You would have thought that all MPs and councillors would agree that 'Democracy is a good thing' and 'We should encourage people to exercise their democratic right to vote'.
But you'd be wrong. With the Conservative's Election Bill soon to become law photo identification will be required when voting at a polling station. In a devastating condemnation of the Bill the Conservative-led Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee estimated that, in a general election, over 1 million people would be deterred from voting. These would be predominately less well off, young and from ethnic minorities i.e. people who are less likely to vote Conservative.
Residents who rely on the 471 bus route between Liverpool and Heswall are increasingly frustrated by the unreliability of the service.
Lucy Johnson, who is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Heswall in the local elections, has voiced her concern about repeated timetable changes and cancelled services.
Before the education act of 1988 local authorities were in control of local schools making decisions on staffing, assigning budgets and devising curriculums and overseeing assessments below O level and A level standard. The introduction of the act changed all that giving head teachers control of the day to day running of schools and giving control of monitoring and assessments over to central government.
