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Heath backs British Legion's Honour the Covenant campaign
David Heath has added his support to the British Legion’s ‘Honour the Covenant’ campaign, which calls on the Government ‘to honour its life-long duty of care to those making a unique commitment to their country'.
The campaign is based upon the idea of the ‘Military Covenant’, where the nation promises to support people in the armed services in return for the risks they take in fighting for their country.
The campaign is specifically calling for:
- a just compensation scheme
- increased support for the physical and mental health of servicemen and women and their families
- improved support for bereaved Service families.
These issues and others affecting our service personnel were discussed at the inaugural meeting of the Liberal Democrat Friends of the Armed Services group at the Autumn Conference in Brighton last week, which Mr. Heath chaired.
David Heath said: “I cannot speak highly enough of the work the British Legion do and their ‘Honour the Covenant’ campaign, which calls for greater support for servicemen and women and their families in the spirit of the Military Covenant, has my unequivocal backing.
“At a time when our armed forces are overstretched and there are so many people from our area serving overseas, this campaign is especially necessary. These brave men and women will need the best support this country can offer them when they return from Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The huge sacrifices made by these people who put themselves at risk must be rewarded with the help and support they and their families deserve – in terms of a better compensation scheme; improved healthcare, both physical and mental; and greater support for bereaved families.
“During the Friends of the Armed Forces meeting at the Liberal Democrat Conference last week, it was clear from the audience’s reaction how strongly people feel about these issues and others like pay, the shortage of equipment and the inadequacy of military housing.”
David Heath congratulates Rook Lane Arts Trust on award
David Heath has congratulated Rook Lane Arts Trust on being awarded £4,750 by the Awards for All Programme, which is supported by the Arts Council England, the Big Lottery Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England.
Grants of between £300 and £10,000 are awarded ‘for people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, and projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.’
The Trust will use the grant to provide community art workshops in partnership with Somerset Primary Care Trust for the new Frome hospital.
David Heath said: “The new hospital has been fantastic news for Frome and I am very pleased that there are groups out there like the Rook Lane Arts Trust who are providing this kind of community involvement in it
“I hope that this well-deserved grant allows the Trust to achieve their ambition of the workshops they are organising culminating in a series if ‘Peoples Collage’ artworks.”
Heath congratulates Somerton RFC on funding award
David Heath has congratulated Somerton Rugby Football Club on being awarded £9,500 by the Awards for All Programme, which is supported by the Arts Council England, the Big Lottery Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England.
Grants of between £300 and £10,000 are awarded ‘for people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, and projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.’
Somerton RFC will use the grant to extend its facilities and offer coaching courses to its members.
David Heath said: “As a rugby player and fan myself, I am delighted that one of the many rugby clubs in our area has been granted this award. I hope that in the future other local teams, in many different sports, will also be successful, as I know what a massive difference a cash injection can make to smaller clubs.
“I am sure that the money will greatly improve the facilities at the Somerton Sports & Social Club and that the coaching will make a big difference to the players in the coming season and beyond.”
David Heath to tuck into school dinners
David Heath is to visit Charlton Mackrell Primary School to sample the school dinners.
Like so many rural primary schools, hot lunches at Charlton Mackrell were axed during the 1980s and pupils have been bringing a packed lunch ever since.
A new community initiative, however, spearheaded by Liberal Democrat County Councillor Pauline Clarke, has seen hot dinners return to the school.
The meals, made using locally-sourced healthy produce, are being prepared and cooked in the village hall and transported to the school in containers.
At the moment, the lunches are being served on two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays), but are also being delivered to two other local schools.
This is a community initiative that would not have been possible without the support of local parents and Cllr Clarke, who has given money from her County Councillor's community budget to help get them up and running.
In the future, the school hope to expand the program to install a kitchen, where the hot food can be prepared, on site.
On Tuesday, Mr. Heath will have the choice of sausage or vegetarian sausage and mash (with onion gravy and seasonal vegetables), with meringue nests, fruit salad and ice cream for dessert.
Heath calls for surveillance society to be curtailed
David Heath led calls at last week’s Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference for measures to roll back the legislation that has turned Britain into a ‘surveillance society.’
The proposals were overwhelmingly backed by delegates.
The proposals include commitments for:
- The immediate repeal of the Identity Cards Act 2006
- The destruction of all DNA samples taken from those not charged or convicted of an offence
- Updating and amending the Data Protection Act
- The greater regulation of CCTV
- Review the role of the Information Commissioner
David Heath said: “The Liberal Democrats will make the protection of traditional British liberties and personal privacy a major line of attack in the run up to the next general election. This country needs a champion of liberty now more than ever.
“Gordon Brown has attempted to make considerable political gain by striking a new tone on civil liberties, but in reality he remains wedded to an unchanged Blairite agenda that has seen an extraordinary erosion in the liberty of the British people.
“Britain has long distinguished itself by its liberal belief in the rights of the individual against the powers of the state. By stealth, this Government has given the state unprecedented snooping powers that affect each and every one of us. It is time that these powers were rolled back.”
We need a constitution fit for modern Britain, says Heath
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, David Heath, led calls at last week’s Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference for a comprehensive package of radical constitutional reforms to resolve the crisis in British politics.
The proposals were overwhelmingly backed by delegates.
The proposals launched in the policy document For the People, By the People include:
- A constitutional convention, involving members of the public along with parliamentarians, to draw up a written constitution to be endorsed in a national referendum
- Citizens’ juries, similar to those in criminal trials, to assess new public policy
- Strengthening the Human Rights and Freedom of Information Acts
- New governments not to take power after an election until Parliament has endorsed their legislative programmes
- More scrutiny of government appointments and decisions
- Electoral reform, including STV for both Houses of Parliament, votes at 16 and fixed parliamentary terms
David Heath said: “These proposals on constitutional reform are far more radical and wide-reaching than those announced by Gordon Brown in July.
“People have become alienated from politics. The only way to revive our representative democracy is to inspire the public into participating in its radical reform.
“The Liberal Democrats have developed a bold vision of a Britain in the 21st Century where the public are directly involved in the political process and not just ‘consulted’. If Gordon Brown is serious about constitutional reform he will follow this blueprint.
“The Government and the Tories are obsessed with the centralisation of government and executive power. The Liberal Democrats would establish the sovereignty of the individual with a written constitution and return powers to parliament that have not expressly been conferred on the executive.”
Heath calls for reduction in number of women in prison
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, David Heath yesterday led calls at the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference for the Government to implement Baroness Corston's recommendations for the treatment of women in prison.
The proposals include commitments for:
- Ensuring a strong consistent message from the top of government (in line with stated policy) that prison is not the right place for women offenders who pose no risk to the public
- The creation of an inter-departmental ministerial group for women who offend or are at risk of offending
- Radically transforming the way criminal justice agencies deliver services for women
- Ending routine strip searching in women's prisons
- Improving sanitation conditions in women‚s prisons as a matter of urgency
David Heath said: "For too long, as a small minority of the prison population, women in the penal system have been ignored. These proposals from the Liberal Democrats, based on the Corston Review, would finally offer these vulnerable women the support they need.
"The number of women in prison has doubled over the last decade, but there has been no corresponding rise in women committing more serious crime - nine out of ten are convicted of non-violent offences.
"Prison is simply not the right place for female offenders who pose no threat to the public. Instead they should be given tough community sentences and better support from all aspects of the criminal justice system.
"Repeat crime is best combated by helping women overcome addictions and mental health problems and prison is not the best place to do this. Alternatives to prison are both more economical and more effective at reducing the rate of reoffending."
Farmers must be given more information on foot-and-mouth
David Heath today called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to improve its communication with farmers over the current foot-and-mouth crisis.
Mr. Heath says that many farmers across the country and certainly ones he has met over the last two days are having to rely on incomplete information from radio and television and have received no direct information from DEFRA.
Mr. Heath has today written to Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, following meetings with farmers in the Martock area this morning.
David Heath said: “The new outbreak of foot-and-mouth couldn’t be worse news for livestock farmers and would spell disaster for the industry. Most of us thought that the previous incident had been contained but now it is clear that we still have a major problem.
“I understand the difficulties faced by government officials but surely it is a priority to make sure that every livestock owner, both those in the industry and those keeping a small number of animals, know what preventative measures have been taken; what it is now illegal for them to do; and what signs and symptoms they should be looking for in their own livestock.
“I am very concerned that whether or not the reaction to the outbreak from the Department is adequate, the flow of information to local farmers certainly is not.”