Pity your postman!

A weary please from this particular Yellow Bird, for those of you who have a letter box at foot level, preferably with a stiff brush behind it - do think of your postman! Every election time there are legions of party supporters of every political colour who return home with skinned fingers, aching backs and creaking knees having 'done their bit' for the party by delivering election leaflets. Amongst the worst letter boxes are definitely those at leprechaun level. The best are those lovely boxes fixed at eye level on the wall.

There are several categories of letter box. The aforementioned leprechaun special. The completely sealed up variety (how do they get any mail) the snap your fingers off, the 'I've got a dog who will bite your fingers off - we have a deliverer with a very short finger now, the very posh which takes ages to work out how to get your leaflet in (but looks classy), the non existent letter box (in the same catagory as the completely sealed), the reasonably kind type which can be hard to operate but doesn't scar you for life and the absolutely lovely easy to use, easy to reach post box on the wall.

Of course, some people would argue that they don't want any election literature but this is a democracy, if we don't all give you the opportunity to make your minds up on an informed level then we would be living in a dictatorship. That said, should the writer of this item be in charge of the country right now - the first new law would be to ban all letter boxes which didn't conform to the - yes of course, the delightful post box on the wall (especially if its got a pretty little hunting horn or carriage and four on it, or best of all - a yellow bird, very jolly).

Perhaps we should make this part of our manifesto - support your postmen/ladies - get a postperson user friendly letter box!

Freedom of Information Act - this concerns us all

We decided to include this item because it affects everyone of us, although it is not specifically related to Stamford.
Conservative back-bench MP David Maclean is energetically pushing through a Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill which would exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act. This private members bill was slipped in late on a Friday afternoon and passed through the first stage virtually unopposed with the Government doing nothing to protect the Act.
On Friday 27th April, the Debate is set to continue Liberal Democrat MPs Norman Baker and Simon Hughes are spearheading the LibDem effort to stop the bill and have vowed to keep fighting to stop it becoming law.
Britain was amongst the last in Europe to introduce a legal right of access to public information, although it is the country where it is most widely used.

Spring 2007 Liberal Democrats Focus Newsletter

The latest newsletter is now online at the main web site. This issue covers:

• Local Democracy?
• Planning
• Parish Referendum
• Town Council
• Policing & Crime
• Community Corner
• Did you know?
• News from Europe
• Your LibDem Councillor
• Ball Park
• Grumble Sheet

Click the following link:-
Spring 2007 Focus Newsletter

Stamford Liberal Democrats

YELLOW BIRD WELCOMES YOU
to
Stamford & Grantham Liberal Democrats Blog

STAMFORD BRANCH

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of Liberty, Equality and Community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.

Welcome to our new blog which is presented to provide the latest news, events and other topics of interest in conjunction with our main web site for the Stamford Liberal Democrats.

You will find the main Stamford Liberal Democrats web site at:-

http://www.stamfordlibdems.com/

Please feel free to contact us on:

Email: stamfordlibdems@uk2.net and stamfordlibdems@hotmail.com