We're delighted to sweep away the cobwebs and invite you to our summer social, on 5th July 2022 at The Bald Faced Stag in East Finchley. This will be a lovely opportunity to meet one another in person, after so long (and so many Zoom events!). Along with an exciting quiz, there will be ample time to pick over the recent local election campaign and discuss your ideas for our future campaigns.

At the May 2022 local elections, Barnet Lib Dems have a strong team of local activists in Mill Hill.

In Mill Hill ward, the Lib Dems are the leading challengers to the Conservative-run council.

Find out more about your Mill Hill candidates for the council below.

At the May 2022 local elections, Barnet Lib Dems have a strong team of local activists in Finchley.

In East Finchley, Finchley Church End, and West Finchley wards, the Lib Dems are the leading challengers to the Conservative-run council.

Find out more about your Finchley Lib Dem candidates for the council below.

Barnet Liberal Democrats are delighted to announce our candidates for the 2022 local elections, taking place on 5th May. They are as follows:

East Finchley

• Julia Hines
• David Noble
• Sachin Patel

Finchley Church End

• Dominic Aubrey-Jones
• Daniel Fenesan
• Sarah Hoyle

West Finchley

• Clareine Enderby
• Cllr Gabriel Rozenberg
• Greg Ruback

Barnet Liberal Democrats are thrilled to welcome Cllr Helene Richman (West Hendon) to the Liberal Democrats as of this week. She is a fabulous and relentless campaigner for West Hendon residents, and will be re-standing in the ward so she can carry on her outstanding work on behalf of all residents.

In response to concerns raised by residents about litter and fly tipping on the Basing Way estate, Liberal Democrats in Finchley organised a community litter pick on Saturday 19th of March. Six full bags of litter were gathered over the morning, improving the look and safety of the area. One of the attendees, Dan Fenesan, said 'Conservatives have taken this ward for granted and under invested in the estate for too long. We are told time and again by residents that they don't see their councillors and it shows'.

Residents in Finchley Church End were understandably unhappy when they found out about proposals for a 27-storey tower-block with no amenities built on top of Finchley Central station. Such a development would not be in keeping with the local area, would overwhelm local services and result in the loss of most car parking at Finchley Central tube Station.

A planning application for Chumleigh Lodge Hotel, Nether Street, Finchley to be converted into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) with 19 rooms and up to 32 residents has met strong opposition from local residents. The existing hotel owners have proposed the conversion to begin in the first half of this year and argue that the development has the benefit of not removing existing residential housing stock.

• Our Group Leader on Barnet Council calls on Mike Freer, Theresa Villiers and Matthew Offord to sack Boris Johnson
• Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey says "It's time Conservative MPs did their patriotic duty"

Responding to Sue Gray's update on parties being held in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, the Liberal Democrats' Group Leader on Barnet Council, Gabriel Rozenberg, said:

Barnet Liberal Democrats are calling for a complete rethink of planned changes to the 143 bus route.

Transport for London is planning to reroute the 143 bus so that it no longer goes through Highgate Village. It's a plan which benefits no one -- it's all about cutting costs to deal with the hole in TfL's finances.

The A1000 Cycle Lane must be kept for good, and should be properly funded, Barnet Lib Dems say today, as they bring a motion to Full Council in its support.

The group will use a motion amendment to force a simple "yes/no" vote on the future of the A1000 Cycle Lane, to encourage local councillors to get off the fence on the issue.

The Conservatives decision to suspend the "pensions triple lock" will impact 16,364 state pensioners in Finchley and Golders Green this winter, new figures from the Liberal Democrats show.

In Parliament on Monday, Conservatives - including Finchley's MP Mike Freer - voted to suspend the triple lock, a rule that means that state pensions must rise in line with whichever is highest of inflation, average earnings or 2.5%.

Barnet Liberal Democrats have attacked the decision to delay a decision on the Markaz in Golders Green as discriminatory, illiberal and unjust.

