Health minister has turned his back on local community pharmacies
Cumbria's Lib Dem MP Tim Farron has hit out at the Government after they refused to intervene to help save under-threat local community pharmacies.
29 Mar 2018
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Sue Hatton speaks out for Hassocks residents
Last night saw the approval of the District Plan by the Conservative councillors at Mid Sussex District Council, which includes the site for 500 houses North of Clayton Mills that was strongly opposed by local residents. Sue Hatton, the Lib Dem Councillor for Hassocks is the only non Tory on Mid Sussex District Council. In last night's meeting she was put under pressure by Conservative Councillors to vote in favour of adopting the District Plan. She was the only councillor to vote against it. Below is a script of her speech where she explains her reasons for voting in the best interests of those that she has been elected to represent.
29 Mar 2018
Leave liars must now come clean
Lots of allegations have been made about the behaviour of the leave campaign - and it's well past time for them to come clean:
GS
29 Mar 2018
Parking banned on Chelmer Valley Road from tomorrow
Parking is banned on Chelmer Valley Road as from tomorrow (30th March 2018). Lib Dem County Councillors Stephen Robinson and...
29 Mar 2018
Cumbria’s three-month mental health waiting times are ‘a tragedy’ – MP
Local MP Tim Farron has written to the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, urging him to provide more funding to help reduce Cumbria's lengthy waiting times for young people with mental health problems.
29 Mar 2018
Government needs to stand up to the water companies to prevent future flooding – MP
South Lakes MP says weak regulation on water companies will lead to more and more flooding unless the Government takes action.
29 Mar 2018
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
