Queen's Speech a disappointment for Northampton - Lib Dems

10.00.00pm GMT Tue 6th Nov 2007

"A disappointing string of announcements with no vision" - that's the verdict of Liberal Democrats in Northampton as local residents digest the contents of the Queen's Speech, the government's plans for the coming year.

In a message to residents, Andrew Simpson, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Northampton North constituency said, "Northampton and the County have both this year and in the past suffered from extreme rainfall and flooding, now believed to be a result of global warming and climate change which is caused by carbon emissions. The government's response is to bring in a weak Climate Change Bill that lacks targets and the real action needed to tackle the problem.

"Thousands of residents of locally are hit hard by council tax rises - which is again next year expected to go up above inflation. It is the unfairest tax around yet there was no mention of scrapping it and replacing it with a fairer system based on ability to pay.

"Many people are unable to live in a home of their own because they cannot afford a mortgage and rented accommodation is in short supply as the Government has failed completely over the past decade to ensure there is enough affordable housing. Yet the measures in the Queen's Speech on housing will only scratch the surface of the problem in Northampton.

"Gordon Brown has been at the heart of the Labour government since it came to power over ten years ago. He has now been Prime Minister for four months. Yet there is little in the way of a vision in the Queen's Speech of where he wants to take the country.

"Much of it is a collection of knee jerk reactions, rather than a picture of where Labour wants to take the country. And much of the rest is about grabbing headlines by trying to look as if problems that Labour have failed to tackle over the past decade are now being taken seriously.

"Northampton residents will be disappointed by this Queen's Speech from a worn out government. What could have been a great stride forward for both our town and the country has turned out to be a timid mishmash that will get us nowhere."