ED BALLS, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, has said: “I will target pensions to cut welfare bill” “Pensioners also had to share the pain as Britains struggled to get its economy back on track”, said Mr Balls. He seems to have contradicted Ed Milliband, Labours leader, who said he will protect the “Triple Lock”. The “Triple Lock” was introduced […]

What a victory! After three weeks of seriously intense campaigning, we’ve done it. Mike Thornton is the new MP for Eastleigh. Waiting for news from the count was nerve-wracking. We knew we’d had a stellar polling day operation and got our voters out: but was it going to be enough? And then Hilary Stephenson, our […]

The following e-petition calls for the re-introduction of RPI as the indexation measure for pensions: Many workers in the Public and Private Sector have contributed to their pensions on the understanding that on retirement these Pensions would be increased each April by the preceding September’s Retail Price Index (RPI) rate. From April 2011 the Government […]

I AM pleased to hear that a legal challenge is to be launched against the coalition Government’s plans for up-rating local government pensions.

THE Department for Transport (DfT) has stated that the West Coast Main Line (WCML) is now twice as busy as when it was last upgraded. That upgrade caused 10 years of disruption for commuters from Northampton to London. Some people who object to High Speed 2, the proposed new high speed rail link to Birmingham […]

PEOPLE CARE PASSIONATELY about the NHS. I do myself. I worked for the NHS many years ago, and never forgot the experience, and one of my daughters is starting her training to become a doctor later this year. As part of a coalition government we are anxious that Conservative attempts to privatise the NHS should […]

THERE ARE local elections for Northampton Borough Council on Thursday 5th May. There is also a Referendum on the voting system used to elect MPs to the House of Commons. You can read independent advice and explanations of these elections here. IF YOU ARE NOT REGISTERED to vote or need a postal vote you can […]

A KEY Lib Dem achievement in the Coalition has been securing the future of Britain’s Post Office network. Business Secretary Vince Cable MP has secured funding of £1.34 billion for Britain’s post offices and a Government commitment that there will be no programme of post office closures under this Coalition. Jill Hope said: “We are […]

WRITING in The Guardian, Jim Steer, director of Greengauge 21, a non-profit making organisation researching high-speed rail says: “HS2 is the most efficient way to tackle a fully foreseeable problem – transport capacity is running out”. “It is better to build from scratch rather than again attempt a disruptive line-of-route-upgrade”. Jill Hope agrees and says: […]

THE COALITION Government has started its consultation on the HS2 line from London to Birmingham. This will be the first link in bringing high speed trains to Manchester, Leeds and eventually Scotland. Opponents argue that the £17bn scheme will be a waste of money and that updating the existing West Coast Main Line (WCML) would […]