Lib Dem and Remainer social media is aflutter today with discussions of the Canterbury situation.

Some people argue with great passion that we should be standing aside for Labour’s candidate Rosie Duffield. I know Rosie and she is a good person. I think she would be a much better fit in the Liberal Democrats, but she has chosen to stay in Labour. I understand people’s instinctive desire to give her a clear run at her seat in the name of Remain.

Jo Swinson would make a better Prime Minister than either Johnson or Corbyn.

Yesterday, the Liberal Democrats filed legal proceedings against ITV. 

They have refused to include Jo Swinson in their Leaders Debate numerous times. This is despite Jo being the leader of the biggest and strongest Remain party in the country. 

In its current format, the debate will be between just two men. One is Boris Johnson, who has repeatedly lied to the country about Brexit and has just made an election pact with Nigel Farage. The other is Jeremy Corbyn, a Eurosceptic since the 1970s.

Remainers will not have a voice in the debate, despite opinion polls show that more people now back Remain than Leave. 

This is completely unacceptable.

Of course, the underlying reasons behind this format are clear for all to see. 

Jo Swinson would make a better Prime Minister than either Johnson or Corbyn. Why on earth would either of these men accept a debate against someone they knew they would lose to?

However frustrating this situation may seem, all is not lost. We are taking the fight to court in the interests of fairness and equality. 

This is not over.

Jo will be appearing in a televised debate with other leaders on the BBC. We are in discussions with Sky for a three-way head-to-head debate. 

And, perhaps most tellingly of all, over 47,000 people have signed our online #DebateHer petition calling for ITV and BBC to include Jo in their debates.

Click here to sign the petition

This is not over. Not by a long shot.

As the biggest party of Remain, the Liberal Democrats will continue to represent the voice of Remain.We will fight for as long as it takes.

If we win our case in the coming weeks, Jo will be able to show the country that there is a choice for a brighter future. If we lose, then the country will know that the two other leaders are terrified of us.

Because we are the only party that will move us forward, rather than backwards. Together, we can show Corbyn and Johnson that we are the only party with a real Plan for the Future.

As the world grapples with a climate emergency, the Conservatives are turning their backs on communities most at risk by failing to provide adequate flood defences.

Following the flooding across northern England this week, we’ve announced that a over the lifetime of the next parliament, a Liberal Democrat government will create a £5bn flood prevention and adaptation fund. The fund will help the UK build resilience against future flooding, and ensure all communities can access the funds they need during periods of crisis.  

“The Liberal Democrats are committed to investing in our flood defences and protecting communities from the devastation we have seen in the last week.”

The Tory Brexit agenda risks the UK losing access to vital EU funds for improving flood defences and flood relief. This would starve local communities of a key revenue stream to tackle flooding and build resilience for the future.

It’s only by voting for a Liberal Democrat government that we can stop Brexit and stay in the EU, meaning that the UK will retain access to vital EU funds to deal with flooding. 

The floods in northern England should be declared a national emergency.

A Lib Dem government will create a £5bn flood prevention fund to help build resilience against future flooding & ensure communities can access the funds needed during these crises > https://t.co/n55H6rxEDy pic.twitter.com/mS9fkVDzOp

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) November 12, 2019

We will also increase DEFRA’s budget by £1bn per year, ensuring that non-departmental bodies like the Environment Agency receive more funding. 
 
A Liberal Democrat government will stop Brexit and build a brighter future, tackling key issues like the climate emergency. 

Learn about our Plan for the Future here. 

Working hard should mean secure work and a decent income, but for too many people that’s not the case. In an ever changing workplace, people often need to develop new skills, but the cost of courses and qualifications shuts too many people out.
 
Neither the Conservatives or Labour have the answers to these challenges. They are stuck pursuing 20th-century policies that simply won’t work in our 21st-century economy. They would take our country backwards.

The Skills Wallet will empower people to develop new skills so that they can thrive in the technologies and industries that are key to the UK’s economic future and prosperity.

That’s why, as part of our Plan for the Future, the Liberal Democrats have set out our vision for a “new era of learning throughout life” with the creation of an ambitious Skills Wallet. This will give every adult £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout their lives.
 
A Liberal Democrat government will put £4,000 into people’s ‘Skills Wallet’ at 25, £3,000 at 40 and another £3,000 at 55. The grants have been designed to encourage saving towards the costs of education and training throughout adult life.

Individuals, their employers and local government will be able to make additional payments into the wallets. Access to free careers guidance will also be provided.

By stopping Brexit and investing in these Skills Wallets, the Liberal Democrats will empower people to develop new skills so that they can thrive in the technologies and industries that are key to the UK’s economic future and prosperity.

Learn more about our Plan for the Future here.

A lot of people have noticed something in our online ads… something about “skills wallets”.

So what is a “Skills Wallet”?

It’s a major, new, innovative policy and a key part of our Plan for the Future.

A Liberal Democrat government will provide every adult with £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout your lives. This “Skills Wallet” is meant to give every person the opportunity to retrain and upskill for jobs that we can’t even imagine yet.

It can be prohibitively expensive to develop new skills at various stages of your career. The cost of courses and qualifications shuts too many people out.

Not everyone has skills like Liam Neeson

Neither the Conservatives nor Labour have the answers to these challenges. They are stuck pursuing 20^th or even 19^th century policies that won’t work in our 21^st century economy.

So as part of our fight to build a fairer economy and a brighter future, we will create Skills Wallets!

How will it work? 

As we said, every adult will be entitled to £10,000 to use over their lifetime on upskilling courses and further education. That’ll be divided into £4,000 at 25 years old, £3,000 at 40, and another £3,000 at 55. 

On top of this, individuals, employers and local government will be able to pay into the wallets.

This will make the skills wallet a valuable resource for every adult for their whole life!  

You’ll get to choose how and when to spend the money yourself – as long as it’s a course from an approved provider.

Sorry Luke, you probably won’t be able to do that with your Skills Wallet

And of course, everyone will be able to access free guidance to help them to decide how to use their Skills Wallet.

That’s how we know our investment will help people to gain the skills they will find invaluable in the world of work.

This will never be a problem again with Skills Wallets.

How will we pay for it? 

A very reasonable question.

We expect this to cost £1.9 billion a year in total by 2024-25.

To pay for this, we will reverse the Conservatives’ unnecessary and expensive cuts to Corporation Tax. We’ll return the rate to 20%, where it stood in 2016.

This will raise £10 billion a year by 2024-25. That’s more than enough to pay for the Skills Wallets, with plenty left over to part-fund our expansion of free, high-quality childcare. 

So there you have it. Skills Wallets are a bold new initiative to give adults £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout their lives.

We think so too!

Think that’s a great idea? Why not be a part of our plan for a brighter future, and join the Liberal Democrats: