In February's Budget-setting Full Council meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Adams called for a new direction on the social care cuts rather than a morally indefensible race to the bottom. As Conservative councillors voted for an increase in their own pay once again, Cllr Adams asked if they would accept a 55% reduction on their allowances as they were forcing disabled people to accept. You can listen to his speech here.
Whether you're a Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate, a Mayoral Candidate, a GLA candidate, a Council Candidate or one of the thousands of Liberal Democrat activists that help get them elected, we want to say thank you.
The time and effort you give is what makes our party tick and without you, we couldn't achieve the change at every level of government we all are fighting for. We hope you find this page useful as you prepare for the 2020 local elections.
As you know, there are hundreds of local and regional elections happening in England and Wales in May this year, including Council, Mayoral and Police & Crime Commissioner elections.
They present us with an excellent opportunity to make huge gains across the country, and for your local party to make a big impact in your local area.
Liberal Democrats have long demanded fundamental reforms to the distribution of power: proportional voting, decentralisation, an elected second chamber.
Sadly, electoral reform has been lacking entirely from the Labour party's leadership contest. That's why, this week, I've written to the three remaining Labour leadership candidates, urging them to ditch our broken voting system in favour of proportional representation.
The first time you go canvassing can feel daunting. For many people, going up to a stranger's door, knocking, and starting a conversation isn't something they do every day. They don't often ask people about how they want things to change, in their neighbourhood or across the country as a whole.
More than 1 in 4 of us will experience depression, anxiety or stress this year. Almost every family will be affected.
At our latest meeting, the Federal Board welcomed our newest member, Lisa Smart, who has been elected the new chair of the Federal Communications and Elections Committee (FCEC), taking over from James Gurling. Welcome on board, Lisa!
We also welcomed back to the Board Tony Harris as Registered Treasurer and chair of the Federal Finance and Resources Committee (FFRC) and Mike German as Federal Treasurer.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Brian Watkins is calling for a new transport interchange at Thickthorn which would provide a better link between traffic using the A11/A47, the University of East Anglia and Norwich Research Park.
The Liberal Democrat Group on Norfolk County Council has criticised the lack of will and conviction in developing the region's rail infrastructure, and wants to see a bolder, more imaginative approach to bring about real change. The Council's current Rail Prospectus is insufficiently ambitious in supporting a transition to a low carbon future, and not enough is being done to respond to changing demographic needs. At a time when congestion on our roads has reached unprecedented levels, travelling by train should offer a green and environmentally friendly alternative to the car.
Today, Ed Davey and I have written to the Prime Minister, calling for him to reverse plans to scrap the BBC licence fee.
The British Press is by no means without criticism, but at its best, the BBC remains a beacon of independent journalism as well as high-quality entertainment. That's why Liberal Democrats will fight tooth and nail to save it. Read our letter in full below:
