FORMER SILVERHILL TORY JOINS LIB DEMS
Following the decision of former Labour Castle Ward councillor Lee Clark to join the Liberal Democrats, the 2016 Conservative candidate for Silverhill has done the same.
19 Sep 2019
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Liberal Democrats commit to turning offenders lives around
Liberal Democrats have committed to turning the lives of offenders around with a series of rehabilitory measures to overhaul our criminal justice system.
19 Sep 2019
Budget black hole strengthens the case for scrapping Green Waste charges
Haringey Council has been forced to admit that Labour’s decision to charge residents to dispose of Green Waste is failing to...
19 Sep 2019
Political leak may compromise order for new Metro trains - regional economic benefit should be one of the relevant considerations say Liberal Democrats
Responding to speculation on Nexus Metro procurement amid suggestions by the Mayor of Tees Valley that Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe plant will not be the eventual winner of the contract for new Metro trains, North East Liberal Democrats chair Cllr Greg Stone said: "Clearly a procurement process is well advanced. It would be legally problematic if that process has been compromised by a political leak and it could lead to delays and legal challenge by unsuccessful bidders. We are already concerned by the potential delay in replacing the current life-expired Metro fleet, which is experiencing increasing daily breakdowns affecting service reliability. This will only get worse between now and 2024 when the new fleet will be complete. The first new trains are due in 2021, but no order has yet been placed. "This situation is politically embarrassing for Nexus and council leaders on the Joint Transport Committee overseeing this, and reveals shortcomings in public transport governance in the region given comments by th
18 Sep 2019
Tackling the Climate Crisis Together
The climate crisis is real and we must act now to ensure planet earth and our long term survival. I am therefore delighted that Liberal Democrat Conference this weekend passed an ambitious strategy to reach net zero 2045.
ZF
18 Sep 2019
We'll scrap no-fault evictions, pledge Liberal Democrats, after Tory Government fails to deliver on its promise.
Liberal Democrats policy is now the abolition of S21 by reforming the Housing Act, and it reaffirms its commitment to support renters by enabling local authorities to create and maintain registers of landlords.
18 Sep 2019
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!”
