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The Liberal Party is confident that the period after December 2020 will be more hopeful for the UK, than at any period since the UK definitively voted to leave the EU.
We must now turn our attention to actions we can take independent of the EU.
We must encourage investment to return manufacturing and diverse and sustainable agriculture and horticulture to the UK.
We must secure our fishing waters and invest in delivering sustainable forms of fishing to our costal fishing communities.
We must support local growers to reduce waste by ensuring more of the product they grow is sent to market or to a local processing cannery to be preserved to meet future needs or export.
We must enter into trade deals favourable to the commonwealth and other developing countries and the goods and services they supply.
We must form strategic trade and reciprocal migration alliances with our closest allies. It's time for the UK to take its place in CANZUK.
We must exploit our world leading role in medical science, research, banking and other professional services to the benefit of the UK and our strategic partners.
In all endeavours, we must ensure that standards are maintained or improved.
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I agree generally with what you say RL - although the Climate Crisis is obviously of much greater importance than Brexit - the same problems exist for the Party. How to have even the slightest influence - while the Party is so small?
So the question remains:
What is to be done if the Party is not to be emasculated with regard to this issue also - it must find a way to substantially increase its active membership - but how?
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The Liberal Party continuing to maintain a high profile and engage on social media, particular Facebook and Twitter.
The Liverpool team are involved in local food deliveries in their ward and adjacent ones.
We have a regular Special Assembly and open NEC session, the next scheduled for the 7th Feb.
We published a Post Pandemic Recovery Manifesto.
Our Policy Development Committee meets regularly to review policy.
We are looking forward to contesting next May’s local elections are we are always keen to speak to people willing to stand as a local Liberal.
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Thanks for your reply RL - however, with the best will in the world - it is difficult to believe that this activity will have any significant consequence.
I am reluctant to remind you that UKIP was created a few years after the Party was founded in its present form. UKIP's best days, under the leadership of Nigel Farage are in the past, nevertheless, it still has a membership of around 29,000 compared to Labour 485,000, Conservatives 180,000, members, Liberal Democrats 115,000 Green Party 48,500.
"Under Farage's leadership - which began in 2006 - UKIP was awarded "major party status" after the 2014 local elections when it won 163 seats, an increase of 128. In the 2014 European Parliament elections, UKIP received the greatest number of votes (27.5%) of any British party, producing 24 MEPs. The party won seats in every region of Britain, including its first in Scotland. It made strong gains in traditionally Labour voting areas within Wales and the North of England; it for instance came either first or second in all 72 council areas of the latter. The victory established Farage and UKIP as "truly household names". It was the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won the most votes in a UK-wide election.
UKIP gained its first MP when Conservative defector Douglas Carswell won the seat of Clacton during an October 2014 by-election. In November fellow Conservative defector Mark Reckless became UKIP's second MP in a Rochester and Strood by-election. In the 2015 general election, UKIP secured over 3.8 million votes (12.6% of the total), replacing the Liberal Democrats as the third most popular party.
To counter the loss of further votes to UKIP, the governing Conservatives promised a referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU. The June 2016 referendum produced a 51.89% majority in favour of leaving the EU." [Extracted from Wikipedia]
I remain of the opinion that the Party's primary aim should be the election of an MP - so that the Party's policies can become widely known. I do appreciate that this will be difficult - but unless it is the case - is there really any point in having national or international policies? If the continued wish of the members is to grow the Party through increasing its councillor representation - that's fine - but this is also the strategy of the Green Party. By their own admission, this is likely to take at least a decade to increase its current MP representation and probably two decades. Unfortunately for a party concerned with Climate Change - in just one decade the necessary action to avoid a tipping point being reached [a reduction of 6% CO2 emissions annually until 2030] will have passed.
Should the Party wish to try the 'MP' route, it seems to me that the website needs immediate attention - as this is likely to be where most potential members first engage with the Party. I know that plans are afoot to update the site - however, unless appealing - it is unlikely many will join in its present form. It is worth looking at the UKIP site - it is crisp and clear - and something similar should be possible within the existing budget.
[Tried to include link but this feature does not seem to be working]
UKIP include eight policies, I would suggest four as a maximum - keeping in mind that UKIP really only had one policy during its rapid rise - to leave the EU. Presumably all of the policies included in the Party's 2019 manifesto are up for review - four policies only should provide a healthy competition as to what is to be included in the next!
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Many thanks for you advise.
We ran 19 candidates at the last general election but as we all know our share of the vote was seriously squeezed.
An MP still remains a long-term aspiration but as this election cycle will extend to his natural end in May 2024, we need to advance local candidates to increase our visibility.
In accept the point about the short and succinct policy declaration for use both in the media and on the doorstep.