We have all heard too many heart-breaking stories from those who have lost their livelihoods overnight as a result of the coronavirus crisis and are entirely excluded from the Government’s financial support measures.  

It is simply unacceptable that many individuals are ineligible for every kind of support.

It is simply unacceptable that many individuals are ineligible for every kind of support, even Universal Credit, for entirely arbitrary reasons.

That is why, with the help of ExcludedUK, over 150 MPs have come together to set up an All Party Political Group (APPG) to represent the 3 million individuals who have not been entitled to the Government support in response to the coronavirus crisis.

The fact that so many MPs have requested to take part is testament to how many of us want to see the Government help the 3 million people who have been left behind during the pandemic.

The Chancellor must stop burying his head in the sand.

3 million UK taxpayers are still excluded from any meaningful support through no fault of their own.

He must not only respond to the Treasury Select Committee Interim Report and its recommendations for how to help all those who have been excluded, but he must commit to a meeting with the APPG and Excluded UK as a matter of urgency so we can get the change these people so desperately need.

Having reached a critical juncture more than 100 days on since Government Covid-19 financial support measures were introduced, 3 million UK taxpayers still find themselves excluded from any meaningful support through no fault of their own.

We hope the APPG will lead to positive action within Parliament, and ultimately from the Government, on behalf of all those who have been excluded.

Liberal Democrats are standing up for the 3 million excluded from the Government’s financial support. #ExcludedUK

Back our campaign to protect jobs during COVID-19 ⬇️https://t.co/1OjjeLgF1L pic.twitter.com/Is4LNfOmCu

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 10, 2020

On Thursday 16th July, the two candidates for leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey and Layla Moran will be answering questions from a panel of experts in a new hustings format.

So you want to be leader? Is styled like a job interview. Candidates will get to make their pitch to the panel on why they should be leader and that’ll be followed up by questions from the panel on the skills they’ll need to make being leader a success.

It promises to be an interesting event. If you’d like to watch live, you can register here: www.libdems.org.uk/job-interview-hustings

Over the last 2 weeks, members have been nominating candidates to stand as the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.

This is the first time that the system has been run mostly online and also the first time we have published these totals.

We decided to publish the totals as we felt it gave candidates a chance to demonstrate some of the key skills they’ll need as leader.

What are Party Awards?

Party Awards recognise publicly those who have given the party outstanding service and commitment in the past year. They are presented at Autumn Conference (national conditions allowing) and each winner receives a trophy to keep and a special mention.

Candidates must themselves be party members, and be nominated and seconded by two party members. 

More details about the individual awards and who is eligible can be found here.

All nominations should be completed using this nomination portal.

Before you get started, please make sure you have:

• Your membership number;
• The name, contact information and membership number of the person seconding your nomination; and 
• A clear understanding of which award you intend to nominate someone for and why that best fits them.

What is the deadline and when will I find out? 

Nominations will close on Friday July 31st at 17:00. 

All nominators will receive confirmation of their nomination shortly thereafter. If your nominee is selected for an award, they and you will be informed by August 28th. 

Countless families are facing serious financial hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. More than a million people have lost their jobs and many more are worried about losing theirs in the weeks and months ahead.

We are also facing big challenges in deep-seated inequality and the climate emergency.

We must ensure no one is left behind.

Against this unprecedented economic and health crisis we need a radical new direction of economic policy to meet this challenge.

We need a Green Recovery Plan

The Government’s plan does not match the scale of ambition necessary to reshape our economy and save the planet

This is precisely the right time for a massive green stimulus to provide jobs and tackle the other great crisis of our time, the climate emergency.

The Government’s green spending simply does not match the scale of ambition necessary to reshape our economy and save the planet.

The UK’s green investment is being outpaced by the likes of France, Germany, South Korea and even rivalled by Denmark.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for a £150 billion Green Recovery Plan over three years, to reshape our economy, create hundreds of thousands of jobs and lead the fight against climate change.

Our plan would:

• • Move to at least 80% renewable energy by 2030.
  • Insulate every home by 2030, creating jobs, ending fuel poverty and lowering fuel bills.
  • End the sale of petrol & diesel cars by 2030, and massively expand our electric vehicle network.
  • Restore our natural environment with a rewilding programme, including tree-planting and new air quality standards.
  • Introduce a green jobs guarantee, with training and a national living wage for anyone wanting to work on green projects.

More Support for the Self Employed and Excluded Workers

The Chancellor should have gone much further for the self-employed and excluded workers

The pandemic hasn’t affected everyone equally. Amongst the worst hit are the country’s self-employed workers, three million of which are still not covered by government support.

The Liberal Democrats fought hard for existing support and have advocated for targeted packages for sectors like hospitality, leisure and culture.

But the Chancellor should have gone much further with today’s announcement. We are calling on him to expand the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to include:

• The more than 150,000 people who became self-employed since April 2019
• Those who are registered as limited companies
• Freelancers who got more than 50% of their earnings through employment.

These groups should be urgently added to the scheme to benefit from the its second payment in August

Putting the national interest over party ideology on Brexit

The Government’s economic response to Covid-19 cannot be seen as fully responsible as long as a bad trade deal or a no-deal relationship with the EU are still on the table.

Any of those outcomes will lead to thousands more job losses and create a second crisis for the UK economy. The Government must avert this by securing the closest trading relationship possible with the EU.