Campaigners lobby Minister to keep people ‘On the Buses!’

Michael Mullaney with 'Olive'

 

A Hinckley and Bosworth borough councillor was amongst a group of bus campaigners who travelled to London by vintage bus to lobby the government about cuts to local bus services.

 

Cllr Michael Mullaney (Lib Dem. Hinckley Trinity) was amongst the campaigners on the bus organised by actress Anna Karen, better known as “Olive” from “On the Buses”. Terry Kirby chairman of Leicestershire Campaign for better Transport and Barwell parish councillor (Lib Dem St Mary’s ward) was also on board.

 

They met Transport Minister, Norman Baker, to express their concerns.

 

Michael Mullaney said “It was great that Anna Karen, a British comedy icon as “Olive” was prepared to organise this event and promote this important cause.

 

“It gave me the opportunity to raise the cutbacks to the 153 bus service that runs through many of the villages in Hinckley and Bosworth.

 

“The County Council is considering cutting back half a million pounds from the buses budget for each of the three years from 2012.This would reduce the budget by about a third and could lead to many more bus services in the county being lost.

“I hope the government listens to the concerns we raised in London. The government believes the environment is a priority, to cut back on buses will force many bus users who drive back into their cars. The government also want to promote social inclusion. To allow bus services to be cut, particularly in rural areas, could leave many people who don’t drive, particularly elderly and disabled people unable to lead full lives.”

 

The programme will be broadcast on BBC One’s “Inside Out” programme in October.

Local Councillors welcome report on buses

Local Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed a report, published today, which calls for action to be taken to protect bus services, particularly in rural areas and for local people to be consulted more fully when there are plans to cut bus services.

The report, issued by the Transport Select Committee of MPs, states that many elderly, young and disabled people in rural areas are losing out because of cutbacks to bus services. Here in Hinckley and Bosworth Cllr Bill Crooks and Cllr Michael Mullaney have been campaigning against cutbacks to local buses. Recently they sent in a petition of more than a 1000 names asking for cutbacks to the 153 bus service to be reversed. The service covers, among other places, Market Bosworth, Barlestone, Osbaston, Newbold Verdon and Desford. The petition is to be considered by the County Council’s Scrutiny Commission on the 7th September.

Cllr Bill Crooks Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs Spokesman said “I’m glad the MPs have recognised the problem of buses being cutback in rural areas. I hope that Leicestershire County Council and the bus services can reach some agreement to maintain buses through rural parts of Hinckley and Bosworth.”

Cllr Michael Mullaney, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth added “The cutbacks to the 153 service means that many villages no longer have a Sunday bus service.This is bad news for people who work on Sundays and don’t drive, particularly many young people.

“Buses affected by recent cutbacks include the Cresswell 7 service, which is the only bus service for many villages in the west of Hinckley and Bosworth like Witherley, Fenny Drayton and Ratcliffe Culey. “I hope the County Council will have a rethink and will avoid future cuts to local bus services.”

The Transport Select Committee report can be read online at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/750/75002.htm

 

(11/08/’11)

Huge support for bus campaign

Local Councillors with petitions

Over a 1000 people living in Hinckley and Bosworth have signed a petition demanding better bus services through their villages.

People in Barlestone, Market Bosworth, Newbold Verdon, Desford and Osbaston have signed a petition opposing recent cutbacks to their bus services.

The petition, run by Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs Spokesman Cllr Bill Crooks and the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth, Cllr Michael Mullaney, calls for improvements to the 153 bus service.

This follows a decision by the bus companies earlier this year to axe the number 152 Leicester to Coalville bus service and to reduce the 153 bus service that runs from Leicester through the affected villages.

Cllr Bill Crooks said “The changes to the bus services have really made life difficult for many people in these villages. There are now no Sunday services running through Barlestone, Osbaston, Newbold, Desford and Market Bosworth. The evening services have also been cutback.

“The changes have made it particularly difficult for people who work in other villages but don’t drive. This is especially the case for young people quite a few of whom have Sunday jobs outside the villages they live in, now they don’t have buses to take them to work.”

Cllr Michael Mullaney said “The huge response to this petition shows there is a real demand from local people for improvements to the bus services through their villages.

“We’ve sent the petitions into Leicestershire County Council. We hope they will listen to the more than 1,000 people who have signed it and work to ensure that the bus companies can restore to these villages the bus service local residents used to have and still need.”

(01/08/’11)

Campaigners celebrate cheque success!

Local Lib Dems celebrate cheque campaign victory!

Local campaigners in Hinckley and Bosworth are celebrating news that cheques are to be saved.

The Payment Council, on behalf of the big banks, had announced the abolition of cheques by 2018.

However, massive protests against the moves have forced a rethink and cheques will now be kept.

Cllr Michael Mullaney, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Bosworth welcomes the news “This is a great win for people power.

“3,000 people in Hinckley and Bosworth signed the petition to save cheques. Many more people from across the country also backed the campaign.

 ”Public pressure has forced the banks to listen and cheques will now be saved.

“This is good news for everyone who uses cheques. In particular, small businesses, local community groups and pensioners and disabled people who would have been particularly badly hit if cheques had been scrapped.”

