http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Nigel Ashton en-GB Nigel Ashton http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Nigel Ashton 2008-07-06T20:55+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000056/gordon_brown__12_months_of_drift_dither_and_failure.html June 27th 2008 is the first anniversary of Gordon Brown taking over as Prime Minister. Mr Brown has had 12 months in charge, but on the key issues for Britain he has failed to deliver. It has all gone horribly wrong for Gordon Brown. 2008-06-26T19:27+01:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000055/education_system_failing_pupils_says_clegg.html The Government's 'one size fits all' approach to schools is failing thousands of pupils by not providing a personalised education, says Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg. 2008-06-26T18:31+01:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000054/southport_out_in_the_cold_as_conlab_pact_takes_over_sefton_council.html Conservative and Labour councillors have joined forces to oust the Liberal Democrats from leadership of Sefton Council. At last night's dramatic meeting, Conservative councillors voted with the Labour Party to destroy the proportional basis of power-sharing. This brought to an end 22 years of consensus politics that has seen Sefton Council awarded 4-star status. 2008-05-09T11:09+01:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000053/no_change_in_southport_in_local_elections.html No council seats changed hands in Southport in the local elections on 1st May 2008, with all seven wards re-electing their sitting councillors. The Liberal Democrats won four seats to three for the Conservatives. Overall, Southport continues to have fourteen Lib Dem councillors to seven Conservatives, with no other parties having representation. The Liberal Democrats will continue to have control of the Southport Area Committee. 2008-05-02T03:20+01:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000052/local_election_candidates_for_southport_2008.html Nominations have closed for the local council elections on May 1st. Barring any last minute withdrawals, there will be 30 candidates for the seven available seats in Southport. As well as full slates for the three main parties, there are 5 candidates for UKIP, 3 for the Southport Party, and 1 BNP. The number of UKIP candidates is up from one last year, whereas the Southport Party is down from the 5 they fielded in 2007. 2008-04-07T21:52+01:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000051/budget_protected_the_rich_and_abandoned_the_poor.html Alistair Darling's first budget was a huge missed opportunity. Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats said "This is not a green budget. This is not a people's budget. This is a con trick budget that protects the rich and abandons the poor. The Government has bottled it on green taxes and failed to implement the necessary measures to cut child poverty." 2008-03-29T19:33+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000050/nick_cleggs_conference_speech.html In his first Conference speech as Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg demanded a shake-up of the whole political system. Speaking at the end of the Party's Spring Conference in Liverpool in March, Nick Clegg said: "The great political story of our time is the story of the vast and growing army of people who look at the two main parties and say 'no thanks'. People who, like me, like you, want something different." 2008-03-29T19:16+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000049/lib_dem_spring_conference_roundup.html The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference held in Liverpool in March was a great success. Conference backed plans to radically transform the NHS into a 'people's health service' and supported measures to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years. In his first speech to Conference as Leader, Nick Clegg demanded a shake-up of the whole political system. A running theme of his speech was the need for a new kind of politics. 2008-03-29T18:40+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000048/europe__lib_dems_want_a_vote_on_in_or_out.html The Liberal Democrats have tried to persuade Parliament to allow the British people a real vote on Britain's future in Europe, but have been frustrated by the out-of-date rules. 2008-02-29T18:35+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000047/over_a_million_families_paid_wrong_tax_credit.html Over a million and a half families have been paid the wrong amount in tax credits at least twice according to new figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats. 2008-01-31T19:30+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000045/nick_clegg_appoints_new_shadow_cabinet.html Nick Clegg, the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has appointed his first Shadow Cabinet. Key appointments include Chris Huhne as Shadow Home Secretary and Ed Davey as Shadow Foreign Secretary. 2007-12-20T19:08+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000044/nick_cleggs_acceptance_speech_in_full.html Nick Clegg made an excellent speech when he won the election for Leader of the Liberal Democrats. This is what he said: 2007-12-19T19:07+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000043/chris_huhne_salutes_nick_clegg.html Nick Clegg has received praise from his defeated rival for the Lib Dem leadership, Chris Huhne. 2007-12-19T15:46+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000042/nick_clegg_elected_leader_of_the_liberal_democrats.html Nick Clegg has been elected as the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats. The result of the ballot of all Lib Dem members was announced by the acting Leader, Vince Cable, in London on Tuesday 18th December. Nick Clegg won by a narrow margin, gaining 20,988 votes to Chris Huhne's 20,477 votes. 2007-12-19T15:33+00:00 http://www.nigelashton.org.uk/news/000041/message_from_vince_cable.html Vincent Cable, acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has sent the following message to party members setting out lessons from his time in the leadership: 2007-12-17T12:42+00:00