Brentwood Liberal Democrats

Chelmsford's new Local Plan was passed by the full council last night but was attacked for being weak on infrastructure, environment, and the affordability of homes. Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition Cllr. Stephen Robinson said,

"The Liberal Democrats are clear that this country has not built enough houses for 20 or more years. And nothing like enough houses that can be afforded by younger people and others on low incomes, people who are vital to our society's future.

To make matters worse Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party is still cowering behind the sofa rather than being a real opposition.

If there was ever a time for the people to stand up and demand to be listened to it is now - and they are.

23rd June is the second anniversary of the European referendum Leavers lied about having a plan and it's now clear that there is no plan for our exit. It's costing us all money, jobs, damaging the NHS and the future for peace and security for our young.

The Liberal Democrats have many strengths as a party.

But right now we failing in one key area - diversity. We have too few women, too few people without a university education - and far too few BAME members in our party.

This is not the kind of party we want to be.

Together we are going to do something about it but I need you to be bold.

We were so close.

Lib Dem MP Wera Hobhouse has been fighting to make 'upskirting' (taking photographs up a woman's skirt without their consent) a specific criminal offence.

This morning it looked likely that this vile practice would be outlawed after it received backing from the Ministry of Justice, Number 10 and numerous MPs across the house.

To make matters worse Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party is still cowering behind the sofa rather than being a real opposition.

If there was ever a time for the people to stand up and demand to be listened to it is now - and they are.

23rd June is the second anniversary of the European referendum Leavers lied about having a plan and it's now clear that there is no plan for our exit. It's costing us all money, jobs, damaging the NHS and the future for peace and security for our young.

This month has been the most successful yet frustrating one we've had for our Brexit campaign.

At the end of May we won a series of victories against the government in the House of Lords.

We defeated the government on the EU Withdrawal Bill a staggering 15 times - thanks to the thousands of supporters who wrote to Peers we identified who would consider supporting us on this.

When I was little, my grandfather got involved in amateur dramatics. He wasn't very good, but I mention it because the role that I best remember him playing was that of a judge in a play called "Breaking the Code", about the life and trial of Alan Turing. It was important to grandpa because he had always thought of Alan Turing as a national hero. He felt that his intelligence work at Bletchley had turned the tide of the war in the north Atlantic, where my grandfather was an officer on a destroyer. Grandpa felt that, despite his heroism, Alan Turing had been terribly ill used by the British establishment and the judiciary and that what happened to him ultimately brought about his destruction.

Elections weren't just being held for Parliament last night - there were also two Council by-elections, a delayed election in Southwark (with three seats up for grabs!) and a by-election in Doncaster.

In London Bridge & West Bermondsey, we pulled off a stunning win - winning all three seats that were up for grabs.

Today, the Government has announced that they will be backing my Bill to make 'upskirting' a specific sexual offence.

I've been working closely with the tenacious campaigner Gina Martin and her lawyer Ryan Whelan on the details of law reform with the Ministry of Justice - supported by hundreds of activists who have lobbied the relevant ministers for a change in the law on upskirting.