In the wake of the recent terrorist outrages it's clear that we need a bold change of strategy to defeat terrorism and counter violent extremism.

To do that, at our Autumn Conference today we have proposed a bold new strategy to defeat terror. At the heart of the strategy being proposed is proper funding and resourcing for the community police.

At our conference , the Liberal Democrats have agreed to a raft of new policies which will see stricter penalties for companies that break the law, as part of a series of measures to improve corporate governance.

This would include scrapping the need to establish intent or guilt of a senior executive in cases of corporate failure, meaning that companies themselves could be held criminally liable.

We need a bold new approach to improving mental health focused on prevention, including giving discounts to business rates for companies that take concrete steps to improve well-being in the workplace.

We also need a pay rise for NHS staff and demanded that Theresa May give EU nationals working in the NHS the right to stay now.

Today at #LDConf we have called for the setting up of a tough new watchdog to protect the environment from threats posed by Brexit.

In a conference motion we called for the creation of an Office for Environmental Responsibility that would ensure laws on air quality or the cleanliness of beaches are properly enforced.

Theresa May must use her speech next week in Florence to change course and unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU nationals, to prevent a 'Brexodus' of thousands of nurses and teachers working in Britain's schools and hospitals.

In a conference motion passed today, we demanded that the government urgently publish a review into the impact its Brexit policies are having on staffing shortfalls in public services.

The Bank of England's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee voted today by 7-2 to keep interest rates on hold at 0.25%, amid sluggish growth and a squeeze on household spending.

However, the nine policymakers then stated that "some withdrawal of monetary stimulus was likely to be appropriate over the coming months."

Vince Cable makes a major speech warning of the dangers of inequality arguing that if the problems we face today are not addressed then our country risks tearing itself apart.

Speaking to the Resolution Foundation he will warn that "growing inequality is linked to poor economic performance, greater economic instability, more social tension, insecurity and unhappiness." He will also argue that generational inequality is increasingly proving as much of a challenge as class-based inequality. He will warn that "a serious review is needed of the set of taxes which are there to mitigate the sharp, jarring difference brought about by asset inflation and unearned income. We must tax wealth effectively."

The Liberal Democrats have launched a petition to save the Surrey Performing Arts Library which is under threat of closure by Surrey County Council. Surrey residents have reacted with dismay on hearing of the threatened closure and that the County Council's consultation exercise will give residents just two weeks to respond.

Liberal Democrat county councillors have expressed their concern after an independent body, Healthwatch Surrey, criticised the county council for a lack of engagement and consultation after changes to the provision of sexual health services.

Healthwatch Surrey has written to the county council outlining their criticisms in relation to HIV services. The letter states that:

Read Vince Cable's full speech to the Resolution Foundation on Inequality here:

Inequality - Resolution Foundation

Politicians talk at length about fairness and unfairness. Verbal confetti. Bland. Something almost everyone can relate to emotionally. And it can be defined in so many different ways that it can be applied in almost every situation, for about every audience. Inequality narrows the subject down a bit but, again, has a wide range of definitions and meanings.
Putting aside the health warnings and the academic qualifications there is however, in the UK in 2017, something stirring around the idea of inequality: something new and worrying. It starts from the observation, or the belief, that inequalities of income, wealth and opportunity, between classes, regions and generations, are getting worse; that Britain is becoming relatively as well as absolutely unequal when we look at comparable countries, especially in Europe; and that this inequality is not merely offensive to the sensibilities of progressive minded folk but is doing serious damage to the wider society and economy.
Sometimes an event crystallises this feeling. The Grenfell Tower disaster wasn't just a horrific accident with a large loss of life but illustrates in a graphic way that relatively poor people were not listened to by those in authority and attracted a casual approach to life threatening risk. And close by geographically, but light years away socially and economically, lived London's super-rich.