Mark Alcock
Liberal Democrat Party
Oldham West and Royton Constituency
Address
116 George Street
Shaw
OL2 8DR
Delivering jobs and helping families
I am an Oldham Borough councillor for the Shaw ward. I live in Shaw with my youngest daughter, who is training as a midwife at the Royal Oldham Hospital.
My other two daughters live in Oldham as well, one attends Oldham College and my eldest daughter is a full-time mum, looking after my autistic grandson.
I believe that you have to live in the area you want to represent, so you see what the issues are on a daily basis. I don’t have any businesses to look after or any company directorships, meaning that if elected I will be a full-time local MP working for the people of Oldham West and Royton, which includes Chadderton.
I am a campaigner, leading a number across the constituency now and in the past.
I led the campaign against Labour’s post office closures here in Oldham, presenting the petitions with 11,500 signatures to Parliament; I am leading the campaign to stop a prison being built in Chadderton — if you have not signed the petition yet, please sign it at www.markalcock4our-mp.org.uk — and led the successful fight to stop an incinerator being built off Broadway.
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Biography
The 49-year-old grandfather lives in Shaw with his daughter. He is an Oldham Borough councillor, holding the environment and infrastructure portfolio, and serves on Shaw and Crompton Parish Council.
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Many people have told me that they are disgusted at the way MPs have abused their expenses. As a councillor I do not claim expenses at all, I believe that if you receive an allowance or wage that is what you should use to buy things like food etc.
If the residents of Oldham West & Royton elect me on May 6, I promise that the only expenses I will claim will be my second-class travel to and from London, the cost of running my constituency office and the rent and council tax on my flat in London.
Even before the expense scandal broke I had already publicly said I will not be claiming for food and will publish my claims on a monthly basis.
As Liberal Democrats we will reform Parliament, this would include the right to sack corrupt MPs and a reform of the expenses system.
When the Liberal Democrats put forward plans to clean up Parliament, Labour and Conservative MPs voted against them. They voted to keep many of the current discredited rules in place.
When talking to people on the doorsteps across Oldham West and Royton, it is clear that many people are just about surviving. For many people it is a daily struggle to pay their everyday bills.
That is why the Liberal Democrats are proposing to increase the personal allowance to £10,000. This will mean an extra £700 a year for the average taxpayer or £30 a week extra for the average family. This tax break would also apply to pensioners.
This will be paid for by closing many of the tax loopholes for the very rich. It cannot be right for a millionaire to pay less tax than their cleaner or for a wealthy foreigner who lives here to pay no tax at all.
It also cannot be right for British-based corporations to avoid their fair share of taxation by placing ownership of their assets abroad.
We would also introduce a “mansion tax” which would force people with property worth more than £2 million to pay more. Making them pay their fair share would mean that the average tax payer would pay less.
There are very few people in Oldham West and Royton who would lose out after these changes.
The Labour Government say that crime is down, that Oldham is a safer place than when they took over in 1997, but that is not what the residents tell me on the doorstep.
Considering the dreadful increase in knife crimes and violent assaults under Labour they should perhaps look to themselves before they start saying it is safer now.
Across Oldham West and Royton it is clear that many people are suffering from anti-social behaviour and youth nuisance on a daily basis. Oldham Council has shown that this can be successfully tackled, but we also need to make parents responsible and accountable for the actions of their children.
As Liberal Democrats we believe in more traditional policing. You cannot beat the bobby on the beat to deter crime and anti-social behaviour and the Liberal Democrats have fully-costed plans to recruit some 3,000 more full-time police officers to police our streets.
The pensions and benefits system is unfair. Complicated forms and endless phone calls mean that many end up not getting the help they need. In the recession more people are finding themselves reliant on unemployment benefits for months on end with no help to get a job.
We believe that people who want to get ahead should be supported and older people deserve a pension they can live on.
Those without a job need help to get back into work and earn a decent living. People who’ve fallen on hard times should get a helping hand.
We have affordable plans to increase the basic state pension and link it to earnings so pensioners are better off. We will make tax credits simple and stable.
Liberal Democrats want every child to get an excellent education, because it is the best way to get on in life, get a good job, and learn about the world.
Only when all children get a good start, no matter where they live or what their parents do, will we have a fair society. We will provide a fair start for all children by giving schools the money they need to cut class sizes and set teachers free to spend more time teaching in the classroom.
We will scrap unfair university tuition fees so everyone has the chance to get a degree, regardless of how rich their parents are, meaning quality education for all.
To ensure children get the individual attention they need by cutting class sizes and introducing a ‘Pupil Premium’, the Liberal Democrats will spend an extra £2.5 billion on schools.
It will be targeted at schools taking on children who need more help and can be used to cut class sizes. Head teachers will be free to spend the extra money as they see fit. An average primary school could cut classes to 20, with a typical secondary school able to cut classes to only 16 or start a programme of catch-up classes for 160 pupils.
I am not a professional politician, I have had many jobs from sweeping factory floors, delivering milk, through to managing a business, and I have been made redundant numerous times, so I have real-life experience just like many of the people in the constitunecy.
So what are my chances? If the response on the doorstep is anything to go by, it is going to be very close between me and the Labour candidate on May 6.
You can choose between another five years of the Labour candidate, or a hard-working local Liberal Democrat MP.
Many Conservative voters are lending me their vote as they want Labour out of government and see the Liberal Democrats as the best choice here in Oldham West and Royton.
I know that people are fed up with elections, election promises and politicians, but at this election we can actually deliver change that works for local people right across the constituency.
Oldham West and Royton has a chance to elect a local MP who really works for local people. Someone who lives here, and knows what the issues are and will put local people first.
