LIB DEMS

THE Liberal Democrats have announced Ryan Bate as their candidate to stand in the General Election in Halton.

Mr Bate, a teacher and head of department at a Warrington high school, was unanimously nominated by party members.

The veteran Lib Dem campaigner, who stood in Halton 2015, accused Labour and the Conservatives of ‘failing Widnes and Runcorn’ and alleged the constituency suffered from high rates of lung disease due to poor air quality.

Mr Bate also laid into Labour candidate Derek Twigg for running an ‘almost invisible’ campaign for the UK to stay in the European Union (EU).

He also questioned whether Theresa May’s Conservatives have ‘ever been interested in Halton’ and whether Labour has provided ‘the effective opposition required to grow Halton’s prospects.

At a national level he referred to the Lib Dems’ pledge to invest £6bn in the NHS and social care system.

Mr Bate was born and raised in Warrington. Outside teaching and politics he enjoys reading, cycling and football.

He said: “I’m not a career politician with little experience of the real world.

“I’m a teacher and I can see that under the Conservatives’ so-called Fairer Funding For Schools policy, the schools in Halton face losing £8m of funding by 2020, and it is children and teachers who will suffer. I’m furious, and I’m ready to fight that every inch of the way. Halton deserves better.

“This area desperately needs strong opposition to bad policies.

“In the EU referendum, Halton’s Labour MP believed that our place was firmly in the EU, yet thanks to his safe seat habits his Remain campaign was almost invisible.

“Since then he has made a U-turn and voted to take the UK out of the EU in spite of knowing that this vicious Brexit will be disastrous for thousands of export dependent jobs in Widnes and Runcorn.”

He added: “With safe seat politics and no local leadership, Halton hasn’t had the leadership it deserves.

“Labour and Conservative governments always failed Widnes and Runcorn.

“They’ve failed us on air quality which means we have some of the worst rates of lung dis-