South Lincolnshire Liberal Democrats

CHAIRS REPORT ch2019

Our executive are all volunteers, and whilst we are considering getting some part-time paid help, we are still trying to manage with whatever 'spare time' we have.
We appreciate your support, and would be pleased if you could help us develop our group. I'll be standing down as chair at our AGM, after nearly four years, I would like to thank everyone who has been supportive of our goals, especially our executive members past and present.
Environment and Climate Change have become common parlance, and whilst the wider population are waking up to the impact of their personal decisions. Sadly, relatively few people understand how we can effect change.
Many of us have been considering the environment for years, and have made changes accordingly. Pity the person who has just woken up to the issue. Should they cancel their holiday flights, ease up on dairy, stop mowing the lawn, buy a reusable bottle, sell the car, turn down the heating, wear charity shop clothes or join Friends of the Earth? It can be overwhelming! Perhaps the role of GLD has changed, it's time to stop drawing people's attention to the problems, and start setting out the solutions.
Sometimes I attend events like conferences and seminars, and I'm astonished at how far we have come. The talk is of climate change, single use, recycling, and low carbon lifestyles, but when I look around, it's like we are in a parallel universe. It seems talking about change is taking the place of creating change. We are the influencers. We need to able to show others how we can move into the new world of low impact living, while maintaining our positions on the local council, as activists, or as community leaders. We need to be brave. It's time to stop justifying our choices, the narrative has moved on. We no longer need to explain why we have fitted solar panels, or why we walk to the station, but we need to use our experiences to make those same choices easier for others. We can best understand what's stopping people from cycling by getting on a bike. Without first hand personal experience, it can be difficult to appreciate the efforts others are making. Have you ever asked for plant-based food at a conference? If not, how can you expect the caterers to provide low-impact food? If you are concerned about plastic waste, what solutions have you tried, what are the obstacles you have experienced, how can those around you make it easier to be sustainable? Did you ever take all that plastic packaging back to the supermarket, or unwrap your vegetables on the checkout conveyor belt before putting them into your bag? It's time for action on the environment. This is especially true of our elected member and candidates. It is a lot easier to garner support from those increasing numbers of voters concerned about the environment if you are taking a lead, and can demonstrate your commitment.
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone again, It's been great, we've had some wonderful moments.

Thank you!

Whether you're a Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate, a Mayoral Candidate, a GLA candidate, a Council Candidate or one of the thousands of Liberal Democrat activists that help get them elected, we want to say thank you.

The time and effort you give is what makes our party tick and without you, we couldn't achieve the change at every level of government we all are fighting for. We hope you find this page useful as you prepare for the 2020 local elections.

As you know, there are hundreds of local and regional elections happening in England and Wales in May this year, including Council, Mayoral and Police & Crime Commissioner elections.

They present us with an excellent opportunity to make huge gains across the country, and for your local party to make a big impact in your local area.

Liberal Democrats have long demanded fundamental reforms to the distribution of power: proportional voting, decentralisation, an elected second chamber.

Sadly, electoral reform has been lacking entirely from the Labour party's leadership contest. That's why, this week, I've written to the three remaining Labour leadership candidates, urging them to ditch our broken voting system in favour of proportional representation.

The Liberal Democrats are working hard to tackle the big issues that people are facing across the UK.

✔︎ Ensuring a properly resourced NHS, to provide the highest quality care for our loved ones

✔︎ Fighting to reverse police cuts, to protect our communities from violent crime

✔︎ Protecting our environment. We've already done more to fight the climate emergency than any other party

The first time you go canvassing can feel daunting. For many people, going up to a stranger's door, knocking, and starting a conversation isn't something they do every day. They don't often ask people about how they want things to change, in their neighbourhood or across the country as a whole.

More than 1 in 4 of us will experience depression, anxiety or stress this year. Almost every family will be affected.

At our latest meeting, the Federal Board welcomed our newest member, Lisa Smart, who has been elected the new chair of the Federal Communications and Elections Committee (FCEC), taking over from James Gurling. Welcome on board, Lisa!

We also welcomed back to the Board Tony Harris as Registered Treasurer and chair of the Federal Finance and Resources Committee (FFRC) and Mike German as Federal Treasurer.

Responding to reports that the UK will use the 5th carbon budget as the basis of its commitments for climate action at COP26, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: "The news that the government will be setting our commitments for the COP26 based on the fifth carbon budget is deeply worrying. That carbon budget is not based on the UK's new net-zero target, but instead based on targets the UK set itself when Gordon Brown was still Prime Minister. "This Conservative government presents itself as taking the climate emergency seriously, but it is actions like this that tell a different story. "The Tories are happy to pay lip service, while failing to grasp the scale of the challenge facing not just the UK, but the world. "The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to set new updated targets for COP26 to ensure the UK is leading the path to net zero."

Today, Ed Davey and I have written to the Prime Minister, calling for him to reverse plans to scrap the BBC licence fee.

The British Press is by no means without criticism, but at its best, the BBC remains a beacon of independent journalism as well as high-quality entertainment. That's why Liberal Democrats will fight tooth and nail to save it. Read our letter in full below:

Last month, the Chair of the Election Review, Dorothy Thornhill, was announced. Now, we're pleased to be able to announce the full review team.

They bring a wide range of skills and experience, in the party and outside to the review and will help the Chair ensure the review that is conducted is thorough.