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Canterbury & Whitstable Liberal DemocratsWorking for the People of Canterbury & Whitstable all Year Round |
All Press Articles
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Article: Nov 10, 2009Dear Sir,
We all know that local government, including Canterbury City Council, is facing a cash crisis over the next few years. Earlier this year we Liberal Democrats offered to join with the ruling Conservative group here to work on the savings that will have to be made. They turned down that offer of unity in the face of crisis. Even more importantly they refused to engage with residents in a big debate about where savings could and should be made.
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Article: Oct 10, 2009By Alex Perkins, Leader Lib Dem Group, Canterbury City Council
Dear Sir
I was more than a little surprised to see Cllr John Gilbey's letter of last week in which he claimed to have offered to allow opposition councillors to take part in the council budget process. I am afraid by presenting the matter in this way he does himself and the council a disservice.
For the record, until the Conservatives took control of the council 4 and a half years ago the budget setting meetings (known as Star Chamber meetings) were open to members of all the parties on the council. Lib Dem, Conservative and Labour members sat together and scrutinised the budgets and spending of every council department so that all councillors were kept informed of where and how public money was being spent.
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Article: Jun 27, 2009By Guy Voizey
Sir,
The system used to count the votes in the recent County Elections has led to an unbalanced council, with the Conservatives controlling 74 of the 84 seats having won less than half the votes.
Under such a system, there is a real risk councillors become out of touch with the people they represent. We have seen the effect of too many safe seats at Westminster in the form of unscrupulous MPs making inappropriate claims on their expenses.
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Article: Jun 9, 2009By Martin Vye
The Government wants the City Council to find room for over 10,000 houses over the next 20 years. Where are they going to go? Officers have managed to find space in so-called 'brownfield' land, but the Government says green field development will now be necessary in Canterbury and the villages.
I am a firm supporter of small low cost additions to the local housing stock, like the 8 houses in Adisham, and the ones proposed in Bridge. Large new private housing estates in our villages are a different matter.
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Article: Dec 31, 2008By Nick CleggBritain is facing a difficult year.
Every day, 200 families are now at risk of losing their homes, and three million people could be out of a job.
The government got us into this mess and haven't got the right ideas to get us out of it. The Conservatives want to do nothing - they wouldn't lift a finger to help.
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Article: Jul 23, 2008By Guy Voizey, Parliamentary Spokesman, Canterbury and Whitstable Liberal Democrats
The controversy over Ed Balls' (Secretary of State for Children) recent statement about three local schools highlights a very important point - management of our education system is much too centralised.
His statement about the three schools was rightly condemned by Martin Vye, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on children on Kent County Council, for being out of touch with reality. That's Mr Balls' problem - he can only make statements based on nationally collated statistics. The recent debacle over the SATs tests show how risky that is.
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Article: May 1, 2008By Guy Voizey
In the Daily Telegraph dated April 29, the columnist Liz Hunt described her walk along the Crab and Winkle Line from Canterbury to Whitstable. As well as pointing out how poorly Canterbury City Council deals with fly-tipping and graffiti, she makes a general point about how our seaside resorts are under threat from local authorities.
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Article: Apr 7, 2008By Guy Voizey
Sir,
Your readers will be aware of the contribution to our country made by Gurkha soldiers, many of whom are based in Kent. Unfortunately the government continues to deny Gurkhas who retired before 1997 the right to live in this country. It is outrageous that soldiers who were prepared to die for our country are not made to feel welcome by our government. The government should change its mind and give all Gurkhas the right to live in the UK once they have served in the British Army for four years. These ex-servicemen should also be entitled to the same pension as other British soldiers. If your readers agree, they can sign an online petition on the Downing Street website. It can be found by going to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Gurkha-soldiers/.
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