April 29th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
Comment?
The Liberal Democrat manifesto says that tranche 3b, the final phase of the of the Eurofighter/Typhoon programme, will not be supported. The rest of the programme is intact so that people will be working on the project until 2016. What is more, BAE systems have a full order book and are involved in developing and building the F35 joint strike fighter with the USA and also developing their Mantis and Taranis unmanned aerial systems. “We strongly support both programmes” says County Cllr Bill Winlow. “We do not believe that our policy puts any jobs at risk. Neither of the other two parties has come clean on the issue”. The Eurofighter/Typhoon project is not mentioned in either the Labour or Conservative Party manifestoes, so there is no commitment from either party to support tranche 3b of the Eurofighter programme. Only the Lib Dems are being honest about this and Current Eurofighter contracts will be honoured under Liberal Democrat proposals.
Labour’s Quentin Davies MP, defence equipment minister said the government had “no foreseeable plans” to buy any more aircraft beyond the 160 already delivered or on order (Sunday Times, August 2 2009).
Conservative George Osborne MP, Shadow Chancellor, stated after a speech on the economy, that several major defence projects may need to be cut after the election, one of those he cited was the Eurofighter/Typhoon project, estimated to save £20bn (The Times, Sept 16 2009).
April 29th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
1 Comment
New members are joining the Liberal Democrats here on the Fylde at an unprecedented rate. In just 10 days our membership has increased by over 17% and more people are joining every day. Figures in other constituencies are showing even bigger increases. Clearly these new members see the Liberal Democrats as the party with the right ideas and policies to tackle the country’s problems and provide better opportunities for all. Join the Liberal Democrats today, either through this website or through the National Party website. Join here
April 9th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
Comment?
“Our latest canvass returns show increasing Liberal Democrat support on Fylde” says County Councillor Bill Winlow. “It’s time for a major change in British politics and only a large Liberal Democrat presence in the next parliament will deliver that”.
Bill Winlow is the experienced, local candidate for Fylde in the General Election. He is the Challenger to the Conservatives here and with your support he can win - see him on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqu3ywhM934
April 9th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
Comment?
The Liberal Democrats are launching party’s manifesto for consumers today. The manifesto includes measures to ensure banks can’t charge customers unfairly for going over their limit or bouncing a cheque. Other policies include a cap on interest rates charged by credit cards and store cards.
“I am very happy to support measures that will ensure that no bank can charge its customers unfairly for going over their limit or bouncing a cheque” says Bill Winlow. “This practice should end, although the banks should be able to pass on the costs they incur in dealing with these problems. But they should not be able to profiteer from customers making small mistakes. Unfair charges would be outlawed by the Liberal Democrats. Bank bosses should look to their consciences and give back the money they took from their customers in unfair charges”.
March 16th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
Comment?
County Councillor Bill Winlow, Parliamentary Candidate for Fylde Constituency, attended the Liberal Democrat conference in
Birmingham on Saturday 13
th March and spoke strongly in support of Fylde Industry, particularly at BAe, Warton and Westinghouse Springfields plant.
Bill said, “Fylde relies heavily on these two major employers to directly provide over 5,500 jobs for local people. In addition they have numerous local suppliers and small businesses reliant upon them and those small businesses need better to be supported in difficult times”. “It is imperative that local small businesses receive financial support as and when they need it to facilitate development from concept to commercial products. It is utterly disgraceful that the banks will not provide financing in the early stages of commercial development when it is most needed – the Labour government has utterly failed in its promise to get them to lend.“
“Unfortunately the service economy invented by the Conservatives has failed the North West very badly – we have moved from engineering to “financial engineering” with potentially dire long term consequences for the skilled workforce here on the Fylde.”
“In addition to regulating the financial and banking sector, the Liberal Democrats will create Local Enterprise Funds and Regional Stock Exchanges to rebuild a diverse manufacturing sector and support an entrepreneurial economy.”
March 10th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
1 Comment
The Liberal Democrats today called for the Sex Offenders’ Register to be upgraded to take account of the use of the internet in the light of the tragic murder of Ashleigh Hall. In a letter to the Home Secretary, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne called for both the failures of conventional monitoring and the inadequacy of internet monitoring to be put right. Commenting, Chris Huhne said: “Our procedures are still lagging behind the development of the internet, since we do not even require the registration of IP and email addresses of sex offenders, which has now become typical in the United States. This would allow police to monitor social networking activity. “It is also disappointing that Facebook, which was used by Peter Chapman to make contact with Ashleigh Hall, is the only big social networking site not to install the button that allows users to get advice on, and to report, suspicious on-line activity from so-called friends. “If Bebo and MSN can install the button from the Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre, then so can Facebook. “Until Facebook acts on this, its protestations that it cares passionately about the safety of people who use its site will look like empty words. Facebook urgently needs to take this clear, simple and practical step.”
