The Liberal Party NEC has been posted the following discussion document by an external Pro-BREXIT campaigner.
 
We present this document for general discussion and debate:
 

I note with considerable despair recent media reports that the completion of the much-delayed Reading Bourgh Council accounts for the year 2016/17 continues to soak up local tax payers’ monies.
 
The latest reports indicate that at least 300k pounds has now been spent without the finalisation of the accounts, and that at least another 100k pounds may be needed to complete the process which is now slated for November of this year.
 
It was perhaps fortunate that the summers revelation on the delays came barely a week before the May local elections, giving the Labour run council an undeserved respite. The timely submission and auditing of the annual accounts reassures residents that the council is being run properly and efficiently.
 
Of immediate concern now is that the 2017/18 accounts are due, with no indication that the council is in any better position to deliver these.

This year’s Assembly is to be held at the Civil Service Club 13-15 Great Scotland Yard, Westminster, London SW1A 2HJ. As always it will feature a day of policy motions, discussion and reports on the Party. It is the opportunity for all Members to have their say in the way the Party is run and what our policy and campaigns should be in the year to come.
 
Please register your interest before the end of September using the details below, the enrolment payment is £10 per member to be collected on the day.
 
The Assembly will start at 9.30am on Saturday 20th October with the welcome speech and business from 10am. The agenda will conclude around 4.30pm and be followed by a NEC meeting.
 
If you want something to be considered for discussion at the Assembly please send your drafts by the 21st September on email to or by Mail to Assembly Committee, 38 Horsfield Way, Dunnington York, YO19 5RH.
 
Any two members or any Liberal Association can propose motions for consideration.
 
The draft Agenda will be circulated on the Libmembers email loop with the final date for amendments being the 5th of October using the same contact details.
 
Civil Service Club
13-15 Great Scotland Yard, Westminster, London SW1A 2HJ
020 7930 4881

The Liberal Party notes media reports that payday lender Wonga has now entered administration.
 
Although the company, as did similar entities, provided cash to those in distress, it did so at extortionate and exploitative rates, without proper thought for the long-term consequences of such lending which left many customers with spiralling debt.
 
The company was consequently ordered in 2014 to pay 2.6 million pounds in compensation to 45000 customers who were to have been subjected to unethical debt collection practises and to write off 220 million pounds of un-recoverable debt from a further 330000 customers.
 
The party sees no legitimate role for such companies in our society other than to provide unaffordable credit, and their existence only further highlights the consequences of deteriorating wage growth and stagnant standards of living now experience by many families in this country.
 
We see the concept of “not-for-profit” credit unions, owned as member co-operatives as a more sustainable and ethical means of helping those most in financial crisis.

The Liberal Party notes with grave concern the latest developments in the ongoing financial crisis at Northamptonshire council.
 
Following the unprecedent issuing of a second section 114 notice on the 24th July, prohibiting further unbudgeted expenditure, a full council meeting held on the 9th August heard details of the precarious state of the council’s finances.
 
These cover a projected budget deficit of 60 to 70 million pounds over the next 9 months and in the region of 180 million pounds over the next three years at current rates of expenditure.
 
Local government has been forced to bear the brunt of public expenditure cutbacks in funding, in the region of 50% since 2010, whilst seeing increased legal obligations to provide services by central government.
 
The Liberal Party against calls for sustained funding and investment in local public services, services which provide a basic level of care and support, which underpins an inclusive society.

The Liberal Party notes with considerable disappointment that Cuadrilla Resources has been granted permission to start fracking at their site at Preston New Road in Lancashire.
 
The party reiterates its opposition to the process of fracking to extract shale gas, reminding the public of the real prospects of environmental damage and the widespread local and national opposition to the undertaking.
 
At a time of exceptional water stress due to the ongoing heatwave, the pumping of high pressure water and sand, the later suspended with the aid of chemical thickening agents’ risks contaminating vital subterranean water sources.
 
The party calls for a moratorium on drilling until the conclusion of the government’s own review of the Royal Society recommendations for regulatory improvement to ensure safe drilling, which was only initiated in June of this year.
 
Since only one of the 10 recommendations from the Royal Society has been implemented, the commencement of drilling is both premature and unsound.

The Liberal Party wishes to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of the birth of the National Health Service(NHS) on the 5th July 2018.
 
The NHS is a vital public service, free at the point of delivery and a global model for a universal health care system.
 
The party fully acknowledges that the service nationally is under considerable financial and operational pressure and understands that it needs both adequate funding and leadership, both locally and nationally.
 
