Over the past few weeks I have answered hundreds of email questions. Here is a selection of some of them to help you answer the question of who to vote for today:-

Can you promise not to privatise Hampshire police services?
Answer:- Yes for any Police Officer or police staff service, but I don't yet know what contracts the current Police Authority have already entered into.

Age: 50

Address: West End, Hampshire

Political Party: Liberal Democrat

The son of a retired Hampshire police inspector and the brother to a serving officer, Police and Crime Commissioner candidate David Goodall has policing in the blood.

The 50-year-old has produced a manifesto which says he would have three main priorities if he were elected to the £85,000-a-year position.

Following last evening Police Elections 2012 programme on BBC I thought it was worth highlighting a couple of points from my manifesto. I plan to have open meetings at which the public at attend and make comment, as well as allowing members of public to become scrutiny panels members too.

To me this is the natural way that meetings should be run, so no formal closed meetings with me as commissioner.

This is a critical question as we have no truly independent candidates in Hampshire. Even the independent candidate, is a former Conservative leader of New Forest District Council, is only standing as an independent because Michael Mates beat him in the nomination race for the Conservative Party.

The Liberal Democrats wanted to fill the democratic deficit of a Police Authority, that could set taxes and policy yet be not accountable to anyone, by directly electing the Police Authority, using a single transferable vote (STV) system. This would have reduced the affect of party politics in the main make up of the authority, whilst at the same time filling the democratic deficit. However, that argument did not win the day within the coalition, so we are now contesting Police and Crime Commissioners elections.

The single post of the Police and Crime Commissioner means that one party will have absolute control of the position. This means only one viewpoint. So to counter act this I plan to have a series of advisory panels that will be balanced before in both terms of their equality and political nature. This is the practical step that I will take, in addition to the formal one of the oath of impartiality that all PCCs will be required to swear when they are elected to office.

The swearing of an oath will be an important symbol of impartiality, emphasising both the significance of this new role in local communities and that PCCs are there to serve the people, not a political party or any one section of their electorate. But I believe it is the practical step that is more important - actions speak louder than words.

I am standing as a Liberal Democrat because that label best fits my own political views. I believe when standing for elected office it is best to use a label which is an honest reflection of your outlook, see my speech on this:-

At last Conservative Chief Whip the man suppose to instil discipline in the Tory ranks has, after more than month, worked out he can no longer do his job having refused to obey an on-duty Police Officer and swearing at him.

In his resignation letter, Andrew Mitchell, a big under statement said:

"It has become clear to me that whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter I will not be able to fulfil my duties as we both would wish."

There appears to be a lot of concentration on what he said. The fact is when asked by a Police Officer to exit a secure area via an alternative gate he should have done so. And if he felt he should say something it should have been "thank you" but really there was no need to say anything!!

A Police Officer will often receive instructions in a security situation about how members of the public should be directed. In this instance an Officer instructed a senior member of the Government to use an alternative gate. The normal response to this should have to been to obey the Officer on duty. If this were a Saturday and near a football ground I have no doubt that Mr Mitchell would call any refusal by a member of public to obey the Officer as yobbish.

Thursday 31st March 2011

Make MPs work harder for your vote

It's simple really, vote YES to make the MPs work harder to appeal to the majority of the people not their own interest groups.

Eastleigh's MP and Energy secretary Chris Huhne condemns Lady Warsi's claim that changing the system would pander to extremists such as the BNP

Friday 1st August 2008

Use Energy windfall to help the poorest

The rise of energy costs in the long term is inevitable so long as that energy is based on a resource like oil which is running out. However in recent months the wholesale price of oil has risen far in excess of the normal rise due to rising demand and oil shortages. Oil is being treated by market speculators like any other commodity such as gold so because of issues like political problems in oil producing countries and the weak dollar. This has pushed the price of oil up to artificially high levels. This has in turn created a real profit bubble for the oil companies, as the their production costs have not increased greatly, yet the price they can sell their product has increased.

Thursday 30th November 2006

Again Blair misses the point with his harder 'A' levels and academy legacy

Today in a speech in Birmingham Tony Blair has announced a major expansion in England of the city academies programme, which aims to improve schools in disadvantaged areas. Mr Blair said he wanted 400 academies, double the present target for the year 2010. He also outlined changes in A-level grades, and the introduction of International Baccalaureate and vocational Specialised Diplomas.

