http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articlearchive.php Recent Press Articles from Stephen Williams MP en-GB Stephen Williams MP http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Stephen Williams MP 2010-07-31T09:30+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000109/letter_from_westminster_8th_nov_2009.html Letter from Westminster and Bristol, 12 Oct to 8 Nov 2009 2009-11-08T00:00+00:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000104/letter_from_westminster_29_june_2009.html The most significant event of the week was the election of a new Speaker. 2009-06-29T10:04+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000105/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_21st_june_2009.html This has been a three week period of hyperactivity, with no complete day off! The first four days were of course entirely given over to election campaigning. My sun tanned head and arms and worn out legs gave way to physical elation in the early hours of Friday 5th June when it was confirmed we had won enough seats for an overall majority. Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg came down to Bristol on the Friday morning to help us celebrate the party's best result around the country. Gathered in the Council Chamber I remembered how when I was a young city councillor in 1995 the Lib Dems numbered just nine and faced a 53 strong Labour group. 2009-06-21T10:08+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000106/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_april_2009.html Another busy month, though with a welcome Easter break in the middle! 2009-04-28T00:00+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000107/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_march_2009.html It's a beautiful sunny Saturday in Bristol and thoughts turn to longer hours of daylight, days out…oh and elections too. At least this years election season will take place mainly in late April and May so it will be great to be out meeting lots of voters on the doorstep. But it's also a great time to wander round and explore Bristol. It's possible that the economic circumstances of 2009 will compel more people to visit more of Bristol's attractions and holiday in Britain. Along with the MPs for Bristol East and Kingswood I went to what is arguably one of the best tourist attractions in the entire country, Brunel's SS Great Britain, to promote the start of the British tourist season. So if you haven't been down to the harbour recently, please pay a visit! 2009-03-28T00:00+00:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000108/letter_from_westminster_february_2009.html The biggest local issue over the last few weeks has been the fiasco of primary school admissions. Across the city about 300 families were not offered a primary school place for September, 130 of them in Bristol West. This is a major failure of a very basic duty of the City Council. It's all the more disappointing as it could have been avoided if only the former Labour administration had listened to local views and evidence about population changes. I've met and been written to by many parents about this issue, especially from Bishopston and Redland. Our proposal back in 2006 to build a new primary school on Ashley Down Road would have averted many of the problems in this area. I went on Radio Bristol's breakfast programme with the founders of a new local campaign group and gave the issue some national attention with a Commons motion attacking the Labour run council. 2009-02-27T00:00+00:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000103/letter_from_westminster_january_2009.html The deteriorating economy has continued to dominate political issues. The IMF predicts that Britain will see the worst recession of the major economies in 2009. The Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable, continues to outperform his Conservative equivalent. Vince came to Bristol to take part in a panel discussion that included local business and trade union representatives as well as Graham Watson MEP and myself. 2009-01-30T00:00+00:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000102/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_16_november_2008.html This covers the two weeks to 16th November 2008 2008-11-16T00:00+00:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000101/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_2_november_2008.html This Letter covers the three weeks from 13th October to 2nd November 2008. 2008-11-02T00:00+00:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000100/letter_from_westminster_13_oct_2008.html I arrived for my first week back at Westminster after weeks when it seemed the financial world was falling apart. I thought back to the last few days of my inter-railing trip in September 1992. On arrival in Lyon one morning I was told by the currency kiosk lady that the pound had nose-dived. Suddenly my budget for the remainder of the holiday looked shot to pieces. Back home the day was soon dubbed "Black Wednesday" and the illusion of Conservative Party competence in economics was shattered. 2008-10-13T00:00+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000099/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_29th_june_2008.html Letter from Westminster and Bristol, 29th June 2008 2008-06-30T15:07+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000098/letter_from_westminster.html The Parliamentary highlight was obviously the vote on 42 days detention for suspected terrorists. This was not quite as highly charged as the debate over 90 days a couple of years ago, when Tony Blair's government was defeated. I suspected that Brown had twisted enough Labour arms to get his new measure through, so was surprised by the narrowness of his victory. It can't be comfortable for any government to be dependent on Ian Paisley... As Shirley Williams has put it, the DUP are the undertakers of all recent governments, propping up Callaghan and Major. 2008-06-16T10:39+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000097/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_2nd_june_2008.html Letter from Westminster and Bristol, 2nd June 2008 2008-06-03T10:15+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000096/letter_from_westminster_18th_may_2008.html Letter from Westminster 18th May 2008 2008-05-19T14:24+01:00 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/articles/000095/letter_from_westminster_and_bristol_27_april_2008.html Before heading back to London on Monday I paid another visit to the youth charity Fairbridge on Cheltenham Road. I met with some of the young people who had been taking part in access courses and other courses getting their learning back on track. I presented their achievement certificates. It was also an opportunity to catch up with some of the people who I'd met on previous visits. It was good to find that some of them are now in paying jobs. 2008-04-29T08:50+01:00