HE'S a 50-year-old veterinary surgeon and father of four daughters, aged 14 to 21 years, all state-educated.

He stood for the UK Independence Party in Leominster in the 1997 General Election, and was on the party's list for the West Midlands in the 1999 Euro-elections. He's also chairman of the West Midlands Region of UKIP.

I'D abolish the Local Education Authorities, and, as is UKIP policy, switch the emphasis from educational bureaucrats to governors, head teachers and parents. Funding would then be on a per pupil basis. Each school should have a proper governing body able to spend the funds as they think best, subject to inspection by Ofsted, and to raise extra money if they so wish. UKIP has a target of a maximum of 25 a class, and the 30,000 extra teachers needed will be funded out of the Independence Dividend, that is £1.2bn out of the total of £20bn available when we leave the European Union.

NURSES' salaries must be increased; this, in turn should lead to faster recruitment, more permanent nursing staff, with set rotas, and increased morale.

Half a billion pounds a year will come out of the Independence Dividend for this purpose. Cottage hospitals should be kept open and expanded for less serious cases and convalescence. Particularly with an ageing population, these extra beds will be needed.

There should be more accountability in hospitals with responsibility, for example, for ward cleanliness, given to certain individuals.

Standards of nursing are inevitably better in small hospitals, and they're generally better managed with less tiers of management, and managers more in touch with the day-to-day running of the hospital. NHS Trusts should be answerable to local authorities, and not to quangos.

THE distinction is often made between hard drugs and recreational drugs; however, the edges are blurred, dealers often trading in both. People aren't deterred from taking illegal drugs by the law, so that makes the debate about legalising recreational drugs pointless.

Education in schools, etc, must be increased to warn youngsters of the dangers, and more use could be made of young celebrities in this education programme.

There should be more resources available to prevent the smuggling of drugs, particularly from Eastern Europe. For this, we'll need the co-operation of our European "partners", but we must keep our border controls.

Dealers should be suitably punished, and made to forfeit the money they have made from their illegal trade. The punishment should be meted out by UK courts, which should not then be over-ruled by European courts.

CERTAINLY no more building should take place on the floodplain. There have been many suggestions such as dredging the river, raising the banks, and so on. However, I feel there should be a full-scale inquiry, involving experts in this field, from abroad if need be. Experts should advise; politicians should act.

WORCESTER has to decide whether it wants to be a shopping centre to match Merry Hill or Cheltenham, or not. The decision must be made soon.

At present, Worcester's shops aren't good enough, car-parking is difficult and expensive and - especially to a stranger - driving round the city, with its one-way systems, can be a nightmare.

If the decision's made to improve Worcester's shopping centre, then parking should be cheap; park-and-ride should be cheap, not too far from the city centre, with buses actually stopping in the centre. It can be done at Christmas, so why not the rest of the year?

City workers should also be encouraged to use the park-and-ride to keep cars out of the centre. There must be consultation with city businesses, and new shops encouraged into the city. Worcester must be marketed.