Tactical Voting
Source - British Election Studies. . .
5 Jan 2020
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
New figures show 2.3 million EU citizens without Settled Status
The latest EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, published toward the end of last year by the Home Office, show more than 140,000 EU citizens applied to live and work in the UK after Brexit in November compared to more than half a million submitted in October.
5 Jan 2020
Northern Discomfort: An analysis of the Liberal Democrat performance in the 2017 General Election
Introduction Having spent months out campaigning, first for the County Council elections, and then the general election in 2017, I took a break afterwards by examining the election results! It is clear the Liberal Democrats made good progress in terms of seats: a 50% increase from 8 to 12 MPs compared to 2015; and, agonisingly, fewer than 500 votes away from doubling our seats to 16. (1) This was achieved, however, against a slightly lower vote share of 7.4%, compared to the already-low point of 7.9% in 2015, and an accompanying further decline in our vote in many seats.
5 Jan 2020
Engagement not drone strikes - Foreign Secretary's blank-cheque defence of Trump not in the UK's interests says Liberal Democrats' Leader
"Dominic Raab's lapdog defence of Donald Trump's reckless action against Iran is seriously misguided and not in Britain's best interests," Liberal Democrats Acting Leader Ed Davey said following Dominic Raab's appearance on BBC TV this morning,
5 Jan 2020
King's Fund backs Liberal Democrats' call to Conservative Government to scrap its "Nurse Tax" as health staff shortages rise.
Newcastle Liberal Democrats' Health spokesperson Dr Wendy Taylor has welcomed calls from the King's Fund to scrap the NHS fee for foreign health care professionals, She said:
5 Jan 2020
Save our planet! Westbury’s youth call for action on climate change
STUDENTS from a local primary school marched through the streets of Westbury last month, calling for the community to take action against climate change.
4 Jan 2020
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!”
