Alan, his mum and his five-year-old brother had drowned as they attempted to cross from Turkey to Kos in a small inflatable boat, having fled the violence of ISIL and Assad’s civil war.

The Conservatives voted against providing a safe haven for children who’ve been forced to flee their homes and separated from their families.

When that photo appeared on front pages the next day, politicians around the world could no longer ignore the awful human tragedies happening every day as refugees like Alan and his family make perilous attempts to cross the Mediterranean in search of sanctuary.

Here in the UK, the Conservative Government was forced into action at last. The Prime Minister promised to resettle 20,000 refugees from Syria – a commitment that the Government will finally fulfil this year. But still, the Conservatives resisted calls from the Liberal Democrats and others to offer sanctuary to refugees already on the move across Europe – those like Alan Kurdi’s family.

They even voted against the Dubs amendment, which would have committed the UK to take 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees. That’s right. They voted against providing a safe haven for children who’ve been forced to flee their homes and separated from their families.

Thankfully, we defeated the Government and forced them to implement the Dubs scheme, providing a route for the children in Calais camps to come to the UK safely.

But the Conservatives closed that scheme in July, after resettling just 480 child refugees. Without safe routes, desperate people – including children – will continue to take unsafe ones: including attempting to cross the Mediterranean and the Channel in small boats.

We must do all we can to protect vulnerable refugees and safe lives

And we will continue to see more tragedies like the death of Alan Kurdi. Just a fortnight ago, the body of a young Sudanese man, Abdulfatah Hamdallah, was found on a beach near Calais.

He had drowned while trying to cross the Channel in a little rubber dinghy with his 16-year-old friend.

We must do all we can to protect vulnerable refugees and safe lives. The UK has a proud history of providing sanctuary to those in need, and we cannot let this Conservative Government turn its back on them now.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats are fighting to secure safe and legal routes to sanctuary in the UK.

That must include a new long-term commitment to resettle refugees directly from conflict areas like Syria and the surrounding region. And the Government must reopen the Dubs scheme, with a commitment to resettle 10,000 unaccompanied refugee children from elsewhere in Europe over the next ten years.

Five years ago, we responded to that photo of Alan Kurdi with compassion and urgency. Five years on, both those impulses are needed as much as ever. We cannot let them fade now.

Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey has announced a new team of spokespeople who will hold the Government to account and rebuild our party.

Those who have put their lives at risk for our country are welcome to live in it.

Like the rest of our wonderful NHS and care staff, hundreds of thousands of people from other countries are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, putting themselves in harm’s way to make sure we get the care we need.

We cannot thank them enough for the brave and tireless work they are doing in such difficult circumstances and under such intense pressure.

The Government has announced a one-year visa extension for around 3,000 health and care staff with visas due to expire before 1st October. However, this excludes many of those on the front lines, such as hospital porters, cleaners and social care workers.

Even those who are included will be forced to renew their visas next year – at a cost of around £700 per person – or leave the country. That’s not good enough.

The UK should say, loudly and unequivocally, that those who have put their lives at risk for our country are welcome to live in it. 

The idea that anyone who has worked so hard to save lives during this emergency might one day be forced to leave should be unthinkable.

“All of us in the UK should say, loudly and unequivocally, that those who have put their lives at risk for us and our loved ones are welcome to live here.”

Today @cajardineMP is proposing her bill to give NHS and care workers the right to stayhttps://t.co/sEO5yL8RD4

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) September 1, 2020

That’s why the Liberal Democrats are fighting to give all NHS and care staff from other countries the right to stay in the UK. 

I’m tabling a Private Members’ Bill to grant them and their families the right to settle here

And today, I’m tabling a Private Members’ Bill to grant them and their families the right to settle here without the costs or bureaucratic hurdles that usually involves.

We’ve already secured support from MPs of other parties for our proposal, and I really hope the Government will back my Bill. 

It would be a small way to recognise and celebrate the enormous contributions that people from all over the world make to our NHS – and to our society, our economy and our communities more broadly.

Party Reform

This month we received a report on progress against the Thornhill Report and we felt that the party was making good progress on some of the key points raised.

Whilst there is still much to do, there is a feeling that what we are setting in place will be good for the future. The Party is improving its ability to work across different parts of itself (HQ, ALDC, the States and Regions) and, despite the challenge of Coronavirus, is ploughing on with the reforms necessary to elect more Liberal Democrats.