REGULAR READERS may recall that Glen Maney – National Secretary of the National Liberal Party – was interviewed some time ago by the Isle of Wight County Press. We’ll, he’s in the news again! This time he’s been interviewed by the NLPs very own Isle of Wight Voice.

The original article (1) just noted Glen’s intention to stand for the NLP in one of the Island’s two seats at the next General Election. It also mentioned that the “former LibDem said he joined the party after becoming disillusioned with Nick Clegg.”

The NLPs follow up article (2) provided a brief history concerning the strength of liberalism in the general area. It announced:

“The National Liberal Party of today wants to build upon that original support and is back with Glen with new ideas it hopes will attract local support.”

It also provided full details of Glen’s statement to the press. In it, he outlined the dire situation many on the Island face:

“The Isle of Wight is like everywhere else suffering from the credit crunch with, for example, high youth unemployment, unacceptable levels of crime, high hospital waiting lists and an erosion of standards of living as prices rise, whilst wages stagnate. The National Liberals say that it doesn’t have to be this way.”

He then outlined the NLPs vision of spending money getting people back to work. For instance, it would crack down on tax avoidance by giant capitalist firms such as Vodaphone and wouldn’t waste money on imperialist ventures like foreign wars.

Glen also outlined a raft of measures such as introducing “into law the use of Referendums.” This would allow the people to vote on issues of national importance such as immigration, Britain’s membership of the EU, nuclear power and so on.

The NLP would also “introduce a Civil Liberties watchdog.” This would ensure that neither the Government nor private institutions could “take away our freedoms.”

Subjects such as civic service and the environment were also covered.

Now, in an exclusive new interview with the Isle of Wight Voice, Glen has returned specifically to the theme of unemployment on the Island.

Describing unemployment levels as “a disgrace” Glen hits out at the Con-Dem Government, which needs to do much more to solve the social and economic problems faced by Islanders.

Youth unemployment in particular needs to be tackled:

“Nearly five per cent of those on the Island aged between 16 – 64 are unemployed. That’s higher than both the South Eastern regional average of 2.7% and the national average of 4%. It’s an absolute disgrace.”

Still on the theme of unemployment, he notes:

“It’s said that for every job available on the Island, there are around 16 people applying for it. Sadly, it’s a figure that you’d normally associate with deprived inner-city areas of London, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester.

Here we are in one of the most beautiful parts of England and we’re sitting on a social and economic time-bomb. If Islanders can’t find work, we’ll start facing the serious social problems associated with long-term unemployment.”

As with the County Press interview, Glen tells the Isle of Wight Voice that he feels that there’s plenty of money in the UK pot, but ordinary working families just don’t get a look in.

“Each year the super-rich avoid paying around £420 billion in tax. Three years ago, the government managed to find £45 billion to bail out the Royal Bank of Scotland. How much has our involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya cost us? How much did the MPs Expenses Scandal cost us? How much does it cost us to stay in the EU?”

He concludes by saying:

“They need to clamp down on the super-rich and knock some of these payments on the head. The money saved should be put towards creating jobs for Islanders – especially the young!”

Members and supporters of the National Liberal Party are urged to get hold of their copy of the Isle of Wight Voice – even if they don’t live anywhere near the Island! To get hold of it simply e-mail natliberal@aol.com and ask for your FREE pdf copy of the Isle of Wight Voice (Issue 1).

(1) http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/comic-to-stand-as-mp-41781.aspx

(2) http://nationalliberal.org/national-liberal-national-secretary-says-we-are-back