Lib Dem election candidate defects to Labour

THE Liberal Democrats’ 2010 general election candidate for Meriden has defected to Labour, claiming his old party has ‘sold out’.

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Council set for Lib-Lab coalition

THE Liberal Democrats and Labour are set to run Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council – to the fury of the Conservative administration.

The two are to looking to pool their 26 councillors, the minimum needed for a majority administration after the Tories lost seats at an election this month.

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Tories await 'kingmaker' Lib Dems over council future

THE balance of power at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is still uncertain this afternoon – with ‘kingmaker’ Liberal Democrats yet to decide whether they are to back another party for a coalition.

The Conservative Party lost its majority at local elections last Thursday – but say they have yet to have ‘substantial’ discussions with the Lib Dems or Labour.

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Labour hopeful's tactical voting plea

A LABOUR election hopeful has urged Liberal Democrats to back him if they want to defeat the Conservatives in Meriden.

Ed Williams spoke after a furore over Labour calls for backing from Lib Dems.

Yesterday, The Daily Mirror newspaper called for Labour to back the Lib Dems in Solihull where incumbent Lib Dem Lorely Burt is defending a 279 majority.

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Labour hopeful: manifesto 'restores trust'

MERIDEN Labour candidate Ed Williams says the party’s manifesto pledges to “restore trust in politics”.

He said: “This is a serious and progressive Manifesto, offering a truly positive and inclusive view of the future, that builds on our achievements since 1997.”

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Labour candidate: we 'blunted' recession

THE recession was less severe because of the actions of the Labour Government, the party’s Meriden election hopeful has said.

Ed Williams pointed to the ‘Government’s commitment to investment’.

He said: “Along with the resilience of the British people, the impact of the recession has been blunted and shortened.

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MP's Commons row over 'garden grabbing'

MERIDEN MP Caroline Spelman clashed with a Government minister in the Commons, accusing him of being ‘in denial’ over ‘garden grabbing’ developments.

She spoke out after a major study into the issue concluded it is not a problem throughout the UK and there has not been a major increase in developments.

She said communities minister John Healey is ‘simply in denial about how his policies give a green light for garden grabbing’.

He replied: “The research and the facts do not bear out her assertion or her concerns.

“This is a problem in some areas, but they are clearly in the minority.

“It is also clear, as the report confirms, that councils have the powers to deal with such matters where they present a problem for neighbours and are unwelcome in the local area.”

Yet Mrs Spelman said: “Why cannot Ministers just admit that the blight of garden grabbing is the fault of this Labour Government?

“The Government, not councils, made gardens count as brown field for planning purposes.

“Is it not time for change-time councils had proper powers to protect neighbourhoods from inappropriate developments?”

Yet Mr Healey said Mrs Spelman is ‘wrong again’ and the brown field ruling was set under Conservative governments in the 1980s and 1990s.

He said: “The problem, I am afraid to say, is councils that have the powers but will not accept the responsibility of taking the decisions to protect local people and defending those decisions on appeal.”

He said there needed to be ‘proper’ plans established by councils which would make it easier to fight developers.

He said: “The hon. Lady would do better to address her concerns to her own councils, which are falling far short of what local residents expect of them.”

Solihull Conservatives this month cited a plan to knock down two semi-detached houses for 10 flats as an example of ‘garden grabbing’.

Tory-run Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council contributed to the report.

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MP: 'complicated' rules hit OAPs in cold

ABOUT 5,000 Solihull pensioners are not getting cash support for the cold weather because of ‘complicated’ rules, the borough’s MP has said.

Lorely Burt MP said 5,025 OAPs on low incomes were not getting Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week.

In a press release, she said: “It is a scandal that the least well-off pensioners across the country are missing out on these payments, worth an estimated £42.5m. “

“Fuel prices are at an all time high, making Cold Weather Payments all the more important to people already struggling on a poverty pension.”

She said Labour had “failed pensioners by creating a complicated system that makes it difficult for them to get the help they desperately need”.

She said: “The Government should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out and get them this much needed extra cash.”

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Knowle visit for Labour hopeful

LABOUR'S election hopeful for Meriden, Ed Williams, visited Knowle to talk to shoppers about climate change. Click here for more.

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Tory plans "will save maternity unit"

THE Conservatives’ policy on maternity care makes the case for keeping birthing services at Solihull Hospital, its election hopeful said after a major speech by the party’s health boss.

Maggie Throup, prospective parliamentary candidate for Solihull, spoke after shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley addressed the Royal College of Midwives.

He has previously supported her opposition, see right, to plans that could see doctor-led births removed from Solihull Hospital.

Mrs Throup said in a statement: “Mr Lansley recognises the importance of smaller maternity units such as Solihull and highlights that such units tend to perform better than larger units.

“Local patient choice and access must remain the main criterion and a Conservative Government will enable maternity services to meet quality standards through a maternity services budget.

“Conservative policies back our campaign to keep full maternity services here in Solihull.”

In his speech, Mr Lansley said: “These plans will transform care for new mothers, from a service that is currently overstretched and patchy to one where every family gets the care and support that it needs.

“Labour haven’t delivered on their promises to give women real choice, to provide proper care during pregnancy and following birth, or to help those families that are most isolated and vulnerable. Our reforms will make these things a reality.

“They will give every woman world-class care and help our maternity services play a much bigger part in strengthening our families and communities.”

Views are being sought by Solihull NHS Care Trust on the future of maternity services.

Five options are put forward including expanding the hospital’s services, removing doctor-led births and removing all birthing services.

It says staffing levels are too low for the current system to remain. This could not be solved with “unlimited” money, it claims, as there are not enough trained doctors and nurses.

Following the speech, RCM general secretary Cathy Warwick, RCM, general secretary, said the Tory’s plans reflect a “general consensus” but would need cash.

Asking for more detail, she said: “The Conservatives are putting forward a number of interesting proposals, but good words and good intent are one thing, and real and positive action is another.

“We want promises made to become promises delivered and the improvements we have seen so far in maternity services continuing.”

The NHS Confederation, which represents managers, said it welcomed the proposals which would “give greater support to mothers to-be”.

MP and rival attack Labour over economy

LIBERAL Democrat Solihull MP Lorely Burt and the Conservative who wants to take her seat have attacked the Government’s economic record.

In two separate statements Mrs Burt and Conservative hopeful Maggie Throup hit out at Labour over jobs and benefits.

The Lib Dem – who snatched the seat from Tory hands in 2005 – said plans to remove a £15 a week benefit for renting a cheaper home would hit low income residents.

She said hundreds would be hit in the borough: “Cutting this scheme will save very little money, if any at all, but will make a huge difference to local families' budgets.

“This is irresponsible behaviour from Labour during a recession, and Gordon Brown has once again abandoned the people who need the most help.”

And she said of youth unemployment: “The Government need to do more to keep young people within reach of the job market by helping them to improve their skills and gain work experience.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Throup said Shadow Chancellor George Osborne had made clear why her party should be in power when he addressed the Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce.

Her statement said: “With six people for every one vacancy in Solihull, we have shown that the Conservatives have practical policies to get Britain out of recession and start on the road to recovery.”

She said: “The Conservatives are committed to tackling the increasing problem of youth unemployment; in Solihull these proposals would help young people by creating new apprenticeships as well as additional university places.”

MP vows to cut council tax

MERIDEN MP Caroline Spelman said the Conservatives will fight to get council tax “back down to a reasonable level”.

She said Labour had got councils to charge residents for services on top of their yearly council tax bill.

In a blog she wrote: “What Labour Ministers don’t get is that most people think, quite reasonably, that their hefty council tax bills should cover the cost of services.

“That’s the reason councils are reluctant to press ahead with charging, and when they do it is because funding and direction from the centre leaves them with little option.”

The MP said the average family in England spends £1,190 over and above their council tax for services such as council-run car parks.

Mrs Spelman said the extra charges are “the latest mechanism Labour ministers are deploying to rinse more cash from the pockets of hard-pressed taxpayers”.

This year, the average band D property pays £1,292.82 to Tory-controlled Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and for police and fire services.

This was a 4.35 per cent increase on the previous year, an extra £53.91.

Labour is planning a re-evaluation which “will drive bills up further and it is going to make councils charge for more and more services” she claimed.

The council tax is based on the value of homes but these are still set at much lower 1991 levels. Revaluation was postponed in 2005 until after the next election.

Mrs Spelman wrote: “It’s clear people have simply had enough of paying more and getting less under Labour.

“The priority for a Conservative government is to get council tax back down to a reasonable level and safeguard the services people rightly expect from the town halls.”