Conference votes for Assisted Dying law
On Saturday 18th September, at Autumn Conference, party members voted by a huge majority to adopt a new policy on assisted dying law.
5 Nov 2021
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Slashing Air Passenger Duty to create same CO2 emissions as 2.3m extra train journeys
The Conservatives' plans to cut air passenger duty on domestic flights will see a significant spike in CO2 emissions equivalent to 2.3 million extra train journeys, analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows.
5 Nov 2021
New Access Road In Bittams Lane Approved
A new access road from the proposed development known as Bittams D (Parklands) onto Bittams Lane, Chertsey, was approved at Wednesday evenings Planning Committee (3rd November 2021), despite Cllr Sylvia Whyte raising the issue about the unsuitability of Bittams Lane to have another access road. Surrey Highways are dismissive of local knowledge and the possibility of accidents on this very windy and narrow road stating that "It has multiple changes in horizontal and
5 Nov 2021
MP meets Immigration Minister over Lakes hospitality staffing crisis
This week, local MP Tim Farron met with the Immigration Minister Kevin Foster to make the case for the Government to fix the staffing crisis in the Lake District hospitality and tourism sector.
5 Nov 2021
Local Engagement and Information Evening
A big thank you to everyone who came to our Local Engagement and Information Evening yesterday evening. Aylesbury Town Council Leader Richard Lloyd and Aylesbury Mayor Anders Christensen hosted the event and shared plans for Aylesbury Garden Town, the refurbishment of the Town Centre, Gardenway and the plans for a sports stadium for Aylesbury. This was followed by a Q&A session. Based on the success of the event we will be planning on hosting a similar session in the future. We will keep you posted!
5 Nov 2021
How to win electoral reform: A conversation with Wendy Chamberlain MP and Lord Paul Tyler CBE
On 2nd November, Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform (LDER) invited members to join Wendy Chamberlain MP and Lord Paul Tyler CBE in conversation on how to make the next General Election the last to be foundt under the undemocratic first past the post system. Wendy Chamberlain is a Liberal Democrat MP, President of LDER, and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Reform. Lord Paul Tyler, a life-long advocate for democratic reform, addressed the meeting on the eve of his final speech in the House Lords, having taken the decision to retire ("the House of Lords is a place of many anachronisms, and I wouldn't like to risk becoming one of them").
5 Nov 2021
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!”
