FOSTER WATCHis a new series of posts following Bath MP Foster, who is now Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government. Details of Don's voting record can be found at http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?id=uk.org.publicwhip/member/40062&showall=yes#divisions
The Badger Cull
Today it was revealed that Don voted in favour of the badger cull - see here to find out how all MPs voted: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons/todays-commons-debates/read/unknown/186/
Previously, Don signed Early Day Motion 1591, which reads: 'That this House notes the encouraging downward trend in bovine TB incidence in England and Wales; urges the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs not to put these improvements at risk by culling badgers; further urges the Secretary of State to follow the peer-reviewed advice of the Independent Scientific Group to concentrate on improving and rigidly enforcing cattle-based controls and testing procedures in order to bring the disease under control; and calls on the Secretary of State to take account of the opportunities now offered by successful badger vaccination trials and to prepare the way with Brussels for the earliest possible application and introduction of cattle vaccines that offer the only real long-term solution.' http://www.donfoster.co.uk/?p=635
By voting in this manner, Don is now among those responsible for ConDemning badgers to death, when our top scientists have concluded that it will make "no meaningful contribution" to controlling TB in cattle. Although it is possible that the government would have gone ahead with the cull even if they had lost the vote, this site maintains that although it may have harmed his political career, voting against the cull would have been the right thing to do.
Conservative MP Tracey Crouch rebelled against her party's three-line whip yesterday and voted against the cull - because she did her research and decided that it was the right thing to do. Don should have followed her example.http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/mp_tracey_crouch_defies_party_whip_in_battle_against_badger_cull_1_2225038
More on the badger cull here: http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-badger-cull-what-you-need-to-know.html
Tuition Fees
Don signed the 'Vote for Students' pledge - signed by over 1000 candidates in the 2010 general election, including all 57 Liberal Democrat MPs that were elected into office following the election. However, Don broke the pledge and voted for a rise in tuition fees http://www.libdemvoice.org/tuition-fees-how-liberal-democrat-mps-voted-22346.html
It should be noted that 21 Lib Dem MPs did keep their word, including high-profile MPs such as former leaders Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy.
Speaking to the Bath Chronicle, Don claimed "Had my vote helped to defeat the government, the coalition would have collapsed." The full article is here: http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Don-Foster-votes-Government-tuition-fees-rise-approved/story-11336467-detail/story.html#axzz2VNi2JBhE
This sparked outrage from the students in Bath - a small city with two universities - and his indecision prior to the vote sparked a protest outside his office: www.thisisbath.co.uk/Protest-planned-outside-MP-Don-Foster-s-office-tuition-fees/story-11320295-detail/story.htm
Don lost a lot of trust from the students and may never win it back.
Foster Watch
1. Badger Cull and Tuition Fees
2. Decarbonisation Targets and NHS Reforms
3. Climate Change in the National Curriculum
4. Don's Revised Opinion on the Badger Cull
It's better to under-promise and over-deliver than to over-promise and under-deliver.
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