In hindsight, Liberal Democrats must admit that we should have made it clear that our promise to scrap tuition fees could only be guaranteed in circumstances where the Liberal Democrats had an overall parliamentary majority, because both the Conservatives and Labour were committed to tuition fees.
We understand many people, particularly in the North East where many people work in the public sector, have no great love for the Conservatives, and are critical of the Lib Dem decision to work with them in government. Most Lib Dems don't have a lot of love for the Conservatives (or Labour) either - but we think people prefer seeing politicians work together when it's necessary in the wider national interest.
Lib Dems recognise many people are very unhappy about the government spending cuts - but we hope people recognise that they are not being made as a vote-winning exercise, they are being made because the country simply can't afford to go on borrowing billions upon billions of pounds every day to pay the bills.
Alan Arnot's term as Chelmsford Mayor has now ended. He attended over 300 different events and told the recent council meeting that this pace of events made it feel like the shortest year of his life. Cllr Arnot (Lib Dem councillor for Patching Hall ward) also raised over £30,000 for the Essex Air Ambulance during the year. (You can still donate online on their website.)
Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, addressed a 23 May forum held jointly by Liberal International British Group and the Chinese Liberal Democrats.
I was dismayed to learn this week of the decision that the final determination of Biogen Power Ltd's application to build a new waste gasification incinerator atTwinwoodsBusinessParknear Milton Ernest will be made inWhitehallby a Government Minister. The proposals were turned down by the Council's planning committee in March, much to the delight of the large number of local residents who have expressed their concern about a range of issues, not least the number of lorry journeys over local roads which would result. Biogen Power Ltd appealed against the planning committee's decision, and the Planning Inspectorate recently conducted the appeal, with an independent planning inspector due to make the final decision in the coming weeks. It came as a surprise, then, when the Council received a letter earlier this week from the Planning Inspectorate which stated that the "the Secretary of State hereby directs that he shall determine this appeal instead of an Inspector."