Weybridge Station - Upper entrance permanently closed
Let us know what you think The new operator for the train service through Weybridge - South Western Railway - have advi...
16 Nov 2017
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Crime and Police in Havering
Havering Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned about inadequate response times of the tri-borough East Area Command Unit and the proposals to close Hornchurch and Rainham Police Stations along with seven Safer Neighbourhood bases. Havering Liberal Democrats strongly support the committed work of Police Officers throughout Havering. We call on the Home Office and the Mayor of London to provide additional resources to the Met Police to keep our communities safe.
16 Nov 2017
Farron urges Chancellor not to punish small business owners in next week’s budget
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has urged Philip Hammond to re-think plans to punish local businesses with a huge tax hike in the Autumn budget.
16 Nov 2017
Jo Swinson takes part in International Men’s Day debate
On Tuesday, MPs debated International Men's Day. Our participant in that debate was Jo Swinson. She would not ever be so shameless as to give a massive plug for her book, Equal Power, which is due out in February, but she used a lot of her speech to talk about how gender equality benefits both men and women. Men face pressures from our unequal world, she said, in mental health, employment, expectations of being the bread winner, of not showing emotion. She talked about the importance of both parents' roles in children's lives.
CL
16 Nov 2017
LISTEN: to Layla Moran on Any Questions: We have a foreign secretary who is not fit for purpose
Layla Moran took a trip to Kent on Friday night to appear on the Any Questions panel.
NH
16 Nov 2017
Local MP to appear on Question Time
South Lakes MP Tim Farron will be one of those debating the burning issues of the day on the BBC's flagship current affairs television programme 'Question Time' on Thursday night.
15 Nov 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!”
