Mark Pritchard MP - The Blog

Mark Prichard MP, The Pope Vs. BBC

2010-09-16T00:01:00.002+01:00

In today's Mail;

'Blatant bias' in BBC's coveragea

A Catholic MP has accused the BBC of 'institutional Christianaphobia' over its coverage of the Pope's visit.
Mark Pritchard is urging Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to give the corporation's director general Mark Thompson a dressing-down for its news stories on Catholicism and Pope Benedict XVI.
The Tory, who is vice chairman of the parliamentary group for the Holy See, said the BBC had displayed a form of 'blatant, anti-Christian bias'.

He said he was fed up with wall-to-wall reports of the how the church was supposedly in decline.
The BBC's main bulletins have also led with debates on the Vatican's response to child abuse and homosexuality.
The Tory MP for the Wrekin also questioned why there were no positive stories about the church.

'The Catholic Church is an imperfect institution but it is amazing the BBC has found nothing positive to say about a church whose key message is to love thy neighbour including feeding the poor and helping the homeless,' he said.
'The coverage of the church ahead of the Pope's visit so far shows yet more evidence of institutional Christianaphobia at the heart of the BBC.'

If we're talking about blatant how about the blatant mis-information and agenda driven hand ringing from the Wrekin MP. Apart from the arguments about a religious organisation masquerading as a sovereign nation so it can have State' visits, The BBC (and other outlets) are reporting this state visit more than than they would for just about any other, with the exception of perhaps a US President. If the Holy See is a State as they claim, then what other head of a State with of a population the size of the Vatican (900) would get a similar amount of coverage? None.

It is a FACT that the Pope is visiting. It is a FACT that some people are happy about it. It is a FACT that lots of people are not so happy about it. It is a FACT that they have sold fewer tickets than they expected (30,000 fewer in Glasgow for example). It is a FACT that there is ongoing controversy over child abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. It is a FACT that the Church is in decline.

This is how the media works Mark, I'm sure you know this (of course you do, you're playing the game too). The Good stuff is irrelevant when your beloved institution fails to act and in certain cases protects CHILD RAPISTS, not to mention it's medieval views on women and homosexuality.

The BBC are doing exactly what they should be doing, reporting the news. Not acting as a cheerleader for this deeply flawed organisation. A good friend works for the BBC and has told me over the past couple of months just how much effort (for effort also read cost) just to cover this blokes visit to Birmingham, in all his years at the Beeb he's never been so busy. They've even had a line fitted near the runway at Birmigham Airport so they can report when his 'Holiness' gets on his plane....it's unprecedented. Midlands Today have been leading with positive Pope stories for weeks, about how to get tickets, who will be performing for him, etc. I'm sure he knows this but it doesn't fit Mark Pritchard's BBC bashing agenda. No doubt when the costs are announced in a few months time he'll have something to say about the wasteful spending within the BBC.

They've been raping Children, protecting those who have raped children, denouncing homosexuality, denying women equal rights, promoting the spread of HIV/AIDS and large families in some of the poorest areas in the world through their opposition to contraception and want to deny Women the right to an abortion in all cases AND YOU WANT POSITIVE STORIES?

Once again Mark Pritchard MP has shown himself for what he is; an ill informed mouthpiece who really isn't fit for office.

Mark Pritchard MP is a disgrace to the Wrekin.

Don't count your chickens

2010-04-18T09:06:00.000+01:00

With the exception of the BNP, all the parties contesting the general election in Telford & Wrekin, have been out putting up their posters.

But it seems that Mark thinks he has the election in the bag because whilst his counterpart in the Telford constituency, Tom Biggins, has literally plastered his constituency with posters, the only evidence of Mark Pritchard's campaign is a handful of posters around the Leegomery and Wellington area. And they're old posters at that, using the old Tory torch logo.

I think Marky boy is counting his chickens before they've hatched.

Mark goes to college...

2010-04-06T22:52:00.005+01:00

A source wrote on a local website recently with the following information;

Fact 1: TCAT (Telford College of Arts & Tech, Wellington) is opening a new unit on Friday devoted to health care.

Fact 2: Mark Pritchard and David Wright have been invited to be among the "honoured" guests.

Fact 3: Mark's PA phones TCAT and asks if the Shropshire Star is going to be there.

A couple of days later, our source writes;

Sure enough Mark was at TCAT today, glad-handing all the staff who were there, announcing who he was and saying he had worked hard since he was elected five years ago to ensure sufficient funding for the college.

As one member of staff told me, "We've hardly ever seen him until the last few days!"

Keep up the good ~~electioneering~~ work Mark.

Labour targeting the Wrekin

2010-04-06T19:32:00.000+01:00

It looks like Marky boy is going to have a fight on his hands come May 6th.

According to the BBC, Labour is going to be targeting the Wrekin constituency with a view to winning it back. As well as Labour ploughing resources into their campaign in the Wrekin, there is a UKIP candidate splitting the conservative (small "c") vote and who knows what fate will befall the Lib Dems who have thus far been a largely irrelevant political force in the borough?

We live in interesting times.

Practice what you preach Marky boy

2010-03-21T18:57:00.001Z

Some MPs have signalled their intention to go on sympathy strike on budget day after being instructed by the PCS union not to cross their picket line outside Westminster Palace.

Jack McDonnell, the Labour Party Chairman, has emailed members of the PCS all-party parliamentary group informing them that there will be a picket line at Westminster and asking MPs not to cross "in solidarity" which has got Mark Pritchard's back up ...

MPs should be servants of their constituents and not servants of militant unions. Any MP who fails to turn up for work should have their pay docked and the Speaker should be called upon to investigate.

Couldn't agree more Marky boy. As your average attendance in Parliament is only 63.3%, I'm assuming that you will be refunding the taxpayer £23,769.12 (36.7% of an MP's £64,766 salary)? Just make the cheque payable to Charlie Whelan and cut out the middle man, there's a good lad.

Update by Merk: I find his comments even more ironic given that if anyone emailed Mark last week they'd have received an Out of Office Reply back!

Come fly with me ...

2010-03-18T21:10:00.000Z

Marky boy has been in the news a fair bit these last few days.

Earlier this week it was for getting slapped down by the Speaker of the House, John Bercow, for being a naughty boy in Parliament and then getting a further telling off for suggesting that Bercow was being prompted by a Labour Minister.

And hot off the press, the Unite union has accused British Airways of "buying" MPs with free flights, singling out Mark Pritchard who they say has had £15k worth of free flights from them in the past few years and suggesting that might have something to do with him criticising BA staff in the House of Commons the other day.

The Unite Union is sponsoring 25% of all Labour candidates at the general election, including Mark's neighbour, David Wright MP but I must stress that that doesn't mean those MPs or the Labour Party has been "bought" by the Unite Union because the unions are "democratic" so that makes it ok.

I wonder if MP² will be leading the campaign to give Bercow his marching orders ...

Africa

2010-03-09T22:29:00.000Z

Last week was a busy week in Parliament for Mark with him asking questions on some vital matters to the people of Telford.

On Tuesday, he asked the Foreign Secretary whether he was aware that some ships around the horn of Africa are turning off their automatic transponders in contravention of the international convention for the safety of life at the sea. Do these rules apply to the boating lake in Telford Town Park?

On Wednesday, he highlighted the plight of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa not being able to afford school uniforms and therefore being deprived of an education. A noble cause but unless I'm very much mistaken, Telford is several thousand miles away from Sub-Saharan Africa.

On Thursday, he asked if the Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs knew that TCAT was doing an excellent job but their funding was being cut next year. The Minister said he will look into the proposed funding cuts at TCAT to see if there is anything untoward.

Keep up the good work Mark.

Long time no speak...

2010-03-07T23:54:00.001Z

We're back, blogging on Mark's behalf.

Standby in..5...4...3...2...1...

Mark wants Americans to invade

2006-08-08T23:06:00.000+01:00

When Mark was arse-kissing just about everyone to gain his 942 majority back in 2005 he told the Wrekin Stop War group he was behind them all the way, the invasion of Iraq was well out of order. Come August and he's forgotten about any such thing and moved on to smugging his way onto every genuine issue about, he's now suggested the America use the UK as a base for the ill conceived 'son of star wars' missile defence scheme, because in the current climate of 'terror' we need to look out of home made long range ballistic nuclear missiles made in someone Iranian kitchen don't we?

What happened to America out?

p.s someone from Oxford University keeps removing this blogs link from the Wikipedia article about Mark - I'll keep putting it back of course, until Mark gets his own blog sorted.

Wow

2006-03-16T23:47:00.000Z

I got a reply to an Email from Mark Pritchard today.

Data Protection Act? pah

2006-03-07T23:12:00.000Z

In order to create this blog and because I'm interested in the goings on with my local Hospital I signed up for Marks regular newsletter regarding the PRH. I've not received anything until this afternoon popped up a notification that Mark Pritchard had sent me a mail. I harshly opened it hoping it was a response to at least one of the letters I've written him or it was some good news about the PRH.

Now I've been using email for nigh on ten years but I you don’t have to be a novice to know that millions of mails received an hour are spam. Bots will harvest addresses from webpage’s or people with compromised machines will unknowingly be sending out their entire address book from their mail client.

It is knowing this that makes me a little cautious how I post my email address, if I sign up for something I make sure my address isn't going to be used for anything, I double check it.

That said, I read the bumf on MARKS save the PRH site and stuck in my address, reading very carefully marks statement about privacy;

By giving me your details you are agreeing to receive communications from me. I will not pass on your details without consent. Data Protection Act 1988: The information you supply will be treated in the strictest confidence in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1988. Mark Pritchard MP may record your responses so that he can contact you about the issues you raise and other related public sector issues within The Wrekin Constituency. Please write to me if you do not want your information used in this way.

Mark promises not to mess about with my email address, nice one. Until I look at my gmail account a bit more closely;

Click for biggie.

What you can see is a really zoomed out version of GoogleMail which shows hundreds of email address (the big grey bit in the middle) of people who have signed up to receive the updates, and of course I have theirs.

So how is this keeping my data in the strictest confidence in accordance with the DATA protection act? Because our inept MP cant manage to stick his emails in the right Send To Box over 200 people now have my email address.

This from a man who wants the government to appoint a Cyber Security Tsar

Well done Mark, I'll turn the spam filter on!

UPDATE: Mike Ion has an update for us.

Mark 'Rural' Pritchard

2006-02-27T00:16:00.000Z

Inspired by a post at Telford Live I reproduce this comment from Andy;

Mark Pritchard MP highlights the issues of poor quality footpaths in Tibberton in a letter to Mr Frater, the head honcho at Telford & Wrekin, and suggests this is more important that discussing plans for the Town Park, that around most of us grew up enjoying and our kids are now enjoying.

From his website:
"Local people want pavements repaired not lots of time spent on dreaming up grandiose plans to give Telford a new town park. People are rightly asking does the Council ever spend money in rural areas?"

I'm sorry, but where the **** is Tibberton?

Population of Wellington: 50,000 (wikipedia)
Population of Tibberton: 538 (vision of Britain)

Marks majority 2005 Election :942

I'd concentrate on Wellington mate.

Only last week Mark was talking about Rural Post Offices as if there are no problems in the urban part of his constituency. Now I'm not taking anything away from the rural issues but as Andy rightly points out that if Mark wants to keep his position in the next election he had better start by recognising the more densely populated areas of 'The Wrekin' - Wellington, Leegomery, Hadley, Trench, Newport etc.

Granted, Mark has taken on the issues of the local Base Ordinece Depot closures and the current hospital funding crisis but seems to find more pleasure in playing the political blame game than actually finding a resolution.

While we're at it, on the official markpritchard.com site mark proudly sits his beaming face next to what I can imagine is referred to as 'views of our beautiful consituency'. Here they are;

Where is wellington, Legomery, Hadley, Donnington, Trench, Hortonwood??

I know this must be an accidental oversite by Mark so I've collected a few images of the rest of his consituency for him to use. (all images remain the property of their original owners of course)

Factory, Hortonwood
Burrt Out Shop, Shawbirch
Manor Heights, Hadley (imagesoftelford.co.uk)
The Parade, Donnington (imagesoftelford.co.uk)
TelTyres and new housing estate, Wellington

Let us know if you need a hand finding any of these places wont you Mark?

UPDATE - Andy (the evil Townie) has headed over to Tibberton to take a look at their paving problem.
Read
about it here.

Pritchard Gets Into A Flap

2006-01-12T16:14:00.000Z

Princess Royal is in dire straits, jobs are being lost from the BOD and Mark Pritchard is interested in cat flaps.

"Homes can be made pet-friendly . . . even as we speak, tens of thousands of cats and dogs are locked up in homes throughout the country while their owners are at work.

"The simple installation of a dog or cat flap would make their lives much easier."

Mark Pritchard hightlights plight of gorillas

2006-01-10T15:51:00.000Z

...Or as I like to look at it; "Mark Pritchard seeks more attention".

From the Shropshire Star;

A Shropshire MP today demanded the prosecution of a Big Brother contestant if he is found to have been wearing a coat made from gorilla hair.

Transvestite Pete Burns could face jail after claiming that his coat is made from the coat of one of the most endangered mammals in the world.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard said: I shall be writing to the producer of Big Brother asking him to say whether this coat is or is not made from gorilla hair.

If the programme makers confirm that it is, I shall expect the police to mount a prosecution, said the Wrekin MP, who is to introduce his own parliamentary Bill on animal welfare later this month.

The Government warned that Mr Burns could face "serious consequences". Biodiversity Minister Jim Knight said yesterday: "Gorilla skins belong on gorillas, not on reality TV show contestants."

If Burns is guilty, fair enough. Although I very much doubt it is real. Same goes for our MP who yet again uses obvious tactics to raise his profile.

Ironic also dont you think, that the man who's election success was partly down to the Hunt supporters is trying to push an animal welfare bill?

He enjoys taking long walks....

2005-12-28T23:54:00.000Z

According to Marks official site Mark Pritchard MP "...enjoys taking long walks with the family miniature schnauzer 'Pebbles'".

Apparently not:

As your paper so comprehensively reported, I was on of those 150 or so people who walked up The Wrekin to show solidarity with the workers who are likely to lose their jobs in Telford.

Some called this "the tank protest" because of the involvement of the three tanks. Although all of us walked up the Wrekin and down again, our Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard rode in one of the tanks like some Roman general on his high horse letting everyone on foot around him know where their place is.

It may have been a good photo opportunity for the media, there there and then I thought he looked aloof, arrogant and out of touch.

It reminded me of a scene from the third world politics which says, "the reason I am up here is because I care about you down there".

Why did he not walk up and down like the rest of the mortals, for whom he claimed he was there to help secure their jobs?

In my book, if you want to help someone you struggle and suffer with them a bit - in this case it meant getting your feet dirty and struggling for breath halfway up The Wrekin.

Councillor Kuldip S Sahota
Telford

Here's brave Mark who remember; 'loves long walks' Obviously not the couple of miles to the top of the Wrekin and back!

Comment

2005-11-20T17:48:00.000Z

I'd like to reproduce a post that our good friends at Wrekin Stop War posted to the Telford Live forum a while back, I meant to post it sooner but you know me.

Wrekin Stop War

status: joined: 05/09/2005
Bio	PM
	Web

wrote:
In the run up to May's election, we tried to organise the anti-war vote in the Telford & Wrekin constituencies into one big anti-Bradley and Wright campaign. They both supported the war in Iraq, Bradley on grounds specifically stated as invalid by the Attorney's General's report. Although our origins as an anti-war group led to us focusing on the war in Iraq as a main issue of our election activities, our campaigns are diverse and of equal concern were issues like climate change, local trade and loss of green space.

We did receive a response to our campaign from both Lib Dem PPCs but they never came to any of the meetings they were invited to about this and we never actually saw them 'in the flesh'.

When we gained access to a union meeting at the Buck's Head in Wellington, which was supposed to be a chance for local union members to question PPC's from ALL parties represented in T&W, the only ones who turned up were Bradley, Wright, Pritchard and Bruce Lawson (UKIP Wrekin).

Pritchard made a lot of his humble beginnings as usual and actually faced down a union member in the audience who questioned this. It was almost handbags at twenty paces! The Labour duo were touching (or should that be sickening) with their support for one another and their hallowed leader. Wright jumped in to defend Bradley's integrity when questions about the war in Iraq came up whilst Bradley sung his colleague's praises. It was a bit like an intense Arthur Miller play about male pride with the UKIP's Lawson providing some pantomime-style light relief.

We are told that the Telford Conservative PPC, Stella Kyriazis, left Telford soon after she lost to David Wright, so much for her commitment to the area! She also proclaimed an anti-war stance in her campaign literature but when we questioned her about this seemed to be decidedly lacking in knowledge of any of the issues involved.

We believe that PPCs should have a broad knowledge of national and international issues in order that their constituents are able to approach them for an intelligent and constructive response on issues that are global but affect everyone, like the war in Iraq, climate change and nuclear weapons. However, they also need to have a good knowledge of the area they are to represent and the fact that you walk on The Wrekin (a mantra used by both Bradley and Pritchard) isn't enough to convince us that they are really on the ball when it comes to the issues facing areas of such social diversity as Telford & Wrekin.

One of our group's main aims is working for a more co-operative, peaceful and equal society and we would suggest that part of the problem lies with the system of central government itself. Perhaps a Salopian utopia is a long way off but by challenging the system that produces these pathetic so-called politicians and working together, we can work towards a time when decisions are made by the communities they effect rather than inflicted on them by a Government in Westminster whose vision is global rather than local.

We would like to end by asking if anyone knows how Mr Pritchard and Pebbles did in the House of Commons Dog Show? As the Miniature Schnauzer Club of Great Britain beamed with pride, the constituency of The Wrekin cringed with embarrassment. Especially, we hope, those of you who voted for him. Perhaps Pebbles could do a better job!

Of course, you can find out how Pebbles did just below this post.

Updates

2005-11-20T17:24:00.000Z

More updates coming soon, Mark's been a busy boy booking meetings that even his own party memebers can't turn up to on time. God help our police force!

Also looking for a willing volunteer(s) to help keep this site up to date, if your intrested please get in touch (in confidence) at pritchard@bigdaddymerk.co.uk

The dogs....

2005-10-27T23:13:00.000+01:00

There are no words to describe what I'm thinking right now!

Click for biggie

CBBC Newsrounds Westminster Dog of the Year 2005

WAS MARK PRITCHARD A STONER?

2005-10-13T18:47:00.000+01:00

How clever of Mark to publicly ask David Cameron if he's had a wheeze on a banned drug only to be asked yourself.

I tried drugs, says Tory MP is tonight’s headline on the front of the Shropshire Star, but wait for it.........he's now a hardliner on drugs. Phew.

From the Star: Mr Pritchard said: "I was exposed to cannabis on just one occasion, but I did not like it and I regret it. In fact I spluttered it out straight away."

Of course you did Mark, just like Bill Clinton and Devine Brown!

He goes on: "We are a product of our experiences and I want to know whether their experiences lead them to a more liberalised position or a tougher one, which is my position."

Indeed. We're a product of our experiences, I'm currently experiencing a second rate MP who's more interested in talking about his and others drug usage than he is in his own constituency.

That said, he IS saving our hospital!

It is evident that Mark Pritchard is more interested in the jobs that (surely) await him high up in the Conservative party than he is in representing our area in Westminster. I really hope I'm not alone when I say that Mark Pritchard is a sham of an MP and clearly a career politician.

We're not here as a stepping stone to a better job, we will not be used.

Mark Pritchard in £50,000 debt?

2005-09-27T11:52:00.000+01:00

Mark may have to give back his £50,000 to Lord Ashcroft, Steinberg and his buddies as soon as they elect a new leader. It would seem that Ashcroft only helped beacuse he wanted Bradley out;

Instead, he and two other major Tory donors, casino boss Lord Steinberg and a group of unnamed Midlands businessmen combined to fund individual Tory target seats, including giving £50,000 to Mark Pritchard, who defeated Peter Bradley, Labour MP for the Wrekin. Lord Ashcroft records his great delight at Mr Bradley's defeat because of a campaign he waged over whether he was entitled to a peerage.

Oh dear, £50k is a lot of money - shall we have a whip round?

nah

More Irony

2005-09-26T01:04:00.000+01:00

From Marky baby's website;

Technology

Wrekin MP, Mark Pritchard, has been made Parliamentary Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party's Technology Forum.
The Forum advises the Conservative policy on technology, internet issues and e-commerce policy.
Mr Pritchard said:
"Technology is here to stay. In an increasingly competitive global technology environment it is vital that governments, of all persuasions, ensure that technology is encouraged rather than discouraged. This means creating a favourable operating environment in education, environmental protection, disaster relief, medicine, business and commerce - where technology can both enhance and save lives".

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA - how funny is it that a man who took months to get his own website up, spams forums and had a non-blog that started before time began.

What a joke.

Mark Pritchard puts 50p in the meter

2005-09-26T00:50:00.000+01:00

Brilliant, 33,000 people were without electric for a whole Ten minutes back on the 7th September. How awful. Anway thanks to Marky Baby, it may never happen again;

Conservative MP for the Wrekin, Mark Pritchard, said that he would be raising the issue of power cuts in the House of Commons, as well as with the regulator of the electricity service.

Phew, thank god for Mark Pritchard.

Irony?

2005-09-26T00:43:00.000+01:00

Marky Baby (as I've taken to calling him) has asked for a massive letter writing campain to save the facilities at Cosford (he loves his SAVE OUR [fill in here] campaigns doesn't he?) .

Is it me or does anybody else think that a man who takes 5 months (and counting) to reply to a letter asking us to write letters takes the biscuit a little?

Why haven't we see Mark lately?

2005-09-26T00:30:00.000+01:00

He's been in Uganda telling them how to spend their money. How nice!

"The reward should not be more than US$1m (about sh1.8b). It will motivate those around Kony to hand him over," Mark Pritchard said.

Report here.

Just as a foot note, Mark would have been traveling for quite some time, I wonder if he had chance to catch up on some post? It's been nearly FIVE months since I wrote to him, and THREE months since I wrote again asking for a reply to the first.

Six months and the gloves are off. You really haven't made many friends around here at all Marky baby!

David Wright get Blogging (sort of)

2005-09-26T00:13:00.000+01:00

Telford's MP is blogging the Labour Party Conference for the Telegraph. Still not blogging on his own site though; this is something the Political Weblog Project must get on to.

Pritchard actually bothers to reply (not to me)

2005-09-22T23:39:00.000+01:00

Mark Pritchard, Tory MP for the Wrekin has actually bothered to reply to someone, although it wasn't a constituant. I think he still might need help with his geography!

Pritchard re-launches Website

2005-08-25T14:56:00.000+01:00

Mark Pritchard, MP for the Wrekin has this week launched two new Websites.

www.markpritchard.com (sorry no google juice here mark)

and www.savetheprh.com.

Telford Live forum regular Andy is seething that Mark has decided to have theses sites, designed and hosted out of the area when there are more than enough web design companies and hosting companies in the area. You might think 'perhaps these sites were a freebie' but not so - markpritchard.com was funded out of parliamentary expenses, so thanks for supporting local business Mark.

Mark also seems to have omitted any form of blog from his site. As a self confessed communications guru you'd think Mark would want to communicate with his constituents.

I have some simple questions for Mark;

1. Why didn't you use a local company to do your work?
2. Why do you continually fail to communicate to the very people you are supposed to be working for?
3. Why is the Save the PRH website, covered in pictures of you?

I'm confused about the Save the PRH campaign. Mark seems as bothered about getting his face, name and Labour bashing on the site as he does about saving the services.

Please answer me those questions Mark, the comments are open.

WOW

2005-08-13T13:00:00.000+01:00

106 days after being elected, Mark runs a surgery - well done.

Why has it taken him 106 Days?

I think my friends at Telfordlive.com have found the answer.

Political Footballs

2005-08-13T12:57:00.000+01:00

David Wright hits back at Mark Pritchard's political sniping over the hospital;

I grew up in this town and was delighted when the hospital opened, local people worked so very hard to secure it. I have never used the hospital as a political foot¬ball and I admire the staff for the work that they do on our behalf.

What is depressing about this debate so far is that some people seem to think it provides an opportunity to advance their own personal politi¬cal standing and score some cheap points.
The fact is that people switch off from the 'Punch and Judy' politics that are so often played out in the local media.

I think that the future of our hospital is too important to play games with and I hope that those involved in trying to cre¬ate a climate of fear will now engage in a sensible and mature debate.

I think he has a point.

Wellington News

2005-08-11T20:47:00.000+01:00

Further to mine (and other peoples) concerns that Mark didn't give a toss about 'the Wrekin' the Wellington News (I say news....that's for another time) loves Mark to bits!

This weeks edition features Mark a massive 5 times - including a 'Wellington News Exclusive' on page 20. So lets have a look at our new MP shall we? Most of us haven't seen him.

First and main story is the very serious piece about the local hospital.

My problem is the 2 page special where Mark talks about HIS CAMPAIGN and 'MY CAMPAIGN' non stop and uses the very real threat of losing services to gripe and snipe at Telford MP David Wright and Labour. Fair enough, I'm not a massive fan of Labour government at the moment but trying to 'SAVE OUR HOSPITAL' is not the place to do it. Unless of course you're hoping to please Tory HQ in the process.

Mark also mentions (yet again) how HE has been warning people for THREE YEARS that this might happen. Now I don't know a lot about Mark (who does?) but I do know he was candidate for Warley in 2001 - 4 years ago. What's he been doing since then? Cause I for one hadn't heard of him till early this year. funny that.

Self congratulation brings me on to the next story - the car parking charges. Yay.

'Mr Pritchard was heavily involved in the local campaign to have the charges scrapped...' - again, no heaviness until election time then I suspect it was 'right, what are the people worked up over, lets go with parking charges'. I hate to praise Peter Bradley but he along with Vic Tonks of Telford & Wrekin People's Association did most of the work Mark Pritchard just jumped on the bandwagon.

Why worry about parking when you spending most of your time in London asking questions about Trident?

Here's mark learning where Waters Upton is.

And finally here's Mark opening Kip In Pace - Drop in Centre for drug users but couldn't resist taking the the opportunity to over shadow a good service by having a dig about the Government re-classifying Cannabis - because Cannabis today = Heroin tomorrow. Did you never watch Grange Hill?

Kitchen Closure??

2005-08-11T18:40:00.000+01:00

I never want to hear those words. Kitchens should always be open, hospital or otherwise.

In the Shropshire Star this week we read of plans (denied) to close a kitchen for part of the day at Shrewsbury or PRH:

Hospital managers are looking at the idea of an afternoon kitchen closure at either the Royal Shrewsbury or Telford's Princess Royal. But it was denied that one of the two kitchens would be completely closed in a bid to save cash.

Graham Smith, interim chief executive of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, said: "We are looking to save money where we can and we are looking to see if we can find a way of one kitchen producing the hot meals for the evening.

"It is not the same as completely closing a kitchen at the PRH or RSH."

Mr Smith said he didn't know at this stage what savings might be made, how many staff might be affected or the cost of transporting meals between the two centres.

But the proposal was attacked by Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard who is continuing his campaign for improved Government funding for the Princess Royal.

Of course he is....and you can bet your bottom dollar if his lot were in charge he'd be claiming the Hospital hasn’t kept their finances in check.

Does Mark Pritchard really care about the Hospital or is this much needed point scoring material for when this career politician goes back to the House?

You tell me (and your constituents) Mark. The comments are open.

and the winner is.....

2005-08-11T18:36:00.000+01:00

Mark Pritchard gets nominated for the 2005 N00b Media Award:This year the shortlist included such luminaries as Mark Pritchard (who, despite having made no posts to his weblog, has archive links dating back to the dawn of time).

Manic has also rounded up the whole Political weblog movement under on big web-umbrella:Sadly, while Mark Pritchard may be commercially involved in Teh Interwebs via the company Discount Domains Ltd, he appears to lack the common sense and/or common courtesy that is required for effective networking via weblogs.

THREE MONTHS

2005-08-08T22:26:00.000+01:00

Three months I wrote to Mark Pritchard, three months. Two months ago I wrote to him ask if he would mind replying to my letter, two months.

NOTHING, not even an acknowledgement.

Remember saying this Mark?

Public service remains a great privilege and honour, and I am grateful to my constituents in The Wrekin for allowing me to serve them in this place.

Update

2005-07-26T21:06:00.000+01:00

It's been busy the last couple of weeks, both personally and Pritchard wise.

Mark Pritchard MP was on the radio this afternoon, not sure if it was via Westminster or if he's bothered to come home, I say home, I mean his new home.

He's currently shouting the odds about David Wright wanting a Health Summit to discuss the ongoing problems with the Hospital Trusts. He's also (and the secret Tory Abigail Price from the Telford Journal) claiming he's been campaigning about the hospital for years? I find this hard to believe. Was Mark Pritchard a councillor for the area before he came MP? As far as I'm concerned his campaign for the PRH started when he (or rather Tory HQ) decided he would Stand for the area.

Same goes for the parking charges debacle.

I hear he now has an Office in Wellington town centre. I have a feeling we might be seeing/hearing more from Mark now Parliament had risen for the summer and he isn't trying make his Mark in Westminster.

I've got some more scans of articles and more arse kissing from the girl Price at the Journal. Perhaps they're related.

I'd also be very grateful to hear from anyone who has any election bumf from Pritchard. I threw all mine away as soon as it came through the door. Little did I know the Fox Hunting lot would give Mark his 942 majority.

How to Communicate

2005-07-12T02:17:00.000+01:00

Mark really should speak to fellow Shropshire man (David is a real Salopian too) David Wright, Member for Telford. David is in his second term as Labour representative for the other half of the area.

Unlike Mark Pritchard, David is seen out and about in Telford and get this, he even holds an Advice Bureau. David's website works too, although is also lacking in the blog department.

I bet David replies to his letters too, I think we might have to put this to the test.

Mark needs to catch up with David in the canteen and ask him for some advice about connecting with the electorate, cause so far he's not doing a very good job.

I'm also still trying to work out why Mark doesn't have a constituency office in his constituency.

UPDATE: talking of seeing David Wright being out and about, I'm sure I saw him at tonights Paul Weller gig. I didn't get chance to speak to him though. :(

Where's Mark?

2005-07-10T03:29:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Telford Live.com who gave this site the thumbs up as Link of the Week; They ask a very important question;

We got a mention on a blog! Not just any blog, a blog about Mark Pritchard MP, who serves some of us here in The Wrekin. This makes some very interesting reading. Has anyone seen Mark in Telford since he got elected?

A Mars Bar to any Wrekin resident who has seen Mark Pritchard MP in the area since the election.

A multi-pack of Mars Bars to anyone who gets their photo taken with him.

email pritchard@bigdaddymerk.co.uk

Thanking You
Merk

Mark Pritchard - Olympian

2005-07-07T09:17:00.000+01:00

According to the BBC website Mark Pritchard MP is going to ask what role Shropshire venues can play in the Olympic games?

But I think we've been here before. Mark asked Tessa Jowel "What plans does the Secretary of State have for Shropshire and, in particular, The Wrekin constituency, which, as she already knows, includes Lilleshall, the home of our national gymnastics association?"

to which Tessa scoffed

"I am quite sure that the good people of Shropshire will wish to volunteer to assist with the Olympic games. If we are successful, the games will require more than 70,000 volunteers so that they can be properly organised. The facilities that are already available could be extremely valuable as preparation camps and Members on both sides of the House will be able to speak up on behalf of such facilities and on behalf of their constituents to ensure that they, too, benefit from the games."

Perhaps he'll have more luck this time? In fact he did, he asked the magnificent Jack Straw if Lillishall Sports centre will be used. Jacky said that he thinks he'd overlooked the whole of Shropshire (not the only thing Jack Straw has overlooked.) Jack, Shropshire is that large county between the West Midlands and wales. You can't miss it really!

Jacky says he's sure Lillishall can be used sometime in the next 7 years for Olympic practice.

Mark Pritchard Helps Teeth

2005-07-06T17:32:00.000+01:00

Mark is great, today he's sought an apology from the government for a woman who had to wait over a year with toothache because she couldn't get on an NHS dentists list.

According to tonight's Shropshire Star, the toothache lady mumbled "hmmmmmm ngnggghh mmmmnmm Mark Pritchard mmmmmmm Tories aghghhhhhhhhh power hmmmmmpphhhh government should watch out."

Deputy Prime Minister, in a rare show of humanity, put down his pie and said that the last tory government was to blame by closing down dentist training centres and bringing in more private dentists.

Meanwhile toothache lady has gone to tie some sting to a door handle.

UPDATE: Here is the official wordage from theyworkforyou.com

Mark Pritchard's Blog (or lack of it)

2005-07-04T02:13:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Mr Anonymous in the comments who has pointed out a few things;

I'm surprised that Mark isn't updating his own blog and he is no stranger to the internet, and can list guest book spamming.. er, contributing to forums amongst his previous 'marketing' activities.

A post by the man himself promoting the firm Discount Domains as a happy customer, August 19, 2003.

Here is his profile, with an interesting home page.

Try Googling

Mark Pritchard Discount Domains

So I did and we're given a good few results, most of which are local Tory pages which list Discount Domains as a great resource.

With the guest book/forum spam aside, I got thinking - perhaps Discount Domains are great supporter of the Tory party but the next link took me a little by surprise. Check it out.

So was Mark Pritchard MP Technical Manager of Discount Domains Ltd – A leading UK provider of Domain name registration and Web Hosting services.?

Or is it another Mark Pritchard that happens to work for a company who are staunch supporters of the Wrekin Conservatives AND based in Telford? hmmmmmmm

No, exactly. So if Mark was Technical Manager for a company who are a leading UK provider of Domain Registration and Web Hosting Services you'd think he'd bother to use his own blog wouldn't you?

Another (or perhaps the same) Mr Anonymous suggests that Mark may also have something to do with Pritchard PR (awful site design by the way), a company also based in Telford yet it's domain name based in Surrey. I cant find concrete evidence of this as yet but these people on the Telford Live forum seem to think so - perhaps he's spammed them too.

Listen, I'm not here to have a go at Mark, he's not been in office enough for that to start (but I'm sure it will happen before long) but I am annoyed that Mark who is seemingly so web savvy can't use his website to communicate with his constituency.

So we'll keep going until Mark gets in touch to let me know he's going to start to communicate (that includes my letter Mark)

The Littlest Hobo?

2005-07-04T01:55:00.000+01:00

During the election campaign Mark championed Shropshire like he'd lived here all his life, we know that he grew up in Herefordshire and probably does know Shropshire quite well now, but how well did he know it in 1991 when he stood and came in second in the General Election in Warley, Birmingham - Also how well did he know Warley?

I know MP's move around a bit but why is Mark also listed as Councillor for Harrow Council and Woking Borough Council? Surely this is a mistake?

As Mark Pritchard MP a real Shropshire Lad or not? Feel free to tell us Mark.

ID Cards

2005-06-28T20:58:00.000+01:00

Mark Pritchard is my MP. Over a month ago I wrote to Mark asking his opinion of the ID Card proposal and asked how he would vote in tonight's commons vote.

Mark has not replied to me about this yet, so I don't know what his answer is.

Thanks for keeping me informed Mark. I've got to stay up till 10pm not and wait to find out.

Mark Pritchard's Westminster Diary

2005-06-25T22:54:00.000+01:00

From Thursday's Telford Journal

Europe's leaders have fallen out of step with the people, says The Wrekin MP.

What part of the word 'Non' do the French, German and British governments not understand?
The result of the French referendum was a clear rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty and a rejection of Europe's political elites and their stealthy plans for further European integration.

Europe's political leaders have fallen out of step with the people and the people have fallen out of love with them yet Chancellor Schroeder, President Chiraq and Tony Blair refuse to listen.

Even when the corporate will of the people is expressed - their views are ignored and sidestepped.

Thirty years ago, Britons signed up to a trade relationship with Europe, they did not sign up to a Europe which seeks to dictate our mortgage rates, tax rates, immigration policy, foreign policy and defence policy -and certainly Britons did not sign up to a European federal President, something the Constitutional Treaty seeks to impose.

The European dream has become a nightmare of over-regulation, interference, meddling and increased taxation. The drive towards a single European empire has been tried before.

The Roman Empire was arguably the only other European empire that has previously existed. (I've read this somewhere else before haven't I? - Merk)

It also had a single currency - gold, it too strived for a single language - Latin and it too collapsed because of corrupt leadership, a belief in its own self-importance, a lack of understanding of the diversity of European cultures, and the failure to recognise the folly of one size fits all governance.

We are told by pro-European Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs that if we do not surrender our birthright to Europe that British jobs will be lost.

This seems at odds with the statements of many business leaders I meet.

They suggest their reason for doing business in Britain is that Britain's labour markets are less like Europe rather than more like them.

Businesses need flexible and nimble labour markets not over-regulation, and if they can't find flexibility in Britain they will look for it elsewhere.

Britain cannot maintain its relative prosperity by adopting the failed European socialist and workplace model.

Therefore, those who claim scepticism towards Europe will cost jobs are wrong and are resorting to desperate and siren politics, which only serves to prove the weakness of their spurious hypothesis.

A local example is the Labour opt-in to the Working Time Directive, which is preventing many local people from earning much needed overtime.

Labour MEPs have a lot to answer for and so does the government. Clearly, employees should not be forced to work excessive hours, but discussions about working hours in Shropshire should take place between local and national employers and local employees, not be enshrined in law in Brussels.

Britain is in need of a new breed of politician, politicians who are not ashamed to speak up for the national self-interest.

This is not an insular statement but one that recognises that most Britons want a government and Parliament that are accountable to the British people and politicians who are prepared to reject the outdated and failed centralist model of Franco-German politics.

No surrender to 'every close union' with Europe (a term that can be found in all European Treaties going back to the Treaty of Rome) is not a populist utterance of an out-of-date little Englander philosophy but a necessary survival gene that has served Britain well for hundreds of years.

If Britain is to remain strong and vibrant, if she is to retain her national self-confidence, then the current crisis in the EU should be seen as an opportunity to redefine our current relationship within Europe, and by doing so, Britain will then be able to provide a secure future for the generations that follow us

Mark Pritchard's Accommodation

2005-06-25T22:45:00.000+01:00

From Friday's Shropshire Star

Tory MP Mark Pritchard has finally got his Westminster accommodation sorted out - and is delighted with the result.
Seven weeks after his election as MP for The Wrekin, he has finally been allocated an office.
It's along what's called the upper committee corridor in a prized area of the Commons because it has good access to the chamber and other key areas of the palace.
He has also been elected to his first post in Parliament - as vice-chairman of the all-party group on social care.

Hopefully his new office will have a link to the outside world?

Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

2005-06-22T21:15:00.000+01:00

In his longest parliamentary speech yet (1267 words), it seems that Mark isn't in favour of the Racial hatred law that could do more damage than good.

I oppose religious hatred, but I also oppose the Bill, because I do not think that the latter will serve to reduce the former

I congratulate Mark on opposing this bill, I hope he does the same with the ID Cards Bill.

Read what Tony Benn has to say about Freedom.

Mark Pritchard Says NO to Parking Charges

2005-06-21T17:04:00.000+01:00

Mark has yet to speak of his delight* that the parking charges are going to be dropped in Wellington and Newport.

Obviously, Mark was instrumental in getting these charges scrapped and all the work our previous MP did towards it counted for nothing.

UPDATE: I was right! In Thursdays Telford Journal:

Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, said: "This is a major victory for all those who supported my campaign to scrap the charges.

"I hope this will be the new dawn of a brighter future for both Wellington and Newport and will teach the council leadership not to impose ill-thought out policies on the district centres without adequate consultation.

This has been a long and often difficult campaign but the victory has been I worth the wait. I am delighted."

Nothing like taking the credit eh?

*Mark cannot really speak of his delight in public because he does not bother to use the Blog set up for him on his site. See the importance of Political Weblogs here.

Doing Porridge?

2005-06-21T16:59:00.000+01:00

If you're in the nick right now and you can't read this - get someone to help you.

Cause our very own Mark Pritchard MP has asked the Sectary of State for Education and Skills to make a statement on prison Literacy.

Now I don't understand why Prisons need to read or write, I'd have thought it would be better if the inmates learned how to instead. But hey, Mark's the MP - not me.

How's he voting?

2005-06-16T10:02:00.000+01:00

Whether you voted for him or not, Mark Pritchard is your member of parliament for The Wrekin area. This means HE WORKS FOR YOU.

He has not been elevated to some superior role in life, he is answerable to you, his constituents and must represent you in the seat of Democracy - The House of Commons.

I cannot confirm that Mark Pritchard MP has super powers but I will keep you in the loop.

So hows he voting? You can find out by clicking here. If you don't like the way he's voting then tell him. It's his job to listen and represent you in London. Contact details for Marks office are on the right of this page and you can also use the Writetothem.com service to write to them via your pc.

As always be polite and include your full name and address. I've used the service twice to write to Mark - once to discuss ID Cards and once to ask where my reply is. I've still not got an answer. I'll keep you informed. Which is more than can be said for Mark!

Marks Campaigns

2005-06-16T09:14:00.000+01:00

I've taken the liberty of reproducing Marks campain page from the Wrekin Conservatives site (Mark has a blog on that site but he doesn't bother to use it).