March 8th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
1 Comment
Bill Winlow is the experienced, local candidate for Fylde in the General Election . He is the Challenger to the Conservatives here and with your support he can win - see him on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqu3ywhM934
February 8th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
Comment?
My St. Anne’s colleagues were again outside the tip on Sunday collecting signatures for a petition to persuade members of LCC’s Task Group to reconsider proposals for the closure of the Household Waste Recycling Centre in St Anne’s. Sunday is one of the tip’s busiest days and hundreds of signatures were collected. No one was able to see the logic of closing this facility and without exception everyone was full of praise for the helpfulness of the staff at this site.
February 2nd, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
Comment?
Fylde Liberal Democrats set up camp outside the Everest Road Recycling centre on Saturday morning and in less than an hour collected over a hundred signatures on a petition to prevent the closure of this important local facility. Lancashire County Council are threatening to make cost savings by closing the Household Waste Recycling Centre at St. Anne’s forcing everyone to travel 11 miles to a very much inferior facility in Saltcotes, on the outskirts of Lytham. Cllr. Ford, who is leading the campaign to retain the Recycling Centre, added “Residents, whom I have spoken to regarding the proposed closure, are outraged. This is yet another local well used and well organised facility which is now earmarked for closure. Closing the site is a crazy move. LCC should be looking at ways of increasing income at the site rather than considering it for closure. Some of the material brought to the centre for disposal is in good condition and could easily be sold on.” Several users of the ‘tip’ said that they would happy pay a £1 for every time they used it – this would certainly be a cheaper option than residents wasting fuel by travelling across the Fylde to get rid of their Household Waste. From the signatures and postcodes collected, it is clear that some Blackpool residents are using a Lancashire facility to dispose of their waste and this is a burden on LCC taxpayers. Officers at County Hall should approach Blackpool Borough for a contribution towards the cost of the Everest Road facility. If disposing of waste from another authority is behind this closure plan then LCC could provide all their council taxpayers through the billing system with a certificate allowing them to use the Household Waste Recycling Centre. That way, non-Lancashire residents would be prevented from using the facility with a consequent cost saving. Another resident eager to sign the LibDem petition asked why they didn’t close the ‘tip’ on Mondays/Tuesdays when it’s quieter and reduce the opening hours to trim costs.
A much wider approach needs to be made about waste and artificial administrative boundaries should be abolished if it leads to more recycling. Here’s an opportunity for some multi-area working which would benefit everyone. As a county councillor serving on this committee I am pleased that I was able to get the decision deferred by a month to allow more time to consider the report on which the decision is based. I think the plan for closure is outrageous because Fylde Borough has an excellent recycling system as does the rest of Lancashire and to sabotage it by proposing to close this site doesn’t make any sense at all. I would urge residents to get in touch with their County and District Councillors to voice their concerns over this proposed closure. The report recommending closure was commissioned by the Labour Ruling Group on LCC and now it is being taken forward by the Conservatives. Fylde Liberal Democrats will continue to collect signatures on their petition – anyone wishing to sign the petition or have a copy should contact Fylde Liberal Democrats – www.fyldelibdems.org.uk or ring 01253 713885
January 25th, 2010 by professorbillwinlow
1 Comment
The decision to recommend closure of the Everest Road Household waste recycling Centre was deferred for a month at last week’s meeting of the LCC Sustainable Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) meeting at the suggestion of County Councillor Bill Winlow. He also suggested that there ought to be site visits to the two Fylde Recycling Centres before any further consideration of the closure.
“People on the Fylde are well satisfied with their household waste recycling centres (86% satisfaction according to a 2008 survey of Lancashire, second only to Ribble Valley on 88%)” said Cllr Bill Winlow, “so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to close one of them down.
“I expressed the worry that closure would lead to an increase in fly-tipping, less recycling as well as increased car usage and a greater carbon footprint by those people in St Annes wishing to use the site at Saltcotes.
“In my view centralised recommendations for big local changes of this sort ought first to have been discussed with Fylde District Council and the other district councils involved – LCC is putting the cart before the horse and arriving at inappropriate conclusions. I am deeply worried that the savings made are a false economy and will result in a lessening of recycling on Fylde, so I am asking local people to ensure that the County Council is made aware of the strength their feelings by writing direct to both District and County Councillors to object to these unnecessary changes, but it must be done quickly or it will be too late as the next meeting of the OSC is scheduled for 24th February”.
Background: What is being proposed by the OSC task group is a modification of various schemes set out by the previous LCC Labour administration and designed to save money. The five recycling centres proposed for closure will save £0.995 million per year in running costs with possible capital receipts from the sale of sites of £0.72 million.
