Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats

Posts Tagged ‘House of Commons’

Burnley and Padiham MP Gordon Birtwistle has been working with Lancashire County Council and Transdev to provide a better bus service to the people of Rosegrove and Gannow who live near the 4 and 5 bus routes. At the moment buses don’t run the full route on evenings or Sundays, unfairly disadvantaging those people who rely on the buses for their transport.
 
Gordon has asked that Lancashire County Council and Transdev look into the feasibility of providing a more accessible bus service to Rosegrove and Gannow, which they will be doing over the coming weeks.
 
Commenting, Gordon said:
 
“It is ridiculous that in the twenty first century, residents of a town such as Burnley should be restrained by a bus timetable that does not extend into the evening or Sundays. Over a Bank Holiday the people of Rosegrove and Gannow can be left from Friday evening until Tuesday morning without any means of getting into the town centre, which is unacceptable.”
 
“It is the most vulnerable of society who rely on the buses, and it is neither fair nor right that these people should be constrained by lack of a service which many people in towns and cities across the country take for granted. I hope to see an improved bus service for the people of Rosegrove and Gannow as soon as possible.”

Victims of the Equitable Life collapse can finally expect compensation as Liberal Democrat MPs push forward new legislation.

Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley, Gordon Birtwistle described the announcement as a “massive relief” for the millions of people who lost up to half their pensions in the collapse.

The Equitable Life Bill, which was outlined to the House of Commons yesterday [Wednesday], will give the Treasury the authority to make payments to policyholders or dependents who have been fighting the Labour Government for compensation since 2000.

A previous Liberal Democrat motion to get compensation for the millions of people involved was defeated in October 2009.

Gordon Birtwistle, Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley said:

“The previous Government continually ignored the millions of people who lost their savings.

“People in Burnley lost up to half their pensions in the fiasco yet Labour failed to act, ignoring Liberal Democrat advice, ignoring the High Court and ignoring an Ombudsman report.

“This Bill is a massive relief to thousands of pensioners and is long overdue.

“I am delighted that something the Liberal Democrats have been calling for can now finally happen. We are using our position in Government to give policyholders the money they deserve.”

The full text of the written statement to the Commons is available here: