Selly Oak Liberal Democrats

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.

Hundreds of Bournbrook residents have supported the campaign Councillor Alistair Dow has been running get a better broadband service from Virgin Media. They have signed the online petition at ourcampaign.org.uk/BournbrookBroadband

Alistair Dow has written to the Virgin Media Chief Executive demanding action on behalf of local residents. Virgin Media have said that they will start working on improvements soon. They have also compensated some customers.

Urgently needed repairs are going to be made to Selly Oak Library after Councillor Alistair Dow (right) met council chiefs. The meeting with Councillor Martin Mullaney (Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture) came after a massive response from local residents supporting Alistair in his campaign to save the library.

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.

Selly Oak councillor Alistair Dow has written to the Chief Executive of Virgin Media to demand a better service and compensation for those in the Bournbrook area who have been affected by the slow internet service with no sign of improvement.

Alistair said: "As a local councillor I've received a number of complaints from students in the area about Virgin Media. In my view it's simple: students who are struggling financially should not have to pay for a service that is slow, unreliable and not delivering.

Selly Oak Councillor Alistair Dow has urged local residents to have their say on the new plans for Selly Oak that Sainsburys and Land Securities have submitted to Birmingham City Council.

"The development of the Battery site will have a major impact on Selly Oak and it is important that local residents have their say before it is too late," said Alistair.

Phillip Bennion has been officially confirmed as the new Lib Dem MEP for the West Midlands region at the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg.

The Staffordshire farmer and economic policy expert takes over from Liz Lynne who stood down from Parliament earlier in February after more than 12 years due to the extensive travelling required in the job. Phillip Bennion was elected to second place on the Lib Dem list of candidates at the last European elections in 2009.

West Midlands Euro MP Liz Lynne has called for joint action to stamp out the trade in dangerous counterfeit goods, after news that 165,000 bottles of fake vodka containing dangerous amounts of methanol were distributed to shops before Christmas.

Concern is growing that a substantial trade in fake medicines, alcoholic drinks and cosmetics are not only putting consumers' health at risk but also harming the UK economy due to lower duty and tax receipts.

The European Parliament has today backed a resolution sponsored by senior Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne condemning any move to water down the international ban on cluster munitions.

The resolution and debate at the Parliament in Strasbourg follows alarming reports that a number of countries including the USA are pushing at a conference in Geneva for a much weaker protocol that will permit stockpiling and use of some cluster munitions.

Liz Lynne has welcomed a European Parliamentary debate secured thanks to Lib Dem pressure on ways to scrap red tape for small business and help unlock billions of pounds of economic potential.

A Parliamentary question supported by the Liberal and Democrat Group (ALDE) triggered a debate in the European Parliament at Strasbourg this week, as part of their campaign to boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and help them create new jobs.