June 30, 2009
Annual Diplomatic Summer Party 2008
Gary and Fay
Barry Dorrans and Nick Mathison - Melissa and friend
CFCC Member and Ambassador
Richard Halstead and son
Rosamond Rose ad friends
Sir Ron's garden
Posted by melissa at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2009
Dr Bola Odepidan, Housing Development in Africa, 15.06.09
The Case for Affordable Housing in Africa
Housing production in Africa has not kept pace with population and job growth in either quantity or location. With demand for housing greatly outpacing supply, prices have skyrocketed.
In fact, many state capitals are home to several of the country's most expensive housing markets.
Continue reading "Dr Bola Odepidan, Housing Development in Africa, 15.06.09"
Posted by melissa at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2009
Dr Liam Fox, Shadow Defence Secretary, 18.05.09
The British military is overstretched, undermanned and suffering from a decade of neglect by the current Labour Government. We have a Treasury which is heavily influencing how the campaign is conducted in Helmand and we have a procurement programme that for all intents and purposes has failed. The top 19 major procurement projects have gone over budget by a total of £2.95bn and are cumulatively 429 months delayed.
Defence spending for science and technology has been recently cut by 19%. This is tantamount to strategic suicide, and is testament to Labour’s short sighted approach to defence policy—especially during the current economic crisis since science and technology companies employ thousands of people throughout the UK.
We all see the shortcomings in defence; the list of indictments runs long: family accommodation, lack of helicopters, cuts in the Royal Navy, and lack of kit for frontline forces. Yet, with all these shortcomings, the MoD was able to find over £2 billion to pay external consultants and £2.3 billion for the refurbishment of the MoD headquarters. As things stand, our Armed Forces is not equipped, manned, or resourced to carry out its current operational tempo. Our brave men and women in uniform, and their families, are suffering the consequences.
The current Government is unable to match resources with our overseas military commitments because there hasn’t been a Strategic Defence review since 1998. The 1998 Strategic Defence Review which stated that ‘we must match the commitments we undertake to our planned resources’ is an anachronism in the post 9-11 world. Without a new Strategic Defence Review this will never happen.
This is why the Conservative Party has pledged to launch a Strategic Defence Review after returning to Government. In addition, we will introduce a US-style system of quadrennial defence reviews and put this requirement into legislation. This is the only sensible course of action. The fact that the last SDR was in 1998 is completely unacceptable.
Our troops and their families deserve better.
Posted by melissa at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)
Events
2009
TUESDAY 13 OCTOBER - New Zealand High Commissioner, House of Commons
MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER - Malta High Commissioner, House of Commons LUNCHTIME talk
MONDAY 27 JULY - Annual Diplomatic Party by kind permission of CFCC Chairman Sir Ron Halstead, Kensington, London
MONDAY 15 JUNE - Dr Bola Odepidan, Public Service Delivery and Charity in Africa, Portcullis House, House of Commons
MONDAY 18 MAY - Dr Liam Fox, Shadow Defence Secretary, House of Commons
MONDAY 18 MAY - AGM prior to Speaker Meeting
MONDAY 20 APRIL - Philippa Broom, Director International Office & Westminster Foundation for Democracy Programme of The Conservative Party
MONDAY 9 MARCH - Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, House of Commons
MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY - Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia, meeting in Portcullis House, Houses of Parliament
MONDAY 26 JANUARY - Ambassador of Czech Republic, meeting in the House of Commons
Posted by melissa at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2009
Philippa Broom, Director, International Office at Conservative Party HQ, 20.04.09
Philippa Broom is Director at the International Office for the Conservative Party and is also Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy Programme. She travels widely on party political democracy development work and has recently specifically focussed on the Maldives
Proud to be a Conservative and her work abroad for ‘UK plc’ she is personally very concerned about how the Government spends our aid – about £7 billion in the current budget.
She explained that there are 2.5 million British citizens living overseas who are eligible to vote in the UK and many do not vote in European and UK Parliamentary Elections. To register their vote they should go to: http://www.dontleaveyourvoteathome.com/
Posted by melissa at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)
