Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats

There was unanimous support at last night's Full Council meeting for Cllr Patrick Solomon's motion for Bedford Borough Council to pledge their solidarity and support for local residents of the Windrush generation and their families.

Cllr Solomon introduced the motion, highlighting the betrayal of people who were invited here by the UK government many years ago, only to be threatened with deportation by the Home Office in spite of their legal right to remain permanently.

Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats are calling on all councillors to pledge their solidarity and support for local residents of the Windrush generation and their families, following their treatment by the Government in the Windrush Scandal.

Lib Dem Cllr Patrick Solomon will propose a motion at this week's Full Council meeting which recognises the 'enormous contribution of members of the Windrush Generation to British society following the Second World War.'

February is LGBT+ History Month, and the Rainbow Flag was flying proudly at Borough Hall on Saturday to mark the occasion.

Pictured here with the Rainbow Flag to celebrate LGBT+ History Month are Cllrs Caswell, McHugh, Headley and Vann.

The Higgins Bedford will be marking this year's LGBT+ History Month on Saturday 15th February with a number of talks including Viv Woodcock-Downey on the Federation of Gay Games, Rose Collis on Fourth Years Out, Stuart Feather of Gay Liberation: 50 years of history in the making, Sacha Coward on queer themes in videogames and Carl Austin-Behan on being gay in the RAF. More details of the talks can be found here.

Bedford Visitor Information Centre (VIC) will be moving to a new home in Bedford Central Library from March this year.

The VIC is a volunteer-run organisation working to promote Bedford to both visitors and residents, providing accurate, up to date and relevant information about visitor attractions, events and the local area. Since its launch in St Paul's Church in October 2018, the VIC has welcomed nearly 2,000 people to the VIC.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Tim Caswell has thanked the Council and all partner agencies for their work in contributing to a 41% reduction in the number of rough sleepers in Bedford Borough.

Cllr Caswell made the comments at this week's Housing Committee meeting where a report confirmed that there were 30 individuals sleeping rough in Bedford Borough in 2019, down from 76 in 2017 and 51 in 2018.

Today is Young Carers Awareness Day, and Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats are joining the call for increased awareness of the challenges young carers face as an important part of ensuring they receive the support they need.

Commenting, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Christine McHugh said: "Young carers face a wide range of challenges in their home and school life that are often not obvious to others. Caring for someone can be very isolating, worrying and stressful, especially for young people, and it can affect their own wellbeing, educational outcomes and longer-term life chances.'

It has been announced that East West Rail will be stopping at Bedford Midland station, connecting the town directly to Cambridge and Oxford.

This 'Central Section' builds on the 'Western Section', connecting Oxford and Bicester with services through to Bedford.

This confirmation is excellent news for Bedford residents. Increased connectivity for our town will bring more opportunities to travel for work and leisure, as well as supporting our economic growth and prosperity, attracting businesses and jobs.