Liberal Democrat councillors put forward an amendment to Walsall Council’s controlling Tory group budget at the special meeting on 24th February 2010 called to decide the budget for 2011/12 The Liberal Democrats proposed that £2.7million be taken from reserves of over £8million without affecting the level of Council Tax (Zero%). The £2.7million would be used to cushion [...]

Express & Star 27 Feb 11: The YamYam 27 Feb 11: Brownhills School is taking in 94 mid-year admissions from soon-to-shut Sneyd School in Bloxwich, 81 of which have not been funded — leaving a loss to Brownhills School of £144,901.83. In a letter from Brownhills head teacher Helen Keenan to Walsall Council’s Schools Forum [...]

There was an interesting article in the Independent on Sunday yesterday, which proves that the Transport Secretary Philip Hammond is fully committed to driving forward with a High speed Rail Network for the UK – this is great news. This is a Liberal Democrat policy, and I am sure his Junior Transport Minister Norman Baker fully endorses [...]

By Mark Pack | Published on Liberal Democrat Voice,  26th February 2011 – 1:20 pm The FactCheck blog has been running its eyes over the claims made by No2AV about how much introducing the alternative vote would cost (the subject too of my letter published in yesterday’s Independent). Here’s what they conclude: No to AV claims [...]

By Helen Duffett | Published on Liberal Democrat Voice, 26th February 2011 – 11:53 am Today’s Times (£) features an interview with Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, which touches on Coalition cuts, the Budget, banks, Nick Clegg, electoral pact rumours – and even red squirrels. Here’s a taster: “One of the things about [...]

By Mark Pack | Published on Liberal Democrat Vioce, 26th February 2011 – 10:25 am Last month I spoke at an event organised by the University College London’s Constitution Unit on how the Liberal Democrats ended up in coalition with the Conservatives and the progress of the coalition so far:  The Liberal Democrats and the Coalition [...]

Aamina Zafar Magazine: FinancialAdviser Published Thursday , February 24, 2011 Britain’s over 50s are facing a ‘bleak’ future with higher unemployment and rising inflation, research from Saga has warned. The 20-page Saga Quarterly Report found that long-term unemployment has hit the jobless over 50s hardest as 43 per cent have remained on the dole for [...]

Having lost the argument and having been consistently out organised by our grassroots volunteers, the guardians of the old politics have been reduced to dirty scare stories and smears to try and score a cheap political point. Bordering on the disturbing, the No campaign took out a two-page advertisement in the Birmingham Mail claiming that [...]

by Alex Marsh | Published on Liberal Democrat Voice, 24th February 2011 – 6:05 pm David Cameron’s article on public service reform in the Telegraph was the opening shot in what could be a significant battle both within the Coalition and across the House. The case presented raises at least three important ethical issues. First, the [...]

Tonight is Walsall Council’s Annual Budget Meeting. Given the financial mess the country has been left in after 13 years of Labour Governments, this years budget will probably be the most difficult that the council has had to face. It will be even more difficult than the one back in 2000 when, after a period of [...]