Today, we are announcing a new policy to restore safety, order and fairness to our asylum system, and to take on the divisive rhetoric that is tearing our communities and our country apart.

For years now, Reform and the Conservatives have been lying to the British public. We have seen their politicians visit coastal Britain and northern France to point at the mess that they created. Before the referendum, there were no small boat crossings. Since Brexit, over 200,000 people have made that crossing.

The reality is that their botched Brexit deal and mismanagement of our asylum system has caused an unprecedented crisis. Having left the EU, Britain lost access to shared biometric data and any way to return people to the safe countries they passed through before reaching our shores. This has become a well-documented incentive, driving up the numbers of those willing to risk their life crossing the channel. Today, we hold the Conservatives and Reform accountable, and we take the fight to Farage.

That's why we are calling for the UK to enter the EU's landmark new Migration and Asylum Pact. For over a decade, the EU has been working on a new approach to restore order. If the UK were to join, we would be able to:

• Do our bit as part of a Europe-wide effort to look after refugees and asylum seekers
• Return asylum seekers arriving by small boat to the first EU country they entered.
• Access all asylum seekers' biometric data to see who they are and whether they have already been denied asylum elsewhere.

This is the solution we need to stop the flow of small boats and implement an asylum system that is fair and effective for all.

The current system works for no one. The most vulnerable are left to be preyed on by criminal gangs who cram them into dangerous dinghies. Our communities watch the chaos unfold and lose faith in the system. And taxpayers foot a bill running into billions each year.

Liberal Democrats are proud of the role Britain has historically played in welcoming those most in need to find sanctuary in our borders. As we did during the Second World War for Jews forced to flee Nazi Germany. As we did just recently when Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine. That must continue, but via safe routes as part of international agreements, not dangerous small boat crossings.

We can be humane, orderly and cost-effective. Fair to refugees. Fair to communities. Fair to taxpayers. That is what joining this pact delivers. Not the divisive and destructive rhetoric of Reform and the Conservatives, which has so far cost British taxpayers billions and delivered no solutions.

The world has changed in ways no one could have predicted a decade ago. Trump, Putin and Xi have made the world - and the UK - much less safe. Our economy hasn’t grown, and the cost of living has soared.

Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson’s Brexit experiment has failed. It is costing UK taxpayers £90 billion a year. That is money being taken away from our schools, hospitals and armed forces, and out of our pockets in higher taxes in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

We all know that this has to change. We have to act. We need peace, and we need prosperity.

The EU needs and wants greater cooperation with the UK on defence.

We will seize the initiative - from a position of strength - to form a bold new deal with Europe that strengthens both Britain’s economy and our collective security.

Our new Growth and Defence Partnership with the EU - including joining the Single Market and a new Customs Union - will make the UK richer, safer and stronger.

This plan is the best hope our country has to stop the chaos and end the crisis, and the biggest step we can take back towards our long-term ambition of membership of the EU.

The Government knows that repairing our relationship with Europe is the biggest lever we could pull to secure growth, to make our country safer, and to end the cost-of-living crisis. But they would prefer to make tweaks around the edges of a bad deal, rather than showing the courage to be far more ambitious.

Our Growth and Defence Partnership with Europe would cut trade barriers to get businesses growing again, and the economy moving - creating jobs, boosting incomes, and giving the government more money to cut the cost of living, fix the NHS and care, and strengthen our Armed Forces.

And our plan would boost cooperation on defence, energy security, critical supply chains and new technologies to keep Britain and our allies safe in this increasingly dangerous world.
 

Our Plans for a new Growth and Defence Partnership:

Joining the Single Market and a Customs Union

The Conservatives wrecked our economy, wrapped business in red tape and sent prices higher with their botched Brexit deal. By ripping us out of the Single Market and Customs Union, the Conservatives - backed by Nigel Farage - blew an enormous hole in the UK economy, costing us roughly £90 billion in lost tax revenue in 2025 alone. 

Energy is not a luxury - it is an essential human need.

Every single household in Britain should be able to afford their basic everyday energy needs regardless of what happens in global energy markets, and regardless of who happens to be sitting in Number 10.

But as energy bills continue to soar, millions of households are being forced to choose between heating and eating, while cold and damp homes cause avoidable illnesses like asthma and pneumonia, costing the NHS over £1bn a year.

This is not just an economic scandal - it is a moral one too.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats have announced a new policy to help make essential energy affordable and help make fuel poverty a thing of the past.

Ahead of Parliament being prorogued last week, we secured a number of ‘Lib Dem Wins’ as Westminster entered a session of ‘ping-pong’.

This is where amendments go back-and-forth between the Commons and the Lords at rapid pace in order to get outstanding legislation over the line before the end of the Parliamentary session.

As we approach polling day, these wins are a timely reminder of why it is so important that we get more Liberal Democrats elected at all levels - we are the party that gets the job done!

Here are some of the fantastic wins we’ve secured in Parliament over the last couple of weeks:

Today we have set out a plan that would both tackle the GP crisis and help build the homes we need.

The two go hand-in-hand. Because what is it that stops homes getting built?

It’s the fact that people know that too often new developments don't come with the services and infrastructure they need. So they just make it even harder to see a GP, to get their kids into a good school or to get around without being stuck in traffic.

So if we’re going to solve the housing crisis – we have to address those concerns. We have to reassure people that they will be able to access the healthcare they need – whether that’s the people already there or the new families who will move in.

Our plan would end that vicious cycle, by guaranteeing the funding is in place to hire GPs as soon as the first new homes are sold. It would give a better deal to existing communities and to new residents moving in. It would help to rebuild trust and get the community buy-in we need for new homes.

And it would help to tackle the GP crisis that fuels so much of the crisis across our NHS.

The problem we’re trying to solve

In communities across the country, when new housing is built, GPs are promised but not delivered. The result is hundreds of missing GP surgeries, broken trust, and huge pressure on local services - a bad deal for residents old and new. Despite 1.5 million new homes since 2015 the total number of main GP practices has declined by over 1300.

It’s perhaps not surprising that GP access is the top concern of people over the NHS at the moment, and that 2025 saw record numbers waiting over one month for an appointment.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have high levels of unemployed and underemployed GPs and significant levels of developer money earmarked for infrastructure improvements but which currently goes unspent or unclaimed.

Our communities, and families trying to make a new life for themselves, are being left high and dry.

What would we do?

Liberal Democrats are clear: new housing must go hand in hand with new GPs.

Under our proposals, developers would be required to build or expand existing new GP surgeries when building new housing developments, or fund this construction upfront. We’d ensure additional GP provision is made a reality, by ensuring developer levies can be used to pay the contracts (or salaries) of GPs while patients are still moving in.

Currently, local councils use developer funds to build or expand the premises of GP surgeries (though often the process is disjointed and not fit for purpose), and developers can commit to building health infrastructure as part of a development.  However construction of this infrastructure often takes too long and there is usually no new money to fund the GP contract before patients move into an area, making new surgeries hard to staff. This creates a vicious circle where new patients register with over-subscribed practices elsewhere, and it never makes sense for a new GP to set up shop. Our plan - to guarantee the GP contract with developer contributions-  would ensure GP surgeries are not only built, but funded and staffed from the get-go.

This is part of our infrastructure-first approach to development, and supports our campaign to rescue General Practice and ensure everyone can get an appointment within 7 days or 24 hours if urgent.

Why are we talking about this now?

This is important for our communities and people’s daily lives

How can we expect residents, existing and new, to trust decision makers and to embrace change if we fail them at the first hurdle? People are promised services that never materialise, and they feel it in their daily lives. This is about basic fairness.

New development is essential - to meet the aspirations and needs of people and families around the country. That’s why we have ambitious proposals to build 150,000 social homes a year, and slash building costs through a customs union with the EU. But new residents and existing communities deserve services that can cope with growing populations. Building infrastructure first is crucial for improving people’s quality of life, strengthening community and restoring trust.

Health services are key for taking on the far right and defending our liberal values

The failure to deliver new health services fuels support for populists like Farage. Recent LSE research has confirmed what many already knew - where GP provision has receded and more surgeries have closed, support for the extreme right has risen. Restoring trust, and showing we can deliver new services, and that local communities won’t just take what is doled out to them, is critical to keeping Farage out of No.10. Liberal Democrats are offering the change people really want and need - not the false promises and snakeoil of Reform UK and the Conservatives.

Donald Trump’s idiotic war with Iran – cheered on by Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage – is making it far more expensive for people to get around. Families are paying more at the pump because of a war they didn’t start and don’t support.

Liberal Democrats are calling for an emergency transport package to keep Britain moving, cutting the cost of travel for people – whether by car, train or bus.

Our plan would help people across the United Kingdom who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. It would cut petrol and diesel costs for the parent in rural Devon who has no choice but to drive, the home carer getting from patient to patient, and the small business owner whose van is their office.

But it would also make it easier for more people to take public transport or switch to electric vehicles, by dramatically cutting the prices of bus and train tickets and the cost of charging electric vehicles. This would help to bring down demand for fuel during this crisis, while encouraging people to switch to public transport and EVs for the long-term too.

Our emergency transport package would:

• Cut fuel duty by 10p, bringing down prices at the pump by 12p per litre.
   
• Slash bus fares to £1, from the current £3 cap.
   
• Cut rail fares by 10%.
   
• Cut VAT on public electric vehicle charging, and review the unfair network costs that push up charging prices.

We’re pressing the government to implement our plan for three months at first. The £2 billion cost would be covered by the unexpected extra tax revenues the Treasury is raking in due to higher fuel prices. If the crisis drags on for longer and fuel prices stay high, our package could be extended until they come down.

Party Strategy

Earlier this month, our further consultation on the draft party strategy concluded, with some very helpful ‘keep, change, add’ feedback provided by members across the country. Thanks to all who contributed!

We’re now working on proposing some amendments to the draft strategy to reflect some of this feedback, and have encouraged a number of members who had ideas for amendments to submit them directly to the Federal Conference Committee for debate at Autumn Conference in Brighton. 

This has been a huge piece of work, and I want to start by thanking everyone who has contributed. We have undertaken the most substantial consultation this party has ever carried out on a new strategy, and we have listened carefully to what members have told us. 

The strategy is ultimately about delivering what you have been calling for.

That means a stronger national message; improving our social and digital campaigning, particularly in places where traditional methods are harder; putting a renewed focus achieving more breakthroughs in Urban Britain, the North of England, the Midlands and Wales; and making the Liberal Democrats a more diverse and representative party. 

There are three things I particularly want to highlight from the process.

First, this is your strategy.

We want as much space as possible for amendments and ideas to come from members themselves at Conference. A number of suggestions brought forward during the process were considered by the Strategy Sub-Group, but the view was that they would be better brought forward as amendments by the members who proposed them. 

That is exactly how a member-led party should work.

Second, I know it’s a long document!

There is a huge amount in there, and while there is plenty that I want to change and improve, I appreciate that it isn’t always the easiest thing to digest. 

So we’re going to be putting together a simple one-page summary of our top priorities, so that everyone can quickly see what we are trying to achieve and, importantly, what we are going to do about it. This’ll be ready for Conference and pushed out to local parties and organisations - so everyone’s on the same page!

And third, delivery matters.

The strategy says that, once agreed, it will be followed by detailed plans for delivery.

That is where my focus as Party President now shifts: making sure we deliver on the things you told us matter most.

A strategy is only useful if it changes what we actually do. I won’t let this strategy be one that gets passed and then forgotten about.

A huge thank you is also due to our brilliant Strategy Sub-Group. They have been absolutely top-class throughout this process, and a special mention has to go to our excellent Janey Little, who played such a huge role in bringing this work to life. 

Summer visits

While Parliament has been quieter, the Liberal Democrats certainly haven’t been standing still.

Liverpool

I headed up to Liverpool to campaign with Carl Cashman and the brilliant team there.

We are absolutely serious about taking back Liverpool with Carl at the helm. The city needs a new, energetic Liberal Democrat administration to fix the mess and deliver the change residents deserve.

Sutton

It was fantastic to attend and speak at the famous Sutton Garden Party this year, marking 40 years since we first took control of Sutton Council in 1986. 

That is the longest period of continuous control by any local party anywhere in the country. It was a great opportunity to celebrate that history, but also to look forward to the next 40 years of Liberal Democrat success in Sutton.

Salisbury

I was delighted to support the Salisbury local party and their brilliant PPC, Victoria Charleston. They have some exceptional activists, and I know they will be working incredibly hard to get Victoria elected.

ALDC Kickstart

I also headed up to Yarnfield Park in Staffordshire for another ALDC Kickstart.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the Future Leaders cohort - a brilliant group of young Liberal Democrats who are ready to make a real difference in our party and our communities.

The work of our activists is phenomenal. Our job nationally is to make it easier for that work to translate into votes, councillors and Liberal Democrat victories.

Looking ahead: Conference

And now, we’re into the run-up to Party Conference!

I’ve got a rammed diary for Conference, and I’ll be running around speaking at events, casting my votes and - most importantly - meeting as many of you as possible.

Please come and say hello. Whether you’ve been a Liberal Democrat for decades or have only just joined, I want to hear from you.

I’m particularly looking forward to presenting our Party Awards, speaking with some brilliant local party and regional officers, visiting the AO stands and getting around as many events as possible.

You can still sign up to Conference here: www.libdems.org.uk/conference

Back to Parliament

And then it’s back to Parliament.

There’s a new Prime Minister, a new political landscape and plenty of challenges facing our country.

Whether that means defending our rights and freedoms, fighting the corporate giants who rip-off our communities, tackling the climate emergency, or demanding a fairer economy for people across Britain, I’ll be making sure the Liberal Democrat voice is heard.

We have a huge amount to do.

But after the work we have put into our new strategy, the campaigning I’ve seen across the country, and the incredible energy of our members, I’m more optimistic than ever about what we can achieve together.

On a personal note…

On a more personal note, I took some time off this summer to get married.

My now-husband Connor and I were so touched by all the lovely messages from party members following our engagement last year. We tied the knot in Scotland, where Connor is from, before returning to Eastbourne for a seaside party! We wanted to say a massive thank you for all your well-wishes.

Onwards - and hope to see you at Conference!

Josh

The Federal Council met online on Tuesday 4 August 2026. The Council is responsible for scrutinising the work of the Federal Board, including ensuring that decisions are taken in line with the Party Strategy agreed by Conference, and for considering any Federal Board decisions which are 'called in' by members of the Council.

Federal People Development Committee
The main item of the meeting was a presentation from Ellie Hudspith, the new Chair of the Federal People and Development Committee (FPDC). She set out the committee's structure, its current priorities, and its work programme for the year ahead.

The committee is establishing a number of subcommittees and has recently introduced a new whistleblowing policy, which has been adopted by the Federal Board. Applications are now open for members to serve as investigators under the policy. The Chair also described the committee's work to support members and Associated Organisations, including plans to update the party's Boost Guide, to improve how the party gathers and acts on members' experiences, and to open up a wider range of ways for members to volunteer and get involved.

Members raised a number of questions about equality and diversity. These included how the party collects diversity data reflecting the protected characteristics under the Equality Act, and how that data supports the positive action measures agreed by Conference. Members also asked about training on protected characteristics. The Council heard that bite-sized training modules are already available through the party's campaign hub, and that the FPDC would work with the relevant teams to develop a fuller training strategy aligned with the new party strategy. Members also asked for clearer membership data, including gender breakdowns.

Members discussed the party's membership and the shared concern across the Council about the long term decline in numbers. The Chair of the FPDC will lead a new membership subcommittee to develop a coordinated membership strategy, drawing on best practice from across the party, including the state parties. Members welcomed this focus, and emphasised the importance of growing the party's membership rather than relying on further increases in membership fees.

Strengthening the Council's scrutiny of the Federal Board
A substantial part of the meeting was given over to how Federal Council can carry out its scrutiny role more effectively, particularly the process by which Federal Board decisions are 'called in' for review.

Members agreed that better communication between ourselves would help the Council to respond promptly when the Federal Board takes a decision. This may include holding informal drop-in sessions during the period in which a decision can be called in. The Council also discussed whether the current thresholds and timescales for calling in and overturning decisions remain appropriate, and whether any changes to the Federal Constitution should be proposed in the future.

The Council discussed the timing of its meetings in relation to Federal Board meetings and decisions, agreeing that a shorter gap (two weeks maximum) allows decisions to be scrutinised more promptly. The Federal Board may hold additional meetings, and will notify the Council of decisions by email as soon as they are made, so that scrutiny can begin at the earliest opportunity. Members also agreed that meetings should be avoided the week running up to Christmas.

Other business
The Council noted proposed dates for future meetings, and agreed to arrange an informal meet-up of Federal Council members at the party's Autumn Conference in Brighton.

by Councillor Tim Pickstone

Annual tiering review

FCEC’s big annual task is doing our part in the annual review of our constituency and local party tiering - that is which of the Advanced, Moving Forward Plus, Moving Forward, Development, and Start-up tiers each constituency / local party is in.

This is very much a collective exercise across the party, with Regional Parties, State Parties, and the Federal Party working together to assess the performance and potential of places. Although some decisions rest with FCEC, they are based on recommendations from all those involved.

For the higher tiers, there are sometimes conditions added, such as requiring a seat to select a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) promptly in order to be in the Advanced tier. The widespread availability of public MRP data for seats also provides a useful health check against what the party’s internal data is showing, especially when MRPs are carefully filtered for the high quality ones with a strong track record at predicting Lib Dem performance.

For obvious reasons, the details of which seats are in which tiers is not made public. But I’m glad to report that overall the tiering review this time has resulted in many more seats moving up than down, with a good spread, both geographically and in terms of politics, for those promotions.

Well done to everyone who has worked so hard in those places to earn promotion!

Selection timetable

At our last meeting, FCEC also discussed the new party-wide selection timetable for Westminster Parliamentary selections. Again, this is very much a collaborative exercise involving Regional Parties, State Parties, and the Federal Party working together.

Having a coordinated timetable like this is an important part of how we’re improving our Parliamentary selections process. It also allows our candidate selections to be fully integrated with our wider party plans, such as getting more candidates in place sooner in weaker seats, so they have a longer run at that key task of building up the local party and campaigning capacity. PPCs used to play a key role in doing this in many seats, but the pattern in the last few Parliaments of those outside target seats often only being put in place very late in the day meant there simply wasn’t time for them to get much training or support for this task nor time from them to do very much on this front.

A shared, planned timetable also allows better planning and sharing of resources, such as being able to work backwards from knowing how many Returning Officers will be needed to what training needs doing and when, and then to how many new volunteers need to be found. 

You can see from the selection advertisements on the party website what a wide range of different types of seats are now selecting, reaching well beyond simply a handful of our strongest areas.

Other news

Josh Babarinde’s latest update as President covers the latest steps in the party strategy review as well as campaigning in the Clacton by-election.

Sarah Lewis, Chair of the Defending Democracy working group addressed issues raised by FPC in the previous iteration and brought back the second draft. FPC debated these and compromise positions were created around donations, declarations of interests and financial promotions by politicians. This paper will now proceed to the upcoming Autumn Conference. 

We also received an update by Julia Goldsworthy on the ‘A Thriving Economy’ working group. A consultation session is planned for Autumn Conference, and we heard about the main themes of the paper around growth, resilience, and an economy that works for all. FPC requested that the group also cover a variety of key areas and being explicit in its framing on themes that FPC wished to emphasise. This paper's timelines are slower than were expected, but FPC has granted this as this is a crucial, complex paper going into the next Election.

Dr Ben Jones also came to speak to us about the International Security working group. This included our Party's updated position on Europe. The paper and motion were welcomed, and a discussion was held about recent updates on upcoming world developments.