Here are Eric Pickles’ answers to the questions posed by CoffeeHousers:
Hugh
How would a Conservative government reform the expenses system?
The whole system of expenses is poisoning the trust in politics. I used to think that transparency and auditing was the key, I have now changed my mind. The whole issue needs to be on a proper footing independent of parliament and at a reduced cost. MP’s should not be able to decide the rules or vote on pay and conditions.
Nicholas
What exactly, if anything, will a Conservative government do to reverse and rectify the increasingly intrusive powers of the state and the erosion by the New Labour hegemony of the traditional freedoms, protections and privacy once enjoyed by all the English people? The answer to this question will be paramount to my voting intentions.
Under Labour we have seen the explosion of the Big Brother state and the creation of a snoopers charter that has allowed the government and hundreds of local authorities to pry into all kinds of different parts of people’s lives.
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