Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy today launched the Liberal Democrat Pre-manifesto - the first important stage in the manifesto process, which will take the Party into the General Election.
Under new Liberal Democrat proposals police chiefs would sign contracts with local communities setting out how many officers they would deploy. The "minimum policing guarantees" would set funding levels for local police for a rolling three-year period. The guarantees are part of the party's new plans to tackle crime. The plans include using money earmarked for the government's ID card plan to hire an extra 10,000 front line police and 20,000 community support officers.
To mark this Wednesday's European Parliament conference to celebrate the institution's Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, Lib Dem MEP Sir Graham Watson said: "Concern for human dignity lies at the core of the values which created the European Union. I am delighted that this year's Sakharov prize was awarded to 5 activists from across the Arab world, including Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian who set himself on fire and unknowingly provoked the Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan, Syrian, Bahraini and Yemeni uprisings, and, in the first three countries, the overthrow of the authoritarian regime."
Local Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles, who represents South East England in the European Parliament, has signed a parliamentary resolution which aims to cut VAT on e-books. Currently, EU countries may apply reduced rates of VAT for books bought in shops but e-books are often subject to a standard VAT rate of at least 15%.
Intervening in an important debate today in Strasbourg on the future scope and structure of economic governance in Europe, Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE group leader) drew attention to widening spreads on European bond markets - even amongst AAA countries - and called for a bold and global step forward towards economic and fiscal union - the missing piece from the EMU project dating back 20 years to the Treaty of Maastricht.
Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have condemned the County Council's Conservative administration after an official survey showed that residents consider them out of touch.
Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have condemned the County's Communities Select Committee for failing to reverse plans to axe all staff from ten of the County's smaller libraries.