Local Conservatives pushed through the delay last night (19 July) in a surprise move at Barnet Council's Strategic Planning Committee.

The committee was considering whether to allow a change of use for the Hippodrome, Golders Green, from 'church' to 'place of worship', a decision which has already taken more than a year to reach committee stage.

Jonathan Davies sadly passed away after a serious illness lasting over one year. He was tragically only in his 50s.

Susette and I have known him as a friend and colleague for what seems a lifetime and is certainly very many years.

His work in the Liberal Democrats is legendary, and I doubt that we can, at this stage, do full justice to all his work:

We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Jonathan Davies, our friend and colleague, a devoted Liberal Democrat who held many roles within our local party and nationally.

A full tribute will be published here shortly.

Sean Hooker, a former councillor and East Barnet resident, has been selected to fight the East Barnet byelection for the Liberal Democrats on Thursday 6 May.

His primary focus for the area is to ensure that the development of the Victoria Quarter, which is proposed for the old gas works site, is done in a sensitive, sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

Barnet Liberal Democrats present

An evening with human rights barrister Adam Wagner

18 March 2021 • 20:00-21:30 • Via Zoom

Adam Wagner is a human rights barrister who has become Britain's go-to expert on the ever-changing lockdown rules. In the past week his work advising Reclaim These Streets has raised his profile still higher.

Barnet Liberal Democrats are calling for an urgent overhaul of local planning rules after Barnet Council failed to stop a casino from winning planning permission to open in the heart of Finchley Central.

Some 617 residents wrote to object to the 'Cashino' being built in the old NatWest building at 48 Ballards Lane. Despite being rejected by Barnet's Planning Committee, the Cashino has won the go-ahead after a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

Barnet Council met on 2 March 2021 to debate the Conservative adminstration's budget proposals for the upcoming financial year. Our Group Leader, Cllr Gabriel Rozenberg, gave this speech on behalf of our group, calling for a recovery budget driven by increased green investment in our roads and infrastructure.

Roger Tichborne, a musician and small business owner with deep roots in Edgware, has been selected to contest the Edgware byelection in May for the Liberal Democrats.

Roger's top campaign priority is to save the Railway Hotel, a Grade II-listed property in the heart of Edgware that Tory-run Barnet Council has left to neglect and ruin.

• Barnet's Liberal Democrats call on Barnet Council to guarantee Free School Meals during October and December School holidays
• A local guarantee must apply for any future periods of lockdown and school closure

Liberal Democrats in Barnet are today calling on Barnet Council to step in where the government has failed on child hunger.

For years, Barnet's Tory-run council has ignored Finchley Central.

Now the neighbourhood faces a crisis - and your local Liberal Democrat team is sounding the alarm bell.

Finchley Central is Barnet's employment hub, which normally sees thousands of commuters every day. But home working means the high street is half empty.

Barnet has done it again. Last year they scrapped the Housing Committee and bundled it into their regeneration committee. Now the renamed Housing and Growth Committee has decided to get rid of housing policy altogether. The committee voted to hand over responsibility for drawing up its housing and homelessness strategy to Barnet Homes, the arms-length body that manages the borough's housing stock.

Years of local government funding cuts dictated from Whitehall have left Barnet Council ill-equipped to deal with the financial consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Council's Financial Performance and Contracts Committee met last month for the first time since January, and featured sobering discussions of the council's depleted reserves, which may yet fall below the permitted floor. A later investigation by BBC News found that Barnet is one of at least five English councils warning they may meet the criteria to, in effect, declare themselves bankrupt.

A planning application has been submitted for a 24-hour gaming centre, including slot machines and a bingo licence, at the site of the old NatWest building on the corner of Ballards Lane and Redbourne Avenue. If approved, the 'Merkur Cashino' would sit right in the heart of Finchley Central, directly opposite a pub, drawing vulnerable people into addictive gambling around the clock and causing widespread disturbance.

Photo credit: Instagram user @cleanairdulwich

Analysis by London Liberal Democrats shows that London boroughs have applied for a total of £30.1m of funding for 'Streetspace' initiatives designed to support the transformation of our streets in favour of active transport. With social distancing here to stay, we urgently need to make the best possible use of cycling - and Lib Dem-run boroughs have been among the most proactive in applying for funding.

It emerged this month that the government intends to turn our finely-balanced planning system into a free-for-all. According to an email sent to all councillors by Barnet's Director Planning and Building Control, the Tory government wants to allow homeowners to build up to two storeys above their properties, as long as neighbours approve. These new 'permitted development rights' are a recipe for monstrous and potentially unsafe house extensions; these eyesores will inevitably then be subdivided up into precarious HMOs (houses of multiple occupation).

In the past week, we have all shared in the anger at the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. The way that US police forces have responded to lawful and peaceful protests has been nothing short of shocking. We stand in solidarity with black communities in the US, and are united in our condemnation of the violence, racism and harassment they face. And we stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter across the world, across the UK, and in our own borough of Barnet.

In this update:

• Is track and trace working in Barnet? We raise concerns about the emerging testing system
• We clapped for the NHS. Now time for a more open approach on key worker immigration
• Our work to create healthy streets as the lockdown eases
• And an update on our MPs' weak responses to the Dominic Cummings scandal

• UPDATE, 27 May: We have received a response from Mike Freer which we have added to this article below

It is now clear that Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, the most powerful unelected figure in the country, deliberately and repeatedly broke lockdown rules by visiting his family some 260 miles away from his primary residence.

A few weeks ago, the idea that the whole country would go into lockdown to defeat the coronavirus seemed unimaginable. And yet here we all are. In Barnet, tragically, COVID-19 has taken its toll. More than 1,200 cases of the disease have been recorded and very sadly some 350 Barnet residents have lost their lives. Our hearts go out to those whose lives have been affected by this terrible disease. We will never forget the bravery and self-sacrifice of the NHS staff and care workers, who have given their all in the past three months to keep our community safe.

Isabelle Parasram is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Chipping Barnet. Isabelle's priorities from day one will be to stop Brexit, fight for the investment we need in our public services, and give Chipping Barnet the voice it deserves.

Isabelle works across London as the head of chambers of a legal practice she founded after a lengthy career as a barrister in the public, private and charitable sectors. Isabelle has previously served as a school governor and as a charitable trustee of educational charities.

Clareine Enderby has been selected as the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Hendon.

Clareine comments, "I am honoured to have been chosen to fight the next election for the Liberal Democrats in Hendon. The Liberal Democrats won the European elections hands down across Barnet. There has been a real shift in public opinion. People are sick of the Brexit chaos caused by Johnson and aggravated by Corbyn's unclear and ineffective opposition. Most people just want to see the back of it so that we can focus on what is really important: health, education and tackling the threat of climate change.

I look forward to standing as the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Finchley and Golders Green. I will be leaving my constituents of Liverpool Wavertree with a heavy heart but as a family, trying to balance work with raising young children, we have made the decision to move full time to London at the next General Election.

I am absolutely delighted to let you know that Luciana Berger has accepted our invitation to join the Barnet Liberal Democrats - and become our prospective parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green constituency.

Luciana lives in the constituency, has a track record as a dedicated, hard-working MP and has an unwavering determination to see an end to the Brexit chaos now engulfing us.

She has the full support of myself, the whole Barnet executive and the former candidate for the constituency Clareine Enderby. We believe she will be a brilliant candidate in Finchley and Golders Green.

This is an exciting and invigorating development for the Lib Dems in Barnet.Our membership has quadrupled in four years (welcome to all who have just joined us!).

As the only credible remain party in this solidly remain borough, we swept the board in the recent euro elections, leaving Labour, the Tories and assorted Brexiteers floundering in our wake. We are ready to repeat this performance in a general election.

When that time comes, Luciana's energy, drive and campaigning skills will be a formidable force in the campaign. We will win in Finchley and Golders Green!

After the Liberal Democrat victory in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, the Finchley and Golders Green's Liberal Democrat candidate urges local Labour voters to support her to Stop Brexit.

"We're likely to have a general election soon, and Labour can't win in Finchley and Golders Green right now," said Liberal Democrat candidate Clareine Enderby. "Labour's failure to deal properly with its anti-Semitism crisis has made it unelectable here. And its failure to adopt a clear stance on Brexit has made it not worth electing."

The Barnet Liberal Democrats are tonight celebrating their biggest result in Barnet, winning 28% of the vote.

Across London the Liberal Democrats topped the poll for the first time ever in a national election. Reflecting on their record-breaking haul of 3 seats Clareine Enderby, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Finchley and Golders Green said, "our message was clear. Brexit is wreaking havoc in the UK. It is impacting on our ability to run an effective NHS, trade with confidence around the world and solve the Climate Emergency. The people of Barnet have roundly rejected the humiliation brought on this country by the Conservatives and the duplicity of Corbyn. The only way forward to resolve this crisis is to hold a People's Vote and stop this Brexit chaos."

The Liberal Democrats have won the Euro election in Barnet.

Liberal Democrats 27,423
The Brexit Party 17,089
Labour 15,980
Conservative 13,868
Green 9,761
Change UK 7,491

This is a great night for the Lib Dems in Barnet - and thank you to everyone who helped with the campaign. Our campaign against Brexit continues with increased vigour.

The Conservatives have failed Barnet. You can make Barnet a better place by voting for more Liberal Democrat Councillors this Thursday.

Our 8 priorities for Barnet are:

1. More Police
2. Protect our Greenbelt & stop overdevelpment
3. Support more secondary school places
4. Use builder's levies to fund more GP places
5. Reverse the disasterous Tory Library cuts
6. Adopt new streets to save residents money
7. Fix potholes properly and guarantee weekly bin collections
8. Review expensive OneBarnet contracts that are wasting millions.

The Liberal Democrats today received the backing of former Conservative Mill Hill Councillor Sury Khatri who was deselected by his own party in the run up to this year's Council Elections in Barnet.

Sury Khatri, who represented Mill Hill as a Conservative Councillor from 2010 until he resigned the whip in response to his deselection this year, said, "it has been an honour to serve as community champion for the residents of Mill Hill for 8 years. In that time I have tried my best to take up their issues and deliver real positive changes, such as the Diving Club, the future of the Library and with the many planning applications we have received. I fear though that my zealous advocacy for the residents of Mill Hill may have cost me the selection. As Cllr Dan Thomas [chair of Hendon Conservatives] lays the ground for his right wing and hard Brexit based leadership coup, he only wants 'yes' men in the Conservative group, and thus I have been discarded. Astonishing that after 8 years of serving the community, without a blemish on my record and more than a decade serving the party I have been silenced."

1 Continue our record of listening to you, and responding promptly to your concerns;

2 Ensure the Council deals promptly with broken roads and pavements, litter & potholes;

3 Guarantee weekly bin collections;

4 Oppose further cuts to our police, and promote community, outreach and youth projects, which tackle the root causes of crime;

Once again we have a full slate of 63 candidates across Barnet standing for a fairer and better Barnet. Below are all our candidates in each ward;

Chipping Barnet

Brunswick Park

Clareine Enderby

Michael Hughes

Roy Seger

Coppetts

Julia Hughes

Alexander Ollier

Melvyn Rees

East Barnet

David Bullen

Jon Finlayson

Sean Hooker

Watch Roger Tichborne, one of our excellent Lib Dem candidates for Mill Hill, highlight the dreadful state of our streets in Barnet. A danger to all road users, the Lib Dems will ensure that potholes are fixed quickly and checked to ensure they last. Barnet Deserves Better. Vote Liberal Democrats this May.