Meanwhile it is becoming more apparent that the Labour Government will not meet the targets agreed in the Kyoto protocol for renewable energy resources.

Geoffrey Cox, the Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman has been at the forefront of objections against the imposition of wind turbines, and the use of PPS22 to run roughshod over local opinion and democracy.

The silence from the Liberal Democrats has been deafening. Their national spokesman on the issue, Norman Baker MP has branded opponents of onshore wind power in Devon as misguided. John Burnett, the local Lib Dem MP has turned to that old Lib Dem favourite to avoid taking a position on the issue. He wants a Royal Commission to look at the situation. This sort of pathetic response is reminiscent of his much ridiculed quote from the debate on the eve of the Iraq War "Let me make my position absolutely clear, I shall probably have to abstain."

Its time to face facts. These wind turbines are oversized, ugly and inefficient. They may be icons of green power to the urban masses but they despoil the countryside.

Its time to get serious about renewable energy. That means micro-generation, (like that used by many householders on Dartmoor without mains), hydo, solar, tide and where appropriate, biomass generation. 

However we bring about renewable generation, it needs to be done with the consent and support of local people. Not imposed by central dictat.

This is no sideshow. Devon County Council spends in excess of £600 million per annum, and is in charge of vital services like education, social services, highways and strategic planning.

Today the Conservatives launched their manifesto for the County. You can read it online at http://www.devonconservative.org.uk/

Over the past few months Geoffrey Cox and the Torridge & West Devon Conservatives have been engaged in a 'Quality of Life' survey, which has been sent out to over 60,000 individual residents in Torridge and West Devon.

One of the most interesting results of the data collected is that the County Council is viewed as poorly run. It suffers lower ratings than even Torridge District Council amongst Torridge residents!

The interesting question is why? The County Council has had better ratings in its comprehensive performance assessment from the Audit Commission than Torridge or the low performing and mismanaged Lib Dem Councils, yet Devon residents feel it is not up to scratch.

Two reasons come to mind. Firstly the massive increase in Council tax, and secondly a continuing legacy of the eight years of mismanagement under the Lib Dems prior to 2001.

When the Lib Dems lost control in 2001, Devon CC was in a complete mess. It was down to critical levels in operating reserves (3 days) and morale was very poor. Social Services were in crisis and despite a lot of money being pumped into Education, the results were simply not evident.

Since 2001 things have improved, but there is a lack of leadership given the limitations of having no party in overall control.

This election is an opportunity to place leadership in the hands of Conservatives.  We Tories have a strong track record of efficient administration, with Councils like East Devon and South Hams getting high marks from the Audit Commission for the services they provide. 

So, will it be back to mismanagement and high taxes from the Lib Dems or a lean, efficient administration under the Conservatives, or the third way - more gridlock and confusion with no overall control?

From what we read in the survey, the status quo is not satisfactory.

Being publicity junkies the Lib Dems picked Kennedy primarily because of his public profile, built on appearances in chatshows and comedy quizzes like 'Have I got News for You'. They may have done better by resurrecting Clement Freud given that rationale.

But why is this important to Torridge and West Devon? Well, it won't make a jot of difference who leads or misleads the Lib Dems in future, but the fate of Torridge and West Devon may well decide Mr Kennedy's, if he is to be believed.  Politics loss will be television's gain.

Don't worry Charlie, there's sure to be space on the sofa next to Michael Portillo and Tony Benn.

Some like it hot

The general election heat is on in West Devon and Torridge — Liberal Democrat John Burnett has a majority of just under 2,000 which he is defending against Conservative Geoffrey Cox.

There’s something strange going on here. Voters are not saying they will vote ‘Liberal Democrat’, rather they say they will vote for ‘John Burnett’.

It is as if as MP for West Devon and Torridge over the past four years, Mr Burnett has put himself above party politics.

YOU can hear them coming before you see them. The loudspeakers play a patriotic tune, then the LandRover hoves into sight, Union and St George flags fluttering from its roof in the blazing sunshine. Geoffrey Cox has arrived in South Zeal.

