31Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
‘Sheer madness’ to end virtual Council meetings during pandemic

‘Sheer madness’ to end virtual Council meetings during pandemic

Borough news
A government decision to force Councils to again meet in public after May 6 whilst allowing Parliament to meet remotely represents double standards on the issue of public safety and will needlessly endanger the health of any participants, says Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE. “We all want full Council meetings to recommence in person at the Civic Centre when it is safe to do so, but now is too soon,” commented Councillor Sykes. “We are still in the middle of a pandemic. Many of our younger residents have yet to be vaccinated and those that have received the vaccine are mostly still awaiting the protection promised by a second jab. It has proven entirely possible to take public questions and allow the public to view proceedings at…
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31Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sykes backs call for post-COVID green recovery to tackle climate change

Sykes backs call for post-COVID green recovery to tackle climate change

Borough news, Parliamentary news
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader has given his personal backing to a new national campaign by UK100 for a post COVID economic recovery plan to employ Britain’s skilled workers to tackle climate change. Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group, has pledged his support for Net Zero, and is pleased that his group was instrumental in ensuring that Oldham Council is ahead of the game in already making a commitment to being a zero carbon emission authority. Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “The Liberal Democrat Group brought forward a motion committing Oldham Council to declare a climate emergency and to taking action to tackle it. Subsequently the Council adopted an ambitious action plan to become carbon neutral by 2025 and we are also working on a cross-party…
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31Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
COP26 delay: Fight against climate crisis cannot wait

COP26 delay: Fight against climate crisis cannot wait

Parliamentary news
Responding to the latest reports of a delay to COP26 until Spring 2022, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Climate Emergency, Wera Hobhouse MP commented: “Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government for immediate clarification over the potential delay to COP26. It is deeply unfair to leave developing nations in the lurch with so many conflicting reports about the future of the COP. "The strongest efforts must be made to keep the COP on track for this year to ensure more time is not lost in the fight against the climate crisis. If another delay to the Spring is unavoidable, then the Conservative Government must guarantee that developing nations and NGOs have the same access to the negotiations as usual.”
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30Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
No space for disabled drivers

No space for disabled drivers

Borough news, road safety
With no funding for disabled parking spaces for three years, and a backlog of applications still to be assessed, disabled drivers have been left stranded by Oldham Council. Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness queried the lack of funding at the March Council meeting. He said: “It’s unfair that this Council has singled out disabled drivers again. If you’re disabled and you have a vehicle, then you need to be able to access it easily.” Saddleworth West and Lees candidate Mark Kenyon has repeatedly called for the Council to look at providing advisory parking bays, which provide a much more cost-effective way to indicate that disabled parking is required. He said: “When we raised this with the Council at first, they claimed that the bays were illegal – which they…
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30Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems fight to stop Government gutting fuel poverty scheme

Lib Dems fight to stop Government gutting fuel poverty scheme

Parliamentary news
Seventy-one Liberal Democrats MPs, Peers and Council Group Leaders have written to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to oppose the Government's plans to gut a critical scheme allowing energy inefficient homes to access grants. The Government is poised to remove social housing and rented accommodation from eligibility for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme and impose prescriptive measures on how improvements must be carried out. This means that even fewer homes are likely to be upgraded, particularly given the failure of the Green Homes Grant. The Liberal Democrats are calling for the cancellation of these changes to ensure that those most in need of help do not lose the opportunity to access these grants. Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Sarah Olney…
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30Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
UK failing in its duty to Hong Kong

UK failing in its duty to Hong Kong

Parliamentary news
Responding to China imposing sweeping electoral changes in Hong Kong, Liberal Democrats Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Layla Moran MP said: “This amending of the Basic Law by China’s rubber-stamp legislature is a clear breach of the Joint Declaration. The Government must respond with firm action, as it has done elsewhere - words of condemnation have done nothing to protect Hong Kong’s democracy. “The UK is failing in its duty under the Joint Declaration and international law to preserve Hong Kong’s institutions and human rights. Any red line has been crossed. If Dominic Raab won’t stand up now and act, when? “The Liberal Democrats will stand, as we always have, with the people of Hong Kong. The Government can make no more excuses - it is time for the UK to…
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29Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
All aboard! Liberal Democrats welcome Greater Manchester bus franchising

All aboard! Liberal Democrats welcome Greater Manchester bus franchising

Borough news
An end to deregulation and the introduction of franchising means good news for Greater Manchester’s bus passengers, say Oldham’s Liberal Democrats.  They have welcomed the decision to end the chaos of bus privatisation and reintroduce publicly controlled bus services. Greater Manchester’s buses were privatised by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government in 1986, and for the last thirty-five years buses in the city region have been run by private companies focused on making a profit for shareholders.  For Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, bus privatisation has been a disaster.  Councillor Sykes, who also serves as one of Oldham’s representatives on the Transport for Greater Manchester committee, said:  “Privatisation has meant increased fares, a disjointed ticketing system and worsening services. Bus…
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29Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats welcome Lords amendment on national stalking register

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence, Parliamentary news
Oldham’s Liberal Democrats have welcomed recent news that the Domestic Abuse Bill passing through Parliament will now contain a commitment to establish a national offenders’ register for those convicted of stalking or domestic violence after the House of Lords amended the legislation. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Councillor Chris Gloster, a former police officer with 30 years’ experience, proposed the establishment of just such a register when he brought a motion to last December’s meeting of Oldham Council with the support of the Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service. Councillor Chris Gloster is elated: “In light of the recent tragic murder of Sarah Everard, this development brings some hope that in the future serial offenders who are violent towards or stalk their victims will be tracked to prevent their reoffending and save…
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27Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Liberal Democrats oppose Labour’s new Green Belt homes ‘Places for Everyone’ plan

Liberal Democrats oppose Labour’s new Green Belt homes ‘Places for Everyone’ plan

Borough news
Despite Liberal Democrat opposition, Labour voted to take forward the so-called ‘Places for Everyone’ plan at Wednesday’s Council’s meeting (24 March 2021). The new plan will lead to thousands of new homes being built on Oldham’s Green Belt. Councillors considered a report to make an agreement to ‘prepare a joint development plan’ to replace the discredited Greater Manchester Spatial Framework and to delegate the Leader of the Council to sit on an oversight committee with the Leaders of eight of the other nine Greater Manchester authorities. All of these are led by Labour Leaders, other than Bolton which has a Conservative Administration. Stockport Liberal Democrats torpedoed the previous plan by voting against Stockport being involved with it at a Council meeting held there in December 2020. At Wednesday’s meeting (24/03/21),…
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27Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Time to retire fossil fuels: Liberal Democrats want pension fund to go green

Time to retire fossil fuels: Liberal Democrats want pension fund to go green

Borough news
Oldham’s Liberal Democrats are backing the Fossil Fuel Greater Manchester campaign in asking the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, the largest of its kind in the country, to go green and ditch investments in coal, gas and coal. Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, wrote recently to the Council’s representative on the board of the pension fund, Labour Deputy Leader Councillor Abdul Jabbar MBE, asking for his help in making this request a reality. Councillor Sykes explained: “In light of the long-term threat posed to our natural environment and humanity by climate change, Oldham Council has like many others declared a climate emergency and has set ambitious goals to become a carbon neutral local authority by 2025 and a carbon neutral borough by 2030.…
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