Category: Latest News

The Liberal Party was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Cllr Paul Holmes, leader of the Cornish Liberals.

A long serving county and later parish councillor, Paul had been a lifelong supporter of the Cornish language and advocate for the reform of the governance of the Cornish peninsular.

Liberal members travelled to Cornwall in June 2023 for a specially commissioned Cornish and West of England Regional Assembly where we were generously entertained at a local community centre.

Our thoughts remain with his family at this time, and an appreciation of him can be seen here:

https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/holmes/5315529

The Liberal Party NEC

The Liberal Party is acutely aware of the rise in tensions in Europe in the face of a sustained campaign of blatant acts of sabotage and hybrid warfare driven by Russia.

This campaign has already passed the threshold that in less enlightened ages would have escalated to armed conflict as happened in August 1914 and September 1939 with the deplorable loss of life this entailed.

Whilst we welcome this weekend peace discussion in Moscow and Kyiv, the US Presidents at best ambiguous stance on peace in Ukraine, and his admiration for authoritarian leaders, such as in Russia has embolden the current hostile environment.

We believe that all parties must now work towards a permanent ceasefire and stability in eastern Ukraine and Russia, supported by international organisations such as the UN and the EU.

The Liberal Party welcomes the Candian Government’s robust response to the imposition of trade tariffs by the US Government.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has shown considerable patience when dealing with an increasingly irrational and spiteful US President who sees almost all aspects of international diplomacy and trade in transactional terms favourable to the US only.

We believe that the international community should come together to promote free trade.

Global surpluses of goods and services can be redirected between trading nations to reduce their dependency on the US and to ensure frictionless trade.

Having alienated the rest of the free trading world, the US will be faced with the reality of having to find trading partners inclined to deal with its confrontational and ungrateful temperament and the reality of the limited availability of commodities.

The annual Liberal Party Assembly will be held on Saturday the 10th October at the Royal Clifton Hotel, Promenade, Southport, PR8 1RB, between 9am and 4:30pm.

https://www.britanniahotels.com/hotels/royal-clifton-hotel

Travel options for the venue are available via https://www.traveline.info/

Assembly is where party policy is debated and agreed and is open to all members and observers.

The motions for debate are accessible below:

Liberal Party Assembly Pack 10th Oct 2026

For those unable to attend in person there will be a timetabled Zoom video conference link available, but for the best experience we would like to encourage personal attendance. We extend a warm welcome and will be pleased to see you.

We are as ever keen to have more input from women members to ensure we are covering all policy areas in a balanced and fair manner.

We are now open for the submission of motions for debate, please e-mail these to the Secretary to the NEC, stephen.grahamg5@gmail.com.

The Liberal Party notes the confirmation by the Chancellor that the 2026 Autumn budget will be published on the 28^th October.

The government’s pre-election pledges to adhere to stringent fiscal rules and its own compulsion to tax and spend has left its chancellor with limited room to fund government spending commitments proposed by the new PM.

The Liberal Party has long argued that the government should prioritise making work pay, commit to increasing the personal tax threshold in the long term to 20K (15K in the short to medium term) potentially taking five million out of the income tax, and lastly, simplifying the tax system as well proportionally increasing taxes on wealth by equalising Capital Gains Tax/Dividends Tax with Income Tax.

We also believe the government should aim to run a surplus before interest payments of 2.5% GDP and look to invest £2.5% GDP in infrastructure to support economic growth and to work towards controlling public debt now hovering just below £3 trillion pounds.