Talking Tooting - Dan Can!

For me, community action is the foundation of politics, so even at this very busy time, I’m still working to improve our area. So please enjoy my latest update below.

Fishing in the Wandle

I took my volunteering group to the Wandle Clean-up session held in Earlsfield last weekend. And boy was it needed... as well as the usual detritus we often find in the Wandle, we recovered 8 mopeds! You can see some photos from the day here.

It’s sad that this type of environmental vandalism takes place at all, but by working together we can clean up our rivers, commons and streets, with my next target being the roads around Tooting Broadway. Please Like my Facebook page if you'd like to hear of future projects.

Wheatsheaf Pub - Ultimate Success!

The campaign for the Wheatsheaf pub reached a successful conclusion yesterday, with the Council accepting a revised planning application which secures the pub's future and provides the extra community space which we so badly need in Tooting.

Thank you to everyone who got involved in this campaign – together we have managed to preserve a historic building and a hub for the local community. You can read more about this news here on Streetlife. 

A Multitude of Manifestos 

The main political parties released their manifestos this week, so you certainly have plenty of reading material for the foreseeable future! The Conservative one can be accessedhere and below are some of the key policies it contains: 

• £8 billion more a year for our NHS - so it's there for your family, 7 days a week
• New funds released to build 600,000 additional homes and Right to Buy extended to 1.3 million extra families
• The personal tax-free allowance raised to £12,500 and no 40p tax until you're earning £50,000
• Everyone earning the Minimum Wage lifted out of income tax altogether
• The family home taken out of Inheritance Tax
• Rail fares frozen for five years
• Welfare reformed to reward work
• Multinationals pursued so they pay their tax
• 30 hours of free childcare a week for working families with 3 and 4 year-olds.

This strikes the right balance between rewarding hard work so that our economy continues to grow, while also protecting the most vulnerable in our society.

Next Steps for Crossrail 2

Those with good memories will recall that as part of my campaign earlier this year to get the access shafts moved from Wandsworth Common and Trinity Fields, I secured a meeting with Crossrail 2 once the recent consultation had concluded.

That meeting was held on Tuesday and I was pleased that the Crossrail 2 team fully recognised that the provisional locations chosen for the access shafts were ‘inappropriate’. Going forward we will have proper engagement with them to find a better site or sites. You can read more about this meeting on Streetlife.

Finally, I hope you are supportive of my initiatives and would like to help my election campaign, as I could do even more as your MP! So perhaps you could put up a poster in your window or spare some time on Election Day itself, or the few days before? If so, please let me know by replying to this email.

With best wishes, 

Dan Watkins
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Tooting