Pauline Nash, Stephen Gow and Elisabeth Wilson at the Godfrey Road busstop.
The Skircoat ward Lib Dem team (Cllr Stephen Gow, Skircoat ward candidate Pauline Nash, and parliamentary candidate Elisabeth Wilson) have been out and about in Skircoat Green with a survey about changes in bus services.
On January the 25th the number of peak time buses through Skircoat Green reduced from 6 to 1.
The 531 service now runs hourly
The 36 became the 31 service and only runs off peak
In order to make representations to Metro to get a better deal for local residents, the Skircoat team have been calling door to door with a survey on bus usage. So far they have had a very good response and hope to collate replies soon.
Elisabeth Wilson with Susan Kramer MP and other Lib Dem activists at "The Wave"
Elisabeth was a founder member and is a continuing supporter of Treesponsibility, which plants trees in the Calderdale area and campaigns against climate change. Children from Mount Pellon and Beech primary schools have been involved in planting trees and forest activities.
Elisabeth was delighted when Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems introduced a debate on 21st October 2009 in parliament, demanding government support for the 10:10 campaign. This asks individuals and organizations to commit to reducing their carbon footprint by 10% in 2010.
Elisabeth has signed up to 10:10.
On 5 December 2009 she was one of many 1000s of activists who went to demonstrate in “The Wave” outside Parliament, just before the talks on climate change started in Copenhagen.
So what has Elisabeth done since?
Things that have saved me money or cost nothing
I have turned down my thermostat
I shut the door to one room, and turned off the heating altogether
I use the train or bus as much as possible
I’m eating vegan food three days a week
I take my own bags shopping
Had an “eco” driving lesson to learn how to drive economically
Things that have cost me money – but will save it in the long run
I’ve had my bedroom ceilings lowered and insulated
There’s an extra door on the stairs from my basement kitchen so that the heat doesn’t escape upstairs
I’ve changed my car to one with much lower emissions
I bought thermal curtain linings
Things that I think are the right thing to do:
My electricity supply from Good Energy is 100% from renewable sources
I use the Phone Coop, which is ethical and green
I put food waste in a wormery [it’s not collected where I live]
Major surgery need on banks – Nick Clegg tells Elisabeth Wilson
Lib Dem candidate for Halifax, Elisabeth Wilson, took the opportunity to ask Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader, about the future of banking at a “town hall meeting” in Bradford. Pointing out that “the Halifax” had gone from a building society to a bank, to a bigger bank, and now part of the huge LloydsTSB group, she expressed her concern for the effects on local employment as well as financial stability.
Nick Clegg said banks needed major surgery. There should be a tightly regulated sector for high street banks where the public could trust their savings – and if things went wrong they would be bailed out.
This sector should be completely separate from the risk taking activities that had caused the banking crisis, which he said was the fault of greedy banker. This had led to the current recession. In his view there should be a 10% levy on the profits of banks until the loan from the taxpayers was paid off.
Nick Clegg compared Lib Dem proposals to the weak efforts of the current Labour government, merely having a one-off tax on bonuses, which many banks were planning to get round.
Later in the evening Elisabeth Wilson was able to have more discussions about the concerns local people have for employment in the Halifax area with Nick Clegg.
Nick Clegg was visiting Bradford for a town hall meeting at the Karmand community centre, where members of the public could put any questions to him.
The picture shows Elisabeth Wilson, Lib Dem candidate for Halifax with Nick Clegg MP, Lib Dem leader
Experienced campaigner Dr Elisabeth Wilson has been chosen by Halifax Liberal Democrats to fight the 2010 general election. She is well known in the area, as a former County Councillor, member of the Calderdale health authority, town councillor and mayor of Todmorden, and school governor. Elisabeth has experience of fighting two previous general elections. In 2005 she held the vote at 25% in Colne Valley constituency in a tough three-way fight.
Elisabeth Wilson holds MBA and PhD degrees and is currently self-employed as a lecturer and consultant. She has worked for both Manchester University and Bradford University School of Management, and from January to March 2009 she was a visiting professor at the University of Ahfad, Omdurman, Sudan, a women’s university. She has undertaken short assignments overseas for the Department for International Development and UNESCO.
Elisabeth Wilson is a Quaker (member of the Society of Friends). She lives in Slaithwaite, very near Halifax. She has two adult children and one granddaughter. Her hobbies include theatre, yoga, walking, and decorating celebration cakes – you can find out more about her on Facebook.
Halifax Liberal Democrats will soon be meeting in order to set out a timetable for the selection process of a new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Halifax constituency.
Until a General Election is called, no party can have a candidate for election, but parties normally chose to select a potential candidate in advance who will then act as the party’s parliamentary spokesman and campaign on parliamentary issues within the constituency.
Halifax Lib Dems regret the decision of previous PPC Diane Park to resign from the role and withdraw from party politics, and hope that the new PPC will be able to build on the work she carried out.
The Liberal Democrats, in both Houses of Parliament, are committed to changing the current immigration rules and criteria that are unfairly prejudiced against Gurkhas who retired from the British Army before 1997. We feel very strongly about addressing the inequality of the current Gurkha immigration policy, which is why we used one of our debating slots to highlight the issue of Gurkha settlement on 29th April.
The Liberal Democrats believe that Gurkhas who were prepared to fight and die for this country should have the right to live here. They should be treated in the same way as their foreign and Commonwealth counterparts, who have a right to indefinite leave to remain after four years of service in the armed forces.
Under the Government’s new provisions, announced in April in response to Mr Justice Blake’s judgement that present policy was unlawful, Gurkhas who retired before 1997 and want to live here have to serve for five times as long as Commonwealth soldiers or Gurkhas who retired from service after 1997. This 20 year service rule effectively excludes most private soldiers, who normally serve for 15 years. This inequality is, in our view, unjust and intolerable.
The Government suggested that approximately 4,000 Gurkha soldiers would benefit from their new policy, leaving 10,000 in total once dependents are included. Lawyers working with the campaign believe that a much smaller number would be able to benefit, possibly even as few as 100. The Government has said that if all Gurkhas, including those who were discharged before 1997, wanted to come to the UK the total would reach 100,000 including their dependents.
This is fanciful. It is like estimating the potential migration from the rest of the European Union as the entire population, because every EU citizen can work anywhere in the EU. It takes no account of the high living standards enjoyed by most discharged Gurkhas in Nepal and hence the attractiveness of staying in their country. In fact, just 1350 Gurkha soldiers who retired before 1997 have lodged appeals to be allowed to stay in the UK. The figures released by the Government on the number of Gurkhas they expect to settle in the UK and the potential cost are highly dubious. Channel 4 News fact check gave the Government’s estimates a rating of 4, one below the rating for ‘the claim has no basis in fact.’
But the numbers are surely secondary. The Gurkhas have made an unconditional commitment to our nation, and we cannot repay that extraordinary service, bravery and dedication with a penny-pinching attitude. This is an issue about our own values as a people, as much as it is about the Gurkhas.
Wonderfully, we managed to defeat the Government by a vote of 267 to 246, the first success for any opposition motion for more than thirty years and only the third Government defeat in the Commons since 1997. It was a moment of great pride and elation, as it seems the Gurkhas will finally receive the respect they deserve.
The Government announced the increase which you mention in last year’s Pre-Budget Report to counter potential price reductions caused by the new 15% rate of Value Added Tax. The Liberal Democrats tabled amendments to the Finance Bill to try and prevent these increases because whilst the VAT cut is expected to be temporary the beer duty increase is not.
As with Post Offices, good pubs are an asset to the communities they serve. They are also important small businesses: they provide jobs and support our local economy. It is crucial therefore that we support them. My concern is that tax rises on beer will harm pubs which are already struggling in difficult economic circumstances and closing at a record rate. They will also damage smaller independent beer breweries.
The current Axe the Beer Tax campaign being led by the British Beer & Pub Association and the Campaign for Real Ale is attributing the financial difficulties experienced by British pubs solely to the rate of beer duty. Yet research by the Fair Pint campaign has revealed that pub companies are typically selling beer at twice the price a barrel that tenants could purchase it on the open market.
In addition many pub chains have been raising rent and other costs, forcing tenant landlords and publicans into heavy debt. I have been told by landlords in my constituency of the worries they face due to the increasing costs heaped upon them by the pub chains. Clearly the pub companies need to be held to account for the high price of beer.
There is genuine concern, about excessive alcohol consumption and the impact that it is having on behaviour in public places. But there is little evidence to suggest that the higher taxes in the Budget will have a significant impact on binge drinking, and the suspicion must be that the Government’s primary motivation was to raise additional revenue.
We need to see a broader and more intelligent response to binge drinking. This should include more being done to prevent alcohol sales to under-18s, the introduction of new social minimum pricing measures to stop irresponsible pricing by supermarkets and better enforcement of existing laws which prevent bars from selling alcohol to customers who are clearly drunk.
Responding to Alistair Darling’s Budget, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:
“Today we got a pick and mix Budget of recycled announcements from a government skilled in raising people’s hopes but incompetent at actually delivering help.“This Budget is a political supermarket sweep of random promises, without even a hint of a plan or any likelihood the promises will be put into practice.“The biggest disappointment in this Budget is its failure to sort out Britain’s unfair tax system. To put money into people’s pockets to help them make it through this recession.“Britain’s taxes are too heavy on those who can least afford it. And too easy to avoid for those who know how. “The 50p rate will further encourage the very wealthy to avoid tax unless we tackle the unfair loopholes they exploit. “The Liberal Democrats would get practical help to people who are struggling and cut the vast majority of people’s Income Tax bills by £700, paid for by taking aggressive action to clamp down on all the loopholes and exemptions that benefit the richest people and biggest businesses.“We would take big choices about what government should and shouldn’t do.“With a shocking deficit this year of £175bn we need a national debate about what the state can and cannot afford in the future.“That is the responsible way – the honest way – to reduce spending in the years ahead and avoid painful higher taxes.“But Labour is out of ideas and out of steam.“Today they have condemned us to years of unemployment and a decade of debt.“The country deserves something different.”Read a summary of the party’s Economic Recovery Plan at www.LibDems.org.uk/RecoveryPlan
Pauline Nash has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Skircoat Ward by-election to be held on April 2nd. Mrs Nash hopes to become the second Liberal Democrat Councillor in the ward following Cllr Stephen Gow’s victory in 2007. Pauline stood in Skircoat, her home ward, in May 2008, coming second to Cllr Wainwright.
A former youth and community worker, Pauline, of Heath Road, Halifax, has been a magistrate since 1981 and has served as a member of the Board of the Halifax Opportunities trust.
Pauline says, ‘This by-election has come about in unfortunate circumstances but I look forward to fighting the seat again. On the doorstep last year people were concerned that their voice was not heard in the right places in the Town Hall and that important decisions, such as the new waste contract and the introduction of wheelie bins, are being made without consultation. That is why I support the Liberal Democrat plans for a more open council that consults local people properly on the matters that affect them the most.’
Cllr Stephen Gow says. ‘Pauline is known by many people throughout the ward and will make an excellent local ward Councillor. She is a no nonsense character who will work hard for Skircoat ward.’
Cllrs Jennifer and Robert Pearson in Warley Village Car Park
The car park in Warley has been resurfaced and tidied up thanks to Lib Dem Councillor Jennifer Pearson. She also acted on residents’ requests for more equipment in the play area. Jennifer and Robert are now working with local people to get the Warley monument repaired and restored.
