South Dorset Liberal Democrats
Campaigning for South Dorset
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South Dorset Liberal Democrats Campaigning for South Dorset |
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| <info@southdorsetlibdems.org.uk> | South Dorset Liberal Democrats | 11th March 2010 |
Liberal Democrats Respond to Cameron & Brown's wooing6.00.00pm GMT Tue 16th Feb 2010
The Liberal Democrats are planning to rule out forming a coalition government with either the Conservatives or Labour if Nick Clegg holds the balance of power in a hung parliament after the general election. As Whitehall's most senior civil servants and Buckingham Palace make detailed preparations to clarify the Queen's role in the event of a hung parliament, senior Lib Dems are making clear that Clegg has no interest in taking cabinet posts and would focus instead on winning support for four key Lib Dem demands. Clegg would be prepared to throw a lifeline to the Conservatives or Labour by allowing either party to pass a Queen's speech if the aspiring government makes concessions in the four areas, described as the Lib Dem "shopping list": • Investing extra funds in education through a pupil premium for disadvantaged children. • Tax reform, taking 4 million out of tax and raising taxes on the rich by requiring capital gains and income to be taxed at the same rate. • Rebalancing of the economy to put less emphasis on centralised banking and more on a new greener economy. • Political reforms, including changes to the voting system and a democratically elected Lords, that go further than proposed by Labour. Clegg would give the minority government a chance to deliver and would not expect his demands to be met in full by the time of the Queen's speech, the first major parliamentary test of a new administration. "People expect stable government," one aide said. "It is right to assume that if one party has a mandate it should have a crack at governing. If no party has a majority, then people will need to talk to each other." An ally says of the "shopping list": "You can wield influence without being in government. You could even negotiate a programme for government through a Queen's speech with 40 to 50% of your ideas taken up, or negotiate on individual bills." Clegg is opposed to forming a coalition because aides and senior MPs argue it would be highly dangerous for the Liberal Democrats to become minority partners in a coalition government on the grounds that the majority party could manipulate the timing of the next election to suit it. The Lib Dems have long campaigned for fixed terms at Westminster to deprive the prime minister of the initiative on election timing. The preparations for a hung parliament, in which no party secures an overall majority over all the others, have intensified as some opinion polls show a narrowing of the Tory lead. The Guardian reveals today that Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, is distributing 1974 memos written by a predecessor, Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, which sets out the rules for how Downing Street and Buckingham Palace would handle a hung parliament. This could allow for what some No 10 officials are dubbing the "Miliband option", in which the Queen asks the foreign secretary to form a government if he is more acceptable as Labour leader to the Lib Dems. This is, however, seen as highly unlikely. The Tories are making plans for two elections this year amid fears in their ranks that David Cameron may fail to secure a majority first time. Senior Conservatives are so convinced they may face a hung parliament that they are looking carefully at the experience of the Scottish National party, which governs in Scotland as a minority government. The Tories, who have won pro-business concessions by supporting every SNP budget, are increasingly optimistic that they would be able to come to an arrangement with the Liberal Democrats over a summer emergency budget, especially since it now seems unlikely it will contain big spending cuts to be implemented in 2010-11. Private discussions have also been held between senior Labour and Liberal Democrat figures. It is understood Labour accepts that Clegg will not sanction any discussions in advance of the election on the basis that this would only drive some potential Liberal Democrat support to the Tories. Clegg believes the Conservatives would adopt a cautious approach in any opening Queen's speech if they did not have a clear majority. He expects them to focus on schools reform, an issue on which the Tories and the Liberal Democrats have much in common. The Liberal Democrats are determined to ensure their election campaign is not dominated by talk of coalitions and a hung parliament. Clegg's four-point plan, which will form the basis of his election campaign, will be used to deflect the inevitable questions about what the Lib Dems would do in a hung parliament. The party will just say it will press for its four points to be implemented. Clegg believes the economy is a crucial element. Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, has set five tests to judge when Britain should cut the deficit. Unlike the Conservatives, he would not start cutting the deficit in 2010-11, but he would try to reduce it more quickly than Labour would. Clegg's instinct appears to be that Labour needs a period in opposition, and he would be reluctant to keep a Gordon Brown-led Labour party in government. One MP said: "We don't want to be tied to a rotting corpse." (Guardian Newspapers 15.2.10)
Read "Liberal Democrats Respond to Cameron & Brown's wooing". PROTECTING OUR GREEN FUTURE IN PORTLAND/ SUPPORTING COMMUNITY EDUCATION IN SWANAGE12.25.00pm GMT Wed 13th Jan 2010
BREAKING NEWS ....Ros has been campaigning hard with community groups in Portland to prevent a biofuel plant and Swanage to push through plans to build a new secondary school. Read her speeches to the County and Borough Councils by clicking on the Recent Speeches link to the left.
Read "PROTECTING OUR GREEN FUTURE IN PORTLAND/ SUPPORTING COMMUNITY EDUCATION IN SWANAGE". Nick Clegg puts fairness at the heart of the Liberal Democrat manifesto6.00.00pm GMT Mon 11th Jan 2010
Today, Nick Clegg set out the priorities that will be at the heart of the Party's election manifesto. The value that connects everything the party wants to achieve is fairness. There are four priorities for how the Liberal Democrats will make Britain a fairer place: fair taxes; a fair start for every child; fair, clean and local politics; and a fair, green economy with jobs that last. The first priority is to introduce fair taxes, with radical proposals for the biggest tax reform in generations. The Liberal Democrats will close loopholes for the richest and introduce a tax on mansions to fund tax cuts of £700 for everyone else. No-one will pay income tax on the first £10,000 they earn, meaning millions of low earners and pensioners will stop paying taxes altogether, while millions more will get hundreds of pounds back in their pockets. Only the Liberal Democrats will make taxes permanently fair.
The next priority is to give every child the fair start they deserve through a huge transformation of our education system that will build the foundations of fair society. That means cutting class sizes so children get the individual attention they need to thrive. The Liberal Democrats will be putting an extra £2.5 billion into schools to pay for more teachers, better discipline and catch-up classes so children get the individual attention they all need. This means an average of £2,500 extra per pupil for the schools teaching the million most deprived children in the country, funded by taking above-average earners out of the tax credit system and cutting wasteful programmes at the Department for Education. The Liberal Democrats will also phase out tuition fees over the course of six years, so that, after school, everyone who gets the grades has the opportunity to go to university without fear of debt, no matter what their background.
Thirdly, the Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to real change of our political system. This means getting big money and corrupt donors out of politics altogether, reducing the number of MPs by 150, giving power over the police and NHS to local communities, changing the voting system to abolish safe seats and giving you the right to sack corrupt MPs. These are changes that would upend our political establishment. Neither Labour or the Conservatives will ever offer change on this scale - they will defend the status quo to the last. Only the Liberal Democrats offer the chance for a different politics. Another whitewash is unacceptable, we need permanent change to make politics clean, fair and local.
FOUR STEPS TO A FAIRER BRITAIN The Liberal Democrats will shift the economy away from the traditional over-reliance on the City of London and on financial services. Our plans will usher in a new era where growth is enabled in every part of Britain in a way that promotes green technology and creates lasting jobs. We will put an end to the casino banking that caused the financial crisis by breaking up the banks and encouraging regional and local ways to bring competition back to the financial sector and make sure businesses can find the money they need to grow. Under our plans, councils will regain control of business rates, reconnecting local enterprise with local politics; Local Enterprise Funds will help people invest in growing businesses in their area and Regional Stock Exchanges will give companies a way to move into public equity without the huge risks and costs of a London listing. The Liberal Democrats will also create a new National Infrastructure Bank to bring in private money to build the transport links, energy grid and public buildings we need for a sustainable, low carbon economy in every part of Britain.
Read "Nick Clegg puts fairness at the heart of the Liberal Democrat manifesto". Read Latest Updates on Afghanistan, Green Policy & Education12.00.00am GMT Sat 7th Nov 2009 Nick Clegg & David Laws on the latest issues under Speeches link
Read "Read Latest Updates on Afghanistan, Green Policy & Education". Read Latest Updates to Ros' Blog: Schools & Foreign Affairs6.00.00pm GMT Fri 6th Nov 2009 Follow the links to Ros' Blog for the following: PROOF OF THE PUDDING IN PORTLAND & SWANAGE I have always been against academy schools, & indeed must declare myself an opponent of oversized secondaries as a whole - young people are alienated enough ........Government after government has tampered with a succession of schools turning our children ( & teachers !) into experiments in ideology & social engineering and IS TORY FOREIGN POLICY INSANE ? For the clearest & most worrying sign of Cameron's inadequacy in foreign affairs however, we need to turn back to last year's conflict in Georgia, where he gave his fervent backing to the Tbilisi government , unilaterally declaring, in a literally 'flying' visit, that Georgia should be admitted to Nato forthwith. A suggestion which, if taken seriously, might have precipitated full scale international war !.......
Read "Read Latest Updates to Ros' Blog: Schools & Foreign Affairs". WHAT WE STAND FOR - JOIN US !12.02.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 4th Sep 2009
"Liberal Democrats aim to build a fair, free & open society & to promote liberty, equality & community so that no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity." Britain & other democracies in the western world are Liberal Democracies - based on the ideals promoted by our party & its precursors over hundreds of years. Historically, in the UK, Liberalism has produced all that is distinctive & 'great' about the British political system:
reform of the voting system so that EVERYONE'S vote counts;
We are THE ONLY CREDIBLE GREEN PARTY with seats in Parliament: In the 1970s Liberalism was revolutionised by the growing evidence of climate change. We developed strong strategies for green living & ethical trading which underpin our policies today. WE WANT TO GIVE POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE Being in opposition has taught us to listen to & fight for communities - all Liberal Democrats see themselves as local champions - supporting their communities against big government. As a result the party campaigns for a system fair voting, so that everyone's views can be fairly represented, & devolution of power to local communities - so that ordinary people can have more control of their lives. LABOUR HAS COLLAPSED The old Liberal party split in the 1930s & was overtaken by the Labour party's socialist campaigning for working people. But changes in the last 30 years has seen the decline of the old 'working class' & the support base for Labour. What we are seeing in British politics today are the death throes of the Labour movement. REAL CHANGE The British people have shown that they want government that listens to them. Government that is open, ethical, fair & promotes community & democracy for all - not just the rich or those that happen to exercise power in the cabinet. That is why increasing numbers of people are turning to the Liberal Democrats in 2009. Please join them. If you would like more information about the party & local activities, please contact us via this website.
Read "WHAT WE STAND FOR - JOIN US !". Save Weymouth Women's Refuge8.10.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 20th Aug 2009
See our petition to save the refuge in Weymouth, due to be closed next March because it does not take men & supposedly to help fund outreach for victims of domestic violence all over Dorset. Closure of the refuge, which costs only £83,000 per year, will not provide sufficient funds for outreach. Prospective MP Ros Kayes says " The recent decision by the Conservative cabinet to shut the refuge is a nightmare vision of cuts to public services to come. It's not sufficient to just have outreach programmes to deal with domestic violence. Women need a place where they can go when they are in immediate danger. Closing one refuge in Dorset affects capacity in the whole of Dorset. I fear that if this refuge is closed in the name of outreach, then more will follow. We need outreach services of course - but not at the expense of the safety offered to women by refuges. Please sign our online petition. "
Read "Save Weymouth Women's Refuge". Archive of earlier news stories.
Published and promoted by South Dorset Liberal Democrats, 81 Ulwell Road, Swanage, Dorset BH19 1QU. The views expressed are those of the party, not of the service provider. |
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