Close, but not close enough! With hard work by so many, & the enthusiastic support of so many local residents in #SouthShropshire, we created a fantastic 22.4% swing from Conservative to LibDem. I'm proud of that, & everyone involved, including those voting for me, should be too.

I'm old enough to remember when Nigel Farage would hold a press conference at the drop of a hat. So why is he now launching his divisive policies in a blog post from the safety of his keyboard? I can think of 5 million reasons why…

The Brexit mess left by Nigel Farage and the Conservatives is costing us £90bn a year, money that could have been spent on defence and tackling the cost of living. They wrecked it. We'll fix it.

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, cheered on by Nigel Farage, has been a disaster for Britain. It's time to rebuild our relationship with Europe to grow the economy, tackle the cost of living and properly fund our defence.

Proud of our brave marines who boarded a Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Channel. I hope that any funds raised from the seizure of this cargo will be sent to support Ukraine. It’s vital the Government works with allies to choke off the oil money funding Russia’s war machine.

It's official. Kemi Badenoch would put Nigel Farage in Number 10. Liberal Democrats will stand up for a decent, caring Britain.

Extraordinarily - and this seems to demonstrate a complete disregard of the seriousness of defence at the heart of government - John Healey was only told what the offer was for additional defence funding on Monday afternoon. I am told Number 10 then tried to rush and publish the Defence Investment Plan on Thursday. Then a handbrake was applied by Mr Healey and his military chiefs. The (now ex) defence secretary made clear that racing to release the blueprint without a settlement that had been accepted by him and his team would be a risk for defence and for its soldiers, sailors and aviators. You can only imagine the tone of the exchange that must have taken place - and I know that people were in the MOD until very late last night. But John Healey firmly believes the settlement was inadequate and, if left unchallenged, would not enable the UK to keep the country safe or meet its international commitments - such as help defend Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. A key detail is that Mr Healey believes defence spending must be increased to 3% of GDP by 2030, up from 2.3% now. This would guarantee tens of billions of additional pounds for defence. But - despite the stakes and the position of the defence secretary - the Prime Minister and Chancellor agreed just to inch it up to 2.68% of GDP within that time frame, after hitting a new target of 2.6% next year (which is already being inflated by lumping in the 0.1% that is spent on the intelligence agencies). Utterly incredible. What must our allies and our adversaries be thinking, let alone everyone in the UK armed forces and, frankly, everyone in our country? We all rely on a secure UK to live, work, go to school, enjoy holidays, access healthcare, spend time with friends and families. This is not a divine right. It happens because we have security - something that might not be apparent until or unless it is compromised...

This is a wake-up call for Starmer and Burnham. Stop repeating the mistakes of the Conservatives and get serious about funding our armed forces properly. We cannot afford years more political chaos while our national security is put at risk.

If voters in #SouthShropshire don’t want Farage in no.10 they need to vote LibDem. Only the LibDems can beat Reform / the Conservatives in South Shropshire.

Given the subject matter and comparing it to the psychodrama that often governs cabinet resignations, Healey's decision to quit feels like the most consequential departure of the last 25 years

Healey's resignation is a wake-up call for Starmer and Burnham. Stop repeating the mistakes of the Conservatives and get serious about funding our armed forces properly. We cannot afford years more political chaos while our national security is put at risk.

OK, this is significant. It appears the alleged Belfast attacker was actually fast-tracked through the asylum process by Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick. I've just found the following letter from Jenrick to the UK statistical authority on 17 April, 2023 It says: "We are taking urgent action to accelerate decision-making and speed up processing times. We are simplifying and modernising our system, including introducing shorter, more focused interviews; making guidance more accessible; dealing with cases more swiftly where they can be certified as manifestly unfounded; recruiting extra decision makers; and allocating dedicated resources for specific nationalities". uksa.statisticsauthority.gov…

A child being rushed from a burning building by a riot police officer into a police landrover as everything goes up in flames. I hope those who fanned the flames are content with themselves. Because they knew this violence was coming. You can't light the touch paper and expect us to believe you when you walk away and say "how awful". How some politicians in Northern Ireland have conducted themselves in the last days, months and years has in huge part contributed to this. Absolutely disgusting.

This is snowballing seriously fast. It genuinely looks like something is going to be done about the russian refinery in Ireland.

“Cllr Harmer the city's first ever Liberal Democrat leader, vowed to make ending the bin dispute the first priority of the leadership, while also pledging to work with 'all parties' to deliver the best for Birmingham.” Full article: birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi… #Birmingham #brum

If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence. We will have those who support us. But you, too, will have to fight much harder for your own existence — not Russia’s, but your own. And this is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes. We can work toward that fatigue. You can stop your war. Eternal memory to all those whose lives were taken by this war. Glory to Ukraine!

Open Letter To the President of the Russian Federation From the President of Ukraine When you came to power in Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine viewed you positively. That is how it was. But that is now in the past. Now, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, covering a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers. As you know very well, that distance is not the limit of our capabilities.

Nigel Farage's first act was not to heed the advice of Mark Nowak. His first act was to take to social media. Max Wilkinson MP on why Farage's divisive and hate-filled rhetoric makes things in Britain worse.

This would be simply unforgiveable. With an aggressive Kremlin and an unstable White House, Starmer must show leadership. We are calling for the use of defence bonds to raise £20bn to end this stagnation.

We cannot increase our reliance on US technology while the President is tearing up the rules-based order and threatening our allies. Ministers must wake up to reality, cancel their misguided F-35A order, and buy British jets instead.

While other parties abandon environmentalism , Liberal Democrats remain committed to the fight. Our message is clear: if you care about protecting Britain’s nature, we’ll offer you a better deal than anyone else.