David Goodall

Welcome

This is the website of Liberal Democrat Councillor for West End South, Southampton - David Goodall. I believe that it is important to keep in touch with local residents, and to campaign on the issues that matter to them. So please :-

let me know "Your Views" and "Keep in Touch" with you,
read my "Blog" to see my thoughts on the day,
and discover more about "Who Liberal Democrats are".

Please note:- if you receive an email from any email address ending "@davidgoodall.org.uk" and you are not a registered member of the site, this email is NOT from this site or from David Goodall it is a spoof email and should be deleted straight away.

Recent updates

Budget 2012: For the many, not the few

Article: Mar 21, 2012
Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.

The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:
- The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
- A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
- 21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
- Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
- Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.
"A more liberal Britain with every passing year" - Nick Clegg's speech to Lib Dem Spring Conference 2012

Article: Mar 11, 2012

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.

The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.
What the Liberal Democrats are achieving in government

Article: Mar 9, 2012

Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.

We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.
How to sort out the Eurozone debt!

Page: Sep 24, 2011
How to sort out the Eurozone debt!

In my view the only way out the debt crisis in the Eurozone is to deepen the monitary union by taking the following long and short term measures.

For the long term - the steps to improve Eurozone debt are :-
1. All Eurozone countries national budgets must be approved as valid fiscal packages by the European Parliament. A valid fiscal package must either:-
- reduce national debt level to 70% of the countries GDP within the next 10 years, if the current debt level is above the 70% level, OR
- keep the national debt level below 70% of the countries GDP, if the current debt level is already below the 70% level
2. All Eurozone countries should only borrow money from or lend money to the European Central Bank, and not borrow from or lend to other countries, the international money markets or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The borrowing and lending rates for each Eurozone country should be the same.

3. On behalf of Eurozone countries the European Central Bank could borrow money from or lend money to other countries, the international money markets or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nick Clegg's Speech to Lib Dem Conference: "Our home. Our children. Our future."

Article: Sep 21, 2011

In his keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference, Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined his goals for the Government and the country over the coming years. He reiterated his commitment to liberal values on the environment and human rights and his determination to ensure a fair chance for every child, saying "every child can do good things, great things, if only we give them the opportunities they deserve."
What the hell have the Lib Dem done ?

Article: Apr 23, 2011

Many people are asking me what are the Lib Dems doing in government with the Conservative Party? And then proclaim the answer is nothing and that this is really a Tory only government propped up by a few Lib Dems. Well the real answer is a great deal different, please see :-

What the hell have the Lib Dem done ?
Millions receiving an Income Tax cut

Article: Apr 10, 2011

From Wednesday 6 April 2010, nearly 900,000 people across the country have been lifted out of paying Income Tax while around 23m basic-rate tax payers will get an extra £200 in their pockets.

The news has been welcomed by David Goodall who said: "I am proud that thanks to Liberal Democrats in Government, almost a million people will be lifted out of paying tax altogether across the country, while 23m people will get a tax cut. A Lib Dem priority is to reduce the burden of taxation on those who can least afford it. This would not happen under a Conservative only Government, it is the Liberal Democrats in Government that are making the difference."
Lib Dems on NHS reforms

Article: Apr 4, 2011

Following the overwhelming vote at the Lib Dem Spring Party Conference for significant amendments to Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms, the future of the NHS Bill is under discussion at the top of Government.

We have said very clearly as a party, that we will not accept the marketisation of the NHS and that we want proper local democratic accountability and scrutiny of NHS commissioning . Nick and his colleagues must understand the absolute political imperative to get these changes. It will be a real boost for us to demonstrate that we do act as a restraint on the excessive market-based ideology of the Conservatives and that where a policy is not in the Coalition Agreement and is one which we as a party cannot support, then we will not accept having a whip imposed on our MPs to vote it through.
Nick Clegg: This is an achieving coalition - with more to come

Article: Apr 3, 2011

By Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister & Leader of the Liberal Democrats in independent.co.uk

Wednesday will mark the anniversary of Gordon Brown being driven to Buckingham Palace to call the 2010 general election.

For the Liberal Democrats, general elections had traditionally been seen as a rare opportunity to get the same kind of attention regularly enjoyed by Labour and the Conservatives; a chance to talk about policies that were often ignored because "they're never going to happen".

Fast forward a year, and something is happening that, for the Liberal Democrats, is a new experience: the policies we championed during the election are becoming reality. I don't mean that consultations are being announced, votes held, or papers published. Over the next few days, lives will be changed for the better, thanks to the introduction of policies for which we have long campaigned.

On Friday, our pupil premium was introduced. That's £625m, eventually rising to £2.5bn, to be spent on most disadvantaged pupils, so that all children get a better education. On Wednesday, our income tax reform will begin. Many will be lifted out of income tax altogether, while basic-rate taxpayers get a £200 tax cut in cash terms. On the same day, our promise to bring in a "triple guarantee" for pensioners will become a reality, meaning that pensioners retiring today will get, on average, £15,000 more in state pension over their retirement than under Labour. And every day, millions of homes receive their polling cards for next month's referendum on AV. Electoral reform had felt like an unattainable goal for decades: now voters are being given their first chance to get rid of the broken system that helped produce the expenses scandal.

There is more to come. This week, I'll be announcing how the Government plans to tackle the difficult issue of social mobility, because for all the old promises and spending on this issue, social mobility in our country has stagnated. These are not policies designed for the quick fix, but deep and lasting changes that build on concrete policies such as the pupil premium and will have an effect for generations.

The idea that coalitions can't work has been comprehensively debunked. It was always one of the great Westminster myths that people would be unable to understand how two parties could work together in government with professionalism and respect. In only 12 months, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have shown how two parties can come together in the national interest to clean up the mess left by a third.

There is always an urge with many people in politics to focus on the negatives. Arguments sell more papers than agreements, and "Government delivers on key policy" is never likely to make it to the top of the news bulletins. But when people talk about policies that the Liberal Democrats have not been able to implement from our election manifesto, we should proudly point to this week as an example of the things we have achieved in government.

As a party with 57 MPs, we have inevitably had to make compromises: that's how coalition works. But the compromises of coalition government are infinitely preferable to watching from the sidelines as others deliver on their own policies.

This time we are in government, and in a single year have pointed Britain towards a better future and changed politics for good. This week will show people just how much we are achieving. I look forward to many more like it.
AV referendum: MPs would work harder, says Dyke

Article: Apr 2, 2011

In bbc.co.uk

The alternative vote system would make "rather average politicians" work harder to keep voters' support, former BBC director general Greg Dyke says.

At a campaign launch for a Yes vote in May's referendum, he said MPs would be denied "jobs for life" by holding safe seats if the voting system changed.