The Welsh Liberal Democrats have been leading the fight to protect services at Bronglais Hospital for a considerable time, and Mark Williams MP and William Powell AM’s staff had their most recent meeting with Hywel Dda Chief Executive Trevor Purt shortly before Christmas. This has been accompanied by a series of meetings with the aBer action group over several months and a number of questions with Ministers in the Senedd. However, despite this obvious concern, the Minister has refused their joint request for a meeting and suggested that they seek further meetings with Mr Purt instead.

William Powell, Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales, said:

“The Minister’s refusal to meet my colleagues and me speaks to the apparent disregard she has …

After ending Labour’s Post Office closure programme, which saw more than 7100 Post Offices disappear in their 13 years in office, this deal made by the Liberal Democrat Minister for Postal Affairs gives additional certainty to subpostmasters across the UK and covers the full range of Royal Mail products available at post offices such as first and second class post, parcels, air mail, recorded and special deliveries.

Commenting, Mark Williams said:

“After years of Post Office closures under the Labour Government, it is excellent news that Liberal Democrats are doing the right thing by ensuring that the Post Office has a sustainable future ahead of it through investment, and by brokering this deal with Royal Mail.  Post Offices are a vital part of our communities and are the lynchpin of our towns and villages, even more so in our rural communities in Ceredigion.

“Labour …

The café is based at MIND in Haringey on Stapleton Hall Road. It uses surplus food and dedicated volunteers to create healthy meals for the community every Friday lunchtime, running a ‘pay what you can’ scheme so anyone can come along.

To help keep the Café running, they’re offering rewards in return for pledges on www.peoplefund.it/foodcycle including a VIP dinner for two, signed cookbooks and FoodCycle aprons and T-shirts. The Café needs £3,000 to reach the target which will help it to run for another year.

If you are interested in supporting this local good cause please visit: www.peoplefund.it/foodcycle…

As I pointed out in a debate on bankers’ bonuses on Monday, executive pay and bonuses are meant to be the reward for successful stewardship of a company.  The company is owned by the shareholders – which in many cases are the pension funds of millions of people.  If the company has done well, the dividends increase and the share price rises then the shareholders will be happy.  And if that success is down to clear strategic thinking by a director, then a bonus is in order.

But the evidence of the last decade is that while company performance has been modest, executive pay has rocketed.  The big problem is that company boards effectively set their own terms and conditions.  The remuneration committees devise remuneration packages that …

“I am delighted to hear that the Silk Commission will undertake the widest possible consultation across Wales and the border, though I hope the much maligned curry nights of the All Wales Convention will not be a feature.

“The terms of reference agreed by the four parties provide us with an excellent opportunity to carry out the progress of devolution, and I am pleased the four principle parties in Wales have signed up to the initial work of Paul Silk and his team.

“Once the work of Silk is completed, and building on the work of Gerald Holtham, it is essential that these matters will not be parked in any convenient cul-de-sac.”…

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has spoken at the opening of the Send my Sister to school Exhibition in Parliament.

The exhibition is a showcase of work done by young people in schools, colleges and voluntary groups across the whole country as part of ActionAid’s ‘Send my Sister to School’ campaign, which seeks to educate children in this country about the importance of education to children overseas, particularly girls, and encourages them to lobby their MPs on the issue.

So far 600,000 young people in the UK have taken action. The message they want to send politicians is that of the 67 million children in the world who do not go to school, millions more of them are girls than boys, and something must be done about this.

Commenting Mark Williams said:

“I am delighted to be part of the exhibition opening, due to my role as Vice-Chair of the APPG on Global Education for All. Indeed I was delighted to visit a number of schools in Ceredigion last …

Mark Williams reported back that the Government had conceded in the Public Bodies Bill that the office of National Coroner should not be abolished as proposed in the Bill.  This had been a key demand of the Royal British Legion.

Mark Williams also reported that the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, of which he is a member, would be undertaking an enquiry ‘Veterans in Wales’ in coming months.

Commenting Mark Williams said:

“Our Committee will be ensuring that the promises of Government with regard to the Military Covenant, and the work undertaken by the Assembly Government is honoured, and the role servicemen play in our society is fully respected.”…

Whilst Mr Williams and the Liberal Democrats very much welcome the proposals to register voters individually rather than by a head of household, he has warned the Government of some areas of concern many groups, such as the Electoral Commission, have expressed regarding the proposals as they stand, such as the need to make registering compulsory and the need to put as much resources as possible into getting the list in order in 2014 in time for the 2015 election.

Commenting Mark Williams said:

“Whilst I recognise the importance of this change in the voter registration system and fully support it, we must do all we can to ensure the register is as complete as possible.  The effects could be far wider reaching than getting to polling day and realising you are unable to vote, as the electoral register is often used as proof of address when …