Powering a New Economy

This Morning Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron set out our vision for a new green economy.

Speaking at a Policy Exchange event in central London Tim said, “My plan is for Britain to become entirely energy self-sufficient.”

During the coalition government the Liberal Democrats worked hard to expand green industry but since then, the Conservatives have dismantled that progress at breath taking speed. Despite the governments recklessness, renewable energy has now overtaken coal as the world’s biggest source of power-generating capacity. Clean energy costs are tumbling, while the potential for industry growth is rapidly expanding. Britain has been at the forefront of developing this technology but we are in danger of falling behind as the rest of the world catches on.

Tim Farron speaking in central London

“It is a new industrial revolution. We can do as the Victorians did. Lead it, prosper from it, and stand tall across the globe as a consequence”

China is working towards becoming a green energy superpower, making huge investments in solar technology. India is making strides in their development of wind power. Ireland has voted to become the first country to divest completely from fossil fuels. This new global momentum gives British technology an opportunity to lead on the world stage, creating jobs, driving our economy forwards and reducing our carbon footprint in the process.

Bury’s Library Review – Formal Consultation

Bury Council is now formally consulting on its proposals to close 10 or 11 of our 14 libraries.

Consultations run until 27 April.

There are two options are:
1) to retain the following library buildings: Bury (plus Archives), Ramsbottom, and Prestwich;
2) to retain Bury (plus Archives), Ramsbottom, Prestwich and Radcliffe.

You can read the proposals online at http://www.bury.gov.uk/libraryservicereview or read a hard copy at any library or at Bury Town Hall, Whittaker Street in Radcliffe, and 3 Knowsley Place in Bury.

How to have your say:
Online – go to https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/bury-libraries-consultation
By post – to Bury Library, Manchester Road, Bury BL9 0DG
By email – to library.suggestions@bury.gov.uk

Liberal Democrats across Bury are campaigning to save our libraries – you can sign our petition below.

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Update: Unaccompanied Child Refugees

Last week, when media attention was focussed on the Article 50 vote in Parliament, the Government quietly back-tracked on the previous commitment to help unaccompanied child refugees.

Previously the ‘Dubs amendment’ had secured a commitment, with all-Party support, to take in 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees. The Government is now closing the door on child refugees with only 300 in the country.

Bury, along with 22 other North West Local Authorities, responded to a request from the Home Office and agreed to oversee 4 of these vulnerable young people whom were being moved from France under a National Transfer Scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

These young people are being supported in appropriate accommodation to access health, education and build on their independence and life skills. These young people are now Looked After Children by Bury and we are their corporate parents.

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron MP has written the following open letter to the Prime Minister on this change of policy:

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Tim Farron – Click to play

Dear Theresa,

Yesterday during your statement on the Informal European Council I asked you if you would guarantee that your Government would continue to take unaccompanied child refugees from Europe under the Dubs scheme (section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016). Your failure to give this reassurance in your response yesterday was concerning and I hope that in your response to this letter you can clarify the Government’s position on the Dubs scheme.

As you will know the DUbs amendment was borne out of cross-party support for Save the Children’s call for the UK to take 3000 children, our fair share of unaccompanied child refugeees who had fld conflict and arrived in Europe. The narrow criteria offered in the guidance on how to implement Dub was not in the spirit of the amendment in Greece and Italy, where many children continue to languish is far wider.

Whilst the number of arrivals to Greece and Italy have declined from their peak the crisis continues and we can expect arrivals to rise as the weather improves this year. It will therefore be of the utmost importance that the Dubs passage continues to be open to these vulnerable children throughout the rest of this Parliament.

I would appreciate if you could offer this guarantee in no uncertain terms in your response, anything less will be viewed as a betrayal by your Government of Parliament, the public and the unaccompanied child refugees who have risked their lives to reach safety and now face homelessness, exploitation and a lack of safety in Europe.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Farron MP

Stunning Lib Dem Victory in Labour’s Heartland

The Liberal Democrats have pulled off a stunning victory in the previous Labour heartland of Rotherham, taking the seat from Jeremy Corbyn’s party and receiving almost four times as many votes as Labour.

Local doctor Adam Carter came from fourth place last time to win 2,000 votes in Brinsworth and Catcliffe ward. Labour were second on just 519 votes in a five-way contest. It is believed to be the best win by any party since the ward was created, beating Labour’s huge 63.2% in 2011.

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Adam is the first Liberal Democrat to win a council seat in Rotherham this century. It is the 27th net gain in council by-elections for the Liberal Democrats since May, while the next best performing party in British politics has just three net gains over the same period.

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “This just shows how in real votes cast up and down the country every week, the Liberal Democrat fight-back is gathering pace.

