Former education secretary Estelle Morris may vote against government plans to reform schools. Tony Blair is facing a Labour backbench rebellion over a proposal to create "independent" state schools in England. Under the government's education white paper, some schools would become self-governing trusts, with more freedom from local authorities over their finances, staff and which pupils they take.
The Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable MP, spoke to a packed audience at Sutton Green Golf Club recently. The former Chief Economist for Shell said that whilst the UK had done reasonably well, the signs of potential economic problems were becoming clearer. In particular the increasing national debt and the pensions crisis worried him.
Anne Lee, Parliamentary Spokesperson for Woking Liberal Democrats has spoken out against cuts in health care. She said "Yet again we are being threatened with cuts to patient care and more reorganisations."
Liberal Democrats in Essex have called on Essex County Council to lead and coordinate a local admissions policy to ensure fair access to schools for all children. In a motion put before a full council meeting, the Liberal Democrats highlighted flaws in government proposals that will see schools in Essex competing against each other for the most academic children.
New figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that since the beginning of 2003, over 119 million calls to Government helplines and call centres - or 36.6% of all calls - have been abandoned, were met with an engaged tone or went unrecorded by the system.
In a bid to reduce crime over the Christmas period, Kent Police have issued the following advice: