General Election Conservative Candidate - How can I help?

[reshamkotecha]

Hi,

My name is Resham Kotecha and I am the Conservative Party candidate for Dulwich & West Norwood.

I want to do my best to help with local issues or concerns so please feel free to contact me - either on here or by emailing [email protected]. I want to hear about issues in East Dulwich or related to Southwark Council and will do my very best to help you solve them. I will check the forum frequently, but if it is urgent, please send me an email.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Resham

https://www.facebook.com/reshamkotechadwn

www.reshamkotecha.com

[baggie]

Resign?

[mfcjoe]

What are your thoughts on the Government's attack on the sick and the vulnerable in our society?

[adonirum]

WOW....electioneering already, and the election has not even been called yet!!!!!!!

[adonirum]

Actually, I do have a question for you that concerns me.

What do you think about a system that allows M.P.'s to "fiddle" their expenses and when they are caught out they are allowed to just say sorry it was a mistake I didn't realise and do not face prosecution (in the main) but a person on benefits (and I am not referring to deliberate fraud)who makes a mistake is unable to claim it was such as under benefit rules a genuine and innocent oversight is no excuse under the law and they then face the full might of the criminal system?

[Administrator]

"... Issues in East Dulwich or related to Southwark Council" please.

And can we refrain from the predictable candidate/political party bashing and start useful conversations please.

[johnki]

What are your thoughts on Southwark councils refusal to sell lofts on street properties where they are the freeholder?

[adonirum]

That's fair enough, Admin, didn't properly absorb the "ED/SC" aspect. My question was genuine, though, as wanted to hear the O.P. opinion on the most disgraceful anomaly within our criminal justice system and was not intended as candidate bashing.

[Blah Blah]

I also think mfcjoe's question is fair too. There are sick and vulnerable people in ED, who are being sanctioned for example, because they should be on ESA but government legislation means they can't apply for it. Will Resham be happy to speak for local people who are being unfairly treated because of welfare reforms, or to represent people threatened with eviction because of welfare reforms?

[Peckhamrye]

The General Election will be on 7 May 2015 unless there is a vote of no confidence in the current government in which case it will be earlier. All part of the handy legislation this government brought in that gives them a fixed term for 5 years.

[nxjen]

reshamkotecha Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi,

>

> My name is Resham Kotecha and I am the

> Conservative Party candidate for Dulwich & West

> Norwood.

>

> I want to do my best to help with local issues or

> concerns so please feel free to contact me -

> either on here or by emailing

> [email protected]. I want to hear about issues

> in East Dulwich or related to Southwark Council

> and will do my very best to help you solve them. I

> will check the forum frequently, but if it is

> urgent, please send me an email.

>

As a prospective MP and neither an elected representative of Parliament or Southwark Council, I don't understand how you feel you are able to help with or influence those issues relating to Southwark Council. Doesn this fall within the remit of our elected local councillors? Perhaps you'll use the opportunity to push the Tory agenda but are not really in a position to do anything though will make vague promises what you'll do if elected? Agree with previous post that this is pure electioneering.

[Robert Poste's Child]

Have to agree with nxjen - this does look like one strand of a candidate's campaign for election and to build a local engagement agenda, but I'd be happy to be proved wrong!

[Bic Basher]

Considering Labour's candidate Helen Hayes is currently a Southwark Council Cllr in Dulwich who has had over four years of engagement with residents in College Ward, how will you engage with people in SE22 and represent everyone in a seat which covers deprived people in Brixton to the rich and potential Tory voters in Village Ward with residents in ED who are split between Labour and the Lib Dems?

[Administrator]

Please don't make this hard work for me. It would be lovely to get this flowing as a simple Question and Answer session, rather like the councillor's thread.

The candidate is on here asking "I want to hear about issues in East Dulwich or related to Southwark Council and will do my very best to help you solve them." How this will be done we don't know so please try and keep keep your personal judgements and thoughts about irrelevant politics off this thread. I suggest you tell her your issues, ask your questions, see what happens then pass judgement.

[????]

How will you engage with those (few) of us in ED who actually would consider voting Conservatve on our views on their economic competence (or better than the alternative), true liberal values and advocay of freedom and openess whilst your leader's rhetoric is increasingly aimed at small minded little englanders, fear of difference and isolation?

[nxjen]

But Admin, an MP's sphere of influence is primarily with national matters and rarely interferes with local government matters so by asking for people's concerns about Southwark Council she is giving the impression she is able to help with matters outside her potential jurisdication. I don't think the thread that is envisaged can be compared with the local councillor's thread as the councillors who post on that are elected representatives and carry more influence, she just wants an opportunity to knock the labour council and by association a very strong Labour candidate at the next election.

[bawdy-nan]

It is utterly ridiculous to restrict questions to a prospective MP (national representative) who has presented themselves on a forum as such to "local ED issues and the local council".

Maybe this belongs in the lounge, admin? Otherwise it is just a weird politically restricted platform.

[ths0105]

Well, I think it is positive for a prospective MP to engage with her potential constituents. And it would be good if this thread could be kept local rather than turn into a "Question Time" type thread on politics in general - there are plenty of discussion boards out there that cater for such discussions.

So, in that spirit, my questions to Resham are:

1. What are your views on the current proposals for the Dulwich Hospital site?

2. Do you live locally?

Thanks.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Will you support the call for an investigation into the Heygate Scandal? http://www.change.org/p/heygate-estate-scandal-demand-an-investigation

[Zebedee Tring]

Will you support the full restoration of the funding that has been taken away from Southwark Council and other local authorities during the time that the Tory led government has been in power, if necessary paid for by increased taxes of all kinds on those income groups who can afford them?

And Administrator, please don't tell me that this isn't an "issue ... related to Southwark Council" because few matters could be more important for the Council than the implications of the drastic cuts that it's had to make during the last few years because of Government funding restraints.

[bawdy-nan]

I notice on your twitter feed that you say that you and the Dulwich conservatives are "fighting for the best interests of local residents". What would you say that you and the DCs consider they are?

1. For example, my daughter attends a LOCAL school and some of her friends are unable to eat a meal at lunchtime because they live in poverty what do you intend to do about that? Do you support extending the criteria for access to free school meals to families on low incomes?

2. Your constituency already has a majority of renters over property owners and this proportion is predicted to grow to 59% of the constituency population by 2021 can you outline here how you intend to support the rights of renters over landlords please.

3. I notice on your twitter feed that you appear to have the ear of Nicky Morgan and that she "supports" what you do in Dulwich re school places. Can you make it clear here what your position on new secondary school vs primary school is please.

[Blah Blah]

Admin, there are many issues affecting local people that are nothing to do with Southwark Council. If the candidate was a coucillor candidate then fair enough. But a candidate for MP is a different proposition. The candidate should be forthcoming on how ANY issue affecting local people can be addressed, and that I'm afraid includes issues determined by government policy (policy which is set by the way our MPs vote). Politicians, prospective or not, do not get to choose which questions and issues we can press them on, and you should not be protecting them from that either.

It is quite clear the candidate is attempting to ingratiate with a prosective electorate (fair enough), but the terms of that ingratiation should not bet set by either the candidate or you. Move the thread to a more appropriate place if necessary. From what I can see, there is a thread for an already serving councillor for dealing with local issues, which seems to work fine, and makes perfect sense. The candidate isn't even elected to any position yet to grant the same platform.

[bawdy-nan]

Totally agree with this

Blah Blah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Admin, there are many issues affecting local

> people that are nothing to do with Southwark

> Council. If the candidate was a coucillor

> candidate then fair enough. But a candidate for MP

> is a different proposition. The candidate should

> be forthcoming on how ANY issue affecting local

> people can be addressed, and that I'm afraid

> includes issues determined by government policy

> (policy which is set by the way our MPs vote).

> Politicians, prospective or not, do not get to

> choose which questions and issues we can press

> them on, and you should not be protecting them

> from that either.

>

> It is quite clear the candidate is attempting to

> ingratiate with a prosective electorate (fair

> enough), but the terms of that ingratiation should

> not bet set by either the candidate or you. Move

> the thread to a more appropriate place if

> necessary. From what I can see, there is a thread

> for an already serving councillor for dealing with

> local issues, which seems to work fine, and makes

> perfect sense. The candidate isn't even elected to

> any position yet to grant the same platform.

[Administrator]

Blah Blah

There are many things affecting local people that are nothing to do with East Dulwich specifically; the price of gas, the weather, the economy, Rooney's suitability to represent England. I try and keep the forum East Dulwich specific, it's what the East Dulwich forum's about (apart from the Lounge).

Now a candidate has come on and asked "I want to hear about issues in East Dulwich or related to Southwark Council", I'm trying to help them as I would any other candidate. If another candidate came on and asked the same I'll probably merge them into a "ask the local candidate" thread.

Now some people have managed to ask local questions, heck they've even taken national questions and made them local.

Now I am providing the platform for this to happen so I think I have a right to keep the questions directed at them on a local level. If it continues in this vein I'm going to get annoyed, give up and Lounge this thread where it'll become a bun fight, candidates won't use the forum and people have lost out on a place to engage with candidates because some people didn't like the fact they couldn't ask non-local questions.

[fernado]

You're lovely. Are you single? Fancy trying out the new Franca Manca sometime?