A Personal Message from Sir Menzies Campbell, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a party that embraces new ideas, that cherishes our principles, and that refuses to sacrifice our values for convenience.
The Liberal Democrats are a party that embraces new ideas, that cherishes our principles, and that refuses to sacrifice our values for convenience.
Dundee LibDems today (4th March 2006) said that Tory Leader David Cameron's speech to Scottish Tories yesterday merely served to highlight just how out of touch the Tories remain and just how irrelevant they have become in the Scottish politics.
Responding to the Prime Minister's comments in his interview with Michael Parkinson, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said "Going to war isn't just an act of faith; it requires rigorous analysis of the legality of doing so, the likelihood of success, the number of possible casualties, and the long term consequences.
Pauline Searle Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Guildford North and Borough Councillor for Stoughton added her concerns to those already expressed in the Surrey Advertiser about Surrey County Council's 'Business Development Review' (BDR) plans to save £50 million, which will see many youth clubs close or merge across the County.
The threat to the YoYo Drop-in Centre for young people in Epsom Town centre was discussed at the recent meeting of SCC's Epsom & Ewell Local Committee. They unanimously passed a motion proposed by Cllr Colin Taylor calling upon SCC's Executive to re-consider their BDR review's proposal in the light of possible alterations to the facilities at the Lintons Youth Centre.
As well as Libraries and Youth Clubs, other Surrey County Council services threatened by the Tory BDR proposals include the Surrey History Centre, where the reduction in funding may seriously affect the quality of the service, and Surrey County Arts, which currently provides 278,000 music lessons annually. Proposals include increased tuition fees, even though tuition fees in Surrey are already 30% higher than the national average whereas some 42% of local authorities do not charge any tuition fees.