All school children under the age of 11 will be entitled to free school meals under Liberal Democrat manifesto plans announced today (29 April).

Extending free school meals for seven to 11 year olds will benefit 1.9 million children and save parents around £400 per child a year.

These plans will more than double the offer of free schools meals to all five, six and seven year old pupils delivered by the Liberal Democrats in government.

Pilot studies have shown that a hot, healthy meal at lunchtime greatly improves the health, behaviour and results of school children, providing them with the best start in life.

When free school meals were first introduced, between 3% and 5% more children reached target levels in maths and English at Key Stage 1, showing that the school meal initiative will help kids to fulfil their potential.

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg said:

“Liberal Democrats want every child to have the best possible start in life. That’s why I want every child to have a hot, healthy school lunch.

“We know that giving children a healthy lunch helps them to concentrate in the afternoon and do better in class.

“It will also save parents £400 for every child they have in primary school.”

Liberal Democrats set education red line

Liberal Democrats will not enter a coalition with any party that does not agree to protect education funding, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.

By setting education as a red line, any government with the Liberal Democrats must increase spending on nurseries, schools and colleges.

Liberal Democrats want to protect per pupil funding from nursery to 19, in real terms, by the end of the parliament. This would amount to £5.2bn more funding than is planned by the Conservatives and £2.5bn more than Labour.

Nick Clegg said:
“I can confirm a Liberal Democrat red line – a pre-condition for government – is increasing spending on education. The Liberal Democrats will not allow our children and grandchildren to pay the price of this generation’s mistakes. Without investment in education, there can be no deal with the Liberal Democrats.”

You can listen to Nick Clegg making the commitment on education here. More information on our policies on education here.

Thursday 7 May 2015 is polling day in the local and general election.

Our candidates need YOUR help to make the election a success!

How you can help:
Delivering – we have delivering to do in our target wards in Prestwich on Wednesday 6 May from the morning onwards right through to the end of polling day. This can be arranged to fit around your availability (e.g. daytime, or before or after work etc).

Phoning – there will be telephoning taking place on Thursday 7 May 2015 to remind supporters to vote. This can either be from our polling day HQ in Prestwich or we can arrange for this to be done from your own home – just let us know!

We also need to support our nearest target parliamentary seats where Liberal Democrat MPs are defending their seats. They need our help over the weekend and all next week. If you can help, we can put you in touch with our nearest seats in Manchester Withington, Cheadle and Hazel Grove.

For more information please contact either Michael on 07730 045287 michael.powell@aldc.org or Ellie on 07758 215187 ellie.hudspith@aldc.org

The Liberal Democrats have unveiled a ‘Five Point Plan’ aimed at teachers and parents.

The front page of the Lib Dem manifesto states our commitment on education, to protect education funding from nursery to 19.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party to guarantee the protection of per pupil funding in real terms over the next five years.

The Liberal Democrat five point commitment for teachers and parents will:

– Provide an additional £2.5bn of funding for 2-19yr-olds by 2020; protecting per pupil education spending in real terms over the next parliament and increasing the education budget as a whole.

– Guarantee all teachers in state-funded schools will be fully qualified or working towards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) by September 2016.

– Establish the Royal College of Teachers to oversee QTS and professional development. And support the Teach First programme to attract high calibre graduates into teaching, in particular in STEM subjects.

– Establish a new National Leadership Institute to promote high-quality leadership targeting the most challenging schools in the UK.

– Get politics out of the classroom. We will give teachers more freedom over what they can teach by introducing a minimum curriculum entitlement – a slimmed down core national curriculum, which will be taught in all state-funded schools. As well as establish an Independent Educational Standards Authority (ESA) to remove ministerial interference in curriculum content and exam standards.

In Coalition the Liberal Democrats stopped the Conservatives cutting the schools budget. The scale of Conservative cuts in their plans is equivalent to axing four starter salary teachers in every school in England.

The Bury Lib Dem Election campaign is still set up and anymore donations would be very welcome.

The aim of our fundraising campaign is to make sure that every person in Bury has a chance to hear from our Liberal Democrats and our Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, Richard Baum (Bury North) and Paul Ankers (Bury South).

On the 7th May voters across Bury will go to the polls not only in local elections, but to elect two MPs to represent the town at a national level for the next 5 years.

We’re asking for your support to make sure that every household in Bury can get an election address from the Lib Dem team during this election.

Unlike the Conservatives we don’t have the support of big businesses. And unlike Labour we don’t have our bills paid by the trade unions. We rely on local donations to help us campaign in Bury.

Please Click here to access our election appeal page.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto puts opportunity at its heart and sets out a plan to ensure every child has a world-class education.

The party has announced a major new commitment to protect education funding for every child.

This means protecting education spending per pupil in real terms over the next parliament, increasing the education budget as a whole.

This commitment provides an extra £2.5bn of funding for 2-19yr olds by 2020.

This spending commitment will allow the Liberal Democrats to:

• Put a qualified teacher in every classroom.
• Recruit and retain more good teachers.
• Help schools to offer more one-to-one and small group tuition.
• Expand early years education as pupil numbers grow.

This funding will also help ensure we can meet our commitment that every child is able to read well by the age of 11.

The £2.5bn funding commitment is the equivalent of:

• 70,000 teachers, 10,000 learning support assistants and guarantees funding for the additional 460,000 children starting school through the parliament.

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg said:

“This manifesto is a blueprint for a stronger economy and a fairer society. At its heart is one word that is absolutely central to what Liberal Democrats believe: opportunity.

“We want to ensure that every child, no matter where they are born, the colour of their skin, or how rich their parents are, has the same opportunity to reach their potential.

“That’s why the Liberal Democrats are the party of education.

“At the last election, protecting schools spending and investing huge amounts of extra money towards the poorest pupils was one of our top priorities.

“I am immensely proud that we did just that in Government. But we won’t rest there. We are determined to make sure that every child in Britain has a world class education.”

Education Minister David Laws, chair of the Liberal Democrat manifesto group, added:

“This manifesto is a serious document from a party prepared to govern. It sets out a credible and deliverable liberal vision for Government that builds on our achievements in coalition.

“Liberal Democrats put spreading opportunity at the heart of the Coalition’s agenda.

“That’s why Liberal Democrats protected and invested in education. It’s why Liberal Democrats created a record 2m apprenticeships.

“And it’s why Liberal Democrats cut taxes for millions of working people and gave pensioners a generous rise in the state pension every year.”

Nominations have now closed and the list of candidates published for the local and general elections on 7 May 2015.

The Liberal Democrats have committed to spending £3.5bn more on mental health care in England over the next parliament.

The money would be spent on revolutionising children’s and adult mental health care including:
– £250m over five years for pregnant women and mums dealing with depression. This would include eight new mother and baby units providing inpatient care for pregnant women and new mums and 40 new community services helping new mums adjust to life at home with a new born.
– New waiting time standards for people in crisis and for conditions like bipolar disorder so that those who are ill know how long they have to wait.
– Hundreds of thousands more people will get access to talking therapies for anxiety and depression.

The Party has launched its ‘Manifesto for the Mind’ setting our our commitment to tackle mental ill health, and tackle the stigma and discrimination that people living with mental health concerns often face.

You can read our Manifesto for the Mind here.

You have probably noticed that there is an election coming up!

In Bury there are, in fact, TWO elections on 7th May 2015, and every voter will be given TWO SEPARATE VOTES:

– a GENERAL ELECTION vote to choose an MP for this area and who will form the next Government
– a LOCAL vote to choose one of your local councilors – someone who will stand up for your area at Bury Town Hall.

If you are not registered to vote you can register online up to 20 April 2015

Registerion is online and only takes a few minutes. You will need you National Insurance number to register online.

Register online here.

POSTAL VOTES
Many voters in our area now vote by post. This is simple and secure system where you receive your ballot papers in the post a couple of weeks before polling day, and post them back securely when you have completed them.

Anyone can choose to vote by post. Remember at the General Election in 2010 there were quewes outside some polling stations at busy times!

To apply for a postal vote you need to download and PRINT this form, and then send it back to the Council. These must be received before Wednesday 22 April 2015.

