LIB DEMS IN SOLIHULL HEAD FOR CONFERENCE

6.18.00pm GMT Mon 10th Sep 2007

Brighton is bracing itself for the arrival of thousands of Liberal Democrats for the party's conference next week and amongst those attending will be local campaigners from Solihull Borough.

Solihull MP, Lorely Burt said:

"The theme of our conference is the environment. The big debates will focus on the need to cut down on pollution and to shift the burden of tax from income and onto greenhouse gas emissions. Our plans will mean national income tax will be cut from 20p to 16p in the pound and council tax will be scrapped. We will pay for these by shifting the tax burden onto the most polluting, gas-guzzling cars and onto aircraft that cause environmental damage.

"I will also be proposing a motion to encourage companies to add an environmental audit as part of corporate social responsibility reporting. This will encourage British companies to focus on the environmental impact of their activities, which constitute 12-15% of global carbon emissions when our international operations are taken into account," added Lorely.

"Over the next three weeks, people in Solihull will see all three party conferences in action. What is different about ours is that members take real decisions on policy. The Conservatives have discussions but no votes whilst at Labour conference, the Labour leadership either ignores votes or stops debates from taking place."