LDDA - The Liberal Democrat Disability Association

Chesham and Amersham

I'm writing this month's report before we know the result. But we do already know that we've had the best candidate in Sarah Green, run the best campaign and had an awesome amount of help from people all around the country.

That would all be impressive even in normal times, but coming off the back of the huge May elections and while we're all still dealing with coronavirus and lockdowns, that's been an amazing achievement.

At the weekend we met with old friends and new from our European sister parties for ALDE Congress, albeit via a Zoom link, as the Congress was online for the first time. It was my privilege to lead a diverse Lib Dem delegation of around 40, which in addition to the official categories for diversity, included several UK nationals resident in the EU and a few EU citizens resident in the UK.

Priti Patel says refugees should come to the UK through safe and legal routes, and is threatening to punish any who don't.

The Conservative Government is failing to provide any safe and legal routes for refugees to take.

But at the same time, the Conservative Government is failing to provide any safe and legal routes for refugees to take.

Many congratulations to Nick da Costa who has been elected as the new chair of Federal Conference Committee (FCC), following Geoff Payne's decision to stand down earlier this year.

Nick is a councillor in Haringey as well as an experienced FCC member, bringing to the role a great understanding both of how conference works and of what we need to do as a party to win.

People looking after their loved ones too often feel forgotten.

Yesterday, I spent some time meeting with a wonderful group of unpaid carers.

We had been brought together by Carers UK and a number of other carers' organisations as part of Carers Week, so they could share their experiences directly with me and we could discuss what changes might make their lives better.

We want your views on how to improve the party's independent complaints process.

Any organisation with a hundred thousand members will have conflicts: what matters is how we deal with them. Wherever possible the process needs to be quick and effective - and it must always be transparent, fair and independent of political influence. It is key that if someone actions are damaging to other party members or members of the public, they can't expect to be protected by who they know or what role they hold in the party.

Today is the first day of Pride Month. While celebrating how far we've come, we need to keep making the case for the rights of all LGBT+ people. From homelesness to mental health to pay and trans rights, it's clear that we still have a lot of work to do to achieve justice and equality for all.

As just one recent example of how our progress is fragile, on Monday Liz Truss set about undermining Stonewall, the UK's leading LGBT+ charity, by calling for Government Departments to withdraw from its Diversity Champions Scheme. That's not something an LGBT+ friendly government would do. It really highlights how hard we need to fight.

Pride Month is a time of LGBTQ+ celebration, activism and commemoration.

Whilst pride marches across the world have been cancelled for a second year due to Coronavirus, Pride Month is an opportunity to take stock of the march towards LGBTQ+ equality in the UK, while acknowledging and continuing to fight for progress.

The campaign is growing rapidly and this is a seat with a lot of potential.

We came a strong second here in 2019. We have lots of local representation and a base of voters we can build on.

And the reception on the doors has been phenomenal.

We need you to play your part:

Come and help

The biggest way you can make a difference in this campaign is to come to Chesham and Amersham to help by knocking on doors and delivering leaflets.

The Conservatives' Environment Bill will fail to protect British nature and our beautiful landscapes.

We are already living in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Our waterways are in a poor condition with just 14% in good condition. More than 40% of native species are in decline.