Rick's St Mary's Diary

The last St Mary’s Focus had a disturbing article in it about cuts in Police numbers in Manchester. It’s good to see that the issue has received much more coverage, both in major local papers and through Lib Dem pressure in Parliament, as you can see “Together We Can Cut Crime” policy. We would pay for these extra police, and pay to ensure that police forces nationwide are properly funded, by abandoning the government’s ill-conceived, unpopular and illiberal plans to introduce ID cards at a cost of billions of pounds.

The Lib Dems are actively challenging Tony Blair in Parliament, and the Labour Party across the country as they preside over rising taxes and falling service levels in police and other services. We have sensible and practical solutions to these problems.

Bury’s Labour Council has overseen rising Council Taxes, whilst the national Labour government has imposed ever heavier burdens on local government without giving proper funding whilst it indulges in its expensive and unpopular mistakes – ID cards, the war in Iraq, police chasing targets instead of chasing criminals.

The Police is just another issue where we are the sensible alternative to Labour’s mistakes.

Rick