Mr Cox, a barrister, is 41. This is his first general election campaign. ‘I’m exhausted but I’m delighted,’ he says. ‘It’s going so well. People are giving us a marvellous response.’

Mr Cox’s approach to voters bears some similarity with that of Mr Burnett. Polite. Friendly.

Geoffrey Cox cut John Burnett’s majority to just over 1,000 votes in 2001.

So let's take a step back. Okay, we all want kids to eat good food. Fine. But where does that food come from? Is it traceable? What production techniques were used? Is there any chance of GM contamination? Where's the joined up thinking from this Labour Government?

More and more of our food is grown abroad, and the Government officially doesn't care.  According to DEFRA in 1993 we were 73.6% self sufficient in all foodstuffs, or 85.5% in native foodstuffs. In 2003 we were 63.4% self sufficient in all foodstuffs or 74.2% in native foodstuffs.

When food is grown abroad, its production is beyond our control. The recent Sudan One foodscare and massive product recall showed just how complex the system of food imports is, and the potential for contamination.

The decline of our self sufficiency may be an issue in UK agriculture, but it's not frontpage news elsewhere. But for a number of reasons perhaps we should be more conscious of the need to buy British

a) Traceability

b) Quality

c) Balance of trade

d) Taste!

e) Price

We all need to eat. That means we have a stake in the way our food is produced. Self sufficiency is desirable for economic, nutritional and environmental reasons.

It's a shame that the Labour Government is so disdainful of the country way of life that it is prepared to run down British agriculture and food production despite the common sense of being as self sufficient as we possibly can.

a) A one-off payment that will not be repeated

b) Only available to pensioners aged 65 or older.

This is pitiful. Pensioners want long term relief from Council Tax, like they will get from the Conservatives, not a small pre-election bribe that will be clawed back almost immediately.

Recent research shows that Council Tax is likely to rise sharply as a result of Council Tax rebanding that will go ahead after the election. If you live in the average Band 'D' property locally, the best guess is that you'll end up paying £400 a year extra if Labour are returned to power.

So if you are a pensioner, looking for relief from Council Tax, what can you do?

If you vote Liberal Democrat you won't get a Conservative Government, nor will you get the Lib Dems Local Income Tax. What you will get instead is Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, a small pre-election bribe and a bigger Council Tax bill at the end. Oh, and a 25% cut to your winter fuel allowance, in case you haven't noticed

If you vote Labour, see above.

If you vote UKIP, see above.

If you vote Conservative (and others do in sufficient numbers) you may get a Conservative Government. You'll get a smaller Council tax bill, no higher charge from rebanding and up £500 off your bill. At the very least, you'll get stronger opposition in Parliament and more common sense from the Conservatives.

As the Americans would say 'it's a no-brainer'.

"In the past, Lib Dems have found it difficult to hand over seats once a popular incumbent departs, and this will help the Conservatives in their bid to regain Devon West and Torridge."

For example Yeovil:

Paddy Ashdown's majority in 1997 was 11,403

David Laws majority in 2001 was 3,928

There will be a lot more Lib Dems standing down this time than there were in 2001.

John Burnett was not wildly popular to begin with, having his majority cut by Geoffrey Cox in 2001.  His replacement is not exactly of the David Law, Mark Oaten and Lembit Opik generation, being only a couple of years younger than Burnett.

This does not augur well for the Lib Dems locally.

But should Mr Brown be so smug? He noted in his budget speech that there have been 50 quarters of continuous growth in the UK economy, of which he presided over roughly the last 32 (but no thanks to Ken Clark). Mr Brown claims that the fundamentals of the economy are sound. 

If the economy is sound, then credit should be given to the hard work and enterprise of the British people first and foremost, not this Chancellor.

The state continues to grow in size (and Labour were actually attacking Conservative plans to curtail further growth yesterday), at the expense of the overall economy.

As the state grows in size, it either needs to borrow or tax more. Little of this growth in spending can really be justified as 'investment'. Neither is it a recipe for a competitive economy. The UK is lagging behind in comparison with the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the tiger economies in the far east, where many jobs are being 'outsourced'. 

The burden of bureacracy, regulation and taxation brought about by Gordon Brown is taking its toll on Britain's competitiveness, compared to where we were in world rankings under the Conservatives.

Gordon Brown is now running of easy choices, harder ones lie ahead, hence the widespread expectation of tax rises after the election if Labour are re-elected.

All of which brings us neatly back to the budget and the pre-election bribes that will have to be paid back  later. A quick scan through the Okehampton Times did not reveal a single habitable property for less than £120,000 that would not be eligible for Stamp Duty. Not much of a bribe there then.

Whilst Mr Brown has been kind to pensioners, this was political expediency which will cost the average taxpayer later.  It is also quite possibly too little, too late for many pensioners fed up with Labour and disillusioned with Mr Blair.

If, as sooner or later historically there always has been, an end to growth in the economy and the start of a recession, it will bite hard. Just at the time when jobs are being lost and the economy is struggling, taxes and interest rates will bite hard.

Mr Brown most likely hopes someone else will have his current job by then.

Yesterday we received a curt refusal (and no apology) from Mr Bernard Korlander, organiser of the 'North Devon Business Breakfast Club' to correct in advance the impression that David Walter, the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Torridge and West Devon, was NOT the Conservative Party candidate, as indicated in the invitation to meet him for Breakfast.

Instead Mr Korlander says the matter will be clarified once he has a captive audience for the hapless Mr Walter, who has struggled to make an impact since being selected. We wonder if he will be good to his word. The omens so far are not good.

An image of the invitation can be seen above.

We can only presume that the misleading information about just who Mr Walter is, was an attempt to generate more interest. But it is naive and ill judged.

Do the Lib Dems seriously believe that North Devon business people do not know who Geoffrey Cox is? What impression will they create by trying to lure people in under false pretences?

We are often led to believe that the Lib Dems are a formidable campaigning organisation. From this silly episode, it appears they are just plain desperate.

This is bitter news for Appledore Shipyard, which Labour Ministers allowed to go to the wall a few months ago with the loss of many jobs.

Appledore's future has long been in question. It is unfortunately in the wrong place, on the banks of the Torridge where not many people vote Labour, rather than on the Tyne, where they do.

The cost of this particular 'bung' to the shipyard (and to keep Tyneside workers in jobs that were lost to Torridgeside without a thought) was £84 million of taxpayers money.

In an ideal world no favouritism would be shown to any shipyard, be it in Appledore, Portsmouth, Tyneside or Belfast. Tenders for military contracts should be decided on a track record of cost, quality and delivery to schedule. Subsidies to favour particular shipyards at home or from abroad skew the tendering process and don't deliver value for money.

Appledore has an excellent reputation, and would win a fair share of business if the odds were not stacked against it by government.

Since the redundancies, Appledore has had a reprieve of sorts, having been acquired by DML. But once again its future is in question as DML may be acquired by US company Carlyle. Would Appledore shipyard be seen a profitable enough to be kept alongside the core business of refitting nuclear submarines in Plymouth?

Whatever noises the local Lib Dem MPs make, they are effectively powerless to do anything about Appledore's future. In the seedy business of Labour pork barrel politics they are convenient bulwarks against the Conservatives, who would conduct the whole business of tendering in an altogether more businesslike and objective fashion.

Appledore could still have a future if rules of the playing field were being set by a Conservative Government.

Only by electing many more Conservative MPs in places like Torridge and West Devon can the Conservatives displace Labour and so give Appledore a fair crack of the whip.

There are just a few properties on the market for less than £100,000 in Torridge and West Devon which would then not be subject to stamp duty, but insufficient to be of much help to first time buyers.

There are probably many more houses costing less than £100k the further north you go in the UK, albeit predominantly in less affluent Labour voting areas.  First time buyers in London, the Midlands, the South  East and the South West will see little benefit from this pre-election bribe.

