Following yesterdays Annual Meeting of Bury Council, Cllr Tim Pickstone, Leader of the  Liberal Democrat Group on Bury Council made the following statement:

“The Liberal Democrats have decided not to enter into a coalition with either party, and we remain a strong opposition on Bury Council”.

“The people of Bury have chosen the Conservatives to be the largest party on the Council. They will be forming a minority administration. We will decide on issues on an individual basis in the best interests of the people we represent and serve.” 

“Labour made it clear that they had no interest in running the Town Hall, just like they showed no interest in running the country. Maybe they want to avoid taking responsibility for tough decisions.” 

“The Liberal Democrat group will continue to put the needs of Bury before politics, and will continue to be an effective opposition to the Conservatives, and make every single Liberal Democrat vote in Bury count”.

After the election it was business as usual last night as I attended the Governing Body meeting of Heaton Park School.

The school was recently subjected to an Ofsted inspection and the Head, Paul Lord, was pleased to announce that they had achieved satisfactory status. I offered my congratulations to the Head teacher and his staff for all their hard work.

What was interesting also was the growing concern about what may be about to happen with spending cuts and how it will affect the school. Clearly after months of the political parties going on about the need for cuts, with a new Government formed there is a growing feeling that the first tranche of cuts are now imminent - indeed their will be an emergency budget on June 22nd.

Of course I received some gentle ribbing about being in a coalition etc. But so far as I am concerned it remains a case of wait and see, we are all in unchartered territory here, we all (perhaps except Labour), need it to work for the good of the country, so lets not pre-judge.

Congratulations to the organisers of this years Prestwich Clough Day, for another great event.

This years event was bigger and better than ever, taking up virtually all of St.Mary’s Flower park. And (for once) it stayed dry!

With several thousand visitors it is clearly a major local attraction now and going from strength to strength.

I always find it particularly satisfying to see so many young children enjoying tradition crafts and activities. I have never seen so many people watch a display of owls before, and then there was the screams and shouts from the youngsters watching the punch and judy.

But as ever it was an event for everyone from 9 to 90, here’s to Clough Day 2011!

For news of upcoming Prestwich Festival events visit www.prestwichfestival.net  

16 MAY PRESTWICH CLOUGH DAY
12.00 – 17.00 : St. Mary’s Flower Park, Bury New Road

Prestwich Festival kicks off in style on sunday with a fun filled afternoon for all the family. Whatever your age, from 1 yr – 90 yrs young there is something for everyone, with over 50 activities / exhibitors. Including 2 Brass bands, New Orleans Jazz Band, Morris Men, Falconry flying display, Punch & Judy, face painter and activities for children.

This years Clough Day promises to be bigger and better than ever, I hope to see you there!

More information at www.prestwichclough.co.uk

For information on forthcoming festival events go to www.prestwichfestival.net

The Coalition Policy Agreement has now been published and I am delighted to discover that it is full of Liberal Democrat policies.

Obviously by virtue of the fact that we (like the Conservatives) have had to compromise, there are policy issues that we are unable to put into practice at this time. Nevertheless it is a real chance to put into action the ideas that we have campaigned for over the last few weeks and in some cases for decades!

If this agreement holds, and I hope it does, then our two leaders will have changed politics for good and found a new way of governing, replacing the yah boo, confrontational politics with a more consensual approach, accentuating the common ground, the positives.It will of course remain a tremendous challenge for the coalition partners and in fact all political parties, it will be very interesting to see how Labour reacts for instance.

Below is a summary of the key headline policies so far as our key manifesto pledges were concerned. You can read the full coalition document here. 

A Fair Start for Children

·         Introduce a Pupil Premium to give all children a fair start.

Fairer taxes and Economic Reform

• A substantial increase in the personal allowance from April 2011 with a longer term policy objective of further increasing the personal allowance to £10,000, making further real terms steps each year towards this objective
• Reform of the banking system, ensuring a flow of lending to businesses and a Banking Levy. An independent commission on separating retail and investment banking.
• Capital Gains Tax reform

Fair Politics

• Fixed-term parliaments and a referendum on electoral reform for the House of Commons.
• A power of recall, allowing voters to force a by-election where an MP was found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing.
• A wholly or mainly elected House of Lords on the basis of proportional representation.
• Giving Parliament control of its own agenda so that all bills are properly debated.
• Enacting the Calman Commission proposals and a referendum on further Welsh devolution.
• A statutory register of lobbyists.
• A limit on political donations and reform of party funding in order to remove big money from politics.
• Radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups.

A fair and sustainable future

• Establish a smart electricity grid and the roll-out of smart meters.
• Establish feed-in tariff systems in electricity
• A huge increase in energy from waste through anaerobic digestion.
• The creation of a green investment bank.
• The provision of home energy improvement paid for by the savings from lower energy bills.
• Retention of energy performance certificates when HIPs are scrapped.
• Measures to encourage marine energy.
• The establishment of an emissions performance standard that will prevent coal-fired power stations being built unless they are equipped with sufficient CCS to meet the emissions performance standard.
• Establish a high-speed rail network.
• Cancel the third runway at Heathrow and refuse additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted.
• Replace the Air Passenger Duty with a ‘per plane’ duty.
• The provision of a floor price for carbon, as well as efforts to persuade the EU to move towards full auctioning of ETS permits.
• Make the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence.
• Promote green spaces and wildlife corridors in order to halt the loss of habitats and restore biodiversity.
• Reduce central government carbon emissions by 10 per cent within 12 months.
• Increase the target for energy from renewable sources.

Pensions

• Restoration of the earnings link for the basic state pension from April 2011 with a “triple guarantee” that pensions are raised by the higher of earnings, prices or 2.5%.
• Phase out the default retirement age and end the rules requiring compulsory annuitisation at 75.
• Implement the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman’s recommendation to make fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders.

Civil Liberties

• Scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the ContactPoint Database.
• Outlaw the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission.
• Extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency.
• Adopt the Scottish approach to stopping retention of innocent people’s DNA on the DNA database.
• Defend trial by jury.
• Restore rights to non-violent protest.
• A review of libel laws to protect freedom of speech.
• Safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation.
• Further regulation of CCTV.
• Ending of storage of internet and email records without good reason.
• A new mechanism to prevent the proliferation of unnecessary new criminal offences.
• End the detention of children for immigration purposes.

About 12.45 last night I had to accept that we were now in a coalition with the Conservatives.

The moment had arrived when following the endorsement of the Lib Dem parliamentary party and Federal Executive Committee, Nick Clegg stood in Lib Dem HQ and said that the Lib Dems had joined a full coalition with the Conservatives.

I think up to that point I had been in a sort of trance/state of shock or even denial. After all it isn’t easy dealing with the fact that the party you have fought against and opposed for the past 30 years are now your partners in government!

But that was all but ordained by the electorate when no one party was able to command a majority after last thursday. People want us to work together for the common good, and that’s what we have got to do.

But as the dust settles on a new era with a new politics emerging it has become clear that many Lib Dem manifesto pledges have been accepted, as have some long standing Lib Dem committments. And as I said yesterday it has to be about the issues and how we tackle them. If this is to work we have to look past party labels and develop trust and good working relationships amidst a joint committment to make Britain a better place to live.

Anything less would be damnable, anything less will mean the coalition will fail. If this works though I am confident that this historic parliament will see Britain through some difficult times and change the way we are governed for ever.

Here’s to a sustainable economy, fair votes, fair taxation, improved education and a more liberal Britain.

“Tonight the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and the Federal Executive of the Liberal Democrat party have overwhelmingly accepted my recommendation that we should now enter into a coalition government with the Conservative Party.

“Before I say anything more about that coalition government I would like to express my thanks and admiration for Gordon Brown. He has been a towering figure in British politics for well over a decade. And the manner in which he has acted over the last few days has demonstrated immense dignity, grace and a profound sense of his public duty.

“We are now going to form a new government More importantly than anything else, we are going to form a new kind of government; I hope this is the start of a new kind of politics I have always believed in. Diverse, plural, where politicians with different points of view find a way to work together to provide the good government for the sake of the whole country deserves.

“That was what we were asked to do by the people of Britain in the General Election last Thursday and that is what we will deliver.

“I want to thank David Cameron for the very open, constructive and workmanlike way in which we have come together to make this agreement on how we can come together in this coalition government. We are obviously politicians from different parties. I believe we are now united in seeking to meet the immense challenges that now face the country and to deliver a fairer, better Britain.

“Of course there will be problems along the way; of course there will be glitches. But I will always do my best to prove that new politics isn’t just possible – it is also better.

“I’d like to say something directly to the nearly seven million people who supported the Liberal Democrats in the General Election last week. I am now acutely aware that I carry your hopes and aspirations into this coalition agreement.
I am sure you have many questions, maybe many doubts. But I can assure you I would not have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced it was a unique opportunity to deliver the changes you and I believe in.

Fair taxes.

A fair start in life for every child.

A new approach to our discredited banking system and the prospect of green and sustainable economic growth.

And new, open politics which you can trust once again.

“So I hope you will now keep faith with us let us prove to you that we can serve this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do. And with total dedication to the interests and livelihoods of everyone in this country.”

…..but as with everything the devil will be in the detail. Remember the manifesto pledges, remember the issues and the crisis the country faces.

There’s a lot of talk in the media about the various party leaders and who gets on best with who. And then on top of that some people are saying they don’t want Brown/Cameron etc.

We have to remember firstly that we did not have a presidential election last thursday. we didn’t vote for a party leader we voted for local representatives who would then appoint a Prime Minister from amongst them - usually from the party that has the majority of votes.

But crucially all parties had published manifestos, which received wide coverage, analysis and scrutiny. People heard what the parties had to say on the big issues and didn’t overwhelmingly endorse any one party.

So now we are negotiating for a stable Government to take the country forward in difficult times. All three main parties are duty bound to negotiate to get the best deal based not upon personalities but on their manifesto committments and the decisions that need to be taken.

To some this situation seems chaotic, to others, myself included, it’s just part of the process of forming a Government, and so long as it doesn’t drag on too much further, it will not harm the economy and will ensure we have a Government with a programme for the next parliament.

With the polls closing on thursday evening in the past it would have been around 2.30 or 3am when one side would have conceded defeat.

However as the people have ordained that no one party should have overall power in this balanced parliament we are now being subjected to a slow motion result, with teams of negotiators meeting up, reporting back and getting feedback etc.

I do believe from what I have witnessed that the whole process does seem to be being conducted in a spirit of responsibility and for the good of the country as a whole with the current crisis we face.

Even the Labour Party, who could be forgiven (to a degree) for not playing ball, seem to be playing their part in a constructive approach to the transfer of power and the formation of a new Government.

For me it shows that no one need fear balanced parliaments in future, with the so-called “horse trading” the tabloids condemned balanced parliaments for creating.

It’s still too early to see what the result of these negotiations will be . What is clear is that it won’t be easy for any of the protagonists. They are being asked to do the right thing by the country, keep their parties happy and at the same time ensure that those that backed them in the poll in their millions don’t feel betrayed.

Its a tough one. But then the stakes don’t get much higher.