When I was little, my grandfather got involved in amateur dramatics. He wasn’t very good, but I mention it because the role that I best remember him playing was that of a judge in a play called “Breaking the Code”, about the life and trial of Alan Turing. It was important to grandpa because he had always thought of Alan Turing as a national hero. He felt that his intelligence work at Bletchley had turned the tide of the war in the north Atlantic, where my grandfather was an officer on a destroyer. Grandpa felt that, despite his heroism, Alan Turing had been terribly ill used by the British establishment and the judiciary and that what happened to him ultimately brought about his destruction.

I want to start by thanking Lucy Salek, our wonderful candidate in Lewisham East, and her team, including the many of you who have helped, either visiting Lewisham or helping remotely by phone. We have sent a strong message to both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn that we will continue to fight against Brexit, and insist on a people’s final say on the deal.

Today, the Government has announced that they will be backing my Bill to make ‘upskirting’ a specific sexual offence.

I’ve been working closely with the tenacious campaigner Gina Martin and her lawyer Ryan Whelan on the details of law reform with the Ministry of Justice – supported by hundreds of activists who have lobbied the relevant ministers for a change in the law on upskirting.

I’m absolutely delighted that the Government has agreed to support her legislation to close any potential loopholes, in order to better protect victims and increase convictions.

My bill will receive its 2nd reading in the House of Commons today (15th June).
 

With all the privacy notices flooding your inbox, you’ll know the UK Data Protection Act passed into law.

Over the last five weeks, hundreds of Liberal Democrat activists have been hard at work campaigning in Lewisham East, for our fantastic candidate, Lucy Salek.

And last night, their hard work was rewarded – we quadrupled our share of the vote and delivered a 19% swing against Labour – the largest swing against a Labour opposition since 1983.

The final results were: