Harrington - "I quit"

Watford’s MP Tory MP Richard Harrington has dramatically announced he’s standing down at the next election.
In August he spoke frankly about whey he could no longer support Boris Johnson’s Conservative Government’s reckless plans to crash the economy with a ‘no deal Brexit’.
Johnson responded by throwing him and his colleagues out of the party – the Tories have now lost so many MPs that they can’t win a single vote in Parliament!

Mr Harrington, having been purged by the party he loyally served, continues to sit in parliament as an independent.

Watford has been failed by the Tories who cancelled the hospital renovation that had been promised by the last Labour Government, savagely cut school funding from every primary and secondary school in Watford and failed to invest our community. He really knows what we all know: that time’s up for the Tories!

Tories in meltdown as they fail to field candidates

Watford Conservative Association is on the brink of collapse as an internal war over Europe envelopes it. Watford's MP has late in the day come out for a Peoples Vote enraging local Tory Party members. Now they have failed to field Council candidates in four wards of the local constituency as Tory members go on strike in protest. Read Labour's statement here.

Just who is Richard Harrington MP?

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Richard Harrington. Photo courtesy Watford Observer
Born in 1957 he was privately educated and in the late 1970s was an Executive Board member of the extreme right wing Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) which was closed down. Having started in the retail industry he moved into property development setting up a business in 1983 that he sold onto an American Company twenty years later. His personal wealth is unknown but he is widely regarded as a wealthy millionaire who has been Treasurer of the Conservative Party and sunk large amounts of his money into keeping his Watford seat. His majority of almost 10,000 in 2015 was slashed to just 2,092 in the General Election of 2017
(Source: Wikipedia and Annual Watford Conservative Association Accounts)

Harrington's Horrors! How he has voted in Parliament

Despite his affable facade, Richard Harrington has enthusiastically voted for the most divisive Tory policies that have hurt thousands and thousands of Watford people. Here's a sample of his voting record.
VOTED FOR
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  • Austerity policies which have cut the local NHS, Watford's schools and public services. (Eight years after being elected, Watford Hospital hasn't been modernised and is £53million in debt.)
  • Every increase in Tuition fees up to £9,250 per year – giving the young a lifetime of debt
  • Selling off England’s Forests for property development
  • Cutting Legal Aid – denying justice to the poorest
  • The Bedroom Tax – hurting thousands
  • Cutting support for 16-19 year old’s education
  • The unnecessary culling of badgers
VOTED AGAINST
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  • Raising benefits in line with inflation – a real cut for the poorest
  • Higher taxes for those earning over £150,000 per year
  • New taxes on the value of expensive houses – protecting the Rich - no surprise there!
  • Lower rail fare increases – hurting  Watford's hard-pressed commuters
  • Higher benefits for the disabled – leaving them in poverty
  • Guaranteed jobs for young long term unemployed
Source: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/
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Failed to secure the investment our hospital needs.

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After the Tory/Lib Dem Coalition scrapped the former Labour Governments hospital modernisation plans back in 2011, Richard Harrington has done little to secure the investment our hospital desperately needs. The NHS Trust said it needed a minimum of £600 million to modernise services across West Herts. Now the Tory Government have said that the trust can 'borrow' up to £350 million for investment, putting the cash strapped Trust into further deficit. Richard Harrington has again failed to support our local hospital.

Failed to stop the Nascot Lawn respite centre closure

PictureNascot Lawn Labour protest
Despite the Conservative Government demanding cuts of £45 million from West Herts NHS Budget, Richard Harrington failed to make any representations to his government for funding to keep this precious resource open. Instead he tried to blame the cash strapped Clinical Commissioning Group for the closure but in the end did nothing to try and prevent the closure of Nascot Lawn.