Today (January 16), Sir Ed Davey joined MP James MacCleary at Mamoosh Bakery, in Newhaven, where they had the chance to make their own pitta bread.
The pair were taught how to make the bakery’s flagship product – learning to knead dough, flatten the bread, and the process of cooking the pitta – as they raised concerns about the Governments’ policies towards small businesses.
They urged ministers to “do everything they can” to support the hospitality sector.
The visit comes as it was announced that East and West Sussex County Council are requesting to delay elections which were due to take place on May 7.
Sir Ed Davey with a member of the Mamoosh team creating the pita breads (Image: NQ)
The Liberal Democrats slammed the decision, tabling an amendments in the House Of Lords to ensure government ministers cannot “delay elections at the stroke of a pen”.
Speaking to The Argus, the party leader said: “Liberal Democrats haven’t given up the fight to keep the elections. When we talk to local people, they want their chance to have their say and they’re really angry that the Conservative-run councils in East and West Sussex have said to the government they’d like to cancel them.
“Liberal Democrat MPs across Sussex have gone to the minister and said, no, don’t cancel them. Those who are in the council at the moment, they were elected in 2021. That’s a long time ago. We’ve already had one set of elections delayed, this will be the second set of elections delayed.”
He added: “People who are worried across Sussex, I think they should back the petitions that my five Liberal Democrat parliamentary colleagues across Sussex are pushing.
“We’re trying to keep fighting to stop this happening, whilst saying, look, change the law so we don’t get this nonsense again. It’s an undemocratic approach.”
James MacCleary is MP for Lewes, Seaford, Newhaven, Polegate and our East Sussex Villages.
He criticised the decision, describing it as a “blow” to democracy.
“I think it’s very damaging to people’s faith in democracy. Elections can come at awkward times, they cost money, but that’s how elections work and I think postponing them not just once but twice is a real hammer blow to people’s sort of faith in the process, particularly when so many people are so vocally opposed to it,” he said.
“It feels like the public are being robbed of their right to have their say. East Sussex County Council runs really important services locally.
“We can see the potholes in our roads, we can see how adult social care has been downgraded, we can see the huge challenges in special educational needs and disabilities in the county and people want to have their say on how that’s being run.
“They feel like it’s being taken away from them and they’re not necessarily even sure by whom.”
Sir Ed Davey also shared his views on recent water outages across Sussex and Kent, which saw thousands without water for days. Earlier this week, Davey called for South East Water’s operating licence to be removed.
The party leader criticised the decision to delay elections (Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
Speaking to The Argus, Davey condemned South East Water CEO David Hinton stating that he should have resigned in December during initial outages in Tunbridge Wells.
He said: “The fact that he’s clinging on is quite outrageous.
“If you look at the first half of last year, South East Water doubled their profits. They’re making plenty of money.
“These outages are a combination of incompetent management and lack of investment, despite the fact they’re making lots of profits. They’ve run out of road, they’ve run out of excuses.”
The Argus asked the party leader whether a similar response is needed towards Southern Water, following failings in recent months such as the Camber Sands bio bead spill and issues at Eastbourne water treatment works.
In response, Davey celebrated the decision to scrap Ofwat but said there was still a need for a “shaking up of the whole industry”.
He said: “The water commission didn’t go far enough, because I don’t think its remit from government was radical enough.
“It’s a case of completely shaking up the whole industry because they are operating for profit, in the interest of shareholders, that is their only interest, but regulated.”
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