Lord McNAlly, Martin Johns, Scott Collins and Richard Philips looking over the future plans for Silverstone

Members from across South Northamptonshire, Northampton and Leicestershire came together on Thursday evening to meet Lord Tom McNally, Leader off the Liberal Democrats in the Lords, Deputy Leader of the Lords and also Minister for Justice.

A packed meeting hosted by Scott Collins, Parliamentary Spokesman for Liberal Democrats in South Northants, and South Northants Lib Dems heard Lord McNally’s views on a wide range of issues from the economy and the NHS to Lords reform and the media.

“It was a great evening and the wide variety of subjects covered certainly made for an informative and entertaining evening. We were very happy when Lord McNally accepted our invitation to come to Towcester and the events of the day have certainly meant we have shown some of the best that South Northants has to offer” Said Scott Collins

The day started with a visit to Silverstone where Lord McNally, Scott Collins and Towcester Councillor met Richard Philips, Silverstone Managing Director for a tour of the circuit’s estates including the impressive new build ‘Wing’.

Lord McNally said “This is a really impressive building and the plans for the circuit really show a bright future and promise. Silverstone is one of the country’s quiet successes and I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen”

Scott Collins commented “I remember coming to Silverstone as a child and Silverstone is now as it was then a permanent part of life locally whether it’s the jobs and income into the local economy or the traffic and the noise. You never forget that Silverstone is here. But today has shown, if proof were ever needed, that Silverstone continues to go from strength to strength in its aim to be the centre of the Motor Racing universe”.

The next meeting was for Lord McNally to meet Chief Inspector Mark Taylor, Police Area Commander for South Northants and Daventry and Inspector Alex Terry at Towcester Police Station.

Many issues were covered from general issues concerning policing and the justice system to local issues such as the lights turn off, turning off of Speed Cameras and agricultural crime.

Lord McNally said after the meeting “I make a point of visiting local police were ever I go. It was good to hear about local concerns that the Police have and how local issues are being resolved outside the ‘Westminster Bubble’ in the real world”.

Cllr Martin Johns spoke after the meeting saying “We have a good relationship with the police locally but it was good to hear their views on a whole range of issues”.

The final stop of the afternoon was to meet members and organisers of the vision Youth Café based in the Community Centre on Islington Road in Towcester.

The guests were shown the work that the Café does in helping young people in a variety of ways from educational work concerning all manner of issues from alcohol and drug misuse to budgeting and sexual health matters.
The Café is essentially run by the young people and also has events such as band nights, Parkour classes and using the legal graffiti wall. The graffiti wall is one of only a handful of legal graffiti walls outside large towns and cities. Lord McNally was very interested and impressed by the work of the group and complemented them on reaching the finals of a National Youth Work competition being held in October.

“They are clearly very talented young people and have a passion for the Café and the work it does with young people in Towcester. The whole set up is very impressive and it clearly has the support of the local young people and I hope it continues to thrive” Said Lord McNally after meeting members of the club.

“This is a prime example of young people working together and again proving that the myth of generation of young people all behaving badly or involved in anti social behaviour is exactly that, a myth. I was hugely impressed with the members we met and their commitment to the café and its aims” Said Scott Collins.