The results are now in for the 2010 local elections. Unfortunately, I wasn’t elected as your local councillor for Fallowfield this time. Despite the Labour boost from the General Election, it was still the closest result in the ward for four years - and despite Labour’s scaremongering, the Tories are still nowhere to be seen in Manchester.

I’m proud of fighting an honest campaign in Fallowfield, and this is not the end for the Liberal Democrats in the area. Whatever happens over the next few days or weeks in terms of the national parliament, I will continue to be involved in Fallowfield’s communities, and continue to make the positive case for the Liberal Democrats in the city. I honestly believe that local people’s needs are best served by hardworking Lib Dem councillors, and I will continue to work hard all year round to demonstrate that.

Thanks very much to everybody who voted for me, and to the people who supported me and helped with deliveries, envelope stuffing, putting posters in their windows etc. There’s still plenty to be done in Fallowfield, so if you fancy getting involved in any way, please get in touch.

I’ve been looking forward to this debate for a while now, ever since I heard it was happening. The state of the economy is the most pressing issue facing the people I talk to in Fallowfield, and so in a way this debate is more important than the three televised Leaders’ Debates between Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

Vince Cable is the Lib Dem’s Shadow Chancellor. He’s got a PhD in economics, and is former Chief Economist to Shell, which makes him the most qualified person in the debate. He was on the ball spotting the credit crunch before it happened, but Gordon Brown dismissed his warnings - and his solutions, which include getting the banks we bailed out to support more small businesses to keep them solvent and protect people’s jobs.

The main Lib Dem economic policy is that, if Vince is Chancellor, you won’t have to pay income tax on the first £10,000 you earn. This means that an average earner will save £700 every year. This will be paid for by closing tax loopholes exploited by the ultra-rich, and an annual tax on mansions worth over £2 million pounds. This means putting more money in the pockets of the people who are struggling with the aftermath (and, I suspect, impending return) of recession, by asking the well off to pay a bit more.

These debates are a new feature to a UK election, and I think a positive one. I don’t think it can ever be a bad idea to give people more opportunities to see politicians debate, because it’s far more interesting than just listening to manifestos or soundbites. I’m particularly looking forward to Friends of Platt Fields‘ planned pond-side debate on 1st May between the Parliamentary candidates for Manchester Gorton, including my Liberal Democrat colleague Qassim Afzal.

 Here’s the blurb for the programme. I might not watch this live due to a friend’s birthday party, but I’ll definitely be keen to see what comes out of it!

At 8pm on Monday 29th March, Channel 4 will stage a live debate between the would-be Chancellors, Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, Labour’s Alistair Darling and Conservative George Osborne. Krishnan Guru-Murthy will be asking the questions.

From 7pm on the night, Channel 4 will be hosting a discussion of the debate. You can send questions and comment to chancellordebate@channel4.com and follow the debate and comment at http://www.channel4.com/microsites/A/askthechancellors/

You can also get involved on Twitter by “tagging” your Twitter messages “#askthechancellors”.

Vince Cable is the Liberal Democrats’ Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor and one of the most popular current politicians. A 22/23 March poll by YouGov showed more people thought he would make the best Chancellor than either Alistair Darling or George Osborne.

Platt Fields Park has kicked off a year of centenary celebrations with the unveiling of a new clock on the boathouse today. Friends of Platt Fields organised the event in conjunction with the Council’s parks and leisure department, and arranged funding for the clock from Sainsburys. The Friends have also received a £4,850 grant from Lib Dem councillors in Rusholme, towards the centenary celebrations.

The clock on the boathouse has been missing for around 50 years - nobody can quite remember when it went! However, even in these days when everybody’s got a mobile phone to tell them the time, it’s still very nice to see it back.

Friends of Platt Fields have organised a great series of events throughout the year to celebrate the Park’s centenary, and I’m looking forward to getting involved in many of them. I hope to see you there!

U Decide is a project funded by Manchester City Council which aims to
direct cash into local communities like Fallowfield. It’s been running for a few years, and the initial phase this year has finished, wherein people proposed community projects they’d like to get funded.

There’s a Fallowfield U Decide meeting on Thursday 4th February at 6:30pm in Platt Lane Methodist Centre to decide which of the proposed projects will be funded from the £10,000 pot. Obviously it’s in the interests of Fallowfield residents to come along and vote for what they want to see happen! Previous funding bids have been included a Family Day in 2008.

I’ll be there to see what projects are applying for funding, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

It’s lovely to see some sunshine after the rain in Manchester today. The snow and ice seems so long ago, even though it’s only a couple of weeks since people found themselves housebound.

It’s important to think about what lessons we can learn from the weather conditions so we can avoid them in future. One thing that local residents mentioned to me was the Fallowfield Loop, the cycle path on the old railway line which runs between Fallowfield and Old Moat, from Chorlton all the way round to Openshaw. This path was completely frozen over in many places during the ice. Now, cars might have trouble on ice but at least you can’t fall off a car while driving (unless you’re Brian Harvey). An icy cycle path is completely unusable to cyclists, as well as the pedestrians who use it for recreation, dog walking and so on.

We’re being told that we need to cycle more. Cycling is a great way to commute, when the roads aren’t perilous - even in the rain, you tend to get less wet (or at least feel less wet) than waiting for a bus. It’s cheaper than a car, and quicker to get into town in rush hour. It’s better exercise than a bus, and gives you the freedom to go exactly where you want to go, which is very handy if you’re off the main bus routes or travelling on a Sunday. I’m looking at ways to make cheap refurbished bikes available to people in Fallowfield, like the “Ride Manchester” scheme formerly based in Levenshulme.

However, if Manchester City Council want us to cycle, they need to support the infrastructure that allows us to cycle, and that includes off-road cycle paths. We know that not every road can be gritted in extreme weather conditions, but since a frozen cycle path is even more perilous to its users than a frozen road, and there are not too many of them, then they should be afforded the same priority as other commuter routes. Of course, keeping the gritting up on roads is also important - though road gritting rarely covers the width of the road, meaning that cyclists either have to cycle in the snow and ice towards the side of the road, or try to share the narrow cleared strip of tarmac with cars - this too needs to be addressed.

Local residents have told me that they want to see action on the cyclepaths issue. Having clear cyclepaths all year round means more people getting more exercise, less congestion and more money in people’s pockets, and I think it’s a great idea. Fellow Lib Dems Victor Chamberlain and Cllr. Paul Ankers have also covered this issue. What do you think?

Hooray, I’ve finally got a blog up and running. I’ve been campaigning in Fallowfield for many months now, and it’s been great to get to know local residents and talk to people about their issues. I hope that this blog will complement the activity I’m doing on the ground with the Lib Dem team, and help more people reach me with their concerns.

As your Lib Dem candidate, I want to know about what affects you in Fallowfield. I’ll do my best to put pressure on the Council where they’re not doing their job, and to stand up for all Fallowfield residents. I’ll use this blog to keep you up to date with what’s going on in Fallowfield and what I’m up to, and to ask you to give me feedback on where you think there’s room for improvement.

I look forward to getting to know people online as well as in person!