Campaigns

Dan Byles MP: a strong and active local campaigner

A diverse area such as North Warwickshire & Bedworth requires a committed and hard working champion. Below are just a few of the campaigns in which Dan has been fighting hard for local people, local services, and local communities.

Save Bedworth Fire Station

Bedworth Conservatives are leading the fight to save Bedworth Fire Station.

As a result of pressure from the National Audit Office to improve the efficiency of Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service, the independent Chief Fire Officer has recommended ot the County Council that Bedworth Fire Station be merged with Nuneaton Fire Station, and moved to a new location.

Now County Councillors must decide whether to accept this advice. Dan Byles and Bedworth Conservatives think they should throw it out.

Local Conservative Borough Councillors, led by Parliamentary Candidate & former soldier Dan Byles and Council Leader Peter Gilbert, are united in their opposition to these proposals.

Dan and his team have so far gathered thousands of signatures for their petition, and have delivered over 10,000 leaflets explaining to local residents how to take part in the public consultation.

Dan has also joined forces with local representatives from the Fire Brigade Union and the Retained Firefighters Union to run special bonfire night campaign entitled “The End of Bonfire Night?”

There is still time to write in to make your views known. Write to:

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service,
Improvement Plan Consultation,
Service Headquarters,
Warwick Street,
Leamington Spa,
CV32 5LH

The consultation closes Tuesday 8th December

Crime and Anti Social Behaviour

In 2008 Dan launched the largest ever local campaign  against crime and anti social behaviour, with over 15,000 household directly surveyed. Dan ran a series of town centre street stalls in which shoppers were asked their views on local crime and anti social behaviour levels, and were offered localised crime prevention advice leaflets.

Crime and ASB remain among the top issues that people raise with Dan on the doorstep. People want to see real police on the streets, not more Police Community Support Officers – policing on the cheap. And Dan is angry at the Government’s failure to provide enough prison places for convicted criminals, leading to over crowding in our prisons and violent criminals released early onto the streets every single week.

Dan says:

"Crime isn't a right wing issue or a left wing issue. It is a daily threat that all people - rich, poor, black, white, urban and rural - face in their daily lives. And the sad fact is that Labour's approach is failing."
 
"While crime rates soar, police resignations have tripled under this Government. Labour are releasing a prisoner early every twenty minutes because they haven't built enough prisons. Meanwhile Ministers try to tell us that crime is falling, but no one outside the New Labour champagne bubble really believes that.

"The police are doing a magnificent job, but they have one hand tied behind their backs thanks to the madness of Labour's red tape and form filling culture.

"The Conservatives are proposing a three dimensional approach: to liberate the Police, punish the guilty and strengthen our society and our families. This is a positive approach that stands in stark contrast to Labour's ineffective authoritarianism."

Post Office Closures

From the middle of 2007, Dan Byles was highlighting the danger to North Warwickshire & Bedworth of Labour’s devastating plans to shut down almost a third of Britain’s post office network.

Then in August 2007, Dan uncovered a damning story that led to a national press storm. 

Documents obtained by Dan showed that sub-postmasters across the country were being subjected to outrageous threats and bullying by the government. The story hit the national press and Post Office Ltd was forced into an embarrassing u-turn.

With the local Labour MP facing criticism for voting in Parliament to close post offices but campaigning locally against the closures, Dan quickly became the leading local campaigner against post office cuts. He teamed up with local sub-postmasters to run a constituency wide petition against the cuts, and he led a delegation of local business people to Downing Street.

Ultimately, the fight was lost. Labour closed nine post offices across North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth.

Dan continues to campaign for reforms which will secure the remaining post office network, and was a key activist in the successful fight to save the Post Office Card Account.

Supporting Our Youth – Sponsoring the Bedworth United Football Club Youth Team

Dan has a record of supporting youth development and sporting opportunities, having taken young soldiers on mountaineering expeditions when he served in the Army. Dan was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for his work in helping to promote adventurous activities to young people.

That is why he was delighted to help the Bedworth United Football Club last year with an unusual sponsorship deal.

The club gives the opportunity for some 180 young people under the age of eighteen to take part in football training each week. It is developing links with local schools to encourage youngsters to take up the sport, and many Youth Team players go on to play for the club's senior side when they turn eighteen.
Local Conservatives, keen to support the development of grassroots opportunities for sports and youth development in Bedworth, sponsored the Youth Team in a deal that secured funding for the team for a period of twelve months.
After securing the sponsorship deal, Dan said:
“I’m delighted to be involved with the Bedworth United Football Club Youth Team for the coming season. Football is a fantastic way for young people to come together to get fit, to have fun, to learn about teamwork, and to develop confidence and potential.

"This is a good news story about local young people doing something positive. Sadly, many media stories these days portray a negative image of youth - and Bedworth has had its fair share of antisocial behaviour to contend with in recent years. But at the end of the day it's no good people wringing their hands about young people hanging around on street corners looking intimidating when there are precious few places for them to go or activities for them to do. That's why organisations like this are so important.”

Supporting Our Soldiers – the Military Covenant Campaign
Dan served as a soldier for nine years, and left to enter politics after becoming disillusioned with the Government. He continues to support our troops, and is an active campaigner for the rights of local retired Gurkha soldiers.

In recent years, the treatment of our Armed Forces by this Government has become a national scandal, leading to the Royal British Legion launching an unprecedented campaign called Broken Covenant to highlight the neglect of British soldiers.

As a result of Dan’s expertise, he was invited by David Cameron to join a Commission to advise an incoming Conservative Government on how to repair the broken Military Covenant that has been badly damaged under ten years of Labour.