Nick de Bois: Enfield’s unrepresentative representative
Nick de Bois outside Chase Farm Hospital, where he campaigned to keep the 24-hour Accident and Emergency department after supporting, in Parliament, measures that led to it being downgraded.
Here’s a fork-tongued MP who deserves to see voters turn their backs on him: Nick de Bois.
Before becoming an MP, he was the majority shareholder in Rapier Design Group, an events management company heavily involved with the private medical and pharmaceutical industries. As an MP, he strongly supported the privatisation of NHS services that has drained money from the system and imperilled the future of Accident & Emergency services in hospitals across the UK.
That did not stop him from attacking the decision to downgrade Chase Farm Hospital in his own constituency of Enfield North. Describing it as “the wrong decision” he claimed that “Chase Farm needs 24-hour A&E, end of story”. In that case, why did he vote for the very measures that led to it being downgraded?
He took Enfield North in 2010, after the seat had been held for 13 years by Labour’s Joan Ryan with majorities in the thousands. His is just 1,692.
How would residents vote if they knew Mr de Bois’s voting record? Let’s find out.
He is against increasing income tax paid by the extremely rich; against a bankers’ bonus tax; supports cutting Corporation Tax (even though this does not make companies more likely to invest in the UK or its workforce); and supported the increase in VAT. Like Anna Soubry, it seems he believes in taxing the poor to pay for the rich.
He is strongly in favour of the current government’s creeping privatisation of the NHS – which makes his campaign in support of his local hospital all the more hypocritical.
He supported the Bedroom Tax.
He very strongly supported cuts to social security benefits including Jobseekers’ Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, the Personal Independence Payment and so on.
He very strongly supported the benefit uprating cap, ensuring that benefits do not rise in line with prices.
He voted for making local councils responsible for helping people afford council tax – and for reducing the amount available for such support.
He is a strong supporter of military operations overseas.
He voted very strongly for more nuclear weapons.
He strongly supports privately-run ‘Free Schools’ and privately-owned ‘Academy Schools’; he voted very strongly for the increase in undergraduate tuition fees to £9,000 per year; and he voted to end financial support for 16-19 year olds in training and further education. Clearly he only wants education to be available to those who can afford it.
He is totally against localism and has voted to reduce both the powers of local councils and their funding.
He very strongly supported the waste of money that is Police and Crime Commissioners.
He strongly supported the restriction of Legal Aid that has made justice available only to the rich.
He strongly supports secret courts.
He voted very strongly for the botched privatisation of the Royal Mail – and strongly supports the sale of England’s state-owned forests.
He supports unrestricted rises in rail fares, and is very strongly against regulation of gambling.
He supported the badger cull.
If you live in Enfield North, you need to know this information.
Vox Political readers are invited to distribute it to friends and relatives who live there.
Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
telling you what the latest political stories mean.
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
I seem to recall a smug and arrogant Tory losing Enfield as being one of the highlights of the first general election I voted in (1997) – perhaps 2015 will see a repeat!
sounds like he wont’s to live in Saudi Arabia in the middle east he would sure fit in there
Thanks for that Mike! I will endevour to let others know locally. You know I won’t be voting for him anyway. I’m told he runs 10 companies also, so not much time left there for constituents!! Oh and of course he was filmed on the news with CaMoron outside Chase Farm Hospital where they both said the A&E and Maternity units would not close if they were elected…well that was a lie wasn’t it!!
Thanks for the “Heads Up…” Mike – ‘keep ’em coming…