Join the real voice of opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government today – join the Liberal Democrats:

Theresa May says “enough is enough” – but she forced through the cuts that lost us thousands of armed police and community officers.

As Home Secretary, she even accused the police of crying wolf over the impact of her cuts – and their fears that the public were being put in danger.

The truth is the Conservatives have failed to properly fund our police. Between 2010 and 2016 19% of Authorised Firearms Officers were cut – that’s more than 1300 officers.

The Liberal Democrats would provide our police with £300m extra funding a year. We’re choosing to fund the police properly, while the Conservatives prioritise a corporation tax cut.

Since the London attacks, Theresa May has accused technology companies of providing a safe space for terrorist ideology online – but by posturing instead of working with companies like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, she’s failing to keep us safe.

Tim Farron says we must protect our freedoms – instead of restricting the internet like China or North Korea:

“If we turn the internet into a tool for censorship and surveillance, the terrorists will have won. We won’t make ourselves safer by making ourselves less free. Instead of mass surveillance, the Liberal Democrats will invest in police and local intelligence-gathering that helps keep communities safe.”

Astonishingly, instead of levelling with the British public about foreign funding for extremists, the Conservatives are still choosing to protect their allies in Saudi Arabia.

The Liberal Democrats demanded a report into foreign funding of extremism in Britain in 2015 – a demand David Cameron agreed to when he was Prime Minister.

We have repeated our call for the report to be made public, but today Conservative Minister Karen Bradley refused to say whether it would be published, saying it was more important to “work with our friends and allies” in the Middle East.

We believe the British people deserve to know the truth behind the funding of extremism in our country, so we can confront this issue head on.

Tim Farron says the Conservatives are making the wrong choices in the fight to protect our lives and freedoms against those who threaten us:

“In the choices we make, we should provide the resources necessary for those who keep us safe to do their jobs with the powers they have been given. We need to guard the hard-won liberties that define us as a country. If we make the wrong choices, those who seek to change our way of life have won.”

Vote Lib Dem on 8th June.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and I would like to pay tribute to the emergency services for their professional response in such terrible circumstances.

The terrorists kill us because they hate us and what we stand for. They hate our democracy and our freedom. We refuse to let them win. We must respond with a vigorous commitment to our democracy.

The election must go ahead as planned. It is right that we suspend our national campaigning for a short while out of respect for those affected by these tragic events, but local campaigning can and must continue.

The remainder of this campaign must be a collective showing of defiance and pride in our democratic values.

As the former Business Secretary I can’t not intervene at this decisive moment in British politics.

In a speech this week I condemned the Tories and Labour for turning their backs on the economy, and explained that the Liberal Democrats are the only real party of business.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Today the Lib Dems were endorsed by none other than The Economist. And a letter in the Financial Times from prominent tech figures also backs us.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are adopting a Brexit strategy that seems explicitly designed to inflict maximum economic damage. The storm clouds are already gathering – we are seeing rising inflation, falling real wages and rising personal debt.

Only the Lib Dems have a positive economic plan, including boosting spending while still achieving a surplus on the current budget.

Theresa May keeps insisting that no deal is better than a bad deal, but an extreme Brexit could be disastrous. Theresa May just doesn’t seem to care. If we crash out of the Single Market and customs union, respected independent estimates suggest that our trade will slump by almost a third by 2030.

Meanwhile, Labour’s plans for a spending spree funded by taxing the rich and corporations have been described by the IFS as wholly unrealistic, and will certainly scare off the investment and talent that are fundamental to our global economy.

The Lib Dems are the only party that genuinely recognises the crucial role of entrepreneurship in generating job creation, innovation and productivity.

As our endorsement by The Economist shows, we are rapidly becoming the only party of business.

Vote Lib Dem on 8th June.

Azi Ahmed, who stood for the Conservative Party at the last election, introduced Vince Cable who gave a speech on the economy and Brexit in London today.

Azi grew up in Oldham and served in the Territorial Army, contesting Rochdale for the Conservatives in the 2015 general election. She was deputy chairman of the London Conservative Women’s Organisation. She decided to join the Liberal Democrats recently after meeting party leader Tim Farron.

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said: “Under Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath and indeed Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party saw the vital importance of Britain’s relationship with Europe. Margaret Thatcher created the single market – Theresa May wants to leave it, even though she has been told almost a third of our trade could be lost by 2030.

“No wonder sensible, talented Conservatives such as Azi are questioning how they could possibly have a future in a Conservative Party hell bent on an extreme Brexit that will wreck the future for you, your family, your schools and hospitals.

“Theresa May didn’t have to go for an extreme Brexit – that was her choice, and decent Conservatives such as Azi can no longer stomach it.”

Azi Ahmed said: “I stood as a parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives in the 2015 general election, and was proud to introduce Defence Secretary Michael Fallon at last year’s party conference. but I have left the party to join the Liberal Democrats because I can no longer campaign for a party which has hardened its line on Brexit.

“I believe Theresa May’s approach is completely wrong and the Conservatives are making a terrible mistake; our country is going to pay the price.

“I voted Remain and thought there was still a place in the Conservative Party for people like me, but the way they are fighting this election has made me realise I cannot support a policy which goes against the national interest. A hard Brexit is a car crash waiting to happen.

“The Liberal Democrats are the only serious alternative to the Conservatives; their vision for the future of our country is more attractive and inclusive than that of any other party. Tim Farron has articulated a clear, consistent position on Brexit in contrast to the confusion that surrounds Labour’s policy.

“One of the greatest challenges we have as a society is making sure younger voters are engaged with politics and don’t feel disenfranchised. Brexit was rejected by 75% of 18-24 year-olds in last year’s referendum and one of our priorities should be to find a way of involving this generation in the political process. I believe the Liberal Democrats are best placed to do this.”