Liberal Democrats at Surrey County Council have called for improvements in the way the County Council plans and prepares its budget. They criticised the Conservative administration for its unrealistic and short-term approach to budget setting, which has resulted in some council services underspending - whilst others overspend their budgets, year after year.
The Liberal Democrats have gained seats in Reigate, Spelthorne, Tandridge and Woking, despite losses in Godalming and Guildford. The new Lib Dem group will number 13 and the Lib Dems will remain the main opposition party on Surrey County Council.
"Support the Lib Dems next Thursday", says The Observer. As well as its Editorial, an article by Andrew Rawnsley praises Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to the elections for the European Parliament and the County Council as the one party that has consistently advocated Constitutional Reform and the one that has come out of the expenses scandal much less sleazed than either Labour or the Tories.
Over the last four years, the Tories running Surrey County Council have provided poor services for residents, wasted millions of pounds of Council Taxpayers money and produced continual spin claiming that the council is "outstanding" when plainly it is not. The outcome of this sorry state of affairs is the demotion of the Council by the Audit Commission from a 4 Star council in 2005 to a 1 Star council in 2008.
Intriguing information about Europe - and what it does for us.
Reacting to the Government's announcement that all Gurkha veterans with four years' service would be allowed to move to the UK, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said he was "absolutely thrilled". The announcement follows a key House of Commons vote led by the Liberal Democrats that the Government lost. It outlined rules that will allow Gurkhas who retired before 1997 with four years service to settle here with their immediate families.
