Lichfield, Tamworth and Burton Liberal Democrats

From Lichfield Live today.

The long-awaited city centre redevelopment scheme for Friarsgate collapsed last week after the Cabinet at Lichfield District Council voted against footing a £49million bill to ensure it went ahead after private funding failed to materialise.

Lib Dem councillor Paul Ray insists the council cannot let the land blot the city's landscape for too long. He adds: "We are now in a total mess and there are serious questions for Cllr Mike Wilcox and the Conservative administration of Lichfield District Council to answer.

Crown ward is on the edge of Staffordshire, south of the River Dove. It covers the villages of Hanbury, Draycott and Marchington. The by-election in this safe Conservative seat was caused by the resignation of the previous councillor. Once again, the Conservatives held the seat.

This was the first time this century the Liberal Democrats stood a candidate in Crown ward. The party managed to deliver a leaflet to almost all of this very spread out ward. Many thanks to those who were generous with their time. The response on the doorstep was fairly encouraging and that was reflected in a promising result, almost taking second place in a previously uncontested area.

A Liberal Democrat councillor says the financial stability of Lichfield District Council should not be jeopardised by a desire to get the Friarsgate project off the ground.

An artist's impression of the new Friarsgate development

The local authority has drawn up a plan to foot the bill for the long-awaited city centre development after private finance did not materialise.

Tom Brake's Speech

The Liberal Democrat (anti-Brexit) Spokesperson set out a vision for the UK staying in the EU with a real Brexit dividend of getting out of this madness. He also had a few words for some of the individuals responsible for this continued mess:

On Boris Johnson:

"If that is our PM's vision of No Deal Brexit Britain, what is the Brexit Britain vision of the man widely tipped to be the future leader of the Tory party, Boris - punishment-beatings, Road to Mandalay, prosecco - Johnson?

The Liberal Democrats are opposing Government proposals to:

• criminalise "reckless" speech,
• make it a crime just to travel to certain places,
• criminalise what you read on the internet,
• give police more power to hold innocent people's DNA, and
• allow officers to detain people at airports without suspicion.

The party expects these reforms to raise an additional £15 billion per year, though this is likely to grow as the rate of wealth passed down increases in the coming years.

Liberal Democrat members will debate and vote on the proposals at the party's Autumn Conference in Brighton next week.

Proposals include: