Gosport, Stubbington, Lee-on-the-Solent & Hill Head
Thank you to everyone who voted for me at the election – I truly appreciated your
support! It was a disappointing result for Labour both nationally and locally, although
I think many people in our nation are now troubled by the direction that the new
coalition government is leading us. If I said it once during the election campaign,
I said it a 1000 times, "Whatever the result on May 6th - I'll still be living here
on May 7th!"
Well, I'm not representing you in Parliament as I'd hoped, but I still
care passionately about the issues raised by Labour nationally and those raised on
this web site that impact on our community. I believe these issues are no less relevant
now than they were in May, especially as the proposed Con-Dem cuts are far deeper
than necessary to cope with the impact of the world-wide recession on Britain. During
the campaign we established a clear vision and direction for our community. For me
this goes beyond winning or losing at the ballot box.
My campaign literature emphasised
“together is better”, “action speaks louder” & “respect goes further”. I passionately
believe in these values, along with social justice & serving the common good. That's
why Graham4Gosport.com is still on-line. I want this web site to continue to focus
on issues that matter to you and our community so we can be a force for good and
agents of change.
So if you believe in these values too I’d love to hear from you!
You can still email me at LabourNeighbour@yahoo.co.uk.
I’m passionate about bringing in beneficial change! Over the past 20 years I’ve had extensive experience of working at the grass roots level & had an influencing role at the national level in other countries to bring about significant lasting change in the lives of ordinary people. I’m eager to use the experience I’ve gained & my advocacy skills to make a real difference in our constituency. Over the past three years I walked all of the streets in our community, talked to numerous local people & businesses, and developed a clear integrated vision for our area.
Labour was completely committed to building the aircraft carriers. This would have reinforced the Navy's presence locally & created/ maintained thousands of local jobs & training apprenticeships. During the campaign Caroline Dinenage said at The News debate " Liam Fox will be publishing our manifesto …. and that will include our plans to protect the two aircraft carriers …” However, the Conservative Armed Forces Manifesto did not provide a commitment to a submarine-based nuclear deterrent and it did not commit to the aircraft carriers.
Caroline Dinenage campaigned on the slogan "Save Sultan”. I challenged her at the Stubbington debate that her campaign was an illusion as jobs at Sultan were going nowhere until at least 2018 if at all. I said I had met the new Commander of Sultan at a recent Civic Reception to welcome back our troops and that he confirmed that the move if it happened would not be until 2018. Speaking of the new HMS Sultan Commander, Caroline replied "I'm very confused about this date of 2018 .… and it worries me that just because somebody has a flashy suit with lots of gold braid on it that you believe everything they tell you …. I don't think that we can just trust because somebody in a nice posh uniform suit says …. it might not happen now.…”
In a TV interview Caroline Dinenage clarified her remarks about the Navy’s top brass - she laughed & said “You can’t take everything as hearsay”. The interviewer said “including from the Royal Navy?” She laughed again and said “Well .... exactly”. Click here to watch the interview.
Graham getting involved in a community clear up of the creek
in the Old Road area
of Gosport