MID-WORCESTERSHIRE: Peter Luff (Conservative)

Formerly a businessman in the communications industry, he holds responsibility in William Hague's team for the NHS and Treasury.

The foot-and-mouth crisis need not have been so serious. The Government should have been better prepared and should have acted more decisively sooner when the outbreak began. Their failure has had severe implications for local farmers, tourism businesses and a whole host of smaller companies.

What is needed is firm action to contain new outbreaks, including more and better use of the Army. Meat imports from high-risk countries should be banned. There are many things that the Government could do but hasn't and which the new Conservative government will. Farmers should be compensated for irrecoverable losses. Abattoirs should be relieved from full meat inspection charges. There should be interest free loans for all affected businesses. VAT refunds should be sped up to help cash flow. There should be a strong campaign for English tourism in our crucial overseas markets.

Droitwich Spa has a diverse economy, but it was shocked by the news of Christian Salvesen's likely closure with the loss of nearly 600 jobs. I am encouraging the company to look at ways to reduce those job losses. I was pleased to play a part in helping the town centre businesses come together to promote Droitwich. Re-opening Droitwich canals is something I will be working very hard for in the next Parliament.

Evesham is a market town that has been hit hard by Government policy. It has lost its police cells with serious consequences for crime and disorder. It has lost its High Street post office as a result of Government policy on benefit payments. I will be working hard to fight further losses of services such as the county court and the magistrates' courts. And I will continue to support the Evesham Community Hospital strongly.

Recently, when I helped a local heroin user get the withdrawal treatment he desperately wanted, I was struck by our failure to provide support to addicts. He had graduated from cannabis to heroin, wanting to try something he was told would be more exciting, but found he was hooked. The local police wanted him to shop the dealers who supplied him, but he couldn't do this because he depended on heroin. I am not yet convinced our local education programmes in schools are effective. I support tougher measures against dealers, especially those who sell to children. But better medical care is vital too.

I recently held a private meeting in Evesham to discuss the local drugs problem with the relevant agencies. I look forward to working with them and supporting bids for funds to develop a more coherent approach. We could and should be doing better.

It's not just Evesham that has been flooded. The April, 1998 floods devastated scores of communities in Mid-Worcestershire. I have worked with many of them to try to sort out their problems.

There are at least three levels of response we have to make. First: We must do all we can to combat climate change. The fundamental problem is the changing nature of our weather, with much heavier rainfall. Second: We must avoid making things worse by not building in the flood plain, not tampering with watercourses in a way that increases risk, and maintaining flood defences where they are the best option. Third: We must make it easier for people to deal with the bewildering range of public bodies responsible for flooding issues. Government policy is too fragmented. The Environment Agency, the county council and the district council must have their responsibilities better defined.

The new Worcester hospital will be under great strain from the day it opens. New Labour is imposing a whole new series of targets on hospitals without providing the funding to meet them. And New Labour still puts political priorities above clinical ones.

Doctors and nurses in Worcestershire should decide who needs to be treated most urgently locally, not politicians in London.

Worcestershire's hospitals and their patients have suffered because of the early transfer of services from Kidderminster. The staff have responded magnificently, but too much has been asked of them.

The Government planned too few beds for the new hospital. The trust management is seeking to increase the number by using wards in the existing Newtown block.

I will support them strongly and will also argue for a fairer deal for our county's social services to reduce the number of beds being inappropriately occupied, or "blocked".