Tag Archives: mark hunter

The cheque bounces back

By Helen Duffett | Published 13th July 2011 - 8:54 am

The government said yesterday that it would scrap plans to abolish cheques after strong opposition from a variety of groups representing tradespeople, the elderly and disabled, and charities.

From the FT:

A controversial plan to abolish cheques has been scrapped, after banks were warned in parliament that they had “scared the pants off middle England”.

Worried members of the public sent more than one thousand letters and emails to MPs after it was announced that the 350-year-old payment system was to be phased out by late 2018.

The U-turn came after the government indicated it would intervene unless a suitable alternative was found.

The

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Lib Dem MP launches bill to ‘Save the Cheque’

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th November 2010 - 5:15 pm

Last year, my Voice colleague, Iain Roberts, reported the efforts of Lib Dem Cheadle MP Mark Hunter to ‘Save the Cheque‘, due to be phased out by October 2018.

Now his fellow Lib Dem MP David Ward (Bradford East) has joined the fray, this week introducing a 10 Minute Rule in the House of Commons to introduce a bill to save the cheque. You ca read the full text of his Commons speech here, and a brief excerpt here:

What have the Federation of Small Businesses, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Unite, Which?, Royal National Institute of Blind

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A straight choice? Does this squeeze message hold water?

By Iain Roberts | Published 4th April 2010 - 6:09 pm

Under our First Past the Post voting system, the squeeze message is a legitimate one, used by all parties when it’s to their benefit.

Voting for the third (or lower) placed party in the seat is, they all argue, a wasted vote. Those lower placed parties will say otherwise, but it’s a fair tactic. Lib Dems would say that under a better voting system, tactical voting wouldn’t be needed.

But in this election we’re seeing a new twist on the theme from the Labservatives, and it’s a bit of a stretch to see how it could be honest or …

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Posted in General Election | Also tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Times: Tories “give up” on Cheadle with Lib Dems digging in for victory

By Stephen Tall | Published 7th December 2009 - 10:15 am

Mark Hunter, Lib Dem MP for the  Cheshire seat of Cheadle since 2005, could be forgiven for smiling like his county’s proverbial cat this morning.

Today’s Times reports that the Tories are scaling back their expectations of election victory in the light of a slew of polls showing the party’s support dipping:

The Conservatives are digging in for a six-week election campaign and are quietly withdrawing resources from some “landslide” seats to maximise David Cameron’s chances of winning a workable majority.

The well-sourced article highlights just one example of a constituency where the Tories are giving up the fight:

Cheadle, currently held by

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Posted in General Election, News, Opposition watch | Also tagged , , | 9 Comments

Time running out to save the cheque

By Iain Roberts | Published 5th December 2009 - 11:17 am

I’ve had  internet banking for the majority of my adult life, but I still write and receive a surprising number of cheques.  I may not be able to use them to buy petrol, but they pay for the kids’ school dinners and activities, cover the milk bill, pay tradesmen and allow relatives to safely send financial gifts in a way that “I’ve transferred £30 to your bank account” just doesn’t match.

As a nation, we write nearly four million cheques every day.  They might be expensive and annoying for the banks to deal with, but they’re still useful for us, and …

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Posted in News, Op-eds | 15 Comments

Cheadle by-election architect appointed Lib Dem campaigns director

By the founding editor | Published 15th December 2006 - 8:39 am

Via Duncan Borrowman comes the welcome news that Hilary Stephenson, one of the party’s most experienced campaigners, has been appointed to succeed Paul Rainger as Director of Campaigns.

Among the many campaigns she has run was the (relatively) recent Cheadle by-election to defend the seat following the death of Patsy Calton MP, which saw local man Mark Hunter successfully sent to Westminster.

We wish her well!

Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , | 6 Comments