THE WORLD MUST NEVER FORGET

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD, 27 January) is a national commemoration day in the United Kingdom dedicated to the remembrance of those who suffered in The Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2020 marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Here you can find different ways to get involved in this landmark anniversary and explore the theme for HMD 2020: Stand Together.

Lib Dems child refugee lobbying campaign fails as Tories push through the EU Withdrawal Bill

The Brexit divorce agreement renegotiated by Johnson's government with Brussels, and approved by EU national leaders, finally passed its 3rd Reading in the Commons and now needs Royal assent and ratification by the European Parliament before it becomes law and a EU Treaty. MEPs are due to debate and vote on the deal next week (January 29) and are expected to pass it.

The Liberal Democrats have agreed the timetable to elect the next leader of the Liberal Democrats

At a meeting of the party's Federal Board in London last weekend, the Party agreed to open nominations for candidates on the 11th of May and close them on the 28th of May.

The ballot will then open to members on the 18th of June and close on the 15th of July, after which the party will announce the next leader.

In the meantime, Ed Davey MP and new Party President Mark Pack will continue as joint acting leaders of the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking after the meeting, Liberal Democrat Party President Mark Pack said:

"I want first to thank Jo Swinson for her determined leadership of the Liberal Democrats.

"The Liberal Democrats are the home for everyone who shares our vision of an outward-looking, caring country that celebrates diversity and benefits from high-quality public services.

"With our party membership at record levels, I urge everyone else who shares our values to join us in the coming days and vote in the leadership election."

Moraene Roberts (1953-2020)

In the last week, a women who few in the East of England will have known died. Moraene Roberts was a poet and campaigner for human rights and her lived experience of poverty and disability informed her unique voice which made an indelible impression on people of all walks of life.

Lib Dems MPs recently tabled an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill to save Erasmus, so that students can live, study & work across the EU.

Last week, the Tories voted it down.

We will keep fighting to stop Boris Johnson limiting the horizons for young people.

The Liberal Democrat amendment would have inserted a clause in the withdrawal agreement bill requiring the government to seek continued participation in Erasmus+ on existing terms after Brexit, and to report on the progress of negotiations to parliament. But on Wednesday MPs voted down a second reading of the amendment, by 344 to 254.

An estimated 5,300 reports of crime in Suffolk go unrecorded each year.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has said that issues that they had identified five years ago in 2014 with Suffolk Constabluary's understanding of crime recording rules had still not been fully addressed.

Inspectors said the Suffolk force required improvement overall and said that a 91% rate for recording reported crime was 'inadequate'. - equating to 5,300 total crimes and 3,600 violent crime going unrecorded. Of 1,203 audited crime reports, 373 were domestic abuse related - 74 of which went unrecorded, including 66 violent crimes.

The Lib Dems have announced their new parliamentary team and the results of the party's internal elections

New President - Mark Pack

Taking over from Baroness Sal Brinton is the newly elected President Mark Pack. Mark will be sharing the Acting Party Leadership role with Ed Davey MP until a new Leader is elected.

Suffolk County Council Divisions to get new boundaries in time for 2021 elections

In May, 2021 electors in Suffolk will choose a new County Council but the current Divisional boundaries are likely to change

The Boundary Commission for England who have the responsibility for reviewing and consulting on electoral boundaries are minded to recommend that Suffolk County Council should have 70 councillors, instead of the current 75 and they also want to redraw the councillor boundaries to have more equal numbers of residents per division, and potentially get rid of 2-member divisions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE EAST SUFFOLK LIB DEMS WEBSITE

Its been our busiest year for the East Suffolk Lib Dems website.

With 17,000 unique visitors and 400,000 hits we have clearly proven to have been a valuable source of news, information and comment about the Liberal Democrats, locally and nationally. Getting our stories and news into the mainstream media continues to be difficult as the 2019 election campaigns have proved yet again. We must therefore continue to create and develop our own channels of communication and sources of information. We are still a comparatively new website, making steady progress within the limitations of our platform. This year we have published 177 articles (almost 15 each month) and numerous supporting pages, events and downloaded documents.

TORY WATCH

Tory minister admits extra nurses won't be in place for 10 years and cannot explain how government will stop 18,500 leaving - funny how this comes out now eh

Boris Johnson's promise to employ an extra 50,000 NHS nurses has unravelled further after a cabinet minister suggested that the pledge would not be met for 10 years. Nicky Morgan, the Culture Minister now tucked away in the Lords. She will sit as Secretary of State in the unelected chamber barely a year after claiming "I would not serve in a Boris Johnson cabinet" in September 2018.