Newcastle Liberal Democrats Transport Spokesperson Thom Campion has today given a stark warning to both regional leaders and Nexus to urgently address issues with the Metro ahead of this weekend's Great North Run.
Commenting on today's news that orthopaedic surgeon Shyam Kumar has won his tribunal case against the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after they were found to have unfairly dismissed him, local MP Tim Farron said: "It is deeply alarming that the Care Quality Commission - the body we are supposed to trust to protect patients and NHS staff - has been found guilty of wrongly dismissing a doctor who was raising serious safety concerns.
I am particularly proud of our success in developing relations with our sister parties, but our greatest achievement in the past two years has to be the contribution we have made to our party adopting the polices which will bring us back closer to the EU.
THIS WORK HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY THE CONTRACTOR
Liberal Democrats are demanding the Government rescue hundreds of small local businesses in Hinckley and Bosworth from soaring energy bills,warning that lack of action could see the area's high streets turning into "ghost towns."
Cumbrian MP Tim Farron has called on the newly elected Conservative Leader Liz Truss to immediately freeze energy bills, to protect local families and businesses from soaring prices. It comes as the Liberal Democrats have tabled legislation in Parliament this week, signed by Tim to cancel October's energy bill rise - saving the average household around £1,500 this year. The draft Bill would also offer grants to small businesses of up to £50,000 to cover 80% of their energy bills, saving pubs, restaurants and high street shops from closing their doors this winter. The Liberal Democrats are calling on Conservative MPs in Cumbria to back their legislation to offer immediate help to local families and businesses with the cost of living crisis. Tim said: "The Conservatives have spent months failing to act on soaring energy bills, leaving local residents in despair and small businesses going to the wall. "They have shown they are completely out of touch with people in Cumbria struggling to get by. "Liz Truss must l
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!”
