Conservatives at Essex County Council insist it is good practice to allow potholes to get more than double their present depth before they will be fixed. The Tories rejected a claim by the Liberal Democrat group on the county council, that roads are likely to deteriorate under the new strategy. The Lib Dems pushed for a formal meeting to discuss the issue, but the group was eventually voted down by the Conservative members. Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes, Liberal Democrats group leader on Essex County Council, said:

"We are disappointed that the Conservatives have decided to go ahead with this new strategy, which we think will lead to a deterioration in road surfaces rather than an improvement. We have particular concerns that this strategy is aimed at motorists and leaves other road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and all pavement users vulnerable to accidents.

We are convinced that this change of strategy is designed more to see off claims made by people involved in accidents from tripping over potholes, than it is in making people safer. Almost all of us routinely use roads and pavements that are strewn with potholes, splits and other defects and we know that it can be a challenge to get along some stretches of road. With even bigger holes and defects allowed, our local roads are going to become more like assault courses only accessible with 4x4s."

The new highways maintenance strategy changes the depth of potholes allowed before being fixed from 20mm to 50mm on roads and 15mm to 20mm on pavements.

On the fifth anniversary of the start of the invasion of Iraq, Liberal Democrats in Harlow have called on Bill Rammell MP to apologise for his support for the invasion of Iraq. Local Lib Dem leader Cllr Chris Millington said:

"Five years ago, the Labour Government led Britain into the war in Iraq. The Conservatives were the cheerleaders for military action. And MPs from both parties attacked the Liberal Democrats for our opposition to the invasion.

It is now clear that the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country were the worst decisions taken by Britain in foreign policy in living memory. And Bill Rammell backed this decision. He voted for the war in 2003.

Five years on from the start of the invasion, 175 British troops have lost their lives, £7 billion of our money has been lost on this appalling venture and, according to some estimates, 600,000 Iraqis are dead as a result.

Bill Rammell should apologise to the people of Harlow for his part in authorising this disastrous military venture.

This was a war that we were told was meant to make the world safer. We were told it was to get rid of weapons of mass destruction, weapons which turned out not to exist. We were told this was a war to end terrorism, but the threat from terrorism has gone up, not down.

The remaining British troops in Iraq are not serving a useful purpose. The Government are asking our brave men and women to put their lives at risk for no gain for either our country or the world at large. Despite assurances by Gordon Brown that our troops will be coming home, they are still in Iraq.

I am calling on Bill Rammell to join the Liberal Democrats in urging the Government to set a timetable for the full withdrawal of the remaining UK troops from Iraq.

Next week there will be a vote in Parliament calling for a full inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Iraq war. I urge Bill Rammell to join the Liberal Democrats in voting to hold this inquiry. Lessons must be learnt so the mistakes of Iraq are never made again."

Harlow Council could be being overcharged for pensioners' bus journeys using their bus passes, local Liberal Democrats can reveal.

Mark Hall councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston have been shown tickets given to local pensioners which show journeys considerably longer than those that have been taken.

A trip from The Stow to Old Harlow Post Office was shown as being from Harlow Bus Terminus to the Leventhorpe School in Sawbridgeworth. Another, from The Stow to the town centre, was recorded as being from The Phoenix pub at Bush Fair to the Pinnacles.

Because pensioners are entitled to free local bus travel their tickets do not include a price, but journey details are recorded so bus firms can claim the cost of the concessionary fare from Harlow Council.

The cost of bus travel to the council - which from 1 April will be extended to cover journeys anywhere in England - has been rising rapidly and uncontrollably, contributing to the council's cash problems.

The incorrect tickets were collected by four Mark Hall pensioners who contacted Liberal Democrat councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston. Robert Thurston says:

"We've just had to make quite a few staff redundant, largely because of the cost of funding bus travel. Now it looks like we've been paying well over the odds.

That extra money could have saved someone's job or helped us avoid a service reduction somewhere."

Pensioners receiving incorrect tickets are encouraged to send them to Cllr Lesley Rideout, with details of the actual journey undertaken.

Liberal Democrat council leader Chris Millington and Staple Tye councillor Lorna Spenceley joined youth councillors, council staff and funders for a special VIP preview evening at the new Cafe Youth.

