Candidate Interview: Kashif Ali (Conservative)

Conservative candidate Kashif Ali, pictured in the snow outside his home in Higginshaw this morning.

The Conservative candidate in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election has said that improving the local economy and tackling crime and anti-social behaviour would be his main priorities if he became our MP.

Kashif Ali also used an interview with Saddleworth News today to describe himself as “just a local lad, who wants to improve things.”

On jobs, he said one of his main roles as an MP would be “to be a spokesman for the constituency and bring in businesses.” He gave the examples of his campaign to get a cinema complex in the area, and the failure of Oldham to attract the Ikea store which went to Ashton instead.

Mr Ali said: “I always compare Oldham to places like Bury and Stockport, which are similarly on good motorway networks and are about the same sort of distance from Manchester. We don’t seem to have the industry and jobs those towns seem to have.”

He said he fully supported the coalition government’s attempts to tackle the deficit: “Most people realise that government isn’t that dissimilar to a household budget. If you’ve got earnings of a thousand pounds a month but you’re spending fifteen hundred and putting the other five hundred on a credit card, that’s just not sustainable.”

On law and order, Mr Ali called more action, particularly on drug-related crime in areas of Oldham. He praised the Conservative plan for elected police commissioners, saying: “I think that’s a good way of getting someone in who you can apply some pressure on in terms of channeling resources to deal with particular problems.”

Kashif Ali (centre) campaigning alongside Conservative Chairman Baroness Warsi in Uppermill last month.

One of the coalition government’s early decisions was to scale back the Building Schools for the Future programme, which meant the hoped-for new Saddleworth School in Diggle had to be shelved.

Mr Ali commented: “The proposals hadn’t been funded, and with the public finances in the state they were, decisions had to be made and compromises had to be reached. It was unfortunate, but it was very much the Labour Party promising things they didn’t have the money to promise.”

Mr Ali also said he would have supported the government had he been our MP during the recent debate and vote on increasing tuition fees. He explained: “I’m not one of those people who thinks they’re a great thing and we should have them as a matter of principle. But we’ve got to look at the state of public finances and what people are willing to pay for.”

He went on: “I think if you compare Labour’s graduate tax with the scheme under the coalition government, ours is a more progressive and fairer system.”

When asked about the related issues of the Tesco at Greenfield and the impending parking restrictions in Uppermill, Mr Ali called on councillors and others to improve the ways they consult with the public before decisions are taken on such matters.

He attended the recent council panel meeting which saw the parking time limits approved, despite a 750-name petition raised by Uppermill resident Nick Watts. Mr Ali commented: “He was told the decision would be made, but they might take the petition into consideration in three months time. It’s just absolutely crazy, and that’s when the resentment builds. Because if people feel they’ve had their chance to have their say and that’s been taken into account, I think they are happier with decisions.”

Kashif Ali campaigning in Oldham last month. (picture: Conservatives)

Mr Ali added: “The government is making changes to local planning to allow more local decision-making, and I think we’ll see the benefit of that in places like Saddleworth.”

The by-election is being held after former Labour MP Phil Woolas was stripped of his victory in May’s general election for telling lies in his campaign leaflets. Mr Ali described the campaign run by Mr Woolas as “very, very disappointing.”

He added: “I think the one thing we should have learned from it is that we need to clean up politics and not mislead people, and be more honest in literature, and so it’s been very disappointing that the Lib Dems have tried to portray the race here as a two-horse race. No-one serious is politics is now suggesting it’s a two-horse race, it’s very much a three-horse race.”

Mr Ali works as a barrister and lives in Higginshaw, and our interview took place at his home this morning. We also talked about local transport issues, and what it is that Mr Ali likes about our area.

You can listen to our conversation in full here.

A total of ten candidates are standing. You can read and listen to interviews with Labour’s Debbie Abrahams here, Peter Allen of the Greens here, Pirate Party UK candidate Loz Kaye here, Stephen Morris of the English Democrats here, UKIP’s Paul Nuttall here, and Liberal Democrat Elwyn Watkins here. An interview with the BNP’s Derek Adams will be published tomorrow.

The other candidates are David Bishop of the Bus Pass Elvis Party and Nick “The Flying Brick” Delves from the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Polling day is a week on Thursday. Plenty of other well-known political figures have already been campaigning in our area. An interview with the Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is here, while a chat with Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable is here. You can hear from Labour leader Ed Miliband here and here, and an interview with Conservative Chairman Baroness Warsi is here.

To read full coverage of the by-election so far from Saddleworth News, click here.