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.
Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council have maintained their strong opposition to the Surrey Waste Plan (SWP), voting against a recommendation to adopt it when it came before the council at its Annual Meeting. The council was being asked to agree to its adoption following a report published by Government inspectors into the public examination of the Plan at the end of 2007. This report declared the plan to be 'sound' but Cllr Sarah Di Caprio, Lib Dem group Environment spokesperson, said the inspectors had pointed to various shortcomings in the plan and they suggested calling for an early review.
Surrey Liberal Democrats have welcomed the lifting of the County's freeze on Youth Service recruitment, highlighted in recent months by County Councillor Diana Smith Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Schools and Learning.
The schools admission process is a long haul for parents, with applications made in the autumn and places only now being offered for this coming September, 2008. At the same time Surrey County Council has been going through the equally long process of deciding how school places will be allocated for September 2009.
Surrey Liberal Democrats have called upon Surrey County Council to maintain funding for its work devoted to building stronger communities in disadvantaged areas of Surrey, the so-called Self-Reliance Projects.
Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council today opposed the ruling Conservative administration's 4.8% rise in Council Tax and condemned a cut in roads and schools maintenance spending. Highlighting her group's alternative proposals, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills), said it would be possible to limit the Council Tax rise to 4.5%, a saving of £1.5m.
The Liberal Democrat Group recently tried to get the majority Conservative group on Surrey County Council to back the campaign for an "in or out" Euro referendum. The Lib Dems say this referendum would be an opportunity for the British public to determine whether Britain should continue to be a member of the European Union or not.
