Wishing all our visitors a very peaceful and successful Brexit free 2019 & Review of the Year
A peaceful and happy 2019 to all our visitors
In this, our final article of 2018 we look back on the events of this our first year as the newly merged East Suffolk Party. It was a busy year and one that certainly had some surprises.
EAST SUFFOLK PARTY WEBSITE - REVIEW OF THE YEAR
January 2018
With winter in full swing we highlighted the issues of health, poverty and homelessness.
Thousands of routine operations were cancelled due to staff shortages and increased demand during the winter months. Across the UK more than 100,000 patients had to wait this winter in the back of an ambulance for at least 30 mins due to overcrowding. The Lib Dems set out a clear plan to provide the extra investment that is so desperately needed. By putting a penny on income tax, more money could be put straight into our NHS and social care.
The End Child Poverty coalition published figures providing a new Child Poverty map of the UK. The new figures revealed that Waveney had 5887 children in poverty, Suffolk Coastal 3873 children, Ipswich 7022 children
With homelessness on the increase, Lib Dems highlighted the scandal that only one in 13 Councils in England and Wales were making use of the full powers they have to bring empty homes back into use.
February
Our All our Yesterdays article highlighted that the Act giving married women over the age of 30 the vote received the Royal Assent in 1918 and LIb Dem women MPs and Peers joined in the celebrations in Westminster. It was revealed that the Conservative Government's funding for local roads maintained by Suffolk CC would be cut by £1.842m in 2018/19
Lib Dem County Councillor for Woodbridge, Caroline Page urged residents, parents and all to respond to the SCC consultation on plans to reduce the eligibility for free school transport and Lib Dems on the LGA asked why the the total number of unimplemented planning permissions in England & Wales had risen to almost 500.000?
March
March gave rise to a number of celebrations.
All our Yesterdays highlighted the 100th anniversary of the The Fisher Act; which raised the school leaving age, previously set in 1899, to 14. It was a 30th birthday for the Lib Dems In March as the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party merged to create the Social and Liberal Democrats in 1988.
Waveney Conservative Councillors voted in favour of raising their allowances by £1,065 per annum, an increase of over 28% just a year before the Council was due to disappear. We celebrated International Women's Day with a call for more women to stand for office and Lib Dems called for an end to the over-emphasis on high-stakes testing in schools which it is felt has led to a education system which overlooks important elements in the development of a child.
At the end of March, East Suffolk Lib Dems joined hundreds of members and supporters for the Suffolk EU Alliance Great Eastern March and Rally at University campus Ipswich to call for an Exit from Brexit. Lib Dem Peers raised concerns over leaving Euratom and helped defeat the Governments proposals.and Lib Dems opposed new government rules to restrict the entitlement to free school meals whilst a report warned that the UK's poorest and most vulnerable women are likely to be the hardest hit by Brexit.
April
In April we started by highlighting a MoJ report that the UK locks up more people in prison than any other EU country, according to a report. Only non EU member, Turkey had more prison inmates. The campaign of the year led by Lib Dem David Beavan in Southwold found 354 small businesses were claiming relief last year, of which 263 were second home holiday lets. All were claimed to have qualified for rate relief, amounting to £551,744. It was front page news on the the EADT the story ran and ran. Little did we know where this was to lead..
Suffolk CC Conservative Councillors used their overwhelming majority and denied members the chance to debate the final school transport proposals. Faced with a surprise By election in Leiston the Party selected Jules Ewart to contest the District Council seat in May, the first of what was to become a series of by-elections.
May
At the beginning of the month new warding proposals drawn up by the existing two District Councils reduced the number of Wards to 29 and the number of councillors from 90 to 55. This follows the decision by the Communities Secretary to approve the plans for the merger. The East Suffolk Party made several recommendations to the Boundary Commission some of which were accepted.
The Party was heavily engaged in contesting the Leiston by-election, meanwhile it was announced that the new Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem, Green & Independent Group was to be Caroline Page (Liberal Democrat). Caroline is also the Group spokesperson for women and a champion for gender balance in politics.
On 9th of May, we celebrated peace and unity across Europe on Europe Day and also highlighted during Mental Awareness Week research showing that two thirds of us experience a mental health problem in our lifetime. The result of the hard fought by-election was announced and Jules Ewart increased the Lib Dem vote in the Leiston Ward by 7% and achieved 15% in a four way all women contest.
June
In June a Parliamentary Petition was launched to effect a change in the law on second home owners and to ensure all pay their fair share of tax. Serving Ipswich Lib Dem Councillor, Inga Lockington's was denied citizenship by the Home Office despite having, lived in the UK since 1979, been a councillor for 19 years and had been granted indefinite leave to remain. We celebrated Carers Week and urged support for the March for a People's Vote on the second anniversary of the Brexit referendum.
The Party selected Southwold & Reydon campaigner, David Beavan as the Lib Dems candidate in the forthcoming Waveney District Council by-election.and in due course David secured support from the Green Party. The campaign to close the loophole in second homes taxation also reached the Lords. In a second by-election Adam Robertson was selected to contest the Lowestoft Pakefield by-election. To cap off the month Felixstowe & Martlesham Branch held their postponed 30th Birthday celebration for the Lib Dems with Party leader Sir Vince Cable as guest.
July
July produced one of the highlights of the year. Having constructed a perfect campaign in Southwold & Reydon, Party candidate David Beavan swept home with over 71% of the vote taking the long held Tory seat with a majority of almost 700. David achieved over 1000 votes to become the first Lib Dem councillor in Waveney for 10 years. Regrettably we were not able to achieve a double in Pakefield where the Tory/Labour fight squeezed out third parties.
Suffolk Coastal Local Plan First Draft was published this month for consultation and the party members submitted responses. Local Government Association (LGA) who set up a Post-Brexit England Commission to examine the challenges and opportunities faced by non-metropolitan England published its interim report warning thst rural communities face a post-Brexit 'perfect storm. Finally, we highlighted research showing that life expectancy for the average person in Britain is worse than anything seen since the early 1890s, and no other country in Europe has experienced as rapid a slowdown as the UK.
August
New data published by the charity, The Trussell Trust showed that the level of support needed for children was markedly higher: during July and August 2017 summer holidays. Under Lib Dem plans to put an extra £300m into policing in the UK, Suffolk would expect to see a funding increase of £2,540.00 a year. Analysis from the Local Government Association suggested that only a third of plastic used by households was able to be recycled and the LGA also launched a nationwide consultation to kick-start a desperately-needed debate on how to pay for adult social care.
In yet another by-election for the local party, Andrew Turner was nominated as the Lib Dems candidate in the Suffolk Coastal District Council By-Election in Wehaston & Westleton. In preparations for the Party's Autumn Conference in Brighton we undertook a comprehensive review of the Conference Agenda and four day programme. We also reported that more than 123,000 children and their families in the UK spent their school holiday homeless.
September
In a series of articles on Brexit, Jon James looked at the 'Brexiteers Promises - the harsh reality of the LabCon Brexit' and some of 'the promises that they overlooked to make' in preparations for a No Deal and 'the madness that is Brexit' and 'Goodby London - the cost of Brexit'. September articles also called for tough new powers to tackle lorry drivers who ignore weight restrictions especially on rural roads and celebrated Libraries Week.
In the Wenhaston & Westleton by-election Andrew Turner who was the runner up and increased the Lib Dem vote from 23.6% in 2014 to 40% with he Conservative majority 91. Meanwhile new District Councillor David Beavan was having a busy time switching from the Conference platform at Brighton to Council Chamber in Waveney. Riding high from their success, Southwold & Reydon Liberal Democrats were awarded the runners up prize in the Best By-Election category in the Association of Liberal Councillors (ALDC) Annual Awards.
October
Another article by Jon James 'Deal or No Deal - time to end this madness and return to the people' opened October. Just weeks after the Brighton conference called for change, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said: 'We are pleased to see the Prime Minister finally lift the borrowing cap on councils so they can build houses, a policy I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues pushed for in coalition'. As funds for Public Health services were cut, a record demand for sexual health services in England was recorded. We highlighted the plans for the big march in London on 20th October, when the Liberal Democrats would be marching for our future in the EU and we reported images from some of the 700.000 local Lib Dem marchers. We marked Mental Health Day and the World Day for Overcoming Poverty.
In advance of Budget preparations Suffolk County Council admitted that it is not managing to control spending against the budget agreed in February 2018 and would have a shortfall. Meanwhile, the Government was likely to fail to invest almost £1 billion in local communities through the European Social Fund risking the money being sent back to Brussels. According to research, the majority of Conservative voters in England would prefer to press ahead with Brexit even if it led to the UK breaking up.
The Boundary Commission for England published final recommendations for future electoral arrangements for East Suffolk Council and including accepted proposals from the local Lib Dems. Advance of the UK budget, it was claimed that adult social care faced a £3.5 billion funding gap by 2025, just to maintain existing standards of care and with a crisis in the implementation of Universal Credit, the Lib Dems demanded the Government restore billions to UC.
November
November saw the aftermath of the Budget and one positive success for East Suffolk LDs as the Government agreed to open a consultation over the second homes tax loophole. We duly marked the Armistice - The End of World War I, 1918.
The Brexit story continued with the article, 'Brexit Mayham - Time for the People to Speak'. Concern was raised that music lessons in council maintained schools could be under threat unless the Government covers the cost of the teacher pay rise to include music teachers. Liberal Democrats welcomed the U-Turn over Fixed Odds Betting terminals. Finally we marked Carers Rights Day.
December
!st December marked World Aids Day. The Party asked that all the Brexit opinions be heard in the proposed TV debate as a debate between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn would be a debate between two cosy Brexiteers. In a further article by Jon James 'A Message to Theresa May - 'You are in a hole so please stop digging!' he underlined the shambolic state of the Brexit negotiations with 4 months to go.
In an article by one of our readers, a carer claimed that the role of the family carer is totally mis-understood, underfunded and in general ignored by the government. We marked Human Rights Day on 10th December. In setting a lower council tax for empty homes the Suffolk Coastal Council missed the chance to use the new tax powers and bring more homes into use. As Suffolk Lib Dems organised 'No Brexit' banners across the region the numbers polled pointed to a majority wishing to remain in the EU. The PM fell out with EU President over the word 'Nebulous',but our article claimed the the word was apparently very valid for the current state of the UK position. As the year came to an end our local by-election success was heralded by the national party.
Our positive mood however was deepened upon learning the sad news that Paddy Ashdown had died.
We were pleased to carry the Suffolk CAB request for support to campaign against SCC cuts to its service. Our year ended with the Brexit clock running down and the PM avoiding facing an inevitable defeat.
All the above 100 plus stories can be found by clicking onto the List of Articles.
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