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According to the BBC: 

My question is this: if there is no Liberal Party candidate in your area, who do you vote for?

This is my first post in terms of a thread and the first time I have engaged in some thought in terms of developing political ideas. The things that I will talk about as part of this thread are merely ideas and my current thoughts right now and I am hoping they will generate some further discussion.

The first key point I want to raise is my feelings around the NHS and the current crisis that exists. For a bit of background, I have family members who work for the NHS and have put forward similar views to that I am about to suggest. 

In my eyes the problems with the NHS are more often than not reported as problems with funding or the amount of resources that the NHS is gaining from the Government. This idea however, I believe is partially incorrect. What the NHS needs right now are two key changes. Firstly, it needs to be restructured and re-organised and made into a more centralised organisation which leads to the second point which I am suggesting and that is the use of Economies of Scale to reduce the amount of spending the NHS has to have for all its equipment and drugs etc etc. Two examples which highlights the need for these changes out of many are as followed;

One relative of mine when working in the servers department in IT installed a new set of servers for a local NHS run minor injuries unit. 2 weeks later the unit was shut down and the servers had to be taken out again. Although that is a shortened version of the actual events, it shows that there can be a lot of miscommunication or lack of communication amongst the various units and hospitals which exist. Another relates to myself where I spent around 30 mins in an appointment at a hospital where they asked my questions based on an operation I was going to have, despite the fact that I had been to that same hospital less than month earlier and was asked the exact same questions. This is a waste of the doctors time as they already know the answers to the questions and through a small change in the efficiency of the running of the hospital that appointment could have been given to someone who needed it more desperately than I did at the time. 

An example to prove the benefits of economies of scale is that n the area I am from there are 3 towns which are all joined and these have a main hospital, a minor injuries unit and another smaller unit for paediatrics. These all use differing IT equipment and resources despite the fact they are all within the same area. This is because the individual surgeries and units have control over what they buy when really this should be left to a more centralised unit which could then use its increased size to gain discounts on products bought and therefore save money which could be re-invested in areas which are struggling such as recruitment. 

The next idea I would like to discuss is the proposed points system that Boris Johnson has put forward in his current Brexit deal/plan. This involves focusing more on ensuring that educated people come to the UK and not any Tom, Dick or Harry so to speak. This idea I believe is problematic as instead of targeting immigration based on where someone is from and how educated they are, it would be more beneficial to limit immigration based on other factors in my eyes. For example those innocent civilians caught up in wars or whose countries are in a state of turmoil such as Venezuela. It would seem a lot better if we granted these people the opportunity to reach their potential rather than shutting them out. Another point I want to raise in regards to this is the idea that what do you define as being well educated. The work a tradesman completes is just as difficult or as challenge as the degree I am currently taking. So in that sense I say we target immigration based on what jobs or roles in the economy are most needed. There is no point having 50,000 bankers arrive every year in the country if we need nurses or social workers more pressingly as we would just have an imbalance. By all means keep a points system but maybe design it in a way that would mean if we needed certain types of worker, it would be easier for them to gain a work permit/Visa. 

The final point I will make now is over the recent claims that Northern Ireland wants to charge those who served during the Troubles wit historic offences. This bothers me not because I believe the actions were at all justified but mainly because of one reason that being: The Good Friday Agreement. It is extremely hypocritical and unjustified to charge the soldiers after the UK signed an agreement to let all the terrorists from both sides go free and drop any charges. At least the soldiers that served in Northern Ireland went with the intention of doing the right thing, ok some may or may not (I don't comment on this specifically as I was neither alive nor have enough knowledge of the individual instances that occurred to come to a reasonable conclusion) but their primary aim was to save lives. The various terrorist organisations on the other hand did not have intention in doing the right thing after their initial setting up and as a consequence killed plenty of innocents and more so than the soldiers. All in all I believe we should do more to protect our soldiers rather than the current situation where the Government seems to leave them out to dry.

Dear Editor

During the Queens Speech the government announced plans to introduce compulsory photo ID for voters, This is despite reliable sources suggest 3.5 million voters do not have such ID.

We have to ask what is the evidence that there is a problem that ID cards are needed to resolve?

According to the Electoral Commission report for 2018.

"There is no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud relating to the 2018 local election.

Of the 266 cases that were investigated by the police, one led to a conviction and two suspects were given police cautionsOutcomes of cases where the suspect was either convicted or accepted a police caution.

At the local elections in 2018, a Peterborough Green Party candidate pleaded guilty to forging all signatures on his nomination form so that he could stand in the election.

At the local elections in 2018, a Labour Party candidate seeking re-election registered to vote at two different addresses in Rochdale.

He applied to vote by post at both addresses and voted twice in the Rochdale council elections.

It is an offence to vote more than once in the same local election area.

West Yorkshire police received a report that a postal vote cast in the 2018 local elections appeared to have been completed and returned by someone who had died.

Police interviewed the deceased elector’s widow. She had been his sole carer and often did his paperwork. It appeared to be a genuine mistake in the midst of grief.

Of the three actual serous cases not a single case would have been prevented by the introduction of Voter ID card checks.

Therefore one can only conclude the legislation is a deliberate and calculated obstruction to prevent 3.5 million voters having the right and carrying out their civic duty to vote

Cllr Steve Radford
President of the Liberal Party

The Liberal Party notes the announcement in the Queens Speech, 14th October 2019, that the government intends to enact legislation to force voters to provide photographic proof of their identify at polling stations.
 
Whilst the party acknowledges the serious issue of voting fraud, most cases of electoral fraud involve postal voting which would be unaffected by the provision of voter identification.
 
The demand for a recognised form of identification discriminates again those least able to secure documentation such as the elderly, foreign nationals legitimately entitled to vote and the youngest members of the electorate.
 
The Electoral Commission reported in December 2015 that about 3.5 million electors did not have an acceptable form of photo ID. A concern echoed by charities for the aged according to the Independent Newspaper (14th October).
 
The argument for voter Id risk’s being used as a backdoor to introducing national ID cards, a scheme which the Liberal Party has opposed on the grounds that it is an infringement to the right to privacy.
 
The party believes that alleged electoral fraud is best dealt with by local election services and the police, rather than putting the onus on the electorate to prove their identify at the polling station.

Dear Members,
 
The Liberal Party is currently seeking candidates, for both internal party NEC and Parliamentary Elections.
 
Internal Party
 
We are seeking candidates to serve on the Party's National Executive Committee, to ensure the party is run effectively and efficiently. We are also, seeking nominations for Party President, at the present time  only our current President Steve Radford has expressed a willingness to serve as Party President for the next two years. If you would like to support Steve, please send an email confirming you wish to nominate him, likewise if you know another member who is willing to stand, please nominate that member. We will do the necessary to confirm consent from any persons nominated. Please ensure your name and address are included on the nomination.
 
Parliamentary Candidates
 
We are still seeking members who are willing to stand in a constituency as Parliamentary candidates. If you are interested, please let us know. We have received generous donations which will allow us to fund a greater number of campaigns at the next general election, we will prioritise candidates who are willing to organise and campaign to get councillors elected to local council seats.

NEC nominations close Dec 1st.
 
Contacts
Stephen Graham.            Nomination Officer
Paul Bradshaw                     Membership Secretary

The General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") comes into force on the 25th May of 2018
 
The Liberal Party has responsibilities under these regulations as we have gathered personal details from members, supports and members of the public in the form of names, addresses, contact details and e-mail addresses.

This has special relevance as we collect address and contact details of Prospective Parliamentary candidates(PPC).
 
As such we have specific responsibility to ensure the information is kept securely, is not used for a purpose you have not given consent for, and is available for you to review and if requested to do so deleted responsibly.
  
If you have any questions or wish to exercises your rights please contact myself or another member of the Liberal Party NEC who will be happy to address your request.
 
Stephen Graham
NEC Member

The Liberal Party believes in controlled immigration as the only way to ensure the adequate planning of public services, a balanced employment market, use of resources and national security.

To this end we welcome the UK having control of our borders post Brexit. We were one of the first political parties to immediately call for protection for EU citizens working and living in the UK to remain here.

We would urge the UK government to broaden the access for EU citizens living and working in the UK registering for the right to continued residency.

We urge the government to clarify the rules on what qualifies as a serious crime to debar anyone staying for the avoidance of ambiguity and inconsistent policy application. We urge the UK government to develop immigration policies with a clear skills gap analysis rather than look purely at earning levels and wealth. We re-iterate our belief that a free movement with other commonwealth countries with a shared language, history and cultural ties.

We also believe that in any immigration policy we should see an obvious mutual advantage to give preference to Commonwealth countries who share English as a significant language and have established communities here.

The Liberal Party believes in controlled immigration as the only way to ensure the adequate planning of public services, a balanced employment market, use of resources and national security.

To this end we welcome the UK having control of our borders post Brexit. We were one of the first political parties to immediately call for protection for EU citizens working and living in the UK to remain here.

We urge the government to clarify the rules on what qualifies as a serious crime to debar anyone staying for the avoidance of ambiguity and inconsistent policy application. We urge the UK government to develop immigration policies with a clear skills gap analysis rather than look purely at earning levels and wealth. We re-iterate our belief that a free movement with other commonwealth countries with a shared language, history and cultural ties.

We also believe that in any immigration policy we should see an obvious mutual advantage to give preference to Commonwealth countries who share English as a significant language and have established communities here.

The Liberal Party notes with anguish the collapse of the Thomas Cook group leaving hundreds of thousands of customers awaiting repatriation from holiday destinations and thousands of staff made redundant.

After a span of 178 years the company had been forced into administration by a perfect storm of changing holiday booking habits, unsustainable debt, and an uncertain business outlook due to political instability in key holiday destinations and subdued domestic demand.

Although the party accepts the arguments for not extending a taxpayer funded bailout to prolong the company’s existence, serious question still needs to be asked about its failure.

We welcome the government scrutiny into the collapse and urge the government to ensure that holiday makers who travelled with Thomas Cooks are not in any way put under any extra stress or hardshipsdue to demands for money  and that  proper measures are put in place to protect any future holidaymakers should there be similar collapses of travel companies.

The sustainability of a traditional bricks and mortar business in the face of new technology should not translate into administration and closure.