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The Coalition: Taking Liberal Democrat Policies into Government
Ray for Bracknell
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For the first time in nearly 100 years the Liberal Democrats are in Government and putting into practice the ideas and policies that we have long campaigned for. In the space of just a few short months we have negotiated a comprehensive policy agreement with the Tories, which has the support of most of the country, and made a huge impact on the Coalition Government's agenda for the rest of this Parliament.
We could have stayed on the sidelines as an opposition party and may be offered support to a minority Conservative government on individual issues where we had a common interest but this would probably not have advanced our cause very much or even found favour with the electorate.
Going into the General Election the Liberal Democrats made it clear that we had four key priorities; fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our politics, including a fairer voting system; and a greener, more sustainable economy.
Thanks to our involvement, the Government is now beginning to deliver on each of these objectives. There are also a large number of other Lib Dem policies and pledges that will start to make a real, positive difference to peoples' lives because of the role we are playing in the Coalition.
These include everything from rolling back the surveillance state and giving people back their civil liberties, to prison and and NHS reforms, fairer pensions, the ending of child detention and the scrapping of the third runway at Heathrow. There will also be a referendum on the Alternative Vote and a commission on long-term reform of social care.
Inevitably, there will be Conservative policies that we find difficult to accept but each Party had to make concessions in order to produce a workable agreeament. This does not mean however we cannot try to amend such policies, nor will it mean a loss of our own identity.
The next few months will be particularly important as the Coalition Government seeks to deal with the budgetary crisis and the structural deficit inherited from Labour. By joining in such a coalition the Liberal Democrats provided the best chance for the country to change course and generate the conditions necessary for future long-term growth. It also provides an unique opportunity to show what we can do in government!
Ray Earwicker
Former Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Bracknell
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Tue 31st Aug 2010
Cllr Bettison, Leader of Bracknell Forest Council, clearly resents having to meet the growing cost of meeting requests for council information under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI). May be if this information was more readily available, as much of it should be, it would be less of a problem!
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Fri 20th Aug 2010
Cllr Bettison, as Leader of Conservative-controlled Bracknell Forest Council, would be better off joining the Labour Party given his pen'chant for supporting alternate bin collections (ABC) and refusing to accept his own Party's plans to freeze council tax increases.
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Tue 10th Aug 2010
Council spends over £1m sending staff on training courses
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Wed 21st Jul 2010
Bracknell Forest Council must meet coalition pledges
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Mon 12th Jul 2010
Labour activists such as Roy Bailey and Val and Terry Pearce may well feel piqued with the Liberal Democrats for joining with the Tories in forming a coalition government.(Standard, 8 July) but the vast majority of voters rejected Labour at the last General Election and the prospect of having another, if a Tory minority government failed, would have done little to provide the national financial stability that was needed.
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Mon 28th Jun 2010
The Budget announced by George Osbourne last week received mixed reviews but has been generally accepted by the electorate, which broadly recognised the coalition government had no choice but to clear up the financial mess left by Labour.
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Tue 18th May 2010
Following the establishment of a coalition government, the focus has now shifted to the Budget on 22 June and what it will mean for every man, woman and child in this country.
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Mon 10th May 2010
On behalf of Bracknell Liberal Democrats may I thank all those who voted for me and helped us achieve our best ever electoral result in the Bracknell constituency on 6 May.
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Mon 10th May 2010
Lib Dems force Labour into third place as Tory vote holds up
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Fri 30th Apr 2010
Last night was the final of the three televised Leaders' debates. Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, debated with Gordon Brown and David Cameron about the economy. Subjects discussed included breaking up the banks, creating more jobs and reinvigorating the British economy.
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Wed 28th Apr 2010
On Thursday 29th April from 8.30pm, BBC One will host the final live Prime Ministerial Debate of the General Election from the Midlands. Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron will again be going head to head in the run up to the General Election next Thursday.
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Fri 23rd Apr 2010
An average of five polls conducted immediately after the Sky TV Leaders Election debate on Thursday night put Nick Clegg as the winner, with all instant polls showing him ahead of Gordon Brown. After the Foreign Affairs-led debate from Bristol dominated by issues like Iraq, immigration and climate change, Nick Clegg won 3 of the 5 polls on the night, building on his position after the first debate.
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Archive of earlier news stories.
News Story Feed (v1.0).
Printed and hosted by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY.
Published and promoted by Larraine de Laune on behalf of Bracknell Liberal Democrats, both at 37 Lochinver, Bracknell RG12 7LD. Tel. 01344 640048.
The views expressed are those of the party, not of the service provider.
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| Bracknell General Election Result |
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Turnout: 52140 (68%)
52.4%
Conservative: 27327 (+2.5%)
22.3%
Liberal Democrats: 11623 (+4.5%)
16.8%
Labour: 8755 (−11.1%)
View the results in detail.
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| Quotes of the Week |
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"How can you possibly take on such a large financial commitment as Trident without considering the military and political implications? If fierce cuts are to be made in Britain's conventional forces, surely we have to consider whether replacing Trident can be justified. "
Sir Menzies Campbell
Response to announcement that the Ministry of Defence will be responsible for the cost of replacing Trident - 30 July
"With most of their leadership contenders claiming to back AV for a fairer voting system, it is astonishing they now wish to block the legislation to make that happen. Each and every Labour MP campaigned on a manifesto committing to a referendum. Now they have the opportunity to make this happen but have chosen to say no for opposition's sake. "
Simon Hughes MP
Comment on Labour's decision to oppose legislation for a referendum on the alternative vote - 28 July
"With more than half of ASBOs breached in 2008, this was a policy more about posturing than effective policing. Local communities know that other measures, such as Acceptable Behaviour Contracts can nip problems in the bud before they escalate. "
Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Justice, Tom Brake MP
Commenting on speech by the Home Secretary in which she said it was 'time to move beyond Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) - 28 July
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