http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Bedford Liberal Democrats en-GB Bedford Liberal Democrats http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Bedford Liberal Democrats 2008-08-21T01:27+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000527/labour_caves_in_to_liberal_democrat_pressure_to_toughen_up_on_knife_crime__but_misses_out_bedfordshire.html New plans to tackle knife crime will not be introduced to Bedfordshire according to an announcement by the Labour government. 2008-08-18T00:21+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000525/call_for_demolition_of_tinderbox_factory_building.html Following the 18th fire in just six years at the former Forrester Foods factory in Dallas Road, Kempston, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have called for the site to be pulled down. 2008-08-09T12:30+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000524/prison_overcrowding_in_bedford_a_stain_on_john_howards_name_says_henry_vann.html Bedford Prison is the eleventh most overcrowded prison in the country according to a report by the Prison Reform Trust. 2008-08-08T11:54+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000523/government_wrong_to_force_super_clinics_on_bedford_says_henry_vann.html People in Bedford are happy with their personalised, local GP healthcare according to a new Healthcare Commission report. 2008-08-05T15:02+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000522/knife_crime_on_our_doorstep_says_lib_dem_parliamentary_campaigner.html Knife crime is worse in Bedfordshire than the national average according to figures unearthed by the Bedford and Kempston Liberal Democrats. 2008-08-05T15:00+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000521/pressure_for_uturn_on_councils_post_office_charge_grows.html With local communities across Bedford Borough fighting to save their local post office, pressure is mounting on Bedford Borough Council to remove the charge on the payment of council tax bills at the post office. The charge was introduced in April 2006 in the face of fierce opposition from the Liberal Democrat Group. Each of the other political groups supported the charge, however, and its introduction has been extremely damaging for local post offices. 2008-07-31T18:18+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000520/bedfords_older_people_let_down_by_labour.html "Labour is letting down the elderly in more ways than one" says Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner. 2008-07-29T16:24+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000519/borough_council_set_to_block_phone_box_closures_after_lib_dem_councillors_objections.html Bedford Borough Council is set to step in and prevent the loss of several payphones across the borough after Liberal Democrat Councillors raised objections to BT's proposed removals. 2008-07-24T18:17+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000518/nick_clegg_launches_make_it_happen.html Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has launched the party's Make it Happen document, which is a bold statement of the party's vision and values. 2008-07-23T15:48+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000517/footbridge_removal_could_be_recipe_for_chaos.html Bedford Modern School plans to remove the footbridge over Manton Lane and replace it with a toucan crossing. Liberal Democrat Councillors have responded to the news with a warning that a crossing could increase the existing congestion along the busy stretch of road. 2008-07-18T15:57+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000516/wootton_roadworks_farce_beggars_belief.html Residents in Wootton have been left fuming after the County Council's road contractor left road maintenance works unfinished after striking two water mains, one of which continued to spew out water over a week after being burst. The works on Potters Cross remain incomplete despite the legal notice for the works stating that they would be finished by July 7th. The legal notice for the works also stated that the entire road would be resurfaced, when in fact just a few metres have been repaired. 2008-07-16T11:03+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000515/henry_vann_slams_labour_spending.html According to a recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, Bedford is in the region that gets the least funding: 18 per cent per person below the national average according to the Barnett formula. Meanwhile, London gets 28 per cent more per person than the national average. That's a spending difference of 46 per cent. 2008-07-15T17:51+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000514/labour_and_conservative_mps_betray_the_public_over_expenses.html Last week, a number of Labour and Conservative MPs voted against full disclosure of their expenses by voting to keep their expenses closed. They rejected the possibility of allowing their salaries to be determined by an independent external committee. 2008-07-09T12:48+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000512/savage_post_office_closures_in_bedford_borough_announced.html Post Office Ltd has announced that eight local branches in Bedford Borough are to close as part of the Labour Government's savage cull of 2,500 branches nationwide. The list of branches to be closed has changed slightly from the one released accidentally due to an internet blunder in November last year, with the branch situated in the Budgens store on Kimbolton Road reprieved but with the Stewartby and 193 Goldington Road (Junction with Polhill/Newnham Avenue) branches added. 2008-07-08T12:04+01:00 http://www.bedfordlibdems.org.uk/news/000513/kimbolton_road_post_office_saved__for_now.html The post office situated in the Budgens store on Kimbolton Road in Bedford is not amongst the list of branch closures released today, despite having been included in the list published accidentally last year in an internet blunder. It is the only branch in Bedford Borough that has been removed from the original closures list. De Parys Lib Dems have led an intensive campaign to save the branch, in conjunction with post office staff and unions CWU and Unite. 2008-07-08T11:10+01:00