Labour are scared of the Liberal Democrat challenge. In recent years they lost Brent East, Leicester South and Dunfermline to us. They have called the Ealing Southall and Sedgefield by-elections at very short notice to try to stop us building momentum - the by-elections will now both be held on 19 July,
Shepway District Council have taken the decision to cancel performances at the Lower Leas Park Amphitheatre in Folkestone of Peter Pan (Saturday) and Coal Porters (Sunday) due to forecasts of very bad weather this weekend. The Cantium Brass Band is also cancelled at the Leas Bandstand in Folkestone on Sunday. Rattlebag will decide on Saturday if their gig at noon tomorrow at the bandstand will also be cancelled.
An article appeared in yesterday's Romney Marsh Herald stating that Councillor Sue Ashworth was planning to join the Conservatives from the Liberal Democrats early in July. As we had heard nothing directly from Councillor Ashworth on this, Group Leader Lynne Beaumont contacted her directly. Although assuring us that she was not responsible for the story in any way, during the conversation, Cllr Ashworth confirmed that she did indeed intend to join the Conservative Group on Shepway District Council.
Gordon Brown today met his cabinet to discuss plans to restore trust in politics and make the government more accountable. This comes after Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell, who wrote to Gordon Brown at the start of Brown's leadership campaign calling on him to take up the cause of reform, urged the Prime Minister not to squander the opportunity to revitalise Britain's democracy. Proposals for a comprehensive programme of constitutional reform were published today. The Liberal Democrats' programme of reform includes:
The Labour and Conservative Groups on Bedford Borough Council last night voted to look into introducing fortnightly rubbish collections, and failed to back the Lib Dems' call to reject fortnightly waste collections and instead focus on the promotion and extension of the existing 'orange bag' recycling scheme. Both the Tories and Labour supported an amendment to investigate the option of introducing fortnightly collections, and refused to join the Lib Dems in opposing the County Council's attempts to roll out fortnightly collections across the county.
Money Programme this evening is looking at the claims the big retailers are making about going green. One pledge they looked at was Tesco's pledge to put a carbon footprint label on every product.
