Saddleworth Councillor Garth Harkness will be the Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency of Oldham West and Royton at the General Election on June 8th 2017.

Councillor Garth Harkness said “I am pleased to be standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate. We are the only party holding the government to account on Brexit. We are the party of pro-business and free trade because we believe we should stay in the single market. We are the only party who want the people to decide on the terms of Brexit in a second referendum rather than giving the government a blank cheque to walk off a cliff. “

“Locally, Labour have let people down by agreeing to stay in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework rather than agreeing to the Lib Dem proposal to withdraw and produce our own local plan which looks at developed land, buildings which could be converted, stockpiles of land with planning permission and long-term empty houses and not concreting over our greenbelt and green spaces”

He ended by saying “Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour nationally have been too busy fighting among themselves and are not any sort of opposition to the Tories. Mental health services are in crisis and the Tory ministers seek to humiliate suffers in work capability assessments. The A&E’s are overstretched, teachers are being sacked and the environment is ignored. So we can change the direction of the country by voting Liberal Democrats and get a decent opposition to this heartless government.  If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance”