London News

p The plans from London’s Conservative Mayorcould see every neighbourhood communitysupport officer and 8,000 police officers axed.

Autumn/Winter 2015

TakeAction

SIGN THEPETITION- Page 2 -

Caroline’s plan forbetter childcare

- Page 3 -- Page 2 -

Liberal Democratsjoin residents tofight third runway

Keep Britain inEurope to protectLondon jobs

- Back Page -

Caroline Pidgeon“I will fight cuts to ourneighbourhood police”THREAT TO EVERY NEIGHBOURHOOD PCSO AND UP TO 8,000 POLICE OFFICERS

SPECIAL FEATURE

Caroline Pidgeon (left), who is theLiberal Democrat candidate for

Mayor and lead Assembly Member,is fighting plans that threaten thefuture of neighbourhood policing.

The Metropolitan Police have tomake large cuts but these

plans could see over 1000Police Community SupportOfficers working inneighbourhood teamsacross the capital axed,and up to 1 in 4 policeofficers lost.

“PCSOs are the eyes and ears of thepolice on our streets and providereassurance to Londoners. The ToryMayor should cut these plans - not cutour police,” said Caroline.

Save our safer neighbourhoodteams say Lib Dems

“The roll out of neighbourhood basedpolicing has made a huge difference toLondon,” added Caroline.

“There is ample evidence that manypeople, particularly young people, aremore likely to engage with and report

offences to PCSOs. These plans wouldrip the heart out of neighbourhoodpolicing teams. In a stroke much of theprogress that has beenmade in making our citysafer will be lost.

“With policeofficer numbersalso under threatwe need to fight toprotect communitybased policing inLondon.”

No third runway

www.londonlibdems.org.uk/police

COMMENT

Page 2London News

NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICEHELP SAVE OUR

FREEPOST RTLS-RCZS-KRZGLondon Liberal Democrats,

8-10 Great George Street, SW1P 3AEIf you return this form the Liberal Democrats and their elected representatives may use the informationyou've given to contact you. By providing your data to us, you are consenting to us making contact withyou in the future by mail, email, telephone, text, website and apps, even though you may be registered withthe Telephone Preference Service. You can always opt out of communications at any time by contacting usor visiting www.libdems.org.uk/optout for more information go to www.libdems.org.uk/privacy.

Name:________________________________E-mail:________________________________Mobile:________________________________Postcode:__________ Tick here q to help.

At City Hall London’spolitical parties have kept a

united stance against Heathrowexpansion. But that hasn’t beenthe case in Westminster with theChancellor George Osborne inparticular favouring expansion.

Speaking at the recent rally inWestminster, organised byHeathrow Association for theControl of Aircraft Noise (HACAN),Caroline Pidgeon said: The caseagainst Heathrow expansion is not

just strong - it has never beenstronger.

“We all know how serious airtraffic noise is, affecting

communities across London. Butthere is also the issue of airpollution.

“The laws on tackling airpollution in London and the

construction of a third runway areincompatible.”

Heathrow is not the solution

Barnes resident and anti-expansion campaigner MerleneEmerson added: “Despite all thelobbying from Heathrow there isactually unused airport capacity inthe South East. If Goerge Osborneis serious about his NorthernPowerhouse he should stop forcingso many people from across the UKto fly from Heathrow.”

p Caroline Pidgeon and Merlene Emerson, who is standing to be aLiberal Democrat London Assembly member and is a long timecampaigner against Heathrow expansion, at a recent rally in Westminster.

p Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron has becomethe first UK political party leader to see thesituation on the Greek islands first hand, whenhe joined groups helping refugees on Lesbos.

Farron challenges PM tohelp refugeesTim Farron has

challenged the PrimeMinister David Cameron totake action to help 3,000unaccompanied childrefugees from Syria.

Following a visit to Lesbos,where he met refugees andcharity workers, the LiberalDemocrat Leader said: “Wehave an opportunity to step upto the mark and accede to therequest that Save the Childrenhas put our way to help 3,000unaccompanied children. We’llcontinue to have the

discussion about Britaintaking its fair share of therefugee population in Europe,but this is a specific issue andsurely David Cameron can findno reasonable excuse not toagree to help.”

Camden and Barnet Lib DemCampaigner Zack Polanski,who has been organising streetstalls to raise awareness of thecrisis, added: “'I believeLondoners want to lead theway in being generous andwelcoming to those in crisis.”

The case against expansion has never been stronger

A different kindof Mayor?The race to be Mayor of London has,more often than not, been more of asoap opera than a battle of ideas.

It’s been all about the big personalitiesrather than using the office of Mayor todo the often unglamorous task ofrunning London day to day.

Look at our Conservative Mayor’sbroken promises to deliver a nighttube service this Autumn. His lack ofpreparation has meant he has had tokick his plans down the road afteropposition from tube staff and thetrade unions.

But this is just a symptom of a widerproblem.

To date, London’s Mayors have puttheir own personal political agendasfirst.

Next May Londoners have the chanceto vote for something different.

You can vote for a no-nonsensewoman, in Caroline Pidgeon whogets things done, backed up by astrong team of Liberal DemocratAssembly Members at City Hall.

Caroline has shown with her work onthe London Assembly that she candeliver a London that works foreveryone.

@CarolinePidgeonlondonlibdems.org.uk ü

No third runway

At a time when the Metis facing serious

budget pressures London'sfootball teams are forcingthe Metropolitan PoliceService to pick up apolicing bill of over £4million a year.

It has been revealed byCaroline Pidgeon, Leader ofthe Liberal DemocratLondon Assembly Group,

that between thestart of lastyear's footballseason and May

of this year thecost of policingoutside footballs t a d i u m sgenerated a bill

of £4.2 millionfor the Met.

"The London football clubthat caused the highest billwas Chelsea with a bill for£627,275, followed by Arsenalat £491,869 and TottenhamHotspur at £480,433.

Caroline Pidgeon said:“When the Met'sCommissioner has warnedLondoners of the immensebudget pressures facing ourpolice service, with theprospect of thousands ofpolice officers being lost, itis simply madness thatcommercial football teamsare not paying the fullpolicing costs for theirmatches. Many commercialclubs are owned bybillionaires and are payingout million pound salaries totheir players, they can affordto make a contribution.”

Study finds Oxford Street is themost polluted road in the world

Page 3London News

Pidgeon sets out visionfor better childcare

p Caroline knows first hand about what it meansto juggle work and a family. She has set out plans for‘wrap around childcare’ to help London parents.

London Live filmed the launchof Caroline Pidgeon's

campaign to be the LiberalDemocrat candidate for Mayor ofLondon. Speaking at a nurseryschool in Islington, Carolineoutlined her key priority ofmaking childcare work forparents.

Caroline set out her vision, basedon her own experience as a workingmum, saying: “Childcare in Londonis a really major issue - it's a realbarrier for getting women,particularly, back into work. It is ahuge cost in terms of how much

people pay for the hours they need.

“It's also the availability -sometimes you can't get a place,sometimes you can't get the hoursyou need at the beginning or end ofthe day, or in school holidays.

“There are no policies out there.No one is talking about this in a waythat really will solve the problem.

“We need to find ways to solve this

and look at working with businessesto create part-time opportunities toenable women to go back to workrather than this brain drain fromLondon's economy.

“We know looking at the figures -10% fewer women are going back towork in London than in the rest ofthe UK. That needs to ring alarmbells.”

Caroline added: “As Mayor I wouldmake sure that I use the resourcesavailable to support the provision ofbetter childcare that works foreveryone in the 21st century.”

A study from King’sCollege London has found

Oxford Street is the mostpolluted road in the world.

The Liberal Democrats have along track record ofcampaigning to pedestrianisethe iconic street which wouldhelp tackle pollution andimprove road safety.

Liberal Democrat AssemblyMember Stephen Knight said:“Oxford Street is one of the mosticonic shopping streets in theworld with 200 million peoplevisiting a year. It is one of thecornerstones of London’s

economic success. YetOxford Street is alsocurrently one of themost dangerous roadsin the UK. The dieselfuelled buses & taxisthat stutter along ithave produced thehighest knownconcentrations ofnitrogen dioxideanywhere in the world.And one person isknocked down bytraffic on Oxford Street every 5days.”

You can support the Liberal

Democrat campaign at:

Wealthy football teams shouldpay for the policing of games

From Olympic legacyto a homes legacywrites Emily Davey

London rentsand house

prices are thehighest in thecountry. Many ofthose on low and middle incomescannot afford to rent in London.The Liberal Democrat team at CityHall have set out a plan to fund50,000 new low rent homes.

The top up of £20 a year on our counciltax for the Olympics, which Londonersstarted paying in 2006 ends in 2016.The Lib Dem team thinks we shouldcontinue to pay the £20 but use themoney to build more homes. This waywe could build 50,000 new homes withall the transport, schools and facilitiesthey need. These homes would be letout at a low rent to people on lowincomes.

These homes at council rents will beneeded even more now theConservative Government hasextended the right to buy. TheConservative Government has givencouncil tenants over £100,000 off theircouncil homes should they want tobuy them and now it is giving HousingAssociation tenants the samediscounts. Unsurprisingly theproperties are being snapped upleaving even fewer low rent homes forLondoners.

