Steve Guy said “As I am no doubt you are aware Wycombe District Council has put aside half a million pounds of local taxpayers money to look into the feasibility of a new stadium for Wasps and Wycombe Wanderers to share in Booker.

As part of the Liberal Democrat opposition on the Council it is our duty to question, probe and examine the plans being made by the ruling Conservative group and the owners of the club.

This is a large expensive development that is being undertaken and it can only succeed if all stakeholders are fully behind the plans. The most important stakeholder, the supporters of Wycombe Wanderers F.C. have to be supportive of the plans.

So on Saturday 6th March at the home match against Carlisle I will be asking fans for their view. I will be conducting an opinion poll complete with ballot paper and ballot box.

I will give a summary of the results to the local press, club owners, Wycombe District Council and fan groups.”

Poll has closed!

Many residents have told us that they are finding things particularly hard this year. In the current tough economic climate, many people have seen their wages frozen – and in some cases even reduced. We wanted to do something to help people who are finding things tough.

Our proposal was carefully thought out – and would not have led to any cuts in services. The Conservative budget will lead to WDC having reserves of £2.15 million in the coming year. Our amendment would have cut that to £2 million exactly (which is still more than we had this year, and meets government guidelines).

Other Councils have implemented such freezes. Next time you read a Conservative leaflet promising that they are the party of lower taxes, remember how you have been treated in Wycombe. This is the second year running that Conservatives have voted through a higher Council Tax rise than that proposed by the Liberal Democrats.

Trevor is asking WDC what are the key leanings and improvements that will be adopted for future consultations?

Liberal Democrats offer Real Change.

So I don’t blame anyone for feeling a sense of despair about our clapped out political system. You are being taken for granted by the people in charge. Big money is hollowing out politics with some rich donors not even bothering to say whether they pay full British taxes or not. And to top it all the expenses scandals exposed some MPs as spivvy property speculators and tax evaders rather than public servants.

This whole set-up has to change. That’s what 2010 should be all about. Big, permanent change for the better.

People’s faith in politics may be dented, but I still believe in our ability to learn from the mistakes of the past, and set things on a new course.

2010 must be the year we press the political reset button.

But that will only happen if we do things differently. More of the same won’t produce anything new.
Of course both Labour and the Conservatives have learned to parrot the language of change. But where’s the proof they mean it? Despite all the hot air about fixing politics they have both voted against giving people the right to sack MPs who’ve seriously broken the rules. Both have refused to clean up the rotten system of party political funding. Both refuse to give you your say by introducing fair votes to the House of Commons. And both refuse to shake up the City of London, so that bankers can never again play Russian roulette with your savings.

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.

At the end of the day, politics should be about what you believe. What kind of Britain do you want to live in? What kind of world do we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in?
Time to hit political reset button says Clegg

In his New Year message, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has laid down a challenge to other party leaders to tell people what they really believe in, rather than what they think people want to hear.

So as the countdown to the next General Election finally begins, I have a simple question for the other party leaders: what do you believe, really believe?

People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

I have one belief above all others: a belief in fairness. Under my leadership the Liberal Democrats have been working on new ideas to make Britain the fair country I believe most people want it to be. We want to raise standards in all of our schools by giving specific help to the children most in need, and by making class sizes smaller. Soon we will be publishing new ideas to turn our economy away from its over dependence on the City of London to a new, green economy where hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created as we rebuild our transport, energy and housing infrastructure. Above all, we are now the only party with a detailed plan to make taxes fair – removing all income tax on the first £10000 you earn, paid for by asking people at the top to pay a bit more.

If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.

I hope in the coming months even more people will get a chance to find out what I believe in, and the beliefs of the Liberal Democrats. If enough people share our convictions, our beliefs, then 2010 really can be the beginning of something new. “

The next parliament is likely to be the last that can stop dangerous climate change. And there is only one party that is both serious about the environment and in a position to exact real change: the Liberal Democrats.

Copenhagen is a vital staging post in the international fight to reduce carbon but the Government is not up to the task of driving through changes.

Labour has failed to cut emissions in the past and refuses to commit to what science demands in the future. We are still at the bottom of the European league table for levels of renewable energy, only above Malta and Luxembourg.

The Conservatives are a laughing stock on the international scene and their environmental policies consist merely of empty platitudes.

Conservatives in Wycombe have refused to support the 10:10 environmental campaign to reduce carbon emmisions by 10% in 2010

The Liberal Democrats are different. We are the only party in UK politics with the vision, policies, ambition and ability to kill carbon emissions.

We will make Britain carbon neutral by 2050. We will reduce emissions faster and more effectively than any other party. And we will make sure that every home is properly insulated within 10 years of taking power.

There is only a small window of opportunity to stop dangerous climate change. Only the Liberal Democrats will take it.

Watch Nick Clegg speaking at The Wave here.

“I know there are people who agree with a lot of what we’ve got to say. But who still don’t vote Liberal Democrat. You don’t think we’re contenders. I urge you to think again.

If you don’t agree with our policies;if you don’t want big change in Britain. Then don’t vote for us.

