North West Rail commitment needed now say Lib Dems (Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats)

Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats <info@garstonld.org.uk>

North West Rail commitment needed now say Lib Dems

October 1, 2008 12:00 AM

As the Party Conference Season ends Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, will travel straight to the North West tomorrow, (Thursday 2nd October 2008), with Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, to launch the North West Region's biggest ever transport petition calling for High Speed Rail links to the North West.

Nick Clegg and Norman Baker will join Liberal Democrat MPs and Council Leaders from across the North West Region at 10am at Warrington's award-winning Gateway Centre for the first ever North West Liberal Democrat Leadership Summit.

Top of the agenda will be to launch a petition, to be taken onto the streets across the North West, calling on the Labour Government to make a firm commitment now to high speed rail links to the North West, before any Cabinet decisions are made to support airport expansion in the south east - either at Heathrow or with a new airport at Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson's proposed Thames Gateway site.

The Liberal Democrats, who were the first party to agree plans for High Speed Rail links to the North West at their Conference, will launch the petition to step up the campaign and make the case for the high speed links to Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly in her own region.

The Petition will call on the Government to bring forward a high speed rail scheme for the North West ahead of any major decisions on airport expansion at Heathrow or Thames Gateway - decisions which could be made later this year.

Liberal Democrats believe that any Labour Government 'green light' for Heathrow expansion, or a successful campaign by London's Conservative Mayor for a Thames Gateway Airport, would immediately undercut projected passenger numbers for high speed rail links to the North West and could see the idea shelved.

Liberal Democrats now run, lead, or form part of the administration in 15 Councils or Authorities in North West from Carlisle and South Lakeland, in the north of the region, and Blackburn with Darwen, Pendle and Burnley in Lancashire, to Wirral, Sefton, Liverpool, St Helens, Warrington, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport as well as the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority and the Greater Manchester Fire Authority further south in the region.

The petition will be taken out to all these areas and across the region following Thursday's launch to ask the people of the North West to back the high speed rail plans and to ditch ideas for airport expansion in the south east.