Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed their concern over the removal of any mention of Cross Rail 2 from the Conservative manifesto in the forthcoming General Election, casting doubt over their commitment to the project.

The proposed Crossrail 2 plans would connect north London to Surrey, with interchanges at rail routes through to Shepperton and Epsom, as well as linking up with Crossrail 1 stations in central London.

Security

• 1. Why are the Conservatives insisting on a Brexit negotiation strategy that will automatically prevent access to the vital EU Schengen Information System - used 16 times a second by UK police forces to track terrorists and criminals?

• 2. Why has only one individual out of hundreds who have travelled to fight for ISIS in Syria been subject to the Temporary Exclusion Order powers introduced by the Coalition?

• 3. How will the Conservatives 'ban encryption' without weakening internet banking security for millions of British citizens?

Local Epsom & Ewell Lib Dem campaigner David Buxton has filmed an introduction to the party's election manifesto in BSL.

His introduction, complete with BSL versions of each section and a video of Tim Farron's speech can be seen here.

New rules that prevent councillors from funding street lighting, grit bins and highway schemes from their own local allocation budgets have been heavily criticised by Liberal Democrat County Councillors in Surrey.

The rules, which were introduced by the Conservative-administration at the Annual General Meeting of the County Council held on 23rd May, prompted one Tory county councillor to speak out against their own Leader and several more abstained on a Liberal Democrat motion to drop the proposed change.

The Liberal Democrats have announced that we would boost investment in police forces by £300 million a year. This is in stark contrast to the Conservatives, who have overseen devastating cuts to community policing. Theresa May, as Home Secretary, and now Prime Minister, has cut policing budgets by over £2 billion, eroding the very fabric of community policing.

The Lib Dems have announced we would plug funding gaps for the NHS and social care by putting a penny on income tax, in our first major manifesto commitment of the General Election campaign.

The tax would raise an additional £124.7 million for Surrey, with £76 million for the NHS and £48.7 million for social care each year.

Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have welcomed the news that the Conservative-administration at County Hall has finally agreed to scrap the 4 Cabinet Associate posts which have so far cost the tax payer nearly two hundred thousand pounds since they were introduced.

Liberal Democrats have consistently called for these posts to be scrapped and for the money saved to be used on front line services, rather than on excessive allowances for Conservative county councillors. The roles that will end are:

The Lib Dems have announced that we would invest an additional £38 million in schools and colleges across Surrey over the next Parliament.

This funding for Surrey would reverse cuts to frontline school and college budgets, protect funding per pupil in real terms and ensure that no school loses out from changes to funding arrangements.

Lib Dems and others in Britain and right across the continent have marked Europe Day today, 9th May. And in Britain we have been calling on voters to support the Lib Dems in standing up to Theresa May's plans for a hard, destructive Brexit.

On Europe Day we remember that the European Union was created to end centuries of war in Europe and bring prosperity to all European countries. Sadly it seems that Theresa May is willing to scrap free trade with the rest of Europe, in order to pander to UKIP and the far-right of her own party.