Spelthorne Liberal Democrats

The latest edition of the Sunbury Common Focus is hitting the streets now and includes articles on:

• How local residents make sure that developers don't always win
• Tories in Central government are taking your local Council tax out of Spelthorne
• Protecting local parks
• Surrey County Council threat to Children's centre
• Small changes that have improved a Sunbury shopping parade

The latest edition of the Upper Halliford and Sunbury West Focus has been released and includes articles on:

• Results of a local survey on local issues
• Update on the so-called Eco Park development at Charlton
• Cedar's Rec improvements
• Campaign to make sure School Walk right of way is preserved

Link to latest Focus

Philip Hammond tried to strike an upbeat note in his budget, declaring "austerity is over". Cossetted inside Westminster for the afternoon, he hid away from the storm clouds gathering over our economy.

Brexit is making the situation worse.

In truth, austerity cannot be brought to an end without difficult decisions involving an increase in taxation. Excluding the Government's promises on the NHS, maintaining real spending on public services will require an additional £19bn in extra tax and borrowing. And Brexit itself is making the situation worse.

Dear Resident,

We are writing as a number of residents in the area have been concerned with upcoming plans for the land at the end of School Walk next to the Scout hut and Hazelwood. A developer has earmarked the land for future use, but this risks the future of the right of way pedestrian path that has been used for many years.

In July 2016, in the aftermath of the referendum, the Liberal Democrats were a lone voice calling for a final say on whatever deal was done on Brexit.

Today, an estimated 700,000 people marched on the streets of London, calling for a people's vote on Brexit.

That makes it the biggest protest since the Iraq War.

Dear Resident,
I have resided in the ward since 1985 and care deeply about the area and community I live in.
Having fought the Surrey County Election in both 2016 and 2017, many issues were raised with me that you felt needed acting upon. I was able to bring pressure to bear and continue to highlight and pursue many of the issues raised.
Your filling in this survey will help us to ensure that we continue to address and focus on the issues that matter to you and your families. Please leave blank anything you are not comfortable answering.
Thank you for your help and time in completing the survey.
Your opinion is very much valued by us and I look forward to being in touch and speaking to you all over the coming months.
Regards,

The party expects these reforms to raise an additional £15 billion per year, though this is likely to grow as the rate of wealth passed down increases in the coming years.

Liberal Democrat members will debate and vote on the proposals at the party's Autumn Conference in Brighton next week.

Proposals include:

The Liberal Democrats are opposing Government proposals to:

• criminalise "reckless" speech,
• make it a crime just to travel to certain places,
• criminalise what you read on the internet,
• give police more power to hold innocent people's DNA, and
• allow officers to detain people at airports without suspicion.

The report - "Taxing Land, Not Investment" - calls for the abolition of business rates and its replacement with a tax on land values, the Commercial Landowner Levy (CLL). The levy would remove buildings and machinery from calculations and tax only the land value of commercial sites, boosting investment and cutting taxes for businesses in nine out of ten English local authorities.

Spelthorne Liberal Democrats are delighted to see that investment is finally being made to provide high quality leisure facilities in the Borough. However, we are very concerned by the current plans proposed by Conservative run Spelthorne Borough Council, to build a new leisure centre on the Staines Park site.