STURDY AND IMMIGRATION

A week before the referendum took place in 2016, Julian Sturdy, Conservative MP for York Outer, wrote a column for The York Press (on his website HERE) encouraging people to vote in the referendum and setting out his reasons for voting to leave the EU. He was obviously concerned, among other things, about immigration although he didn't make a big farage out of it so to speak. He did specifically say:

JULIAN STURDY MP FOR YORK OUTER - Brexit: Is it a leap of faith or a step into the dark?

Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, spoke in the House in the Withdrawal Agreement debate last Monday (HERE). He is a farmer like his father Richard, himself a former MEP, and wants to be out of the EU, doesn't like May's deal because of the Irish backstop, but neither does he want to leave without a deal. He is not in favour of a second vote either.

JULIAN STURDY

Julian Sturdy, farmer, Conservative MP for York Outer and leave supporter, seems to be finally starting to realise what Brexit means. He asked a written parliamentary question (HERE) the other day. I assume it was on behalf of a constituent. Here it is:

STURDY AND THE EUROCODES

Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, has been asking questions in parliament (HERE) about "continued mutual recognition of Eurocodes design and civil engineering standards for UK and EU companies and other bodies after the UK has left the EU". He got the usual bland, non-committal answer from the idiot Dominic Raab so he's no wiser now anyway.

FARMERS INCOME SLASHED BY HALF IN A HARD BREXIT

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board have carried out a detailed study of what might happen to the farming sector in the event of various outcomes from the negotiations (HERE). They believe that if we exit the EU without a trade deal in place, farm incomes will be cut from an average of £38,000 to just £15,000.  I assume there will be some farmers who will be listening with some nervousness to the hard Brexiteers and their call for us to leave on WTO terms.

ADAMS & STURDY - Still on the gravy train

Earlier this year I posted an item (HERE) about IPSA announcing that from the "next General Election onward" MPs would not be allowed to employ family members. It was too much to hope that this would actually happen. It has apparently been decided that there was too short a time between IPSA's announcement and the June 8th election. So the rule will apply to new MPs but not to existing MPs. The BBC (HERE) are now reporting that 122 MPs are still employing family members.

STURDY DOESN'T SEEM QUITE SURE ABOUT BREXIT

Julian Sturdy (York Outer, Leave) clashed at the end of March with Rachel Maskell (York Central, Remain) as covered in The York Press (HERE). It was reported that:

Mr Sturdy said he firmly believed leaving the EU could be good for York

STURDY AND THE PRODUCTIVITY GAP

Julian Sturdy asked the Prime Minister a question at PMQs on 29th March 2017: "Improving vocational and technical education is vital in closing our productivity gap, so can the Prime Minister assure me that vocational education will enjoy equal status with academic education, so that as we leave the EU our young people can be equipped to build the high-skilled economy of the future?" (HERE).

J STURDY AND UK FARMING

I always thought British agriculture was highly efficient when compared to our continental partners. The rebate Mrs Thatcher negotiated was, at least partly because we thought inefficient French farmers benefited too much from the old CAP which encouraged the food mountains and wine lakes in Europe.  Or so I believed.

JULIAN STURDY AND THE COMMON MARKET MYTH

On February 25th 2016 Julian Sturdy MP for York Outer gave us all the benefit of his wisdom and declared his position on the EU referendum (HERE). He tried to make it sound a bit like the Gettysburg address although it turned out a little more prosaic than Lincoln's in 1863. In it (Julian's address that is, not Lincoln's) he said, "My central concern and frustration with the EU and the European project is how it has grown into a political union far removed from the Common Market we joined in 1973".

NESTLE, BREXIT AND JULIAN STURDY

Nestle's recent announcement of 300 job losses is not, they claim, a result of Brexit. This may well be true and there is no evidence leaving the EU had any part in the transfer of Blue Riband production to Poland. I don't think there is any doubt Polish manufacturing costs are cheaper so it was probably purely a business decision. Julian Sturdy was on television naturally playing down the possibility that Brexit was in any way involved but he admitted there was a lot of uncertainty ahead.

