At today's meeting of Warwickshire County Council, councillors debated how to spend the £3 million on-off Transition Fund money for 2016/17 allocated to the Council by the Government on the 8th February.
Taking charge of the Stay in the EU campaign, David Cameron was accused of using the politics of fear: claiming Britain will have greater security staying in, while leaving would expose us to unknown hazards. It's ironic, though, that his actions caused an astonishing split even in his own Cabinet. Are the British people expected to feel safe and secure while seeing our Government and the ruling Party split from top to bottom? How much effective business can such a Government enact in the next fraught few months? Meantime our own Party has had its share of turmoil and trauma in the past five years. Internally, the comprehensive 2015 Election Review from the Campaigns and Communications Committee shows that a fatal dislocation arose between our Party in Government and the Party in the country. Externally, strong negative emotions against us were simultaneously roused in the British public. Anger among many that we joined with the Tories in the Coalition at all became disgust and even hatred when our Government
2015 was a tale of two leadership elections, with the Liberal Democrat debate between Tim Farron and Norman Lamb overshadowed by the seismic shift in the Labour Party. But while Jeremy Corbyn winning the Labour leadership has led to a fundamental debate on the future of the Labour Party, the victory of Tim Farron may prove the more important - particularly if the time comes for the Liberal Democrats to seize back the liberal mantle in British politics. The Liberal Democrats, like the Liberals before them, have always held a useful counter-balancing position, able to simultaneously attack Labour for their illiberal and statist economic policies - which Jeremy Corbyn has exacerbated - and the Tories for their big-state social policy and genuflection to the security and surveillance services. Should Momentum get too much for Labour and cause splits, and should the Tories finally be split asunder over Europe (or both cast out their ideological non-believers in an orgy of blood-letting that would do la Terreur pro
Chelmsford Lib Dems have been blocked from raising at tonight's meeting of the whole council the council plans to fine homeless people up to £100. The proposal for a "Public Spaces Protection Order" (PSPO) in High Street, Chelmsford has generated much controversy, including thousands of signatures on different petitions. You can sign our petition here.
From 6pm to 9pm on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th February Strange Cargo will be bringing you the third Cheriton Light Festival. There is a line up of extraordinary artists, who have made beautiful artworks for you to see and participate in.
Rugby Borough Councils ruling Conservative group has succeeded in having their budget approved at last nights Budget setting Council meeting. This includes a Council tax rise for Rugby's residents - the first in seven years.