Havering Liberal Democrats welcome the decision to review the closure of King George's A&E Department. Whilst we strongly believe that it should remain open, we caution that it is too early to celebrate given the Conservative Government's spending plans on the NHS. Phillip Hammond's Autumn budget outlined plans for the Conservative's to continue to under-fund the NHS, this means that there is still an uphill battle for the future of King George's A&E.
kirsten There was a recent article on Lib Dem Voice by Lord MacDonald on the review that is taking place on the Party's disciplinary procedure. I would like to encourage you to take part if you have not already done so - I confess I only just got around to filling it in myself yesterday!
During the recent Eyres Monsell By-Election Labour's John Ashworth MP was twittering that Tony, the only local candidate in the by election was scare mongering. All Tony had been doing during the by election was informing local residents what is in the council's consultation document? If the Labour controlled council are saying what's in the consultation plan is never going to happen then whoever put it in the consultation document was scare mongering in the first place. If these potential development sites are genuinely up for consideration then Tony could not possibly have been scare mongering or lying - because all he was doing was just keeping local residents informed about the public consultation and potential development sites in Eyres Monsell. This is not the first time Labour have kept local residents in the dark. There was understandable outrage from local people in Eyres Monsell regarding Labour's list of potential development sites. Labour are upset because they where happy to keep local people in
Cross Party Alliances
The sweep of victories means that the Liberal Democrats have gained seven council seats in November. ...
The hit to the UK economy of pulling out of the single market and customs threatens to dwarf this £45bn. By Tom Brake, Nov...
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!”
