Our Manifesto

I think it's time we stopped micromanaging our schools and let the people on the ground make the decisions, they're the ones who actually know what they're doing after all. The current system is far too prescriptive, with the government dictating everything from the curriculum to the budget, it's no wonder our schools are struggling to produce well-rounded individuals.

The proposal is to grant full autonomy to schools over their budgets and curricula, allowing them to make decisions based on the specific needs of their students and communities. This would involve giving schools a lump sum of money and letting them decide how to allocate it, whether that's on new textbooks, staff training or extracurricular activities. It would also mean giving them the freedom to design their own curricula, as long as they meet certain basic standards of course.

This would not only give schools more flexibility, but also restore a sense of professionalism and trust to teaching. Right now, too many teachers and heads spend half their lives ticking boxes for Whitehall instead of focusing on the kids in front of them. We’ve created a culture where schools are terrified of failing inspections, so they end up teaching to targets rather than teaching children how to think, create and grow.

A school in a struggling inner-city area faces very different challenges to one in a rural village or a wealthy suburb. Pretending they all need the exact same approach is ridiculous. Local teachers, governors and parents understand their communities far better than some civil servant sat behind a desk a hundred miles away.

Now, autonomy doesn’t mean abandoning standards. There should still be clear expectations around literacy, numeracy, safeguarding and academic achievement. But beyond that, schools should have the freedom to innovate. If a school wants to invest more in mental health support, brilliant. If another wants to focus on apprenticeships, arts, sports or technology, let them. Education should prepare young people for life, not just for exams.

And frankly, if we want ambitious, talented people to stay in teaching, we need to stop treating them like incompetent middle managers who need constant supervision. Give schools responsibility, give them accountability, and then get out of their way enough for them to actually succeed.

I'm fed up with the housing market in this country, it's a total mess. Every time I try to help my kids Emily and Tom get on the property ladder, we hit a brick wall. The prices are insane, the choices are limited, and the whole process is slowed down by pointless bureaucracy. I've seen it with my own eyes, the endless planning applications, the nitpicking over minor details, it's like the system is designed to strangle development.

As a chartered accountant, I know a thing or two about red tape, and the housing sector is one of the worst offenders. We need to simplify the planning process, cut out the unnecessary regulations, and let developers get on with building houses. It's not rocket science, we just need to get out of the way and let the market work. I'm not saying we should abandon all controls, but a bit of common sense would go a long way.

I've spent years dealing with the bureaucratic nightmare that is our business rates system, and I'm convinced it's stifling entrepreneurship in this country. As a chartered accountant, I've seen firsthand how small businesses are crippled by unrealistic rates that bear no relation to their actual performance.

A tiered system, as proposed, might be a step in the right direction, but I think we need to go further. We should be looking to fundamentally overhaul the way we tax businesses, moving towards a more flexible, performance-based model that rewards innovation and risk-taking. This would not only help small businesses stay afloat but also attract new investment and talent to the area.

The current system is a classic example of the nanny state gone wrong - a one-size-fits-all approach that's more concerned with propping up inefficient councils than with promoting genuine economic growth.

Why do we make it so incredibly difficult for someone with a good idea and a bit of grit to actually start and run a business? It feels like every other week there's a new form to fill, a new regulation to decipher, a new box to tick that seems designed purely to create jobs for compliance officers. It's utterly baffling.

My proposal is simple: a radical simplification of business regulations, especially for SMEs. We need a single, unified portal for all registrations, licenses, and compliance requirements. Think of it like a one-stop shop, but for setting up and running your business, not buying a tin of beans. We could start by creating a tiered system, where the regulatory burden scales with the size and complexity of the business. A sole trader selling handmade crafts online shouldn't face the same hoops as a multinational corporation.

As a lifelong Conservative, I'm frustrated by the party's recent drift towards statist interventionism, and the energy sector is no exception. The Net Zero targets are a prime example of this, with unrealistic timelines and a lack of consideration for the economic consequences. We need to take a step back and let the free market drive our energy strategy, rather than ideological purity.

A free market approach would allow us to prioritize security and affordability, while still reducing our carbon footprint. This means investing in cleaner ways to use fossil fuels, like carbon capture and storage, and ensuring we have a robust domestic supply. It also means avoiding blanket bans on new exploration and instead, letting the market decide where investment should go. I've seen this approach work in other sectors, where competition and innovation have driven down costs and improved efficiency.

I was at the hospital last week visiting my sister who's been struggling with a chronic condition and I couldn't help but notice the sheer amount of paperwork the nurses had to deal with - it's like they're more concerned with filling out forms than actually treating patients. I spoke to one of the nurses and she told me that they have to spend at least an hour a day just doing administrative tasks, it's madness.

I think this is a symptom of a larger problem - the NHS has become far too bloated and bureaucratic. We need to strip away some of the red tape and let doctors and nurses do what they do best, treat patients. I'm not saying we should get rid of the NHS altogether, but we need to make it more efficient and more focused on patient care. I've seen it in my own practice as an accountant, when you have too many people involved in the decision-making process, things get slow and nothing gets done.

I was at my local constituency meeting last week and it was the same old story, the same two parties slugging it out for the seat, with the smaller parties barely getting a look in. It got me thinking, is this really the best way to do democracy, where your vote is effectively wasted if you don't live in a marginal seat. I've been saying it for years, but first past the post is a relic of the past and it's time we moved to a more proportional system.

I've seen it time and time again, people not voting because they think their vote won't count, or worse, voting tactically for a party they don't really believe in just to keep another party out. It's a mess, and it's not what democracy is supposed to be about. We need a system where every vote counts, where people can vote with their hearts, not just their heads.

It’s frankly astonishing how much red tape the government wraps around private savings. I spend my days wrestling with financial regulations for clients, and then I see these same officials creating labyrinthine rules for ordinary people trying to squirrel away a bit for their future. It’s insulting. We’re treated like children who can’t possibly understand compound interest or the risks involved in, say, investing in a small business versus a government bond.

My proposal is simple: radical simplification and increased individual choice. We need to cut the number of approved pension schemes by at least half, focusing on low-cost, broadly diversified index funds.

I was cycling near Tonbridge the other day and saw some chap get absolutely raked over the coals by the police for having a tiny crack in his windscreen. It was barely noticeable, certainly not enough to impair his vision. Yet there was the officer, writing him up, probably for months of bureaucracy and a fine that’ll hit his already stretched budget. It’s madness, really. The state seems to delight in generating paperwork and penalties for the most trivial infractions, while genuine problems often get ignored.

This is why I propose a radical simplification of our approach to minor motoring offences. We should implement a de minimis threshold for most common driving infractions – things like slightly worn tyre treads (within safe limits, obviously), minor cosmetic damage to vehicles, or the aforementioned windscreen chips.