The next meeting of the Executive Committee will take place on Wednesday 26th February starting at 7.30.

Pat Wildgoose will be hosting the meeting.

Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, has said that it was hypocritical of Boris Johnson to be declaring his support for free trade while at the same time making trade with the EU harder. Commenting on Johnson's speech, Ed Davey said:

For the last four years, the Liberal Democrats have proudly fought to stop Brexit.

I am immensely proud of everything we did. We stood up for our values. We campaigned so hard. But I also accept that we will no longer be members of the European Union.

Our European story is not over. Tomorrow our fight continues, to make sure Britain has the closest possible relationship with our allies in Europe.

Chesterfield Museum is celebrating the lives of local women who have made a significant contribution to their communities and the country overall.

The exhibition features the lives of many inspirational women, including political campaigners Emma Miller and Barbara Castle who were both born in Chesterfield, and the story of suffragette Winifred Jones who grew up in Spital Lodge, Chesterfield.

Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has today called for a new governmental department to get the UK to Net Zero as soon as possible.

In comments at the Institute for Government, Ed Davey said the new department would take on all the powers of the previous Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) but would have "much more teeth and responsibility", with influence over transport, housing and finance.

Speaking at the Institute for Government today, Ed Davey, Acting Leader of Liberal Democrats said:

"When Liberal Democrats ran the Department for Energy and Climate Change we managed to more than treble Britain's renewable power and led Europe to adopt tougher climate change targets. As the world is waking up to the threat of the climate emergency, DECC is needed more than ever.

"But rather than building on the work we did, the Conservatives abolished the Department. And alongside it they halted progress in its tracks, banning onshore wind, abolishing zero carbon homes and privatising the Green Investment Bank.

"If Britain is to regain a leading role ahead of hosting this year's UN conference on climate change, we must make action on climate change a much higher priority. Liberal Democrats are calling for a new government Department - a Department for Net Zero. It would have the power and responsibility to transform our country and to take tough but necessary decisions on transport, housing and finance.

"If the Tories fail to do that, they are simply not serious about tackling the climate emergency."

1. Introduction

The key driver of the December 2019 election result was the group of voters who chose to vote differently from 2017. Using polling data, Electoral Calculus has identified and analysed these voters to see which parties they switched to and from.

Since Brexit was obviously an important factor in people's decisions, voters were also identified by how they voted in the EU referendum of 2016 (as Leavers, Remainers, or those who didn't vote then).

Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has tabled a motion with cross-party support calling on the Government "to seek full association to the 2021-27 Erasmus programme".

Continuing her campaign to protect Erasmus, which saw her push an amendment to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill two weeks ago, Layla has reached out to colleagues in the Lib Dems as well as the SNP, DUP and Greens to co-sponsor her motion.

Robert Court is the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Derbyshire Dales at the 2019 General Election.

He worked as a physics teacher in London and then until retirement as headmaster of Birkdale School in Sheffield. He has lived in Derbyshire Dales with his wife Andrea for over 20 years. He has played village cricket and taken part in amateur drama. He is involved in his village church and is governor of a local primary school. He has been a member of the Liberal Democrats since 2016 and was selected as our candidate in October 2018.