Brexit: Britons now back Remain over Leave by 10 points, exclusive poll shows
Exclusive: The newly published survey gives Remainers their biggest lead since the 2016 referendum.
JWPE
17 Dec 2017
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Ensuring We Remember the Chinese Labour Corps
On 7 December the Ensuring We Remember Campaign issued a press release confirming that the site for a permanent memorial has been secured. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of ABP (London) Investment Limited, a 9.6m tall memorial will hopefully be erected at the primary entrance to the £1.7bn development at the Royal Albert Docks in Newham.
17 Dec 2017
Elections
2018 Executive Committee
At the annual general meeting of Wandsworth Liberal Democrats the following people were elected to the executive...
17 Dec 2017
Liberal Democrats attend Brays Special School Christmas Concert
Earlier in the week, Sheldon Liberal Democrat Councillors Mike Ward and Sue Anderson attended Brays Special School's Christmas Concert. In fact, Sue attended the morning one and loved it so much that she returned for the afternoon one!
17 Dec 2017
WC's 'dodgy pyramid scheme' collapses
WC's flagship 'campus' programme is in ruins following financial mismanagement by the Conservative administration. The original plan was to use public assets stripped from the pre-2009 District Councils to provide capital to fund community facilities in each of the towns of Wiltshire. Like a dodgy pyramid-selling scheme, those who got in first did well, but everyone else has lost out. It has been clear for some time, despite denials from the administration, that the project was in trouble. Now it's been abandoned.
17 Dec 2017
Government dodges the issue of reopening Leamside railway line
John, Lord Shipley, a Liberal Democrat peer and former Leader of Newcastle City Council, asked the Government whether they are planning to re-open the Leamside railway line between Sunderland, Washington and Durham; if so, what steps they are taking to achieve this; how much progress has been made; and when they expect that line to re-open.
16 Dec 2017
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!”
