Lib Dems fight to reclaim Yeovil seat

Parliament has today voted to hold a general election, with the public going to the polls on December 12^th.

The Liberal Democrats are the front runners to beat the Conservatives having held the seat until 2015 under David Laws, and previously under former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown who passed away late last year.

Mick Clark will be contesting the seat for the Liberal Democrats. He was born and raised in Yeovil and went to Preston School and Yeovil College before serving in the Royal Air Force and NHS. Mick went on to work with a range of NGOs in some of the world’s most challenging and hostile environments.

Following this, Mick returned to his roots where he dedicated his time to improving opportunities for disadvantaged adults throughout Somerset, helping those furthest from the job market including young offenders and the long-term unemployed.

Mick Clark says:

“Since becoming the Parliamentary Candidate for the Yeovil constituency last year I have worked tirelessly to fight against Conservative cuts to local services. Between them, the Conservative Government and the Conservative County Council have chipped away at our NHS, our local schools, our roads and countless other services.

Elections in the Yeovil Constituency have always been close between the hard-working Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. This election is no different. The Liberal Democrats are fighting to reverse the Conservative cuts to services and will make real investments in our NHS, schools and in fighting climate change.

Local people need an MP who truly represents them, I am not afraid to stand up for my community and ask the difficult questions. Our area needs an MP who will safeguard jobs and public services and work to improve our community – and that is what I will do”.

-ENDS-

Our Fire Service in South Somerset is under threat. Devon and Somerset Fire Authority have announced proposals to remove a fire engine from Yeovil and Martock and reduce the coverage in Chard.

We believe that the cuts are an unnecessary risk to public safety and that carrying them out just to save money is reckless.

Yeovil Fire Station has three fire engines. Removing one would leave us with just two to protect the whole of Yeovil, an area with the second-highest concentration of industry in the whole South West. The town is growing and with more people, there is more risk.

If there are large out of area fires Yeovil often sends two fire engines away from the town potentially leaving us completely unprotected.

Sign our petition and help us to stop the cuts here: http://www.yeovil-libdems.org.uk/firecuts 

Sign the petition here: www.yeovil-libdems.org.uk/st_margarets

Mick Clark, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Yeovil has launched a petition calling on the Somerset CCG and Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to provide funding to ensure that the in-patient unit at St Margaret’s Hospice can remain open. Mick said:

“The closure of the in-patient unit of St Margaret’s Hospice in Yeovil would be a real loss to the town.

“With Yeovil increasing in population and with an aging population, local hospice care is more important than ever.

“It is also a blow to the hard working staff whose jobs are now at risk. St Margaret’s do fantastic work in the community and they should receive the support they need to continue to do so.

“The situation has arisen because of funding issues stemming from the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SOMPAR).

“St Margaret’s was promised a 2.7% uplift on their annual grant from the CCG which was due in April and which has not been delivered. SOMPAR has also taken away the charities continuous healthcare funding which amounts to a loss of £150,000 per year.

“If this funding was restored then St Margaret’s would be more able to keep providing its excellent in-patient services to the community.

“Myself and Yeovil Liberal Democrats have launched a petition calling for this funding to be restored. We want to show the depth of support that the community has for St Margaret’s Hospice.”

You can sign the petition at www.yeovil-libdems.org.uk/st_margaret

Somerset County Council have today announced that they have sacked seventeen gritter drivers and sold their road gritters, in spite of thousands of Somerset residents signing petitions calling for cuts to gritting services to be reduced.

The Conservative run County Council has made around £45 million in cuts to services over two years and sold £90 million worth of Council Tax payers assets, while recently announcing that it will be spending almost £10 million to upgrade their offices in Taunton.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group in County, Jane Lock, said on this “The Conservatives running the County Council are clearly out of touch with the real world. We all experienced the problems in recent weeks with just a brief cold snap”

“Rather than taking the opportunity to hold their hands up, say they had got it wrong, Somerset Conservatives are Instead pushing ahead and making the problem worse by sacking 17 hard working drivers”.

Mick Clark, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Yeovil said “This Council refused to raise council tax for almost a decade, then complained it now hasn’t got the funds to deliver essential services. If these were company directors, they would be struck off and banned from running future businesses”

“After cuts to every aspect of county services, the only thing this Conservative run Council has achieved is to clearly demonstrate they have no gritters, no drivers and no clue about delivering services responsibly”

Yeovil Liberal Democrat's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Mick Clark, has launched an online petition to save Yeovil's Post Office which has been threatened with closure. For more information and to sign the petition go to http://www.yeovil-libdems.org.uk/postoffice 

26/09/2018

Somerset’s Lib Dem county councillors have called on the chair of Somerset County Council to hold an extraordinary meeting to explain the Conservatives’ emergency budget in more detail and ensure that it is sufficiently robust to prevent Government officials stepping in and shutting down the County Council.

“Conservatives’ financial incompetence has driven Somerset to the brink of bankruptcy,” says Lib Dem Leader, as Council releases its latest “Chopping List” of 76 service cuts

After over 3 years as a District Councillor and just over 1 year as a County Councillor Neil Bloomfield (Martock) has moved from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats.

In the face of overwhelming evidence from industry experts, the current MP for Yeovil has attempted to shut down claims that a “No-deal Brexit” would lead to delays at ports and additional Tariffs. When confronted with suggestions, from the head of the British Sandwich Association, that leaving the EU without a deal could lead to shortages of foodstuffs, delays at ports and additional tariffs, Mr Fysh called the claims “ridiculous” and reinforced his view that Brexit is “the will of the people”.

You can see Marcus's meltdown on Newsnight here.  

Following the unexpected resignation of Somerset County Council’s Chief Finance Officer after 31 years of highly-valued service, last week the County Council’s ruling Conservatives received two shock resignations from the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council’s influential Audit Committee. Both quit their positions on the Committee and resigned from the Conservative Party with immediate effect.