On Saturday 20th October a number of MK Lib Dems travelled down to London to support the People's Vote campaign. On the day it is estimated that over 700,000 people marched, the second largest protest this century, with only the Stop the War march with an estimated 1 million people being larger - which is another time the Lib Dems went against the government and media barons to fight on the right side of history!
25,000 demonstrated against Brexit in March 2017; 50,000 in September and over 100,000 in June 2018. As the Tory Government...
Nearly 700,000 people attended the march to demand a people's vote on the final terms of any Brexit deal.. Making it the second largest UK protest this century after the Stop the War demonstration in 2003 Lib Dem Leader Sir Vince Cable, Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas and MPs from the main political parties together with a wide range of individuals from business, sport and entertainment addressed the crowd in Parliament Square which included members and supporters from East Suffolk Lib Dems. The Leader of the SNP has now added their support for a vote but unsurprisingly there was no sign of the Leader of the Opposition. Earlier, the Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, said "It was a tragedy this country is being divided by generation, the majority of his generation that voted to leave, taking the freedom away from young voters. There is no deal better than the one we have now. It is better for Britain and better for Europe," he said to cheers. All that is needed is the resolve of hundreds of millions of me
Responding to the release of Government statistics which show a 12% rise in knife crime, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said "The Tories always tell us that the Government's first duty is to keep people safe. On their own terms, they are failing."
The Council's children's services were judged to be in need of improvement in an Ofsted report in the summer. This is the second...
On Saturday several groups from Mole Valley travelled up to London to take part in the People's Vote March, demanding a Final Say on the terms of any Brexit deal and including the option to Remain. Groups were organised by local Liberal Democrats and by the Mole Valley branch of the European Movement; other independent marchers also joined the train at Dorking, Leatherhead, Ashtead and Epsom. It is generally accepted that about 670,000 people were on the march, representing over 1% of the entire UK population. Demonstrators came from all backgrounds, age groups and parts of the UK and large numbers had not taken part in a public demonstration before.
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!”
