Liberal Party NEC Statement – Reducing the Burden of Flooding in the Community

The Liberal Party notes with great sadness the aftermath of widespread flooding after the recent heavy rainfall which has left homes and land underwater.

The party believes that recent extreme weather is another warning of climate change, and that urgent action is required to mitigate such extreme events both nationally and locally.

Urban planners need to discourage housing developments that encroach onto floodplains and taken action to increase urban drainage which is increasingly reduced by over developments and the loss of gardens which soak up the water.

In rural area’s action need to be taken to contain excess hillside runoff with tree planting, the restructuring of rivers carry away the water efficiency and to invest in floodplains to disperse the excess.

Flood water is often contaminated with sewage as water companies continue to discharge into rivers to release the build up of water within the drainage systems.

This is an unwelcome practice which OFWAT and the environment agency should be working to eliminate as it adds to the damage from such flooding events.

Liberal Party NEC Statement – The Response of Ed Davey to the Horizon Post Office Scandal

In recent weeks the Liberal Party has received several e-mails critical of Ed Davey, the leader of the LibDems for his response to the Horizon Post Office Scandal.

As Minister for Postal Affairs in the Coalition government and now leader of the LibDems Ed Davey met Mr Bates in October 2010, but has yet to explain his reluctance to meet campaign groups or ask probing question of the post offices management and civil servants.

We would like to reaffirm that the Liberal Party claims continuity with the pre-1988 Liberal Party. and is in no way linked with Ed Davey or the LibDems, a party with which we now have little in common.

Our party was perpetuated by a dedicate group who believed the merger between the SDP and Liberal Party was an unworkable compromise, which contributed to the Coalition Government and the imposition of a stringent policy of austerity in 2010.

We believe those affected by the failures of the Horizon IT system must be exonerated and compensated in the name of justice and probing question asked of all those involved in the scandal from its onset in 1999.

Liberal Party Leader attends Ukrainian Community at the Big Help Project, Liverpool

“Was a very emotional morning as I joined as special event and prayers for the Ukrainian Community at the Big Help Project

It was heart rendering to hear firsthand from medical volunteers describing how Russian snipers were targeting them just as the Russians did in Syria.

As Liberal Party Leader I have been resolute we need to support Ukraine as they are in the front line for all western democracies”.

Liberal Party NEC Statement – Compensation for the injustices of the Horizon Post Office Scandal

The Liberal Party urge’s the government and parliament to fast-track recognition of the injustice done to so many subpost-masters by instituting an all-embracing cancellation of their flawed convictions and to implement a fast track compensation scheme.

We believe that the government must investigate seriously the claim civil servants misled ministers on an industrial scale by scrutinising all civil service ministerial briefings on the issue and making that evidence public as well as information supplied to ministers by the senior management of the post office.

The party however notes that 4 years after the first convictions were overturned in this long running case of the miscarriage of justice, it has taken an ITV drama, Mr Bates v The Post office to galvanise parliament to act.

We also recognise this case is not exceptional. For example, the case of victims of contaminated factor 8 blood have not been universally compensated after decades of neglect.

Liberal Party Leader attends Peace for Palestine demonstration in Liverpool

Cllr Steve Radford and other Liberal Party members joined the Liverpool Peace for Palestine demonstration on Sunday.

Following the demonstration Cllr Steve Radford, Leader of The Liberal Party endorsed comments by the Leadership of The Palestinian Authority that only a long term solution involving viable Palestinian State covering the West Banka and Gaza would break the cycle of violence and desperation

Liberal Party NEC Statement – A 2 State Solution for the Palestinian Nation

The Liberal Party notes with dismay the recent comments by the Israeli Ambassador to the UK that Israel will not accept a two-state solution in the West Bank or Gaza Strip nor support an immediate ceasefire to restore humanitarian aid whilst its military operations continue.

The party believes that a long-term solution to the Middle East conflict can only be achieved by the creation of a viable Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza, free to develop its own cultural identity and economic independence.

Whilst Israel has the right to defend itself from armed attack to include the deplorable attack by Hamas on 7th October, it does not have the right to inflict disproportionate harm on the Palestinian civilian population nor deny them statehood.

The Liberal Party reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces to their internationally recognised border. We see merit in a United Nations presence in the Gaza Strip to restore humanitarian aid to the civilian population and prevent further provocation by either side in the region.

Liberal Party Leadership and NEC Elections 2023

The elections for Liberal Party leader and the party NEC are due in the Autumn of 2023 and the nomination window will be open between the 1st November and the 31st December 2023.

A total of 20 nominations from party members will be required for nomination as party leader.

A total of 3 nominations from party members will be required for admission to the NEC for which the party constitution allows 20 members.

We would ask that all nominations are e-mailed to the address NECElections@liberal.org.uk

There are currently 2 candidates seeking nomination for the role of party leader:

– Kayed Al-Haddad from Glasgow, who is the party treasurer and resides in Glasgow.
– Cllr Steve Radford from Liverpool, the current office holder.

Once the tally of nominations has been completed, the Secretary of the NEC will be advised if any elections need to be held and ballot papers distributed.

It is envisaged the newly elected NEC will hold its first open meeting on the 3rd February 2023, with the venue to be announced.

Liberal Party NEC Statement – The Unfolding Crisis in Gaza and the Middle East

The Liberal Party has watched with horror as the unfolding conflict in the Middel East spawned by the brutal Hamas attack on Israel.

The escalating conflict has seen world opinion becoming dangerously polarised between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian camps and this threatens to obstruct moves to end the violence, deliver humanitarian supplies, and create a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The party believes that the road to peace in Gaza and the West bank is a long and difficult one, which requires many hard truths to be confronted.

Israel has failed to be magnanimous in victory since 1967 and has progressively eroded the potential for a 2-state solution in the region. It has encouraged a policy of illegal settlements on the West Bank, the eviction of Arab families in Jerusalem and discrimination against Palestinians across the West Bank and Israel.

All of this has fed into a cycle of increasingly violence, drawing in increasing fanatical factions such as Hamas and Hezbollah who have fed on the desperation of ordinary Palestinian’s who only wish to live in peace on their own land.

A conflict which traces its roots back beyond the creation of the Israeli state in 1948 has heaped misery and suffering on all sides for want of tolerance, compromise, and compounded by the failure of the international community to enforce a durable settlement.

Liberal Party members meeting at Treloweth Community Hall in Poole, Cornwall voted to reiterate their policy that the Water Companies should be renationalised.

“As more is known about polluted rivers and coastlines it is untenable for these private water companies to send profit dividends abroad, exert a monopoly over such an essential resource and fail to protect environmental safety standards” stated Liberal Party leader Cllr Steve Radford-.

Liberal Party members also supported calls for a Cornish Assembly recognising the unique history and culture of the Duchy.

The Liberal Party Leader in Cornwall, Cllr Paul Holmes urged that a Cornish Assembly should take control over the Duchy of Cornwall estates to maximise the benefits to the people of Cornwall and the District Councils be restored respecting that at the last referendum 83% of the voters rejected the then Labour Government’s plan to abolish them.

“We need devolution from Westminster and Bristol to Cornwall , we also need devolution from County Hall to the towns and districts of Cornwall” rounded Cllr Paul Holmes.

Liberal Party NEC Statement – The outbreaks of extreme violence in Israel and Gaza

The Liberal Party views with horror the outbreak of brutal violence in Gaza and Israel following the attack by Hamas.

The violence which has left over 1500 people killed in Israel is indefensible and unjustified in its brutality and indiscriminate nature.

Such an attack risks not only provoking Israel into a military response but giving the country the justification for causing unrecoverable damage to the Gaza Strip potentially rendering it unihabitable for its 2 million residents.

The resulting Israeli response has already left over 1000 killed in Gaza and threatens a humanitarian crisis in an area already suffering from the effects of the Israeli government’s economic blockade.

The failure of the Middle East Peace process over recent decades has allowed extremists in Gaza and the West Bank to drive a cycle of open-ended violence.

Terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon have no interest in peace or accommodating an Israeli state nor does the Israeli state wish to see a viable Palestinian state.

Such a deadlock can only be broken by the isolation of extremist groups on all sides, the deployment of UN peacekeepers to curtail provocations at the border and a comprehensive international intervention to create a lasting regional peace deal which recognises viable Palestinian and Israeli states.