The proposals have been launched by Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne and will be debated at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in September.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South said that police officers would be freed to spend more time policing communities rather than chasing government targets. 

“The police have to be free to police our local communities,” said Vic D’Albert, “Constant interference and targets from Whitehall do little to catch criminals and deter crime. Bury police are far better placed than a government minister in Whitehall to decide what the local priorities are. “

The proposals also call for police authorities to be elected by local people, rather than appointed by ministers. That will mean policing priorities are under the control of local people.

Other proposals to be debated by the Liberal Democrats include appointing 10,000 extra police officers, paid for by scrapping the expensive and bureaucratic National Identity Card scheme. 

The spokesman’s paper from Chris Huhne MP, Cutting Crime: Catching Criminals With Better Policing, is available on the Liberal Democrat website: http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/Cutting%20Crime%20by%20Catching%20Criminals.pdf

Policy Exchange, described as David Cameron’s favourite think tank in the media, claimed many towns and cities in the North were failing and regeneration would not save them. They suggested people should move to the South East instead. Policy Exchange was set up by Michael Gove, now a senior Conservative MP.

“The idea that people should abandon the North and move to the already crowded South East, where house prices and living costs are sky high, is an insult to people living here,” said Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South.

“I am staggered that a think tank so close to the Conservatives is making such a call. I am appalled that they are saying that large swathes of the North can simply be abandoned. “It looks like the Conservatives are starting to show their true colours. So the battle at the next election in Bury South will be between the Liberal Democrats with a record of standing up for local people, the Conservatives who want you to move to Berkshire and a discredited Labour Government.

“What the Policy Exchange has done is to highlight the lack of understanding many Conservatives have of the North and to show that they are out of touch and can’t be taken seriously.”

Post Offices in Radcliffe, Elton, Rochdale Road, Walmersley Road and Greenmount are affected by the decision.

The closure announcement follows a period of consultation with communities about the proposals, a consultation that Local Lib Dems claim was a sham exercise.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South said,

“We have seen a sham consultation followed by a disgraceful act. Disgraceful because it goes completely against what local people and local business want. I believe there was never any intention to seriously consider keeping these important facilities open.
“These closures will bring the total number of Post Offices closed in Bury with the blessing of this Labour Government to 21 since 1999. These closures will effectively rip the heart out of the communities affected, further undermining the needs of many of our more vulnerable residents and adversely affecting small business in the area.

“This Labour Government goes on about helping the disadvantaged and deprived communities and supporting small people – then in cahoots with the Post Office they turn their backs on the very people they claim to support.”

• The creation of a Youth Volunteer Force, to engage with young people, involve them in community projects and give them skills to benefit them in later life;
• Establish Community Justice Panels across the country, where offenders admit their guilt to the community and agree on a Positive Behaviour Order as a course of action;
• Create a dedicated PCSO youth officer within every Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify and work with teenagers most at risk of offending;
• 10,000 more police on the streets by scrapping the ID cards scheme;
• Intelligence-led stop and search and ‘hot spot policing’ targeted at gun and knife crime;
• Restorative justice programs to be run in every community, specifically targeted at early intervention with widespread use in schools and care homes.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South said, “These proposals could potentially go a long way to reduce youth crime. By having more police and by focusing on crime hotspots, we will be able to deter crime more effectively from happening. 

“But we also need to give young people positive alternatives to do. Too often they get into trouble because there is nothing for them to do. The Youth Volunteer Force will be a great way to get young people involved in activities that benefit themselves and the area where they live. “I am also keen to ensure that those who do break the law or cause disturbances or vandalism have to pay back the community they have wronged.  

“That is why restorative justice is important. It will mean that those convicted of offences will have to work on cleaning up vandalism or on projects that benefit communities as part of their punishment. Even now in this area we are seeing the benefits of this approach as some of those responsible for recent graffiti have agreed to clean up the mess and face the consequences of their actions.

 “Residents of Radcliffe, Whitefield and Prestwich often tell me of their worries about youth crime. I believe that the proposals the Liberal Democrats have put forward will go a long way to addressing those concerns.”

Pennine Acute NHS Trust covers both Fairfield Hospital and North Manchester as well as hospitals in Oldham and Rochdale.

