Frack Free Ryedale

Councillor Di Keal is a long term campaigner against fracking. She has been at the heart of the Frack Free Ryedale campaign as media guru against the industry in the district in North Yorkshire. She is also a founder member of Frack Free United, a cross-party coalition against the fracking industry. The campaign chalked up a key victory when the Government placed a moratorium on Fracking recently as part of their smoke and mirrors attempt to look good.

For many people the climate emergency is up there with the NHS and Brexit as the biggest issue that needs addressing in the next five years. It was therefore right to see a leaders debate on TV dedicated to the subject

The fact the Prime Minister chose not to attend strongly suggests it is not seen as a priority for the Conservatives. Certainly their manifesto makes few references to significant climate actions and their financial projections do not include any significant allocations of money to address the issue. The full debate can be found here https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news/on-demand/69214-332

George Monbiot, in an article in the Guardian on 27/11/2019 says numerous positive things about the Liberal Democrats Environmental offering:

• "The Liberal Democrats, mostly, get it."
• "The Lib Dems have made a crucial breakthrough, arguing that GDP should no longer be a government's central objective; it should focus instead on wellbeing."
• "The scope of the Lib Dems' new thinking is one of the biggest surprises in this election. The new duty of environmental care it proposes for private and public bodies, its proposed zero-waste and nature acts, its suggestion of new taxes on frequent flyers, legal protection for public space and support for rewilding are all new and welcome."

Rhys Taylor - Advocate for Air Quality

Councillor Rhys Taylor is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Cardiff North, and identifies as a Social Liberal. As a Welsh Liberal Democrat, Rhys has helped form policy on decarbonisation and clean air. He is included in a list of top candidates in PR Week of 7th November 2019.

(Updated 27 November 2019 from earlier version)

Key messages:

The Liberal Democrats propose:
• An emergency ten-year programme of action to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by 2030 - minimising the UK's impacts on the climate as fast as possible.
• A comprehensive plan to decarbonise every sector of the economy and get to net zero by 2045 at the latest. This covers all sectors: power, heat, transport, aviation, industry, and farming and land use.
• A plan not only for what to do but how to do it - including reforming regulation and frameworks for finance and investment, skills, innovation and industrial support, and reshaping the institutions of British government, central and local.

Without these three elements, no plan for net zero is credible. As the IFS said, 'There is no value in politicians simply competing on targets. They need to spell out the policies that will actually be required to meet the targets and be clear about how the immediate costs will be met.'
• Labour does not have an overall net zero policy. Their targets cover only about half of total UK emissions.
• The Green Party has 2030 as their net zero target date, but in fact their policies do not support that. In reality, their proposals would probably have a similar impact to ours.

Greenhouse gas concentrations have reached a record high according to the latest bulletin published by the World Meteorological Organization. We are staring down the barrel of a gun - in March this year the United Nations said there were just 11 years left to prevent irreversible damage to our planet. This damage will see more extreme weather events causing fire and flood, rising sea levels, food shortages and ultimately vast numbers of displaced people.

20 DAYS TO POLLING DAY

Lib Dems will freeze rail fares and fix broken ticketing system

The Liberal Democrats have announced bold plans to freeze rail fares for commuters and season ticket holders for the next five years, while fixing the broken fares and ticketing system.This policy is expected to cost approximately £1.6 billion

Chichester

Dr Kate O`Kelly is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Chichester and has lived and worked in the area for years. She joined the Liberal Democrats in the wake of the 2015 General Election. She has lived in South Harting, West Sussex for many years as a doctor, working as a GP in Chichester for 10 years, teaching at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and as an old age psychiatrist with dementia patients. And Kate recently joined the bench as a West Sussex magistrate.

Wealden's Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate Chris Bowers will be participating in the upcoming live 'Climate Emergency Question Time' this Wednesday November 27th, an event which has been organised by Wealden's Extinction Rebellion (XR) group.

The debate will be held this Wednesday November 27th from 8pm to 9.30pm at Michael Hall School Theatre in Forest Row (RH18 5JA). All four of Wealden's parliamentary candidates have been invited, though so far only Liberal Democrat Chris, plus the Green and Labour candidates have confirmed they will be there. Organisers say they are still waiting for a reply from incumbent Conservative candidate Nus Ghani, who has apparently been sent numerous invitations (incidentally, she also still hasn't replied to Chris Bowers' open invitation to debate him at a hustings during the general election campaign!). Perhaps she plans on making a surprise entrance, but for now she is being creatively depicted on XR's event poster as a mysterious piece of topiary on a desert island (see pic)!