Jason Bourne

Last week, Lib Dem Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable announced sweeping changes to the way in which top-level executives have their pay and bonuses decided. This change, described by the government as the ‘most comprehensive reforms of the governance framework for directors’ remuneration in a decade’, will:

• Give company shareholders binding votes on both executive-pay policy and exit payments (the amount of money an executive receives if they resign or leave their contract early)
• Boost transparency – allowing the link between pay and performance to be clearly drawn
• Ensure that the reforms have a lasting impact by keeping the shareholders in the driving seat and maintaining their recent boardroom activism

We can be proud that the biggest tax cuts in today’s Budget go to millions of working families.

As a result of this Budget, someone working a full week on minimum wage will see their income tax bill cut by over 50% compared to under Labour.

Increasing the personal allowance to £9,205 takes us within touching distance of our number one manifesto pledge – ensuring no one pays any tax on the first £10,000 they earn.

Thanks to our changes, a basic rate taxpayer will be paying £45 a month less in tax than they would have been under Labour.

We can be proud that we’ve ensured the richest in our society will be paying more, much more.

The Tycoon Tax, an increase in stamp duty for high value properties and other new taxes on wealth will raise five times as much as the 50p tax rate. Those with annual incomes of more than £150,000 a year will be paying on average an additional £1,300 a year in tax, as a result of this Budget.

Of course, this is a Coalition Budget and we did not get our own way on everything. Conservative priorities are not ours. But as on so many other issues, we have made sure that there is a real Liberal Democrat stamp on this Budget.

Lower taxes for more than 20 million working people; effective new taxes on the rich.

This is a Budget we can be proud of – a Budget for the many, not the few.

Best wishes,

New Lib Dem plans will protect our local Post Offices after years of Labour cuts.
Your Focus Team is pleased that the Liberal Democrats in government are delivering on another one of their promises.
Under Labour 5,000 Post Offices were closed.
The Lib Dem plan will see the Post  Office:
 Becoming a One-stop shop.
 A central point of our community life again.
 Investing £1.3 billion into the Post Office Network, protecting the 11,500 remaining Post Offices.
 Having more services.
 Offering information for jobseekers,
 Access to over 80% of bank accounts including RBS and NatWest.
 Longer opening hours.
 Post Office services being offered at the shop till.
 Small, local shops providing some Post Office services.

The Transport Secretary has announced the network option the Government prefers for taking high-speed rail north of Birmingham.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport Norman Baker has welcomed the announcement to include a ‘Y’ shaped network providing links to the Midlands, North West and the North East.

Norman Baker said “The ‘Y’ link will mean the great majority of the British population will have direct access to the high speed network will deliver major economic benefits totaling many millions to the economies  in the North.”

”It is a clear demonstration of this government’s commitment to creating jobs and prosperity, by investing in capital infrastructure like high speed rail and continue to ensure a fair deal for the North”.

The so-called “Y option” has been chosen, meaning two high-speed lines will branch out north of Birmingham at Lichfield with a line towards Sheffield, Leeds and the East Coast mainline and a line towards Manchester and the West Coast mainline.

Journey times between Leeds and London and Manchester and London will be slashed by forty minutes from around two hours and ten minutes to 80 minutes.

Report from your local representative on the Liberal Democrat Party conference in Liverpool.