Cafe Youth is a new cafe created by young people for young people, with a chill-out zone with comfy chairs and coffee; a video game and sports zone with the latest video machines, a pool table and computers; and a healthy eating zone where all products are sold at pocket money prices. Chris Millington says:

"What's really great about Cafe Youth is that it's something the young people themselves have made. The Harlow Council of the old days would have done everything itself for the young people - by contrast, we've enabled the young people to develop their own premises in their own way, attracting funding and bringing partners together to make it work."

Conveniently situated at 21 Westgate - the former bookmakers' - Cafe Youth will be opening its doors in earnest for the first time on Friday 28 March. The hours will be Fridays 4-8pm, Saturdays 4-9pm, and Sundays 2-6pm. School holiday opening information will be available in due course on Harlow Council's web site.

For more information, call 446012 or email Harlow Youth Council.

Lib Dem council leader Chris Millington and Cllr Lorna Spenceley were on hand to meet government minister John Healey MP yesterday, when he came to Harlow to see at first hand the story of Harlow Council's improvement.

Mr Healey, minister for local government at the Department of Communities & Local Government, toured Harlow and met councillors, officers and partner organisations at the Civic Centre for a presentation on how the council moved straight from being a Poor council to a Good one - a step taken by only four other district councils in the country. Cllr Millington says:

"The improvement demonstrated by Harlow Council is clearly of interest well beyond our boundaries. It's great news that ministers are keen to visit us to find out how we achieved it, and to hear about our ambitious plans for the future and the regeneration of Harlow."

Some interesting planning applications have been submitted to Harlow Council's planning department.

BT want to halve the numbers of payphones in various parts of the town centre, and replacing the remaining kiosks with new ones - at Marks & Spencers, The Rows, Westgate, Nationwide, and Adams House (ref HW/PL/08/00062 to 0066).

There's an application by the Scouts for fencing at the scout hut on School Lane (ref HW/PL/08/00068).

A revised application has been submitted for a two-storey day care centre at Goldsmiths (ref HW/PL/08/00070).

And there's an application for a new builders' merchants' warehouse at Dukes Park industrial estate on Edinburgh Way (ref HW/PL/08/00071).

Don't forget you can look up planning applications on Harlow Council's planning pages.

Liberal Democrats in Harlow have returned from their spring conference in Liverpool in an upbeat mood. The conference, which meets twice a year, had a record number of people attending it. Five members attended from Harlow. Lib Dem deputy council leader Cllr Robert Thurston says:

"The Liberal Democrats had a successful conference. We had important debates about putting people back in control of the NHS and ensuring there are enough affordable homes for all who need them.

Vince Cable MP, our Shadow Chancellor, gave an excellent speech which highlighted just how unfair the tax system had become under Labour, with too many people on low and middle income paying too much tax. And party leader Nick Clegg MP really hit the nail on the head when he said that we need a 'new type of politics' to clean up Parliament.

Many people in Harlow feel that Parliament is too remote and out of touch. So I was very pleased to hear Nick Clegg talk about Liberal Democrat demands for big reforms to the way government works. Nick's plan to allow the people to sack their MP if they abuse their position or expenses is a great one and I hope that it is put into action soon.

Now that we are back from conference, we are stepping up our campaigning here in Harlow. Councillors and campaigners are out on local doorsteps and we are getting a good response."

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference today backed measures to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years. The plans aim to greatly reduce the waiting list for social housing which currently stands at over 1.6 million, up nearly 60 per cent since 1997. Other main proposals include:

• Invest all the proceeds from council house sales in building more social homes


• End the system of 'negative subsidy' where council tenants subsidise maintenance costs in other parts of the country


• Support Government-backed equity mortgages to help first time buyers get on the housing ladder


• Pilot Community Land Auctions to ensure that local people get the benefits of new development through improved infrastructure.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister Lembit Opik said:

"We must build faster and better with at least one million new affordable homes in the next ten years to solve Britain's housing crisis.

Successive governments have let social housing crumble. There are almost one million fewer social houses available now than during the last housing market crash. Without this crucial safety net, what will happen to the 45,000 families expected to have their homes repossessed this year?

