Since the General Election we have all been experiencing a roller-coaster ride.  Some days I wake up with enormous enthusiasm and on others I am in the depths of despair.  Has it all gone wrong or are we really building for a future society based on liberalism?

 Today, I have been chairing the regular Fire Authority meeting where the major issues have been centred on the cuts – sorry the innovations and efficiencies.  My Authority, West Yorkshire FRA, is blessed with forward thinking officers and very supportive members.  We are a Lab/LibDem administration (11 Lab 5 Lib Dem and 6 Con) and we are carefully planning how best to address a potential 40% cut in the Government grant which currently makes up 62% of the Authority’s funding.

 In the event, the meeting went well.  Afterwards there was a series of press calls and now home.

 Yesterday was a similar story, but more to do with Local Area Committees.  We have  now, at long last, recreated the Area Committees based on several wards.  Mine, the Valleys Area Committee, has four electoral wards and covers a vast swathe of the southern reaches of Kirklees.  It political make up is 7 LD, 4 Con and 1 Indy.  A reasonable majority you might think!  The overall committee is now set up to take strategic decisions and each ward is encouraged to set up Local Ward Forums thereby encouraging an immediate interchange with the local electorate.  Time will tell if it’s enough and whether it will work.

 And so to conference.  We hear on the grapevine that the LibDems have lost around 500 members since May, but also gained 2000 plus.  I do wish such information was readily available.  Certainly, on the ground, we hear that there is a general acceptance of the work the Government is doing, despite the sniping of the press and the ousted Labour ex-ministers.  Whether such acceptance will continue through the term of the parliament, whether we can achieve 5 years, whether we can implement an AV form of voting remains to be seen.  I do believe that, if the Government remains strongly focussed on its beliefs and convictions, then even the Britsh people (and maybe even the press) will begin to see that coalitions can and do work.  LibDems, of course, are well used to working with other parties in Local Government, but running the country is a bit different.  Mr Clegg appears to be making a reasonable fist of things, being very assured at the despatch box.

 I must try to post further blogs more regularly.

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