Conservative Dacorum Council leaders are insisting on cuts in hours and staffing at the four Adventure Playgrounds in Hemel Hempstead.

In an Liberal Democrat Opposition debate at Full Council on 18th April they threatened to close one or more of the playgrounds if their will was not accepted.

EIGHT managers and deputies are being asked to compete for TWO Manager positions - not even enough to ensure a Duty Manager at each location after school, or at weekends. Lib Dems were dismayed to find that staff were to be cut so deeply and that permanent all-year round cuts to playground management costs were the real driver for the changes - originally presented as "low winter attendance".

This weekend West Norfolk Lib Dems joined "Norfolk for Europe" volunteers to campaign for a "People's Vote" on the final BREXIT deal.

The general public are being encouraged to voice their feelings on the issue by contacting their MP. Postcards to the House of Commons were provided and hundreds of leaflets given out.

MS Awareness Week 23-29 April

23-29 April 2018 is MS week, which is a chance for us all to do our bit to raise awareness and money to make sure no one has to fight MS alone.

MS is a neurological life long condition which affects your brain, spinal chord and central nervous system. As a result MS can create many different symptoms, and is different for every patient

Joseph will be a strong voice for the local residents of Buckhurst Hill and will speak up for the area at the Council if he is elected. He has been working hard since last summer listening to residents to really understand the issues for local residents.

"I am 24 and have lived in Buckhurst Hill for 22 years and I am full of enthusiam and drive to work hard for our our area. I love the village feel and the great easy access to green spaces that Buckhurst Hill has. When I speak to people on the doorstep the same issues come up time and again, the poor state of pavements and roads and that we need a local champion to speak up for the area. I hope I have proved that I can be that for the residents of Buckhurst Hill." says Joseph.

Ingrid has lived in the district for over 30 years and brought up her family here. She is a part-time primary school teacher and has taught in several schools in the area. She was a school governor of Epping St John's C of E School and was part of the team that oversaw the move into its new building and the creation of the sixth form. She is a volunteer at the Epping Forest Foodbank and a member of a local church.

Two major new regional distribution centres are to be built in Bedford Borough for popular nationwide retailers which will create an estimated 1,400 new jobs for the area.

Bedford Borough Council worked closely with land owners Gallagher Estates in developing the opportunity, sourcing and facilitating their investment to the employment area of Wixams, off the A6 to the south of the Borough.

In a satisfactory week's by-election results the Liberal Democrats have continued their winning streak by gaining another 2 council by-election seats from the Conservatives. One was in Berkshire and the second in Cheshire.

Thatcham West Ward, West Berkshire UA, April 19, 2018

The Liberal Democrats won two of the council by-elections that were held last night (with one still to declare!), gaining two seats from the Conservatives!

The Liberal Democrats, under Vince Cable, are winning seats up and down the country and against all opposition - because people know when they elect Liberal Democrats, they're electing someone who'll get things done for their community!

British jobs should be protected, following a vote in the House of Lords. Liberal Democrats helped defeat the Government and voted to keep Britain in a European Customs Union, which is key to Britain's future prosperity.

An amendment on the customs union (supported by the Liberal Democrats and some Crossbenchers, Labour and Conservative peers) was passed by 348 votes to 225.

He criticised the effective monopolies enjoyed by the likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon - comparing their market dominance to that of big oil companies in the past - and suggested ways they could be broken up.

"Data is the new oil. Data is the raw material which drives these firms and it is control of data which gives them an advantage over competitors. These companies have acquired their pivotal position by providing a service or platform through which data can be extracted, collected and used.

Just as Standard Oil once cornered 85% of the refined oil market, today Google drives 89% of internet search, 95% of young adults on the internet use a Facebook product, Amazon accounts for 75% of E-book sales, while Google and Apple combined provide 99% of mobile operating systems.

National government and, even more so, supranational bodies like the EU can and should look to break up enterprises where size is detrimental to the economic well-being of the country, its citizens and its capacity for innovation.

There is a case for splitting Amazon into three separate businesses - one offering cloud computing, one acting as a general retailer and one offering a third-party marketplace. Other examples would be Facebook being forced to divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp as a condition for operating in the EU, creating two new social media networks. Divesting Google of YouTube would be another.

What is striking that the most effective competition authority in the capitalist world - the European Commission - is probably the only body with the clout to take these decisions. The UK could quite obviously never do it alone.

Britain commits an act of serious self-harm by doggedly setting itself apart from the power of shared sovereignty with our neighbours.