http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Morpeth & District Liberal Democrats en-GB Morpeth & District Liberal Democrats http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Morpeth & District Liberal Democrats 2010-07-29T12:03+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000059/undecided_voters_swing_to_lib_dems_following_final_leaders_debate.html Last night was the final of the three televised Leaders' debates. Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, debated with Gordon Brown and David Cameron about the economy. Subjects discussed included breaking up the banks, creating more jobs and reinvigorating the British economy. 2010-04-30T18:09+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000058/third_and_final_party_leaders_tv_debate_the_economy.html On Thursday 29th April from 8.30pm, BBC One will host the final live Prime Ministerial Debate of the General Election from the Midlands. Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron will again be going head to head in the run up to the General Election next Thursday. 2010-04-28T14:25+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000057/clegg_scores_second_win_in_party_leaders_debate.html An average of five polls conducted immediately after the Sky TV Leaders Election debate on Thursday night put Nick Clegg as the winner, with all instant polls showing him ahead of Gordon Brown. After the Foreign Affairs-led debate from Bristol dominated by issues like Iraq, immigration and climate change, Nick Clegg won 3 of the 5 polls on the night, building on his position after the first debate. 2010-04-23T15:06+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000056/second_party_leaders_tv_debate_foreign_affairs.html The second Party Leaders Debate is taking place this Thursday starting at 8pm on Sky News. Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron will again be going head to head in a TV debate in the run up to the General Election on May 6th, this time leading on Foreign Affairs. 2010-04-21T11:08+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000055/nick_clegg_storms_first_ever_party_leaders_debate.html The polls following the first ever Party Leaders General Election debate on ITV are showing that Nick Clegg has won a convincing victory over David Cameron and Gordon Brown. The debate was the first ever Leaders debate during a UK General Election campaign, and the pollsters are giving it as a big victory for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. 2010-04-16T00:01+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000054/first_party_leaders_tv_debate_domestic_affairs.html Tonight on ITV, Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron will be going head to head in a TV debate. This is the first of three debates that will be taking place in the run up to the General Election on May 6th. 2010-04-15T00:01+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000053/fairness__the_liberal_democrat_manifesto_launch.html Nick Clegg has launched the Liberal Democrat General Election manifesto. The manifesto sets out four clear priorities of fair taxes, a fair chance for every child, a fair economy, and a fair deal by cleaning up politics. 2010-04-14T10:24+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000052/apply_for_a_postal_vote_now_deadline_20th_april.html With the General Election on 6th May, there is still time to arrange a postal vote. Voting by post is an easy and convenient way of voting if you are unable to get to the polling station on polling day - for any reason. 2010-04-12T19:38+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000051/victory_vince_cable_wins_channel_4_chancellors_debate.html The first ever TV debate between the three candidates to be the next Chancellor has seen Lib Dem Vince Cable win a clear victory. In a Channel 4 on-line poll carried out immediately after the debate, Vince out-polled both Alistair Darling and George Osborne. 2010-03-29T22:32+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000050/ask_the_chancellors_live_debate_on_channel_4.html At 8pm on Monday 29th March, Channel 4 will stage a live debate between the would-be Chancellors, Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, Labour's Alistair Darling and Conservative George Osborne. Krishnan Guru-Murthy will be asking the questions. 2010-03-28T10:38+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000047/lib_dem_campaign_gathers_pace.html "People in Wansbeck are disenchanted with Labour and realise that the Conservatives can't win here," says Simon Reed who will be the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Wansbeck Constituency when the General Election date is announced. "Labour has taken this seat for granted for years. Voting Lib Dem will be the only way to stop them winning here again. Because of the way the 'first past the post' electoral system works, voting for other parties in Wansbeck will effectively be a vote to help Gordon Brown back into power." 2009-11-18T09:52+00:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000049/lib_dems_say_no_to_petty_party_politics.html There is no overall majority on Northumberland County Council, so as the largest party, the Liberal Democrats currently run a minority administration. In practical terms this means that all measures taken on behalf of the County's residents have to be supported by one or both of the other political parties. The Council is under severe financial pressure. This is due to the global financial crisis, low interest rates, the usual annual savings imposed by Central Government and additional savings the Government assumes will be made from the new unitary structure. Discussions take place between the parties prior to Council meetings to try to take the best decisions and help the smooth running of the Council. Andrew Tebbutt, Lib Dem Councillor responsible for budgets says: "In order to make this work we need councillors to act responsibly. There must be proper debate, but there is no room for petty party politics." 2009-11-18T09:51+00:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000048/morpeth_supermarket_wars.html There are now three separate planning applications pending for supermarket developments in and around Morpeth. Salisbury's want to build at the A196/A192 intersection in Stobhill, Tesco on the Coopies Lane Trading Estate and there is a proposal by Dransfield Properties (the Town centre re-developer) for a new supermarket at Low Stanners, which would include additional town centre car parking and the widening of Staithes Lane. Decisions on all these applications will be taken by the County Planning Committee. Whilst it is flattering that the supermarket giants are falling over themselves to invest in new stores in our area, there are fears that the out-of-town stores proposed by Salisbury's and Tesco could threaten the viability of the new town centre development. Additionally the Sainsbury's application would begin to fill the greenfield space between Morpeth and Hepscott. Hepscott residents and the Parish Council are strongly opposed to this. Morpeth Town Council has also formally opposed both of the out-of-town proposals. However, with some reservations, Morpeth Town Council has supported the Dransfield proposal at Low Stanners. If this development was to be approved it is unlikely to be open before 2013. Residents have the right to participate in the planning process. If you wish your views to be taken into account please write to the Planning Department, Northumberland County Council, County Hall, Morpeth, NE61 2EF. 2009-11-18T09:49+00:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000046/morpth_social_workers_to_be_relocated.html Social workers covering Morpeth are to be located with the other much larger teams in the South East of the County, but there will be no change in the level of cover provided in Morpeth. The reasoning behind the decision is that these social workers, who actually spend most of their time working outside of Morpeth, need to be based together with other child care professionals for information sharing, supervision and professional development purposes. This is especially important following the 'Laming Review' concerned with safeguarding issues in Children's Services across the Country. Also, Ofsted have indicated that the arrangement of having just two social workers in an office for high risk work is unacceptable and a closure recommendation for was anticipated after a forthcoming inspection. The accommodation for the two social workers based at Morpeth had also been deemed not 'fit for purpose' which reinforced the decision. 2009-07-10T18:02+01:00 http://www.morpethlibdems.org.uk/news/000045/the_lib_dem_parliamentary_spokesperson_simon_reed_talks_about_the_next_general_election.html In this question and answer session Simon Reed explains why yet another Labour win Wansbeck Constituency is not a foregone conclusion. 2009-06-08T14:57+01:00