Burnley Liberal Democrats

The call comes after a Boundary Street shop owner had his licence suspended for two weeks after being caught out profiting from illegal alcohol sales.

Lib Dem Coun Charlie Briggs, Burnley Council’s executive member for community safety, called the suspension “inadequate” and insisted that licensing powers were not being used in proportion to the damage caused.

Coun Briggs, who was recently elected as the Lib Dem group’s leader at County Hall, said, “Drunk children on the street are a very serious problem and I’m determined to stamp it out. On the one hand, most kids and parents behave responsibly. At the other extreme, some kids will get hold of alcohol no matter what, and sometimes it is supplied by their own parents.

“But in the middle are some kids we can get back on the straight and narrow. Every child saved is worth it in my mind.

“We have to take every chance we can to cut down the supply of alcohol. Inadequate penalties like this just don’t take account of the consequences for the kids themselves and for members of the public. Penalties should be proportionate to the offence, and right now, they’re not.”

Lib Dem Coun Bill Brindle, who sits on the Town Hall committee that sentences offending off-licences, agreed.

“As a committee, we have to give out fair penalties that reflect the harm done. I don’t think we’ve been doing that recently and we will have to get tougher.

“I want the Police to change their policy of waiting for three failed tests before bringing cases to the committee. If someone breaks the law once, that should be enough. But communities who are fed up of this problem don’t have to wait for the police to take action. Any member of the public can ask us to review a licence, and I’m asking community groups to bring problem off-licences to our attention.”

The Happy Shopper off-licence on Briercliffe Rd was due to have its licence reviewed this Thursday [18th June], and both the Melville Street Spar shop and the Focus Off Licence on Briercliffe Road were to be reviewed on Tuesday, 23rd June 2009.

Queensgate ward councillor Darren Reynolds, whose area has seen disturbances caused by alcohol abuse in recent months, defended suggestions the Lib Dems were acting illiberally and against party policy.

Coun Reynolds said, “Four off-licences in or adjacent to my ward have been caught out in two months. Children are being abused by these retailers and the children’s lives are slowly going down the pan.

“Liberalism means letting people carry on their business free from official interference so long as they’re not doing any harm. The harm caused to these children, their families and their communities outweighs any right to trade freely. What Charlie and Bill are seeking to do is entirely consistent with Liberal principles. If these off-licences can’t trade legally, they must be closed down.”

I passionately believe we were wrong to invade Iraq but I am second to none in my admiration for the bravery and dedication of our service men and women.

Everyone knows that the invasion of Iraq was the biggest foreign policy mistake this country has made in generations; the single most controversial decision taken by government since Suez.

So Mr Speaker, I am staggered that the Prime Minister is today seeking to compound that error, fatal for so many of Britain’s sons and daughters, by covering up the path that led to it.

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Cllr Charlie Briggs at Hameldon College, placed in Special Measures following Labour’s disastrous ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme.

Cllrs Gordon Birtwistle (left) and Jeff Sumner (right) campaigning for the return of hospital services to Burnley

Cllr Bill Bennett h
ighlights the demise of the Accident and Emergency service at Burnley General Hospital.

Cllrs Peter McCann and Gordon Birtwistle and Mrs Margaret Brindle campaign for the return of hospital services to Burnley.

A Burnley resident (left) meets (left to right) Margaret Brindle, Gordon Birtwistle and Charlie Briggs, and signs their petition for the return of services to Burnley.

The Government have suffered a rare defeat, on a Liberal Democrat opposition day motion calling for them to revise their proposals and ensure that an equal right of residence is extended to all Gurkhas.

27 Labour MPs joined Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and others to inflict the Government’s first defeat on an opposition day motion since the 1970s, a sign of the strength of feeling on the issue.

Opening the debate, Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, criticised the Government for its decision back in 2004 to distinguish between those who were discharged from the Gurkhas before 1997 and those who were discharged after. He argued this move led to “some ridiculous and shameful anomalies”, whereby soldiers, including a holder of the Victoria Cross, have been refused residency in Britain because of “inadequate ties to the United Kingdom”.

Chris Huhne

In an impassioned conclusion to his speech Chris asked: “are we to say that people who are prepared to fight and die for our country are not good enough to live in it? This debate is not just about the Gurkhas. It is about the sort of people we are. The House must today find the generosity of spirit to repay in the small way that we can, the enormous debt of gratitude that we owe to the Gurkhas.”

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell also spoke in the debate. Sir Ming attacked the Government’s self-proclaimed achievements on helping the Gurkhas. He accused them of reacting to public pressure rather than having a sincere determination to help the Gurkhas, claiming the Government had merely felt “compelled” by the judicial decision to bring the proposals forward.

Sir Ming also criticised the Government’s decoration criteria. He argued that this qualification “is based not on being brave, but on being recognised as having been brave.” He said, “anyone who has been engaged in conflict will say that some of the bravest and most selfless acts of heroism are committed by people who never receive any recognition of any kind whatever.”

The party’s Shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey wound up the debate. He said it was bizarre for the Government to suggest that there needed to be an impact assessment on the effect in Nepal of any decision as the decision to allow those, generally younger, Gurkhas who have served since 1997 the right of settlement in the UK would have had far more impact on Nepal than allowing in a relatively smaller number whose service took place long ago.

Nick said that, “sooner or later the Government will end up losing this argument, having to give more ground and be seen to have done so with appalling bad grace, having been dragged kicking and screaming every inch of the way”.

When the votes were counted, the Liberal Democrat motion was passed by 267 to 246 votes and the Government was defeated.

In a statement after the debate the Government announced a rethink and said new proposals would be published before the summer recess.

Click here to read Nick Clegg’s response to the historic vote

Gurkhas motion -

That this House regrets the Government’s recent statement outlining the eligibility criteria for Gurkhas to reside in the United Kingdom; recognises the contribution the Gurkhas have made to the safety and freedom of the United Kingdom for the past 200 years; notes that more Gurkhas have laid down their lives for the United Kingdom than are estimated to want to live here; believes that Gurkhas who retired before 1997 should be treated fairly and in the same way as those who have retired since; is concerned that the Government’s new guidelines will permit only a small minority of Gurkhas and their families to settle whilst preventing the vast majority; further believes that people who are prepared to fight and die for the United Kingdom should be entitled to live in the country; and calls upon the Government to withdraw its new guidelines immediately and bring forward revised proposals that extend an equal right of residence to all Gurkhas.