Dave Raval

I urge you to sign the petition for Justice for Ian Tomlinson, the man who died after being pushed over by a policeman in the City last summer. You can find the petition  here and you can read about what happened here .

A local person has written to me about why this is important, and I couldn’t put it better than him, so here is a quote from his email:

“I feel that in these times where the relationship between the individual and authority is so strained (Especially living in an area such as Hackney), it is important that justice is seen to be done at every opportunity - And in this case it has so obviously been ill-served. If it is seen that there is one law for the lawmakers and one for everyone else it will not be long before the last shreds of respect for law and order itself collapse and in this area, we are dangerously close to that.”

A large number of Liberal Democrat policies were announced in the Queen’s Speech on May 25th: fair taxes, a fair start for children, a green and sustainable economy, and a clean up of politics - the priorities we campaigned on in Hackney.  Some of the Lib Dem policies in the new Government programme are:

·      Making tax and benefits fairer and simpler, including an increase in the personal allowance

·      Restoring the earnings link to pensions

·      Greater freedoms for teachers over the curriculum

·      Measures to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses

·      Support for low carbon energy production

·      Financial services regulation to learn the lessons of the financial crisis

·      Fixed term parliaments of five years

·      A referendum on a fairer voting system

·      The right to sack MPs guilty of serious misconduct

·      Reform of party funding

·      Moving towards a wholly or partly elected House of Lords

·      A Bill to restore freedoms and civil liberties, through the abolition of Identity Cards and repeal of unnecessary laws

·      Giving greater powers to councils and giving neighbourhoods and communities more control over planning and housing decisions

·      Ending child detention

·      Enabling the creation of a national high speed rail network

·      The modernisation of the Royal Mail

·      Flexible working and promotion of equal pay

·      Strengthening the voices of patients and the role of doctors in the NHS

·      A commission on long-term reform of social care

·      Cutting Quangos and government bureaucracy