Stamp duty has not tracked the increase in the price of housing, and the cost of this bribe is pretty small as a consequence. 

If Labour rebands houses for Council Tax should they win the next election, the pitiful gain made with this increase of the Stamp duty will be quickly wiped out.

Council tax rebanding will hit areas with higher house prices harder, making it more difficult for first time buyers not just to acquire their first home, but to stay in it as well.

As with all Gordon Brown's tax bribes, this one has a sting in the tail. 

In a tough fight, the first instinct is to cover the area with paper. Leaflet after leaflet, delighting the local print industry, but perhaps inducing apathy in the electorate who unless very keen eventually give up on trying to follow the arguments waged in a leaflet war.

This time round, the Electoral Commissionwill be looking far more closely at how money is spent. Candidates who flout the law, or deploy creative accounting to conceal an overspend, could find themselves facing a knock on the door from the local constabulary, who are much more willing to investigate election offences than some may presume. The consequences of a subsequent conviction could mean the loss of a seat, either through the legal process or the public shaming that would follow.

New types of election expenses need to be accounted for. For instance, the cost of the diesel or petrol in a candidate's battlebus all needs to be included, as a cost of promoting the candidate. Imagine criss-crossing a vast rural constituency day after day for four weeks in a thirsty Range-Rover and you might imagine the cost of fuel alone is going to take a severe bite out of your legally allowed maximum spend before you print a single leaflet.

Likewise, the commercial cost of premises, actual cost of staff (causing much consternation amongst MPs researchers) and a variety of admin charges all need to be included.

The Electoral Commission promises it will be scrutinisng returns far more closely this time and taking action where appropriate. We have been warned!

In the latest issue of the Spectator, Charles Kennedy has been drawn out on whether he would ever serve alongside Michael Howard in a coalition with the Conservatives. The answer is, of course, no.

Kennedy has previously ruled out a coalition with Labour in Westminster. This may be a ruse given what has happened elsewhere. It may be achieved with an alternative Labour leader to Blair and a cushy number in the Cabinet for Charlie.

So what would happen if there was a hung Parliament? The answer might be that a minority government is formed, perhaps without the overt cooperation of the Liberal Democrats - unless Prime Minister Brown can talk his fellow Scot into the Cabinet, perhaps as Foreign Secretary. The ensuing discussion about Proportional Representation would be interesting to hear.

But assume Kennedy is true to his word and the Lib Dems don't join a coalition with either Conservatives or Labour.

This would mean a short lived Parliament and another General Election at the first opportunity - perhaps like 1974. 

Perhaps that is a natural consequence for this sort of unstable political situation. 

It is also the time when a lot of chickens should come home to roost for the Lib Dems and their bi-polar approach to politics. 

Naturally averse to tough choices, in a hung Parliament the Lib Dems would suddenly find themselves accountable for what happens, regardless of  whether they were a part of a coalition or bystanders to a struggling minority administation.

Mr Paice is speaking at the Torridge and West Devon Farmers Forum. He will be in good company. Geoffrey Cox, Conservative PPC for Torridge and West Devon, and Richard Haddock, former Devon NFU Chairman, amongst others.

Farming is doing better than it was a few years ago, but the shakeout has been bloody and the countryside is a changed place.  James will hear just how things are first hand.

Were Mr Paice to become Secretary of State for Agriculture it would mean that a lot of the problems faced by Agriculture get much better attention.

Given the continuing food scares, we should all care about what goes on in the farmyards of Great Britain. It is in everyone's interests that there is a successful Agriculture sector - for the sake of our health, the economy and the environment.

A phone call to the organiser confirms that this event is being organised on behalf of John Burnett, retiring Lib Dem MP for Torridge and West Devon. It's all a ghastly mistake, the organiser explains when we press for an explanation as to how the Lib Dems managed to confuse just which Party Mr Walter is standing for.

Or was it?

How many businessmen would turn up to meet Mr Walter knowing he was the Lib Dem candidate? Is being Tory a better draw? It appears the Lib Dems may think so.