Richard Burt

Local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt has responded to the County Council’s Worcester Transport Strategy consultation by saying the process is "deeply flawed" and a "dog’s breakfast".

He has lodged a series of questions under the Freedom of Information Act to find out how much the County Council has spent on the Transport Strategy consultation and the Halcrow study on the North-West Link Road.

"I want to find out just how much taxpayer’s money the County Council has already spent on this road to nowhere," said Mr Burt.

"It’s completely unacceptable to start the consultation looking at dualling the Southern Link Road and then publish plans for a North-West Link Road half way through.

"It smacks of incompetence and frankly, I wonder if leading Conservative councillors really know what they are doing.

"Cllr Derek Prodger is responsible for the strategy and he is on record saying he approves of plans to partially complete the North-West Ring Road to Crown East Roundabout.

"However, this is dependent on a JS Bloor planning application to build 4,000 new houses in the vicinity. Most residents I have spoken to view this application as an act of environmental and community vandalism.

"If completing the link road to Claines is "mission impossible", then why commission the study? If Cllr Prodger doesn’t want to spoil that part of the county, then why should he want to spoil Broadheath and Hallow?"

Mr Burt said he has written supporting plans for the expansion of bus and rail transport.
  

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Dear Editor,

The recent revelations about Lord Ashcroft’s tax status confirm what many of us have suspected for the past ten years – that the undertakings he gave to be domiciled in the UK and pay full UK tax, which he claims to have re-negotiated privately, were not worth the paper they were written on.

The Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party has been less than candid with his own party and the British people, preferring to play cat and mouse over his tax status and betraying the trust of his own party leaders; but not before ploughing £5million donations into marginal seats!

No wonder Cameron or Hague were not too keen to shine a light into a dark corner and press Ashcroft on his tax status.

To quote one well known exponent of the dark arts of politics, there is a familiar "odour" coming from the Conservative Party again.

Many still see them as a club, a pressure group for the privileged, a self-appointed elite that believes it is entitled to rule.

I trust the British electorate will show the Conservatives these seats, which have not been for sale since the days of rotten boroughs, are still not for sale.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Burt

Paul Lewis, Chairman of the Constables’ Central Committee of the Police Federation for England and Wales has praised the Liberal Democrats for their commitment to put 3000 extra police on the street.

In a letter to local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Richard Burt, Mr Lewis said:

"I was pleased to see that the Lib Dems’ Safer Streets manifesto calls for a further 3000 police officers on our streets – it is certainly a step in the right direction and the firmest central commitment yet from a mainstream political party. "

Richard Burt, who has campaigned for more police and more community support officers locally, said he had joined over 70 Liberal Democrat candidates in signing the Federations’ ‘Real’ Policing Pledge, setting out five key pledges:
•    Commit to the office of constable as the bedrock of modern policing
•    Maintain the number of warranted police constables in England and Wales
•    Ensure that all constables are adequately trained to do their jobs
•    Commit to maintain an effective ratio of constables to support staff on community policing teams
•    Honour the PNB (Police Negotiating Board)

"Bobbies on the beat are the bedrock of good policing. Residents in Worcestershire would never forgive any future government that allowed policing numbers to fall in order to save money," said Mr Burt.
NDS 

Local Liberal Democrat  parliamentary  candidate , Richard Burt  has today committed to:

* Promote the interests of Britain’s pub goers
* Champion well-run community pubs
* Support the rebalancing of alcohol taxation to support beer and pubs
* Press for reform of beer tie to deliver a fair deal for consumers
* Support the role of well-run pubs as solutions to alcohol misuse
These commitments are based on a campaign being run by CAMRA, The Campaign for Real Ale which is asking all Prospective Parliamentary Candidates whether they are willing to speak up for Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers. CAMRA’s new Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter sets out a series of options for supporting well-run community pubs, local brewers and consumer rights.

Mike Benner, CAMRA’s Chief Executive welcomed Richard Burt’s support for the Charter, saying:

“We are delighted that Richard Burt and has promised to work to promote the interests of beer drinkers and pub goers. Well-run pubs make a huge contribution to community life, each of which injects £80,000 into their local economy every year.  Amid growing concern over the loss of more than 5 pubs a day, it is now more important than ever to support well-run community pubs, to promote local brewers and to protect the interests of consumers.”

Speaking after signing up to CAMRA’s Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter, Richard Burt said:

“I am proud to be speaking up for community pubs, local brewers and consumers.  Well-run pubs are the bedrock of community life – they are part of the solution to the problem of alcohol misuse and not part of the problem.  They deserve our support.”

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Betting giant, Ladbrokes have suspended betting on a Liberal Democrat win in West Worcestershire after the odds shortened from 7-1 to 4-1 in recent weeks.

Lib Dem candidate, Richard Burt said:

"I must admit that I haven’t managed to get a penny on, but it looks like there has been some heavy betting at what has proved to be very attractive odds.

"When all’s said and done, its the voters’ verdict that counts; but we’ve definitely got some momentum in the campaign to win here."

Local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt has written to Malvern Hills District Council’s Leader, Councillor Philip Grove, calling on him to stop the Council taking ‘cut price’ printing orders that undermine the work of local printing firms.

