The following article was written by Mark Pack and originally appeared on the Liberal Democrat Voice Website.

Greg Mulholland MP (Leeds North West) is the first convenor of the new Liberal Democrat Backbench Group.  being appointed he said,

“The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party has to work in a completely different environment than before and it is important that the voice of the Lib Dem backbenchers is heard.

“We look forward to working constructively with Ministers and the Liberal Democrat leadership to make the government programme as positive as possible in these difficult times, as well as bringing a distinctively Liberal Democrat perspective to some debates.”

Given the role of various Conservative backbench MP groupings in exerting pressure from their side of the coalition, this new Liberal Democrat group is both welcome in its own right and for the additional countervailing pressures it will bring to coalition debates.

As was widely predicted, British film The King’s Speech has won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This is the second consecutive year that the Best Picture category has been voted on using the Alternative Vote but in fact the system was first used for the Academy Awards in 1939, when Gone With The Wind beat the Wizard of Oz and eight other films to win the famous golden statuette.

The Academy switched to AV because under first past the post it was possible for a film hated by a clear majority of people to go on to win simply because it was supported by a vocal minority. With AV, the winning film is far more of a consensus choice and the views of all voters are better represented.

Of course, it isn’t just the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that uses AV. In the UK alone, over 14m people regularly use the Alternative Vote to elect their representatives on company boards, trade unions, non-government organisations. The House of Commons uses the system for its internal elections and even the House of Lords fills vacancies using AV.

If it is good enough for them, why not us?

Finally, congratulations should go to Yes to Fairer Votes supporter Colin Firth for winning the Best Actor Oscar.

More information: Instant Runoff Voting at the Oscars

The North East Lincolnshire Carers Centre Part of  The George Hardwick Foundation supports over 1100 Carers in North East Lincolnshire.

Carers provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner.  They give so much to society, yet as a consequence of caring, many people experience ill health, financial difficulties and discrimination.

The George Hardwick Foundation provides specialist one-to-one advice and information, help claiming benefits / accessing grants, help with form filling, guidence about aids and adaptations, counselling, bereavement support, holistic therapies… and much more.

Our flagship centre in North East Lincolnshire is based in Grimsby Town Centre.  We work in partnership with North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus and North East Lincolnshire Council to deliver and develop all of the services we offer for carers. 

Specialist one-to-one advice and information

Counselling

Bereavement support

Relaxational Therapies

Educational Courses

Group Support

… and much more!

If you would like more information about support available and how to get it please contact us..

The North East Lincolnshire Carers Centre

154-160 Victoria Street, Grimsby, DN31 1NX

Contact us on 0845 3025525

nelincs@georgehardwickfoundation.org

www.georgehardwickfoundation.org

Several routes will be subject to road closures to allow the damaged surfacing to be removed and replaced with new material.

The provisional programme for the works is:

• A16 Peaks Parkway, between Welhome Road and Weelsby Road, March 7 to 12 from 7pm to 7am.
• A16 Peaks Parkway, between Louth Road roundabout and Low Farm roundabout, March 13 to 18 from 7pm to 7am.
• Hewitts Avenue, from Peaks Lane, including Peaks Lane junction, to 600m east of Peaks Lane, March 19 to 24 from 7pm to 7am.
• Victor Street/Oxford Street junction, March 20 to 22 from 7pm to 7am.
• Victor Street/Wellington Street junction, March 20 to 22 from 7pm to 7am. Second Avenue, between Laceby Road and Sutcliffe Avenue, March 23 to 25 from 8am to 5pm.
• Sutcliffe Avenue, between numbers 148 and 168, including the junctions of Walmsgate and Winchester Avenue, March 23 to 25 from 8am to 5pm.

Dates may be subject to change following consultation with the contractor.

The works are being managed on behalf of the council by Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, who would like to apologise in advance for any disruption that may be caused during these vital maintenance works.

Annette Brooke, Liberal DemocratMP for Mid Dorset and North Poole has launched a campaign to save our cheque following the decision by the banks to abolish the cheque by 2018.

Many national organisations have joined the campaign including Age UK, Which?, RNIB And The Federation of Small Businesses. All have grave concerns that the banks decision will hurt the most vulnerable, charities and many small businesses who rely on cheques.

Annette Brooke MP said

“It is disgusting that a group with such vested interests in getting rid of cheques should be entrusted with this decision. I hope this petition will force the bank’s to listen to the very serious concerns that many people have about this decision”.

The petition reads as folows:

I/we, the undersigned, petition the Prime Minister to save our cheque by reminding the banks of their duty to serve the customer – and not vice versa The abolition of cheques, without an adequate alternative, will cause an inconvenience for small businesses, the charitable sector and many of the most vulnerable people in Britain.

You can join the campaign to save our cheque by signing the petition at http://ow.ly/44CgG

Safer Roads Humber, the region’s road safety partnership, has today published its annual report for the 2009-2010 financial year. 

The partnership has now been operating safety cameras for seven years and the annual report gives details of the partnership’s performance at core safety camera sites. 

Figures from the report show that, in the seven years since safety camera enforcement began, there has been a 58% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured at the core safety camera sites.  In real terms there are 347 people alive and well today that would have been killed or seriously injured if safety cameras had not been introduced. 

In addition there has been a 42% reduction in injury crashes at core safety camera sites which is the equivalent of 892 fewer injury crashes at safety camera sites. 

Government research shows that every person seriously injured costs society £189,200.  This is the cost to the emergency services, health services, loss of earnings and emotional costs to the person, family and friends.  In financial terms, this equates to a saving to society of more than £65 million since the partnership began.

 Mick Harris, Safer Roads Humber partnership manager, said:

“We have now been operating safety cameras at core locations for seven years.  We are really pleased that reductions in casualties and collisions have been maintained over this time. However, there is still a minority of drivers who continue to speed at our sites and therefore we will continue to enforce the speed limit.” 

“We are also pleased that the partnership was able to expand its remit in 2007 following a change in how it is funded. Safety camera enforcement is just one activity for the partnership.  We now administrate speed awareness courses and undertake other enforcement activities to reduce the number of casualties caused by hazardous road-use such as drink driving or using mobile phones behind the wheel.   We also work closely with vulnerable groups such as young people and motorcyclists to reduce their casualty risk.” 

Safer Roads Humber’s annual report gives summary details of the overall performance of core safety cameras for the region which includes casualty, collision, speed, detections and financial information.  The accompanying spread sheet gives a detailed history of each individual core safety camera site.  It can be found on the partnership website at www.saferroadshumber.com just click on to the ‘further information’ section and then ‘reports and documents’.

The Treasury have admitted a Yes vote will have no bearing on the departmental spending review and that the cost of the next election is fixed at £120 million – regardless of whether it is run using the Alternative Vote or First Past the Post.

The Treasury join a list of leading election experts, other Whitehall departments, the Electoral Commission, and Channel 4 FactCheck in exposing the shameful scaremongering at the heart of the No camp’s case on cost.

Criticism has come from all quarters. Australia’s foremost election commentator, ABC’s Antony Green has commented

“They need to get their facts right about Australia and AV. The point is you get you get better representation. That’s what AV is all about.”

 The Electoral Commission has confirmed that the UK has no plans to introduce counting machines and they aren’t an issue in this referendum.  And when asked by the Financial Times on a ring round of all government departments if a Yes vote would lead to bigger cuts a bemused Health spokesperson replied. “No. Of course not.”

Channel 4 FactCheck has branded the No campaign’s claim as “fiction“, concluding:

“With George Osborne’s spending cuts only just beginning to bite, and with the Office for National Statistics revising its GDP estimate down again today, the public don’t need any more scares. No to AV needs to keep the fight for voters clean.” 

The No to AV campaign invented a multi-million pound price tag in place of an argument. After this latest blow from the Treasury the question is how long will they persist in flogging a dead horse?

The case for No vote rests on fake figures and fake voting machines. The case on cost is now bankrupt.

The news comes as over 15,000 people have now co-signed a letter to the Advertising Standards Authority after a series of shocking ads started appearing in local newspapers – featuring the No’s bogus numbers alongside images of sick children.

It’s time to bring the debate back to reality – clearly not a place the No camp wish to be. Enough with the scaremongering, it’s time they offered a real reason for sticking with First Past the Post.

Last month Mark Pack spoke at an event organised by the University College London’s Constitution Unit on how the Liberal Democrats ended up in coalition with the Conservatives and the progress of the coalition so far.  You can watch the videobelow :

The Liberal Democrats and the Coalition – Mark Pack from Department of Political Science on Vimeo.