Tories have announced that the cap on care costs, promised during the election campaign, has been postponed, possibly never to see the light of day.
As Care Minister, Norman Lamb (and his Liberal Democrat predecessor) were pivotal in ensuring that the cap for care costs was introduced. The Conservatives have now delayed its implementation by 4 long years. Norman described this as an “outrageous betrayal of people at their most weak and most frail. He said:

This an extraordinary and devastating u-turn from the Tories and an outrageous betrayal of people at their most weak and most frail with conditions like dementia.

Crippling care costs need addressing urgently. In coalition we designed a solution that would help and was affordable. Local authorities have spent millions already preparing for the introduction of the cap, yet we now hear the Tories are turning their back on it. This delay is a total waste of public money.

The distress and heartbreak that people feel when a loved one is in care, is being exacerbated by the fear of how to pay for it. We must not allow this to continue.

Be in no doubt, this is not a delay. The Tories are abandoning the cap. George Osborne never supported this, and Labour were only half hearted in support. The cap was only secured because Liberal Democrats negotiated it in coalition.

There’s no possibility that the finances of social care will be any easier in 2020. They have broken a clear promise in their manifesto within weeks of grabbing power on their own and decided to prioritise tax cuts for the wealthy.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Kirsty Williams,  warned of the “dire consequences” of the delay:

I am appalled that, the moment the Liberal Democrats leave government, the Tories have kicked our plans to cap lifetime care costs into the long grass.

Liberal Democrats in government fought to reform the way social care is funded, to help ease the burden of long term care costs on the elderly, their families and carers.

With an ageing population in Wales, the need to secure a sustainable system for paying for care has never been more urgent. Yet the Welsh Labour Government has said it will sit back and wait for the reforms to first happen in England. This means that we will see no long term reform until post 2020, which will have dire consequences for many elderly people in Wales and their families.

The care cap was to be met largely by freezing the inheritance tax threshold at £325,000, which George Osborne has now announced he will raise to £500,000. It is no wonder that the care cap cannot be funded when the Tories are giving the wealthy a windfall tax break which the Lib Dems blocked in government.

We need a fair and sustainable system where people no longer live in fear of losing nearly everything they own to pay for care and it is time for the Welsh Labour Government to lay out a plan for Wales. Using the excuse of a lack of money doesn’t wash when the Welsh Government can still find millions of pounds to buy an airport on a whim.

In a huge blow to Britain’s Green industry, the Conservatives have announced they will end all Government funding to the Green Deal – a programme set up by the Liberal Democrats in Coalition that helps people make their homes more energy efficient.

Tim Farron has condemned the new policy, saying:

“Today’s news is yet another blow for green industry and British jobs. The Conservatives claim they want to tackle climate change, but this is further evidence they don’t care about the environment.

key_Energy_efficiency.jpg

“For five years we fought sceptical Tories to ensure we were the greenest Government ever by investing billions in renewables and setting out ambitious climate change targets.

“By quietly dumping the Green Deal, David Cameron has yet again shown how little he cares about the future of the planet.

“The Prime Minister has not so much hugged a husky as led it behind the coal shed, shot it in the head and told his Energy Secretary it has gone to live on a farm in the country.”

The scrapping of the Green Deal comes as Friends of the Earth have criticised David Cameron for “dismantling” 10 year’s worth of low carbon policies.

In Coalition, Liberal Democrats delivered the greenest Government ever – investing billions in renewables and eco-friendly jobs. Just a few months after the Lib Dems left office, the Conservatives have:

Scrapped subsidies for onshore wind and commercial solar – the two cheapest forms of clean energy
Slashed the energy efficiency budget
Ended the tax break for clean cars
Abolished rules on zero carbon housing
Lowered taxes on polluting firms
Introduced a tax on clean energy

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has written to Labour’s interim leader Harriet Harman to ask her to ensure that her party opposes the Government’s Welfare Bill.

Here is the text of his letter:

Dear Harriet
The Conservative Government last night brought forward plans for £12bn of cuts to welfare that will directly impact millions of people across the country including the poorest families in our constituencies.

The Conservatives do not need to make these cuts, especially at the same time as giving tax breaks to millionaires.

The people who will be hit by these changes need someone to give them a voice in Parliament and fight their corner, and last night Labour failed to stand up for them.

You have said that you do not want to oppose absolutely every saving that the Government suggests, but these cuts will hurt the poorest in our communities.

Cuts to employment support allowance, lowering the benefit cap and slashing tax credits for those in low paid work are not policies that any progressive should support.

Labour claim to be a party who believes in social justice. If that is true, then they must join with the Liberal Democrats in voting against these cruel and excessive cuts.

We are consistent in our opposition. In Government we blocked these measures and in opposition we are voting against them.

I am disappointed by Labour’s confusion over this Bill. To give in to the narrative that the answer to our country’s needs is to pit the poorest in the country against one another is shameful.

Labour must join us in providing opposition to this Government’s plans. Your economic credibility cannot be built by simply backing Tory plans that hit the working poor.

The Liberal Democrats will stand up for families, whether they are hard-working or just desperate to be hard-working. We will not let the Conservatives, by their choices, or your party’s failure to oppose these plans unpick our welfare system.

Tim Farron MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Tim Farron is elected Leader of the Lib Dems

The link below takes you to his acceptance speech

 

http://www.libdems.org.uk/rally

David did not stand for re-election on May 7th and as a result has retired as a councillor on May 11th.

 

David thanks all who have supported him over the past 13 years.

 

 

Nick Clegg’s full speech launching Lib Dem manifesto
Nick Clegg has launched the Liberal Democrats manifesto in a speech in London pledging to bring “prosperity for all”.

Five years ago, the British people chose to do things differently. You decided that no one party had the right to govern our country on their own. You chose to make politicians work together in the national interest. And, you know what, it worked.

Your decision turned round an economy in crisis and made it the fastest growing in the western world. Your decision made sure that the difficult choices needed to get us back on track were taken, but taken with compassion and a sense of fairness. Your decision meant that instead of a Conservative government chasing UKIP off to the extremes, you had Liberal Democrats to keep the government stable and anchored firmly in the centre ground.

But the truth is, I could be stood in front of you today in very different circumstances. Five years ago, when you gave no party the right to govern on their own, when you gave the Liberal Democrats the chance to join the Government for the first time in generations, we could have ignored you, taken the easy way out and said ‘no thanks’. We could have left a Conservative party without a majority in parliament to deal with an economy on the brink of collapse. We could have watched them fail. We could have stood by as the economy went under and people lost their jobs. And we could have watched the Conservatives make the poorest in society pay the price. Then I could have stood in front of you on platforms like this and criticised them for it.

But the Liberal Democrats didn’t do that. We did the responsible thing. We did the fair thing. We did the gutsy thing. We stepped up to the plate and put the good of the country first even though it meant working with people we disagreed with. Even though we knew we would have to make some compromises. Even though we knew we would take a hit to our popularity.

But, you know what, every day has been worth it. Because we made Britain better.

Today, because of what you chose and what we, the Liberal Democrats, did, we have a stronger economy and a fairer society. We brought stability. We turned round the economy. We stopped the Conservatives from putting people like them above people like you. And we made Britain fairer.

We cut taxes for millions of working people and lifted the lowest paid out of tax altogether. We directed more funding to the poorest children in our schools. We created a record 2m apprenticeships. We undertook a bold, liberal reform of our pensions system and have given millions generous rises in the state pension. We oversaw a quiet revolution in renewable technology, with twice as many homes powered by renewable electricity. And we legislated so that all love – gay or straight – is valued equally.

This time round, it is obvious once again that neither Labour nor the Conservatives will win a majority. The era of single-party government is over. I’m not denying that either David Cameron or Ed Miliband will be Prime Minister. One of them will. But you know and they know that neither of them will win outright. Neither of them will have a majority in Parliament.

So what really matters is who they will have by their side. Someone is going to hold the balance of power on the 8th of May and it won’t be David Cameron or Ed Miliband. But it could be Nigel Farage. It could be Alex Salmond. Or it could be me and the Liberal Democrats.

So ask yourself this: Do you want Nigel Farage walking through the door of No 10? Do you want Alex Salmond sat at the cabinet table? Or do you want the Liberal Democrats?

The Liberal Democrats will add a heart to a Conservative government and a brain to a Labour one. We won’t allow the Conservatives to cut too much and jeopardise our schools and hospitals and we won’t allow Labour to borrow too much and risk our economy again.

But imagine for a moment, what will become of Britain in the next five years if Nigel Farage and his friends on the right wing of the Conservative Party are calling the shots. Our public services cut to the bone; our communities divided; our shared British values of decency, tolerance and generosity cast aside.

Now imagine a Britain run by Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond. By the way, the reason I am talking about him and not Nicola Sturgeon is that he is the one who is running for parliament. He is one who wants to sit in Westminster having his say over how our whole country is run – and if you want to stop him the best way to do it is really very simple – vote for the fantastic Christine Jardine in Gordon. So imagine Miliband and Salmond’s Britain. Our economy crippled by reckless borrowing; our children destined to pay for it for years to come; the future of our United Kingdom in the balance once again.

Last time round, you chose to end the old red-blue, blue-red pendulum swing that has short-changed you time and time again. This time round, you decide what comes next once again.

That’s why every vote for the Liberal Democrats matters. That’s why every Liberal Democrat MP elected next month matters. Only the Liberal Democrats can make sure the next government keeps Britain on track. Every Liberal Democrat MP makes Labour’s reckless borrowing less likely. Every Liberal Democrat MP makes George Osborne’s ideological cuts less likely. And every Liberal Democrat MP is a barrier between Nigel Farage and Alex Salmond and the door to 10 Downing Street. Because the Liberal Democrats will always act responsibly. We will always act fairly. And we will always act in the best interests of the whole United Kingdom.

The truth is a few hundred votes in a small number of seats could decide whether it is Liberal Democrat MPs, UKIP MPs or SNP MPs who the next Prime Minister will be forced to listen to. There is a very thin line between Britain being governed by a coalition with a conscience or a government with a grievance.

But we can and will win in those seats that will make the difference. I’ve seen for myself over the last few weeks the momentum that is building behind Liberal Democrat candidates like Layla Moran, Lisa Smart and Vikki Slade. And when they win, when we have the chance to influence the next government, this is what we will set out to do. This manifesto is a blueprint for a stronger economy and a fairer society. This manifesto is a plan to finish the job of balancing the books, and to do so fairly by protecting our schools, hospitals and public services. This manifesto is an insurance policy against a government lurching off to the extremes.

At its heart is one word that is absolutely central to what Liberal Democrats believe: opportunity. No matter who you are, where you were born, what sexuality or religion you are or what colour your skin is, you should have the same opportunity to get on in life. We want to tear down the barriers that stop you from reaching your potential. We want to smash the glass ceilings that keep you from achieving what you want to achieve. Your talent and your hard work, not the circumstances of your birth, should decide what you can be.

When we formed the Coalition in 2010, three quarters of our manifesto became part of the Government’s agenda. The priorities on its front page: fairer taxes; investment in the poorest children in schools; fixing the economy; and political reform, became central to what the Coalition Government did.

That’s why this manifesto matters. It is a programme for a liberal Government with decency, tolerance and generosity at its heart. And once again, we have set out our top priorities on the front page: prosperity for all, with the budget balanced fairly and investment in a high-skill, low-carbon economy; opportunity for every child, with guaranteed funding from nursery to 19 and qualified teachers in every classroom; fair taxes, with a further £400 tax cut for working people by raising the Personal Allowance to £12,500; quality healthcare for all, with an extra £8bn for the NHS and equal care for mental health; and our environment protected, with five green laws to protect nature and fight climate change.

These are our top priorities. These are the things we will fight tooth and nail for in the next parliament. And make no mistake, this is a programme for government, not opposition. It is not a shopping list of pie in the sky ideas, but a set of proposals that builds on our record of action in government. We can say we will cut taxes for millions of working people because that is what we have done every year in government. We can say we will invest in education because we have protected schools funding and created the Pupil Premium in government. We can say we will properly fund the NHS and ensure equality for mental health because we have increased health spending and directed hundreds of millions of pounds to mental health treatment in government.

I would not have recommended to the Liberal Democrats that we join the coalition in 2010 if our front page priorities were not included in the Coalition Agreement. And I will take the same approach this time. That’s why we have made our top priorities crystal clear this time too: five steps to a stronger economy and a fairer society slap bang on the front page of our manifesto. They are the building blocks of a modern liberal Britain, where you, no matter what your background, have the opportunity to reach your potential.

