David Ruffley

David Ruffley MP endorsed new proposals this week by Conservatives to provide a fairer deal for current and future pensioners across the Bury St Edmunds area. At the same time, Mr Ruffley warned that if urgent action was not taken, living standards of pensioners would plummet, companies around Bury St Edmunds could go bankrupt, and council taxes could soar further to pay for local government pension schemes now in deficit.

Mr Ruffley explained:

A written parliamentary answer published in the House of Commons has exposed the shocking deal that schools in Suffolk have received from this Government.

The figures released by the Minister of State for Schools, Mr Miliband, show that shire counties such as Suffolk have been dealt with extremely poorly by this urban centred Labour Government. The figures clearly demonstrate that funding increases over the past seven years have favoured urban areas over rural areas, in particular shire counties.

Mr Ruffley said:

David Ruffley MP, today attacked the Chancellor over the extraordinarily high fuel prices in Suffolk and warned the Chancellor may raise tax again. The Chancellor has now bowed to enormous pressure from both the public and the Conservative Party and deferred for two months the latest fuel tax rise. HOWEVER THE CHANCELLOR HAS REFUSED TO RULE OUT THE RISE ALL TOGETHER IN THE FUTURE.

Mr Ruffley said:

Having analysed recently published Home Office crime statistics (for the financial year 2003/04) it is clear more robbers are going unpunished across the Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket areas. The detection rate for robberies has fallen by 8% to just 29% in the last year across the Western sector of Suffolk Constabulary, which covers both Bury and Stowmarket. This now means that two thirds of all robbers are not being caught for the crimes they commit.

Mr Ruffley said:

David Ruffley presented a cheque for £750 to Carol Ingham, Headteacher of Great Whelnetham Primary School, Stanningfield Road, Great Whelnetham, on Friday, 9 July.

Youngsters at the Bury St Edmunds school are set to benefit from a wildlife and gardening area after scooping £750 in a regional competition run by EDF Energy.

The school has been successfully recycling its waste for some time and wanted to take things a step further by growing its own vegetables and using eco friendly materials at the Stanningfield Road site.

David Ruffley has welcomed the decision by Suffolk County Council to grant free school transport to children in Onehouse who attend schools in Stowmarket on the grounds that the route is too dangerous to walk along. The road from Onehouse has no pavement for over half a mile and for one mile has no lighting.

Local Bury St Edmunds Brewer, Greene King, has finally made it into the House of Commons. From next week Ruddles County Ale will be available in the Palace of Westminster.

'I will be toasting Greene King's entry into the House of Commons, the mother of all parliaments, and happily supping one of the finest ales produced by one of our finest old ale houses.

Bury St Edmunds MP, David Ruffley, has topped a league table of East Anglian MPs in responding to constituents' enquiries. These are letters sent electronically to MPs via the website faxyourmp.com. The table below shows that Mr Ruffley responds to 100% of messages sent to him via the website within 14 days.

Mr Ruffley said:

'I am extremely pleased that the results demonstrate the level of commitment I have to my constituents. Responding to, and dealing with, my constituents' enquiries is the most important part of my job as an MP and one that I take very seriously.

David Ruffley will address the members of the Bury St Edmunds Chamber of Commerce on Friday, 28 May at 10.30 a.m. at the Farmers' Club in Bury at the invitation of Chrissy Harrod, the Chamber's Chairman. The Chamber is very agitated about the lack of a clear Council plan on future business development.

The Chamber asked for a meeting with David Ruffley to raise with him their concerns on local issues.

David Ruffley MP today welcomed the announcement by the Highways Agency that the contract for work on the A14 Rookery Crossroads has been awarded to Mowlem PLC. Work is now expected to start on this notorious blackspot in Mid September.

David Ruffley said: