Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and Scottish Affairs spokesperson has today backed young people who are striking over climate change.
Inspired by 16 year old Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, who held a solo protest outside the Swedish Parliament, this movement has now seen protests from 70,000 schoolchildren each week across 270 towns and cities worldwide.
Tuesday 12th February saw two parliamentary bills become law.
Two bills that the Liberal Democrats have been fighting on, to improve the lives of those living in Britain.
Upskirting
Back in June last year, my Private Members' Bill making upskirting a specific criminal offence was kicked out of Parliament by a Tory dinosaur - for no good reason. But we didn't give up.
The title of this article should be common sense, shouldn't it?
And yet, between 2014 and 2016 alone, over 3000 people were dragged before the court. Not for doing anything wrong, but for falling foul of a 195-year-old law.
The 1824 Vagrancy Act was drafted with soldiers coming home from the Napoleonic Wars in mind. It's a cold, archaic relic from a bygone age. I will do everything in my power to ensure it doesn't reach its 200th birthday.
The Prime Minister has spent 18 months putting together a compromise Brexit deal that doesn't deliver on what the Brexiteers promised and pleases no one.
Theresa May is making a mess out of Brexit and her deal is a national humiliation.
She doesn't have the support of her backbenchers, or of the DUP. Fifteen government ministers have now resigned over Brexit.
A year on from our Lib Dem housing campaign hitting the headlines, it seems a good time to take stock of Brighton & Hove City Council's track record on housing policy through 2018. What's gone well, what's gone badly, and what's the solution?
What's gone well
The year seemed to get off to a promising start, with the Tourism, Development and Culture Committee voting on 11 January 2018 to move to open-book policy. This means that if developers say that meeting affordable housing requirements make a scheme financially unviable, they have to now show their working.
As we enter 2019, time is ticking down on Brexit, and with it the whole future of the country.
The history books will look back on these coming three months as critical.It is almost unbelievable that Parliament is waiting a further week to return!
After two long years of negotiation, the Prime Minister has brought back a Brexit deal that satisfies no-one. Her reaction is to try to scare people with the prospect of a 'No Deal' Brexit. In reality, that can't happen unless she decides it should.
So the only way forward - now - for the country and the Prime Minister is for the public to have the final say, and the option to Remain.
It's a campaign we Liberal Democrats started more than two years ago. Now millions of people have joined us in demanding a better future than Brexit Britain has to offer.
And the power of the millions who have signed petitions, lobbied their MP, or marched on Parliament - 700,000 of them just this year - is beginning to bear fruit. A People's Vote has moved from being a possibility to being a probability.
But only if we keep the pressure up. If we succeed, 2019 will be a year remembered not because we harmed our country with Brexit, but because we - the people - stood up and stopped it.
And if we do that, our Parliament and Government can once again deal with big issues like climate change, rising crime, the social care crisis, homelessness and housing supply, all of which have been neglected because of Brexit.
Enjoy your New Year celebrations and then let's get out there in 2019 and win the fight for a People's Vote and a brighter future for Britain.
Since learning of Paddy Ashdown's death last night people have been taking to social media to share their memories of this incredible man.
We've collected a few of those memories of Paddy from members, supporters and the public at large here. You can also share your memories of Paddy and add your name to the book of condolence here: www.libdems.org.uk/book-of-condolence-paddy-ashdown
On Friday afternoon, the Bollocks to Brexit bus pulled up along Brighton seafront. Our local Lib Dem campaigners were there to greet them with flags and banners, and reporters from The Argus turned up to see what all the fuss was about. Read the news report here, with our own Caroline Brown getting her message across extremely well.
Brighton & Hove Liberal Democrats have written to Jeremy Corbyn urging the opposition leader to do his job and hold the government to account on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
During our final EU stall of 2018, we had three brave volunteers handing out window posters on a cold wet evening whilst the rest of the group set up camp indoors to write to the Labour party leader. Beatrice Bass wrote: "Now is the time to show true leadership by trusting the people of the UK. Don't be May's lapdog. Give power to the people with a People's Vote."
Parliament is expected to hold its "meaningful vote" on Tuesday 11th December. Brighton & Hove Lib Dems believe that with the Prime Minister struggling to convince the few within her own government, now is the time to stand for the many asking to have the final say.
A report of the talk by Tom Brake MP, Shadow Spokesman forExiting the EU, at the South-East Region AGM & Conference, Canterbury, Sat 17th November 2018
Such was the level of ignorance, egotism and unpreparedness on the part of Brexiteers that David Davis was in Washington, DC, attempting to st
rike a trade deal with the USA, while Dominic Raab had been taken aback on a visit to Dover to find that our current position, surrounded by a body of water, posed a few problems. After some 30 years' campaigning, they had no plan.
Across the Atlantic, Trump and his cronies are doing their very best to rewrite the definition of transgender out of existence. An agenda of social cleansing that feeds into his administration's insular and antagonistic narrative. We may like to think that Trump's views are in isolation, that his fear of difference does not seep to our shores, but it does.
Olly Grender was Nick Clegg's deputy director of communications for a year during the coalition with the Conservatives. Before that, she headed up communications under Paddy Ashdown. Recalling her days round the Cabinet table, Olly singled out "the best Lib Dem member, Kenneth Clarke, who was amazing and a joy to behold", while, for all his faults, David Cameron was a good chairman. Her overriding
impression of working with the Tories was that they were inclined to fly by the seat of their pants.
The result of the EU referendum changed an awful lot: the Prime Minister, the economic outlook, Britain's political discourse and our standing in the world. But there are 3.6 million people whose lives have been affected more than most. These are the citizens of other EU countries who live in the UK.
Philip Hammond tried to strike an upbeat note in this week's Budget, declaring "austerity is over". Cossetted inside Westminster for the afternoon, he hid away from the storm clouds gathering over our economy.
Brexit is making the situation worse.
In truth, austerity cannot be brought to an end without difficult decisions involving an increase in taxation. Excluding the Government's promises on the NHS, maintaining real spending on public services will require an additional £19bn in extra tax and borrowing. And Brexit itself is making the situation worse.
The Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Greens are working together, alongside rebels from Labour and the Conservatives, to fight Brexit. Vince Cable pressed Barnier on the need for the EU to make contingency plans for a People's Vote and to protect EU and UK citizens rights in the event of a no deal Brexit.
25,000 demonstrated against Brexit in March 2017; 50,000 in September and over 100,000 in June 2018. As the Tory Government manages our exit from the European Union with all the grace of a wounded rhino backing out of a beach hut, 700,000 people from all over the UK descended on London in October to demand a vote on the final Brexit deal that will include an option to remain in the EU. The Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, was notably absent and so was our Kemptown MP, Lloyd Russell-Moyle.
The Government's Counter Terrorism Bill has now moved to debate in the House of Lords. The Liberal Democrats opposed the bill in the House of Commons for a simple reason: this bill does little to keep us safe, but a lot to erode the individual freedoms of people in the UK.
In the future we might have a Government who are prepared to ride roughshod over our freedoms as citizens.
Recorded hate crimes are up 17% from last year, and have more than doubled in the last 4 years.
Racial hate crimes have increased 14% year on year, while those based on sexual orientation have risen a terrible 27%. Attacks on people based on religion, disability and transgender people have also risen year on year.
Brexit is bad for Britain. Join Liberal Democrats at 12:00 noon this Saturday 20 October near Hyde Park Corner to march for a People's Vote and an Exit from Brexit. Further details on the march can be found here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/20-oct-march
Travelling from Brighton & Hove, please meet at 9.30am at Brighton train station for a group photo before we set off to London.
Brighton & Hove Liberal Democrats have announced ambitious plans to provide 1,500 new homes on council-owned land currently occupied by Hollingbury Golf Course.
Local Lib Dem campaigner Beatrice Bass said: "A housing waiting list of 15,111 households and the complete failure of the council's 40% affordable homes policy led us to this radical solution. During our campaign, we've spoken to large numbers of people who are spending over half of their income on rent and many who have been living long-term in temporary accommodation. This is for them. Building homes on council-owned land for those on the waiting list is essential in solving the housing crisis."
This local solution to the housing crisis complements the party's national policies, in particular the affordable homes policy motion passed at the September 2018 conference. Across England and Wales, the Lib Dems pledge to build at least 50,000 new social homes for rent every year, as part of their long-standing commitment to build 300,000 homes a year over the next decade.
In the proposed development, the allotments and woodland of Hollingbury Park would be retained, and the new buildings would be eco-friendly, with the possibility of allotments and wildflower gardens to improve biodiversity. Recreational space would be included in the development with community consultation on preferred sport and leisure options. There are two municipal golf courses in the city, and in the 2015-16 season there were only 186 members at Hollingbury, with Waterhall Golf Course just three miles away.
Brighton & Hove Lib Dems want the proposed Hollingbury development to be community-led and are consulting residents on recreational and leisure space, integration with public transport and services, and the possibility of including space for community housing groups, including housing co-ops and self-build on part of the land. Click here to complete our online survey.
Confirmed speakers include: Ed Davey MP, Catherine Bearder MEP, Stephen Lloyd MP, Tom Brake MP, Baroness Alison Suttie, Baroness Judith Jolly and Paul Fisher Chair of LDs France.
