Fylde Liberal Democrats

It wasn't just Jo Stephenson's outstanding result that gave us somethin g to cheer about on 9th February. LibDem Lisa Samiotis took a seat from the Conservatives on South Northamptonshire District Council and at Northants County Council LibDem Chris Lofts repeated the achievement [See Tony Fords blog for details]. And it continues - on 16th February LibDem Roger Roberts held the seat on Sutton LBC.

Fantastic result by Liberal Democrat Jo Stephenson holding the Windermere Town seat on South Lakeland District Council with a massive 72.9% of the vote

As a cyclist, I welcome the announcement of £15m to boost cycling, including £8m for transport charity Sustrans to enhance cycle routes and £7m to make it easier for cyclists to use the railways. Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker's announcement comes at a crucial time. Just five days ago The Times launched a cycle campaign in response to the shocking increase in fatalities among cyclists on our roads.
Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee on Transport, Julian Huppert said: "Promoting cycling and green transport is the right thing to do and I am delighted Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government are taking action.

"It is absolutely essential people should be able to walk to work or cycle to school in a safe environment. The extra £8m for Sustrans will go a long way to achieving this.

I certainly welcome the £7m investment for improved rail-cycle links which will help to put passengers first. I hope that this will lead to investment in secure cycle storage at stations in the Fylde and especially St. Anne's station which is one of the busiest on the South Fylde Line.

The good news is that many congratulations are due to Liberal Democrat Simon White who won the by-election in Madeley Ward of Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council taking the seat from Labour. Simon increased his share of the vote by 21.7%. More good news is that last night we held our Annual Dinner and had the good fortune to hear Baroness Joan Walmsley talk about some of the fine & fascinating details of how the coalition, and the interaction between Lords & Commons, actually works. Many thanks to her, to Dahlias restaurant, and to our many friends who came to join in from ouitside Fylde. In this day & age our society is not big on detail, preferring teaspoonfuls of instant comment, headline, or whatever. But we have all fallen victim to the detail in fine print so perhaps we should give it more attention. We should thus all remember that Chris Huhne has been 'accused' and Britain has a tradition of innocent until proved guilty. The expected news is that he has already been condemned by the media who have provided almost saturation coverage. What a contrast to the treatment of the resignation of Liam Fox, whose indiscretion was proven & potentially nore serious. But then Dr Fox was a Tory.

Congratulations to LibDem candidate Marion Sweet, who took on and defeated the Conservative candidate by 58 votes to win a seat on the Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council.

Whatever Faith or none that you believe in, Fylde Liberal Democrats would like to wish all our visitors a very Happy Christmas and every good wish for 2012 when it comes. We'll be back after January 3rd 2012. Thanks for visiting.

Nick Clegg, speaking on today's Andrew Marr show said: " Whatever your views about the EU, to be a minority of one in a field of 27 is NOT a good result". "There is nothing 'Bulldog' about the UK hovering on the margins".

Setting aside the crowing & axe grinding of some print media & politicians, the more considered views expressed in a letter to the Financial Times from a London City financial executive deserve attention. He wrote: " The business model of the City only works if it works for the EU as a whole - - - the City can only maintain its ascendency in financial services as a fully committed member of the EU. Nothing could be more damaging to foreign investment in the UK & the City than the idea that the UK would leave the EU". We should not forget that the City is dominated by foreign banks which have absorbed most of the 'British' institutions. The FT Editorial warns that Cameron may well have worked against UK interests & put his goal of repatriating powers beyond reach. These commentators are the people the Cameron 'veto' was all supposed to be for.

There were just two by-elections on 1st December, both held by the Conservatives, but the good news was that Helen Groves increased the Lib Dem vote in the Brent Ward of Somerset CC by 17.4% taking 12% from the Conservatives and 5.4% from Labour. Hopefully voters are beginning to realise that Labour is not the place to go even if you are unhappy about things.