Plymouth Liberal Democrats joined other local parties in the region on Monday morning (29th of June), to take part in a question and answer session with acting leader Ed Davey MP.
The session was Chaired by Caroline Voaden from the South Hams local party, and was attended by many across the region. Ed outlined his ambitions for the party and his leadership campaign, along with details of a Green Recovery Plan. Questions were asked by members on a range of topics from coronavirus response, green economy for the South West, NHS wastage in contracts, membership and diversity, as well as looking at Ed's experience over the last years as an MP.
On Thursday 25th June, Plymouth Liberal Democrats welcomed leadership hopeful Layla Moran MP. The event took place online and Sima Davarian chaired the event, with many people from local parties in the region attending the evening.
Layla addressed her focuses in the leadership campaign, as well as outlining some of the recent work she has been involved with. Questions were asked from members in regards to diversity, winning seats/elections against the grain, visions for a future society, party response to the covid-19 crisis, education, and the economy. Members were invited to ask further questions to Layla via email and encouraged to give continuous feedback through the leadership campaign.
On Saturday 13th June, Plymouth Liberal Democrats hosted Wera Hobhouse MP for a Question and Answer session. The invitation was extended to other local parties and there was a good turn out for the online event.
Wera, MP for Bath and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Climate Crisis, has announced her leadership bid, along with Ed Davey and Layla Moran. Local members took the opportunity to ask Wera a range of questions to understand her vision for the future of the party. The session was chaired by local party Chair Sima Davarian, and covered a range of areas from party profile and a progressive alliance, to membership and PR.
We enjoyed welcoming Wera virtually to Plymouth and look forward to future sessions with other leadership hopefuls. We will be posting further details following our forthcoming Q&A's with Ed Davey and Layla Moran.
Voting in the leadership election opens on 30th July and closes on 30th August.
Devon and Cornwall Liberal Democrats have launched a petition urging the UK Government not to give in to pressure from Donald Trump to drop our high animal welfare and food production standards in exchange for a trade deal.
We believe we should be cutting food miles and supporting our local farmers, not threatening their livelihoods.
As a local political party, we have been paying very close attention to the unfolding developments concerning the new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19. The World Health Organisation has declared a global pandemic, calling for "urgent and aggressive action". Here in Plymouth, at the time of writing, we are fortunate that our city is still free of any confirmed cases. However, the City Council's Director of Public Health, Ruth Harrell, stated in her update yesterday that it is unlikely that we will remain so, and expects that we will see cases in Plymouth at some point.
