Fylde Liberal Democrats

Many congratulations to Liberal Democrat Philip Lower who fought off Labour to retain the Castle Ward by-election seat on Newcastle upon Tyne MBC.

This is all very complicated but let's not worry the fine details. The issue is very simple. The UK government has imposed (all by itself - no input from the EU) a new carbon floor price, which came into effect on 1st April 2013. Firms will be charged £16 per tonne of CO2 for fuels used for power generation this year. Europe's emissions trading system (ETS) is the largest in the world and can claim to be driving down CO2 emissions from power stations by 1.74% each year. The European Commission wanted to make adjustments to the ETS. This was expected only to raise the carbon price to the €8-10/tonne figure that existed last September. Note that even with this increase the price is MUCH LOWER than the UK and this puts British firms at a financial disadvantage. Nowadays this sort of thing has to go to the European Parliament. It should be a no brainer that UK MEPs would vote FOR the proposal thus helping UK firms to be more competitive. What happened? The no- brainers in UKIP and the Tories helped DEFEAT the proposal thus harming British industry, and, in the case of the Tories, going against the policies of their own Government. The ETS Carbon price promptly fell to €2. Well done UKIP & Tories - such patriotic action deserves obliteration at the polls.

Liberal Democrat President, Tim Farron MP, said: " Just on Council Tax benefit, it's interesting that Liberal Democrats are doing the right thing in difficult times. Where I'm sitting now in Kendal, where the Liberal Democrats run the District Council, what we've done is stick up the second home council tax for very wealthy people who don't live here and nobody is getting any cut in their Council Tax benefit whatsoever." Regular readers will remember that on April 9th we noted that there is growing evidence that some Labour & Conservative controlled Councils are using their budget powers to make life more difficult for the poorest people. Remember that on May 2nd.

Recently Nick Clegg announced support for the 'Preston City Deal' led by Lancashire County Council and Preston City Council. This is expected to lead to some 23000 new jobs; 15000 new houses; and £10bn of economic growth over the next decade. This is real economics - not the fantasy land proposed by UKIP. A major plank in dealing with the disparities in economic performance between regions is the creation of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP). Several have been established in the North West. The Lancashire LEP, Chaired by Edwin Booth, is particularly active. Commenting on the Preston City Deal Mr. Booth said "The indications are that this is one of the most advanced of the 20 bids put forward for consideration, which suggests Lancashire could be among the first to capitalise on the benefits of the City Deal. The priority now must be to work with government to sign the deal as soon as possible and begin to turn what is an extremely significant proposal into a reality for residents and businesses across Lancashire."

At the launch of the first phase of the Business Bank on 10th April Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable, [ pictured] said: "Small and medium-sized businesses are still telling me that access to finance is their number one problem, preventing them from investing and growing.That's why, through the business bank, we are developing a range of measures to provide businesses with the power to choose the type of finance that suits them. Today's £300m boost shows we are serious about increasing competition and diversity in the business lending market. Establishing a lasting business bank institution is a long-term project, but getting this money reaching SMEs as soon as possible is the first step." Ministers said they expected the first transactions would take place by the autumn, although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were urged to submit an expression of interest by 22 May. This is the first slice of £1bn of new capital. The announcement was welcomed by the British Chambers of Commerce; the Federation of Small Businesses and the Confederation of British Industry

Conservatives are claiming credit in some of their local council literature for the rise in Tax thresholds which is putting some £600 into the pockets of the lowest earners. Labour has suddenly developed an enthusiasm for the mansion tax. Both are Liberal Democrat ideas or policies but we don't mind. We are used to it. The important thing is to get it right. What would be good, is if the Conservative part of the coalition thought a bit harder before rushing off to do, usually, the wrong thing. Bill Winlow [pictured] draws attention to the so called 'bedroom tax' & the nonsense of how can you move when there is nowhere to move to? He also notes that Communities Secretary, Conservative Eric Pickles, has had to modify his policy on home extensiions (please look at Bill's blog to the left of this page for details).

Great news! Suzanne, a 38 Degrees member, has got a meeting with Owen Paterson, Environment Minister, on 19th April to take him a 150000+ signature petition about the pesticides blamed for killing British bees. British bees still need our help! Last time the Minister, despite ample scientific evidence and the conclusions of even a committee of his fellow MPs, refused to vote in favour of stopping these pesticides. The MPs said Owen Paterson's approach is "extraordinarily complacent". Changing his mind won't be easy. There has been furious lobbying from the big pesticide companies. But his refusal to act is beginning to look very out of touch with science and public opinion. He talks a lot about protecting our bees, but his actions seem to do nothing but protect the pesticide industry's profits. If you have not already signed this petition it is not too late.

Thanks to tit for tat politiking by Labour & Conservatives, plans to reform Britain's 'chilling' libel laws to prevent businesses and politicians silencing their critics risk being derailed. Nothing new there. They did similar opportunistic squabbling over House of Lords reform. Never mind what is best for Britain and its people.

The Coalition Government has announced a £4.2m boost for school sports in Lancashire from September. Every state primary school in the County will receive funding for sports in 2013/14 and 2014/15. See Bill Winlow's blog via the link to the left of this page for details.

Many congratulations to LibDem Alan Michael Skepelhorn who, at a by-election on 10th April, retained the seat of Wigmore Ward on Luton Borough Council. He achieved a 3% swing away from Labour & UKIP came fourth.