It was a great shame that Labour’s desperation to ignore green issues and to take part in yah boo politics meant that this week’s green themed council meeting debated green issues for about ten minutes. I was really hoping that the council would take up a radical but costed and thoughtful suggestion from Southwark Liberal Democrats. […]

When our council group decided that we would keep universal free school meals next year we wanted to let residents know. Labour has saved us lots of work by helping to tell everyone that Southwark Liberal Democrats will be keeping free school meals next year. Then there was the announcement that Liberal Democrats in government would […]

Last night saw Liberal Democrat councillors speak on the side of residents at the council assembly in a number of areas from welfare reform to local pavements and just about everything in between. It was a shame that Labour just saw the welfare reform theme as a chance for political point scoring rather than talk […]

Liberal Democrat councillors and Simon Hughes MP have been campaigning to secure funding for a new secondary school and a University Technical College (UTC) in Bermondsey. A University Technical College is for 14-19 year olds and trains them in skilled physical jobs which local employers need. For example, giving people skills to make and operate xray machines in the local […]

In a Tweet on 5 February made during a Planning Committee meeting, I said that it was interesting that Labour Councillors were so supportive of developers.  I then added that this was “nothing to do with £1,600 Olympics tickets”.  On reflection, I now recognise that these additional words could have been construed as an allegation […]

Local Lib Dems have always said that the Southwark Labour standard of major works for estates was not in line with what residents actually need and deserve. Their ‘dry’ standard doesn’t seem to deal with damp and their ‘safe’ standard doesn’t actually mean security doors. They did a consultation to ask residents what they wanted, residents said […]

This week I have been in various discussions with parents, council officers and schools about the urgent need for primary and secondary school places in Southwark. One of the problems which we have is that Michael Gove likes free schools! This means that new schools generally have to be free schools to get funding. I don’t particularly […]

I don’t mind the Labour council leader going off to the French Riviera if that is really what he has to do to get investment in Southwark. Although residents might think his time was better spent sorting out basic services like housing, school places and street cleaning which are currently in chaos. But I do object […]

I’m a Liberal so I am pretty passionate about the principle of ‘live and let live’. As long as people aren’t harming others they should be allowed to get on with what they want – even if I wouldn’t personally make that choice. However, when people’s freedom to live their lives is disrupted by others […]

What do most people want from the council? It’s not gimmicks, election bribes and propoganda. It’s simple basic services like clean streets, good lighting and value for money. That’s why the Liberal Democrats prioritise these things every year in our budget proposals. And that’s why we’ve been so concerned about cuts to basic services while Labour finds […]