This year postal votes will be received from about 24 April 2015.

If you don’t have access to a printer, we can drop a form off for you – just email our team: organiser@burylibdems.net

A new charter aimed at kicking the mental health stigma out of sport has been launched by Nick Clegg.

Nick is being joined by a network of major sports organisations in blowing the whistle on mental health discrimination in sport.

For the first time ever a group of organisations including the Rugby Football Union, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Football Association will sign a charter committing to removing the stigma and prejudice around mental health from the pitch to the playground.

The Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation comes from a shared desire among national governing bodies of sport and players associations to raise awareness of mental health and to tackle the issues surrounding the discrimination of mental health in sport.

The launch of the charter marks a momentous day for mental health care in the UK. It is hoped that through the power of sport, we can help to bring mental health out to the forefront of debates on health issues and help put an end to people suffering in silence.

One in four people will experience a mental health illness in their lifetime and elite sportsmen and women are no exception.

The number of cricketers alone over the last three years seeking help for mental health-related issues has doubled year-on-year.

And during the same time period, the Professional Players Federation has doubled the number of counsellors for footballers due to an increasing demand.

Nick said:

“Whether it’s Wimbledon or the World Cup, the Olympics or the Open, we are a nation truly inspired by our sportsmen and women.

“But with one in four of us affected by mental illness in any year, we know that professional sportspeople are not immune.

“Out of the spotlight and away from the glare of the media, some have been fighting their own personal battles against mental illness.

“That’s why today is such a momentous day for the nation’s mental health.

“For the very first time we’re standing together to help kick mental health discrimination out of sport, not just on the pitches but across the playgrounds, so that we can build a fairer society in which no one has to suffer in silence.”

With exercise proven to be as effective as antidepressants for those with mild clinical depression, the charter will also encourage more people to take up sport to help with their mental and physical health.

The move follows a report from leading mental health charity MIND, in October last year, which called for a national network to tackle mental health in sport following an increasing number of testimonies from high profile sports people about their own mental health struggles.

The launch of the charter comes just days before the launch of the first ever access and waiting time standards as announced by Liberal Democrats in government to bring treatment for mental health problems on a par with physical health.

For the first time, from 5 April, most patients needing talking therapies – for conditions like depression – will be guaranteed the treatment they need in as little as 6 weeks, with a maximum wait of 18 weeks.

Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has said that Labour have no credibility on the economy.

Responding to an announcement made by Ed Balls stating that he would rule out an increase in VAT, Danny said:

“Labour have no credibility on the economy.  Ed Balls might be ruling out a rise in VAT but he can’t rule out a rise in National Insurance and already plans to hike Corporation Tax.

“Last time out Labour crashed the economy, increased taxes on jobs and raised taxes on the poorest by scrapping the 10p income tax rate.

“In contrast, we are restoring the economy to health and have strong growth with record employment.  And we have a track record of cutting income tax for millions of working people.

“Because the Liberal Democrats have taken the difficult decisions to stick to a balanced recovery, under our future plans there is no need to raise income tax, national insurance, VAT or corporation tax.

“And in contrast to Labour, we have a clear, comprehensive vision for the future.  We will finish the job of balancing the books by 2017/18, and will do so fairly.

“We will borrow less than Labour and cut less than the Tories. And once the books are balanced, our country can turn the corner and we can continue to invest in our public services, borrow sensibly for productive infrastructure projects and get our national debt down to sustainable levels.”

Our plans for the next Parliament include finishing the job of balancing the books by 2017/18 through a combination of tax increases and cuts in spending, ensuring that the job is finished fairly.

This balanced approach means the Liberal Democrats can protect vital public services like schools and hospitals while also looking after the most vulnerable in our society.

The party’s plans do not require any increase in the headline rates of taxation – Income Tax; National Insurance; VAT; or Corporation Tax.

Labour’s borrowing plans also add a further £4bn in interest payments to the national debt.

The Liberal Democrat approach to balancing the books fairly means that by 2019/20 we will have cut £50bn less from public spending than the Tories and borrowed £70bn less than Labour.