http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Wrekin and Telford Liberal Democrats en-GB Wrekin and Telford Liberal Democrats http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Wrekin and Telford Liberal Democrats 2010-03-10T12:40+00:00 United Kingdom http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000122/lib_dems_announce_their_candidate_for_the_wrekin.html At an all-members meeting in Newport on 5 March, the Wrekin & Telford Liberal Democrats approved well-known local councillor, David Murray, as their candidate for The Wrekin. 2010-03-06T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000121/newport_petition_against_closure.html Newport Liberal Democrats have had a massive response to their petition against the closure of the Royal Mail Sorting & Delivery Office in Newport. In their February Focus newsletter, which was delivered to houses in the town, it was pointed out that centralisation of this sort of facility inevitably leads to higher costs, greater use of time, damage to the environment, and rarely if ever results in an improved service. The Lib Dems asked recipients to support the retention of this facility in Newport, as its closure would cause hardship to the elderly, and those without access to a car. 2010-03-02T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000120/liberal_democrat_regional_conference.html The Liberal Democrats are holding their Regional Conference in Kidderminster on Saturday 27 February from 09.30 to 16.30. The location is the Oldfield Hall at the King Charles 1 School, Comberton Road, DY10 1XA, and all regional members are invited.The guest speakers will be Baroness Ros Scott, President of the party, and Kirsty Williams, member of the Welsh Assembly. With a general election due to be called in the near future, it will be a good opportunity to get up-to-date with what is going on in our West Midlands constituencies, and take part in some of the training sessions available on the day. 2010-02-25T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000118/byelection_in_telford__wrekin.html A by-election is to be held in the Central Ward of Lawley & Overdale Parish Council on 11 March. Voting will take place at the Carpenter Centre, Oak Road, Overdale, and the Dawley Bank Baptist Church . Nominations closed at noon on Friday 12 February, and two candidates put their names forward for election. Deborah Crane is standing for the Liberal Democrats. She lives in Dawley Bank, and is the only local candidate contesting the seat on the Parish Council. 2010-02-22T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000117/shifnal_town_council_byelection_results.html David Murray was elected as one of the two new councillors for the Manor Ward, along with Cllr Gordon Tonkinson, who represents Shifnal North on the Shropshire Council. The unsuccessful Independent candidates were Tony Stringfellow, Kevin Turley and Brian Jones. The turnout was a disappointing 23%. Jane Blackstock, Independent, was elected for the single vacancy in the Rural Ward, with an even lower turnout of 15.8%, and John Horne, (Independent) and Jill Seymour (UKIP) came second and third. 2010-02-05T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000115/shifnal_town_council_byelections.html On Thursday 4 February, people will be voting to fill the vacancies on Shifnal Town Council caused by the resignations of the deputy mayor, Cllr Stuart West, and Cllr Mrs Jennifer Hurlstone in Manor Ward, and young Tom Jones in the Rural Ward. Five candidates are contesting the two seats in Manor, and three candidates are contesting the Rural seat. The mayor, Cllr Les Jones, who resigned publicly from the council at the end of last year, refused to confirm his resignation in writing, and is still in post. 2010-02-01T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000116/the_telford__wrekin_mayoral_fund.html Cllr Karen Blundell is currently Mayor of the Borough. She has lived in the Borough for most of her life, and is proud to be representing its diverse and vibrant community. The aim of the Mayoral Fund is to raise money for the benefit of local voluntary organisations and charities. Priority is given to projects which focus on social need, disadvantage and deprivation. The fund also reflects the particular interests and themes of each Mayor, and will address children and young people, the elderly and vulnerable, and those with special needs. 2010-01-29T00:00+00:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000114/liberal_democrats_regional_conference.html The LibDems Regional Conference is being held on Saturday 17 October at the Langley Training & Conference Centre, Kineton Green Road, Solihull B92 7ER. A full programme has been arranged, and guest speakers will include Simon Hughes MP, spokesman for Energy & Climate Change, and Baroness Ros Scott, President of the Party. A number of policy debates and 'fringe' events will also take place, and it will be an opportunity for members from different parts of the West Midlands to promote their ideas. 2009-10-10T00:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000112/nick_clegg_speech_to_conference.html The Liberal Democrat Leader first paid tribute to the tenacity, bravery and extraordinary professionalism of our armed forces in Afghanistan. Their families had borne with incredible fortitude the separation, the fear, and the anguish of bereavement. We salute them. Sadly, after nearly 8 years, victory not only seems more distant than ever, failure seems inevitable unless we change course. If things continue on the present disastrous course, then sooner or later we may have to decide to withdraw our troops. We have one more chance, one only, to turn things around. He called on the international community to work together to try to resolve the many difficulties, both military and political, that exist in Afghanistan. 2009-09-24T00:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000110/global_wakeup_call_on_climate_change.html On 21 September, 2300 groups met up in 130 countries to issue a wake-up call to the world's leaders to take climate change seriously, and work towards a Fair, Ambitious and Binding treaty at the Copenhagen talks in December. The 'alarm' was timed for 12:18 when thousands of people rang their leaders to ask them to attend the talks in person, determined to achieve a positive result. The results can be seen on the global campaigning website www.avaaz.org. 2009-09-23T00:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000111/liberal_democrat_conference__the_economy.html Speaking at the Liberal Democrat party conference today, local Shropshire campaigner Dr Charles West has warmly welcomed Vince Cable's plans for the economy. Charles West said: "We need urgent action on unemployment. In Shropshire the number of people out of work has increased by 84.5% in the past year. Only the Liberal Democrats are truly committed to getting people back to work. 2009-09-22T00:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000101/stop_the_war_coalition.html Concern about our continuing involvement in Afghanistan is not resolved by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's statement that our troops are helping to bring stability to the region, and this will help to prevent terrorist attacks on the streets of London. The rising death toll during this summer, and lack of equipment, do not inspire confidence that it is a war that can be won, as past history would demonstrate all too clearly. 2009-09-07T09:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000109/shropshire_council_local_joint_committees.html In the elections for 74 councillors on the new Shropshire (unitary) Council, the Conservatives gained 54 seats, the Liberal Democrats 11, Labour 7 and Independents 2. The new Leader of the Shropshire Council is Keith Barrow from Oswestry, with Peter Nutting from Shrewsbury and Cecilia Motley from Corvedale in South Shropshire as deputies. Malcolm Pate, the previous Leader of the County Council from the Albrighton division, has taken over the role of Chairman. 2009-08-01T00:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000113/vote_liberal_democrat_on_4_june.html Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm, and it is important that people use their vote, however disenchanted they may be about politics in general. Fringe parties which promote racist or isolationist policies benefit at our expense if we fail to support those who work for the benefit of the UK in Europe. 2009-06-03T00:00+01:00 http://www.wrekinlibdems.org.uk/news/000100/no_election_after_all.html Following the speculation over the last few months, Gordon Brown has wisely decided to put off calling a general election until at least 2009. The hype he created has demonstrated his misjudgement in political matters, even before the opinion polls showed the Conservatives ahead in the marginal constituencies where the election would be won or lost. 2007-10-07T13:00+01:00