KEITH ANGUS

Don’t believe the Labour hype that Britain is merely the victim of an international economic crisis – our government has done more than most to contribute to it. Gordon Brown had a golden opportunity as Chancellor in the late 90’s to put in place proper, solid regulation of the financial markets, but failed to do so. It’s why billions of taxpayer’s money has been ploughed into bank bailouts.

Not all Western economies have suffered in this way. I can think of other developed nations, including G8 nations, that haven’t paid a penny in bailing out their banks – Canada’s just one example that springs to mind. Firm action could have been taken, if Labour had put their mind to it.

So, while there’s a global financial problem, it is magnified in Britain, thanks to maladministration by Labour.

The Lib Dems have solid plans to sort this out. You can read a summary of our national priorities here.

But the solutions are also local. Take the Transition Towns Stoke Newington movement. Not only would it bring about a strong focus on what we can do as a community to respond to the challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change, but also how to invigorate our local economy, such as introducing great schemes to get more money into local shops and small businesses.

The solutions are there, and we all need to do what we can to rebuild our economy. Especially as we can’t rely on a Labour government to do it for us.

Talk to people on the doorsteps of Hackney and too many will tell you that crime is an issue in the area. Many people are affected by crime, whether serious gun and knife crime or anti-social behaviour, more needs to be done.

Crime is on the rise. I like some of the tough talk from the Labour government, but I wish they’d act on it. They are currently cutting police numbers even further.

A great start would be to scrap the ridiculous ID card scheme. Aside from anything else, the government has proved beyond doubt that they can’t be trusted to manage data about us.

The scheme is wasteful – a recent independent report from the LSE estimates the cost to the taxpayer will be between £12 billon and £18 billion. This is something the Lib Dems would spend on an additional 10,000 police officers on the streets. On these streets in Hackney.

Support the Lib Dem campaign today by signing our e-petition to scrap these costly ID cards and get the money ploughed in to more police. Let’s put the money where it’s needed. Sign our petition by clicking here right now.

Under this Labour government, aviation has become the fastest growing contributor to climate change, so it’s no surprise they gave the go-ahead to massive expansion of capacity at Heathrow Airport. No surprise, but completely disappointing.

The plans include creating a third runway and building a sixth terminal. They also include increasing the number of flights from 480,000 per year currently, to over 700,000 within a generation.

Enough is enough. Not just because of global climate change, although that reason is compelling in itself. Not just because of the decimation of a whole community in West London. But also because of the direct impact it will have on the lives of you, me and other residents of North and East London.

Buried well into the huge report on the expansion plans are proposed changes to flight patterns and the minimum heights they’ll be able to fly at, on their way into and out of Heathrow. Look into the Hackney sky on many days and you’ll see aircraft flying overhead, on their approach into Heathrow. The minimum height of those aircraft is 6,000ft. When the new plans are in action, not only will there be more aircraft, but the minimum flying height will be 4,000ft over much of Hackney, creating an increase in aircraft noise as they pass overhead and blighting residents’ lives.

There’s still time for the third runway decision to be reversed. The Lib Dems were the first of all political parties to reject the case for a third runway at Heathrow. It must not be built.