Local government is the bedrock of our communities. It is central to people living happy, healthy and productive lives, and if properly funded, has the potential to solve some of the biggest problems in our society.

Local government is the bedrock of our communities.

Local government faces many challenges.

I’ve argued repeatedly in Parliament and in the press that local government has experienced deliberate and systematic destruction over recent years, and I see this as one of the great political tragedies of our time.

But #OurDay is a day for positivity. I want to focus on the potential that local government has to tackle some of the biggest issues in our society.

Let’s take the housing crisis. The private sector has proved beyond doubt that it’s incapable of building housing that people can genuinely afford. The task now lies with local government. Our policy of building 50,000 to 100,000 new homes for social rent every year is a project for the good of the nation. The local state has a role here in securing the wellbeing of its citizens, and ensuring they reach their full potential by providing everyone with a home.

They know what’s best for schools serving their communities.

This responsibility goes further than housing. Local government has a key role to play in the shaping and delivery of social care and public health services. And it also should have full responsibility for the start of people’s lives.

Local government is accountable to local people, and they know what’s best for schools serving their communities. Local government can solve the Tories failed education policies, if they are given the responsibility to do so.

Local services, for local people, delivered locally is how our country should be structured.

#OurDay is a celebration of the people who dedicate their lives to doing this.

Within hours of Theresa May speaking to Parliament about the deal she negotiated, hundreds of Lib Dems gathered on Parliament Square to make clear they opposed it.

For over two years now Liberal Democrats have led the fight to give the people the final say on the deal with the option to remain in the EU.

It’s taken us two years of negotiations with the EU to get a deal.

“A People’s Vote is now the only way to escape from this mess” – Vince Cable

Any Brexit deal will leave the UK weakened and the public poorer.

“And before the ink is dry, the Conservative Party will tear into what little Theresa May has been able to agree. The Prime Minister now faces a defeat in Parliament, as a majority will be hard or impossible to secure for what she has come up with.”

For two years, the Liberal Democrats are the only party who have consistently fought to give the people the final say on the deal. As we see the chaos that is now unfolding, it is more important than ever to give power over the country’s future back to the people.