Following allegations in The Daily Telegraph that Epping Forest Conservative MP Eleanor Laing has not paid £180,000 in capital gains tax after making a profit of £1 million on one of her homes, local Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner Councillor Ann Haigh commented:
Jonathan Webber, Cllr Robin Lawrence and Cllr Claire Darke have been calling all streets to have good clear name plates. The one for Sweetman Street on the corner with Clifford Street which has just said "Sweet" for a long time has at last been replaced.
After releasing their manifesto for the June 4th elections, local Liberal Democrats conducted a poll to see which of their pledges was most important to local residents. Here are the top 6.....
The issue of MP's expenses has highlighted the need for constitutional change, the impotency of MP's who are left to rubber stamp government legislation having been paid off by an expenses regime that positively invited them to make outlandish claims that had nothing to do with their work. At the same time the business of government is controlled from outside parliament, with the chamber itself left with only a handful of MP's in attendance, with the Prime Minister hardly ever attending except for Prime Ministers Questions, and party whips ensuring legislation is passed irrespective of its merits.
Britain's democracy is at a turning point. Not in living memory has confidence in politicians, trust in the system, or faith in the government's capacity to change things been as low as it is today. The expenses scandal has exposed a culture of arrogance and secrecy that has long been at the heart of our democracy.
