We have decided that Autumn Conference will take place from 17th to 20th September. It will be held online. That was a very difficult decision to take and we had a very lengthy discussion about it.

Today Liberal Democrats are launching our new campaign to protect British farmers and maintain our food standards.

The Tories failing to commit to maintaining our high animal welfare and environmental standards”

I am deeply concerned that family farming businesses are at risk as the Tories continue to botch our transition away from the EU agricultural system.

Some farmers even risk losing up to half their entire income as the Government is blundering their way towards a new Environmental Land Management scheme.

Liberal Democrats support this new scheme, but the Tories are being much to slow – they are stubborn and out of touch with farmers.

Meanwhile, they’re failing to commit to maintaining our high animal welfare and environmental standards for imported foods.

This would allow foreign imports to undercut responsible British farmers.

Liberal Democrats back British farmers.”

Farmers are the guardians of our landscape, they are the stewards of our countryside and vital allies in tackling the climate and ecological crises.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to maintaining the beauty and biodiversity of our countryside which is why we want to ensure public money goes towards public goods like restoring our peat bogs, creating new natural flood protections and managing land to encourage species recovery.

But the Tories risk forcing our family farmers out of business meaning we lose the very people who need to deliver these public goods.

Liberal Democrats back British farmers. We would:

• Ensure food imports from trade deals meet the UK’s high animal welfare and environmental standards.
• Maintaining existing farm payments in full until the new Environmental Land Management scheme is fully rolled out.
• Enhance and protect the British countryside by supporting the farmers who manage the landscape.

Air pollution is an invisible enemy threatening the community spaces we love and the people we care most about.

Our Community Clean Air Fund would let councils and communities invest in the transport systems and options they need.

It kills thousands of people every year and affects the quality of life for all of us.

At the same time, air pollution is threatening our world, with climate change.

After the experience of the pandemic, people want action focused on their community and know that bold action for clean air could bring huge health and environmental benefits – and help kickstart the green recovery and the new jobs we all know are so desperately needed.

Our Community Clean Air Fund would let councils and communities invest in the transport systems and options they need, rather than Whitehall and Westminster dictating what’s right.

The Conservatives’ failure to act is shown by the fact that the UK regularly breaks legal limits on air quality in so many towns and cities, and yet Conservative Council after Conservative Council are running away from taking action to clean the air for local people.

 Liberal Democrats are leading on clean air and the climate.

Conservative Councils and councillors are even voting against local climate emergency plans and blocking new cycling routes.

Liberal Democrat councils are acting and getting things done.

From Lib Dem run Bath Council introducing a clean air zone in the city centre to the Lib Dem Mayor of Watford pioneering new pay-as-you-go bikes, people can see it’s the Liberal Democrats leading on clean air and the climate.

Our £20 billion Community Clean Air fund will target all transport emissions affecting local communities and the climate, with emergency 3 year plans to transform people’s local transport options, including:

• New walking and cycling routes (£5.5 billion)
• New light rail and tram projects (£4.5 billion)
• Expansion of bus routes – old ones restored and new introduced (£5 billion)
• Hydrogen bus revolution – to convert bus fleets to hydrogen (£2 billion)
• New council-led clean air zones for congested towns and cities (£2 billion)
• Extra electric vehicle charging points (£1 billion)

With air pollution causing 40,000 early deaths a year and transport now the country’s biggest source of carbon emissions, our strategy will not only boost to the nation’s health, but also tackle the climate emergency too.

The Conservatives are cutting our commitment to overseas aid at the time it is needed most.

We’re in the middle of a global pandemic – global problems need global solutions. Instead, the Conservatives are shirking their moral and legal responsibilities.