I want to lead the Liberal Democrats because I am ambitious about our future.
I believe we are the only party that can represent the millions of liberal-minded people alarmed by the direction this country is taking: people, whether they voted remain or leave, who hate the intolerance, xenophobia and division that the Brexit vote unleashed.
Who can break with the "Pragmatic but Tragic" course of local health decisions affecting Dacorum for decades?
On the local hospital questions both Labour and Conservatives blame each other for the past; this isn't answering the dawning questions for the future.
LibDem Borough Councillor Adrian England met with HVCCG's David Evans on 12th July to try to unpick the future challenges.
Local Liberal Democrats are angry about the local council's failure to empty recycling banks and are demanding improvements.
The large paper, plastic, glass and can banks have been full and overflowing for around a fortnight and are not being emptied. The council have admitted the company they use has just one lorry which is off the road. "It is astonishing that the council is dependent on such a small operation - did they know about this when the contract was signed, and why is there no backup?" asked LibDem councillor Malcolm Cowan. "This seems to be taking cost-cutting to ludicrous lengths. The photos attached show the situation at several bins across WGC.
With gas main replacement works by Cadent Gas causing the closure of Bedford High Street to traffic through the week until Friday 21st July, Mayor Dave Hodgson has issued a statement reminding people that the High Street is open to pedestrians and very much open for business.
The gas main replacement works by Cadent involve the full closure of the High Street from Monday 17th July through to Friday 21st. Single lane closures will follow during further works between July 31st and August 18th. With the High Street open to pedestrians throughout the closures, Mayor Dave Hodgson is issuing a rallying cry for people to visit and use its wide range of high quality traders.
Figures published today have shown that of the 108 people at the BBC who earn more than £150,000, just 34 are women.
Only five women are in the top 20 and one in the top 10. Claudia Winkleman, the top earning female. earns a quarter (£400,000 - £449,000) of the salary of the highest earning male, Chris Evans (£2.2m - 2.249m).
Slowly but surely UK's railways are being electrified, but although switching from diesel to electricity increases energy efficiency considerably we still need to burn a lot of fossil fuel to make electricity. Reducing fossil fuel burn is becoming increasingly urgent and important and in some areas of the country through which trains run the grid can barely cope.
Mayor Dave Hodgson's 2017 summer village tour across Bedford Borough is underway, following the first group of visits to rural communities last night.
Mayor Dave has held a village tour every summer since he was elected in October 2009, and this year's tour will see him holding walk-up street surgeries in 58 different villages across the Borough.
Three Rivers Council remains in Liberal Democrat control following a landslide win with 64% of the vote by new Councillor Phil Williams; elected to represent Chorleywood South & Maple Cross ward.
The by-election was triggered following the sad passing of former Lib Dem leader Ann Shaw OBE who had been a well respected community champion and councillor for more than three decades. When she stepped down in 2016, she was the longest serving council leader in the country.
The Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) has warned that even a small hit to productivity caused by Brexit could cause a £97bn hit to the UK economy in the long-term, reducing tax receipts by £36 billion.
The OBR report also describes future tax receipts as being "particularly vulnerable" to the impact of Brexit on the financial sector, which could face up to 60,000 job losses.
I want to lead the Liberal Democrats because I am ambitious about our future.
