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.
Commenting on the vote in the House of Commons last night on a third runway, Cllr Fiona White, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, said today:"This is incredibly disappointing news and represents another broken promise to Surrey residents by this Conservative government.
On 18th June 2018, the Home Office issued a letter to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, regarding Ahmed Hassan's interaction with the police and Home Office, prior to the Parsons Green bombing incident in September 2017. Commenting on the letter, Cllr Hazel Watson (Liberal Democrat, Dorking Hills) said today:
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have launched a petition calling for the recent increase in allowances for Conservative councillors to be reversed. The increase was voted through by Conservative Councillors with four new positions of "Deputy Cabinet Member" created, each at a cost to the taxpayer of £10,000, despite the County Council planning millions of pounds of cuts to services over the next year. The Conservatives also voted to reinstate allowances for vice-chairs of committees, contradicting a report from the Independent Remuneration Panel which concluded that allowances for vice-chairs were not necessary.
Liberal Democrat County Councillors in Surrey have heavily criticised the Conservative-administration at County Hall after Conservative Councillors awarded themselves thousands of pounds of extra allowances in a vote at Council yesterday. The vote means that 4 new Deputy Cabinet positions will be created, at a cost of £40K a year, as well as extra allowances for committee vice-chairs. Liberal Democrat County Councillors opposed these increases and voted against them at County Hall.
Reacting to the news that Government Commissioners will be overseeing Children's Services in Surrey for 3 months, Cllr Chris Botten, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council,said today:
Responding to the publication of today's Ofsted inspection of Surrey County Council, Cllr Chris Botten, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:
