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Clegg knows he and his Lib Dems are finished, they have no where to go.

I thought it appropriate to bring you this story which was generated by Tony Jones who is the Labour Party candidate in Redlands ward.

Here’s an interesting confession from Cleggy – and explains why the Lib Dems are so desperate to hang on to power, regardless what Cameron does.

The Liberal Democrats would cease to exist as a party if they brought down the Coalition over Europe and triggered an early election, Nick Clegg warned his MPs last night.

The Deputy Prime Minister told a private meeting of more than 100 MPs and peers that he would not play “Russian roulette” with the Conservatives over David Cameron’s rejection of a new European treaty.

He said: “I don’t want to be the last leader of the Liberal Democrats by provoking a general election today.”

Mr Clegg’s public attacks on Mr Cameron over Europe have raised questions about the future of the Coalition but the Deputy Prime Minister told his party he intends to remain in power with the Conservatives until the election due in 2015.

Earlier, Mr Clegg had seemed to backtrack from his former position by ordering his MPs to back a Commons motion “commending” Mr Cameron for rejecting the treaty. Mr Clegg has denounced Mr Cameron’s refusal to endorse a treaty aimed at creating a fiscal union between eurozone countries, suggesting the decision could harm British interests.

But Liberal Democrat MPs were told to vote in favour of a Commons motion describing the Prime Minister’s veto as “a vital means of defending the national interests of the UK”.

Lib Dems were also ordered to back a motion for “a rebalancing of the relationship with our European neighbours”, echoing the calls of eurosceptic Tories.

It was tabled by the Ulster Unionists and backed by the Conservatives, while Labour were opposed. To avoid the spectacle of Coalition MPs voting both ways — and a government defeat — Lib Dem MPs were whipped to vote in favour, too.

The decision exposed Mr Clegg to allegations that he has had three positions on the treaty in five days. Having initially given Mr Cameron lukewarm support on Friday, a Lib Dem backlash forced him to criticise the Prime Minister on Sunday.

So there we have it – the Tories can do what they like until 2015 and their Lib Dem poodles will just suck it up!

A lot of people are angry about what Cameron is doing without their permission

I was proud be out on the streets of Battle ward this weekend campaigning with my colleagues collecting signatures for our ‘All we want for Christmas is our NHS’ campaign.

Cameron promised to ‘protect the NHS’, to ‘give the NHS a real rise in funding’ and to ‘stop top-down NHS reorganisations’. He is breaking every one of these promises.

Under Cameron’s government:

More people are waiting longer for treatment

More NHS services will be run by private companies

A real-terms cut in the NHS budget is a deadly threat to our National Health Service

Cameron, backed by Clegg’s Lib Dems, is pushing forward with the biggest reorganisation in the history of the NHS. It’s costing billions of pounds, and is opposed by patient groups and health professionals alike. Their Health Bill is a deadly threat to our National Health Service. It will mean:

Worse patient care with services cut, hospitals closing and longer waiting times for treatment

More privatisation and more companies making money from all parts of our health service

More red tape making it harder for nurses, doctors and other health professionals to do their jobs

Cameron has betrayed our NHS. He made promises in the election he knew he would not keep in government. He has put our NHS firmly in the danger zone.

Join the fight

The PCT have cut and run

I have discovered that the West Berks Primary Care Trust has decided not to go ahead with the long promised Medical Centre on the old Battle Hospital site.

I have been advised that the PCT are preparing plans to sell off the site where the proposed Medical Centre would have been built.

I understand it is the intention of the PCT to sell the land for more housing. I also understand the PCT expects to be able to combine the proceeds from the sale of the land with section 106 money, which is in the region of £1m + and spend it as they see fit.

In partnership with former Battle councillor Tony Jones and former West Reading MP Martin Salter, I was heavily involved in securing funding for a Medical Centre following extensive consultation with the Oxford Road Community.

I believe this is a betrayal of the Oxford Road Community. In 2005 we held a series of public meetings and surveyed the entire ward to find out what people wanted to come from the redevelopment of the Battle Hospital site. The overwhelming response was that people wanted a medical centre to replace Battle Hospital. “

Gul Khan said: “This is a devastating blow to the Oxford Road Community. We believe the Coalition Government is “cleaning up” the NHS in preparation to sell off the profitable bits to the highest bidders wherever they may be in the world but only time will tell. However, what we do know is, cuts to the NHS are happening now even though the Coalition Government’s NHS reform bill has not yet passed into legislation. What the PCT is proposing is a disgrace.”

Sarah Hacker said: “As the newest Battle ward councillor I am appalled to hear what the PCT is proposing.  16 months ago my youngest son Haiden was born 2 months premature. The care he and I received at that time was absolutely fantastic. The support he and I have had since his birth has been brilliant. The NHS belongs to all of us, it is ours and it is the best in the world. What is happening at the moment is that an unelected government, with no mandate to do what they are doing, is being supported by an organisation that appears to have no public accountability.”

It is our view that what is happening in Battle ward is the tip of the national iceberg. We believe this is the first tangible evidence of how the Coalition’s Health Bill will change the NHS forever.

It has become clear the West Berks PCT will not support the provision of a medical centre on the former Battle Hospital site. WE, as elected representatives of Battle ward, have asked Reading Borough Council to withhold the section 106 funding while we consult local people on how they would like to see the money spent. The PCT have made plans to spend the money on upgrading local surgeries including one in Tilehurst. We believe the upgrading of local surgeries may be an option but we will wait to see what the Oxford Road community has to say first.

The Tories and LibDems have no madate

Ask any Reading Tory or Liberal Democrat councillor about what they think of the cuts and reforms taking place in the NHS and they will most likely reply “what cuts and reforms.”

My experience is that when you press them on this issue they say nothing is happening at the moment because the Bill is still in the Lords. I am not sure who they are trying to fool.

A story in the LOCAL PRESS points out quite graphically what the coalition is doing to the NHS in Berkshire even before their maveric Bill passes into legislation. In any language a cut of £60m will impact on the ability of the Royal Barks to sustain current levels of provision. It has to be remembered the coalition Government does not have a mandate to do what they are doing to our NHS.

People are fighting for their futures

I have always thought the world is made up of takers and givers. This is of course is a very simplistic view. However, what you think of those who strike will depend largely on this loose supposition.

One person interviewed on TV said teachers should not strike because it meant he had to find someone else to look after his child. Another said he supported the strikers because they were standing up for everyone.

As public servants are sacked those left have had to accepted a higher workload, a two year pay freeze, (more pain on the way for a further two years until 2015) and the prospect of permanent job insecurity. But what they cannot accept is a Government that has taken billions from their pension fund to pay for the mistakes of the bankers who continue to pay themselves millions is bonuses while the Government stands idly by.

On average their pensions will deteriorate by £122 a month for many years to come. Typically an employee  who is set to retire in 2033 at the age of 68 will receive on average 10% less benefits on retirement having paid more in contributions. This is what the Tories, LibDems and the media will not tell you.

For the first time in many years a formal remembrance service to commemorate our fallen service men and women was held at the towns cenotaph at the Forbury Gardens at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month 2011.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left to grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”

The Forbury Cenotaph must now remain the focal point for our 11th of the 11th remembrance from this time forward. I am proud to have played a small part in making this happen. I am sure my father would have been very proud.

Please look here: Getreading

Currently many parents in east Reading have no choice other than to find a place for their children to undertake their secondary education in schools in neighbouring Wokingham.

Reading is a single Unitary Authority, what ever happens in our town is relevant to all of us whether we live in East or West Reading.

Follow this link and sign the petition.