Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg could be the surprise winner of the UK’s general election, according to former US presidential candidate Howard Dean.

Mr Dean described Mr Clegg as a young, dynamic leader, who could receive the biggest boost from Britain’s first televised election debates, by taking full advantage of voters’ disillusionment with the other two major parties.

Mr Dean said that the first past the post voting system makes it difficult for a third party to break through, and predicted the most likely result of a rise in support for the Liberal Democrats, would be a hung Parliament, with Mr Clegg holding the balance of power, but speaking on the Washington Journal Mr Dean said:

“I don’t think there’ll ever be a coalition between the Liberals and the Labour government.

“I know the Liberals, I know Nick Clegg very well, and he intends to win this and I think they could.

“So you may have a hung Parliament but I think you won’t have a coalition. At least not that coalition going forward.”

Asked if Mr Clegg could be the next British prime minister, Mr Dean said: “I think he could”.

The Liberal Democrats are strongly opposed to these increases, and at the recent Lib Dem Conference the party reaffirmed it’s opposition to university tuition fees, and voted to extend the policy of free tuition to part time students. 

The petition, which was organised by Beth James, contained almost 400 names, and read as follows:

Do you aspire to go to university?  Are you longing to gain independence and experience life in a new city?  Well soon, you won’t be able to afford to.  That sought after career that you dreamed of as a child could soon be merely a fantasy.

Proposed plans from the government to raise university fees from £3000 to £5000 a year means that the average student could leave university with debt levels of more than £32,000, which is over an £11,000 increase compared to the present levels.  The current lack of nurses and doctors to aid you in your time of need will surely decrease even more rapidly.

We, at Franklin College as prospective university students want to make our voices heard therefore we have developed a petition for students like us to sign, to show that we are against this happening!  I hope that you would be able to support us.  It’s your country.  It’s your education.

Beth James

Franklin College

You can read more about the Liberal Democrat policy on tuition fees at http://tinyurl.com/yfr75aa

“It’s completely unacceptable that one in 20 Trusts has failed to meet a target that ministers must have thought was entirely achievable,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary.

Commenting on today’s Government announcement which reveals one in 20 hospital Trusts has failed to eliminate mixed-sex wards, Norman Lamb said:

“This is yet another astonishing admission of Labour’s failure to fulfil a 13 year old manifesto commitment to eliminate mixed-sex wards.

“It’s completely unacceptable that one in 20 Trusts has failed to meet a target that ministers must have thought was entirely achievable.

“Once again this Government has ducked real action on this issue. We were told that Trusts would be fined for failing to meet this target but instead they merely have to produce an action plan.

“Labour may try and pretend today’s announcement is a great triumph but in reality they have let down patients who rightly expect privacy and dignity when being treated by the NHS.”

North East Lincolnshire Council is still waiting for a start date for it’e civil parking enforcement scheme which was hoped to start in April.

A spokesman said:

We are still waiting for notification from the Department of Transport as to when the official starting date will be.

“We are recruiting and training officers in readiness for the council taking over the role”

Commenting on David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ proposals, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said:

“The Conservatives are so out of touch with real people in society that they believe our cities are like The Wire, half of all teenage girls are pregnant and that it’s reasonable to charge taxpayers for duck houses.

“The ‘Big Society Day’ is just patronising nonsense, particularly for the thousands of dedicated people who are working to make their communities better every day.

“David Cameron will say anything to get a headline. Instead of gimmicks, the Liberal Democrats will give people real power over things that matter like their local police and health services.”

According to today’s Times, the Conservatives complained three times during Monday night’s television debate between the candidates for Chancellor, accusing the makers of favouring the Liberal Democrat representative,Vince Cable, in their coverage.

Senior Conservatives even telephoned production staff to complain that the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman was receiving too much applause.

Yesterday the Conservatives warned broadcasters not to give the Liberal Democrats an easy ride in the leaders’ TV debates.

Although many were happy with the performance of George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, senior Conservatives, including David Cameron, were irritated by the way Mr Cable was able to present himself as a referee between two opponents rather than facing pressure over his own policy positions.

The debate, which was chaired by Krishnan Guru-Murthy of the Channel 4 programme was praised by fellow broadcasters but some Conservatives complained that he allowed Mr Cable too much of an opportunity to score “open goals” – just like the manager of a beaten football team blaming the referee for the defeat!

Labour and the Conservatives also expressed concern that Mr Cable occupied the middle podium during the show, claiming that this gave the impression that the Liberal Democrat could play a pivotal role and literally inhabits the middle ground.

Live music and street theatre will welcome visitors to the resort of Cleethorpes this Easter bank holiday weekend as local bands and creative artists perform throughout the town from Friday to Monday.

Samba music, stilt walkers, acoustic musicians and theatrical performers will be entertaining visitors from the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway to the Central Promenade – all depending on the return of the spring sunshine.

North East Lincolnshire Council’s arts development team has organised the programme of activities following the success of last month’s World Music Festival. Charlotte Bowen, arts officer, said:

“We are keeping our fingers crossed for the return of the good weather we have had over the past few weekends.

“Bands will be playing at the Kingsway Kiosk and Cleethorpes Discovery Centre and we have some brilliant street performers that will be sure to turn a few heads. It’s a programme that will entertain the whole family.”

You can find out more about the programme by clicking on Timetable of events

The Liberal Democrats have called for the Digital Economy bill to be scrapped and re-introduced in the next Parliament, and they have also said that they will resist the passage of the bill if it is pushed through to become law in the “wash-up” before the general election.

Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat chief whip, told the Guardian that the Liberal Democrat’s opposition may not be enough to prevent the bill from passing, but he hoped that the argument that the issues needed more debate than has been possible might persuade one of the other parties into helping the Liberal Democrats to delay the passage of the bill.

Paul Burstow said:

“During the negotiation and discussion in the wash-up we will make it clear that we think that it isn’t a suitable way to deal with the issues remaining such as site blocking,

 ”We will put amendments down and make the case and hope that the government and the Conservatives will agree that it shouldn’t proceed at this stage,” Burstow said.

On April 1 North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus will launch its out of hours response service, following a tendering exercise with North East Lincolnshire Council. This will replace the service currently delivered by the council’s emergency duty team (EDT). 

The main principle of the service will be to help safeguard vulnerable adults in situations where it would not be safe, lawful or appropriate to delay assistance until the next day.

The service has three main components:

• A single point of access for professionals and the public.
• An approved mental health professional (AMHP) service managed by the CTP’s mental health services.
• The rapid response team managed by the CTP’s Care Plus directorate

Jo Barnes, acting joint director of care at the CTP, said:

“All of the components have been strengthening their out of hours capacity and will be able to deliver a high quality, professionally driven service that will offer vulnerable people a much stronger out of hours response that is highly integrated with mainstream provision. 

“The CTP believes this is a great opportunity to deliver a fully integrated care service to North East Lincolnshire residents and demonstrates the positive direction of travel the organisation has taken over the last two years.” 

Two new numbers will be in operation from April 1. The current EDT phone numbers will be transferred to the number below on April 1: 

General public number: 0845 148 9043 

There is also a separate phone line for healthcare professionals who wish to contact the team. 

Dave Cook, interim deputy director business & performance management for North East Lincolnshire Council, said:

“We’re delighted with the outcome of the tender and look forward to the CTP delivering a high quality out of hours service for vulnerable people.”

Labservatism may seem like a bit of a joke. But the reality isn’t funny at all.

For the last sixty-five years Labour and the Conservatives have been in charge and look where it’s got us.

Britain is less fair than it’s been for decades; we’re in the midst of an economic crisis caused by the greed of bankers, who were encouraged in their recklessness by the two old parties; and the political system that Labour and the Conservatives stitched up together is sunk in corruption and sleaze.

In this election you’ll hear the two of them trot out the same old slogans and recycle the same old election promises that they’ve already broken countless times. But the only thing you can really guarantee is that if they get back in nothing will really change at all. Because the way things are suits them just fine.

So if you have had enough of more of the same and you want a new approach to politics, I hope you’ll take a look at what the Liberal Democrats have to offer.

Join the fight against Labservatism and vote for change that works for you.

Find out more about Labservatism by clicking on http://www.labservative.com/manifesto/