New Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg MP has promised to give a voice to the people of Harlow who feel ignored by politicians. Setting out his priorities after being elected as party leader on December 18th, Nick Clegg, said:

"I am greatly honoured to have been chosen by my fellow party members to be the new leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Throughout Harlow Liberal Democrats are already working hard to reach out to local people and listen to their concerns. In my leadership I will be taking that spirit nationwide, moving beyond party politics and making liberalism connect with the millions of people who share our values.

Labour and the Conservatives have failed Britain's families. I will lead my party to change politics, and change Britain, for the better. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to giving the people of Harlow a greater say in the decisions that affect their lives, by shifting power away from Westminster and back to local communities.

I will fight for a fair deal for Britain's families, campaign tirelessly to cut crime, and improve our NHS so it delivers the care people need."

Harlow's Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington said:

"Nick Clegg is going to be a great leader. Labour and the Conservatives share so many policies. The time has come for a politician who will speak up for real people and local communities - like ours in Harlow."

Liberal Democrats fear that confidential details of every child in Essex, to be held on a council database, will not be secure enough in the light of the government's recent loss of 25 million pieces of personal information. Councillors at Essex County Council have now agreed to undertake regular reviews of the system.

The debate was led by county councillor Anne Turrell, Liberal Democrat spokesman for children, who commented:

"I am pleased that all councillors have understood our anxieties about security breaches, although both the Conservative and Labour groups seem happy to support the project. However, the Essex taxpayer is now committed to the cost of setting up and maintaining this system to the tune of tens of millions of pounds, plus the additional burden of paying for regular and extensive reviews to check that confidential information is not being misused.

We have serious concerns about the scale of this enormous database and it is difficult not to image that a least a few of the people with access to it might have some malign intention. It will take up valuable resources that should be spent on targeted support for vulnerable children and it will expose every child to the possibility of deliberate or negligent misuse of personal information. That is except for the children of MPs and the rich and famous who are explicitly excluded."

A Liberal Democrat motion pointing out potential security risks was voted through at a meeting of the full council at County Hall. Cllr Turrell said:

"The cabinet member responsible for schools, children and families agreed to try to ensure that people with access to the database were appropriate and secure, within the resources available. For all our children's sake, let us hope that is enough."