The Liberal Democrat proposals will help families into homes that they can afford in communities that are sustainable."

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference today called on ministers to ensure that legal aid reforms do not restrict access to justice for the most vulnerable groups in society.

The Government's proposed reforms do not take into account factors like location, translation services and the level of legal expertise required, all of which could result in poor families losing access to free high quality advice. The Liberal Democrats would:

• Suspend further Carter reforms until a full assessment of their impact on the most vulnerable clients has been carried out


• Reject the imposition of flat-rate fees, which restrict access to justice


• Introduce a new framework for legal aid, recognising the needs of vulnerable clients and the complexity of cases


• Subject all new arrangements to pilot schemes so that the costs and benefits can be judged in practice.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

"Justice for all is one of the cornerstones of a free and liberal society and a fundamental human right. In its botched legal aid reforms, the Government has failed to protect one of the most important pillars of the welfare state.

Legal aid does not fit easily into a rigid market structure and fixed fees do not take into account geography or the need for special expertise. The reforms have not been researched properly. Competitive tendering must be piloted before these changes are taken any further."

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference has backed plans to radically transform the NHS into a 'people's health service' by empowering individuals and decentralising control to local communities.

The measures will set the NHS free from central government control, make it accountable to the people it serves through elected health boards and deliver high quality services to all guaranteed in a 'Patient's Contract'. Plans contained in the policy paper Empowerment, Fairness and Quality in Healthcare include:

• Guaranteeing every citizen access to a high standard of core healthcare entitlements within maximum waiting times in a 'Patient's Contract'. To make sure that the NHS delivers, patients would have the right to receive private treatment, paid for by the NHS, if the waiting time was not met.


• Introducing a 'Care Guarantee' by spending £2 billion on personal care payments for all elderly people requiring care, based on need and not their ability to pay.


• Directly electing the majority of members of local Health Boards instead of unaccountable Primary Care Trusts, putting people in charge of decisions about their local health services.


• Rolling out the use of direct payments and individual budgets for people with chronic, long-term conditions and mental health services.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said:

"I am thrilled by this result; it is a very significant vote for the Liberal Democrats. The Government's obsession with targets has distorted clinical priorities without giving specific rights to patients.

Entitling patients to be treated in a private hospital if their wait breached a defined period would provide a real incentive for local health boards to ensure that hospitals deliver that treatment on time."

Chancellor Alistair Darling should cut national income tax, paid for by rises in green taxes, when he delivers his Budget on 12 March, say Harlow's Liberal Democrats. Harlow's Lib Dem council leader Chris Millington says:

"The people of Harlow have been squeezed by higher prices for energy and rising council tax over the past year.

And since the last Budget, the country has suffered again from extreme weather conditions, where climate change is likely to have been a causal factor. Many residents in Harlow suffered serious problems with flooding in the summer of 2006.

The Budget is an ideal opportunity for the Government, at last, to tackle the environmental damage that is contributing to the freak weather conditions we are seeing happen only too often. It is also an opportunity for Alistair Darling to cut the burden of tax on low and middle income households.

The Liberal Democrats therefore want to see a cut in national income tax to 16p in the pound. This should be paid for by increasing the taxes on activities that pollute most, such as running the most polluting vehicles or flying.

Council tax is an unfair tax. It is far more of a burden for low and middle income households. Liberal Democrats want the Chancellor to use the Budget to scrap council tax and replace it with a fair, local income tax, based on ability to pay. I strongly believe that the Liberal Democrats' plan of shifting more of the tax burden from people's income and onto pollution will benefit people in Harlow.

In Britain, the poorest fifth of households pay a bigger share of their income in tax than the richest fifth. The wealth divide between rich and poor has actually risen since Labour came to power. The Budget is an ideal opportunity for Labour to put right the problems they have allowed to grow since they first came to office in 1997."

Commenting on the result of today's Parliamentary vote on the issue of an in-out referendum on Britain's future in Europe, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

"Today's result simply confirms the determination of Labour and Conservative MPs to deny the people of Britain a real say over our future in Europe.

The Westminster establishment is terrified of an open public debate over the EU, but the fact is that nobody under the age of fifty has been able to have their say on this crucial issue.

