South Lincolnshire Liberal Democrats

Leaflets for the Donington, Quadring and Gosberton by-election have arrived. Who's up for helping with distribution this weekend or next week?

Contact Neil Oakman

Neil@southlincslibdems.org.uk

Imagine you are charged with a criminal offence. It has the potential to result in loss of your freedom, reputation, job, family, custody of your children and so on. You will want a trained professional to help you. Someone to explain to you the law that applies to the offence, what the state needs to prove against you and what defences may be available. Someone to scrutinise the evidence against you objectively and assist you in presenting your defence. Someone to protect you from any abuses of power by the state's police or prosecutors. And if you are guilty, someone to help you explain to the court any good reasons for a measure of leniency that might apply before you are punished.

People should be "empowered" to sell their own data if they want to, to share in the profits of technological advances, Sir Vince Cable has said.

The Liberal Democrat leader said data was "the new oil" yet people were happy to give it up for free.

He also said regulators should consider breaking up tech giants like Facebook and Amazon and that an independent standards body should monitor content.

The Liberal Democrats won two of the council by-elections that were held last night (with one still to declare!), gaining two seats from the Conservatives!

The Liberal Democrats, under Vince Cable, are winning seats up and down the country and against all opposition - because people know when they elect Liberal Democrats, they're electing someone who'll get things done for their community!

British jobs should be protected, following a vote in the House of Lords. Liberal Democrats helped defeat the Government and voted to keep Britain in a European Customs Union, which is key to Britain's future prosperity.

An amendment on the customs union (supported by the Liberal Democrats and some Crossbenchers, Labour and Conservative peers) was passed by 348 votes to 225.

April already, so local government election campaigns are getting underway!

Thanks to all our candidates and their teams, out knocking on doors, putting up poster boards and preparing for getting out postal votes later this month ahead of polling day on 3 May.

If you haven't got elections near you, please offer to help somewhere nearby - every pair of hands is vital, with plenty of different jobs to be done.

In November 2017, I was appointed by the Federal Board of the Liberal Democrats as Special Investigation Counsel to conduct an investigation and produce a Report on the handling of sexual impropriety complaints within the Party.

I am pleased that, after a period of being embargoed, the report has now been published and you can access it here.

He criticised the effective monopolies enjoyed by the likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon - comparing their market dominance to that of big oil companies in the past - and suggested ways they could be broken up.

"Data is the new oil. Data is the raw material which drives these firms and it is control of data which gives them an advantage over competitors. These companies have acquired their pivotal position by providing a service or platform through which data can be extracted, collected and used.

Just as Standard Oil once cornered 85% of the refined oil market, today Google drives 89% of internet search, 95% of young adults on the internet use a Facebook product, Amazon accounts for 75% of E-book sales, while Google and Apple combined provide 99% of mobile operating systems.

National government and, even more so, supranational bodies like the EU can and should look to break up enterprises where size is detrimental to the economic well-being of the country, its citizens and its capacity for innovation.

There is a case for splitting Amazon into three separate businesses - one offering cloud computing, one acting as a general retailer and one offering a third-party marketplace. Other examples would be Facebook being forced to divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp as a condition for operating in the EU, creating two new social media networks. Divesting Google of YouTube would be another.

What is striking that the most effective competition authority in the capitalist world - the European Commission - is probably the only body with the clout to take these decisions. The UK could quite obviously never do it alone.

Britain commits an act of serious self-harm by doggedly setting itself apart from the power of shared sovereignty with our neighbours.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Derby said she is extremely concerned about the way Derby City Council is currently being run under the ruling Labour group and has vowed to help bring about change.

Ruth Skelton, who is standing for re-election in *Blagreaves Ward said her members are hearing the same message as they knock on doors throughout the city during the lead up to the local council elections on Thursday, May 3.

Green Liberal Democrat Conference 2018
Jubilee Campus of Nottingham University on 19th May 2018
30th Birthday Bash

The Green Liberal Democrats - celebrate their 30th Birthday this year! The Party`s environmental pressure group wants to welcome as many friends from Nottingham and the wider East Midlands area as can get to our birthday celebrations!

Are we living in an Age of Rage? On the first episode of ANGER MANAGEMENT WITH NICK CLEGG, the former deputy prime minister talks to Nigel Farage, former Ukip leader and one of the most divisive figures in British political history. A wave of populist anger carried the EU referendum for the Leave side - but what happens now?

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There was an urgent question in the House of Commons today about the Gender Pay Gap. Harriet Harman asked the Government what it was doing to close the gender pay gap after companies with more than 250 employees were required to report for the first time.

The minister Victoria Atkins was very supportive of the legislation. If you didn't know better, you might be inclined to think that the Tories had introduced it:

The Government has tonight been defeated in the House of Lords on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

An amendment on the customs union supported by the Liberal Democrats, Crossbenchers, Labour, and Conservative peers has passed by 348 votes to 225.

The defeat forces the government to lay a report before Parliament outlining the steps taken to negotiate a customs union as part of the framework for a future UK-EU relationship, and prevents the repeal of the European Communities Act 1972 until these steps have been taken.

This is a hugely significant moment, the House of Lords has come together to show the government that remaining in a customs union is key to the UK's future prosperity.

Securing this win on a cross-party basis rams home how out of touch the government have been on this issue and that they drastically need to change tack from the destructive hard Brexit they are pursuing.

Having sat through over 100 hours of debate so far in the House of Lords on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, I have been angered by the combination of arrogance and incompetence which has characterised the Government's response to a very wide range of concerns expressed.

From how we continue to regulate and licence the supply of over-the-counter medicines to working with our European neighbours on security policy; from how to maintain reciprocal roaming charges to protecting our hard-won rights and freedoms, the Government has displayed indifference and the inability to answer the most basic of questions.

An amendment providing enhanced protections for employment, equality, health and safety entitlements, rights and protections, and consumer and environmental standards has been passed in the Lords.

This is the second defeat today for the government in the EU Withdrawal Bill.

This defeat is a key step in ensuring that parliament plays the key role in Brexit and not just a handful of Ministers altering standards via the back-door.

Guaranteeing that standards relating to equality, employment law and many other things can only be altered via primary legislation is extremely significant and essential to the democratic process.

Empowering and thought-provoking, this intensive training weekend for aspiring female MPs will provide you with the knowledge and skills required to run as a successful candidate.

Many current and former female Lib Dem MPs started their journeys at an FWMP event and you could be next!

The invaluable opportunities, skills and advice you will gain include:

In Tuesday's debate on the Syrian airstrikes, Vince raised three questions. Here is his speech in full, complete with interventions.

My approach to this question was well captured by some of the independent-minded Labour Back Benchers yesterday, and particularly by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) when she said "If only the Prime Minister had asked it of me, I would have been inclined to support her." The Prime Minister did not ask, and as a result she missed a significant opportunity to build consensus in this place and support in the country. She has clearly received other advice.

The Windrush Generation are British citizens. People who've lived here for decades - working, raising families, part of Britain. How they have been treated by the Home Office is brutal and cruel.

The Windrush scandal has exposed the brutality of the Home Office and the Conservatives more clearly than a multitude of other immigration and asylum scandals.

Parliamentarians share a stage to ask for voters of Britain to be given a say on final Brexit deal

A major push for a "people's vote" on the final Brexit deal between Britain and the EU has been launched by MPs, celebrities and business leaders. A cross-party lineup of MPs took to the stage at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, north London, on Sunday. They have been at pains to avoid the term "second referendum".