Whilst the party broadly supports the latest announcement for long-term funding for the NHS, it is imperative that such funding is delivered in a sustained manner as the NHS grapples with cost issues relating to an aging population, medical and technological advances, in the 21st century.

Every vote should count in our voting system.  To make all votes count, we should always vote 1,2,3 instead of X.  For the House of Commons we should keep current single member constituencies (the system known as the Alternative Vote).  However local councils should be able to choose multi-member electoral areas if they wish (the system known as Proportional Representation).
 
I have to declare a retrospective interest. Votes in the October 1974 General Election in Newbury were roughly 24,000 Conservative, 23,000 Liberal and 9,000 Labour. With the Alternative Vote I would have been elected Liberal MP.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Dane Clouston
Former Chair, Oxfordshire Liberal Party

The Liberal Party notes with disappointment the extension of fracking company Cuadrilla Resources injunction against protestors near its Preston New Road site.
 
Although there is nothing illegal in Caudrilla’s activities, the extension of the injunction reminds us that activity continues despite the rejection of the scheme by the local community.
 
This is a rejection that the Conservative government has purposefully decided to ignore, in the face of considerable public anxiety.
 
The Liberal Party re-iterates its opposition towards fracking which it considers to be of unproven economic benefit and carries with it un-quantified long-term environmental dangers.
 
We believe greater efforts should be put towards renewable energy schemes and the inclusion of solar panels in new housing projects as a responsible alternative to the government obsession with fracking.

Promotion Growth of small businesses, social enterprises and charities

 Whilst the Conservative Party presents itself as a champion of small businesses and community charities Liberals note that all these organisations are under increasing burdens of legislation with little proven benefit but great and disproportionate cost.

We call upon the reporting accounting threshold for charities set in 2006 at £25,000 be immediately raised to £50,000 and a lessonerous accounting structure be set for charities with income levels between £20,00 and £50.000.

The Liberal Party calls for all small businesses with an income level of below £85,000 or the current threshold of VAT be
exempted from applying for workplace pensions.
 
The level of administration has meant many small businesses and charities has reduced the intent to recruit employees and shifted employment to agency and casual work detrimental to both employees and society

Expansion of Grammar Schools

 The Liberal Party notes with grave disapproval the latest Conservative Party attempt to expand and legitimise the grammar school system in this country whilst not giving equal provision for the expansion of good non selective community schools.
 
Proposals to create a 50-million-pound fund for grammar school using a provision to encourage applications from disadvantaged families are simply a distraction to justify the building of ‘satellite’ sites which are arguable new school premises.
 
The Liberal Party opposes selective education which advantages only a minority of the families whilst denying fair educational opportunity and social mobility for the majority.
 
We support the objections from the teaching trade unions and professional associations.

Rather than increase the number of grammar schools the Liberal Party calls for an increased investment in existing schools to ensure that children of all abilities are engaged, challenged and developed so that each can achieve at the highest level of their ability. Further the Liberal Party calls for a ulture of 'parity of esteem' between vocational and academic education to befostered and promoted.

This is in line with our party constitution which calls for a Liberal Society in which every citizen shall possess liberty,
property and security, and none shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.

Gaza violence

 The Liberal Party views with horror the catastrophic escalation in violence along the border between the Gaza strip and
Israel on the day of the official opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Media reports speak of dozens killed and hundred’s wounded as Israeli forces respond to mass demonstration and attempted breaches of the contested boarder.

Coming on the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Israeli state and the simultaneous expulsion of Palestinian’s from
the disrupted territories, the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem is both highly provocative and callous act.

The Liberal Party yet again calls for a negotiated settlement to the issues of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem and calls
upon all nations and international bodies to act to resolve the open ended suffering of the Palestinians in their struggle
for statehood.

National water resource management

The Liberal Party notes the latest Environment Agency report on water resources, long-term consumption and water qualityin England.

The reports catalogue’s the realities of excessive water extraction, unlimited usage and loss in transit and highlights
the long-term environmental and human cost of living beyond our means.

We all have a part in securing the supply in this country, be it consumers consciously reducing domestic use or privately-owned water companies working to reduce leakage from their network which alone accounts for an astonishing 3 billion litres a day!

The Liberal Party believes that both a national education campaign is needed to make the public fully aware of the
situation, and a comprehensive and swift scheme to refurbish the nations water pipe network.

Although no obvious decline in overall rainfall has been noted, seasonal changes dictate that water consumption urgently
needs to be managed for the benefit of both human and environmental needs.