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.
Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council are calling on the Conservative administration at County Hall to stop further investment in commercial property outside of Surrey and to instead prioritise County Council owned vacant buildings to either be used to provide services or to be sold or let.
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed their disappointment following a decision today by the Conservative Cabinet to slash the opening hours of Community Recycling Centres across the county and increase charges for residents.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have welcomed the decision by the Conservative Cabinet in Surrey to drop its plans to close four Community Recycling Centres after an outcry from thousands of Surrey residents. However, the County Council confirmed that it will proceed with its plans to reduce the opening hours of all the Centres across the county as well as dropping the daily free waste allowance which residents currently enjoy. The proposals are scheduled to be confirmed at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 26th September. Cllr Stephen Cooksey, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, said today:
Liberal Democrat county councillors have today welcomed the announcement that the County Council has extended the public consultation on the future of the Surrey Performing Arts Library to four weeks up to 1st October 2017. The Conservative-administration had previously only offered two weeks for library users to respond to the County Council's plans, which include closing the library in order to make savings of £180,000. Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, said today:
Thousands of Surrey residents have responded to the County Council's consultation on whether to close four Community Recycling Centres, as well as slashing opening hours and increasing charges at those Centres which remain. The consultation generated 13,637 responses, one of the biggest ever, and now proceeds to the Conservative Cabinet who will make a decision at a meeting on 26th September. The consultation revealed huge support for the retention of the four threatened recycling centres in Dorking, Bagshot, Cranleigh and Warlingham with over 90% of the users of those sites wishing to retain them. Over 75% of those who responded also wished to retain the daily free waste allowance currently permitted by the county council.
The Liberal Democrats have launched a petition to save the Surrey Performing Arts Library which is under threat of closure by Surrey County Council. Surrey residents have reacted with dismay on hearing of the threatened closure and that the County Council's consultation exercise will give residents just two weeks to respond. The Library, which is currently based near Dorking at Denbies Wine Estate, houses a truly unique collection of music, theatre, orchestral and dance materials available for public loan. It also holds a specialist Vaughan Williams collection and permanent display covering the life and works of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), commemorating his strong links with the area where he lived and where he composed some of his most important pieces.
