All members welcome. Venue TBA.

Shepway (Folkestone and Hythe) Lib Dems 2018 AGM Agenda to be released closer to the date.

Shepway (Folkestone and Hythe) Lib Dems 2017 AGM Minutes minutes will be made available soon.

Constitution of Shepway Liberal Democrats [last updated Nov 2013].

Nomination form for Officer and Executive Committee members.

At the core of Liberalism is the belief that individuals should be as free as possible insofar as they don't cause significant harm to other people, and that Governments should only intervene to protect individual freedom and prevent significant harm to others. This raises various questions where vaccinations are concerned.

Maidstone County Councillor, Rob Bird, demands answers from Secretary of State

Maidstone's high speed rail links with London have been dealt a further blow following last week's announcement that Crossrail services will be delayed until Autumn 2019.

Earlier this year Secretary of State Chris Grayling suggested Maidstone's peak time high-speed trains could be replaced by conventional services to Abbey Wood, the proposed south-east terminus of Crossrail, where commuters could connect with the new Elizabeth Line services.

Yet commuters say this is unacceptable, and Maidstone Liberal Democrats have called for the retention of the county town's direct high speed links. Keeping these services is vital as new commuter services into London continue to face delays.

The Department for Transport has already announced the long-awaited introduction of the Thameslink services from Maidstone will be further delayed to December next year. Elsewhere in Kent, there have been serious timetabling issues with Thameslink, reinforcing passengers' concerns that even this later date may not be achieved.

In a 2017 study, the gambling commission found that 12% of 11-16 year olds gambled in the past week. This represented a drop of 25% on 2016 when the same survey found 16% had gambled. Of those young people, 24% first gambled using fruit machines, 21% using National Lottery scratchcards and 11% placed private bets with friends. The main source of gambling activity in young people is therefore unlikely to be online gaming, and gambling activity seems to be dropping overall.

To allow various telecoms cabling and ducting works to be safely carried out, Kent County Council has made an Order to temporarily prohibit parking on part of A259 Sandgate Esplanade, Sandgate, near Folkestone.

Waiting and loading will be prohibited at all times on both sides of Sandgate Esplanade between the junctions with Castle Bay and Brewers Hill, to the extent indicated by No Waiting signs and cones placed on site.

Funding should be provided for every Kent community to pursue 20mph limits on appropriate roads to make the county's streets safer, say Kent Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Antony Hook, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Business and Economic Development, has written to Peter Oakford, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Finance, to ask that funding for extra 20mph schemes is made available in next year's budget.

He has also called on Kent's Environment and Transport Committee to discuss the subject as soon as possible.

In the last year, 10 small schemes funded by KCC have been announced, with the locations selected on grounds of deprivation and public health indicators.

But Kent Liberal Democrats argue that a county-wide approach which made funding available to community groups who wanted 20mph schemes would give people the power to make their roads safer.

It's no secret that Trump is not the best friend to those seeking to tackle climate change, and that Brexit has eclipsed any other political issue to affect the UK bar perhaps the ongoing NHS crisis. Climate Change however has never been treated as seriously as it should have been.

Friends of the Earth believes that to tackle climate change 80% of fossil fuels need to stay in the ground and that Europe needs to stop using fossil fuels by 2030. This and other measures, such as reducing red meat and dairy consumption, would lead to a reduction in emissions of 80% by 2030.

Around 70% of people locally voted to leave the European Union in what was in fact the second referendum on Europe. Many will have voted based on the belief that the nation state should be sovereign in deciding all policy, from taxes to immigration. Some may have voted based on more specific issues, like globalisation. I voted remain.