Pennite Acute came 4th highest on a national list of 89 hospital trusts that had received more than 50 visits between January 2006 and March 2008.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem, Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South said, “This is absolutely appalling. Patients and their families need to have the utmost confidence that treatment and operations are being undertaken in a clean, pest free environment. This once again raises questions about the privatisation of ancillary and cleaning services in the NHS and whether the stringent budget controls imposed by Labour are affecting hygiene and cleanliness.  “These statistics amount to 30 pest control visits per month or 360 per year. It’s a good job they don’t run restaurants – they’d be closed down!““I will be calling on Pennine Acute to make public details of these pest control visits and to explain what actions they are taking to deal with the problem. They need to offer assurances that this issue is both under control and being dealt with.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South made the call after being sent figures for prosecutions that were uncovered in Parliament by Chris Huhne MP, the party’s Shadow Home Secretary.

The figures reveal that:
• Only 71 people have been successfully prosecuted for selling knives to children in the last five years
• None were sent to prison and only one was given a community sentence
• 56 people were fined, but 21 of them were given fines of less than £200

“This is a completely inadequate deterrent to unscrupulous shop keepers who flout the law to sell these weapons to children and young people,” said Vic D’Albert.

“These tiny fines and a lack of custodial punishment is the wrong signal to those who profit from the illegal sale of knives.

“These figures are particularly worrying as they came to light only days after the release of other figures showing 2294 serious crimes in Greater Manchester area involved a knife in 2007/8. Knife crime is 20% of all serious crimes taking place here.

“These figures do not record children and young people separately but they do show that knife crime is a serious problem. It is too easy for children and young people to get hold of knives. Too many are being drawn into a culture of carrying and using knives.

“Liberal Democrats believe that the courts must take a much stronger stand against those who are fuelling knife crime by illegally selling knives to children and young people.

“Cutting the supply of knives will be one of the most effective ways to reducing knife crime in the first place.”

Liberal Democrats in Bury have welcomed the launch of the Liberal Democrats’ vision for Britain by Party Leader Nick Clegg MP. Called ‘Make it Happen’, the paper will be debated at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in September. In ‘Make it Happen’ the Liberal Democrats say: 

      They will cut taxes for ordinary families

If your local hospital can’t see you on time, they will pay for treatment elsewhere

They will switch taxes from people to pollution - so it pays to go green

To improve standards in education, they will fund extra help for those who need it most

      They will put Britain at the heart of Europe to make us a force for good in the world

They will stop ID cards so we can keep control of our privacy

They will change the voting system so everyone’s voice counts

They will bring communities together with local people in charge

They will give communities a say in how offenders pay for their crimes 

Vic D’Albert, Bury South Parliamentary spokesperson said, “I am delighted to be able to back ‘Make it Happen’. It sets out how the Liberal Democrats will run Britain. “No resident of Bury has escaped the rising cost of food and fuel. The credit crunch is biting hard and local people are feeling the pinch. “Nick Clegg has set out how we can help ordinary people through cutting taxes on those on low and middle incomes. Thousands of people in Bury will benefit from this. 

“We are taking the plans in ‘Make it Happen’ to the people of Bury during the summer to get their response.  And in September, we will be heading to the Liberal Democrats’ conference where we are looking forward to taking part in the debate.” ‘Make it Happen’ is available at: http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/Make%20it%20Happen.pdf 

148 Labour MPs, 21 Conservative MPs and UKIP’s only MP united on Thursday night [3rd July] to vote down the proposal for an independent audit of all MPs’ expenses claims.

No Liberal Democrat MP voted against the audit plans.

Commenting, Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South said:
“This decision by MPs is foolish and wrong. It is a disaster for anyone who believes in cleaning up our politics and improving Parliament’s reputation. The House of Commons had the chance to vote for proper auditing of everything MPs do with public money, but an unholy coalition of Labour and Conservative MPs prevented it.

“I am deeply disappointed that both Ivan Lewis and David Chaytor voted against allowing all MPs’ allowances to be externally audited. 52 of their Labour colleagues joined the Liberal Democrats and some Conservatives in voting for independent auditing. Ivan Lewis and David Chaytor must tell us – why did they vote to water down the proposals?

“Rarely a week seems to pass without a story in the press about MPs apparently fiddling their finances. The vast majority of MPs are not corrupt. But so long as they resist having their expenses and allowances subject to robust, external audit, the public can be forgiven for wondering what they have got to hide.”

Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South welcomed the announcement by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg that his party is committing to unilaterally introduce proposals rejected by Parliament yesterday, including independent spot checks of the expenses of the party’s MPs:

“It is good to see Liberal Democrat MPs setting an example and showing that they have nothing to fear from open, independent scrutiny of their expenses.

“I hope that the Labour and Conservative leaderships will follow Nick Clegg’s lead in implementing these measures, and we can begin to restore public confidence in politicians.”

Details of how MPs voted can be found here:
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2008-07-03&number=253&display=allpossible&sort=name