Ceredigion’s Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has welcomed the release of the final report of the Legg Review, which was published yesterday.

374 MPs past and present have been asked to pay back a total of £1.12 million after the completion of the appeals process.

Sir Thomas Legg investigated the expenses of current and former MPs from 2004 onwards.

Mark Williams was not required to pay anything back as part of Sir Thomas’s Review.

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Roger Williams, the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, has today said that Conservative plans to increase the inheritance tax threshold shows they are only committed helping to the wealthiest few.

Mr Williams accused the Conservatives of helping their party’s wealthy donors at the expense of ordinary working people.

The Conservatives have said that they would increase the inheritance tax allowance to £1 million per person. Because the threshold would be transferable this would mean that a married couple would pay no inheritance tax on anything up to £2 million.

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Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, has metwith representatives from the Royal British Legion in Parliament to makea formal pledge to do her bit to support the British Armed Forces.

The move comes as Bob Ainsworth, Secretary of State for Defence, warnedtoday that Operation Moshtarak, being launched in Afghanistan is likelyto lead to a rise in the number of British casualties.

The Royal British Legion is calling on candidates from all parties tosupport the Armed Forces family in the general election and haveproduced a manifesto recommending various changes in government policy.

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Welsh Lib Dem Conference building a Fair Wales - Kirsty Williams

The Welsh Liberal Democrats will this weekend be reaffirming their commitment to building a fairer Wales by setting in stone their four main priorities for the General Election and the people of Wales.

Our four key pledges to deliver a fair Wales that will underpin the manifesto are:

* Fair Taxes for all * A Fair Start for Children * A Fair, Sustainable Economy * Fair, Clean and Local Politics

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said:

“The people of Wales have a choice between three very different visions of the future. The Liberal Democrat vision is of a Fairer Wales within a Fairer Britain.

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Welsh Liberal Democrats will this afternoon stage a vote in the Assembly, calling on proper recognition of the role of Further and Higher Education in Wales.

The Labour-Plaid Government’s recent budget has caused anger in the sector, and led to dire warnings about cuts to jobs and courses.

“The latest Labour-Plaid budget saw 5% cuts across Welsh Universities and further squeezes on colleges and sixth forms. This is in addition to the frankly awful gap between education funding compared to England.

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The Welsh Liberal Democrats have hit out at patchy and ineffective use of the Assembly Government’s Proact scheme, as the party uncoveredfigures showing that it has had very little effect in many areas ofWales.

Figures show that in some areas, the scheme, often hailed by Labour andPlaid as an economic golden bullet has helped less than ten people.

In Ceredigion, where the scheme has been repeatedly praised by PlaidCymru, the scheme has only helped eight people, while in Conwy onlyseven employees have been supported.

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Roger Williams, the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, has said that the Government’s refusal to act on reform of the Barnett Formula treats Welsh people as Second Class Citizens.

Mr Williams was speaking after receiving a response to a letter sent to the Prime Minster late last year asking him once again to change the method of funding for the devolved regions of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The reply said that the Prime Minister had no plans to change the Formula, even though a report by the Holtham Commission last year warned that the current system will mean that over the next decade Wales will be under-funded by around £8.5 billion.

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Following the announcement of a ninety day consultation on the possible closure of the Newtown branch of Shop Direct, which currently employs around 180 people, Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats Lembit Öpik and Mick Bates have secured a meeting with top management to seek solutions, short of closure. 

However, the announcement of these job cuts is to do with increasing on-line shopping and not the recession. Shop Direct Group says it has excess capacity due to falling call volumes. Numbers have declined from 33 million calls to 19 million in under four years. 

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Ceredigion’s Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has branded plans to force new businesses and businesses with an annual turnover of £100,000 to submit and pay their VAT online as ‘bonkers’.

The new rules will apply from April 2010, and could cause considerable difficulty to businesses without access to a reliable broadband connection or computer expertise.

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