RICHARD BROOKS

A Stronger North East is a Stronger Britain!

During our successful Abroath West by-election last month , I asked you what are the key issues to you.

Here is your top six, and my top six for this 2024 General Election:

 

• You want ‘INVESTMENT not independence’ in our high streets. Through the UK government’s levelling-up fund, I will bring regeneration to Arbroath high street and make our town centres a hub of activity

• You want ‘INVESTMENT not independence’ in our multi-destination Tourism. Despite Carnoustie’s golf, Broughty Ferry’s beach, Arbroath’s Abbey, Keptie pond and famous Smokies to name a few, the  SNP show no interest or investment. I will stand firm on government investment in tourism.

• You want ‘INVESTMENT not independence’ in our Roads and Transport infrastructure. Our roads need investment if we are to truly be an essential tourist spot again, and I will fight for affordable train services, specifically between destinations in this constituency

• You want ‘INVESTMENT not independence’ in our hospitality and city centre businesses. I will fight for this through lower business rates and lower taxes, filling the empty high street units, creating good jobs and the need for a vibrant hotel and B&B scene

• You want ‘INVESTMENT not independence’ in personal safety. I will increase the police numbers, and bring more visibility of police on our streets

• You want ‘INVESTMENT not independence’ in our Rural and Farming communities. Through investment in and promotion of sustained  ‘Farm to Fork’ , ‘Buy-British’ and fair pricing initiatives, I will work to bring much needed stability to the farming economy

Vote for Richard Brooks and the Conservatives and you will get INVESTMENT not Independence!

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I am Richard Brooks. I went to school in Arbroath, studied in Aberdeen University and have spent the last 25 years working in the North East. Arbroath has a wealth of heritage, from the Abbey to Keptie Pond, from the Smokies to the Football Club. We have the tourism of Broughty Ferry, the golf of Carnoustie, so what is there not to love about our area and why isnt there more investment in our wealth of tourist attractions, especially - dare I say - Arbroath (lets get the high street sorted out once and for all!)

We have beauty and brilliance all around us. At the foot of some of the most breath-taking scenery in the UK lies the Oil and Gas capital of Europe, Aberdeen with university researchers and industry innovators leading us through the Energy Transition to Net Zero; Dotted around the scenery are distilleries making the finest whisky in the world; thriving farming and fishing industries.  We have some of the best innovative minds and business leaders in the world, tourist attractions form Castles to Abbeys and a bustling wealth of industry serving the whole of the UK....and yet....

 

the SNP have never fully recognised the North East. Maybe it’s because we are very much a part of the United Kingdom providing half the homes in Britain with energy; Maybe it’s because we benefit from unfettered access to British markets through produce such as strawberries, rasperies, beef, lamb, fish, and whisky; or maybe it is because of our beauty, wealth of wildlife and holiday retreats....who really knows!

What I do know is that the SNP have one agenda, and really dont care about your priorities; The Labour party has everyones agenda and will spinelessly flip-flop their policies to gain a few more votes. Only the Conservatives raise YOUR voice and have YOUR priorities in mind; The only party to give an explicit NO to independence, we want investment in our North East towns not independence.

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A large ill-conceived plan to erect 1500 pylons from the north to the south of Scotland is underway despite the

impact to our countryside, our health and our environmental impact. WE will not remain silent and will expose

the green-washing claims that this will mitigate climate change and aid our efforts to reach Net Zero. I will be supporting Deeside Against Pylons, Save our Mearns and Leylodge Against Industrialisation.

Where is the SNPs support? No-where to be seen as usual; As for Labour, not a squeak as they battle to work out what will gain the most votes.

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The war in the Ukraine has seen the UK hit by extreme fuel prices and cost-of-living challenges being felt by every community in the Northeast. Now more than ever we need to pull together, watch out for one another, make sure we have a community to resist the plight of social isolation, deprivation and vulnerability. The last thing we need is separation!

 

Under the current SNP government Scotland has the worst child poverty in Europe for almost all of the last decade; teachers under-paid and under-resourced; Scottish education ranked bottom; the Scottish NHS at breaking point and the most under-resourced, underfunded Policeforce in the UK. We have the worst drug death statistics in Europe, and have seen an astronomical rise in foodbank usage ; this is not a Westminster thing, this is an SNP thing! And the SNP government blindly spend 'our' millions on failed (and never ending) ferry projects, misleading the people on independence, wasting more of our money on Lorna Slater’s ill-thought out deposit return scheme and the ill-fated Gender recognition bill; whilst sending our once world-class education down the drain, not to mention set plans that will negatively affect our fishing industry, our clean power industry, and desimating our increasingly necessary oil and gas sector.

 

The SNP have brought this country to its knees whilst continually misleading the nation by suggesting it is Westminsers fault. It’s time to work together to put this Nation back on its feet, putting your priorities first and putting this chaotic SNP government out of office.

www.StrongerNE.uk 

The Westminster government has given record numbers of people employment and seen 1.7 million fewer people living in poverty compared to the last time Labour were in government (2010). In England, the Conservative Government has abolished business rates for hundreds of thousands of eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector and are investing billions of pounds to support local businesses. They are freezing fuel duty, halving people’s energy bills, cutting the cost of childcare.

 

Whilst at the same time in Scotland, we pay more tax, business rates are through the roof, the SNP never did abolish council tax like they said they would, and they are wasting OUR money left, right and centre to quench their ignorant obsession for independence.

 

And your options are further narrowed by the Labour party.

The Labour party are so desperate for power they really don’t know what horse to back. It looks like they will go into coalition with the SNP, support independence and decimate our Energy sector. Keir Starmer wants to stop oil and gas production.... but not all oil and gas production, just the UKs. He will desert our workforce and import energy from abroad.... and they call themselves the working-class party. What a joke!

www.StrongerNE.uk

 

Never forget, we would never have made it as a country if we did not have the UK governments furlough scheme, levelling up scheme, vaccine rollout and conservative government instituted Minimum Living Wage. Why would we ever want independence…it’s a waste of time, effort and money. Let's put the Scottish peoples priorities first and sort out the SNP mess one step at a time; lets stick together and pull ourselves out of the SNP mire and get on with being a great nation again. Next time you vote in Scotland, make sure it is a vote for Richard Brooks and the Conservative party. Only we seem capable of delivering!

"The majority of people I come across in the Northeast don’t just want a hand-out, they want a hand-up. The need is real, and the SNP really don’t care unless you back independence; whilst the Labour party will nail their flag to whatever they think will win them votes.... but we are the Northeast, we will not be taken for fools!

A stronger Northeast will always give us a stronger Britain, because together we can do far more than we could ever do apart." 

Whether you are a third sector organisation trying to meet the needs in your area or just a regular citizen struggling under the current system, Richard would like to hear from you, because we can always do more together than we could ever do apart.