The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) warns that the rail project has an estimated funding gap of over £3 billion and Mr Nuttall, UKIP Deputy Leader, said that the Government should now stop HS2.

The document questions the business case behind the HS2 rail link and has identified an estimated £3.3 billion funding gap in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) plans.

The spending watchdog said it had reservations over how HS2 is expected to transform regional economies with jobs and growth and said current evidence provided a ‘weak foundation’ for success.

“This report is a major embarrassment to the Government as its findings come just days after Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin called for a blank cheque book for the rail project,” said Mr Nuttall, Euro-MP for the North West.

“I would not trust this Government with a piggy bank let alone the taxpayers’ cheque book. The Government dismisses the NAO’s figures as being 18 months ‘out of date’, when its own business case for HS2 is based on figures over 10 years old.

“It also insists on rushing ahead with this project despite the fact that similar projects in Spain and France prove that the capital city will always benefit, not the other areas..

“This gung-ho approach by the Government will lead to an unrealistic time table and a very poor investment.

“The scheme is an ill thought through dog’s breakfast and the Government’s arrogant and dismissive response to the report shows Ministers are simply not listening.

“HS2 should be scrapped and one third of the cash saved should be ploughed into the existing rail network,” he said.

ends

I fully support the calls made by Cheshire West and Chester Council Leader Councillor Mike Jones for the Home Secretary Theresa May to introduce legislation that would see so called ‘legal highs’ such as Gogaine covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Legal highs in the past few years have become an increasing threat especially to young partygoers who tragically believe that as they are not yet classified as an illegal substance they must be safe.

This misjudgement is further reinforced by the drugs being readily available in shops around Cheshire. It is about time that legislation fully caught up with the threat posed by these new party drugs so that affirmative action can be taken against the ‘hed shops’ that have effectively become legal drug dealers.

Until police are given the full powers of prosecution over these legal highs, I fear that more young people will fall victim to these lethal substances.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

After welcoming the move by the Advertising Standards Authority to ban a television advert for payday lending firm Cash Lady, which featured former bankrupt pop star Kerry Katona, I was appalled to discover that in less than a week, a refreshed version of the offending advert is back on the air.

After viewing both adverts, one could easily be forgiven for believing the original advert has not yet been removed from broadcast. The colour scheme, style and even the script Kerry reads from is almost identical. The only real difference in the new advert is the missing slogan ‘fast cash for fast lives’.

Payday lending firms are never the answer to even short term money problems as the eye watering interest rates inevitably lead to consumers taking further payday loans with other firms to cover the original debt creating a precarious spiral.

Reckless lenders such as Cash Lady should never have been allowed to advertise on daytime television in the first place and I hope it won’t be too long before this latest advert is removed from our screens.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

I for one welcome the announcement by the Electoral Commission that the local authorities within East Lancashire will now be placed under increased monitoring and scrutiny as they look to stamp out voting fraud.

While on the surface elections in Burnley, Blackburn, Pendle and Hyndburn appear to be contested fairly, the sad truth is that certain political parties and their candidates are involved in widespread vote rigging, leading to increased voter disillusionment. It is no wonder that less than three in ten voters in Burnley decided to cast their vote at this month’s county council elections.

Voting reform is long overdue, not just in East Lancashire, but across the entire UK political system.

Postal voting, and other forms of absent voting, have been abused to the point where elections are won long before we even reach polling day, effectively disenfranchising those who cast their vote in person.

This free-for-all of postal ballots must come to end and be reserved only for the very few who, for reasons of ill health, genuinely cannot make it to their local polling station.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

In my honest opinion, the 51 operational wind turbines currently blighting the skylines of Allerdale are precisely 51 turbines too many.

With Cumbria having more wind turbines than any other county in England, surely now is the time to say enough is enough. More sites are located in Allerdale than any other part of the Cumbria and the visual affect is becoming increasingly far reaching as turbines get taller and larger.

Tourism is a vital part of the economy of Cumbria with many jobs entirely dependent on the revenue it generates. With each new turbine on the horizon, more jobs are placed in jeopardy and I fear that if we allow any more, our tourist economy will be irrevocably damaged.

No one besides the owners of land on which they are built have benefited from any of the turbines as local energy bills continue to go and up.

I therefore call upon all councillors in Cumbria to flatly and collectively refuse any further wind turbine application in the hope that it will send a firm message that they are not welcome on any part of the county.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

I’m glad to hear that private eyes are chasing up £52m unpaid university loans owed by European graduates for tuition fees.

We were forced into allowing EU students equal access to financial support and are now forced into facing the debts they’ve left behind. It’s a lot of cash and I suspect we will get little of it back. But, hey ho, it’s a million less than we hand over to the EU every single day.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

The council funded introduction of free all day parking at the NCP operated multi-storey car parks on Saturdays is an encouraging step in the right direction that will hopefully rejuvenate Bolton’s ailing town centre.

Tragically, and like many councils across the region, this is just another case of too little, too late as we have already seen a mass exodus from the high street with many independent retailers shutting their doors for good while many national chains have deserted the town altogether.

Sadly, too many shoppers abandoned the high street many years ago and opted for the more car friendly out of town shopping centres and retail parks.

Previous attempts to offer free parking during the busy Christmas period certainly helped the trade of the remaining retailers but Bolton needs to go even further if it is to boost footfall all year round and reverse the number of empty high street units.

These retailers will only return when they are given the full reassurances that  these parking charges will be scrapped altogether and the town made more car friendly.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

“When the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence isn’t heartlessly rationing life saving drugs it’s sticking its nose where it is neither wanted nor needed.

“Everyone knows it isn’t wise for pregnant women to smoke – and that includes mums-to-be,” said Mr Nuttall, UKIP Deputy Leader.

“The proposals to test carbon monoxide levels may not be compulsory but nevertheless they will undermine trust between patient and midwife and some women may feel pressurised into taking it, at the very time pressure is the last thing they need.

“Encouraging them not to smoke is one thing but testing is a step too far. If NICE want to help pregnant women they would be better pushing for more midwives as there is a worrying shortage of them and that potentially creates a much greater risk for patients,” said Mr Nuttall.

Last week’s publication of the Town Hall Rich List by the Tax Payers Alliance once again highlights the urgent need for wholesale reform of senior management pay in local government after it was revealed that Wirral Council employ 16 officials on whopping six figure salaries.

Whilst the comments made by Council Chief Graham Burgess, stressing that the report is out of date and that £800,000 has been saved by removing 11 senior management positions, has provided some reassurance, I remain entirely sceptical as to whether there has been any progress at all.

Senior managers are typically only removed at a tremendous financial burden to the council when the costs of redundancy packages and pension contributions are taken into account. You only have to look at previous years reports showing the vast sums Wirral Council have paid in ‘compensation for loss of office’. In 2010/2011 two employees were paid in excess of £150,000 in redundancy payments.

I guess we will have to just wait until the next TPA Town Hall Rich List report is delivered to see whether Wirral Council have actually made any progress or not.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall

It comes as no surprise to hear that 55 percent of convicts at HMP Manchester go on to commit another crime within 12 months of their release from prison.

Whilst it is encouraging to see overall crime statistics fall, the sad truth is that much of the crime committed in the UK is by a small group of persistent re-offenders who have been passed from prison to prison without being appropriately punished.

It seems all too often that for some convicts, a custodial sentence is nothing more than a time out holiday camp between prosecutions where they can enjoy the perks of prison life.

I have long said that prison sentences for repeat offenders are far too lenient and these damning statistics unfortunately prove that the current softly-softly approach is not fit for purpose.

Although I agree that more work is needed in order to successfully rehabilitate some offenders, particularly those with alcohol and drug addictions, the stark reality is that until these prison sentences are toughened up, these criminals will carry on re-offending, blighting the communities they live in.

Yours faithfully

Paul Nuttall