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  Liberal Party to field candidate at By-elction for Sheffield City Council
Posted by: ReadingLib - 12-23-2023, 07:34 PM - Forum: General Discussion - News and Views - No Replies

The Liberal Party will be fielding a candidate at the Stannington Ward by-election for Sheffield City Council on Thursday the 18th January 2024.

Many thanks to local candidate Rod Rogers for offering to represent the party at the polls.

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  Liberal Party NEC Statement – A 2 State Solution for the Palestinian Nation
Posted by: ReadingLib - 12-19-2023, 08:04 PM - Forum: NEC Press Releases - No Replies

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.

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  An open letter from Liberal Party Leader Cllr Steve Radford – Gaza Crisis
Posted by: ReadingLib - 12-16-2023, 05:22 PM - Forum: NEC Press Releases - No Replies

The following has been circulated to councillor who we are aware of who have rejected their own party’s stance on a ceasefire in Gaza.
 
Dear Councillor
 
I appreciate your principled stand on the issue of Palestine.
 
Here in Liverpool, we were thankfully able to get a consensus among all the 5  parties, Labour, Lib Dem, Green, Community Independents, and my own Liberal Party Group.
 
Please find some press  coverage  which I hope you find encouraging.
 
I  know how difficult it may be outside one of the 3 mainstream parties and if we can assist you overcome the hurdles which will be undoubtably be put in your way please feel welcome to contact me
 
Regards
 
Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of The Liberal  Party
%%%%

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  Liberal Party NEC Statement – Continuation of the Gaza Conflict
Posted by: ReadingLib - 12-09-2023, 12:21 PM - Forum: NEC Press Releases - No Replies

The Liberal Party has watched with increase despair the resumption of violence in Gaza following the recent pause in hostilities to facilitate prisoner exchanges.

The brutal Hamas attack of the 7th October has unleashed an Israeli response which now threatens to reduce the Gaza Strip to an uninhabitable condition, threatening to envelope its 2.3 million inhabitants in an humanitarian disaster.

This operation has now exceeded any military justification other than to inflict unrecoverable damage on the Palestinians, reducing civilian infrastructure including hospitals to ruin.

According to a UN spokesperson, 5 out of 6 Palestinians have now become a refugee in their own land, driven from one end of the Gaza Strip to the other as the Israeli army continues its operations.

The Liberal Party again calls for an immediate ceasefire, and the resumption of  humanitarian aid to Gaza. We believe that the only viable long-term solution to the cycle of conflict is the implementation of a 2-state solution which provides for a viable Palestinian State.

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  Liberal News Winter 2023 and Party Leadership Elections
Posted by: ReadingLib - 12-04-2023, 09:00 PM - Forum: General Discussion - News and Views - No Replies

The Liberal Party is currently undertaking its elections to the party NEC and party leader.

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

If any members are interested in serving in any capacity with the party, please let a member of the NEC know.

Contact details are on the party website.

Regards

Stephen Graham
Liberal Party NEC Member and Nominations Officer

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  Liberal Party NEC - 3rd February 2024 - Christ Church, C of E, Sandford Close, Leeds
Posted by: ReadingLib - 11-29-2023, 08:30 PM - Forum: General Discussion - News and Views - No Replies

 
The next open Liberal Party NEC will be held on the 3rd February 2024 at the Christ Church, C of E, Sandford Close, Leeds, LS15 8EY.

It is envisaged this will be the first meeting of the newly elected NEC and will cover party business and is open to both party members and general observers.

A Zoom video conference  facility will be available, and a link can be request6ed prior to the meeting.
Travel options for the venue are available via he Traveline website.
 
For further details please contact the Secretary of the NEC, Stephen Graham

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  Autumn Budget Statement November 2023 - A Liberal Response
Posted by: ReadingLib - 11-26-2023, 05:40 PM - Forum: NEC Press Releases - No Replies

Jeremy Hunt’s Budget was unfortunately a lot more anti-climatic than what it ought to have been.

Fiddling round the edges in terms of national insurance contributions and uprating benefits might be welcome, but unfortunately, he was a long way off the mark in terms of delivering something substantial for the ordinary person or indeed small business owner.

The Institute Fiscal Studies (IFS) has already warned that the chancellor was able to reduce NI in part because he had not increased spending on public services and taking into account inflation, unprotected departments would face budget cuts of more than £20bn by 2027-28.
 
Given the realities of the cost-of-living crises and the anaemic growth rates that the country has been facing for the best part of 15 years, the chancellor should have been a lot more radical in terms of delivering for the British people - he was far from it!

As a party, we would like to have seen the personal tax threshold increase to at least 15K (with NI scrapped altogether), the rate at which small businesses start paying corporation tax to at least 100,000 (20% rate thereafter), replacing Business Rates/Council Tax with LVT and finally equalising Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax/Dividends Tax.

It is no surprise that the Conservative chancellor has failed to deliver again and we thus as a party encourage those looking for a radical but moderate approach to economics to join The Liberal Party.

Kayed Al-Haddad

Member of the NEC and Economics Spokesman 

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  Motion for Debate Liverpool City Council Meeting - Wednesday, 22nd November, 2023 5.0
Posted by: ReadingLib - 11-18-2023, 08:00 PM - Forum: Local Association Press Releases - No Replies

15a Humanitarian crisis in the Middle East by Councillor Steve Radford, Liberal Party,  seconded by Councillor Tom Crone, Green Party

Liverpool City Council recognises the significance of the tragic situation in the Middle East to our city. We have Jewish and Palestinian communities and, if the crisis were to escalate, we could be required to offer sanctuary to refugees.

Liverpool City Council condemns the massacre of Israeli civilians and the taking of hostages by Hamas on October 7th.

We further condemn the collective punishment of the Palestinian people that has ensued, costing the lives of over 9,000 people, 3,500 of them children. Innocent Palestinians should not have to pay the price for the atrocities of October 7th. There is no purely military solution to the 75-year-long crisis in the region, rooted in the occupation of Palestinian land, as recognised in United Nations resolution 2334. The indiscriminate levelling of areas of Gaza is totally unacceptable. An immediate ceasefire and the return of all hostages are preconditions for a renewed peace process.

Palestinian and Israeli citizens have an equal right to live free from fear and insecurity.

We call on the UK government to renew efforts to end attacks on civilians and to return all hostages immediately as a precondition for a lasting peace.’

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  Letter to the Reading Chronicle – Reading Burrough Council Accounts 2022/2023
Posted by: ReadingLib - 11-16-2023, 08:39 PM - Forum: Local Association Press Releases - No Replies

I note from my calendar that Reading Burrough Council has inevitably failed to publish its 2022/23 accounts by the 31st of October, the  6th time is 7 years that the council has failed to meet the publishing deadline.

This now leaves local council taxpayers with 3 sets of missing account, those being 20/21, which exists only as a draft, and the subsequent sets for 21/22 and 22/23.

Since taking over from KPMG, the councils auditors EY are believed to have billed the council over £1 million pounds in additional auditing fee’s up to and including the 2017/18 accounts, which suggest the cost has continue to climb towards the £1.5 million pound mark.

The fact that a council with an annual budget of £160 million pounds can’t deliver publicly accessible accounts to the council tax paying public seems to be a mere inconvenience for the ruling labour party.

In fact, timely published accounts act as a reassurance that the council taxpayers’ monies are being spent wisely, and that the council’s finances are on a sustainable footing, with no unwelcome surprises for council taxpayers.

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  Empathetic Liberalism - The Liberal Challenge to the Excesses of Populism
Posted by: ReadingLib - 11-05-2023, 07:09 PM - Forum: General Discussion - News and Views - No Replies

Liberalism is our cause. The word has been abused and misused more than most in politics.

We believe that one of the greatest dangers faced today is the rise of populism from both the left and right. Many movements have honourable objectives, but unchecked some can go too far and lead to imbalance and injustice. That is where liberals have a part to play. We must stand up for individual rights but balanced with common sense and compassion.

For that reason, we propose the slogan ‘Empathetic Liberalism’. We will fight for the individual, but we never lose sight of the feelings of any. That will require us to speak up against the excesses of certain political movements that transcend party politics. In our view, we must be brave and resist the ‘cancel culture’ and movements that seek to impose guilt for past wrongs on the generations or demonise those whose views do not correspond to the latest fashion. We  must be anti-populist and brave. In practical terms, we need to adopt specific causes as a party and champion the underdog, particularly if that involves taking risk.

Allan Steele WS, Defence Spokesperson
Motion adopted at Liberal Party Assembly October 7th 2023

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