We need bold and urgent action to help families pay their bills and heat their homes this winter. There is no other choice.
Families and pensioners across the country are in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis. We have already seen energy bills rise by £700 this year. They simply cannot afford another, even bigger rise of £1,400 in October.
As is our key focus, in our last meeting we continued to discuss our General Election preparedness and planning.
In summary, our plan builds on what worked in the 2019 general election (and previous plans), changes what didn't work, and looks to the future for new ideas and approaches.
Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper makes a good point.
"Every one of the remaining Conservative leadership candidates served in Boris Johnson's Government. They are all complicit in propping him up while families suffered.
"Every day this soap opera drags on, families and businesses can see that the Conservative Party has no answers to the issues they are facing.
Sorry, I don't know. But I do know that the range of plausible dates is wide open - from only a couple of months away through to January 2025. And that whenever the date is, we also have a massive round of local elections in May.
Which is why we need to step up our campaigning, capacity building and planning through the second half of this year. Even if this Parliament goes its full term, the benefits of extra canvassing, member recruitment and training this summer will still be considerable.
The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met on Saturday, 9th July to start its work on the final agenda for Autumn 2022 Conference, which will be taking place in Brighton, with an option for online attendance.
If you haven't yet registered for Conference, I would recommend doing so here.
At the meeting we discussed several items in relation to future venues and the meeting and motions schedule for 2023 into 2024. As previously reported, we will be returning to York for Spring Conference 17 to 19 March 2023.
A trio of Lib Dem by-election winners have been appointed to spokesperson roles by Ed Davey. Helen Morgan is now Levelling Up Spokesperson, Sarah Green will take on international trade and Richard Foord will take over the Defence Spokesperson role after the summer recess. A full list of Lib Dem spokespeople can be found here.
Each year, thousands of grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and family friends step up to support a child who is unable to live with their birth parents. They deserve more support.
Yesterday, I introduced the Kinship Care Bill in the House of Commons. This bill calls on the Government to provide all friends and relatives who look after a child who cannot live with their birth parents with an allowance of at least £137 a week: the same level as for foster carers.
Today, 1st of July, we are marking an incredible 50 years since the first Pride rally took place in the UK.
We have made incredible strides when it comes to protecting the fundamental human rights of those with LGBT+ identities. I am proud that our party has supported LGBT+ rights since its very conception.
Richard Foord will be our Liberal Democrat candidate for the upcoming Tiverton & Honiton by-election.
I was proud to serve my country in the Armed Forces for ten years and now want to serve my community in Westminster.
Richard Foord
Richard lives in Uffculme with his wife and family. He grew up in the West Country and served for ten years in the army after graduating from Sandhurst, reaching the rank of Major and receiving three campaign medals for service in Iraq and the Balkans.
"Councillors Ordered out of Meeting and Refused Right to Listen to Debate"
Tensions are running high in Harborough as a Conservative Block vote stopped all but a handful of Councillors from seeing a detailed confidential report.
In an electric atmosphere Lib Dem Leader on Harborough District Council, Cllr Phil Knowles, backed by his Deputy Cllr Roger Dunton took the fight to get the report released to all councillors to the heart of the Council Chamber. Click the link to read the Harborough Mail Article
We saw last year what a huge boost it gave to the party getting two new excellent MPs elected in Parliamentary by-elections. It's good for their constituents and also good for the party's prospects across the whole country.
We've also seen this month how Conservative MPs have failed to do what our country needs - to remove Boris Johnson from 10 Downing Street.
The Liberal Democrats have joined with Liberal parties from across Europe to condemn the British government's proposals to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The annual ALDE Congress last weekend in Dublin called for genuine, workable solutions to the Protocol as opposed to the current ideological approach.
It's Carers Week - a chance to recognise, celebrate and, most of all, listen to the stories of unpaid carers. People looking after their loved ones are doing a remarkable job in difficult circumstances. As a carer for most of my life - first for my mum, then for my gran, and now for my disabled son, John - this is something I know all too well.
Liberal Democrats
