With the so-called ‘snap’ general election three weeks away, and with a significant Conservatives lead in the polls, Robert GOODWILL, the incumbent MP for Scarborough & Whitby, is looking assured of re-election.

What will that mean for the people of the Scarborough & Whitby parliamentary constituency in terms of their democratic representation?

What do you know about Robert GOODWILL?

Enquirer readers may know a good deal more than the wider public, including:

1. Famously (or, rather, infamously), and unrepentantly, he fiddled his travel expenses when he was a Member of the European Parliament back in 2002.
2. The Enquirer’s Tim THORNE exposed his mortgage-claim fiddle on his flat in London.
3. I exposed his departure from Tory ‘family values’ when he stored his porn collection on the family computer.
4. The Enquirer’s Tim THORNE exposed his contradictory commitments on Brexit – FOR and AGAINST.

But what about Robert GOODWILL’s performance in the House of Commons?

What do you know about Robert GOODWILL’s values and priorities – or his voting history in the House? The way he delivers his representation of the views of his constituents?

Here, in Part One, I draw readers’ attention to the proposals that Robert GOODWILL has demonstrated himself to be consistently AGAINST.

In Part Two, I will highlight the proposals that Robert GOODWILL has voted consistently FOR.

Hopefully, this may assist.

[Data source – TheyWorkForYou.com]

On WELFARE/BENEFITS, Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.]:

• Consistently voted AGAINST raising welfare benefits at least in line with prices:

Show votes 0 votes for, 5 votes against, in 2013

• Consistently voted AGAINST paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability:

Show votes 0 votes for, 15 votes against, between 2011–2016

• Almost always voted AGAINST spending public money to create guaranteed jobs for young people who have spent a long time unemployed:

Show votes 0 votes for, 8 votes against, 1 absence, between 2011–2014

On TAXATION/EMPLOYMENT, Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.]:

• Consistently voted AGAINST increasing the tax rate applied to income over £150,000:

Show votes 0 votes for, 12 votes against, between 2012–2015

• Almost always voted AGAINST a banker’s bonus tax

Show votes 1 vote for, 15 votes against, 1 absence, between 2011–2015

On HEALTH, Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.]:

• Almost always voted AGAINST restricting the provision of services to private patients by the NHS:

Show votes 0 votes for, 5 votes against, 2 absences, between 2011–2012

On DEVOLUTION, Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.]:

• Almost always voted AGAINST transferring more powers to the Welsh Assembly:

Show votes 0 votes for, 14 votes against, 5 absences, between 2014–2017

• Consistently voted AGAINST transferring more powers to the Scottish Parliament:

Show votes 1 vote for, 31 votes against, 1 absence, between 2011–2015

On TRANSPORT, Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.]:

• Consistently voted AGAINST slowing the rise in rail fares:

Show votes 0 votes for, 5 votes against, in 2013

On MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS, Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.]:

• Generally voted AGAINST Labour’s anti-terrorism laws:

Show votes 4 votes for, 13 votes against, 7 absences, between 2005–2010

• – an “In My View” article by NIGEL WARD, reporting on significant developments related to Robert GOODWILL MP’s pre-election claims regarding Whitby Hospital.

~~~~~

The Governors of the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (YTH/FT) convened a public meeting on Wednesday 10th June 2015 at Malton Hospital – with not one single member of the public in attendance.

Reportedly, some interesting comments were exchanged in reference to the veracity of certain statements made by Robert GOODWILL MP [Con.] (Scarborough & Whitby) in his campaign leaflet for the recent Parliamentary Elections which, in my view, merit the attention of a wider public.

Speaking purely personally, David WHEELER (Public Governor for Scarborough) had this to say:

• “This statement I believe to be inaccurate and I think it was disgraceful”.

Andrew BUTLER (Public Governor for Selby) threw down the gauntlet with the following remarks:

• “It was disappointing to see Mr Goodwill attack our local NHS, in his election materials with some very inaccurate information. Perhaps Mr Goodwill will reflect on this apologise to the Trust he maligned and ensure he publicly corrects the record.”

Here is a close-up of Robert GOODWILL’s remarks regarding the NHS, with the two contentious sentences highlighted:

At Wednesday’s meeting, Andrew BUTLER raised the matter of these claims with Mike PROCTOR, Deputy Chief Executive at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, who said that he had written to Robert GOODWILL about this because the second sentence was factually inaccurate:

• “When the bureaucrats at the York Hospital Trust announced they would abandon Whitby Hospital, our local GPs refused to agree.”

and the fourth sentence was arguably misleading, in that it might suggest that the York Hospital Trust bore responsibility for the cuts and uncertainty:

• “After years of cuts and uncertainty, Whitby Hospital is now safe.”

For clarification, I have lodged an FOIA request for sight of Mike PROCTOR’s letter to Robert GOODWILL MP.

The allegation would appear to be that, in the first case, the Trust had not chosen to abandon Whitby Hospital as Robert GOODWILL claimed; rather, it was a decision of the GP-led Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to put Whitby Hospital out to tender; and, in the second case, it was also the CCG that had subsequently awarded the contract to Virgin, securing the future of Whitby Hospital for only so long as that contract holds good.

Responding to this exchange of information, Mike BECKETT (the Appointed Governor representing the Voluntary Sector) pointed out that he himself had publicly corrected Robert GOODWILL on these very issues at hustings preceding the General Election (in which Mike BECKETT was the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Liberal Democrats).

He went on to state:

• “I have publicly disclosed my conflict of interest as an alternative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate and as a Governor. I believe the reality needs to be shown to the public, so they may decide if it is appropriate to hold Mr Goodwill to account, and to be aware of where the decisions were actually made.”

So there would appear to be little doubt that Robert GOODWILL’s pre-election claims were substantively untrue – which brings us back to Andrew BUTLER’s very pertinent observation:

• “Perhaps Mr Goodwill will reflect on this apologise to the Trust he maligned and ensure he publicly corrects the record.”

Perhaps he will; but, on past form, I would regard it as highly unlikely. I will be watching the local rags.

Regular readers will recall that another ‘Toxic Tory’, Sir Greg KNIGHT MP [Con.] (East Riding), also included factually incorrect information on his electoral leaflet, claiming that the Conservative Party had reduced annual net immigration by one third during the past five year Parliamentary term when, in fact, it had risen by 18.25% from 252,000 to 298,000 (to September last year).

The final figure for the year 2014/15 was 315,000 – representing an increase of 25% on the 2010/11 figure, not the 33.3% decrease to 168,000 that Greg ‘Silent’ KNIGHT claimed.

Pure hogwash – but that is what the great British electorate have chosen to accept.