We understand many people, particularly in the North East where many people work in the public sector, have no great love for the Conservatives, and are critical of the Lib Dem decision to work with them in government. Most Lib Dems don't have a lot of love for the Conservatives (or Labour) either - but we think people prefer seeing politicians work together when it's necessary in the wider national interest.
Lib Dems recognise many people are very unhappy about the government spending cuts - but we hope people recognise that they are not being made as a vote-winning exercise, they are being made because the country simply can't afford to go on borrowing billions upon billions of pounds every day to pay the bills.
I was dismayed to learn this week of the decision that the final determination of Biogen Power Ltd's application to build a new waste gasification incinerator atTwinwoodsBusinessParknear Milton Ernest will be made inWhitehallby a Government Minister. The proposals were turned down by the Council's planning committee in March, much to the delight of the large number of local residents who have expressed their concern about a range of issues, not least the number of lorry journeys over local roads which would result. Biogen Power Ltd appealed against the planning committee's decision, and the Planning Inspectorate recently conducted the appeal, with an independent planning inspector due to make the final decision in the coming weeks. It came as a surprise, then, when the Council received a letter earlier this week from the Planning Inspectorate which stated that the "the Secretary of State hereby directs that he shall determine this appeal instead of an Inspector."
The news that the independent chair of the review of forests could suggest that government actually bring more forests into public ownership has been welcomed by South Lakes MP Tim Farron.
A huge housing development will fill the space between Warminster and its bypass to the west of the town. The allocation starts around Folly Farm and extends across to Bath Road, with a thin buffer between the houses and the A36 and an additional employment area west of Bath Road opposite the Crusader Park area.
Solihull MP Lorely Burt has today welcomed the beginning of a consultation on new flexible working and parental leave laws. The proposals, which will come into force in 2015, extend the right to request flexible working to all employees and allow parents to share parental leave between them in a number of blocks.