Mark Pack joins us for canvassing in Beaconsfield
Mark Pack joined the Beaconsfield Liberal Democrats today to canvass for the town by-election. He joined Susanne and Christine...
18 Oct 2022
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Cost of living
Full council votes to recognise cost of living work
At a full council meeting last night, Watford Borough Council passed a motion supporting work being undertaken to tackle the cost of living emergency.
18 Oct 2022
Government refuses calls to invest in Bedford Borough road safety
Earlier this month Mayor Dave Hodgson wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport calling on the government to return the fines from average speed cameras to Bedford Borough Council to allow reinvestment in road safety measures. The government have refused this call and instead decided to continue to retain all the money from fines generated by average speed cameras. This means that Bedford Borough residents will not see a penny of these funds invested into new road safety measures.
18 Oct 2022
Zöe Franklin calls for Guildford’s MP to back up her words with action and resign the whip if Liz Truss refuses to go
Following the Chancellor's statement, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Guildford and Cranleigh, Zöe Franklin says local Conservative MP, Angela Richardson must back up her words with action after the MP called for Liz Truss to resign. The Liberal Democrats are calling for a General Election which is currently being blocked by Conservative MPs. Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Guildford and Cranleigh, Zöe Franklin said: "It is clear Liz Truss must resign before any more damage is done. People's mortgage bills have already spiralled by hundreds of pounds because of this Government's botched budget. Angela Richardson may have called for the PM to go but she must now back up her words with action and resign the Conservative party whip. Otherwise Truss, like her predecessor Johnson, will think she can cling on to her role as PM while the actions of her and her Government cause deep and lasting damage to our economy. "Britain now needs a General Election but Conservative MPs are putting thei
18 Oct 2022
Tories could leave Liz Truss as PM to take the fall for 'really tough winter', says Lib Dem leader Davey
If the Conservatives really had any sense of sorrow they would immediately call a General Election and let the people of this...
18 Oct 2022
Mayor Dave Hodgson launches the 2022 Christmas Card Competition
Bedford Borough Mayor Dave Hodgson has written to all primary schools in the Borough and to PLACE (Parent-led and community based education) inviting pupils to help design the 2022 Christmas card.
18 Oct 2022
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!”