But if you like what you hear; if you share our vision for a different kind of future. Then go with your instincts; vote Liberal Democrat.

Elections are decided by your cross on the ballot paper.

Power is not any party’s to be inherited. Power is yours to give to whoever you choose.

So don’t turn away, don’t stay at home, don’t vote Conservative just because you think it is the only option.

This is Britain. We don’t settle for second best because we think it is inevitable; we don’t compromise on our beliefs because people might not agree with us; we stand up for our values with our heads held high.

Make no mistake: the Liberal Democrats will do things differently in Britain.

But if you want real change in Britain, you have to take a stand. If you want what we propose, you have to vote for it.

If you want tax cuts for ordinary people, paid for by closing loopholes for the very rich; if you want the right to sack your MP if they’re proved corrupt; if you want children to start at school in classes of just 15 – then vote for it.

This is a vital moment in the history of our country. And you have the power to shape it.

Labour is lost. They haven’t the ideas, energy or vision to start again.

If you voted for them in the past, you have a choice: You can give away your vote to a fringe party, you can stay at home in despair, or you can join with the Liberal Democrats and make the difference.

If you supported Labour in 1997 because you wanted fairness; you wanted young people to flourish; you wanted political reform; you wanted the environment protected; or you simply believed in a better future – turn to the Liberal Democrats.

The choice at the next election is fake change from the Conservatives, or real change from the Liberal Democrats.

At a time like this, a time of real crisis, Britain cannot afford to be taken in by David Cameron’s illusion of change.

Britain needs leadership from a party with real passion, and it’s the Liberal Democrats.

There is hope for a different future, a different way of doing things in Britain, if we are brave enough to make a fresh start.

So let today be the first day of the future of British politics. It may be only the beginning; but it is the beginning – the beginning of real change in Britain.”

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

For the complete text of this speech click here

I have learned from working with Muslim communities across the UK – and indeed from the many Lib Dem councillors and candidates who are practising Muslims – that the fasting and Qur’an reading during Ramadan provide spiritual renewal and enlightenment. As friends and family are brought together every night, we also reflect on all the millions of people around the world who still go without food and clean water every day.

We in the Liberal Democrats have always championed religious tolerance, and we are proud of the diverse traditions in our country.

We recognise the importance of the principle of Zakat to Muslims, especially at this time, and I deeply regret that Islam can be unfairly portrayed in many parts of the media especially when Muslim communities in this country do so much excellent charitable work.

I congratulate Muslims for the volunteering and donations they make during the month of Ramadan and at other times, and, more broadly, to thank British Muslims for the enormous contribution they make to life in this country.

Ramadan Mubarak!”

Nick Clegg,

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

You can download the full response here:

IMAGINE THE FUTURE

(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Liberal Democrats now carry the torch of progress.

28% at the last set of local elections. 5% points clear of Labour and our highest ever share of the vote. In 23 out of the 25 county councils we are now the main opposition to the Conservatives. And in many counties there are no Labour county councillors at all. In both the South East and the South West Labour were pushed to fifth in the European elections. In vast swathes of Southern Britain they’re as irrelevant as the Tories are in many Northern cities.

In the battle of ideas as well as increasingly in the electoral battle the Labour party are worn out and irrelevant. It’s our party that has been ahead of the curve on one major issue after another: from warning about the dangers of an overleveraged banking system, to calling for full rights of residence for retired Gurkha soldiers, to championing fundamental reform of our politics.

And many parts of the traditional Labour voting coalition are realising it. In 1997 they – and many others – believed the Labour Government would make Britain fairer and more free. But those hopes have now been dashed. Under Labour inequality has got worse, not better. Life chances are still determined by the circumstances of a person’s birth. Iraq, mass child incarceration, the erosion of our civil liberties – those aren’t small blemishes on the Government’s record. They’re a fundamental betrayal of Labour’s promise that things would only get better.

I want those voters who once believed that promise to now turn to us – the only party offering real change. For our part, we must help this process by reaching out to them and explaining why only a Liberal Democrat government can deliver the progressive politics our country needs.

That’s what I did a few weeks ago, when I posted a blog on Labour List for Pride weekend. I explained that even on gay rights, an area where the Government regularly trumpets its success – they’ve failed to go far enough and it’s still only the Liberal Democrats who are prepared to take the bold steps to make this country truly equal. On the environment, on civil liberties, on reforming the banks and bankers and on Trident renewal, we are the only party in British politics that is willing to take the radical choices that would change Britain for good.

Last week I was interviewed for a joint event with Tweetminster and the Independent; and a few days earlier I did an online ‘Town Hall’ event with Reuters. I’m determined that we as a party engage with voters by every means possible. Young people, betrayed by this government over Iraq, graduate debt, and now on a recession that is leaving them jobless, need to hear about the help – and hope – that we offer.

So, please, over these summer months take every chance, through every format available to us, to spread our message. Tell anyone who supported Labour in 1997: if you believe in fairness; if you want to support, not demonise, young people; if you care about political reform, if you want the environment protected; the Liberal Democrats share your values and are the only chance for something different. We carry the torch of progress now.