Help to rent and rent to buy

Earlier this year the LiberalDemocrats set out plans to help youngpeople in the private rented sectoronto the housing ladder, including ahelp to rent scheme and a rent to buyscheme.

Emily Davey @Emily4Londonis a lawyer who specialises in socialhousing cases and is standing to be aLib Dem London Assembly Member.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

p Stephen Knight AM setting out thecase for a pedestrianised Oxford Street.

We know looking at the figures- 10% fewer women are goingback to work in London thanin the rest of the UK

londonlibdems.org.uk/oxfst

@CarolinePidgeonlondonlibdems.org.uk ü

Name:________________________ Postcode:______________

Email:_________________________ Tel:__________________

q I will be voting Lib Dem in the London elections in May

q I can deliver leaflets in my area

q I can help speak to voters on the doorstep or over the phone

q I can help fund local campaigning of £_____ (please make cheques payable to Liberal Democrats a donation of £12 entitles you to membership tick q here if you don’t want to join).

Lowest paid Londonershit by Conservative cuts

BETRAYED!

Nearly 400,000 Londonfamilies will be worse off

because of Conservative plans tocut tax credits.

Figures produced by the House ofCommons Library show 370,900families in London currently inreceipt of tax credits will see theirentitlement reduced.

Despite claims from theConservatives that those affectedwill benefit from plans to increasethe minimum wage, theindependent Institute for FiscalStudies has said Tory figures don’tstack up. The IFS shows a £750average loss will only be offset by£200 as a result of the newminimum wage.

“The changes to tax credits willhammer families in London. TheTories just cannot claim to be onthe side of working families.

“638,100 children here in thecapital now face living in a poorerhousehold. Losing this moneymeans a harder struggle for parentstrying to make ends meet and worsechance in life for their kids," saidLiberal Democrat LondonAssembly candidate Rob Blackie.

Liberal Democratmembership surge

Join Caroline’s team today!

FREEPOST RTLS-RCZS-KRZGLondon Liberal Democrats,

8-10 Great George Street, SW1P 3AE

If you return this form the Liberal Democrats and their elected representatives may use the information you've given to contact you.By providing your data to us, you are consenting to us making contact with you in the future by mail, email, telephone, text, websiteand apps, even though you may be registered with the Telephone Preference Service. You can always opt out of communicationsat any time by contacting us or visiting www.libdems.org.uk/optout for more information go to www.libdems.org.uk/privacy.

Since May, Lib DemMembership in

London has surged,with 5,000 newmembers swelling theparty’s ranks.

Election successes

The party has alsoscored a number ofsuccesses at local council

by-elections holding seatswith increased majoritiesin Kingston and Sutton.In Southwark’s SouthCamberwell ward LibDem candidate BenMaitland (pictured above)pushed the Conservativesinto fourth place.

Most impressively in

Twickenham the LibDems took a seat off theConservatives, that hadjust been vacated by thenewly electedConservative MP!

If you want to join theLib Dems and fight for afairer London return theform on the left free.

p Are priority should be protecting jobs andgrowth in the capital, not putting our economicrecovery at risk as the ‘leave campaign’ is set to do.

p Conservative plans to slash taxcredits will hit thousands of hardworking London families.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Protecting London jobsOver 3 Million jobs

will be put at risk ifBritain leaves theEuropean Union, withmany of these in London.

“The truth is the EU needsreforming, but pulling outaltogether would bedisastrous for oureconomy,” said CarolinePidgeon.

“Right here inLondon the EU hasprovided vitalfunding for job creationprojects and for cutting-edge scientific research atinstitutions like King’sCollege London.

“Employers like Diageo inBrent, Ford in Dagenham,Siemens in Tower Hamletsand Hillingdon, have allsaid that the jobs theyprovide are linked to

Britain’s EU membershipand the access to globalmarkets this brings.”

London should be inthe heart of Europe

London Liberal DemocratAssembly candidate DawnBarnes, who works for aLondon university, added:"It's not just business that

benefits from ourEU membership.Being able to workand study in other

European countries offersmany advantages to manythousands of Londoners.

"The Liberal Democratsare the only party that isunited in support of an invote when the referendumcomes. This is because weare committed to an opentolerant UK," added Dawn.

Printed by Mortons Media Group Ltd, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 6JR. Published & promoted by S. Drage on behalf of London Liberal Democrats all at 2nd Floor 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE.

Liberal Democrats for an open tolerant Britain in Europe

London isbetter off in

www.londonlibdems.org.uk/volunteer