On Saturday 26th April, the statue of Guglielmo Marconi, Chelmsford's founder of broadcasting, duly arrived in "Marconi Plaza" near to the Chelmsford's theatres and bus station redevelopment. That was welcome but Jude Deakin and Graham Pooley, local councillors for this part of Chelmsford - called Marconi Ward - hope it's symbolic of fresh action for Chelmsford's West End.
Nick Clegg has branded the Government's treatment of older people as 'a stain on the moral conscience of this country'. In a speech this morning in London about the crisis in social care for older people, Nick Clegg set out his party's plan for a Personal Care Payment based on need, not the ability to pay. As the only major political party to set out plans on how to reform social care, the Liberal Democrats are calling for a cross-party consensus on the difficult choices that have to be made to ensure that all those who need social care have access to it.
Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, sinks to new depths in his campaign to force the opposition into exile before an expected run-off in presidential elections. Lib Dem Shadow Foreign Secretary Edward Davey has written to Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, who chairs the Forfeiture Committee, urging him to revoke Robert Mugabe's honorary Knighthood. 16 MPs, led by Liberal Democrat MP Paul Keetch, have called on the Government to strip Mugabe of his honour.
Residents of Maltese Road, Chelmsford, are gearing up for the planning Appeal on Tuesday May 13th, which will decide whether or not to allow the demolition of Courtman House. Residents have responded to calls from the local press and ITV Anglia, and are planning their approach to the Appeal Hearing with Lib Dem Councillor for Marconi Ward Graham Pooley.
Chelmsford Council committed itself last week to knocking down High Bridge Road, from near the Odeon roundabout to Springfield Road. The local Liberal Democrats have condemned this as bad for the environment, a waste of money and sure to make traffic at the Army & Navy much worse.
Commenting on the news that Metrobus is to cut its number 87 bus route that links the PRH, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton , Serena Tierney, Lib Dem parliamentary spokesman for Mid Sussex, said: