15 Most Recent Stories From British Liberal Democrat News

Sat 20th Mar 2010:

Cable: Britain must introduce banking levy even if other countries don't.

Responding to Labour and Tory comments on taxing banks, Vince Cable said: "The other parties seem to be moving onto ground the Liberal Democrats have occupied for some time. Banks must pay for the protection they enjoy from the taxpayer. "The absolute key is that Britain must do this whether or not other countries act, because Britain is uniquely exposed to the risk of a bank collapse. The ratio between bank assets and GDP is far higher in Britain than in other Western countries. "The Liberal Democrats have been very specific about how this crucial issue should be tackled, after extensive discussion with the City and others, and it is seriously worrying that both the Conservatives and the Government still do not seem to have worked out a specific proposal - long after the bank collapse and only a few weeks from an election."

Untitled.

Fri 19th Mar 2010:

Infighting shows Labour are falling apart in East Lothian as Anne Moffat MP deselected.

Commenting after the Labour party in East Lothian deselected Anne Moffat, Liberal Democrat candidate for East Lothian Stuart Ritchie said: “Labour are going to parachute in a candidate, who probably won’t know or understand the issues the people of East Lothian face every day. They’ll just parrot Labour’s tired old lines.

Nick Clegg visits Lodge Moor Nursery School, Sheffield for Sports Relief.

Nick Clegg today visited Lodge Moor Nursery in his constituency in Sheffield to participate in their Sports Relief day.

Fuel prices amount to penalty fine for rural drivers - Lyon.

“Fuel prices in rural areas of Scotland amount to a penalty fine for motorists who have no choice but to drive."

LD2010 Issue Five: We’ll be the change that works for you.

Liberal Democrat Spring Conference 2010 If you didn’t make it to Birmingham last weekend, you can still watch all of the keynote speeches, including those from Chris Huhne and Vince Cable, as well as Nick Clegg’s inspiring closing speech. You can also access the full conference agenda with updated motions and policy. Find out more > Election an opportunity to win back privacy Nick Clegg yesterday said in a speech to Privacy International that the election this year is “an opportunity for the British people to vote to take their privacy back.” Read more > We’ll be the change that works for you This week we made our conference soundtrack - ‘We’ll be the change that works for you’ - available for download on iTunes. It draws on our new slogan for the General Election, with all proceeds going towards our campaign. Download now > Tory immigration policy worst of both worlds The Liberal Democrats this week called for tougher immigration control in densely populated areas like London and the South East while allowing more migrants elsewhere.  Read more > Debate nights – be part of it A major part of the campaign in 2010  will be the live televised debates broadcast on ITV, BBC and Sky. Why not hold a party at your local pub, town hall or even at home to get your friends together. We’ve created a host of materials and ways to get involved both on and offline. Find out more >

Moore Slams Government Over Rising Borders Unemployment.

Borders MP Michael Moore has criticised the Government after figures published today revealed that unemployment in the Borders and around Scotland rose again last month, despite the UK technically moving out of recession at the end of 2009.

Court not the place for patients' rights.

Ross Finnie says legislation is not the correct way to confer rights on patients, as the Scottish Government publishes its Patient Rights Bill.

Scott challenges First Minister on economy.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott MSP challenged the First Minister to say when he thought unemployment in Scotland would start to fall.

Government needs to get tough on hospital cleanliness.

Ross Finnie says it is hugely disappointing that hospitals in Scotland are in a poor state of cleanliness. The Governemnt should extend its zero tolerance approach to hand washing for staff to visitors.

Lib Dem victory in climate change vote.

Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson Alison McInnes has called for a national battery charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Lib Dem victory in bus industry vote.

Liberal Democrats won a victory as the Scottish Parliament voted for our proposal to support the bus industry and help it become greener.

Thu 18th Mar 2010:

Labour’s hypocrisy on ministerial cars and energy revealed.

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesperson Lewis MacDonald is completely at odds with Labour’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband over coal power: On Monday 15 March, Lewis MacDonald said: “If Scotland is going to make a significant contribution to cutting carbon emissions, it makes no sense to start by building a coal-fired power station […] If this goes ahead it will set back Scotland’s prospects of meeting our commitment on climate change” This is entirely at odds with Ed Miliband’s claim that “In order to ensure that we maintain a diverse energy mix, we need new coal-fired power stations” Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, Alistair Carmichael said: “This shows the gulf between what Labour promise and what they actually do. “It is hard to see how Labour can call for greener ministerial limos while Jim Murphy has doubled the number of cars he uses at the Scotland Office. “Labour are also hopelessly split on energy, criticising coal power in Scotland while in Westminster they back new, dirty power stations. “13 years of failure have shown that whatever Labour say during the election, they cannot be trusted to back it up with real action in Government.”

Kennedy anger as Skye-based medical firm forced into administration.

Ross, Skye & Lochaber MP Charles Kennedy has expressed disappointment after a Dunvegan-based firm, Gaeltec Ltd, which supplies medical sensors to a worldwide market was forced to appoint Administrators by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

Election an opportunity to win back privacy says Clegg.

In his speech to Privacy International to mark their 20th Anniversary, Nick Clegg will say: “Labour has spent 13 years trampling over people’s privacy. From allowing children’s fingerprints to be taken at school without their parents’ consent; to making us a world leader in CCTV; to wasting vast sums of taxpayers’ money on giant databases that hoard our personal details. And now we hear that ministers want pensioners to swap their bus passes for ID cards. “The Government’s staggering record on losing private data – leaving it in pub car parks and on commuter trains – just makes matters worse. “And there’s an even bigger issue at stake: Labour’s flagrant disregard for our privacy flies in the face of hard won British liberty. It betrays a deep distrust of the British people, as well as an obsession with controlling every aspect of everyday life from Whitehall. “Those same reflexes underpin this Government’s obsession with law-making. Since 1997 they have flooded the statute books with nearly 4,300 new ways of making us criminals. Some of them are completely bizarre, like ‘disturbing a pack of eggs when directed not to by an authorised officer’, and ‘causing a nuclear explosion’, as if we needed a new law for that. “And where do all these new laws get us? Only one in a hundred crimes ends in a conviction in court. “The Conservatives talk a good game on privacy, but scratch beneath the surface and it’s clear they can’t be trusted to roll back Labour’s surveillance state. Just look at their plans to make it even easier for the police to watch and record people getting on with their daily lives, all in the name of cutting red tape. “Only the Liberal Democrats will bring an end to the endless snooping on innocent people.”

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