LDDA - The Liberal Democrat Disability Association

Our Annual General Meeting is open to all members of the Liberal Democrat Disability Association.

We'll be holding it a little later than usual this year on December 21, once the North Shropshire byelection is over!

Members should check your emails for a message titled "AGM Calling Notice" sent on December 5th.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland and MSP for Edinburgh Western, has recorded a video message for World AIDS Day 2021 with the Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland.

He says: "With all the crisis and problems we face in the world, whether that's the pandemic or the climate emergency, it is easy to forget we are still facing a much longer lasting crisis, and that is in the global HIV / AIDS epidemic.

The Federal Policy Committee has had a busy autumn, kicking off our next programme of policy development work.

We have spent some time over the last few months trying to understand the party's key political priorities to win over the voters we need, and the right messages and supporting policies needed to achieve that (recognising that detailed policy is not usually the thing that swings most voters). This has been the starting point for our latest programme of work.

We have joined with the LGBT+ groups of the Conservative, Labour and Green parties in a joint statement for World AIDS Day.

LGBT+ political groups statement urging the UK Government to take action to end new cases of HIV by 2030

This year marks 40 years since the first cases of HIV were reported globally. Since then, thanks to the tireless and tenacious efforts of people affected by HIV, HIV activists, allies, and people living with HIV, huge progress has been made. It has taken us to the point where it is now scientifically possible to end new HIV transmissions in the UK.

The Liberal Democrats have today called for urgent measures to support the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV), including a formal return and improvement of the shielding programme.

The Government has so far failed to announce any specific measures for those who were classed as CEV in spite of their increased risk of serious illness from Covid. It comes after two cases of the newly discovered 'Omicron' variant of Covid were reported in the UK.

Today is Carers Rights Day, and the Liberal Democrats are continuing to stand up for carers.

The Covid pandemic has shown that we are a nation of carers. But it's also shown how, for this Conservative Government carers are nothing more than an afterthought.

From Ministers' abject failure to protect people in care homes, to their refusal to raise Carer's Allowance when they put up Universal Credit, carers have been forgotten and ignored again and again.

Lib Dem MP for Oxford West & Abingdon Layla Moran has highlighted a potential loophole in the government proposals to end conversion therapy.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail, she said: "Teaching people that there's something wrong with them just because of who they love isn't 'therapy'. It's cruel and can be incredibly harmful for the thousands of LGBTQ+ people who have been subjected to it."

Bedford Borough Council's Sports Development team has won a Mental Health and Wellbeing Award in the "Support During the Pandemic" category.

The award, which is administered by The Mental Health and Wellbeing Awards, is for the work that the Council's team has done to keep residents active during the pandemic, alongside bringing together isolated and vulnerable members of the community.

How the Party is run, by, and on behalf of, every member is fundamental to how successful we are at delivering our liberal vision of Britain.

The 2019 General Election Review (the Thornhill Review) set out how we must change in order to succeed at future elections. Since its publication, in many areas we have made strides, but there is still much to do.

The 2019 General Election Review (the Thornhill Review) set out how we must change in order to succeed at future elections. Since its publication, in many areas we have made strides, but there is still much to do.

The Party is currently consulting with members on our governance. Yet more Tory sleaze this week highlights how important for the country it is that we, once again, become a competitive liberal voice in the UK.