Ashford Liberal Democrats

This month the Liberal Democrats delivered an increase in the Personal Allowance of £630 -benefiting 25m ordinary working people now. And it will lift an extra 250,000 people out of income tax altogether.

Since joining the coalition Liberal Democrats have:

• Removed more than 1 million low-paid from paying any income tax altogether
• Given every ordinary worker an annual income tax cut of up to £330
• Paid the largest ever cash rise in the basic state pension - £5.30 a week from this year for the full basic state pension, on top of £4.50 last year. This is now a cash rise of £500 a year since we came to power.
• And thanks to Liberal Democrats most working age benefits are also increasing by 5.2% to help those who've fallen on tough times.

People are rightly angry when they see tycoons living a life of unimaginable luxury, while getting away with extraordinarily low rates of tax.

The vast majority of people in Britain are working hard to do the right thing, paying taxes and playing by the rules. But if you're earning millions per year you are able to pay an army of lawyers and accountants to pick and choose what tax you are paying. There should be a minimum fair share that these people should pay to society.

It is believed that hundreds of Britain's super-rich - people earning seven-figure salaries or higher - are paying far less tax as a proportion of their income than everyday working people. Forget debates about the 50p rate, forget 40 per cent, forget even 30 per cent; research shows hundreds of multi-millionaires are not even paying 20 per cent.

Nick Clegg has announced a landmark deal with the six big energy companies who cover 99% of customers, to give customers a guaranteed offer of the best tariff for them.

Seven out of 10 customers are on the wrong tariff for their needs, so are paying too much. Yet people rarely switch, despite the fact some families could save up to £100 a year. There are currently over 120 different tariffs, making it very difficult to know where to start. That is going to change.

As of this autumn, your supplier will have to contact you with the best tariff for your needs - and if you call them, they'll have to offer you the best deal too.

Ed Miliband says the energy companies 'have gone unchallenged' - but energy prices soared under Labour and he was the Energy Secretary who for almost two years didn't challenge them. This Government is forcing the energy companies to be more responsive and putting power in the hands of consumers, saving hardworking families and pensioners money.

Local campaigner Kelly-Marie Blundell took to the stage at the recent Lib Dem Spring Conference to voice her concerns about the NHS Bill being put through by the coalition.

Lib Dem MPs and Peers have been working to secure changes to the bill which will ensure that the NHS remains in the public sector and puts the needs of patients first, not the needs of business competition.

Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.

The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:

• The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
• A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
• 21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
• Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
• Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.

We are delighted to announce Stephen Lloyd MP, Eastbourne's Liberal Democrat member of Parliament, is Ashford's keynote speaker at this year's Annual Dinner. The event will be held at Towers School on 29th March 2012, and we hope to see you all there. To reserve your place please email info@ashfordlibdems.org.uk - the cost will be no more than £20 per person for 3 courses.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.

The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.

Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.

We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.

During the school holidays a number of residents in Victoria contacted me about the play area at the Coastal Park in Folkestone. Many residents were
impressed by the park and wondered if there were any plans for something similar in Ashford.

I'm pleased to let you know that the Council is planning to have even better facilities than Folkestone, with the new development of the Conningbrook Country Park.

At a recent meeting Kent County Council gave a brief report to Ashford Borough Council on the success, or otherwise, of shared space to date.

A more detailed report will be provided later this year.

Some of the conclusions are damning; Elwick Square is significantly under-utilised as a public area whilst it is felt that Elwick Road, as a whole, will only really fulfil its full potential once the south side is developed.