Benefit cuts and Brexit squeeze to leave 3 million families £2,500 worse off

Three million households will be hit to the tune of £2,500 a year

Planned benefit cuts by the Conservative government combined with soaring inflation will leave nearly 3 million working households an average of £2,500 a year worse off, according to analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Low inflation over the last two years has meant the government’s freeze on most working-age benefits has only amounted to a 1% real cut so far.

But rising inflation from the falling pound is now set to reduce the value of these benefits by 5% between now and 2020, with total cuts of over £5 billion a year in the long run.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Susan Kramer commented: “Theresa May’s plans for a divisive Hard Brexit and savage cuts to benefits will leave millions of working families worse off.

“Three million households will be hit to the tune of £2,500 a year as a result of cuts to tax credits, rising prices and the falling pound.

“The Brexit squeeze will hit people in the pocket across the country, with the poorest families hit hardest.

“This election is a chance to change Britain’s future and stop a disastrous hard Brexit that will leave us all poorer.

“Every Liberal Democrat MP elected is a challenge to Theresa May’s Hard Brexit agenda.”

Multiple Delays in Bury New Road Roadworks

Following on from questions from Prestwich Liberal Democrat councillors, the reasons for the delays in the start of the roadworks on the A56 through Prestwich village have been revealed:

According to the Council:
“- The main contractor struggled with resources to meet the original start date.

– Trial holes have demonstrated that some tree positions were not achievable due to underground services which has necessitated some redesign work.

– Some traffic modelling inconsistencies that needed to be addressed.

– The business case for contributory funding from GMCA has been waiting for approval.”

Liberal Democrats went on to ask whether the delays would impact on the finish date, particularly that with timings now getting dangerously close to Christmas. The Council said:

“The last element of the works will be the resurfacing works. Whilst it is hoped that these can be undertaken before the Christmas period, a road works embargo is usually put in place across Greater Manchester at the beginning of December and Highways England have plans to undertake works to J17 and J18 around this time. If these impact negatively on the Prestwich High Street works, it may be that the resurfacing works have to be completed in the New Year.”

The questions were asked by Liberal Democrat councillor Mary D’Albert, who said:
“We’re pretty amazed about just how many things seem to have gone wrong since the roadwork signs have gone. It seems amazing that the signs ever went up when so many things were still to be sorted.

The scheme was widely opposed by Prestwich residents, even in the Council’s own ‘consultation’ on the issue, but they have ploughed ahead even with all these problems.

There are now major roadworks scheduled for Bury OLD Road in May and with the motorway works at the same time this is surely too much for Prestwich residents and businesses to bear”.

Bury Liberal Democrats: General Election candidates announced

The Liberal Democrats are first off the starting block to announce both their candidates for the General Election on 8 June 2017.

Across the country the Party had candidates in place should the Prime Minister call a ‘snap’ General Election, while other parties are still choosing candidates.

(Richard Baum left, Andrew Page right)

In Bury North, former Councillor Richard Baum has been chosen as our candidate. Richard, who works for the NHS and is a Magistrate,  was a Bury Councillor from 2007 to 2011 and contested Bury North in 2015

In Bury South, our candidate will be Andrew Page, a photographer working across the North West who has previously worked in the NHS for 16 years and has been particularly involved in campaigning on health issues.

 

Liberal Democrats surpass 100,000 members

Voters flock to Liberal Democrats after Theresa May calls snap general election

WOW what a week so far! Since the general election was announced our members in Bury have been growing quickly and I would like to welcome you all to the party. The Liberal Democrats in Bury are currently organising new events for members to become involved in, so watch out for further updates.

The Liberal Democrat membership surge takes the party to a landmark 100,000 members – thanks to a staggering 12,500 joining since Theresa May announced the snap General Election last Tuesday.

Reaching six figures makes the party bigger than it has been since the mid-1990s and puts it on course to reach its highest membership ever. The biggest the party has been since its formation is 101,768 in 1994.

It means that more than 50,000 members have joined since last year’s European referendum and more than 67,500 since the 2015 General Election.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron pledged to build the party to 100,000 members by the end of the parliament as a key pledge during his 2015 leadership campaign – but at that point everyone expected the end of the parliament to be 2020.

Tim Farron said:

“Thousands of people are joining the Liberal Democrats every day because they want to change Britain’s future.

“People want a strong opposition to Theresa May’s Hard Brexit agenda and the Liberal Democrats are the only party challenging them up and down the country. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour has completely failed, offering no opposition whatsoever and giving Theresa May a blank cheque to pursue a Hard Brexit.

“This election is your chance to change the direction of our country. If you want to stop a disastrous Hard Brexit, if you want to keep Britain in the Single Market, if you want a strong opposition to fight for an open, tolerant and united Britain, this is your chance.”

The landmark figure is just the latest sign of the party’s gathering momentum:

The latest poll in Sunday’s Observer gave the party a four point increase. The party is consistently polling between 11-14%, close to double its average for most of 2015 and 2016.
We are on a winning streak. Not only did we win the Richmond Park by-election in stunning style in December 2016, we have had an astonishing run of council by-election gains – more than 30 since last May – making it the best year for by-election gains in the party’s history. We are winning from the Tories, Labour and UKIP, and in areas that voted both Leave and Remain. We are also the only party to have increased its share of the vote in every recent parliamentary by-election.
We have over-taken Labour in fundraising. In the last quarter of 2016, the Liberal Democrats raised nearly £2m – more money than the Labour Party for the first time ever.

Tories “getting betrayal in early” on pensions, tax and NI: Lib Dems

The Liberal Democrats have seized on remarks by Theresa May and Philip Hammond that suggest the Conservatives will drop their commitment to the triple lock on pensions and might also hike taxes and National Insurance.

Alistair Carmichael MP, Liberal Democrats shadow first secretary of state, said:

“This is May and Hammond admitting that the cupboard is bare thanks to their disastrous hard Brexit.

“Liam Byrne famously waited until after the 2010 election to admit there was no money left. The Conservatives are causing so much carnage to the economy they have had to admit the country is broke before election day.

“Theresa May’s refusal to guarantee the triple lock is yet another massive U-turn by the Prime Minister. Conservative high command is clearly in total disarray as it attempts a handbrake turn every day, including on such major issues as immigration, foreign aid and the single market.

“The triple lock was a Liberal Democrat achievement in the coalition government and pensioners should now realise that their pensions are not safe in Conservative hands.

“Workers struggling with falling living standards and a Brexit squeeze will see that the Chancellor is already hinting that he will hike taxes. With the economy facing a £200bn Brexit black hole over the next 15 years, no wonder the Tories plan to raise taxes and slash spending.

“It just shows you can’t have a hard Brexit and a safe pension.”

 

Liberal Democrats double size of membership since 2015 general election

In the short time since the snap General Election was announced the Liberal Democrats have gained over 8,000 new members

A huge warm welcome to everybody who’s joined the Liberal Democrats in Bury over the past few days.

The Liberal Democrat General Election campaign has got off to a flying start as new members have seen the party double in size since May 2015.

In the short time since the snap General Election was announced the Liberal Democrats have gained over 8,000 new members.

Commenting on the surge Leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron said: “This election is a chance to change the direction of our country and thousands are joining our fight.

“If you want to avoid a disastrous Hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the Single Market. If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance.

Join the Liberal Democrats

“Thousands of people up and down the country are joining the Liberal Democrats so that we can send a message to Theresa May and the Conservative Brexit Government that we do not want a hard Brexit.

“In this General Election it is clear that only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority.”

Jane Brophy: 45% of crimes not investigated in Greater Manchester

Jane Brophy, Lib Dems GM Mayoral Candidate, has uncovered astonishing figures about the GMP’s ability to investigate crime in Greater Manchester.

The force failed to follow up almost half (45%) of all crimes reported in 2016. A whopping 57% of burglaries were not investigated, along with more than three quarters of pickpocketing and street thefts.

70% of bicycle thefts were also not followed up.

Jane obtained the figures via a Freedom of Information (FoI) request. She commented:

Visible policing has all but disappeared apart from Manchester city centre and our town centres, leaving many communities feeling unsafe. If I become Mayor I will work to ensure frontline policing is improved to restore people’s faith in the police.

The elected Greater Manchester Mayor will take on the functions of the current interim Mayor and GM Police & Crime Commissioner, former Labour MP Tony Lloyd. This entails setting priorities for GMP in how they tackle crime.

Jane Brophy highlighted the fact that figures for the current year show that 42% of all recorded crimes for the first few months of 2017 were not investigated, greater than the percentage in 2014.

Jane says:

Overall Greater Manchester Police are doing a good job at tackling serious crime, but there seems to be widespread failure to record and investigate all crimes properly.

As Mayor, Jane will be responsible for setting GMP’s crime priorities, as well as working with GMP on successful preventative approaches to reducing crime by working with local communities.

 

Best Year Ever for Liberal Democrats in Local By-Elections

The year since the last local election in May 2016 has been the best year EVER for Liberal Democrats in local by-elections, with a total of 33 net gains.

You can get involved in this success every week at the ALDC (Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors) offices in Manchester where they run a volunteer phone bank every Thursday evening, calling up voters in local by-elections around the country to help Lib Dem candidates win. Contact Jenny for more information.

Of course in Bury we have our OWN local by-election on 4 May 2017, Besses Ward in Whitefield with activity every day over the next month. Find out more by emailing Gavin. Donate to help Gavin win here.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting

A small, but important, measure which was championed by the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government, came into effect last week. When Jo Swinson was Minister for Equalities, she introduced the requirement for companies with more than 250 employees to report on their gender pay gap (the difference between what men get paid and what women get paid).

In this article in on the Huffington Post website, Jo Swinson explains that the gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay:

“The media often mangles the distinction, so it’s not surprising many people confuse the two concepts. Equal Pay is when men and women are paid the same for doing the same work, and this has been a legal requirement for more than four decades. The Gender Pay Gap compares the average hourly pay for men and women. So most companies have a Gender Pay Gap driven by a concentration of men in senior, higher paid roles and women in junior, lower paid roles, but may not have an Equal Pay problem.”

She goes on to say:
“Transparency on the numbers means staff, shareholders and customers can hold companies to account on progress, so communicate with them your analysis of the problem and what you plan to do.

Gender pay gap reporting is not a panacea, but it is an important and helpful tool to bring urgency and accountability to efforts to tackle the entrenched problems of gender inequality in the workplace”.

First Ever Bury Pride – this Saturday

This Saturday is the first ever ‘Bury Pride event’. Bury Pride will support the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate equality and diversity right here in Bury. Bury Pride will be held on Saturday 8th April 2017 and will be absolutely FREE to all members of the community. You can register for your free ticket here: https://www.fatsoma.com/mobile/products/e2igalq4

A parade runs through Bury town centre. At The Elizabethan Suite, there will be around 30 stalls from a range of local LGBT and family-friendly businesses, offering products, information and merchandise.

Bury Pride is a family friendly affair, with activities and performances suitable for all ages. It’s bound to be a fantastic day out for everybody, whether you’re taking part in the parade, coming along to the party at the Elizabethan Suite, or just watching from the audience; the coming together of the Bury community to help break down barriers for the LBGTQ+ community will be a fantastic day in our local history.

The full programme for the event can be downloaded here.