Gail ready for election fight

After 18 months of uncertainty, the Prime Minister has finally called a General Election.
Here in North East Somerset, the Liberal Democrats have re-selected well respected political activist Gail Coleshill to contest the election, which will be fought under brand new parliamentary boundaries.

Gail, who has worked for ten years on community projects and initiatives in the area, said:

“A lot has changed here since the last General Election. Not just do we have new boundaries, but our Labour MP has become even more unpopular and the Conservatives have selected a candidate who has no track record of doing anything in our area.
I’m 100% ready for the election contest and hope the people of North East Somerset will elect me as their new MP.”

The new constituency, previously known as Wansdyke, will be losing the Bitton, Oldland Common area to the north of Keynsham – which has had a Labour MP for the last 13years.
New additions to the constituency include Batheaston, Bathampton, South Stoke and Freshford (a total area of around 7,000 voters) – which have all been served by the Lib Dem MP Don Foster for the last 18 years.

Today, Gail Coleshill has published her four pledges for election to Parliament:

1. Economy: I’ll work with Vince Cable to help working families by raising the individual tax free allowance to £10,000. We’ll cut out tax loopholes for the rich and reduce income tax by taxing pollution.
2. Environment:
· I will continue to campaign to protect the environment, particularly against plans to build thousands of houses on the greenbelt.
· We do need more low cost housing, so I want to bring empty homes back into use for affordable housing and increase the energy efficiency of all houses to save money and keep homes warmer.
· I’ll work with other Lib Dem MPs to push for planning decisions to be taken away from central government and decided locally.
· I would like to make buses and trains affordable and reliable so that people have a real choice on how to travel. Re-open railway lines and stations such as Bathampton, Saltford and Radstock to Bristol.
· I support the local Lib Dems plans’ to give all young people free bus passes so they have better access to services.

3. Education: I plan to give teachers more time in the classroom by cutting administration. Raise standards in every school with a pupil premium for every child. Reduce and eventually eliminate university tuition fees.
4. Democratic Reform: The expenses scandal in parliament has put people off politics. I want to change this by using local groups to bring democracy closer to the people, to give people the freedom to sack their MP, and introduce a fairer voting system where every vote counts.

Gail believes the contest locally is wide open:

“Our canvass results are looking very good, with Labour finishing in third place. Every week I am meeting new people on the doorstep, and they’re telling me they want a change from the old-style politics and break from the two older parties.
As we get closer to polling day, election fever is sure to heat up in North East Somerset.”

To watch Gail’s General Election Campaign video visit http://www.nes-libdems.org.uk/

Wannabe Tory MP should stop giving false information

Does the Conservative candidate for North East Somerset think we are all idiots in this part of the world?

In a letter to Newton St Loe residents he gives the false impression that the Conservatives are doing all they can to defend the greenbelt and how deeply they’re opposed to the proposal of 2,000 houses being built next to the village.

Mr Rees-Mogg needs to be reminded that it was HIS party that voted in favour of the Core Strategy Spatial Options Consultation document in October. In the document there are two main options. Both of them conclude that building 2,000 houses next to Newton St Loe is favourable to building them anywhere else. If his Conservative Councillors were so opposed to it why did they vote in favour of a consultation that gives no choice to Newton St Loe residents?

At that same meeting, the majority of Liberal Democrats did not take part in the vote because we did not (and still don’t) believe the document was ready to go out for consultation. Some Lib Dems actively voted against!

Mr Rees-Mogg also needs to note that the Lib Dems have run successful campaigns in defending areas such as the Haycombe and Englishcombe Vales from development.

I rarely write letters to the newspaper these days, but when politicians give out completely misleading information, I think it is important that they are corrected.

From what Newton St Loe residents have told me, their wannabe Tory MP has been less than helpful in supporting them and listening to their views.

I don’t intend to score political points, but it’s actually Prospective Lib Dem MP Gail Coleshill who has put the residents first. She’s the one who has met with residents, liaised with the press on their behalf, attending public meetings in the village, presented petitions in Bristol and written on their behalf to the Government Office of the South West.

Spending almost £1m on a 700yard bus lane IS a waste of money!

In this week's edition of the Radstock Journal Labour Councillor for Paulton, John Bull, claims that spending almost £1m on a 700yard bus lane is a good use of our money!

John needs to be reminded that in 2005 the Conservatives were in charge of transport in B&NES – they have been for the last six years!

It’s a shame that he is such a keen supporter of the new Oddown bus lane, because I have been overwhelmed with emails and phone calls from residents who support my argument that spending almost £1m on a 700yard bus lane really is a waste of money.

To be clear, not in any of my TV or radio interviews have I said that I’m opposed to bus lanes in their entirety. Those that serve a purpose and encourage people to use their cars less and public transport more are great. The new bus lane on the A367 going into Bath does not do either of these.

To date, on the numerous occasions that I have travelled to and from Bath, I have not seen a bus use the lane. Money well spent? I think not! John Bull’s claim that this is not at the local taxpayers’ expense because it’s funded by central government is madness! Don’t people pay their income tax? It does not matter if the money comes from local or central government – it’s still from taxpayers’ hard earned wages.

I would also like to respond to Charles Gerrish’s comments a few weeks ago in The Journal where he claims that the Lib Dems have not come up with any solutions to Bath’s traffic problems. Where has he been for the last four months?

The Lib Dems have said on many occasions (including on national TV) that we would like to provide every single young person with a free bus pass – so their parents don’t have to take and collect them from school. Instead, many can catch the public bus. If you travel into Bath during the school holidays there isn’t any traffic! A clear indication that school traffic cause of congestion in the mornings.

The cost to provide these passes would be just half of the cost of the bus lane. Our proposals are both beneficial with easing congestion and better for the taxpayer.

I would like to invite both John and Charles to come to Peasedown St John one afternoon, and I would be more than happy to introduce them to a lot of people who are fed up with their money being wasted in this way.

Tories (still) in disarray on Europe - 6th Feb '09

The Conservatives still can’t decide where they will sit in Europe!

Readers may remember that David Cameron pledged in 2005 to withdraw British Conservatives from the European Conservative political grouping in the European Parliament. The European Conservatives are the largest political group in the Parliament. Leaving the group would mean a serious loss of influence for British Conservative MEPs who, not surprisingly, are split on the issue.

Now Cameron has said he is going to wait until after the European elections on 4th June this year before deciding whether or not to pull out.

The president of the Group in the European Parliament, Wilfried Martens, has said he wants Cameron to make up his mind before the election campaign starts in April.

However ‘The Parliament’ magazine points out that “any signal by Cameron before the European elections that Conservative MEPs might stay in the EPP-ED (Euro Conservatives) group would infuriate eurosceptics within his party and likely damage the Tory vote in June”.

While Conservative MEPs waste time discussing where to ally themselves, Liberal Democrat MEPs have no such identity crisis. The Liberal group in the European Parliament is widely seen as one of the most forward thinking and hard-working forces in the EU, with British Liberal Democrat MEPs to the fore!

Sick Tory Activist

I was sickened by the news last week that a youth activist in the Tory Party dressed up as the missing 4-year old Madeliene McCann at a fancy dress party.

What made it even worse is, as well as wearing pink pyjamas and holding a cuddly toy, he painted fake blood onto his face - implying to be the victim of some sort of abuse.

This could be the kind of behaviour we would expect from fascists - but not a member of a mainstream political party that obviously had ambitions to progress up the political ladder.

Anyone who didn't see story can find out more here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7820727.stm