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 Democrat Councillors on Surrey County Council have criticised the Conservative administration for seeking to put all the blame for a potentially high Council Tax for next year on the government, without recognising that it has had opportunities over many years to review how the budget is spent.
Liberal Democrats criticised the Conservative administration's policy on waste in Surrey at a recent County Council meeting. Councillor Tom Sharp, Lib Dem Spokesman on the Environment said, "The Conservative administration is placing too much emphasis on incineration as a way of dealing with Surrey's waste."
Conservatives on Surrey County Council have refused to amend the Surrey Structure Plan to delete the proposal to build new housing in the green belt north east of Guildford. Liberal Democrats believe that keeping this proposal in the plan, even as a last resort will set a very dangerous precedent that may result in further threats to Surrey's green belt.
It appears that Lib Dem pressure to make the Tory administration think twice before they propose any further cuts to bus services in the County, may be bearing fruit. No further cuts have been made to bus services and Transport Consultative Groups have been set up. The Conservative administration was persuaded that the review of public transport taking place after the drastic cuts made last year should be widened to include all transport provided within Surrey, and the Task Group is soon to announce the findings.
Surrey County Council did not reply to the government's recent consultation on school transport. Despite the Liberal Democrat motion to Council (see "Liberal Democrats Speak Up for School Transport" 11th June 2004) noting that a response should be given by June 25th, the matter was instead referred to the Executive and hence missed the deadline.
The lack of youth workers has contributed to the failure to deliver the expected services for our young people. Added to this, Connexions, a new service for young people, after a year of operations has also failed to be a visible service.
