It would seem that this was the week that the Lib Dems revealed their true nature as "liberal" cover for right wing Tory policies.

 

I have written to Bridge Ward County Council and Lewes District Councillors asking their support in opposing the car parking proposals for Malling, it will be interesting to see their responses.

If you agree with my views I would be grateful if you could email / complete the ESCC online questionnaire

"I was told at the surgery held at St Thomas a Becket Church Hall that the only  reason for the proposal was because of the problems caused by on street parking by people employed by the Sussex Police Authority based at their headquarters in Church Lane.  The proposed parking zone covers the area to the south of Church Lane. 

If this (controlled Parking Zone) CPZ were introduced then  the majority if not all the police employees will simply relocate to the adjacent parts of the Malling Estate.  The proposal clearly does not solve the problem as stated – it will just shift it and it seems lamentable that money has been paid to Atkins for what seems to me a completely flawed poposal. 

The ESCC Highways Department and our County Councillors must also bear responsibility for allowing this proposal to be put forward.

The only way CPZ will address the police parking would be to create a CPZ covering the whole of Malling.  However I would also strongly oppose this as the total cost to local residents (in excess of £100,000 per year) would be scandalous just to solve a problem caused by the police who themselves should pay to resolve the issue.  Surely ESCC and the Police Authority as public bodies should negotiate to provide a solution that does not financially penalise residents and cause other inconvenience eg parking for visitors and contractors

Another reason I oppose the proposed parking scheme on the Malling is that as I park in Spences Field and there are no parking problems at any time of the week.  I have taken photos to support this.

I cannot see why I should have to pay £100 + per year (after tax) to park and for visitors to park just to implement a "non"-solution or even a solution  to police parking in Malling.  I was told at the surgery that the parking bays shown on the plans are purely "indicative".  However the paper questionnaire invites people to indicate their support or otherwise to the proposals.  This seems to be at odds with what I was told and a waste of time. 

However for the record I oppose the proposals as they stand. One result of implementing the CPZ would  be that more residents of Spences Field will turn their front gardens into parking bays destroying the pleasing landscape and and increasing the run off of water onto the brooks land which you know has flooded in the past. Spences Field should not be in any CPZ.

The Lib-dems it seems have such jitters about the local election results that they flew Nick Clegg in to Newhaven, and to be honest we think Newhaven has suffered enough under the lib-dems.  And a few nights ago, a Labour supporter in Bridge Ward opened his door to a knock form a Lib-dem MP. Perhaps Mr Stockslump  just doesn’t cut the mustard with voters any more or they haven’t got anyone else who will campaign for them.  It was a female MP so as that is only one from seven, somone must know who it was.  The Lib-dems women MPs are all slated to lose their seats at the next General Election if things go on as they are.

A recent Fabian Society Report showed how the Lib Dems’ seven female MPs include five in the party’s 10 most vulnerable seats.

There are no women in the party’s 20 safest seats – those with the largest majorities. The Fabian Society points out that the majority of all seven women Lib Dem MPs put together (17,224 votes) is only just greater than that of Nick Clegg in Sheffield Hallam (15,284). Most vulnerable is Lorely Burt in Solihull, whose majority is only 175 votes, followed by Annette Brooke in Mid Dorset (269)

The Fabians  suggest radical moves for the Lib Dems such as making former leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell offer their safe seats to female candidates to reverse the trend. Or perhaps its why she was down here as with his new found unpopularity, it is rumoured that Mr Baker may not stand at the next general election.

Other minor parties appear to like to throw insults, only demonstrating their jitters at the strength of support that Labour feels on the streets, door steps and at their drop-in surgery on saturdays.

Labour is positive, offering positive action and policy that means  listening to local people:

1. Traffic speeds need controlling

2. Parking scheme needs reforming

3. Recycling needs improving

4 Planning needs more listening

5. Hospital needs defending

6. Public spaces need protecting

7. Jobs and services need preserving

Labour has not had an active role in the council chamber for 25 years, so we are not tainted by either the mis-management of the District and Town or the lack of opposition in the council chamber from elected representatives.  Labour would bring a new approach and fresh ideas to our local councils.

Labour is your voice in tough times, none of the minor parties have the local and national membership, activity or representation to give Lewes a stronger voice when job, services and livelihoods are under attack.

On May 5th come home to Labour.

Our campaigners and candidates are out in Lewes knocking on doors and talking to local residents.  Canvassing is showing that voters are disillusioned with the Lib Dems and see  Labour as a real alternative.

There is a feeling we have found, in the street when running our stalls; or going round to voters and talking on the doorstep; or meeting people who come in to our Saturday Surgery at 3 North Street Lewes, that there is a new political challenge because residents in lewes have become disillusioned with the status quo that has been in  place for 15 years

More and more people feel that their concerns aren’t being met and they aren’t being listened too, they don’t want to waste their vote on one of the minor parties who don’t have the strength or background. In these very tough times they want a real alternative,  that can make a diffierence, and are increasingly running to Labour.

One lady even came up to our canvassers in the street and said “Your lot are going to do well, no one round here is happy with what they have done”

Ed Miliband MP’s campaign speech in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne:

“One year ago the Liberal Democrats told voters in Newcastle that they would fight for the next generation to get fair chances, for families struggling to get by and to strengthen the ties that bind our communities together.

“That is what Nick Clegg told the people of Britain exactly one year ago when he looked viewers in the eye during in that first historic TV debate and promised a different kind of politics.

“But the Lib Dems have broken their promises.

“A year ago the Lib Dems promised to scrap tuition fees. But they trebled them.

“A year ago, the Lib Dems promised to oppose a rise in VAT. But they voted to back the Tories in raising it to 20 per cent.

“A year ago, the Lib Dems promised to protect the NHS. But they backed David Cameron’s expensive bureaucratic plans which put the founding principles of the heath service at risk.

“A year ago, the Lib Dems promised to support measured deficit reduction plans. But they backed Tory cuts that go £40 billion further and faster than those Labour would have made.

“What a difference a year makes.

“Today I want to make a direct appeal to people who voted Liberal Democrat in past elections.

“Some may have voted Labour before, others not.

“But day-by-day it’s becoming clearer the Liberal Democrats can no longer claim to represent the values for which so many voted at the last election.

“I know that some people in the Lib Dem leadership like to claim they are making a difference inside this Conservative-led Government.

“But the truth is that the Liberal Democrats are not front seat passengers or back seat passengers in this Conservative-led Government . They are locked in the boot of a vehicle which is travelling rapidly in the wrong direction.

“We may have heard some shouting coming from that boot in recent days. There is, after all, an election on. But it isn’t changing either the speed or the way this Government is headed. Too many people who thought they were voting for a progressive party a year ago have been betrayed.

“There may still be three main parties standing candidates but there are only two directions for our country

“There is the Labour way: standing up for young people, for students, for sure start, for the next generation; standing up for families feeling squeezed; standing up for strong, safe communities.

“And there is the Tory-Liberal Democrat way. Cuts that go too far, too fast. Cuts that are not only unfair on cities like Newcastle but which also threaten the jobs and the economic recovery we need.

“Labour is standing up for your values. We would tax bank bonuses, not give the bankers a tax cut. We would not have imposed a VAT rise on families feeling the squeeze. We would have made sensible cuts at a speed which protects jobs and services rather than supporting reckless cuts that go too far too fast. We support  the NHS. We support keeping police on the street. We support giving our young people a fair chance in life.

“I believe these are the values of the majority of voters in this country.

“If these are your values, let Labour be your voice in these tough times.”

1. Our candidates come from all walks of life and have an unrivalled skill set to bring to the job of running the council. We have health professionals and cabbies, housing experts and administrators, teachers and OAPs, finance specialists and small business people, the young and the old, mums dads and grandparents, hard-working people like you and me.

2. So you don’t hear a lot of good things about the District or the Town Council, that’s because whilst it could make a difference to your life in all sorts of ways, it’s not performing very well and it isn’t doing the things you want or promoting and improving the Town and District of Lewes. Thats because for the last few elections Labour has not had councillors to put your case. Now is the time for a new broom, the Lib-dems have been in power too long, tried and failed, its time for a new approach, a different sort of council, the difference is Labour.

3. If you want Lewes to have more clout, then we have to put ourselves forward more and speak out for our values and way of life, this means fighting the cuts at a local and national level. As an example Lewes Victoria hospital has been handed to Hastings and Rother Care Trust who will not guarantee its funding past March 2012 . Only Labour has the strength,membership and voice, both locally and nationally to challenge attacks on our local services. Only Labour willl put you at the centre of policy making, so Lewes has a stronger voice.

4. Many of you will be angry at the Lib-dem betrayal and rightly so, but don’t throw your vote away on the minor parties who just don’t have the strength to take on the coalition cuts. There are positive reasons to vote Labour.

5. Lewes Labour wants to improve our town, to clean up and reform the way the councils work and clean up the streets: enforcing traffic speeds and making parking work for local people and business; improving roadside recycling; protecting the fabric of our town and the open spaces; empowering elderly people and being advocates for the young; standing up to developers; making planning more accessible and understandable; putting local residents at the heart of policy and decision making. If you trust us with your vote you will find us ready to listen, eager to act and proud to serve.

For more positive reasons to vote Labour go here>>

Vote Labour in Lewes on May 5th for our candidates please look here>>

At the last local elections in Lewes many people voted Green, Lib-dem or Independent, seeing those candidates as progressive alternatives.  All this did was allowed the Lib-dems and their friends the Tories to continue to control the District Council. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats promised us all a new approach to politics  but less than a year into the coalition government, the Lib Dems have broken nearly all of their election pledges on tuition fees, VAT and protecting local services.

Since then we have seen Lewes lose its way, and the Lib-dems support the Tories.  Now we face unprecedented cuts to services from the Tory Lib-dem government and their partners on Lewes District Council.

Our Town and District cannot afford a Lib-dem council. We are asking voters to come home to Labour

Labour will challenge the cuts programme. We have amongst our candidates people with a depth of knowledge and a wide professional experience to run a complex District like ours.  We say to friends who voted Lib-dem or Green in the past, come back to us. You share our values, you share our concerns, yes we are Labour people, with Labour values but most of all we value our independence of mind.

If you are serious about changing things, for the better, locally, if you want to give Lewes a stronger voice on a wide range of issues, if you want local government to really listen and put local residents at the heart of policy, then you need to vote Labour

David Cameron is hoping you will vote Lib-dem or Green because this will strengthen his hand

On May 5th there is an opportunity to send a message to Cameron and Clegg, there is an opportunity to make a difference in Lewes, the difference is Labour.

The Tory-led Government is hitting people across the country hard through their reckless cuts which go too far and too fast. Yet at the same time they have chosen to cut taxes for the banks this year.

Did you realise that:

• The VAT rise will cost families with children £450 this year alone?
• Tax credits and child benefit will be frozen from April?
• Petrol prices are soaring with the VAT rise adding 3p per litre?
• Economic growth has stalled?
• Unemployment is rising again – now at a 17 year high?
• Nearly 1 million young people are now out of work?

George Osborne’s decision to cut too far and too fast has threatened the already fragile economic recovery.

Ten wasted months in office and this Government still has no plan for growth.

We need a plan that puts jobs and growth first. Getting more people into work and the economy growing strongly again is the best way to get the deficit down.

Do you want to find out about the impact of the Budget and learn more?

Then join Labour bythe button at the top of this page

By now you will have all seen the result in Barnsley, yes it was an expected Labour win. But additionally it was a very bad night for the coalition.

The Lib-dems not only fell to 6th place, but fell below even the independent candidate who had hardly two pennies to ryb together.  They also lost their deposit. £500 not well spent in these times of all in it together austerity!

The Lib-dems managed to poll 1,012 votes.  As one commentator has said “Shock of the night was that 1,012 people still prepared to vote Lib Dem at all” . In terms of vote share (of who did vote) Labour’s was up 13.5% and the Lib-Dems down 13.1%, Tory’s down 9% and UKIP up 7%.  The reality may be that the Lib-dem vote just didn’t come out, and this may happen locally.  It does mean that Lewes Labour must ensure good voter contact and work hard to get our own vote out. If you want to help contact us or come to the next branch Meeting or one of our Saturday drop ins at 3 North street, Lewes.

There is something else here too which is the Tories also slumped but the parties of the Right like UkIP did well.  The likelihood is that the Tory faithful may be disillusioned with Camerons Liberal Toryism as much as they Lib-dems are unhappy about Tory Liberalism.  And to think they did it all for ‘POWER’…oopps sorry I mean the national interest and all being in it together.  The result also shows us something else ….that the left wing vote who previously supported the Lib-dems last year are deserting them and that this vote may be hard for them to claw back.

I understand from a BBC article by Michael Crick that there is no time since 1945 in England that a party has gone from 2nd in a seat to 6th in one election. But it could mean nothing in the scheme of things.

So can we take anything from this by-election?  Well it shows the mood of the country at the moment but thats about it…. The coalition is making is playing dice  with our economy and public services, in order to gain advantage at the next election.

They think if they can get the pain and public services anguish over as quickly as possible regardless of the horror it causes, hoping the economy picks up by the time the election comes around and with additional revenue brought in by an improving bank sector (there will be budget goodies to be handed out)   The Tory’s wrote the book on this one, and even though the policy machine has spat out a few spanners in the last 2 months, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have 4 years to grease the necessary palms and re-oil Camerons hair.