The way to have that debate is not over the narrow issue of the Lisbon Treaty but on one simple question: in or out.

I will continue to lead the argument for a referendum on our membership of the EU and will be proud to argue the case for our country taking a leading role in Europe."

Harlow Labour MP Bill Rammell was among those who voted against an in-out referendum.

As many as three million families living in poverty are missing out on an average payment of £700 to help pay for rocketing council tax bills, according to new figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats. Despite the average council tax bill having almost doubled since Labour came to power the numbers of people taking up council tax benefit has fallen by at least 12 per cent between 1997-98 and 2005-06. Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Danny Alexander MP says:

"Council tax is hitting those in poverty disproportionately hard, making life incredibly difficult for millions of hard-working poor families and especially their children. Council tax should be scrapped and replaced with a fair local income tax, so that people pay what they can afford. Families in poverty should not be subsidising local services for everyone else."

Ahead of the publication of the Thoresen Review into personal debt today, the Liberal Democrats have released their own plans on how to tackle the rising problem of personal debt. The Lib Dem paper calls for free generic debt advice centres to be opened around the country to stem the tide of rising repossessions and bankruptcies. The service would be funded half by the Government and half by the financial services industry. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince Cable MP said:

"The Government has toyed with the idea of supporting a generic financial advice network for the best part of a decade, without taking any action. With credit card debt soaring, repossessions increasing and the results of irresponsible lending unravelling, this service is vital to stop families sinking further into the red.

The Liberal Democrats were the first political party to recognise the urgency of the issue of personal debt and remain the only party to set out a comprehensive action plan to tackle this looming crisis."

The public strongly prefers the Liberal Democrats' call for a referendum on membership of the European Union, rather than the Conservative proposal for a referendum only on the Lisbon Treaty, according to an opinion survey carried out by Ipsos MORI.

38 per cent of the poll favoured a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU altogether, compared to 18 per cent favouring a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty only. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP says:

"This opinion poll clearly shows that the Liberal Democrats are the only political party on the side of the British public on the European referendum. It shows that people understand the huge difference between an honest debate about our future in Europe, and David Cameron's mealy-mouthed support for a restrictive referendum on the specific details of the Lisbon Treaty.

The Liberal Democrats would relish the opportunity to put the case to the British people for our wholehearted commitment to the EU."

You can support the campaign for a real referendum by signing up to the petition.

Local Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington has welcomed the news that Harlow's new Gateway Sports and Leisure Centre - currently being built next to Harlow College - has been selected for inclusion in the London 2012 Pre-games training camp guide.

The new centre will be listed as one of the venues in the East of England region that can be used for badminton, basketball, fencing, trampolining, judo and indoor volleyball. Chris says:

"This is absolutely excellent news, and a recognition of the status of this prestigious new public leisure development here in Harlow."

Commenting on transport minister Ruth Kelly's announcement on road and rail needs in the East of England, local Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington said:

"Harlow is in desperate need of an extra junction on the M11 with a link to the A414 to take more traffic out of Harlow and reduce the congestion on local roads."

Local Liberal Democrats in Harlow will be heading to Liverpool next weekend for the party's spring conference.

Liberal Democrats from across the country will be meeting in the city from 7 to 9 March. Amongst them will be local Liberal Democrat council leader and deputy leader Chris Millington and Robert Thurston, local party chairman David Wright and executive member Aran Black. Robert Thurston said:

"We are looking forward to this conference and to voting in important policy debates on health, housing, education and defence.
Nick Clegg will be making his first conference speech as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and the party's Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP will also be speaking."

Liberal Democrats hold two national conferences a year, the first in March and the second in September.

Local Lib Dem leader Cllr Chris Millington has thrown his weight behind an application for Harlow to become a specialist cycling town. The bid would mean that Harlow would become one of ten new 'Cycling Demonstration Towns', with local initiatives including cycle routes and training in cycling safety. Chris says:

"This looks to be an excellent scheme that fits in well with Harlow Council's commitment to provide first class sports and leisure opportunities for local residents. Cycling is an increasingly important part of the town's transport infrastructure and something we are keen to promote."