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.
Conservative-run Surrey County Council today refused to maintain current funding to the county's voluntary sector, choosing instead to oppose a Liberal Democrat motion which had called for an end to the proposed £838,000 cut in funding. Fiona White, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Adults and Community Care, said after the meeting that the Tory amendment to the motion was "woolly" and had no funding substance to it on which the voluntary organisations could rely.
This Motion to Council is not an attempt to ignore the financial situation in which we find ourselves. Rather, it is a recognition of that situation and the need to get the best possible returns for the investment of the Council's money. Let me ask councillors a question. What sort of return do you think we get for every one pound given in grant to a voluntary organisation? Is it three pounds, six pounds, ten pounds? The information which I have gleaned leads me to believe that it is ten pounds or above; if so, the effect of the cuts will be more than £8 million in service provision. I think that any business would be delighted to have such a return on their investment and within a very short space of time.
Following pressure from the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, proposals to abandon the Student Fare Card Scheme have been withdrawn. The cards allow Surrey students up to 18 to travel at the under-16 rate. They remove a barrier to youngsters travelling to the course that suits them best, keeping them in the education system.
Dear Editor.
The Tory budget is proposing to cut grants to voluntary organisations in Surrey by £838,000. This means a significant reduction in the money available to organisations that have a fundamental role in supporting Surrey residents and will cause an already fragile sector to fail in key areas.
The Tories' BDR (Business Delivery Review) will adversely affect the County Council's countryside services. The proposals, if approved, will:
