Mark Garnier, Wyre Forest's Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, added his voice to calls for the Government to do more to help local firms in Wyre Forest hit by the economic downturn. Conservatives are demanding that Whitehall opens up the massive £125 billion government procurement budget to small and medium firms across the country.
As the economy slips into a recession, compounded by a decade of dismal fiscal management by Gordon Brown, the Government has announced that it will inflict further hardship on local businesses by closing four post offices in Wyre Forest. Despite valiant efforts by local campaigners, and Mark Garnier's campaign to reduce overall local closures from 4 to just two post offices, it seems that local opinion is to be ignored and the proposed 4 local closures will go ahead. This will leave just 19 in the district and follows a succession of closures over recent years.
On a day that saw nearly 300 jobs cut from a leading Wyre Forest employer, Wyre Forest's Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman brought Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Alan Duncan MP to Stourport to meet with local business leaders.
On the day that Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform visited Wyre Forest, leading Kidderminster employer Sealine made 297 of its 659 workforce redundant. This comes as a result of a dramatically falling order book for Sealine - a direct result of failing global economic conditions.
Today, the Conservative controlling group on Wyre Forest District Council announced their desire to restore weekly bin collections in Wyre Forest. The move comes five years after the local Health Concern Group, in a hugely unpopular move, foisted fortnightly collections on angry Wyre Forest residents.
Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox MP, took time out of the Conservative Party Conference on Tuesday to visit Kidderminster. Dr Fox was accompanied by Wyre Forest's Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman Mark Garnier and the trip took in the rocket motor manufacturer Roxel, based in Summerfield.
Wyre Forest council tax payers have been offered a break from council tax rises under a future Conservative Government. In his speech to the Conservative Conference in Birmingham, George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, promised an incoming Conservative Government would offer a two year holiday from council tax rises - provided the local councils do their bit.
Wyre Forest council tax payers face a bill of £1,500 to stage a pointless council meeting this week. The meeting has been called by Health Concern leader Howard Martin in order to table two resolutions. The first concerns the post office closures announced recently for Wyre Forest.
Conservative Shadow Minister for Justice Edward Garnier QC, MP visited Wyre Forest yesterday as the guest of Wyre Forest's Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Mark Garnier. The tour started at the head office of the newly created West Mercia Probation Trust in Mill Street Kidderminster, where Edward and Mark met with Chief Probation Officer David Chantler and local chief Jonathan Hayward.
It is just one week since Wyre Forest learnt that four of its local post offices were to be closed. Now that the initial dust has settled, Mark Garnier is leading the campaign to reduce the number of closures from four, to just two, and has spoken with all the post offices concerned. Mark Garnier has been leading the campaign against Labour's post office cuts since the 17th May 2007, when he first brought the issue to the attention of residents of Wyre Forest with a press release, followed up by his subsequent newsletters and further press releases.
