of CND yet now supports Trident. A conversion worthy of St. Paul on the road to Damascus ! His comments really do smack of hypocrisy. It has been said many times, but it is worth repeating, the NHS will be the number one priority of an incoming Conservative Government !

Huge amounts of debt have been incurred by people unwittingly due to the complexity of Tax Credits. This problem is not new but it has been raised again by the CAB. We advocated some writing off of these debts at the last election.

I see Cllr. Sharp has weighed into the debate on the Alliance supporting comments by the local MP. Strange that Cllr. Sharp has never echoed his reservations in the Council Chamber.

Thanks to Dominique at The Old Oak Emma and I set off with a couple of bacon sandwiches inside us. We are waved off by several of our Conservative Council colleagues and members of the Glossop Talking Newspapers group who are one of the beneficiaries from this years walk. Local Councillor Cynthia Mitchell actually sets us on our way with a wave of a Union Jack.

I have returned from my holiday and picked up the local press to see comments by the MP regarding the Councils' Alliance with Staffs Moorlands. He is so far off the mark with his accusations, there is no way that the local voice will be lost as a result of the Alliance. As for his accusations of illegitimacy, well if he believes that then why has he not taken the appropriate legal steps to challenge, or is he engaging in political opportunism ??  

A local Liberal Democrat has raised again the question of my campaign funding. I have answered this question several times before in the press. Our campaign funds are raised locally through a series of events and donations. The event are listed on the website events page. In addition we received contributions from Conservative HQ. This money comes from donors up and down the country who choose to donate centrally. This money is then distributed amongst seats like the High Peak where we are having to work against the Communications Allowance used by the sitting Labour MP. This is public money that the MP can use. The money we use is not from the public purse !

Turning to the Liberal Democrats and their funding. I refer to the following link http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/michaelcrick/2009/06/lib_dems_face_quandary_over_mi.html 

This man is a convicted criminal and the LibDems are showing no sign of returning the money as yet. the accusations made locally refer to someone who is not a criminal yet they seem to be trying to take the high moral ground. This at a time when their own Parliamentary Candidate for the High Peak has a well reported financial cloud hanging over him. I have not commented on this at all as yet because a man is innocent until proven guilty, its a shame that the LibDems dont work to the same standards !