If you would like to know about Greg's position on particular local issues or policy matters please email Greg and he will get back to you.

Tax Cuts for Middle and Low Income Households

The Lib Dems are the only party committed to tax cuts for middle and low income households at the next election. We would fund this by cutting £20 billion of wasted and extravagant Government spending, without cutting public services - we'd cut white elephants like the national ID cards scheme and the Trident nuclear weapon system instead. This would enable every household to benefit from a tax cut of £700 per year and would remove those earning less than £10,000 from paying tax at all. This policy would help to kick-start economic recovery by boosting consumer spending and would help those who need it most.

Public Services

Greg is opposed to cuts to frontline public services but believes that public sector spending needs to be rigorously managed to ensure effectiveness and value for money at a time when borrowing is running out of control.

On health, Greg is concerned that there is a serious disconnect between NHS bureaucracy and the needs of local people. Bodies such as the Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trusts take too many decisions in the interests of bosses and not patients. Massive over-centralisation needs to be broken up and real power devolved to Local Health Boards capable of delivering integrated care to meet local health priorities. More needs to be done to empower health professionals to allow greater involvement in decision making - Government has lost the confidence of the medical profession through its insistence on top-down control.

Lib Dems believe the NHS must ensure that patients are given a real say in their treatment, and where and when they are treated. Access to information is vital in helping an individual make the best choices and is also likely to drive up standards. Finally, direct payments and individual care budgets to allow patients to determine their priorities can give patients a real say in their treatment and can lead to more effective use of resources.

On education, the Lib Dem council has delivered investment in school buildings in Newcastle East and delivered significantly greater educational attainment in recent years. However, more needs to be done to tackle inequality in our schools - bright children from less well off backgrounds are still likely to fall behind and never catch-up. All children should be able to do well in school, no matter where they are born. The Lib Dems will introduce a Pupil Premium, giving more money to schools so that they can provide things like one-to-support and catch-up classes for the children who are struggling. The Liberal Democrats are the only party which will cut class sizes and make it easier for teachers to set children on the right footing as they start their education. We'll give schools extra cash so that infant classes (5-7 year olds) can be cut to private school levels of only 15 children.

Student Tuition Fees

Newcastle East has two major universities within the constituency and a student population that is one of the largest of any constituency in the UK. The issue of University funding is a crucial one - thousands of Newcastle East voters either work or study at Newcastle and Northumbria, or are paying fees for children at university. Newcastle East's Labour MP was instrumental in bringing in tuition fees in 2004. The Lib Dems are the only major party campaigning for the abolition of tuition fees - the other parties want to increase them! However, as a former university funding manager, Greg recognises the need to continue investing in our universities to ensure that they continue to develop as world-class institutions for research, teaching, and knowledge transfer

Housing

Housing is a key issue in the constituency. Greg has a record of action in supporting building of new affordable homes and council / housing association properties in the constituency. The Lib Dem council has been widely praised for leading the way in buying up unsold new build homes for use as affordable rented properties. Greg also supports upgrading of existing council properties and successfully fought for the improvement of the "Dennis Wild" houses in High Heaton, as well as the development of more environmentally friendly homes.

Greg also recognises the importance of rented homes, and is conscious that more needs to be done to reduce the current housing waiting list through acquistion of more empty rented properties as well as construction of hundreds of new council houses - the first to be built in the city for decades.

Greg has also been instrumental in efforts to support the sustainability of local residential communities, and has lobbied the Government to require planning permission for conversion of family homes into student rented houses of multiple occupation. He is campaigning for the ASHORE policy restricting spread of HMOs to be extended to the St Gabriels area and for greater powers of enforcement against landlords and tenants who cause problems or neglect their properties.

Local Services

For information on Greg's position on local services, including public transport, post offices, and local shops, please see the Local Campaigns page.

Sustainability and the Environment

Greg strongly supports greater efforts to tackle climate change and is determined to see greater investment in renewable energy (including developing a manufacturing base for offshore renewables on the Tyne) and a step change in sustainability standards for buildings and for transport. He formerly worked as head of Northern England for a leading edge sustainability consultancy, Beyond Green, led by the former head of Greenpeace, where he worked on development of sustainable regeneration plans based on "walkable neighbourhoods".

Reforming Parliament

The recent expenses scandal has underlined the need for major reform of politics and Parliament. The Liberal Democrats have consistently called for this over many years. Greg supports electoral reform and a comprehensive modernisation of the system of parliamentary democracy in this country to allow transparent and ethical government which allows for much greater communication and interaction with the electorate.

Foreign Policy

The Liberal Democrats are committed to an ethical and internationalist foreign policy which recognises the fundamental importance of the EU and the UN in an inter-dependent world. On issues such as the environment, the global economy, aid for the developing world, counter-terrorism, and immigration, strong international co-operation is vital. Only effective co-operation with European and international partners - including reform of institutions like the EU to ensure better value for money and accountability - can ensure the UK's long term national interests.

Greg supports the Lib Dem commitment to increasing international aid spending to 0.7% of GDP and wants to see more international co-operation on climate change. He supports calls for a public inquiry into the Iraq War and believes that the UK should only take military action of this kind as part of a clear multilateral international response sanctioned by the UN. On wider defence matters, Greg believes a strategic defence review is required to identify whether the UK needs a like-for-like replacement of the hugely expensive Trident nuclear system.