Chiltern Liberal Democrats

The MP for Chesham & Amersham and Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan MP, has sent the following letter to members of the local Conservative Party. Her letter was dated 19th January 2012.

Here it is, verbatim.

I think, with the latest announcement on HS2 and recent events, that, as a member of the Association you deserve to hear about HS2 and my response first hand.

Let us start with an apology. In fact, two apologies. One is that this website doesn't like personality politics, it especially doesn't like to attack individuals on a personal basis. So if what follows reads like a personal attack, it isn't supposed to.

Secondly, there is an elephant in the room here which needs to be confronted. Yes, we in the Liberal Democrats know about about election pledges and the breaking of them. We fouled up badly on tuition fees, and have been (not surprisingly) punished by the electorate.

VERA HEAD, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT, TO CONTEST OLD TOWN SEAT.

Vera Head can claim sixteen years' previous experience as a Councillor for Amersham Town Council. Vera Head was first elected to the Town Council for this Town Ward back in 1995, in later years she represented Amersham on the Hill.

Vera had one of the highest meeting attendance records of any councillor during her years on the Town Council.

Business leaders have backed the £1bn Youth Contract, announced by Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg in November, which aims to ensure that all jobless young people are earning or learning again before long-term damage is done.

In Chiltern, the number of18 to 24-year-olds who are currently in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance and would stand to benefit from the Youth Contract is 250.

An extra £1,082,792for social care in the Buckinghamshire PCT area will mean people can leave hospital earlier and receive better care at home.

This comes from an extra £150m announced by the Coalition Government this week to be spent on shortening hospital stays across the country during the busy winter period.

Your questions answered...

When is this by-election? Thursday 2nd February.

For which seat? The Old Town ward of Amersham Town Council.

Who is the Lib Dem candidate? Vera Head

Is she local? Yes, she's lived in Amersham for (cough) years and has previously served on the town and district councils.

Why should we vote for her? Because she is the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Councils across England received a cash boost as Liberal Democrat Communities Minister Andrew Stunell announced funding each authority would receive from the New Homes Bonus.

The money means that councils are rewarded for building new homes and bringing empty homes back into use.

Commenting, Cllr Peter Jones said:

Chiltern Liberal Democrats remain opposed to HS2 on the grounds that the vast costs will outweigh any likely benefits. Here are two articles on the subject that we've noticed in the past few days.

First, by Simon Dance: