Hospital parking charges campaign continues online

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye, has taken his campaign for fairer parking charges at the Conquest Hospital online.

Nick, who has welcomed the hospital trust’s move to introduce limited pay-as-you-leave parking at the Conquest from the end of February said,

“I have been stunned at how effective campaigning using websites like Facebook has been over the last few months.

“There was the BBC South East Today campaign for a blood donor for the lad on holiday in Mexico; and in Hastings, there has been a successful Facebook campaign to bring a particular film to the Odeon.

“If these things have been achieved then there is potential to demonstrate just how much local feeling there is about the parking situation at the Conquest.

“I know that not everyone is online, but we all know someone who uses the computer – please log on and lend your support!”, he said.

Pay as you leave parking will come to our hospital ‘by the end of February’

A statement from East Sussex Hospitals Trust released yesterday confirms that a pay-on-exit barrier controlled parking system will replace the current pay-on-arrival system in the main visitor car parks at both Conquest and Eastbourne District General Hospitals.

The new system will become operational at Eastbourne DGH by mid-February and Conquest by the end of February.

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate who has spearheaded efforts to win fairer parking at the Conquest said,

“This is welcome news from the Trust, but it must be the first step of a far-reaching programme to deliver fairness.

“The other Conquest car parks must not carry on business as usual. We need a change in the enforcement culture and a fairer deal for staff.

“I will continue terrier-like, until we achieve the outcome that local people want and deserve.”

Tory plans to tax motorists will hit rural areas

Commenting on reports of Conservative plans to increase petrol duty to raise money to pay for their proposed married couple’s allowance, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: 

“This is a retrograde step that will cause immense damage to people in rural areas who have no alternative to using their cars. The Tories are just copying Labour’s failed policies.

“It would be much fairer to bring in a revenue neutral road pricing scheme for motorways and dual carriageways, roads which often have a rail alternative.

“The Liberal Democrats will abolish Vehicle Excise Duty and scrap fuel duty.”

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye said,

“This is back-of-the-envelope stuff from the Tories. They have dug themselves into a big whole, and their proposals will hurt Rye and the surrounding villages.

“Vince Cable and Norman Baker deserve to be trusted over George Osborne, not only with the maths of this, but also with our environment. The Liberal Democrats are leading the way on fair, costed policies, that demonstrate a real commitment to our rural communities, and protecting our environment.”

Haiti puts our housing needs in perspective

Everything pales into insignificance alongside the devastating images coming out of Haiti.

I have sent my own personal contribution via British Red Cross. It is difficult to know what else can be done on an individual level. We need a serious and co-ordinated global relief effort.

It is at times like this that I am proud of the internationalist approach of the Liberal Democrats.

It is at times of national and global crisis that the philosophy of the Little Englander is shown at its most spurious.

On the domestic front, the campaign for the General Election that has not yet been called continues apace.

At the end of last week, the Liberal Democrats set out our plans to bring a quarter of a million empty homes back into use, making homes available for people who need them and creating 65,000 jobs.

There are over 760,000 empty properties across England which are no longer used as homes, but which can be brought back into use with some investment.

People who own these homes will get a grant or a cheap loan to renovate them so they can be used: grants if the home is for social housing, loans for private use.

According to the research, there are 1,445 empty homes currently in the Borough of Hastings.

In our area, lack of social housing capacity is a real concern.

I am pleased that Nick and Vince are leading the debate on this at a national level. Returning empty homes to use is a practical way of helping to relieve the pressure on families, and providing employment opportunities to help mitigate the effects of the recession.

The plans form part of the economic stimulus package outlined as a core principle of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto.

In the first year of the new Parliament, the party would redirect over £3.6bn of spending to create jobs and build up Britain’s infrastructure. In the following years redirections will enable us to focus on other Lib Dem priorities and to reduce the structural deficit.

It is the view of Vince Cable, and I agree, that cutting public spending too quickly may result in the economy nose-diving.

Dave and George disagree of course, and they are wrong.

Nick Clegg launched our housing plans with Vince Cable and Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather. This is what he said:

“Allowing thousands of houses to sit empty when millions of families have been waiting years for a home is nothing short of a scandal.

“These plans are a clear example of where Liberal Democrat priorities lie: creating jobs and providing more family homes.

