May 23rd, 2010
Beautiful day in Darwen
Comment?
Saturday - on one of the best days of the year so far Karimeh & I walked from Whitehall up to the Tower. It made us realise what a beautiful place Darwen is.
Beautiful day in Darwen
May 23rd, 2010
Volunteers help improve Darwen Cemetery
Comment?
Friends of Darwen Cemetery were hard at it on Saturday continuing the hard work trying to improve the old cemetery. Well over 20 people were there for 3 hours on Saturday morning. Karimeh & I joined them for an hour.
They show how community action can make a difference.
May 22nd, 2010
Lib Dems continue to share power
Comment?
The control of Blackburn with Darwen Council is on a knife edge. After the local elections Labour has 31 seats and the rest 33 seats. At a tense Annual Council meeting the Partmership of Conservative, Liberal Democrats and For Darwen was confirmed in power. I was confirmed as Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Adult Social Care. The Lib Dems also have the Housing (Simon Huggill) and Children’s Services (Chris Thayne). My fellow Whitehall Councillor and wife!!! Karimeh Foster was selected as Deputy Mayor.
May 18th, 2010
“No money left” - where we stand after 13 years of Labour
Comment?
This is a letter to me from the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lib Dem MP David Laws.
Dear David,
My Labour predecessor, Liam Byrne, left me a note saying ‘Dear Chief Secretary, There’s no money left.’ He may claim this is joke, but sadly it is all too true.
Labour have left the nation’s finances in an utterly ruinous state and we face a colossal task ahead of us. That is why today the Chancellor and I announced the creation of the Office of Budget Responsibility as well as the date for the emergency budget in six weeks time on 22nd June.
It is also why over the next week I will be working to identify £6bn of wasteful government spending that we can save in order to start to pay down the disastrous deficit left to us by Labour.
In addition to this, every new spending commitment and pilot project signed off by Labour ministers since the turn of the year will be individually reviewed in a bid to find additional savings. This is simply due diligence by the new coalition government in relation to some of the irresponsible decisions we have inherited.
I would like to give you my personal guarantee that whilst the decisions ahead will be tough I will always put social justice as their heart. I have, and I will continue to reject any proposals which would damage key services or put at risk those on lower incomes.
This is not merely a coalition of competent accountants. The challenge we face is how to address the deficit while protecting the quality of key services, making this a fairer country and ensuring that those on the lowest incomes are protected as far as possible from the actions that are necessary.
This will not be easy. But there is more chance of it being achieved with Lib Dem presence in HM Treasury than without it.
Best wishes,
David Laws MP
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
May 18th, 2010
Multi storey Car Park at Waves opens
Comment?
Waves Car ParkThe new multi-storey car park next to the Waves leisure centre is now open.
It can accommodate up to 530 cars and replaces the previous 100-space car park at Waves.
The new car park is a key element of the town centre strategy after many of the surface long stay car parks were lost due to the major new developments in the town.
It is open seven days a week and secure features include:
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Proximity card access
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Manned kiosk facility
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Flexible operating hours for King George’s hall events
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Barrier entrance and exit
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Coin and card payment facilities with intercom
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Full CCTV coverage on all floors
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External perimeter zoom, pan and tilt colour CCTV surveillance
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Internal lighting levels will be to British Standard meaning a safer environment.
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday (excluding Bank Holidays) 7am til 11pm
Sundays 9am to 6pm
Tariff:
Mon- Sat
Up to an hour £1.50
Up to two hours £2.00
Up to three hours £2.70
Up to four hours £3.10
Up to six hours £5.00
Over six hours £10.00
Sun
Up to six hours £1.00
May 16th, 2010
My Diary 16 - 23 May
Comment?
16 May
Liberal Democrat Special Conference
17 May
Care Network Board
Community Transport User Group
Annual Scrutiny Review
18 May
Visit to Birth Centre, Blackburn
Partnership Meeting
19 May
Interviews
20 May
Annual Council Meeting
23 May
Civic Sunday
May 13th, 2010
Whitehall Play Area to start in 4 weeks
Comment?
The refurbishment of the Play Area in Whitehall Park has been promised for some time. We have now received confirmation that work should start on site within the next 4 weeks. You should be seeing posters going up in the park to let people know what is going on.
May 11th, 2010
A message from Nick Clegg
Comment?
| Dear David,
Over the past four days we have been working flat out to deliver an agreement that can provide stable government for Britain that can last. As you know we believed it was right that the Conservative Party, as the party with the most seats and votes, should have the first right to seek to form a government and we entered into discussions with them accordingly. Our talks with the Conservatives have made progress but so far we have been unable to agree a comprehensive partnership agreement for a full Parliament. I strongly believe we need a government that lasts so that it can take decisions in the long term national interest. As a result, we will continue our discussions with the Conservative Party to see if we can find a way to a sustainable agreement. However, in view of the urgency of the need to resolve the situation we have opened discussions with the Labour Party to explore the possibility of a stable partnership agreement. Our objective in all our discussions is to secure a sustainable agreement incorporating the four key principles of our manifesto and providing the long term stability that the country requires. |
| Best wishes,
Nick Clegg |
May 10th, 2010
Council finely balanced
Comment?
Following the local elections on May 6, Blackburn with darwen Council is finely balanced.
The current state of the parties is
Labour 28
Tory 19
Lib Dem 9
F. D. 5
As no Party has overall control discussions are taking place between parties top form an administration
May 10th, 2010
My Diary 10 - 16 May 2010
Comment?
Mon 10 May
16:30 Chief Officers’ Employment Committee
18:30 Lib Dem Group AGM
Tuesday 11 May
Wednesday 12 May
10:00 Learning Disability Board
14:00 Care Trust Plus Governance Committee
16:00 Healthy Living Board
Thursday 13 May
8:30 Social Services briefing
18:30 Group Meeting
Friday 14 May
17:30 Leadership Meeting
