On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak's long awaited - and frequently leaked - 2021 budget was revealed in the House of Commons. Let's go over three of the key headlines.

Tax Cuts for Domestic Flights

According to a study commissioned by Greenpeace and published on Wednesday, over one third (34%) of the busiest short-haul flights in Europe have viable, less polluting train alternatives. Researchers found that European nations could replace almost all the top 250 short-haul flights and save 23.4 million tons of CO2 per year, equal to the annual CO2 output of Croatia. Aircraft on routes shorter than 700km emit 250grams of CO2 per person per km. In comparison, long haul flights and and even diesel cars look squeaky clean, at 195 and 171g/km respectively. Electrified rail, however? 35g/km. Eurostar? 6g/km. Aviation has been the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe in the last three decades, whilst our trusty locomotive is only gaining in efficiency.

Prologue - 31^st October 2021

Hello. I am writing this on Sunday 31^st October, watching the opening ceremony. I am calling today`s entry into our Diary the Prologue, so that Day 1 will be on the 1^st November, otherwise it could become really confusing!

So, after much fanfare, the 26^th Conference of the Parties - COP26 - is starting. The United Nations Climate Change Conference. Welcoming delegates from many countries travelling huge distances to be here, to bring about change which must be transformative. Setting limits established at the Paris meeting of 2015, the Spanish President of the previous conference making claims of what has already been done… it all sounds very positive.

Dear friends, welcome to our Update covering events during October.

If, after reading this, you feel you would like to get more involved with the local community and/or the local LibDems, or feel that you can be as lucky as SG and TM (see the end of our Update) please let us know.

Borough Council updates:

Small and medium-sized businesses, from tech start-ups to hairdressers and cafes, in Surrey will pay an extra £47 million a year due to the rise in national insurance, research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has found.

Boris Johnson broke his 2019 manifesto promise by raising employer National Insurance Contributions by 1.25%, impacting small businesses in Surrey and across the country. House of Commons Library research has detailed the impact of the tax rises, and it is estimated that the average micro-business employing up to nine people will pay more than £1,000 extra a year as a result of the tax hike.

Years of Conservative failure have left residents across the country facing a devastating cost of living crisis.

Families already struggling to recover from the pandemic face a triple whammy of tax rises, benefit reductions and record price increases.

The UK's energy crisis leaves many residents with a choice between eating and heating this winter - with even bigger price rises expected in the new year.

Surrey Lib Dems have responded to the county council's local transport plan. "It says all the right things about where Surrey needs to get to in terms of transforming travel and transport for residents and businesses but falls short in setting out the steps for getting there." See full response.

There is still time for members of the public to submit their views on the proposals before the deadline of 24 October.

The Lib Dems have questioned Surrey County Council's process of selecting a new highways maintenance contractor which has resulted in the three final bids coming from companies all with a history of failing Surrey residents.

The Council's Cabinet met yesterday and agreed to award the contract to either Amey, Kier or Ringway. Initially the contract will be for 10 years, but a possible extension could take it to 21 years with a total value of about £2.5bn.