“The cost of bringing these homes back into use is just a fraction of the cost of new-build, yet the Government is sitting idly by while they fall into disrepair.

“This is one element of our economic stimulus package that will generate jobs and help Britain on its way to building a fair, sustainable economy.”

It’s not rocket science, but the Liberal Democrats appear to be ahead of the curve again in respect of a costed, practical approach to consolidating the country’s economic recovery.

Lib Dem President launches local campaign

Baroness Scott of Needham Market, who has been President of the Liberal Democrat Party since January 2009, was the guest speaker at the party’s constituency dinner at the Royal Victoria Hotel in St Leonards on Friday night.

Following an afternoon’s work on the stump in Winchelsea, Baroness Scott’s speech was a personal account of how she became involved in local politics, the business world, and the path she has taken to a seat in the House of Lords. She also spoke about the increasing enthusiasm with which the Lib Dem leadership team of Nick Clegg and Vince Cable is being received at a national level.

Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye Nick Perry said,

“It was a great pleasure to be able to welcome Ros to the constituency and I am grateful for a truly inspirational speech. It has put us in great spirits for the campaign!

“I am sure she is absolutely right that the more people see of Nick Clegg and Vince Cable the more they realise that it is the Liberal Democrats who are offering a different sort of politics. I for one will be working flat out to make sure that people know what are our key policies, in the weeks and months leading to the General Election”, said Nick.

The General Election must be held before 3 June this year.

Baroness takes to the streets of Winchelsea

Baroness Scott of Needham Market in the County of Suffolk, who has been the President of the Liberal Democrat Party since January 2009, spent time listening to voters concerns in Winchelsea on Friday last week.

The new year has seen the start of campaigning in earnest by the political parties, and Baroness Scott was in the area helping local Lib Dem candidate Nick Perry. She was also guest speaker at the party’s constituency dinner in St Leonards on Sea.

Baroness Scott said, “I have not been back to Winchelsea for a long time. We used to come to the area with my parents for holidays when we were younger. It is absolutely beautiful, and it was lovely to spend the afternoon talking to local people.”

The Liberal Party had strong links with the Non-Conformist movement, and Baroness Scott learnt that John Wesley gave his last open air sermon in Winchelsea in 1790.

Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye Nick Perry said,

“It was a pleasure to be able to show Ros around some of the constituency and bring back some of her memories of holidays here. We had a warm reception on the doorstep, and I think the people of Winchelsea were pleased to see politicians coming to listen to their views.

“There was a great deal of enthusiasm for our leadership team of Nick Clegg and Vince Cable. I think this enthusiasm will only increase as we get closer to the election and people hear more about Lib Dem policies”, said Nick.

The General Election must be held before 3 June this year.

Nick writes new Fisheries policy for the Lib Dems

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye, has written a new policy for his party on the under-10 metre fishing industry.

The policy motion will first be debated at Lib Dem South East Region Conference, to be held in Guildford on 6 February. It has also been submitted for the party’s federal Spring Conference, which is to be held in Birmingham in March.

Nick said,

“I am hopeful that this motion will be passed, because I am determined that the Lib Dems will be the first political party to make a cast-iron, policy commitment to supporting the under-10 metre sector properly, and to ensure fairness within the industry.

“With the possibility of a hung Parliament as the outcome of the forthcoming General Election, Lib Dem party policy matters more than ever. It is actions not warm words that our fishermen need in order for their historic and valued trade to survive and prosper.”

The motion acknowledges the problems that the under-10 metre sector has had in its relationship with the Labour Government and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in particular. And it calls for:

• pro-active support to those fishermen who are able to demonstrate that their work is sustainable and environmentally responsible;

• a Fisheries Department which has a participatory approach to policy-making, and whose key policy-making forums ensure the proper representation of the under-10 metre sector;

• proper application of the Fixed Quota Allocations system and the underpinning of the under-10 metre sector by the agreed minimum floor levels;

• a review of allocation policy, completed in partnership with NUTFA, to decide how to administer the inshore sector; how best to divide quota between the inshore and other sectors; and come what may, the establishment of the right for the under-10s to form producer organisations as they deem necessary;

• a change of culture within fisheries management to promote localism and the devolution of decision-making to the lowest administrative level possible.

