Using your mobile phone abroad will be cheaper from this summer after Euro MPs voted to cut roaming charges again.
The new legal limits set by the European Parliament in Brussels mean mobile phone calls from one EU country to another will cost no more than 28p per minute, while the cap on SMS charges is down to 8p per message.
Liberal Democrat Euro MPs are taking action to increase the pressure on multinational companies to pay their taxes, especially in the developing world.
Last year big multinational companies operating in the developing world avoided paying taxes of approximately $165 billion to host governments.
Lib Dem MEPs have launched a new campaign - 'Own, Up, Pay Up!' - to shed light on the issue and to prevent future financial malpractice among EU multinationals.
West Midlands MEP Phil Bennion is backing a petition launched by Sharon Bowles MEP, the chair of the European Parliament's influential Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, to support moves to get tax-dodging multinationals to pay their fair share.
Sharon has taken her campaign one step further by tabling far-reaching amendments to the EU Transparency and Accountancy Directives.
According to a recent survey of the top twenty Council Tax increases carried out by the independent, Local Government Chronicle, twelve councils were Labour run, six were Conservative run (including nearby Lichfield) and the other two were in no overall control. These results come after figures were published showing that no Lib Dem run council in England has raised Council Tax this year.
Local Lib Dems have welcomed the news that Moseley Road Baths has re-opened for swimming. "We want to keep it in use as a swimming pool, and keep the history as well," said Councillor Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture.
A range of works have been completed to bring the historic Baths back into use after it had to close in December 2010 because of extensive structural problems.
Solihull MP Lorely Burt has welcomed investment from the Coalition Government that will give an extra £7,800,000 this year to relieve the pressure on school places across Birmingham.
This is part of an additional £600m of capital spending in England this year, which is for investment in, for example, extra classrooms. This comes on top of the £800m to address the shortage in pupil places already announced for 2012-13.
Lib Dem Euro MP Phillip Bennion has welcomed a plan to allow petitions which can attract a million signatures to forces issues to be debated in the European Parliament and potentially change the law.
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) came into force on April 1st. It will allow popular campaigns outside party politics to bring proposals before the European Parliament and Council of Ministers if they can collect at least one million signatures across at least seven EU Member States.
Lib Dem Euro MP Phillip Bennion has voiced his strong support for plans to lengthen the runway at Birmingham airport as a huge boost to jobs in the region, as well as important for cutting carbon emissions.
The new MEP for the West Midlands region visited the airport with Deputy PM Nick Clegg, Birmingham deputy leader Cllr Paul Tilsley and Solihull MP Lorely Burt last week to discuss progress on the airport's plans to extend their runway by 405 metres to allow many more long-haul flights.
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 new £12 million Community and Health Centre has opened in the heart of Sparkbrook, offering integrated health and council services on one site, with a wider range of health support and community facilities for the local community.
Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "This project is a vital element of the wider regeneration of Sparkbrook and will act as a best practice model for how different parts of the public sector can join together to provide integrated services for the citizens of Birmingham. It will help improve people's lives and cut out duplication of services, saving the taxpayer money in the process. I've watched the project develop from drawing board to reality, and these are exciting times for the area."
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.