STURDY AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEBATE

On November 16th last year, during a debate on higher education Julian Sturdy said, "We really need to know whether Britain will be part of a wider collaboration with the EU and involved in the future beyond Horizon 2020, whatever it may be. We do not know what that future will be, but we need to make certain that UK universities play a leading role in it" (HERE Col 333WH).

JULIAN STURDY'S FORESIGHT

The MP for York Outer, Mr Julian Sturdy, is a keen Brexiteer. He is also equipped with incredible foresight being able to see further into the future than anyone I know. On his website on June 22nd 2016 he advised constituents that he was going to vote to leave the EU (HERE) and by implication, urged them to follow his lead. He said, "The question you must ask yourself is whether you think Britain will be stronger inside or out of the European Union in ten, twenty and even fifty years’ time". 

THE STURDY FORTUNE

The timing of Brexit could not have been better for the Sturdy family. Father Robert stood down in 2014 after twenty years as an MEP. At today's prices that must be around £1.5 million in salary plus another €1 million in office allowances, plus generous expenses. Afterwards there is a "transitional" payment of one months salary for each year of service (see HERE), let's say conservatively (no pun intended) another £100,000. During that time the Sturdy farming business received at least €458,166 in CAP payments and another £60,372 for the years 2014-15. I assume more last year. He can also look forward to a generous pension.

THE BREXIT COALITION WILL SOON SPLINTER

The referendum campaign was characterised by what was in effect a coalition of disparate people and groups. Their aims were wildly different but the referendum question was so broad all were able to come together under one banner and appear united. This gave the Leave campaign a decided advantage, they gained support from a range of very different people but it was almost impossible to find two people who could agree on a common future. In typically British fashion it was a case of sorting it all out afterwards.

AN END TO EMPLOYING "CONNECTED" PEOPLE - otherwise known as nepotism

Our local MPs Nigel Adams and Julian Sturdy are, I think, going to lose on June 8th no matter what the result is. Both pay their wives as either part time secretary or part time office manager but IPSA the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority won't pay for new employees who are related to MPs after the election.

ADAMS & STURDY AND EMPLOYMENT LAW

In 2010 when Nigel Adams and Julian Sturdy were both new MPs they contributed to a debate in the House on 3rd November on employment law. They were both keen to suggest the problem was all the "red tape and bureaucracy" that was preventing businesses growing and creating jobs. This is how Mr Sturdy put it (HERE Col 1015):

JULIAN STURDY'S MAIDEN SPEECH

On the 3rd June 2010 (Hansard Col 637) Julian Sturdy made his maiden speech in parliament. Like most maiden speeches it wasn't particularly memorable but I thought the final few paragraphs were interesting when he touched on the EU. Winding up, he said: "In other key areas, too, the EU has the potential to be a force for good as we tackle global poverty and the rise in global competitiveness, and get to grips with global climate change".

MPs VERSUS THE GOVERNMENT - DOUBLE STANDARDS

Many MPs including Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) and Andrew Percy (Goole) attacked the govt for using public money to put across an argument, in the form of a leaflet sent to each household, setting out the benefits of EU membership. Adams wanted his constituents to use it as toilet paper (HERE) while Andrew Percy said he used it to light the fire (HERE).  It included what many people would see as simple statements of fact. There is nothing in it that anyone could possibly disagree with as far as I can see. An easy read copy is HERE

JULIAN STURDY AND CAP REFORM

On Wednesday 29th March 2017, the day we invoked Article 50, Julian Sturdy, after declaring his interest as a farmer, asked the Prime Minister at PMQs for reassurance that following Brexit, "agriculture and the environment, which are closely linked, will not become a sacrificial lamb in any future trade negotiations?" (HERE Column 285).