Ransom Demand

Today the country heard a ransom demand. It was badly disguised as a plea for help, but it was a ransom none the less. David Cameron told voters to 'vote for him or else'. All other options are doom and destruction apparently. But what he believes would be acceptable is a Conservative party that would cut taxes only for the rich, fail to reform the banking system, leave the broken political system unchanged and threaten the recovery with big cuts this year. A vote for them is not change. It is a vote for the same old party that is even now being told by their own leader of Kent County Council, the man running the biggest education authority in the country, that Tory education policy would see cuts for normal state schools. The change in this election is a vote for the Lib Dems. One of the questions YouGov asked in a poll last week was: "if you thought the Lib Dems could win, how would you vote?" The answer: 49% said Liberal Democrat. Funnily enough The Sun failed to use that figure in its editorial. The Lib Dems are winning in constituencies across the UK. There can be change, with a vote for us.

And Another Thing....

Everyone was in a conversational mood tonight. Some people said they couldn't remember if they had ever had a politician knock on their door, and they were glad I had. They certainly had plenty to get off their collective chests. A lot of people are fired up in this election. Some are still steaming mad about the expenses scandal. Others are equally upset at the state of the economy. One thing that this has done is make them question their traditional allegiances. More than ever before I am getting Lib Dem policy repeated back to me as an example of why they are thinking of switching to us. One guy said he had never voted before, but wanted to finally get down the polling booth and had decided to vote Lib Dem. Today I think the economy was topic of choice followed by climate change. Each time is different, and the topics show only modest regard to the top media story of the day. Nobody mentioned Labour's manifesto launch. Big impact then.....

Save Our School (But Not Our Planet)

I attended the meeting of Spelthorne Borough Council tonight, in large part because residents from both ends of the borough were there to have their voices heard. People opposing the ill judged London Irish proposed development asked a series of excellent questions about planning policy, and gave councillors plenty to think about. Then campaigners working to save Shortwood School had their 3 minutes to tell the borough councillors why the school is so important to the community. The speech was excellent, and I thought it was a shame that a bit more time wasn't given when the 3 minutes was up. The campaign will now need to gear up for another public meeting on the 4th March, and then on to the county council. Then we had the budget setting for 2010, and a round of deep cuts from the Tory administration. After years of failing to manage a budget deficit (ring any bells?) they now have to remove staff from areas like planning, where they already perform poorly. In response to one of our Group Leaders comments about not signing up to the 10:10 campaign, where organisations including councils can pledge to cut CO2 emissions by 10% this year, we had the usual response from a Tory. Lib Dems had tabled a motion last year to join the campaign, only for the Tories to block it. Well, with one of their number once again trotting out the "there is no proof the climate change exists" it's no surprise. If that councillor ever bothered to look beyond the end of his nose at the wealth of scientific proof that exists, and thinks for one solitary second about the wider world, he would know the threat we face. But once again we see the true face of the Tories on the environment.

The Wave

Yesterday I joined thousands of other on The Wave - the climate change march in London. The Lib Dems had a sizeable contingent there to show our long standing and on-going commitment to tackling the changes in the earths climate that will affect all of us (and already are). Our leader Nick Clegg was there to lead us off, and others like Susan Kramer, Simon Hughes and local MEP Catherine Bearder were there too. One of the great things on a day like that is the sense of common purpose, and with groups as diverse as Christian Aid and the RSPB marching side by side, you get a real sense of how much will there is to say positive changes in our society that will help mitigate against dangerous new weather patterns, and protect our environment. Now it is up to the Governement to deliver at the Copenhagen climate summit and beyond. I fear that any future Labour and Tory Government does not have the will our the support in their own ranks to do what needs to be done. Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for our environment for 30 years and are as committed as ever. Gordon Brown has been talking tough on this issue this week. But just weeks before his party voted down Lib Dem proposals for Parliament to join the 10:10 campaign, designed for organisations to commit to a 10% reduction in carbon emmissions next year. Every major city run by a Lib Dem administration (Bristol, Newcastle, Liverpool, Hull, Sheffield to name a few) has signed up to the campaign and has planned how to do it. Labour and the Tories have refused in many places, including Spelthorne. Until these dinosaurs start walking the walk, rather than just talking the talk, then they may end up going the same way as the previous dinosaurs that once roamed the earth.

Which is it David?

Since becoming leader of the opposition, David Cameron has been trying deperately to portray the Tory party as fervant eco warriors. Windmills, huskies and chauffeured bags were followed by think tank ideas being floated as possible furure policy and then quietly dropped. Now Tory MEP's have shown their true colours. Last week in the European Parliament two Tory MEPs, Daniel Hannan and Roger Helmer, voted against a motion calling for the Copenhagen talks to agree an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050. The Tories then tabled amendments to prevent EU funding to help developing countries tackle climate change. ( see here for more on this: http://spelthornelibdems.org.uk/news/000119/green_or_a_deeper_shade_of_blue.html ).
Whilst it may be that Cameron is sincere in his wish to improve the environment, it is increasingly clear that the rest of his party is not.

Stormy Weather

The autumn storm season has just brought forth it's first big 'un of 2009. I was relieved that it didn't hit Spelthorne as hard as had been forecast. Having said that, it was incredibly ambitious of London Irish to set up their latest exhibition showcasing their redevelopment plans in a marquee, and put up on Friday night! Sadly it didn't survive, and those of us there were shown to the club bar where it was hastily put together again.
It does bring into focus the changing weather, and the huge rise in energy costs faced by residents every winter, particularly the elderly. One thing that could be done to improve the situation, would be to properly insulate all the homes in the UK. As a party, we have comprehensive proposals on this. The Liberal Democrats’ Warm Homes scheme would be a national programme involving government, local councils and the private sector to insulate every home in Britain to the highest energy efficiency standards within the next 10 years. This is vital if we are ever to bring the 4 million people who currently suffer fuel poverty out of it. It is also an important long term way of tackling the effects of climate change. These are the strategic ideas that this country needs to provide long term benefits to people. It can't come too soon.