Mark Pritchard is running a series of campaigns that have attracted widespread public support. These include:

SAVE OUR SERVICES

This campaign is aiming to stop local hospital services being transferred from the Princess Royal Hospital, in Telford to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, in Shrewsbury.

Mark says:

"Too many people still have to journey to Shrewsbury to receive hospital treatments. Mothers and babies with complications through to the elderly. The Wrekin deserves its own full service hospital and that is what I am campaigning for".

Labour MPs said that the hospital merger would not affect patients. Again, we have been misled.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST LOCAL CRIME

Local crime has soared under Labour. Violent crime is at an all time high. Mark is campaigning to put more police on the streets and looking to local police to enforce a zero-tolerance or 'broken wondow' policing.

Mark is also calling on Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire County Council to provide better and improved youth facilities so that young people have something to do.

STOP PARKING CHARGES

Mark continues to campaign against the car parking charges at The Princess Royal Hospital and the charges in Wellington and Newport.

Labour and Liberal Democrats voted to reintroduce car parking charges.

Mark says:

"This is another labour stealth tax. We are all paying more tax but are seeing our local services cut. The worst of all worlds. It is about time we returned to 'value for money' - and it is only the Conservatives who can deliver that. Labour are all talk and no action. Conservatives will stand up for the 'forgotten law abiding, tax paying, majority'"

http://www.wrekinconservatives.com/page/3/31/

More Dosh for the PRH

2005-06-16T09:02:00.000+01:00

Mark must be pleased, yesterday it was announced that £600,000 would be released to the Princess Royal Hospital to build a temporary renal unit.

It was also announced yesterday that the Shropshire Hospitals Trust was a massive £19 million in debt. Mark is calling for more government money to help the trust get out of the red and rescue front-line hospital services.

Mark Pritchard MP has been running a long standing campaign to help the PRH which probably won him the election (that and the Tory faithful voting Labour out because of the fox hunting bill, no doubt).

PRH will now house six dialysis stations which will treat up to 26 patients a year.

Of course, no official word from Mark about this - his blog still hasn't started.

Mark Pritchard to 'gather a petition'

2005-06-16T08:52:00.000+01:00

Mark Pritchard MP is asking boss of Central Trains to explain why they have plans to charge a massive £3.50 per day to park at Telford Central Railway Station, reports the Shropshire Star.

The charges are to be put in place to ease the problems of non-railway users parking on the station car park in the light of recent parking charges at the Telford Shopping Centre.

Mark thinks there may be a case for the rail regulator as Central Trains do not appear to have consulted the local Rail Users Association.

Strangely, Telford Central isn't in Mark's Constituency and this writer thinks he should concentrate on improving the much maligned facilities at Wellington Station.

Shropshire Folk to run olympics

2005-06-16T00:58:00.000+01:00

Mark recently asked a question to the great Tessa Jowell asking what plans she has for the people of Shropshire should London be granted the 2012 Olympics.

Shropshire is approx. 163 miles from London, how can we help?

Tessa has the answer;

I am quite sure that the good people of Shropshire will wish to volunteer to assist with the Olympic games.

Cheers Tessa, I'll be signing up straight away.

Et tu, Brute?

2005-06-08T09:49:00.000+01:00

Mark's been busy speaking in the house this week and he's got some great lines, I'll give him that - Today, European Constitution;

Does my hon. Friend agree that we have had a single empire in Europe, the Roman empire, a single currency, gold, and a single language, Latin; that we now have a Europe that is in danger of going the "dominus et deus" route or even the dictatorship route; and that if Europe continues in the direction adopted by its present political elite, they might end up going the same way as the Roman elite?

Wow, don't mince your words there fella. You can't really compare the present elite with that of Roman times - they wore dresses and took part in orgy............ahhhhh I see where your coming from now.

I'm seriously not sure we're headed down the dictatorship route, someone tried that in '39 and it didn't work.

Of course, if Mark was to use his blog he could tell us, his constituents what he really thinks about Europe.

Nuclear Deterrent

2005-06-06T09:29:00.000+01:00

Mark submitted a question to John Reid (Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence) today about plans to replace trident with a new generation strategic nuclear deterrent.

John Reid replied with a frankly half arsed answer;

Labour's recent general election manifesto spelled out our commitment to the retention of the independent nuclear deterrent.

He might as well have said "it's a secret I'm not telling" - But Mark Pritchard MP isn't one to shy away from conflict (probably why he's asking about nuclear deterrents!) and continued to push Reido for an answer;

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, but I am rather intrigued by its vagueness.

ohhh. fight, fight, fight, fight...ahem sorry where was I? Oh yes Mark continues the question but doesn't really get an answer other than;

I can do no better than read out my initial answer.

Reido 1 Mark Nil - must try harder!

Full text here

I'm not sure why Mark is so interested in our Nuclear Deterrent, if he bothered to use his own blog perhaps he could tell us, for now we'll have to guess.

Mark Pritchard's First Commons Speech

2005-05-26T09:18:00.000+01:00

Mark Pritchard made his first commons speech today, I bet he was bricking it. Anyway he told the good people of the house about the area he is representing;

Those Members who have visited my constituency know that, in geographic terms, it is mostly rural.

Geographical terms I would agree on, but population wise? I would suspect most people in this constituency live in and around town.

Don't forget those townies will you Mark?

Mark Pritchards first Blog post ever

2005-03-15T03:23:00.000Z

Hello everyone.

Firstly welcome to the Mark Pritchard MP blog. There is a blog over at the old conservative website but it hasn't been used once but does go back to -2342 BC, which is nice.

Mark Pritchard MP is the new member of parliament for The Wrekin, the strangely named area we live in near Telford and Shrewsbury. For those of us that don't really know much about the Wrekin here is some info for you.

The Wrekin is a big hill in Shropshire, we live near it. Mark represents those people in the House of Commons. It's all very exciting isn't it?

Anyway, we're going to be letting you, the people, know all about what Mark is up to at home and down in that there London place - If it's Mark Pritchard news your after then this is the place!

Anyway, feel free to email Mark and ask him any questions - his email address is over to the right, be nice though or he may not reply.