(13/07/’11)

Fall in jobseeker numbers welcomed

 

Fall in jobseekers welcomed

Local Liberal Democrats have welcomed a fall of over a fifth (22.2%)  in the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in Hinckley and Bosworth.

Official figures show that between December 2009 and December 2010 there were 421 fewer people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in the Bosworth constituency.

Bosworth Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner, Michael Mullaney, said “This is really positive news. I am delighted that hundreds of people in Bosworth are finding work.

“Nationally we are going through really tough economic times. Hopefully this fall in the number of people claiming jobless benefits shows that the difficult decisions being taken by the government to put the economy right are starting to produce results.”

 Deputy leader of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Cllr David Bill added “There’s more good news in the pipeline. If all goes according to plan there should be 5,000 new jobs over the next few years in the Hinckley area. This includes the new developments at MIRA, the bus station, the Greenfields and several other schemes that will come to fruition.

 ”In addition the Lib Dem council has built into the planning conditions of the new developments that preference should be given to local people when it comes to employing people”.

Local Liberal Democrats launch campaign to ‘save the cheque’

Cheque campaign

Liberal Democrats in Hinckley and Bosworth have backed a campaign to “Save the Cheque”.
 
This follows the decision by the banks to abolish the cheque by 2018.

 

Local Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners are running a petition calling on the banks to drop their plans to axe cheques.
 
Michael Mullaney, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Hinckley and Bosworth said, “We have set up a petition for people to sign opposing the banks plans to scrap the cheque.

“Many national organisations are opposed to the scrapping of cheques. These include Age UK, Which?, RNIB And The Federation of Small Businesses. All have concerns that the banks’decision will hurt the most vulnerable, charities and many small businesses who rely on cheques.”

You can sign the petition to save the cheque online at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/savethechequebook

In December 2009 the Payment Council, a group made up of the 28 big banks and financial companies announced plans to phase out the cheque.

Mullaney: Coalition Government can mean end of Thatcherism

Speaking to yesterday’s Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham Michael Mullaney welcomed the big Liberal Democrat input into the new government’s economic policy and said that it could finally mean the end of Thatcherism.

Michael Mullaney said to the conference “Many people, including myself, were worried during the election about the return of a Conservative government, that it would mean massive cuts to public services and a return to mass unemployment as happened under previous Tory governments during a recession.

“But we don’t need to fear this now. For who would have thought that the Liberal Democrats could force the Conservatives to drop their plans to cut taxes for millionaires and instead cut taxes for people on middle and low incomes taking many of the lowest paid workers out of tax altogether?

“Who would have thought that we could force the Conservatives to invest billions of pounds into early year’s state education to give every child, whatever their background, a fair start in life?

“Who would have thought we could get the Conservatives to accept the need for job creation programmes to deal with unemployment?

“We have heard a lot in recent days about the end of New Labour. Well maybe we are witnessing the end of an even worse ideology; Thatcherism.

“Liberal Democrats have got the Tories to accept the need for investment in education, taking action to combat unemployment and cutting taxes for people on middle and low incomes.

“The Liberal Democrats have forced the Conservatives onto the middle ground and we must keep them there.

“With this agreement and the likelihood of a change to a fairer voting system it looks as if we may have finally consigned Thatcherism to the dustbin of history where it belongs. If that is the outcome of this coalition it shall have been worth it”.

Michael gets best Liberal vote in Bosworth since 1930′s!

In an historic election result, the Lib Dems and Michal Mullaney achieved an amazing result,taking the party from third to second place and ensuring Bosworth is now a Lib Dem/Tory marginal.

Here’s the Bosworth result in full:

Conservative 23,132 42.6% (No Change)
Liberal Democrat 18,100 33.3% (+11.7%)
Labour 8,674  16.0% (-15.9%)
BNP 2,458 4.5%
UKIP  1,098 2%
English Democrat 615 1.1%
Independent 197 0.4%

Here’s some more impressive stats from the night:

* Our 18,100 votes were the highest vote for the Liberal Democrats in the whole East Midlands region
* We cut the Tory lead over us in half from 10,000 to 5,000
* The swing of 5.9% from Conservative to Lib Dem was the 4th highest in Britain in a Conservative held seat
* The rise in the Lib Dem vote of +11.7% was the 9th highest out of the 631 seats in Britain
* We did a great squeeze on the Labour vote. The drop in the Labour vote -15.9% was the 17th biggest drop in the Labour vote out of 631 seats in Britain.

Westfield Community Centre cuts…Michael Mullaney speaks out!

Click here to see Michael Mullaney, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Hinckley and Bosworth, speaks out against the Conservative County Council’s massive cut backs, including cuts to the Westfield Community Centre.

Odds slashed on a Lib Dem victory in Bosworth!

The odds on a Lib Dem victory in Hinckley and Bosworth at the General Election have been slashed, from 50/1 at the start of the campaign to 10/1!

This shows more and more people are backing Lib Dem candidate Michael Mullaney to be the next MP for the area.

Michael says, “It looks like Ladbrokes have realised how strong the desire for change is in Bosworth. People want a new MP who will campaign on the local issues people are concerned about.”