Lib Dems announce budget plans
Southwark Liberal Democrats have announced their two amendments to the Labour budget. Both are fully costed and will prioritise funding a specialist Knife-crime unit and a new hub for rough sleepers.
4 Mar 2019
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Lib Dems call for ‘Police Officers not Press Officers’
Southwark Liberal Democrats have submitted their alternative council budget. With Southwark having had the highest level of knife-crime in London, they are calling for the Council to allocate £1million a year to fund a dedicated specialist unit...
4 Mar 2019
Putney
Putney responds to Heathrow's consultation
The local Liberal Democrat team has responded to Heathrow's latest consultation on its airspace design and future operations. The...
4 Mar 2019
Paul Kennedy re-selected as Parliamentary Candidate
Following the hustings meeting in Dorking on Saturday 2nd March, it was announced that the Mole Valley Liberal Democrat members had re-selected Paul Kennedy as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. Paul has stood for the Mole Valley constituency in both the 2015 and 2017 General Elections.
4 Mar 2019
Local Lib Dems call for better education funding and help for local high streets
Hinckley and Bosworth Lib Dem campaigners spoke out in support of local education services and help for local high streets at a recent East Midlands regional conference. Hinckley County Councillor Michael Mullaney spoke at the conference in the education debate on the need for fairer education funding for Leicestershire schools. Michael Mullaney said "Leicestershire has some of the lowest funded schools in the country. "This is unfair for local young people and affects their chances in life. Hinckley and Bosworth has some of the lowest social mobility in the country, in order to ensure young people here have a fair chance in life, we need local schools and colleges to be properly funded. This Conservative government is letting down local people by not fairly funding our education services. Its time our Conservative MPs and Councils got their governments to deliver fair funding for our local schools." Lib Dems Earl Shilton Campaigner Mathew Hulbert said in a debate on high street shops, "This is a tough time
4 Mar 2019
Lib Dems Mourn Well-Known Local Colleague
Liberal Democrats in Windsor, Maidenhead and Slough are mourning the loss of long-standing colleague and former Royal Borough Councillor, Richard Fagence.
WLD
4 Mar 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!”