“It would be fair to say that Rotherham has not been an area where we have excelled electorally in the past, so to win by such a massive margin here shows that something is changing in British politics.

“We are not just winning in places such as Richmond Park. Rotherham voted to Leave, and many Leave voters feel let down by an uncaring and divisive Conservative Party but are also fed up with an extreme and unelectable Labour Party.

“With Labour hauling up the white flag, all over the country Liberal Democrats are showing that we are the real opposition to the Conservative Brexit government.”

Tim Farron has been reaching out to Leave voters abandoned by the two main parties and was himself in Yorkshire this week to talk to Leave voters in Doncaster.

Reporting Back: Full Council and the GMSF Debate

Last Wednesday (1 February 2017) was the regular ‘Full Council’ meeting of Bury Council, the one meeting where all 51 councillors meet to discuss the main issues facing the area.

This was a very busy meeting of the Council, with a full public gallery – mostly people concerned about the proposals in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to build 12,500 new houses in Bury, including many on green belt land.

Because of the number of members of the pubic there, we proposed that on this occasion we move straight to the debates on motions, rather than the usual 90 minutes or so of questions to the Leader and joint authorities. This was agreed – most questions were therefore answered in writing which we’ll report on over the coming weeks.

Voter Pilots
We supported a motion (in an amended form) which noted the Government’s current proposed pilot schemes to ask for ID at polling stations. The Government is proposing to pilot this in some areas (not Bury). In general we support proposals to make sure voting is always fair and without fraud – as long as whatever is proposed does not exclude people from voting (ie making sure that many different forms of ID are acceptable, as not everyone has a passport or driving license).

NHS Funding
We were happy to support a motion raising significant concerns about the current crisis in the NHS, particularly around funding and the acute pressures on emergency care and hospital beds.

Greater Manchester Spatial Framework
The Liberal Democrat group proposed a motion asking Bury to withdraw from Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF). This is the plan, currently being developed by the 10 Greater Manchester Councils, to build 227,000 new houses in Greater Manchester over the next 20 years.

We said:
– We recognised the need for more housing – but that this needs to be housing that people need, including young people getting their first homes and housing suitable for older people who might want to ‘downsize’
– We recognised the need for more jobs – but that these need to be high quality jobs.
– We DON’T think that the GMSF is a good deal for Bury. Across Greater Manchester the GMSF proposed to build houses on 8% of Green Belt land – in Bury it is 20% of Green Belt land (and in Prestwich and Whitefield nearly 50%).
– We DON’T think that the GMSF has made the right approach – we think local people should be in the driving seat about deciding the future ‘shape’ of our local communities, but the GMSF has started with asking land owners and developers about where they want to build.
– We are very concerned about issues like traffic congestion, air pollution and loss of green space that should be at the forefront of any new plans.

Our proposal was:
– That Bury should instead develop its own Bury Plan – recognising that we will still need to make difficult decisions, but that they will be decisions closer to Bury.
– The the plan should be a 15 year plan, not a 20 year plan, which means that 1/3 less land for housing needs to be identified at this stage.
– We support higher levels of development in our town centres, which are close to existing public transport and facilties.

Unfortunately our proposal was defeated, by 31 votes to 19 votes. Every single Labour councillor voted to remain in the GMSF.

There were some concessions made, which in some ways are a small victory, which was the Council agreed to remain in GMSF pending:
– The Government’s Housing White Paper
– The Greater Manchester Metro Mayor election result (some of the candidates are opposed to building on the green belt)
– The GMSF stage 1 consultation outcome.
In addition the Council is to proceed in developing its own Bury Plan alongside GMSF, with all-Party involvement.

We’re going to continue to fight these proposals. We do need more housing, but we must protect our green spaces too.

You can read our Group Leader, Cllr Tim Pickstone’s speech to the meeting here. The meeting is available to watch online – the GMSF debate starts at 1 hour 57 minutes….

 

 

 

 

Bury’s GMSF Debate – Statement

Last night (Wednesday 1 February 2017) a proposal that  Bury Council pull out of the Greater Manchester Strategic Framework was rejected. Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors voted to pull out, but Labour councillors voted to stay in.

Speaking after the debate, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Bury Councillor Tim Pickstone said:

“We recognise the need for more homes and more jobs, but for us GMSF is just a bad deal for Bury. In the deal we’re losing 20% of our green belt, Prestwich and Whitefield/Unsworth are losing almost 50%.

“Bury already suffers from congestion on our roads, motorways and public transport, and we have real air quality problems as a result”.

“We’re calling on Bury to develop it’s own local Bury Plan, looking forwards 15 years, not the 20 years proposed by GMSF.”

“We’ve been beaten this time, but the fight will continue until we get the deal that is right for Bury.”

Lib Dems propose Bury pulls out of GMSF

Councillors in Bury are to debate Bury pulling out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF).

The three Prestwich Liberal Democrat councillors have tabled the proposal, which will be discussed at the full Council meeting tonight (1 February 2017).

Lib Dem Leader Councillor Tim Pickstone said: “At the moment Bury is signed up to a process which will destroy 20% of our green belt land, almost 50% in Prestwich and Whitefield – while the average across Greater Manchester is just 8%. This cannot be right for our area.”

The Liberal Democrats will propose Bury Council submits its own Plan, based on the needs of our local communities across Bury.

Theresa May wrong to ‘roll out red carpet’ for Donald Trump

Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron MP has urged Theresa May not to “roll out the red carpet” for Donald Trump after he was invited to Britain on a State visit.

As the government indicated it would ignore a huge petition calling for Mrs May to withdraw her invitation to Mr Trump, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “The government is ignoring millions of ordinary British people and their revulsion that Donald Trump will receive the red carpet treatment.

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“It is wrong for Theresa May to put The Queen in this position. People can see how desperate she is for a Brexit trade deal. But the Prime Minister needs to be aware how dangerous her game with President Trump is.

“Tony Blair decided in 2002 to hitch his cart to a president and say: “I’m with you whatever”. It sank his premiership, and poisoned his legacy. May risks exactly the same.”

Mr Farron spoke last night at an emergency demonstration in London, which will oppose Mr Trump’s executive order to suspend entry to the US for all nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The US President’s order, signed on Friday, also halts the entire US refugee programme for 120 days and indefinitely bans Syrian refugees from entering the country.

Save our Libraries – Sign the Petition

Bury Council’s Cabinet at its meeting on  Wednesday 25 January 2017 agreed to consult on proposals to close up to 11 of our 14 libraries.

The Council has been consulting on library service for a number of months, though for everyone involved in the consultation (which never mentioned closures) these plans will come as a huge surprise.

The options to be sent to public consultation are:

    • Option 1 – Close 11 Libraries, keeping Bury (with Archives), Prestwich and Ramsbottom.
    • Option 2 – Close 10 Libraries, keeping Bury (with Archives), Prestwich, Ramsbottom and Radcliffe.

Please sign our petition to save our precious libraries.

Bury currently has 14 library buildings in total, 7 original “township” libraries and 7 smaller, part-time, “community libraries” which were added to the town between 1999 and 2014 to meet reasons of social inclusion and to support smaller communities.

Across Bury there are currently 54,632 registered users of Libraries:
Bury – 18,458
Prestwich – 10,897
Radcliffe – 7,449
Ramsbottom – 4,695
Tottington – 2,720
Unsworth, 3,612
Whitefield, 3,758
Other library or service, 3,043

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The Libraries which would be closed under both options proposed for consultation would be:
Ainsworth Library, Brandlesholme Library, Castle Leisure Centre Library, Coronation Road Library. Dumers Lane Library, Moorside Library, Topping Fold Library, Tottington Library, Unsworth Library, Whitefield Library.

The current library service costs the council £2.4 million per year. Most people will be aware that local councils are being forced to make significant savings by Government, but ultimately all Councils have choices to make.

We have two specific concerns:
– leaving whole areas without libraries will ultimately only hurt the most vulnerable in our community, those who are least able to travel, and those who are most lonely.
– insufficient attempts have been made to find alternative ways of providing libraries – e.g. volunteer, community or charity run libraries, which would enable a wider service to be maintained whilst still saving money.

Please sign our petition to send a strong message to the Council that we need to save our local libraries.

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Bury and Prestwich Walk-In Centres to Close

Bury’s NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) met on Wednesday 18 January 2017 to consider the outcome of its own ‘consultation’ on the future of our two Walk-In Centres, in Bury and Prestwich.

The result of the public engagement undertaken included over 1,000 survey completed by residents and showed:
90% thought that the Walk-In Centres serve a purpose not otherwise provided in Bury.
83.5% disagree or strongly disagree with a decision to not renew the Walk-In Centres.

The CCG recognised that the largest number of objections and concerns were regarding the Prestwich Walk-In Centre, rather than the Moorgate Centre. Only one petition was received by the CCG objecting to the closures, which had been organised by the local Lib Dems in Prestwich.

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Our view, given in a statement by Group Leader Councillor Tim Pickstone on Wednesday stated: “Everyone knows there is a crisis in NHS emergency care and that our local A&E departments cannot cope with existing volumes. Everyone who I speak to tells me how difficult it is to get GP appointment.”

“By going ahead with the closure of the Prestwich and Bury Walk-In Centres, Bury CCG are not only ignoring the clearly stated views of local people in their own consultation, but they’re also ignoring common sense. With this decision we’re not just losing two much loved and well used local services, we’re making our local A&Es worse.”

You can read the full report of the CCG here.