Thank you so much to all of you supported us during the election campaign in 2005, especially our dedicated team of deliverers and canvassers, not to mention the County Council candidates who gave up their free time in the name of local democracy.
According to Henry Bolton, the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Runnymede & Weybridge, there is a real need to introduce a pension that ends means testing for the oldest pensioners and removes discrimination against women. He says, "Women should be entitled to a pension in their own right. The LibDems would address this immediately once in power."
A Unite/Mori student survey carried out in January 2004 on voting intentions gives the Lib Dems a leading share of 34%, with Labour on 28% and the Tories third on 19%. Students will have a major impact in 2005, as the elections are expected during the university year, on May 5, unlike in 2001 when the elections fell during the holiday period.
Commenting on the launch of an online map to tell homeowners about flooding risks in England and Wales, Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy today launched the Liberal Democrat Pre-manifesto - the first important stage in the manifesto process, which will take the Party into the General Election.
Under new Liberal Democrat proposals police chiefs would sign contracts with local communities setting out how many officers they would deploy. The "minimum policing guarantees" would set funding levels for local police for a rolling three-year period. The guarantees are part of the party's new plans to tackle crime. The plans include using money earmarked for the government's ID card plan to hire an extra 10,000 front line police and 20,000 community support officers.
Closely behind the disastrous inspection of its Children's Services, the County Council has now received criticism of its adult social services from CSCI (Commission for Social Care Inspection). As a result, the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council are demanding improvements.
Following the damning Ofsted inspection of Surrey County Council's Children & Families' service in July, the government stepped in to safeguard vulnerable children who have been put at risk.
Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg has issued the following message.
The Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have called for the Conservative administration to get a grip on its finances, after revealing it has £58 million of unspent capital in its coffers from the 2007/08 financial year.
South East MEP Sharon Bowles (Lib Dem) was disappointed by the news that after holding its previous two plenary sessions in Brussels, due to the collapse of the ceiling of the chamber in Strasbourg, the European Parliament would be returning to its regular seat for its October session.
The High Court ruling that the Home Office's instructions denying Gurkhas the right to live in the UK are unlawful, is a great moral victory not only for these brave warriors, but also for the long campaign fought on their behalf. This was backed recently by actress Joanna Lumley after being raised in Parliament by Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg MP last March and again in June.
