CITY COUNCIL LEADER MEETS MINISTERS AT WESTMINSTER

CITY council leader Barbara Janke has been helping put Bristol’s priorities at the heart of government at a top-level meeting at Westminster.
The ruling Lib Dem council group’s leader met Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and other ministers at the Lib Dem gathering, attended by MPs, including Bristol West MP Stephen Williams, peers - including Lord (Paddy) Ashdown - and Members of the European Parliament.
Barbara Janke - one of a small handful of council leaders from across the country at the meeting - seized the opportunity to invite Business Secretary Vince Cable and other Lib Dem members of the new Coalition Government to Bristol.
“With Lib Dems in power nationally,” she said, “we will ensure that the city’s needs, concerns and ambitions are understood by ministers and do everything to reinforce the need for closer relations.”
The meeting at the Local Government Association’s Smith Square HQ in central London this week (Thursday July 15) was the first of a series of opportunities for leading Lib Dems from around the country to share concerns with the party leadership.
“These are early days for the Coalition Government and it is really important that Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and the other Lib Dem ministers maintain close contact with Lib Dem council leaders,” said Councillor Janke.