Paul Joy, Chair of the Hastings Fishermen’s Protection Society and co-Chair of NUTFA (New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association) said,

“From a Hastings and a NUTFA perspective, we welcome the advances made by the Liberal Democrats on a constructive policy that looks at the disadvantages faced by the inshore sector; the introduction of the Register of Buyers & Sellers; and the initial lack of quota which has been allocated to the inshore fleet.

“What we want is fairness. If we don’t get a fair proportion of quota, we are looking at the destruction of the inshore fisheries sector”, Paul said.

Are we radicals, or conservatives?

So it’s started…

Not just the new year, and the new decade. But finally, the election campaign that has been waiting to happen since Autumn 2007.

The voters will at last have the chance to have their say.

All the punditry from the Westminster village may sell newspapers, but it is the views of the electorate that really matter.

I am pleased that Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has put our party’s respect for democracy, and the election choice of the British people, at the heart of what we will do (as a party) after the results are in.

It is increasingly likely that a hung Parliament is in the offing.

It is for this reason that, after the votes have been counted, Lib Dem parliamentarians, Lib Dem policy and Lib Dem actions will matter more than ever before.

In his article in The Times yesterday, Nick Clegg said that the British people deserve to know what the Lib Dems will do in the event of a hung Parliament. He writes,

‘We have two basic principles that I will uphold.

‘One, we will respect the will of the public… [so] the party with the strongest mandate will have a moral right to be the first to seek to govern on its own or, if it chooses, to seek alliances with other parties.

‘Two, regardless of the post-election arithmetic or whatever power we are granted, there are four objectives that we will unwaveringly pursue.

‘First: fair taxes. Our plan would mean that the first £10,000 you earn would be free of income tax. This would be paid for by taxing income and capital at the same rate, phasing out special pension subsidies for highest-rate earners, switching tax from income to pollution and introducing a mansion tax on the value of homes above £2 million.

‘Second: a fair start for all our children. We will cut class sizes and provide more one-to-one tuition to children by introducing a new “pupil premium” in our schools.

‘Third: a fair and sustainable economy that creates jobs. We will use the money from one year’s cuts in current spending to create tens of thousands of new jobs in public transport, a national programme of home insulation and new social housing. We will be honest about where savings must be made to balance the books and we will break up the banking system.

‘And finally, fair, clean and local politics. We will introduce a fair voting system, ensure that MPs can be sacked by their constituents if they break the rules, return powers to local communities and stop tax avoiders from standing for Parliament, sitting in the House of Lords or donating to political parties.’

These are the kind of changes we need in order to help our country be fit to face the new decade.

Here in Hastings & Rye, our Labour MP seeks re-election on the back of his local activism, but not a reputation for genuine political radicalism.

Michael Foster has been a hard worker. But he has also been a loyalist to a Government that has been a profound disappointment to social radicals.

Labour has on many and various counts been conservative in its approach to the real changes we need in British politics, and in the fight against inequality.

And it is on that basis that Labour deserves to lose the next General Election.

The question that remains is what ethos of government do we want to replace that of Blair and Brown’s New Labour?

Will we plump for conservatives again, or for a more radical option?

The choice, after all, is ours.

Nick responds to Health Secretary’s consultation on hospital parking charges

Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye, who has spearheaded a campaign against hospital parking charges at the Conquest Hospital said,

“Our Labour MP said to me at the Town Conference earlier this year that he did not think hospital parking charges was a big issue. I think it is a big issue for local people, and I am glad that the Secretary of State has acknowledged the ‘great resentment’ that these charges cause.

“Having said this, I do not believe Andy Burnham’s consultation goes far enough in its proposals: there should be a more robust plan for tackling the charges faced by outpatients and by staff.

“I remain committed to fighting for an NHS which is free at the point of delivery”, he said.

We wish you a happy and successful 2010

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and successful 2010.

Here is a link to The Guardian article reporting Nick Clegg\’s New Year message.

The General Election must be held this year; this is Nick’s message in a nutshell:

“Some people say, what’s the point of voting when the same old parties always win? I say: vote for what you believe in.

“If you like what the Liberal Democrats stand for, vote for it. If you want real change, not phoney change, vote for it. If you think things should be different, vote for it.”