Wednesday 31st January 2007

Repossessions rise again in 2006

Sadly today the predictions of months back of the rising level of debt in the country have show their first signs of coming back to hit us as the number of properties repossessed has continued to rise sharply, up 9% in the second half of 2006.

Tuesday 8th January 2008

Real Welfare Reform is needed not cosmetic change

Today the Conservative Party outlined plans for welfare reform that would force the long term unemployed to work for their benefits. However these plans will not tackle the real underlying issues behind the problem of long term unemployment. The Conservatives would make people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance for more than two years do 12 months community work or lose their Jobseekers' Allowance. They would of course be entitled to other benefits which because of the Governments complex web of benefits would increase if the Jobseekers' Allowance was removed. The jobless would also have to spend most of the working week at "back to work centres", where they would receive training and guidance to help find a job. This latter part is a good idea if it is properly funded and it tackles the difficult cases as well, but as with many Tory proposals the detail is missing to backup the sound bite.

Thursday 21st June 2007

Liberal Democrats call for reform and openness in the European Union

European Union leaders are preparing to meet in Brussels to discuss a treaty to help the union work more effectively. A draft tabled by Germany recommends deep reforms, but not a constitution - an idea spurned by French and Dutch voters two years ago.

Thursday 31st May 2007

Number of failing Schools up 5%

Ofsted announced today that there has been an increase in the number of schools in 'special measures'. The number of schools in England judged to be failing has risen by 5% since last term. This report just underlines how far off the mark the government's education strategy is. They have concentrated school structures, types of school and centralising more and more what teachers should teach and how they should teach it.

Monday 30th April 2007

10 Years on: Blair/Brown Record is one of war and waste

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Labour coming to power so today the Liberal Democrats have released a report assessing the record of the Blair-Brown administration. The paper accuses the government of presiding over rising carbon emissions, soaring NHS debts and an illegal war. Visiting Dunfermline - the next-door constituency to the Chancellor's - on Saturday, Sir Ming Campbell said Gordon Brown's time at the Treasury had seen falling social mobility, rising poverty and increasing inequality. He also said that :-

Monday 26th March 2007

The Government challenged support sustainable communities

Tonight speaking at a rally to promote the Sustainable Communities Bill, Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ming Campbell will challenge the Labour government to support it. The Bill, now in its Committee stage thanks to the support of opposition MPs, aims to give more power to local communities to counteract the influence of multi-national business and central government. It was originally introduced by Liberal Democrat MP Julia Goldsworthy in 2002, the bill has already been defeated once by the government.

Wednesday 28th February 2007

Lottery for best school places

Amid protests from some parents, Labour run Brighton & Hove council is set to become the first to allocate secondary school places by lottery. Experts warned last night that the clamour for places will intensify under government plans to give families more freedom to choose schools. Tomorrow, around 1.2 million parents will be sent letters telling them whether they have succeeded in getting their children into a school of their choice. Research by the Telegraph suggests that around a third of all applicants in some parts of the country - especially London - will fail to get a preferred place with some schools reporting 10 pupils competing for every free desk.

Friday 29th December 2006

Consultant check-up changes must improve frontline care

Today it was reported by the Government's Primary Care tsar Dr David Colin-Thomé that he going to recommend scrapping routine consultant check-ups for post-op patients six weeks after surgery could save the NHS up to £2bn a year. Instead, patients could see their GP, practice nurse or decide for themselves that they do not need to be seen.

Tuesday 31st October 2006

Home Office fines Police £2.5 Million for 'Harebrained' Home Office Scheme

Today it was reported that the Home Office will repay only £4m of the £6.5m police forces in England and Wales claim they spent preparing for the mergers abandoned in July. All but four forces are getting their payment capped at £100,000. In an understated press release the Association of Police Authorities said the low pay-out was "regrettable"

Thursday 28th September 2006

Ford chief supports Green Tax call

There was backing today for the Liberal Democrat Green Tax Switch type changes to car taxation from an usual quarter Lewis Booth, executive vice-president of Ford in Europe and the Premier Automotive Group, in saying there should be incentives for people to buy less polluting vehicles, he said :-