This document is how we keep Britain on track. We won’t lurch off to the right with excessive cuts, as the Conservatives will. We won’t lurch off to the left, with excessive borrowing, as Labour will. And we won’t drag Britain away from the mainstream, centre ground, as Nigel Farage, Alex Salmond and their friends on the fringes will.

Most people want a stronger economy and a fairer society and they’re fed up of having to choose one or the other. This manifesto proves you don’t need to choose between them. If you choose the Liberal Democrats: you can have both. If you choose the Liberal Democrats, you can stop the next Government from cutting too much or borrowing too much. If you choose the Liberal Democrats, you can stop Nigel Farage or Alex Salmond holding the Government to ransom. And you can have what we all want: a stronger economy and a fairer society, with opportunity for everyone.
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Tourist Information for the Newcastle Area is published on two sites;

 

Enjoy Staffordshire

enjoystaffordshire.com

and

Newcastle Partnership

visitnewcastleunder lyme.co.uk

DAVID BECKET POLITICAL BACKGROUND
David Becket was elected to the Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council in May 2002, representing Halmer End Ward. David was re-elected in May 2011 with two fewer votes than in 2008. He served on the Cabinet from 2006 to 2011.

David did not stand for re-election to the Cabinet in 2011. Having seen the recycling service go from a failing service to one that has won three national awards he felt it was time to move on.

David was elected Mayor of the Borough of Newcastle under Lyme for 2012/13, with his wife Dr Anne Becket as Mayoress.

From 2006 to 2011 David held the position of Cabinet Member for Environment and Recycling. During that period he has overseen the improvement in street cleansing from 34% of streets classed as dirty to under 10% classed dirty. He has driven recycling from 16% to over 50% and ensured that Newcastle was one of the first councils to collect food waste separately and turn it into heat and electricity on a local farm.

In February 2011 the Borough Council’s waste management and recycling service won the national Government Business award for an efficient, cost effective innovative service. In May 2011 is was announced that the recycling service is shortlisted for two further awards.

David instigated the project to reduce the carbon footprint and energy costs within the council, working with the Carbon Trust.

Whilst holding the Environment and Recycling portfolio David served as Vice Chairman of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Joint Waste Management Board, Newcastle’s representative on the North Staffordshire Warm Zone Steering Group. He served as Newcastle’s Representative on the Local Government Rural Commission from 2006 to 2012. For the year 2011 – 2012 David was Chairman of the Newcastle Health Scrutiny Committee and member of the Staffordshire County Council Health Scrutiny Committee. On being elected Mayor David ceased to be Chairman of the Newcastle Health Scrutiny Committee and member of the Staffordshire Committee. He remained a member of the Newcastle Committee until his retirement.

In May 2015, at the age of 79, David retired and did not stand for re-election.

Prior to 2000 David was active in Berkshire politics, as a County Councillor from 1993 to 1998 and a West Berkshire Unitary Councillor from 1997 to 2000. He was Chairman of Highways and Transportation for West Berkshire from 1994 to 2000, covering the period of the construction of the Newbury By Pass and the pedestrianisation of Newbury Town Centre. Under David’s leadership West Berkshire was one of the councils to follow a lead set by Suffolk and introduce a rural speed management policy. He served as a lead member in Education Committees and Sub Committees.

Before moving to Berkshire in 1987 David was a Betley Parish Councillor for twelve years, including two terms as chairman.

David is a member of the Green Liberal Democrats (http://greenlibdems.org.uk) and the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors. He is a delegate for the Newcastle under Lyme Party at national Liberal Democrat Conferences. David is a member of the Social Liberal Forum (http://socialliberal.net)

 

Most recent planning applications in the ward have been minor, mainly extensions.

 

Three stand out

Houses at the back of Heathcote Road. There was considerable opposition to this. We did at least get the number of houses reduced. However with the Borough Council’s lack of housing sites this was a difficult one to fight.

 

Wind Turbine near Heighley. This was passed with considerable conditions.

 

Work at Doddlespool. Again this was passed, but the conditions imposed have cut out the excessive tipping that was being carried out here. We are disappointed that the Environment Agency did not action, but we are grateful to the County Council for their advice on this one.

 

Cllr Ian Wilkes, Newcastle Borough Councillor for Audley Ward, has been selected as our Candidate for the 2015 Parliamentary Candidate.

Further information to follow.