Category: News

The Liberal Party notes the publication of the recent Government policy paper outlining a draft energy security strategy to secure the nations long term energy needs.

Whilst the strategy concentrates on energy generation and securing domestic production it ignores the opportunity to reduce consumption by funding an extensive home insulation scheme for older properties or addressing the pressing need for investment in a new generation of battery storage to allow better utilisation of renewable energy sources.

We should also improve building regulations to mandate high efficiency insulation in new builds and home improvements as well solar panels and heat pumps installed in new builds.

We also wish to reiterate are belief that fracking has no place in our nation’s energy plan and is an intrusive and environmentally damaging process which only perpetuates our addiction to fossil fuels.

We believe that the nation should invest in a final generation of nuclear power plants which provide the best short-term solution to providing low CO2 energy whilst maintaining the reliability of the UK’s power supply until new storage technologies are available.

Councillor Charles Shaw, Chair of The Liberal Party NEC is currently visiting Hungary and Black Sea countries in his roles as chairperson of The Centre for Reconciliation and of The Youth Development Association in order to broker better relations through youth and community organisations and take stock of the situation there during the war in Ukraine.

There are many British Ex-Pats in the black sea nations who will want to contribute in helping with refugees needs at this time he said.

Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of The Liberal Party

On Wednesday 20th April, we welcomed Cllr Alan Tormey from Childwall Ward who is joining the Liberal Party Group.

Alan has consistently supported councillors from all parties working together and supported equal and individual rights of every councillor in the best of Liberal tradition.

He has an excellent record of community service and bringing forward constructive suggestions to council meetings, he will be real asset for the growing Liberal Party Team.

There will be a Council By-Election in the Everton Ward as one of the three current Councillors has resigned having been elected to Parliament as MP for West Derby.

Angela’s family links with Everton go back over many generations.

Angela was born and raised in Everton and attended both primary and senior schools in the area. Her working life started as a 16 year on a YTS scheme in Salisbury Street.

She has since gone on to set up and run several successful businesses and works in partnership with several charities to reduce the impact of drugs in our community.

Please support Angela at the polls on the 7th April.

In light of the current evidence that the Russian Federation is –

• Kidnapping and deposing legitimately elected local government officials
• Deporting citizens of Ukraine into the Russian federation territories

We recognise this is a concerted plan to remove all vestiges of Ukrainian nation and democratic institutions.
The narratives used to justify the move and the tactics play a frightening parallel to Hitler’s dismemberment of the Sudetenland and then invasion of the remaining Republic of Czechoslovakia.

The Liberal Party recognising that Putin has laid out clear plans to rebuild the Soviet- Imperial Russian Empire just as Hitler laid out his plans in Mien Kampf. 

We believe that the possibility of defeat for the Ukrainian Government is fundamentally dangerous for western security and would bring Russian forces closer to key NATO countries and resources

Therefore, NATO should immediately extend protection to Moldova. We should note the President of Belarus has shown his generals a map with both Ukraine and Moldova wiped out.

We should be in dialogue with Georgia to admit on its current borders.

We should signal defence treaty to support Sweden and Finland without them having to compromise their historic policy of neutrality.

Ukrainian forces need more significant offensive weaponry, including jets to drive back the Russian invaders whilst the conflict is in clear balance.

The defeat of democracy in Ukraine will embolden Putin just as the West’s timid approach in Czechoslovakia emboldened Hitler.

Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of The Liberal Party​

Liberal Party Leader Cllr Steve Radford and Cllr Peter Mitchell recently visited Cornwall to attend the regional AGM hosted by Liberal Party chairman in Cornwall, Cllr Paul Holmes.

At the meeting they discussed the local opportunities for Big Help Group, a national charity which tackle’s issues such as poverty, hunger and affordable housing and which is looking to develop 90 plus units of rented housing the region.

Further details are contained in the link below:

https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/19922497.liberal-party-housing-cornwall-plans-local-people/

Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of The Liberal Party​

The Liberal Party welcomes the start of the public enquiry into the Post Office scandal which saw over 700 sub-post masters and mistresses wrongly convicted of fraud, theft and false accounting.

The treatment of these people represents the most blatant miss-carriage of justice imaginable, aggravated by the disclosures that flaws in the Horizon system were known to both the supplier and Post Office management.

The party supports the payment of compensation to those wrongly convicted but believe that taxpayers should not be expected to shoulder the entire cost now estimated to run to potentially hundreds of millions of pounds.
We believe that that both Fujitsu, the chief contractor of the Horizon project as well as senior Post Office management who received bonuses during this time should contribute to the payments and should face further legal scrutiny.

Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of The Liberal Party​

The Liberal Party notes with great sadness the news on the 22nd January that a 16-year-old youth has lost their life in Manchester after a fatal knifing incident. It is reported that the 4 teenagers arrested after the incident were all aged between just 15 and 17 years old.
Knife crime amongst the nations young people has extracted a tragic cost, with London alone recording 30 deaths in 2021, the highest total since 2008 when 29 lives were lost.
The party again calls for a comprehensive national response to such violence which blites communities and the families of both the victim’s, and those convicted of such offences who face lengthened custodial sentences.
Violent urban crime can only be tackled with a combination of community and police engagement, intervention, and where necessary enforcement with safeguards on the sale of bladed weapons.
As first step to mitigating knife crime the Liberal Party would support the creation a £1bn fund for local authorities to spend on youth services in the worst affected regions to guide young people away from knife and gang related crime.

Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of The Liberal Party​

As a party, we are proposing that we increase the Income Tax threshold from the current £12,500 phased to £20,000. 

There is a tripartite argument in favour of such a proposal: 

• it would incentivise work and encourage the work ethic’ back onto the agenda. 
• it would take people out of the lower end of the income spectrum out of paying tax completely. Free up 6 million people from income tax, by lifting the minimum threshold to £20,000, from £12,500 pa. This is 1 in 5 taxpayers. Basic income tax rate stays at 20%. This would be paid for by a tapered progressive tax rate
• Would, stimulate the economy: tax cuts should be focused on low- and middle-income households who tend to have a higher propensity to spend high degree of their income than high-income households. 

Motion approved at November 11^th Liberal Party Special Assembly.