The final report on the MP expenses row has published. After all the appeals have been heard, 3 of our 4 local MPs were found to have over claimed on their expenses. 135 out of a total of 198 tory MPs, were also ordered by Sir Thomas Legg to repay expenses.
Liberal Democrats have campaigned for years inside and outside parliament, for the way MPs get paid to be changed. Lib Dem Leader, Nick Clegg asked the Commons to delay their 80+ day summer holiday so that a new, fair system could be worked out, but his campaign was ignored.
According to the BBC, amounts in excess of £1000 each were paid back by our MPs who, unlike those in any other walk of life, will face no other sanction.
The Liberal Democrats will carry on campaigning for a fairer use of tax payer money, and you can join us to help make it happen.
Wakefield Liberal Democrats enjoyed success in the recent by election in Airedale and Ferry Fryston on 21st January. Our candidate, Paul Kirby, jumped from 4th to a really healthy 2nd place.
Fighting the campaign through the worst of the winter weather, our team worked hard to beat the BNP into 3rd (with a dip in both the number of votes and the percentage of votes won), and pushed the Conservative from 2nd to a miserable 4th place, with fewer than half the Lib Dem vote.
The results were:
Airedale, Castleford, Pontefract, Wakefield and the whole Wakefield District are ready for a change, and the Liberal Democrats are that change.
Join us and encourage our district to vote for a change.
Gordon Brown said this week that people can expect national insurance to go up as he tries to find ways of balancing the budget.
National Insurance is paid by everyone and instead of trying to raise funds from the people who could easily afford to pay just a little more, Brown is suggesting this week, that everyone should pay extra regardless of their ability to pay.
Under the Labour administration, the gap between rich and poor has widened, and the UK has become more divided in income and wealth. People living on the minimum wage pay a far greater proportion of their income in tax than millionaires, proving that in the UK today, it costs more to be poor. Only the Liberal Democrats have a genuinely fair economic plan which will help those struggling on low and minimum wages.
The Labour party think poorly paid workers should be taxed more. We think they should be taxed less. Join us and make it happen!
Liberal Democrats in Bournemouth have been setting out our stall as a potential government. Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and the whole Lib Dem Team have been spelling out policies which will not only be good for the country, but will make a real impact in the Wakefield District.
Already we have agreed how the party would increase the home building programme and raise the tax threshold so no one pays a penny in tax until they earn more than £10,000.
The labour party has failed us, and it is time for a fresh start for Wakefield.
Local Liberal Democrats have voted to select enthusiastic Wakefield-born and current Leeds councillor James Monaghan as their General Election candidate for Morley & Outwood.
Born only a few miles away James knows both Morley & Outwood well. A former climate change researcher and successful small businessman, James was a key part of the successful campaign of Greg Mulholland MP to be elected in Leeds North West in 2005.
Following his selection James said:
“Coming from Wakefield I feel very privileged to be selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Morley & Outwood. I know and believe that this area is a place that deserves a good Liberal Democrat MP rather than the alternative - a complacent Labour outsider, Ed Balls, a close ally of Gordon Brown.
As your candidate I will work hard to hear the voice of voters and to tackle the issues affecting local residents. If elected I will actively and fully support, representing with a strong voice, the towns and villages within the constituency”
This Thursday, 7:00am-10:00pm, it’s voting time for the 2009 European Elections.
Voters across the UK and the rest of Europe will be off to the polling stations to select a new set of MEPs to represent them.
In Yorkshire and the Humber the Lib Dems have been hard at work campaigning and hope to increase their share of the vote to ensure Stewart Arnold, former Chairman of the Campaign for Yorkshire, join Diana Wallis, first elected in 1999 and currently Vice President of the European Parliament, as Liberal Democrat representatives for the region.
Diana and Stewart visited Wakefield back in November to join your local Lib Dem team campaigning, to meet constituents and local students, and to share their knowledge and wisdom with local party members.
With some excellent policies coming out of the Spring Conference in Harrogate, many of you will be wondering where the next conference will be and how you can get involved.
In September this year, from the 19th to the 23rd, the Lib Dems will be descending on Bournemouth; and Wakefield District hopes to be amongst the largest local party groups attending.
Party conferences are open to all members. You can attend conference for as little as £20 if you book your place early. You can register at any time, even during the event; but for the cheapest rate, nip over to the conference website before 30th April to reserve your place and have the chance to set the General Election manifesto for the party!
Last weekend, just a short trip up the road, in Harrogate, the Liberal Democrats held their 2009 Federal Spring Conference.
For those who attended the event provided an excellent opportunity to debate new party policies on Reforming the Financial Sector, Adult and Higher Education, Criminal Justice, Primary School Funding, Childcare and Employment Rights, Gaza and Post Offices; to hear inspiring speeches from Simon Hughes, Howard Dean, Vince Cable, Kirsty Williams, Ros Scott and party leader Nick Clegg; and to meet party members and activists from all across the region and country.
This weekend Liberal Democrats from across the country will be amassing in Harrogate for the Liberal Democrats’ National Spring Conference.
The conference, held at the Harrogate International Centre, offers a packed calendar of social, training and policy events as well as speeches from many of the party’s front bench spokespeople including Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, the new party President Ros Scott, and US Democrat Chairman Howard Dean.
Weekend and day tickets are still available from as little at £19 - just turn up at the centre and register on either Friday or Saturday. Once there, if you want to track down the Wakefield District team and share the fun, drop us an e-mail with your number and we’ll leap at the chance to meet.
Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader, today pledged that a Liberal Democrat government would make an extra £2bn of funds available to England’s primary schools, allowing the schools to hire an additional 38,000 teachers and support staff and cut maximum class sizes for the under 7s to only fifteen pupils.
Liberal Democrats, supported by education research, believe that smaller classes would give teachers more time to pay attention to each pupil; and, in turn, give each pupil, whatever their background, a better, and more individually tailored education, and better prospects for their future.
Wakefield’s teachers do a fantastic job, many with very large classes; but while the Liberal Democrats would give them the resources to do their job, our Labour council is looking to save money by going against parent wishes and closing small community schools.
If you think Wakefield council needs to keep our small schools open then make your feelings known by writing to Peter Box and Mary Creagh.
Read more about threats to close Waterton J&I and the campaign to stop it by clicking here.
According to the BBC, amounts in excess of £1000 each were paid back by our MPs who, unlike those in any other walk of life, will face no other sanction.
Only the Liberal Democrats have a genuinely fair economic plan which will help those struggling on low and minimum wages.
