http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk News items at Bristol South Liberal Democrats website, Bristol Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:18:39 +0000 en-us The Coalition government has passed proposals to increase tuition fees, by 21 votes. Most Lib Dem backbenchers voted against the proposals. Only 5 Lib Dem MPs abstained in the end (as allowed by the Coalition Agreement), which would not have been enough to change the vote if they had voted against. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news075 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news075 In a time when the Coalition is making it hard for the Lib Dem voice to be heard, I think that you should set the liberal tone of the Government by speaking out against the vindictive and wrong execution of former Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz. He currently has a stay of execution because the Iraqi president Jalal Talabani has rightly refused to sign the death warrant. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news074 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news074 Tough measures have been proposed to cut the spiralling cost of Housing benefit. At ukp20bn a year, the UK spends more on this welfare payment than on the police and universities combined. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news073 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news073 The Browne review into student funding - set up by Labour - is a victory for the lobby power of the Russell Group of universities (Britain's "Ivy League"), of which Bristol University is one. They want to be set free to compete with leading universities on the global scene, for which they need gargantuan amounts of cash. The major cut to the Higher Education budget is basically a result of ensuring that schools have no cut in real terms, which arguably is a seriously good outcome. The proposal then, is for a nominal ukp6k cap, and a ukp9k "exception" cap. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news072 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news072 I read with interest the new Labour leader, Ed Miliband's letter to the Post. I would first like to congratulate Ed on his new job. As a Liberal Democrat I welcome the election of some who has quickly junked most of Labour's policies of the last decade in favour of Lib Dem policies. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news071 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news071 As was predicted by pundits, the General Election resulted in the first "Hung" or "Balanced" Parliament in a generation. Opinion polls during the campaign found that are large portion of the electorate was actually wanting this outcome, in order to force politicians to work together to solve the giant economic problems our country currently faces . The public were right to want that, in my opinion. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news070 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news070 The Lib Dems in Bristol South got their best ever results in both the General and Local elections on May 6th. Nationally, despite gaining 1% more share, and nearly 1 million more votes, the unfair electoral system actually gave us 6 less seats. While the is understandable a sense of disappointment that at national level we did not do as well as was hoped and expected, here in Bristol South, we slashed Dawn Primarolo's majority: http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news069 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news069 The Liberal Democrats have maintained their "surge" in the opinion polls after the second "Leaders' debate", which was held in Bristol's Arnolfini. Three of the five independent polls after the debate gave victory again to Nick Clegg, as he put on another fine performance. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news068 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news068 Early poll results from firm ComRes indicate the there has been a huge surge in support for the Lib Dems after Nick Clegg convincingly won the historic Leaders' TV debate on Thursday 15th April. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news067 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news067 Four former Labour ministers have just been caught on film offering to change laws for thousands in cash. The MPs - Stephen Byers, Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon and Margaret Moran - were previously senior ministers in the Labour government. http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news066 http://www.bristolsouth-libdems.org.uk/index.php?ward=Bristol%20South&id=Bristol%20South/news/news066