"With your support and hard work, and with the dedication of campaigners across the country, we can help to win the referendum in May and give the country the fairer voting system it deserves."
The Coalition Government must take the lead in fighting for equality for disabled people, not just as a domestic and European priority but as a core commitment of international aid policy, Wolverhampton's Euro MP Liz Lynne has told the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool.
HMS Kent was docked in Dover Western Docks and I was one of a few to be invited to lunch aboard the ship with the Commodore.
Charges for parking permits are set to rise by a mind-numbing 900% early next year, under plans revealed by Surrey County Council. A county council spokesman described the record increase as designed "to make the system fairer."
This week saw the launch of the Council's eighteen-month trial of an extension of bus lane use in Bedford to taxis, motorbikes and bicycles. I am very keen to pursue anything which encourages more sustainable forms of transport and helps tackle congestion, and we gave this initiative serious consideration before launching the trial. We will monitor it closely in terms of safety and the impact on traffic levels and congestion. Results from trials elsewhere have been positive, so I am hopeful that that we will find that it is beneficial to air quality and helps cyclists and motorcyclists get around smoothly and safely.
There was some speculation in the national press recently which suggested that the Government was set to drop its pledge to close the child detention facility at Yarl's Wood Immigration Detention Centre in Clapham. I have always argued that locking up children for immigration purposes is an abominable practice, and as someone who was very pleased to see the Liberal Democrat pledge to close the Yarl's Wood Family Centre included in the Coalition Agreement, I was obviously disturbed by the suggestion that the Government may be rowing back on it. I am therefore delighted that Liberal Democrat Children's Minister has quashed the speculation and confirmed that child detention will be brought to an end by the government, and Yarl's Wood's family unit will close.