Maldon plunges into darkness this week, despite being an untypical district as a pilot for a major county-wide scheme. Conservatives at Essex County Council are behind the pilot, which Liberal Democrats say has been chosen deliberately to produce the least amount of resistance from residents and so give sanction to roll out across the county.
Local Lib Dem campaigner Gary Fuller was shocked to discover last week that Kent County Council (KCC) had sent him the name, address, e-mail address and telephone number of a Maidstone resident who, like himself, had made use of their on-line fault reporting system to report broken street lights and other local issues.
When Professor Bob Elliott boards a plane from New Zealand to Moscow later this month, he will be taking extra care of his hand luggage. In a secure container he will be carrying millions of insulin-producing pig islet cells. Many believe they have the potential to transform the lives of patients with Type 1 diabetes. A trial about to start in Russia will help determine if this is true.
The government has suffered a defeat in the House of Lords over plans to detain mental health patients who have not committed an offence. The Mental Health Bill would mean people with severe personality disorders could be confined if judged a threat to themselves or others. Peers voted that a mental disorder cannot be diagnosed on grounds of sexuality, beliefs or bad conduct. Critics argue the bill could prevent people from seeking treatment.
Recycling has got two dimensions: one is environmental, one is financial. Waste that goes to landfill produces a powerful greenhouse gas, methane, which is many times more powerful than CO2. In order to combat global warming we need to dramatically reduce landfill waste and recycle more. The second reason is financial. Central Government is really tightening the screws on council's that don't recycle, over the next few years financial penalties will run into tens of millions of pounds if we don't recycle to reach our government set targets. For many years this Council ran a half hearted and under funded scheme that resulted in RMBC always failing to reach targets.
Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson - Paul Rowen MP joined forces with Rochdale Lib Dem Representative on the GMPTA - Councillor Peter Davison to highlight the congestion on our early morning trains. The pair caught the early morning commuter train from Rochdale to Manchester and were both shocked at the conditions.
