This is a relatively new campaigning group who are campaigning for Local Clean Energy. They are currently campaigning for the Local Electricity Bill, which is supported by 79 MPs, to become law. Currently only 4 Liberal Democrat MPs have given their support to the bill and these are Wera Hobhouse, Tom Brake, Layla Moran and Ed Davey.

(From our GLD October 2018 newsletter)

Ingredients

• 20g Fairtrade Ground Coffee
• 300ml Boiling water
• 1 X Cafetiere
• 150g X Dairy free spread
• 150g X Dark brown sugar
• 250g X Self raising flour
• 40g X Aquafaba
• 120g X Chopped walnuts
• 200g X Icing sugar
• 2lb Bread tin

[Method]

In a cafetiere mix together the 300ml boiling water and the ground coffee and allow to cool before pressing. Cream together 150g dairy-free spread and dark brown sugar in a mixing bowl until a smooth paste is formed. Add to the mix your self-raising flour, aquafaba and 100g of the pressed coffee; make sure you keep the remaining coffee as you will need it later. Mix together well before stirring in 100g of the chopped walnuts. Grease and line a 2lb bread tin and add your batter, making sure the mixture is evenly spread in the tin. Cook at 180°C for 45 minutes turning halfway. Once the cake is cooked place on a Safi coffee and 100g of dairy-free spread until smooth and lay over the top of the cake. Finish by adding the remaining walnuts and chill for a few minutes until the frosting has set then serve.

The A22 London Road in East Grinstead has the highest NO2 concentration values across the Mid Sussex District, as stated by the District Council's own Air Quality Annual Status Report. A report issued by engineering consultants Atkins in 2012 stated that the London Road in East Grinstead suffers from poor air quality, and recommended that mitigation measures are implemented with high priority. To date, no measures have been implemented by the District Council to either ease traffic congestion or to improve air quality.

As Government announces 'Green Great Britain Week', Lib Dems say policies don't go far enough
Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson for Transport, Baroness Randerson, unveils suite of policies in report entitled 'Cleaning up the air we breathe'

Kent Liberal Democrats are calling for a ban on the sale of all new diesel cars and vans by 2025 as part of a range of measures designed to reduce air pollution and safeguard public health.

(From our GLD October 2018 newsletter)

Sir Winston Churchill is probably Britain's most well-known Prime minister across the globe. Many thousands of tourists come to visit the various historical museums and landmarks in the UK which inform them about the days of Churchill and his political career. One of these is the 'Churchill War Rooms' which I visited recently. The War Rooms not only give detailed analysis of Churchill's time in the bunker during WW2 but also about his entire political career.

What particularly caught my attention was what Churchill referred to as his 'wilderness years'. We as Liberal Democrats can relate to this having spent the past few years in a similar position in British politics. Churchill fell out of favour with the public as he argued illiberal and unpopular opinions (including not giving independence to India and supporting Edward VIII's right to stay on the throne). Churchill had been a successful politician until then (up to the early 1930s) as we the Liberal Democrats were with the British electorate until 2015 (due to the disastrous coalition years). As was Churchill's opposition to Indian Independence, as is our opposition to Brexit-both issues deeply divisive and unpopular with the general population.
However, there were 2 historical events which reinstated Churchill's popularity; the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Munich crisis. Churchill gave constant early warnings about Nazi Germany which went unheeded. This is where the Green Liberal Democrats become an important component in the Liberal Democrat's revival. We must step up discussions on global warming and the dire consequences we face, and which have, indeed, already begun with temperatures soaring & plummeting and breaking all-time records in many parts of the world with attendant high casualty numbers as a result. Both the Labour and the Conservative Parties have not embraced environmental concerns as a serious issue for selfish reasons. In the latest YouGov poll (one of the only pollsters to come close to predicting the GE results), environmental concerns come 9th on a list of 14 issues, just ahead of Welfare benefits on 12%. So, this is a pivotal moment for the Liberal Democrats and highlights the importance of the role the Green Liberal Democrats (GLD) must play. As Churchill exposed the true intentions of Nazi Germany, the GLD must help expose an even more lethal enemy-that of Global warming.

(From our GLD October 2018 newsletter)

From the heart! Message from Vice Chair Campaigns

I have never felt more strongly that we are at a turning point for survival than I do right now, survival for the human species and large parts of the fauna and flora of this pebble in space that we inhabit. I am now in my eighth decade on Earth, so it seems likely that I will have shuffled off my mortal coil, long before the worst forecasts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) come to fruition. Nevertheless, after close to 50 years of environmental activism, I still feel moved to press for change that is long overdue in the often opaque and murky world of politics, both national and international.

(From our GLD October 2018 newsletter)

Britain's efforts at slowing climate change are drowning in a sea of unfounded self-congratulation.

Despite the attempts by the BBC and other media to ensure that climate change deniers are heard, most of the population accepts that anthropogenic climate change is happening and needs to be addressed. However overegged reporting of minor achievements is producing complacency.

(From our GLD October 2018 newsletter)

Green activists in the Liberal Democrats are looking for a volunteer Youth Officer. At the recent Green Liberal Democrats AGM at Lib Dem Autumn Conference a new post of Youth Officer was created. The full post will be advertised for election at the Spring conference. Before then we're looking for a keen green-minded '@youngliberals' member to help us publicise the vacancy and advise the GLD Exec on how best to work with YL and young people.

We're also really pleased to offer heavily discounted £1 per annum Youth Membership of GLD to all LD eligible youth members.

To apply for the temporary Youth Officer role, send maximum 250 words describing your Green Activism or what you can do to promote the GLD to ordinary LD Members to Mary Page mary.page@greenlibdems.org.uk