Greenwich Lib Dems were speaking to local residents in Blackheath Westcombe this weekend, launching our community survey to understand what issues matter most to our community, And we posted about it on our Bluesky account and on Facebook. 

Whether it’s GP appointments or potholes, Greenwich residents deserve better local services from a council that listens. Please take a moment to share your views on what you’d like to see changed in Blackheath Westcombe through this form: 

digitallibdems.typeform.com/BW2026

A major new YouGov poll has revealed that the Liberal Democrat, Louis Adam, is the only candidate in Kenilworth and Southam who is positioned to stop Kemi Badenoch from handing the keys to No 10 to Nigel Farage.

A new nationwide poll shows that the Conservatives’ route to Downing Street relies heavily on working with Reform UK and that Kenilworth and Southam is set to be a decisive battleground between them and the Liberal Democrats.

Responding to the news that Bedford Borough Council has announced that it is finally installing more EV (Electric Vehicle) charge points, Cllr Charles Royden, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson, commented, 

“The Liberal Democrat administration successfully applied for LEVI funding for additional investment in EV charging points when the scheme launched in 2023. 

It is disappointing that the Conservative-led administration has sat on this funding for over a year. In 2021, Bedford was a leading authority in the installation of charge points but recently we have fallen behind the UK average. In fact, the Council has not installed a single EV charging point in over three years which is a complete failure to provide for our residents. Hopefully the team can now crack on and provide the additional charging points which residents need.

It is essential that this process is done in close consultation with residents and councillors to ensure that the charging points are located where communities need them. The Mayor has a poor track record of consultation and I will be watching closely to ensure that the locations chosen deliver the services that our residents deserve.”

Notes:

The initial installation of 260 sockets is being installed by Connected Kerb on behalf of the Council’s Highways Engineering team, and will provide access to EV charging for residents that currently don’t have off-street parking. 

The EV charging points are funded from the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

The rate of drug deaths in Scotland is a national scandal. Having risen sharply from 2014, they reached a peak of 1,339 in 2020, prompting then First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon to admit her government had “taken eyes off the ball”.

This admission led to action that briefly saw a small turning of the tide but the waves came crashing back in last week as the latest figures confirmed deaths over the past twelve months had increased by 11%.

Sadly, we are seeing some of this reflected locally with growing concerns about the presence, availability and misuse of ever-stronger drugs here in Orkney. It’s something I’ve raised regularly in meetings with Police Scotland, highlighting too the knock-on consequences for the wider community.

The reasons for Scotland’s status as the ‘drug deaths capital of Europe’ are many and complex. There is undoubtedly a link to poverty, but government cuts to drug and alcohol services over the years have certainly contributed. Moreover, Ms Sturgeon’s ‘eye off the ball’ comment was part apology, part acknowledgment that for too long SNP Ministers brushed off the rising death toll by blaming Westminster.

It’s true, of course, that some drug policy is determined at a UK level, but successive SNP administrations have rightly treated this as a public health issue, thereby placing it firmly back in the Scottish Government’s court. Moreover, Scotland’s drug death rate is 2.5 times higher than anywhere else in the UK, where the same Misuse of Drugs Act provisions apply. True to form, however, current Scottish Drugs Minister, Maree Todd was back last week to pointing the finger at Westminster, suggesting that for all the words of regret ministerial eyes are still not on the ball.

For the First Minister, the drug deaths figures also inconveniently overshadowed his latest half-hearted ‘push’ for independence. SNP and Green MSPs may have ensured parliament voted for another referendum, but there’s no public groundswell, momentum or even expectation.

As former Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes explained at the weekend the case for independence requires this SNP government to demonstrate competence in using the powers already at its disposal. In that regard, Mr Swinney’s case was not helped by figures released either side of last Tuesday’s debate showing record numbers of Scotland’s children living in temporary accommodation and the highest child mortality rate of any UK nation. Add to this recent PISA statistics confirming an alarming slide in Scotland’s educational performance over the past two decades and the SNP’s slogan about making Scotland “the best place in the world to grow up” rings rather hollow.

This week, parliament will turn its attention to debating more immediate matters in the form of the upcoming UK budget. The big question appears to

be whether the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham and his Chancellor, John Healey will stick to Labour’s manifesto commitments on tax and borrowing or use the pressing need to increase defence spending to justify easing out of Sir Keir Starmer’s fiscal straightjacket.

These decisions will shape a Scottish Budget to be unveiled in December where it’s already clear Finance Secretary, Jenny Gilruth faces tricky dilemmas of her own in trying to fill a £5 billion ‘black hole’ in Scotland’s public finances. Public service reform is necessary but won’t be sufficient to plug the gap and may even increase costs in the short term.

Ms Gilruth and her colleagues can reasonably argue that many of the causes of the pressures now faced are outwith the control of Scottish Ministers. Yet the financial mess does partially reflect an attitude within the SNP over many years where credit is gleefully taken for all The Good Stuff while any bad decisions or outcomes can always be laid at the door of Westminster. That can’t continue. To govern is to choose and it’s time for Mr Swinney to take responsibility.

The same can be said of Post Office management following the sudden closure of the Kirkwall Post Office earlier this month with no warning or consultation and no indication of when or where it will re-open. Alistair Carmichael and I will continue to demand answers, but Post Office managers stand accused of shamefully taking their eyes off the ball in spectacular fashion.

Heylings: Protect our most vulnerable this winter PM, introduce our essential energy guarantee

Responding to the Cornwall Insights report which shows UK households will face the highest rise in energy bills in 4 years this January, in addition to the price cap rising tomorrow (October 1st), Liberal Democrat Energy Spokesperson Pippa Heylings MP said:

"For all his talk about breathing space, Burnham's VAT cut to electricity has already been swallowed up by just tomorrow's price rise, leaving households completely exposed to this huge price increase now on the horizon for January.

“Nervous families can't wait to plan for their winter energy needs - they need certainty and support now. If the Prime Minister is serious about wanting to support our most vulnerable families, then he needs to back Lib Dem plans for an Essential Energy Guarantee. Our proposals would take profits from energy networks and use them to bring down costs on the essential energy used by households, with additional support for the most vulnerable.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The full Lib Dem Essential Energy Guarantee Plan can be found here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/press/release/lib-dems-vow-to-claw-back-pound5bn-in-windfall-profits-from-energy-network-firms-to-cut-household-bills 

Mayor Peter Taylor has spoken out about the continued delays to the rebuild of Watford General Hospital. In a recent post, he said:

“It’s extremely disappointing that the new government has said it has no plans to bring forward the rebuild of Watford General Hospital.

Originally, the project was due to be completed by 2030. Now, construction may not even start until as late as 2034.

Despite this being a shovel-ready project, with planning permission granted and land made available, multiple governments have failed to produce the funding promised to get building started.

Watford residents have yet again been left waiting for vital improvements to be made. This is totally unacceptable.”

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