Local MP, Ivan Lewis has today joined the growing public in-fighting and (pre-leadership) posturing that seems to be the summer pastime of a growing number of Labour MP’s.

In a public statement he has called on Brown to be “less timid”, he added that people wanted assurances that Labour was “on their side”.

PANS, KETTLES, BLACK

He needs to take a long hard look at his own representation of local people.

IRAQ – Local people said its illegal, and most opposed – He supported

POST OFFICES – Local people want them kept open – He supports closure.

FAIRFIELD MATERNITY – People protested against closure plans – SO did he – then he announced that its probably for the best!

For 11 years local people have been crying out for an MP that will stand up for them at Westminster but instead they have an MP that justifies everything this Government does however damaging it is to local people.

He says its time for “bold” Labour. Actualy Ivan, it’s time you were less “timid” in standing up for people. I suspect that after 11 years that’s unlikely to happen. Labours problem isn’t that Brown is timid, or Labour needs to be bold, its that Labour is a tired party and a tired Government (remember Major?), and they no longer know what they stand for.

There just isn’t any reason why anyone should vote Labour anymore. It’s time for a change – A Liberal Democrat change.

Today Centrica, the parent company of British Gas have announced that their profits have dropped by 20%. This comes the day after British Gas announced that domestic gas charges would increase by 35% – no doubt the former had an affect on the latter.

That all sounds almost reasonable until you consider that Centrica’s reduced profits meant they ”only” made just under £1 billion in profits.

SICK JOKE

With 2.5 million people in or nearing fuel poverty (where 10% or more of your income goes out the door in energy bills), the British Gas increase amounts to nothing more than a sick joke.

Its time the Government took decisive action to protect those facing fuel povertybefore we get into the autumn and winter months. We need a series of initiatives that enable those struggling with energy bills to continue to use their energy supply. We need tarrifs that meet peoples needs and we need energy companies to look after their customers as well as their shareholders and a Government determined to ensure that they face up to their responsibilities.

Let’s pray it’s a mild winter!

Government figures have today confirmed that under the “Early release  scheme” 31,500 have been released early in the schemes first year.

MANY VIOLENT OFFENDERS

Included in the scheme were 6000 violent offenders, 8 sex offenders, 2 convicted terrorists and 739 Robbers.

Clearly the Governments “tough on crime” policy has come back to mug them. Now they are desperately trying to build more prisons to accomodate the largest prison population in western Europe and to no doubt “re-house” the many that have been released early when they commit further offences!

A complete and utter pigs ear!

We need restorative justice, we need proper, logical sentencing policy ( and yes life should mean life!), modernised prisons and community sentences for non-violent minor offenders. And we need to ensure that when someone goes to prison for the first time , they don’t come out with a whole new set of criminal skills. We need prisons that put people away from society for a proper proportionate sentence but tries to ensure that if they have to go back into society they are less likely to re-offend – not more likely.

A top Bury Liberal Democrat today criticised the government after Bury Council revealed that only two secondary schools in Bury received a full set of exam marks before the end of term. Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesman for Bury South, said “Local Children have been let down. It is a tragedy that after all the hard work of the children and their teachers, the government has stood back and watched whilst papers remain unmarked, lost, or marked wrongly.”The figures paint a picture of chaos across the Borough. Only two secondary schools in Bury have a full set of marked papers in Maths, English and Science at Key Stage 3.

Elton High School and Derby High School reported only 1% of its English papers had been marked by July 22nd. At Prestwich Arts College, less than two thirds of English papers were marked, and some maths results were also missing.  Vic D’Albert added “This is a disgraceful neglect of duty by the government, and I feel so sorry for the children who’s hard work has so far gone unrewarded. The government should be running effective exam systems that prepare our children well, but this chaos will make planning for GCSEs all the more difficult for schools.” Local primary schools have also suffered. High Lane school reported only 6% of papers in English marked, whilst Emanuel school in Holcombe was missing all of its Science papers. Vic D’Albert said, “The chaos that is so evident with these tests just shows that the system is broken. The government’s desire for central control means that Bury schools are swamped
with red-tape. And yet the government can’t even get the marking right. I will be campaigning hard for an enquiry to make sure that this mess doesn’t happen again. Our focus must always be on supporting local children and the teachers that have such a positive influence on their lives. Both children and teachers can rightly feel let down, and I will strive to make sure that this can’t happen again.”

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury are calling for tougher action against those caught selling knives to children and young people. 

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South made the call after being sent figures for prosecutions that were uncovered in Parliament by Chris Huhne MP, the party’s Shadow Home Secretary. 

The figures reveal that:

• Only 71 people have been successfully prosecuted for selling knives to children in the last five years
• None were sent to prison and only one was given a community sentence
• 56 people were fined, but 21 of them were given fines of less than £200

“This is a completely inadequate deterrent to unscrupulous shop keepers who flout the law to sell these weapons to children and young people,” said Vic D’Albert. 

“These tiny fines and a lack of custodial punishment is the wrong signal to those who profit from the illegal sale of knives. 

“These figures are particularly worrying as they came to light only days after the release of other figures showing 2294 serious crimes in Greater Manchester area involved a knife in 2007/8. Knife crime is 20% of all serious crimes taking place here. 

“These figures do not record children and young people separately but they do show that knife crime is a serious problem. It is too easy for children and young people to get hold of knives. Too many are being drawn into a culture of carrying and using knives. 

“Liberal Democrats believe that the courts must take a much stronger stand against those who are fuelling knife crime by illegally selling knives to children and young people. 

“Cutting the supply of knives will be one of the most effective ways to reducing knife crime in the first place.”

A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward of Prestwich as detailed below:-

Application number: 50284 Type of application: Full Date Registered: 24/07/2008

Applicant: Mr Peter Huxley
Location: 3 DROUGHTS FARM COTTAGE, DROUGHTS LANE, SIMISTER, M25 2ST
Proposal: FIRST FLOOR/TWO STOREY EXTENSION AT SIDE; FRONT PORCH

Plans will be available to view on the Council’s website within 2 working days from the date of this web post. Should you require further details please contact the case officer: Tom Beirne on: 0161 253 5361. Alternatively for further advice and assistance please don’t hesitate to contact either myself or local colleagues.

Apologies to any regular readers. For the past week our Web host providers have had what appears to be some kind of meltdown on their Server. As a result it was impossible to access our web sites.
But thankfully now things are on the mend , as this post testifies, however you may experience slow loading of pages for a short while.

Vic

A leading local Lib Dem has slammed the Post Office’s consultation on Post Office closures as a “sham” . Accusing the Post Office in collusion with the Government of an exercise in the “politics of deception”.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South said, “It is clear that the current consultation exercise is nothing more than a sham. The Post Office are insisting that they will close 2500 Post Offices and are basically taking the view , “If you want to keep a Post Office open – tell us which one to close”. That’s not consultation. The Post Office have made it clear they will only listen to suggestions for Post Office closures and are effectively just asking “Which 2500 Post Offices shall we close”.

Under the proposals 5 Post Offices are to close in Bury – in Radcliffe, Greenmount, Elton, Rochdale Road and Walmersley Road. The consultation period closes on July 26th.

Vic D’Albert added, “These Post Offices are vital community assets and residents have made it clear that they don’t want to see any close in this area. But the Post Office are not listening. In collusion with this Labour Government they are practicing the politics of deception. With talk of investment and “network change”, which when translated really means cuts – cuts to public services to improve their business profits.

Local Lib Dems have collected about 500 signatures to their petition opposing Post Office closures – which has been sent to the Post Office.

Liberal Democrats in Bury have welcomed the launch of the Liberal Democrats’ vision for Britain by Party Leader Nick Clegg MP. Called ‘Make it Happen’, the paper will be debated at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in September. In ‘Make it Happen’ the Liberal Democrats say: 

       ·         They will cut taxes for ordinary families

• If your local hospital can’t see you on time, they will pay for treatment elsewhere

• They will switch taxes from people to pollution – so it pays to go green

• To improve standards in education, they will fund extra help for those who need it most

• They will put Britain at the heart of Europe to make us a force for good in the world

• They will stop ID cards so we can keep control of our privacy

• They will change the voting system so everyone’s voice counts

• They will bring communities together with local people in charge

       ·         They will give communities a say in how offenders pay for their crimes 

Vic D’Albert, Bury South Parliamentary spokesperson said, “I am delighted to be able to back ‘Make it Happen’. It sets out how the Liberal Democrats will run Britain. “No resident of Bury has escaped the rising cost of food and fuel. The credit crunch is biting hard and local people are feeling the pinch. “Nick Clegg has set out how we can help ordinary people through cutting taxes on those on low and middle incomes. Thousands of people in Bury will benefit from this.  “We are taking the plans in ‘Make it Happen’ to the people of Bury during the summer to get their response.  And in September, we will be heading to the Liberal Democrats’ conference where we are looking forward to taking part in the debate.

” ‘Make it Happen’ is available at: http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/Make%20it%20Happen.pdf 

Last nights Town Hall meeting of the HCSC concentrated on presentations and reports covering aspects of delivering improved health and treatment facilities in the area of the next decade.

Three presentations: World Class Commissioning, Adult Commissioning Strategy 2008-2023 and Bury’s learning Disability Commission Strategy.

Focused on ways of ensuring improved health outcomes from NHS treatments/diagnostics and care. I won’t bore you with the minutae but ifthe NHS is your thing minutes will shortly be available from the council web site or I will be happy to share the information I have.

I think it’s fair to say there was concern amongst councillors that these aspirational documents would actually come to fruition and that there would be sufficient resources available to bring about the improvements we all want to see locally.

In addition I raised concerns about providing adequate services and meeting the needs of the very elderly in our communities. I said we need to ensure there is real choice for residents between being able to remain in their own home for as long as they can and then modern residential accomodation that meets their aspirations when they choose not to stay in their own home. I stressed the need to progress to providing access to a large section of the population not just the “lucky” few. “It’s no use providing a first class service to few its about numbers”.

There was also a report on Community Access Treatment centres being developed. These aim to bring diagnostic and assessment services nearer people – making services more accessable. One recently opened in Sunnybank. It is hoped that they will able to deliver a growing range of services as they develop.

I took the opportunity to raise concerns about the provision of dental services. In response to a question I was told that they would not be delivering general dentistry services. I think this is a great pity and a missed opportunity.

Any questions etc , please don’t hesitate to get in touch.