North West

Cheshire, Ainsley Arnold

Ainsley joined Cheshire Police Authority in 2009 and was elected Vice Chairman in 2010.

He was Liberal Democrat Leader on Cheshire East Council since the inaugural elections in 2008. Ainsley was actively involved with all aspects of the transformation of policing and transformation of business initiatives whilst at the Police Authority, so he is well aware of the work already undertaken and the further measures needed to address the £35 million shortfall in funding. With police budgets being drastically reduced, more efficient and smarter ways of managing the business of policing need to be continually explored to maintain frontline policing, and all aspects of the service currently provided.

Ainsley says:

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said:

"I am delighted that Martin will be heading our 2013 local election campaign.

"With Martin's wealth of local government and campaigning experience, I know he will do an excellent job.

"I look forward to working with him to deliver the results our hard-working councillors and activists deserve."

Commenting further, Martin Horwood said:

"I'm honoured and a little daunted to be asked to take on this role. It's no secret that we have taken some hits at local level since the Coalition began.

"I know from my own experience in Cheltenham - and from colleagues across the country - that where we fight with confidence and determination, we can win.

"I want May 2013 to be a turning point."

The video will be broadcast nationally on Monday evening [24 September]. An email has been sent to all party members to give them a preview of the broadcast ahead of the party's Autumn Conference, which starts this weekend.

I'd like to take this opportunity to put a few things straight. When I meet people around the country, it's obvious that many of you have strong - and pretty mixed - reactions to some of the things Liberal Democrats have done in government.

Many of you tell me you're glad that at a time of real economic uncertainty, we put aside our political differences to provide our country with stable leadership. But, I also meet people who are disappointed and angry that we couldn't keep all our promises - above all our promise not to raise tuition fees.

To those people, I say this: we made a promise before the election that we would vote against any rise in fees under any circumstances. But that was a mistake. It was a pledge made with the best of intentions - but we shouldn't have made a promise we weren't absolutely sure we could deliver.

I shouldn't have committed to a policy that was so expensive when there was no money around. Not least when the most likely way we'd end up in Government was in coalition with Labour or the Conservatives, who were both committed to put fees up. I know that we fought to get the best policy we could in those circumstances.

But I also realise that isn't the point. There's no easy way to say this: we made a pledge,
we didn't stick to it - and for that I am sorry.

When you've made a mistake you should apologise. But more importantly - most important of all - you've got to learn from your mistakes. And that's what we will do. I will never again make a pledge unless as a party we are absolutely clear about how we can keep it.

I accept that won't be enough for everyone. But I owe it to you to be up front about it. And I don't believe it should cast a shadow over everything else the Liberal Democrats are achieving in government.

When we're wrong we hold our hands up. But when we're right we hold our heads up too. We were right to leave the comfort of opposition to face the realities of government. And I know we are fighting for the right things, day in, day out, too: rebuilding our economy to make it strong; changing the tax system to make it fair; defending the vulnerable in these tough times.

That's what my party believes in. That's what I believe in. And, if we've lost your trust, that's how I hope we can start to win it back.

Cable sets out industrial strategy

A new government backed business bank was announced on Tuesday by Vince Cable as he set out a long term vision to keep UK industry as a world leader.

The new bank will work through alternative providers to offer co-investment and guarantees, with the focus on both regional and sectoral support. The bank will improve access to finance and help all businesses in expanding their operations, and creating growth.

Access to finance was at centre of the Business Secretary's vision, which looks at where the UK has a competitive advantage now, and where it can build on that in the next 20 years.

Vince is committed to a long term, strategic partnership between government and industry, that will give businesses clarity about where the government will be concentrating its efforts.

Speaking at Imperial College, London, Vince said:

"The excellent Liberal Democrat team in Cabinet is remaining unchanged and I am pleased to welcome back David Laws to government along with Jo Swinson, Jenny Randerson, Don Foster and Tom Brake. I know they will all do a fantastic job in their new roles promoting of Liberal Democrat policies and principles in government."

Clegg visit boosts confidence in North East of England

The North East Region was invigorated by a full day's visit to Newcastle by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg last week.

Following a visit to Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd, one of the world's leading manufacturers of remote intervention equipment, Nick spent the day at three regional events held in the Life Science Centre. The huge Centre holds exhibitions, events, theatre shows and contains the biggest planetarium in the North of England.

Nick is seen above with Life Centre Chief Executive Linda Conlon watching youngsters being inspired at the venue. As well as the stunning planetarium, the changing programme currently includes: the Curiosity Zone - a 100 per cent hands-on exhibition which encourages children to think creatively and act like a scientist; Science Explainers doing demonstrations in the Science Theatre; a 4D Motion Ride (minimum height requirement: 1.2m/4ft) and a Young Explorers' Zone for the smallest visitors.

In the evening Nick was warmly welcomed at an informal reception with party members (below left). They particularly appreciated that, in the tight schedule, he managed to have a few words with everyone before attending the Town Hall Q & A session organised with Metro Radio. Education, the economy and regional pay were some of the issues raised in a lively hour-long session.

Nick then joined 40 guests for a fund-raising business lunch and another Q & A session where a sense of growing confidence was expressed by a number of business leaders who welcomed Deputy Prime Minister's commitment to the region's future.

"It was a really excellent day for all of us; an all-round team effort," said Regional Chair, Ian Jones. "And I've had loads of texts for membership forms! Thank you Nick."

Commenting, Julian Huppert said:

"Crimestoppers clearly agree with UK police and security chiefs that when crime crosses borders, crime fighting must too.

"If some Conservatives get their way, this project is doomed. By denying our law enforcement authorities access to European Arrest Warrants and other cross-border cooperation, they will let hundreds of the UK's most wanted criminals escape British justice.

"Instead of serving their sentences, some of our most-wanted paedophiles, gangsters and other criminals would be able to enjoy the beaches of Cyrpus and other countries while the police fight a lengthy battle for their extradition.

"The European Arrest Warrant is by no means perfect but rather than working to improve it, Conservatives want to scrap this and other essential international crime measures altogether.

"This would make it much harder for the UK to fight against serious organised cross-border crime. Lord Ashcroft set up Crimestoppers UK so perhaps it is time he explained this to members of his own party."

The new programme includes measures to build new affordable homes, freedom for homeowners to renovate and extend, more help for first time buyers, and greater freedom and security for developers.

Nick Clegg said:

"At the moment there are hundreds of sites where nothing's happening, nothing is being built, and not a single person is being employed. We need to do all we can to ensure these empty sites become places buzzing with activity where people are being employed and the homes are being built.

"We're removing some of the bureaucracy and hassle surrounding construction and get house builders to put shovels in the ground.

"And importantly, the Liberal Democrats are ensuring that the Government will spend an extra £300m in order to build up to 15,000 affordable homes.

"This is about helping homeowners, helping those people aspiring to own their own home, dealing with the housing crisis and importantly giving help to house builders so they can create jobs and get Britain building again."

The proposals, outlined in housing policy paper Decent Homes for All, would see up to 300,000 homes being built annually and provide greater powers for tenants and local councils.

The proposals include:

• Building up to 300,000 new houses by supporting investment and giving local authorities and social landlords more freedom to build
• Increasing protection for private tenants by promoting longer tenancies and cracking down on rogue landlords
• Giving local authorities more power to control second homes and bring empty homes back into use.

Very wealthy must pay more tax

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg put down a firm marker to the Conservative Opposition in the Coalition this week, proposing that the wealthy should shoulder a greater burden of the economic pain in this time of "economic war".

In a wide-ranging interview with Nick Watt in Wednesday's Guardian he said: