While out meeting residents in Andover Tom McCann, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for North West Hampshire, met anti-litter campaigner Manuela Wahnon. Tom congratulated her on her campaign and praised her hard work, as an example of how individuals can and do make a difference to their communities.

“I urge everyone to listen to what Manuela has to say” he said. “ Together we can make Andover and the rest of NW Hampshire a cleaner and better place for us and for future generations.”

I note that in this week’s Andover Advertiser the debate on Twinings job losses continues with comments from Sir George Young, Cllr Peter Giddings and Stanley Oram UKIP parliamentary candidate.

 Mr Oram’s comments are welcome as was his attendance at the public meeting on Twinings last week. It is a great pity no-one from the local conservative party found time to attend the same meeting. Sir George at least sent his apologies and argues we should pull together to save jobs. What a pity his conservative colleagues couldn’t do the same and support calls for Twinings to reconsider their proposals. What a pity they can’t bring themselves to talk to the staff under threat or their representatives. Instead they choose to facilitate the Twinings proposals without question.

The economy of Andover and this country needs a strong manufacturing base to export goods. Exporting jobs does nothing for us or for future generations. I dread to think what will happen if the Tories ever get to run the country.

A number of residents have spoken to me about the appaling state of the road between Little London and Smannell left like this after BT contractors closed and dug up the road to lay new telephone cables. I have sent the following email to Hampshire Highways and have been promised an answer by next week.

Work now appears to be finished - at least they have finished digging holes but

• Road signs saying the road is closed remain
• Large potholes remain all along the route
• Manhole covers have not been repalced
• Vehicles are using the road and driving on the grass verge to get round obstacles left behind
• As a result the entire route is slowly becoming unfit for use

Can you advise if the work is finished and if so when the contractors will tidy up the mess and resurface the damaged areas of road please?

On a similar note I have again asked for the abandoned road signs left by the phone box in Little London to be removed.

Andrew Lansley Conservative shadow health secretary has described consultations on fluoridation of Hampshire’s water “not real” and called for a referendum on the issue. In 2008 Test Valley Borough Council along with many other Hampshire authorities backed Lib Dem calls to reject proposals to add fluoride to local water supplies..

Lib Dem shadow health secretary and Romsey MP Sandra Gidley has welcomed his statement and added “It is just a shame that it has taken nearly a year for the Tory party leadership to make their opinion on a local referendum known.”

A regular complaint from residents is the lack of parking on local estates and the resultant difficulties this causes especially for disabled drivers. I am pleased to report that on 21 January the borough council implemented a road traffic order introducing a number new parking places for disabled drivers (blue badge holders) around Andover, many of these in Alamein ward.

The new Alamein spaces can be found in Camelot Close (6), Caesar Close (2), Florence Court (4), Galahad Close (5), Hammond Square (1), Hendren Square (1), Launcelot Close (2), Rhodes Square (1) and Turin Court (2).

Ful details of the traffic order and a map showing the exact locations can be seen at Andover library in the Chantry Centre or the council offices at Beech Hurst.

On Wednesday the Co-op issued the following statement regarding the future of their King Arthur’s Way store.

“We have been working hard to attract a new food retailer to occupy the Council’s property to provide an ongoing service for the community.  There has been considerable interest and we look forward to working with the Council to complete the process as quickly as possible.”

I welcome this news and congratulate the Co-op on their efforts to work with the council to protect jobs and services at a time when so many are indifferent to the effects that job losses and shop closures have on local communities.

Test Valley’s conservative councillors have rejected calls to back Twinings workers in their battle to save jobs in Andover. At Thursday’s council meeting they voted unanimously against a Lib Dem motion calling for them and the two local MPs to back the campaigners.

The motion (see previous story, January 7th) called on Test Valley’s MPs to support a parliamentary motion calling on Twinings to reverse their decision on redundancies and maintain full production at Andover

In a sometimes angry debate, successive conservatives claimed it was not their responsibility to intervene and refused to back the workers calls for a review of the proposals. Instead they committed themselves to the company’s proposals and pledged the council to help find alternative work for those employees discarded by Twinings

I am disappointed the conservative group, like their MP, have chosen to ignore these calls for help. It raises doubts about their commitment to protecting jobs and securing real economic growth in Andover.

The full text of my speech in support of the motion is given below.

Twinings are a highly successful business producing tea at their Andover and North Shields sites. Andover also houses the company’s head office. Their main markets are the UK, Western Europe and North America. One of the major selling points is the Englishness of their product as exemplified by the royal warrant displayed on their packs. The company is hugely profitable making in excess of £56 million last year. The company is part of Associated British Foods who, on the day the proposed redundancies were revealed, reported a 4% rise in annual profits as sales jumped 12% to £9.3 billion. The company’s proposals are to close the North Shields site, reduce the Andover workforce by 129 and transfer production to Poland and China.

I give this information to clarify to members this is not a case of a struggling company looking to survive. This is a case of a highly profitable and highly regarded company betraying its workforce. The success of Twinings and its profits were won through the dedication, loyalty and skills of that workforce. The company now proposes to discard at least 129 of them and replace them with low paid overseas workers. To export Andover’s jobs and pocket the difference.

They argue they need to remain competitive. They are highly competitive - thanks to their award winning workforce. They argue they need to be near their markets. What could be closer to the main markets in the UK and Western Europe than the Andover site? - Certainly not one in Poland. Since when has China been nearer to North America than Europe? How can they justify a royal warrant on goods sold in America when they’re produced in China? They say they are committed to a presence in Andover but the plans for Poland show a site big enough to swallow both their existing factories with space to spare. Their employees do not believe this is only 129 redundancies. No mention is made of possible job losses in local suppliers to Twinings and other knock-on effects. I was particularly concerned to hear from residents in Enham, in my own ward, that jobs there, packing tea for Twinings, may also be under threat.

This is not re-organisation. This is yet another example of the piecemeal dismantling of British industry to satisfy short term financial objectives. This is not in the interests of Andover, nor in the long term interests of the company. It betrays the ethos of Thomas Twining and makes a mockery of the company’s heritage.

We have seen over the past year major financial problems in this country. There are those who would blame these on the present government. This unfortunately is not the case. Successive governments have given in to the demands of a bloated and self indulgent financial sector, ever greedy for more profits and bigger profits whatever the social costs. We have seen the result of this and we now need to say enough is enough.

I note that this council has had meetings with Twinings and other agencies to facilitate alternative employment for those workers affected. This is very commendable but in doing so without comment on the company’s plans we are condoning their actions. We have a duty to those employees to comment. We have a duty to promote good quality jobs for local people. We have spent hours debating just that over the past few years. We have here an opportunity to show we can do this, to defend local jobs and encourage expansion to generate more jobs.

I urge all members to put aside party political loyalties as the signatories of the parliamentary motion have done and vote for the proposal before you.

Campaigners have expressed disappointment that Test Valley Borough Council will not be debating changes to local bus routes at its January meeting. A motion submitted by me and Mike McGarry calling for a review of the changes and the subsidy given by Hampshire County Council will be deferred to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee for consideration.

It is a pity we will not be able to discuss the proposals now. I would now expect the committee to look at this and report back to full council as soon as possible. The county council must accept Andover is a growing town and needs an adequate public bus network. Not everyone has access to cars; many residents rely on the buses. We should be encouraging everyone to reduce CO2 emissions by using cars less and buses more and yet the county is sanctioning by its actions a reduction in bus services.

Councillors will still discuss the matter at the Andover Forum on 25th January when Cllr Rod Bailey has called for a report on the proposals to be presented.

Andover’s Lib Dem councillors are backing calls for Twinings to reconsider its plans to implement redundancies and transfer production to Poland.
In a motion to be submitted to January’s full council meeting we call for the council to back a parliamentary early day motion deploring the decision. The motion states that the proposals will be bad for Twinings and the local economy and calls on the borough’s two MPs to support the parliamentary motion.
Andover LibDems have had a number of meetings with Twinings union members and agree with them that there is a very strong case for the company to retain and expand production at the Andover site. The redundancies are unnecessary and not in the best interests of the town or the company. We urge the company to listen to the union and reconsider its plans.
These meetings were attended by parliamentary candidate Tom McCann who said “The proposals may not just mean redundancies at Twinings but could have a knock on effect with their suppliers and sub-contractors. I was particularly concerned to hear from Enham residents that they are worried that their jobs packing tea for Twinings may also be under threat. The local council and MPs must act to protect local jobs.
The council meeting takes place on 14 January in Romsey. The full text of the motion is as follows

“This council notes the following early day motion tabled in parliament

That this House expresses its concern that Twinings intends to close down its North Shields plant, resulting in the loss of 263 jobs, and to shed 129 jobs from its Andover plant and move the majority of its production to Poland and China; notes that Twinings and its parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) remain hugely profitable, making in excess of £56 million; further notes the adverse impact that this decision will have on the local economies and people of North Shields and Andover; therefore calls on Twinings and ABF to reverse their decision and to maintain their plant in North Shields and full production in Andover; and calls on the Government to intervene as a matter of urgency to prevent such unnecessary loss of jobs in the UK.

This council fully endorses the sentiments expressed in this motion and in particular regards any loss of jobs at the Andover plant as detrimental to the economy of Andover and Test Valley.

This council therefore resolves to write to both our local MPs calling on them to support the early day motion”.

My letter and story on the future use of the Guildhall have attracted two comments.

 The first was from Derek Kotz, partner of Labour ppc Sarah Evans. His comments have already appeared on a number of websites under his or Sarah’s name. I will not therefore publish them again here.

The second from “Ian Hindsight” queries the accuracy of my comments. These are made in my name and are verifiable. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to some others. I am happy to discuss this further with “Ian Hindsight” if he reveals his identity rather using a pseudonym.