Lib Dems saving our Post Offices

Post Office sign 

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.

Lib Dems Welcome High Speed Rail Link Announcement

HS2 Train imageThe 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.

Liberal Democrat Party Conference Report

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

Nick Clegg rally image

What a busy week it’s been. It’s the first time (since the 1930s) where the Liberal Democrats have been a Party of Government, and as a result there was more media interest, and interest from “lobbyists” and pressure groups. As a result this was by far the largest Lib Dem (or Liberal) conference in living memory – apparently over 7000 delegates, guests, press, lobbyists and staff!Conference is a busy mix of debates, speeches, training and “fringe” events. So there was no shortage of events to keep the six delegates from Bury busy throughout the week.Conference kicked off on Saturday with a Conference “rally” with Nick Clegg MP launching the Liberal Democrat support for the “Fairer Votes” referendum next May (when voters decide whether to switch to the fairer Alternative Vote (AV) system of electing MPs). Some of the team went on to the 2010 Campaigner Awards organised by the Association of Lib Dem Councillors recognising Lib Dem campaign success in the last year.Sunday saw Q&A with the Deputy Prime Minister, where ordinary Party members got an opportunity to ask Nick about his role in Government. (Listen to a podcast (recording) of the Q&A here.) Debates in the main conference hall included an important debate on International Development where Lib Dems re-affirmed our long standing commitment to richer countries donating 0.7% of their GDP to the developing world.Monday was dominated by the Leader’s speech. Normally we have this at the end of Conference, but Nick Clegg had to go to address the United Nations! You can read the full text here, of the speech here where the Leader sets out how the Liberal Democrats are delivering on our manifesto commitments in Government. The main debate in the hall was on “Free” Schools but also a busy day for delegates training – everything from being a better councillor to communicating well with local people.Tuesday’s main speech was from Deputy Leader Simon Hughes MP. Delegates passed a resolution calling for equality in the laws around marrage (for mixed-sex and same-sex couples). On Wednesday the main speech for the media was Vince Cable (read here), and delegates reaffirmed Party policy that the replacement of Trident missiles should be reconsidered.Some in the media probably expected this first conference “in Government” to be a difficult one for the Liberal Democrats. Our experience was the exact opposite:At long last Liberal Democrats are delivering on our promises for a fairer Britain, a fair start for children, sorting out the economy and cleaning up politics.Thousands of new members have joined the Liberal Democrats this year. There was a real “buzz” that this is a Party which is up to the challenge of Government and clearing up the mess left by Labour.And Liberal Democrats are succeeding in real elections. Since the General Election Liberal Democrats have been making gains in the many local council by-elections that happen every week – including seven gains from the Conservatives!There is more information on Conference on the national Party website www.libdems.org.uk.

Wear it Pink campaign

Your Liberal Democrat Focus team are supporting the ‘Wear it Pink’ campaign, and we will be ‘Wearing Pink’ on October 29th. If you would like to be involved follow this link or click on one of the banners below. 

Wear it Pink

Why take part in wear it pink?

When you wear it pink you’re part of something amazing – finding a cure for breast cancer, by funding some of the world’s most promising and innovative research projects. The money you have raised in the past has helped to fund projects like Dr Ingunn Holen’s award-winning research, which found that if two drugs were given in a particular order at specific intervals, breast tumours were almost completely destroyed. This discovery could ultimately lead to improved chances of survival for thousands of women undergoing treatment.

Why is Breast Cancer Campaign’s work important?

Breast cancer research has made considerable progress over the past two decades and vital work is still underway. Past research has resulted in improvements in quality of life and survival. However, one woman in nine in the UK will be diagnosed during her lifetime. Each research project funded by the charity brings us a step closer to beating breast cancer.

Where does my wear it pink donation go?

Breast Cancer Campaign uses all wear it pink donations to fund innovative, world-class research throughout the UK and Ireland to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.The charity currently supports around 106 projects worth £16.3 million in 38 centres across the UK and Ireland.

 Wear it Pink more info logo

Find ‘Wear it Pink’ on:

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Want to grow fruit or vegetables but don’t have a garden…

Fruit and vegetables image 

This could be your chance…

Landshare logo

Landshare brings together people who have a passion for home-grown food.It’s for people who:

·        Want to grow veg but don’t have anywhere to do it

·        Have a spare bit of land they’re prepared to share

·        Can help in some way – from sharing knowledge and lending tools to helping out on the plot itself

·        Support the idea of freeing up more land for growing

·        Are already growing and want to join in the community

Landshare came out of TV’s River Cottage. It began when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall helped some Bristol families grow veg on derelict council land. The experience was so inspiring that River Cottage decided to see if it would work nationwide. Now Landshare is a national movement of more than 50,000 people, go to their web site by clicking here.

It began with the tiny seed of an idea – and it’s growing and growing

Pakistan Flooding Continues

17 million people already affected… 

  

Floodwaters are still rising in Pakistan; the area covered to date is larger than the UK. These are the worst floods in many decades, they began a month ago with the rain hammering the country’s northwest region, over 1,600 people have died and the floods are affecting over 17 million people with 1.2 million houses being destroyed, leaving an estimated 8 million people homeless. The waters are now spreading through the rice-growing belt in Sindh province, 4.25 million acres of land and crops have been destroyed or extensively damaged. The scale of the disaster is overtaking the relief efforts and more aid is needed urgently to help the millions of people affected.Please donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Pakistan Floods Appeal by clicking here or by phone on 0370 60 60 900.