David Ruffley

David Ruffley MP has today urged local people to sign the 'biggest ever' birthday card for the NHS to celebrate its 60th birthday. The anniversary of the National Health Service falls on 5th July.

An electronic card, which everyone can sign, is at: www.happybirthdaynhs.co.uk.

To coincide with the 60th birthday of the NHS, the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, David Cameron MP, has unveiled new proposals for its future. These include:

David Ruffley MP will chair a public meeting in Tostock Village Hall at 6.30pm on Friday, 4 July organised by the Tostock Village Association.

The meeting has been called to give villagers the opportunity to air their concerns about controversial planning issues in Tostock.

Local County and District Councillors will be attending. Suffolk County Council and Mid Suffolk District Council have been requested to send an officer as a representative to answer questions from the floor.

David Ruffley MP has welcomed today's decision by lawyers, acting on behalf of local campaigners, to go ahead with a judicial review of the decision by Post Office Ltd to close Crown Street Post Office in Stowmarket and Old Newton Post Office.

David said:

'This is excellent news for Stowmarket and Old Newton. It confirms my view that the decision by Post Office Ltd to close these branches was based on inaccurate information and totally ignored the excellent cases mounted against the closures by local campaigners which highlighted errors in the Post Office data.

David Ruffley MP is pioneering a new way of keeping in touch with his constituents and making himself accessible to local residents in the rural areas of his constituency by organising a series of village tours.

David will be out and about with St Edmundsbury Borough Councillor Christopher Spicer in Pakenham, Troston and Great Livermere on Saturday, 5 July from 9.30am to 3.00pm.

David Ruffley MP has today spoken of his disappointment at the Boundary Committee's recommendations for the restructuring of local government in Suffolk.

The Boundary Committee has recommended two unitary authorities in Suffolk- Greater Ipswich, including Ipswich, Felixstowe, the Shotley and Deben peninsulas, and the Great Blakenham area, and a single council for the rest of Suffolk, excluding Lowestoft which will be included in a huge Norfolk unitary authority.

David said:

David Ruffley MP has today warned that it will be Suffolk's lowest earners who will be hardest hit when Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is increased.

New figures from the Treasury have revealed that the VED changes introduced in the budget will hit more than a million of the UK's lowest earners with a tax rise above inflation.

Over half of car owners in households earning £15,000 a year or less face above-inflation rises in road tax.

David said:

David Ruffley MP has today highlighted a report from the Local Government Association (LGA) which reveals that the Licensing Act 2003 has cost, to date, over £100million more to implement than the Government expected- with Council Tax payers footing the bill.

The report from the LGA, entitled 'Unfinished Business' also highlighted that the majority of councils, police authorities and PCTs surveyed reported no positive effects on drink-fuelled disorder as a result of the new licensing arrangements.

David Ruffley MP presented his 'Local Hero', Mrs Joan Fry, with her certificate at a tea party in Members' Dining Room at the House of Commons on Tuesday, 24 June.

A photograph of David with Joan Fry is attached.

Joan Fry lives in Woolpit and was nominated as the Local Hero in David's Bury St Edmunds constituency.

The award, a national scheme which celebrates older volunteers' achievements, is organised by The Experience Corps and the House of Commons All Party Parliamentary Group on the Community and Voluntary Sector.

David Ruffley MP has this week warned that working families across Suffolk will find it even harder to cope with the soaring cost of living following Government plans to increase taxes on family cars.

The Government intends to change the way that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is calculated to raise an extra £2,500,000,000. Family cars face higher VED as well as a 'showroom tax' for new cars. The VED will be retrospective- so any car purchased after 2001 will be hit by the higher tax rates.

David Ruffley MP has today highlighted the fact that June is the 11th Everyman Male Cancer Awareness Month.

Everyman's campaign is an annual focus on prostate and testicular cancer to increase both awareness and funding for vital research into these cancers.

David said:

'Male cancers, in particular prostate and testicular cancer, do not always get the publicity or the funding for research that is vitally important in combating the disease.