Regional Branding: the path to recovery
Christmas looks a little more cheerful for the Lib Dems after a string of November council by-election results but so far as national opinion polls go we are bumping along the bottom.
JP
4 Dec 2017
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
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MP
4 Dec 2017
Farron blasts NHS England bosses for not backing down on NHS service charges
Local MP Tim Farron has hit out at NHS England bosses for not backing down on proposed service charges.
4 Dec 2017
Mental Health Services for Young People Need Massive Improvement
The government has promised a consultation document (Green Paper) on children.s and young people's health. This will include £95million for schools to appoint and train designated staff for mental health support from 2019. Stockton Liberal Democrats welcome this announcement especially since a recent survey from Parent Zone in 2016 showed 91 percent of teachers reported seeing increased rates of mental illness, 95 percent of schools deal with stress and anxiety among their pupils and just under 70 percent deal with depression.
4 Dec 2017
Lib Dems win clean sweep of by-elections
The sweep of four victories on 30 November means that the Liberal Democrats have gained seven council seats in November.
4 Dec 2017
Lewis Hastie - Unmarried but committed
It's been in the news recently that many cohabiting couples don't realise that they have no legal rights or remedies in the event of a breakup. Earlier in the year, the Court of Appeal rejected Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan when they sought a change in the law to allow heterosexual couples to enter civil partnerships. As a progressive party, believing passionately in the freedom of every individual to live their life as we please, we Liberal Democrats should seriously consider lending our support to cohabitees and to opposite sex couples wanting to enter civil partnerships as an alternative to marriage.
LH
3 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!”
