Originally Posted by Xaccers

Why is he useless? I'd love to know.

Here's some of the things he's apparently been involved with:

Asylum

Peter has played a key part in the campaign to prevent the former HMS Daedalus site at Lee-on-the-Solent from becoming the home of an accommodation centre for asylum seekers. Together with local residents, he has argued that the quiet village on the outskirts of Gosport is wholly unsuitable as a location for such a centre.

Royal Hospital Haslar

As the hospital celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, the campaign to retain Haslar at the heart of local healthcare provision continues. The decision to close Haslar came about as a result of a review of Defence Medical Services in 1997-1998. However, Haslarââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s caseload is 80% civilian and it is heavily relied upon by the local community. The hospital has served the civilian population of the area, and also the Army, Navy and Air Force, for many years.

A Private Finance Initiative is progressing for the redevelopment of the Queen Alexandra site in Cosham, Portsmouth, and it is anticipated that once this is settled, the longer-term future of healthcare provision can be addressed.

The official Government position remains that Haslar will close in 2007. However, the hospital has impressive facilities to offer, including superb diagnostic imaging, MRI scanners and ultrasound equipment, and Peter will continue to lead the campaign to secure greater use of the facilities and long-term survival for the hospital.

Education

Peter is keen to support the bids from Bay House, Brune Park and Bridgemary Schools for Specialist College status. In fact, he has already helped Bridgemary School to raise the £50,000 needed to put forward their Sports College bid. When completed, the school will provide top class sports facilities for use not only by pupils but also by the wider community.

Community Pharmacie

Peter has raised concerns about the threat to our local pharmacies, following the Office of Fair Tradingââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s report in January, which recommended the abolition of all entry controls in the pharmacy sector of UK business. Petitions and representations have flooded in to Peter since the proposals were announced.

The proposals, which would result in an increase in the number of out-of-town supermarket pharmacies, would threaten to put neighbourhood pharmacies out of business. Community pharmacies are vital to the local community, particularly for the elderly and those who are unable to travel far. Peter believes that the most vulnerable in our community rely heavily upon these local services and that to place their viability at risk is unacceptable.

Dentistry

Peter has received an enormous number of complaints from local residents regarding the lack of NHS dental provision in the Gosport area. Many local dentists have opted to turn to private practice, as they do not believe they are adequately reimbursed by Government to cover the cost of NHS treatments. This has left patients either having to pay for private care, or to travel out of the area for NHS treatment elsewhere.


How Peter Viggers voted on key issues in the 2001-2005 parliament (From Public Whip) :

Moderately against introducing foundation hospitals.
Very strongly against introducing student top-up fees.
Moderately against Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
Moderately for the Iraq war.
A mixture of for and against introducing ID cards.
Very strongly against the fox hunting ban.

Spoke in 37 debates in the last year †� 134th out of 659 MPs.
Asked 43 written questions in the last year †� 269th out of 659 MPs.
Replied within 14 days to 53% of messages sent via FaxYourMP.com during 2004 †� 386th out of 590 MPs.