Housing: Berry’s open letter to Davey

Dear Sir,
I am writing to call on Edward Davey MP to publically retract his claims that the Green
Belt is not safe under Kingston’s Conservatives and that the Conservatives back
Neither claim is true. Both claims are highly irresponsible.
The facts do not support the Liberal Democrat’s position, which is cynically timed to
coincide with the imminent local elections.
On 4 March 2014 an independent think tank called London First published a report
entitled “Home Truths” which suggested building new suburbs in Chessington and the
Lea Valley as a solution to housing shortages in London. That report had nothing to do
with the Conservative Party.
The Liberal Democrats have suggested that the Deputy Mayor for Housing endorsed
London First’s proposal for mass housing in Chessington. He did not. More importantly,
Boris Johnson was unequivocal when he came to Kingston for Mayor’s Question Time
last week that he would not support building on the Green Belt.
On 26 March 2014 Mr Davey sent an email to Kingston residents asking them to make
people aware that the Green Belt is not safe with Kingston’s Conservatives. That is
simply not true. Kingston Conservatives never lent their support to London First’s
proposal. Nor have I. Nor have your local Conservative Councillors and candidates.
The truth is that the Conservative Party in Kingston opposes building on the Green Belt.
What’s more, we are proposing to invest more money than the Liberal Democrat
administration on the green spaces that we have for everyone to enjoy across the
Borough.
People in Chessington and beyond would rightly have been concerned to hear Mr
Davey’s allegations about the Conservatives’ position. Mr Davey’s claims were
irresponsible, especially coming from someone who is currently your local MP. They
were also wrong. I call on Mr Davey to now act responsibly and retract those claims.
Public faith in politics has been rocked in recent years. A genuine debate on issues that
matter to hardworking people should help to restore that trust. By contrast, non-issues
conjured up by Liberal Democrat scaremongers will only erode public faith in politics
further.
Yours faithfully,
James Berry

Prospective Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Kingston and Surbiton