Last night saw Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Community Council. This now covers a huge area and makes it difficult to have very local decision making. However, we do our best and had constructive discussions about important issues. I was horribly struck that Labour Southwark really don’t seem to have got a grasp of what matters to residents […]

There has been a lot of talk recently about ‘democracy’ in Southwark. As the Leader of the Opposition on the council, it is my duty to scrutinise the decisions of the Labour administration and hold them to account. Labour say they are more democratic but sadly the evidence simply doesn’t back up their spin. Firstly […]

It is great that cycling is finally properly on the political agenda although sad that it comes after too many tragic accidents and fatalities. On Thursday 8th March at 7pm, Southwark Liberal Democrats are bringing together our local communities to discuss cycling in Southwark and London, and how our streets can be made safer and […]

I’m really proud of the excellent 2011 which Southwark Liberal Democrats have had. From holding our share of the vote in council by-elections; putting forward real alternatives to Labour’s cuts; and proposing excellent new policies about green manufacturing jobs, apprenticeships, parents mentoring, council housing and community councils, we’ve been an extremely effective opposition ensuring that Southwark Labour […]

I have just had the most fantastic and inspiring visit to the Southwark Muslim Women’s Association. I was so impressed at the work which is done there to empower women through education. There was so much learning going on from basic English to ICT to how to run a business. Everyone in Southwark should be able to […]

Over the last few months Liberal Democrat councillors have been working with our Leader on the London Assembly, Caroline Pidgeon, to raise concerns from residents and businesses about Network Rail’s plans to redevelop London Bridge station. While most local people welcome plans to improve the station, there are a number of serious concerns about traffic […]

I have been having a look through the written answers to questions tabled at Southwark Council Assembly meeting last week and they make disturbing reading. The first worrying fact to emerge is in response to a question from my excellent and hard working Liberal Democrat colleague Councillor Geoffrey Thornton. Geoffrey has uncovered that nearly one […]

You may remember that the Labour budget planned to close 10 of the 13 volutnary sector day centres in our borough. Thanks to pressure from committed campaigners and the Liberal Democrat council group a last minute stay of execution was allowed. Labour said they would use this time to consult with the providers of these […]

I was very pleased to hear from Thames Water this morning that they have jointly purchased the Chambers Wharf brownfield site as an alternative to the green space of Kingstairs Gardens. As one of the local ward councillors for the area around Chambers Wharf, I know that residents there will have concerns and Lib Dem […]

Over the last couple of days I have been really moved by my visits to the day centre at Stones End and to the Irish Pensioners Project. These groups do not receive huge amounts of funding from the council, but they have just been told that they will lose 100% of their funding within 12 […]