Update from Helen Wetherall - Your True & Fair Candidate
3 March 2023
Welcome to my newsletter and thank you for your continued interest in the True and Fair Party (TFP). I worry about what to write here and then as I’m approaching the writing day there is invariably a barrage of news stories and information and thoughts to share with you. It’s really heartening to know that you are reading what I write – thank you.
Following my last newsletter, particular thanks to one TFP member, Carolyn, whom I exchanged emails with and who was concerned about unfair current UK tax policies. We exchanged ideas and information related to proportionality in tax systems and the need for more fairness and transparency. There do seem to be other countries that have better approaches to tax than we do and where the population appear to be more content with the way they contribute. Carolyn’s email made me want to know more about these other countries’ approaches and I set myself the task of finding out more about these with an initial focus on Scandinavian countries. If anyone has any experience with these countries' systems, I’d really appreciate speaking to you or exchanging emails. I will be on Google and making a start on my research very soon.
LOCAL NEWS
1. Local elections May 2023
I will be attending a session at my local Council next week to formally present myself as the candidate for Ashover and to receive instruction on this from local electoral services. We have designed a leaflet for circulation and as soon as I can I will be out and about the ward leafletting and door-knocking. I’ve already lined up friends and acquaintances locally and they are on standby to help. One acquaintance I spoke to runs a local cleaning business and was also exercised by tax and her ability to keep her business going in the current economic climate. Tax seems to have been a theme over the past few weeks.
2. Preparing for the General Election
'We don’t know when it will be but the earlier we start campaigning the better', is the message from our colleagues and advisers in central office. For my Derbyshire Dales campaign, I have three priorities linked to local socio-economics/socio-demographics:
- Farming policies and promises made and broken from Brexit – lack of central government leadership and no coherent strategy.
- Rural poverty – isolation and lack of support for families and elderly.
- Second homes driving up house prices and driving out local people.
The issue of farming policy, political leadership and food security was front and centre last week and I’ve contacted the regional National Farmers’ Union to ask if I can meet with them to discuss the challenges. No reply yet. NFU are running a campaign at the moment, Back British Farming and I’ve signed up to promote this.
NFU publishes UK horticulture growth strategy – NFUonline
I’ve also been in contact with a local charity called Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide because I’m interested in how policymakers should be informed about the causes of this biggest killer of young men under 30 years’ old. This week I’ve heard of two local young men tragically taking their own lives and I want to find out how the right environment can be created to stop this wherever possible.
3. Getting together
The local pub that David and I found can’t accommodate us for a meeting as a larger group however I’ve sourced a room and facilities at a hotel in Matlock Bath – The New Bath Hotel and have booked a room for us all on Easter Saturday,
8th April 2023 from 10.00 am to 1 pm.
Details of the hotel including a map and directions are here: https://newbathhotelandspa.com/
I really hope some of you can join David and me at this event which will be an informal opportunity to meet like-minded people and to share information on the party and our ambitions.
NATIONAL NEWS/CENTRAL OFFICE NEWS
Pragmatism and Brexit
At a recent TFP event, I spoke to Gina Miller and she informed me that politicians of all parties were interested in the TFP Brexit Policy paper. So much so that copies of it were provided at the ‘secret’ meeting at Ditchley Park where Michael Gove, and the shadow cabinet were alleged to have met.
With this week’s progress on making Brexit work in Northern Ireland, maybe, just maybe, we are turning a corner and pragmatism is breaking out! However, the irony of the narrative around this progress is hard to stomach. NI is gaining a fraction of what it and we all previously had as a full member of the EU and we are meant to hail it as a great breakthrough. I need to remember that any progress at all is just part of the Brexit damage limitation strategy that we now need to implement. I still find it hard to talk about, as you can see!
True & Fair in the Media
Party Leader Gina Miller appeared on Newsnight on 28 Feb discussing the damage that Brexit has caused the UK, in the light of the Windsor Framework.
Petition
Sign the Petition: Stop Us Being Ripped Off by the Energy Cap increase on 1 April.
Have a great weekend,
Helen Wetherall
True & Fair Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Derbyshire Dales
https://www.trueandfairparty.uk/helen-wetherall