Mr Burt raised concerns after being contacted by Allan and Sue Smith of Aspect Design in Newtown Road, who estimate that more than 40% of their current business could be affected if the council continue to take in outside work.

Richard Burt said:

"I have taken up the matter with the council because I do not think it is fair for them to use staff and equipment paid for by the taxpayer to undermine local businesses.

"There are at least four small printing firms in Malvern that rely on local trade to survive, and compete on equal terms for business.

"I don’t understand why the council should be touting for printing business when they are set up primarily to serve the needs of the council.

"Local jobs are at stake here, and it would be a tragedy if the council, whose purpose is to promote business enterprise, ended up sending one or more local businesses to the wall through unfair competition.

"If the council has more printing capacity than it needs, then perhaps it should work together with other councils in the area to see if they can save money by merging their printing services.

"This would be far more beneficial than stealing bread and butter work from local printers."

Dear Editor,

Three years ago my party got a hammering at the polls for misjudging the public mood on proposals to close three public toilets across the district of Malvern Hills.

By comparison, the Conservatives’ mismanagement of plans for a 24,500 expansion of housing and the North-west Worcester Ring Road have been bewildering in their incompetence and in their scale and impact on local people.

Throughout a series of stamina-sapping, largely meaningless rubber stamping public consultations, local Conservative councillors and their parliamentary candidate have been in turns hiding from their public responsibility, back tracking and flip-flopping on their views in a desperate attempt to get themselves off a hook of their own making.

In all this, they seem to have been more concerned to try to save their own political skins rather than serve the best interests of the people they were elected to or hope to represent.

I have little doubt that those affected in Malvern, Kempsey, Hallow, Broadheath and many other villages across West Worcestershire will be eager to deliver their verdict through the ballot box once again on May 6th.

Yours sincerely,
Richard Burt
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate
West Worcestershire

Tenbury’s Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Richard Burt , who last year warned local councils that they needed to pull together with other agencies to make any progress on flood defences, said that the town now faces a nervous wait to see if Tenbury would benefit from a bid for the next round of Defra grants to protect individual homes from flooding.

Mr Burt alerted councillors to the £5million Defra fund last September after they missed out on the first round of grants, saying they could not afford to do so this year when the remainder of the money would be allocated through the Environment Agency.

A decision on the bid, which could provide individual grants to protect many of the 130 properties affected in the town, is expected to be announced within the next few weeks by the Environment Agency.

Richard Burt said:

"This could be great news for many individual property owners in Tenbury, but may not cover those who have cellars liable to flooding.

"An application to the Midlands Flood Defence Committee for extra funds from the Midlands Flood Levy could cover any excluded buildings.

"This is the kind of joined-up thinking I have been advocating for so long to get the ball rolling on some flood protection for Tenbury. It’s a shame it took a kick up the backside from the Audit Commission to finally get things moving.

"The longer term goal must still be to get permanent flood defences, but even with a reduced cost of £4.2million for the scheme, there is no prospect of funding under a Labour or Conservative government.

"I have always argued for a National Emergency Plan to protect flood victims, and spoke in favour of a Liberal Democrat Conference motion calling for £1billion to be spent on flood defences for towns like Tenbury.

"Until we get a change of heart in government, the best way forward is to work together to protect as many individual properties in Tenbury as it is possible to do."

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Local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt has made a last minute plea to residents to sign a petition on the Prime Minister’s website calling for public funding to help save the National Flood Forum.

The deadline for the petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/floodfunds  is Sunday, 21st February.

Richard Burt, who has signed the petition said:

"The National Flood Forum is a local charity and is the only organisation giving individual help and support to flood victims across the UK.

Mary Dhonau heads the charity and is well known for the unstinting work she has done locally and nationally to help flood victims. She has the ear of civil servants and government ministers, and has been on constant call to flood action flood groups across the county in their efforts to secure permanent flood defences.

"I have worked very closely with Mary in Upton, Kempsey and Tenbury, so I know what a tremendous contribution she has made to the fight for flood defences in these towns.

"If the National Flood Forum is forced to close through lack of funds this summer it will be a tragedy. There is still much work to do and flood victims will have lost their their most powerful advocate.

"Only 177 people have signed the petition so far, and the National Flood Forum has helped thousands in Worcestershire alone! I would urge all residents to recognise their work and sign the petition, including other candidates and MPs across the county."

National Flood Forum Petition: No 10 Website

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to make funding available for the National Flood Forum to enable them to continue the invaluable work they have been doing to help the nation deal with increased levels of flooding, and the problems associated with climate change. More details

West Worcestershire’s Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt said today the recent selection of a former Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank, Sajid Javid as the Conservative Candidate for Bromsgrove took the total of top Tory candidates from banking and finance to 64, including seven in neighbouring constituencies.

Mr Burt said: "These shocking figures expose the myth that today’s Conservatives are more representative of ordinary working people.

"Instead,we are faced with a very Conservative coup. Having brought the world economy to the brink of collapse, these same bankers now want people to vote their former City chums into Government!

"My own opponent in West Worcestershire has publicly backed big cash bonuses for bankers; and even called for them to be adequately rewarded for assuming management responsibility for failure!

"What hope would we have for a fairer Britain run by these people?"

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