As a local lad, I know what the people need

KASHIF ALI

Election statement — Kashif Ali, Conservative

IT HAS been a long campaign but, tomorrow, voters in Oldham East and Saddleworth will finally get the chance to choose who should be their next MP.

I urge them to cast their vote for me. As a local lad who was born here, grew up here and still lives here, I haven’t just turned up for the by-election.

I know what people here need from their local MP and that’s why I’ve been campaigning on the issues that matter to local people — like reducing crime by getting the police back on the beat, and getting our economy moving again with the Government’s £1.4 billion Regional Growth Fund.

I’ve also been campaigning for a 20 per cent cut in councillors’ allowances and for a new cinema for Oldham — bringing business to the town and giving youngsters round here a bit more to do. The other parties will have told you that this is a two-horse race and the only choice is between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. I couldn’t disagree more — this is a three-horse race.

I was the only candidate to increase their vote at the General Election and I was only 2,400 votes off first place.

If you want an MP who knows what affects people here, to stand up for your interests and to deal with Labour’s terrible legacy of debt, you’ve got to vote for it — not vote tactically.

I also urge you not to give Labour another chance.

They had 13 years in power and they left Britain on the brink of bankruptcy. They gave us the biggest budget deficit in the developed world meaning we now spend £120 million every single day just to pay off the interest on their debt.

On top of that, Ed Miliband hasn’t got a proper plan to deal with this mess.

The only thing we do know about his economic policy is that it would leave our debt almost £100 billion higher and we would be paying £8 billion more in debt interest alone by 2015 — money that goes to foreign creditors to help pay for their schools and hospitals rather than our own. So if you want an MP who’s local through and through, who will fight for your interests and fight for Oldham East and Saddleworth, please vote for me on Thursday.