If you are fed up with Labour and are thinking about voting Tory think again, you might get more than you bargained for. It was they who set in train the deregulation and privatisation which has led to  the re-carving of the UK landscape. The peaks of great wealth have grown ever higher, rising up above the clouds, whilst the valleys of poverty have sunk ever lower into perpetual shadow. The once broad plateau of the middle class has shrunk to a narrow ledge with its occupants clinging on for dear life.

Those looking for solice in 1997 put New Labour in power expecting them to reverse this trend and create a fairer society. Did it happen? did it heck as like!! The middle class were hit by further waves of outsourcings and redundancies whilst the traditional, once proud working class, already savaged under the Tories by deindustrialization took the low-paying service jobs that were left.

What of the rich, mere millionaires and the old money types barely qualify anymore. The upper class has split into the merely affluent and the super rich whose extravagances are on a scale not seen since the Roman Empire.

The money to fuel these extravagances has to come from somewhere. We’ve used up most of our domestic oil and gas supplies and I don’t recall any vast new gold or uranium deposits been found in this green and pleasant land of ours, do you? So, it could only come from one place, the rest of us.

All sorts of schemes have been devised to part us from our hard earned money. They’ve taken away workers pension and benefit schemes to swell profits, offered easy credit on the back of dubious terms. They’ve downsized workforces to boost share prices. Now it’s all coming home to roost.

So before you oust New Labour and put in Blue Labour, stop and take a look at what Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have to offer. He has presented the Liberal Democrats as the party to deliver social justice and fairness for Britain. Check out the link to Nick’s Conference Speach on this web site for details of what makes the Liberal Democrats different and electable.

Willenhall Partnership’s Gating Working Group met last night (Wednesday 24th September 2008). It’s remit was to scrutinise the council’s Draft Public Rights of Way policy and how it might help to resolve some long standing problems around the many walkways which wind their way through Willenhall.

The working group was set up at the Partnership’s meeting in August when groups of residents from the Brackendale area in Short Heath and The Manor in Willenhall South asked for help to resolve on-going criminal activity and anti social behaviour they have suffered for some years now.

The work group was updated on the Draft Public Rights of Way policy and scrutinised the way in which the council, the police and the Safer Walsall Partnership dealt with complaints.

An interim progress report will update next week’s Partnership Meeting on its findings so far. “It must be stressed that this is just the first in a series of meetings that the working group will have.” said Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires who chaired the meeting. ” Clearly the Partnership is looking for a solution to the long standing problems being experienced by residents and businesses in parts of Willenhall,” continued Ian. “But the working group will not be waving a magic wand at next Tuesday’s meeting. This is the first step in the road to resolve this long standing problem.”

If you have any ideas which might help please feel free to comment.  

Willenhall’s Local Neighbourhood Partnership begins a series of fact finding meetings tomorrow (Wednesday) on the thorny issue of walkways. Should access be limited where anti social behaviour adversely affects those who live nearby?

If you live in the Willenhall area and have a view on this subject Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires and his team would appreciate your comments. Wednesday’s meeting is just the first in a series which will report later in the year to the Partnership.

It’s an attempt to resolve long standing problems associated with some walkways. There are the usual suspects like Calves Croft, Brackendale and Myrtle Close, but you might know of others, the Partnership would like to hear from you.

The Partnership would also like to hear from others outside the area visiting this site who may, through their experiences, be able to add value to this debate.

Got a view? get in touch.

The Lib Dem Conference in

Willenhall LNP’s next meeting is on Tuesday 30th September at 6pm. it will meet at Oakwood Lodge, Chaucer Avenue, Short Heath, Willenhall, WV12 5JN.

It is a public meeting so if you live in Willenhall, or you have an interest in the area, feel free to come along. There is a public forum on the agenda scheduled to take place around 6.55pm. So if you have a burning issue that you would like to draw to the attention of the meeting, this is your opportunity.

Other items on the agenda are:-

• Hollybank House: An update on proposals to improve services to people with disabilities.
• “The Gate” Island New Invention: An update on improvements at this busy traffic island.
• Community Cash Scheme: Details of how community groups in the Willenhall area could access small grants of upto £400.
• Budget Consultation: A chance to perhaps influence the council’s spending priorities.
• Updates on Willenhall Town Centre Regeneration Project and the Townscape Heritage Initiative.

These meetings are never dull and they don’t drag on. This one is scheduled to finish around 7.45pm, so plenty of time for a “swift half” after before getting back to your favorit TV programme. Look forward to seeing you there.

The future of the Locksmith’s House in New Road, Willenhall remains in the balance in-spite of the defeat of a recent planning application to demolish it and remove it brick by brick from its traditional home to Dudley’s “Black Country Living Museum” reports Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires.

The crisis over the Locksmith’s House came to a head when Walsall’s Tory cabinet called an end to the council’s funding during last year’s spending cuts.

Whether or not the Locksmith’s House is moved brick by brick to Dudley, without vital funding those who run the museum will be forced to close its doors for good. They have already announced that they will be reducing it’s opening times to once a week, Wednesdays.

Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires raised this predicament at a recent meeting. As a result it is hoped that talks can take place in order to find ways of securing funding and a future for the Locksmith’s House in its rightful home in the heart of the old lock industry, Willenhall. 

Tory councillors voted against giving residents a say in how their Council Tax is spent. The decision was taken at a meeting of Walsall’s full council on the 8th September. 

At the same meeting they voted against increasing the cash given to Local Neighbourhood Partnerships (LNPs) such as the one in Willenhall in order to enable them (LNPs) to continue their work of resolving some long standing problems that have “dogged” Willenhall and other district centres for years.

The Lib Dem resolution was a genuine attempt to shift power to local residents giving them a real say in the decisions that affect their communities rather than have council bosses sat in Walsall’s Town Hall make the call on issues they do not understand.

By shifting power away from the centre local councillors become more accountable to those who elect them. 

Your Lib Dem councillors have no problem with this. The Tories obviously do. Something people should remember next time they get a chance to vote. 

Labour’s answer to the energy crisis seems to be centred around advice to consumers on how to make their homes more energy efficient. Lag your lofts folks, that’s Hilary Benn’s answer to your misery. “Whilst we’re lagging our lofts the energy companies are lagging their bank accounts” said Walsall’s LibDem Group Leader Cllr Ian Shires.

Almost on cue a senior E-ON executive thinks it’s a laughing matter to ignor the plight of millions of low income families who will face the stark choice between food and warmth this winter. He jocked that rising fuel costs will mean “more money for us”. Cllr Ian Shires said “Fuel poverty is no laughing matter. One in four older people struggle to pay their fuel bills and millions may be forced to chose between heating and eating this winter.” The really sad thing is the joke is true and that’s why we need a windfall tax.

Yet again, according to Brown’s Labour Government, it’s our fault that we’re in this mess. It’s not the fault of the Tories for selling off our assets to private enterprise in the first place. It’s not the fault of Labour who persisted in the Tory privatisation policies. It’s our fault for not lagging our lofts!!

Well Mr Brown I’ve got news for you, many of us have already lagged our lofts, put in double glazing, insulated our cavity walls. You name it, we’ve done it! and guess what? none of it heats the house!!  

We’re “brassed off ” with people like Hilary Benn - what does he know about any sort of poverty let alone fuel poverty. The only thing he’s had to give up is the families hereditary tittle!! We don’t need people like him telling us we need to make our homes more energy efficient.

Tell that to big business who up till recently made big profits chucking up houses designed for the 20th instead of the 21st century.

Tell it also to the energy companies many of them foreign owned, who continue to make obscene profits to line the pockets of shareholders - dividends have increased by 19% whilst fuel costs to the consumer rose by 40% in the same period.

Enough is enough. People won’t be satisfied with anything less than a windfall tax!!