LIBERAL Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg, visited the festival fete on Saturday, met the voters in Thame town centre again this afternoon, with former Liberal Democrat Leaders, Menzies (Ming) Campbell, Paddy Ashdown and Stephen Kearney, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Henley by-election.
They strolled along the Buttermarket followed by a posse of cameramen, tv cameras and reporters, going into local shops and chatting with voters as they went.
Paddy Ashdown spoke to ThameNews.Net and re-itterated the message that his party intends to fight all the way against their main opponents, the Conservatives, and Stephen Kearney added that his party really feels that the outcome of this battle for the Henley Constituency is by no means the foregone conclusion that people were talking about at the beginning of the campaign.
Author: Sonja Francis
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Paddy and Ming woo the voters in Thame
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Conservative’s retaliate over green belt accusation
THE battle for the Henley parliamentary seat continued today with the Liberal Democrats coming under fire from the Conservatives over accusations of hypocracy over the Green Belt.
Today the Conservatives issued the following response to the Lib Dem’s Chief Executive, Lord Rennard’s statement that the Conservative candidate John Howell advises developers who are desperate to build in controversial locations:
“This is just mud-slinging by the Liberal Democrats and it?s the kind of negative campaigning that really turns people off. John Howell has not worked on any projects that involve development on the green belt because he is a campaigner against such developments.
“These desperate smears are nothing more than a classic case of dirty tricks and do nothing to deflect away from John’s fantastic record as champion of the green belt.
“Let’s be clear about who stands for what on the green belt. The Labour government wants to build thousands of homes here. The local Liberal Democrats support them. Only the Conservatives oppose building on the South Oxfordshire green belt.”Ed. See above for Mark Stevenson, the Green party’s candidate’s respone to this statement.
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Green’s accuse Conservatives of half-truths over green belt
THE Green party candidate for the Henley by-election has joined the battle of words over which party party cares most about the protection of the green belt.
Mark Stevenson today issued the following statement:“The recent revelations over John Howell’s links to
developers have been met with more half-truths. Whilst
the Conservatives are keen to accuse the Liberal
democrats of “dirty tricks” in publicising these
links, they also claim “Only the Conservatives oppose
building on the South Oxfordshire green belt”. Yet
the Green candidate in the Henley by-election, Mark
Stevenson, has consistently opposed it – including in the Green Party’s campaign in last year’s District
Council elections.
“The Green councillors in Oxford City and on the County Council have also consistently argued against the proposed development south of Grenoble Road.“It seems unlikely that Mr Howell, a County councillor
for the very division in which I live and
campaign, was unaware of this. If he is genuine in his
desire to preserve the green belt, surely he should
know who his allies are?“The proposal to develop the greenbelt is being driven, in part, by the Labour controlled Oxford City Council. Any campaigner worth his salt would know which City Councillors were opposed to it. So why has Mr Howell failed to acknowledge the Greens?”
Mark Stevenson continued:”The Tories and the Lib Dems want to portray this as a two-horse race – they are both desperately courting the green vote whilst trying to pretend that there isn’t one!
“Mr Howell cannot have been unaware of the Green Party’s opposition to development in Oxford’s
greenbelt. This is the second time Mr Howell’s
campaign has made a false claim and for him to accuse
the Lib Dems of “dirty tricks” is simply hypocritical.“We all know that this is precisely the kind of
insincere behaviour that brings politics into
disrepute. All we need and all we want is politicians
who will work together for the common good. So I am
happy to acknowledge all the good work John Howell, as
a County Councillor, has done on our behalf. In return
I would appreciate recognition of my work and that of
the Green Party.” -
Neighbourhood policing update for Thame and Chinnor
THIS is the latest update provided by Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Diane Greenwood:
The Thame neighbourhood policing team and licensing officers set up a successful operation in May, in which local pubs and shops selling alcohol were tested to check they were not selling to under 18s. This operation produced mixed results with five out of eleven premises being caught breaking the law. On each occasion the member of staff who served the youths was issued with an -
Thame flood victims meet shadow environment secretary
SHADOW Environment Secretary, Peter Ainsworth today joined local campaigner and Conservative candidate John Howell in Thame, to meet victims of the recent flooding.
They met residents in Cedar Crescent who were evacuated from their home as a result of their property being flooded.
Local campaigner and Conservative candidate John Howell, said:
?My heart goes out to people we met this morning who have had to move out of their homes due to the recent floods. Many of them won’t be able to return for months. We can’t underestimate how distressing this situation is for them?. -
Final section completes the Phoenix Trail
TODAY saw the officially opening of the final – and much fought for – final section of the Phoenix Trail, the shared use path that runs along the old disused railway line between Princes Risbough and Thame.
The Chairman of South Oxfordshire District Council, Colin Dauks cut the ribbon to allow the first official group of cyclists – pupils from Lord Williams’s school – to set off on their bikes.
Also present was teacher in charge of the school’s Travel Plan, Daniel Cuell, Headteacher, David Wybron and Simon Pratt from SUSTRANS who have planned, engineered and over-seen the development of the Phoenix Trail from its inception, eight years ago.
Cllr Dauks said: “We consider that the -
‘One fare ride’ with Chiltern Rail & Eurostar
CHILTERN Railways in partnership with Eurostar, have expanded their through-fares scheme from 15, new stations to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Disneyland
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Tribute after inquest verdict on Thame motorcylist
A verdict of Accidental death has been recorded after an inquest into the death of a Thame motorcyclist.
Francis Inceman, known as Mick, of Seven Acres, Thame, died after he lost control of his green Kawasaki motorbike and collided with a van at a bend on the Ford Road, Haddenham on February 26.According to a report from Consultant Pathologist, Dr Mavis Mayers, 42 year-old Mick, who was due to be married this summer, suffered a fractured skull in the accident.
Cyclist, Martin Davies, who witnessed the crash, told the inquest: “He was coming towards me. The back of the bike was wobbling like he had hit ice, but there wasn’t any ice. It was two or three seconds before he hit the van.”
He added: “I went over to him and could see blood pouring out of his nose. I knew he was dead.”The driver of the Renault van, Derek Dennis, said: “He was approaching the sharpest part of the bend as though he was trying to scrub speed to slow down.
“The back end of the bike was out of control. He was swerving as though he was trying to straighten it up. It went the other way and he over corrected it the other way.
“I was actually running with the near side wheels on the verge waiting to see where he was going to go. It went on to the bike’s nearside and he collided with the side of the vehicle.”PC Adrian White, a collision investigator, told the inquest that Mr Inceman may have hit a groove in the road causing him to stray on to the opposite carriageway or he may have been travelling over the speed limit, but that neither could be established.
In a statement, Mick’s family said: ?We would like to thank everyone who stopped and tried to help him after his tragic accident, including the lady who didn?t wait to give a statement.
“We would also like to thank the team at Aylesbury police station, who have been very supportive and helpful, especially PC Holt, who has helped us through the last four months with tireless enthusiasm and endless compassion.
?Mick was a very experienced motorbike rider, having ridden a bike for 25 years. His bike was his only mode of transport so he rode it every day to work and at the weekends for pleasure. Last year he took four months off and rode to India, an adventure we are today so pleased that he decided to do then and did not put off.
?Although we do understand he had a very powerful motorbike with the potential for high speeds, we are also aware of non-bikers? perceptions and misguided attitudes, that all bikers ride too fast and are reckless.
?A motorbike with the engine size of Mick?s always make a very loud noise and with acceleration or deceleration this gets even louder. Most of the time this is a good way to warn other road users that a motorbike is near them.
?In this instance it seems that something made Mick lose control of his bike and have this tragic accident. The very saddest part of all is that the only person who really knows what happened can?t be here to tell us. For the rest of our lives we will always wonder. The light has gone out of our lives and we are doing our best to rebuild our lives without our son, dad, granddad and fianc -
Conservatives accused of ‘grade A hypocrisy’ over choice of candidate
A leading Liberal Democrat has criticised the Conservative’s choice of candidate to fight for Boris Johnson’s Henley seat in the coming by-election.
This follows an article in today’s Guardian which reported that John Howell, the Conservative candidate, is campaigning to keep the Green Belt while acting as a lobbyist for a planning company that advises housebuilders on contentious land and property deals.
The Chief Executive of the Lib Dems, Lord Rennard, said in a statement today: “The Conservatives may have made a major mistake in Henley. They have chosen someone who says that he wants to protect the countryside. People will be shocked to learn the truth that he is closely tied to developers who are desperate to build in controversial locations. This is grade A hypocrisy.”Today a Conservative party spokesman confirmed that John Howell did work for Savill’s (where, it is reported, he provides communications and political lobbying consultancy on large and contentious land and property developments) but that Howell “had not worked on a single scheme in the green belt”.
Read the full article in the Guardian
Photo: Conservatice candidate, John Howells, with William Hague, on a tour of Thame Farmers Market on Tuesday.
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Thame motorists told not to panic over tanker drivers walk-out
ON the eve of a four-day strike by 500 tanker drivers contracted to Shell, the manager of the Thame Shell station has warned drivers not to panic buy.
Tony Hallan, who manages the petrol station in Park Street, Thame, has said that as long as the tanks are
full or three-quarters full this evening, there will be enough to see them through the strike as long as motorist do not start to panic buy.