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.

Responding the the Tory migration target of only "tens of thousands," Alasdair Hill, Liberal Democrat candidate for Hendon says;

"Immigration has made London the successful world city that it is today and the plans to cut immigration to the size of Mill Hill or Hendon, nationwide, is nothing short of an economic own goal.

Lord John Alderdice, former leader of the Alliance Party, Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and a signatory of the Good Friday Agreement visited Chipping Barnet on Monday evening to publically endorse the Liberal Democrat Candidates in Barnet.

Discussing the difficulties in securing peace in Northern Ireland, Lord Alderdice spoke of the importance of rationality in the advancements of science, medicine, and politics, but said that mere rationality was not enough if people could persuade themselves to treat others as not entirely human beings because they were different in religion, colour, attitude or politics. There also had to be respect for human rights. However even the combination of rationality and rights has not prevented us from sliding into a bad and dangerous place today.

Over the past few days, millions will have shuddered at Conservative plans to fund social care.

Under the initial proposals, people who receive care at home will be required to fund the entire care cost until they reach their last £100,000 of assets which the State would allow them to keep. And for the first time, the value of their home will be taken into accound when meeting care costs.

The Liberal Democrats have announced they would plug funding gaps for the NHS and social care by putting a penny on income tax, in their first major manifesto commitment of the election campaign.

The tax would raise an additional £38.5 million for Barnet, with £26 million for the NHS and £12.5 million for social care each year.

This is the party's flagship spending commitment and its first major policy announcement for the election. The Liberal Democrats manifesto will also set out a 'five-point recovery plan' for NHS and social care services in their manifesto.

At least 70% of Brits would happily pay an extra 1p in every pound if that money was guaranteed to go to the NHS, an ITV poll found last October (link).

Liberal Democrat candidate for Chipping Barnet, Marisha Ray said:

"Right now across all of Barnet we are hearing complaints about waiting times, concerns about staffing and worry about a lack of mental health provision.

This weekend the Liberal Democrats formally adopted their candidates Jonathan Davies, Alasdair Hill and Marisha Ray to fight the seats of Finchley and Golders Green, Hendon and Chipping Barnet respectively.

Leading the adoption Lord Monroe Palmer of Childs Hill and vice chair of the Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel said;

A survey has revealed there are 22 tower blocks of 20 storeys or more in the pipeline in the Borough of Barnet, 18 in NW2 and 4 in NW9.

Liberal Democrat candidate for Finchley & Golders Green Jonathan Davies said -

"This appears to be massive over-development. Whilst tall buildings may be appropriate in Manhattan or Canary Wharf, this number of tower blocks will change the character of our suburban area and overshadow Childs Hill and Cricklewood. This will put even more pressure on school places, our local health service and the transport network. Local residents will be expecting the Labour Mayor and Tory Barnet Planning Committee to protect their local area."

Access to the EU Research Infrastructure and Horizon 2020 funding has been the bedrock of our research output. Over €80 billion of funding is open for the UK to access and the adversarial rhetoric about our relationship with the EU from the Conservatives puts this in jeopardy.

Many residents of Barnet, particularly those who worked at the National Institute of Medical Research in Mill Hill before the laboratories were relocated to Central London, rely on this funding for their livelihoods and for their ground-breaking research,

Membership of the Barnet Liberal Democrats has jumped sharply since May's announcement of the snap General Election on Tuesday.

There has been a 12% increase in membership in the first 12 hours of the campaign with people moving across from both Labour, Conservatives and people new to politics. New members have cited their dismay at, "Labour's supine opposition and failure to spell out the benefits of the EU" and that, "Liberal Democrats are the only principled party left post-brexit" who have the, "courage to expose Brexit for the economic and social justice disaster it is."

People in Hendon, Finchley and Golders Green and Chipping Barnet should vote for the Liberal Democrats to prevent a hard Brexit and protect the local economy, the party's three Barnet Parliamentary Candidates have announced today.

The Prime Minister today [Tuesday] called a snap General Election to be held on the 8^th June.

The Liberal Democrats are standing on a clear platform to prevent a hard Brexit by staying in the Single Market, and to give the British people the final say on the Brexit deal through a referendum.

A snap General Election has been called for 8th June 2017. If you want to support us in Barnet, please fill in the form at the foot of this page today.

Commenting on the Prime Minister's call for a General Election, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said:

"This election is your chance to change the direction of our country.

The Mill Hill Liberal Democrats took Spring cleaning to the local park this weekend to make safe the popular playground and preservation area and to highlight the problem of park and street cleaning in Barnet.

Mill Hill playground, preservation area and the surrounding Daws Lane pathways were cleared with a variety of hazardous materials including broken glass, used nappies and laughing gas canisters found.

Barnet Council voted on its 2017/18 budget plans last Tuesday.

What strikes me about the Conservatives is how complacent they are. They claim 75 per cent of residents feell the council is doing a good job. Yet my email inbox is overwhelmed with complaints. Street cleaning, broken pavements, car parking, planning enforcement, housing: the list is endless. Many relate to the council not responding.

Dear Dr Matthew Offord MP, Mr Mike Freer MP and Ms Theresa Villiers MP,

We the undersigned call on you, as our parliamentary representatives across Barnet, to publically support the right of EU citizens that live in the United Kingdom to remain here once the UK leaves the European Union, keeping their rights and obligations identical to those prior to the UK leaving the EU.

At the Barnet Planning Committee meeting last night (Wednesday 23^rd February) Labour and Conservative councillors voted 6-5 in favour of the Hasmonean School development on greenbelt land in Copthall, Mill Hill. Planning Officials recommended the rejection of the development plan on the basis of its, "location and its excessive footprint, [the Hasmonean School plan] represents inappropriate development within the Green Belt which would cause substantial harm to the fundamental intention and purposes of including land in the Green Belt."

WHAT do the Tories have against our pupils? First they cut the libraries. Now they cut the schools budget. Why are the Barnet Tories hell-bent on attacking opportunities for future generations? As a secondary school director of studies I see first-hand the struggles that schools face when their budgets are squeezed. The ability for me to fund enrichment activities for my students alongside funding for resources is reduced which, alongside the threat to recruiting, maintaining and training teaching staff, is a disaster for the education of our next generation. Whilst nobody will deny greater funding for schools elsewhere in the UK is a good thing, it should not be at the expense of others; why can't all schools have a boost in funding? Indeed whilst the Liberal Democrats were in government we increased the funding to schools in Hendon by over £17.5 million via the pupil premium. Now the Tories are slashing this by £500 per student per year across Barnet; and the local Conservative Party are openly supporting this! Let it not be forgotten that the Barnet Tories' record on supporting children is diabolical and their lack of backbone when challenging central government is astounding. For future Barnet pupils the prospect of reduced access to books and study space in libraries and a threat to resources and teaching staff at schools is a grim prospect indeed.

Across the country Liberal Democrats are campaigning to guarantee EU citizens who live and work in the UK the right to stay following Brexit. Here in Barnet many hundreds of EU citizens contribute massively to society through their work, businesses and their taxes. EU citzens are also our wifes and husbands, partners and children, parents and friends. Their part in our open and tolerant society should never be questioned.

Dozens of Liberal Democrat activists were out delivering the Spring edition of Childs Hill News across the ward this week. Highlights include;

• Cllr Jack Cohen's concerns over ineffective planning enforcements
• Dismay at the Tories' plans for Childs Hill Library
• News from Lord Palmer's work in the Lords on protections for tenants and renters.

(Reporter Rhys Handley, Barnet Times (04/02/2017))

A prominent figure in Barnet's Labour party has defected to the Lib Dems due to his "massive disappointment" with Labour's response to the Brexit vote.

Richard Logue, of Hammers Lane, is the former chair of Mill Hill Residents Association, a leading activist in the Save Barnet Libraries and was involved in the EU Remain campaign.

Scientists say it is a fact the older you get the quicker time appears to pass by. It is something to do with having so many memories stored in the brain. So here we are again another year drawing to a close.

In trying to recall the events of 2016 or looking forward to 20217, I am reminded of an exchange in the film Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart is asked "Where were you last night?" He replies "That's so long ago I don't remember." The next question "will I see you tonight?" He replies "I never make plans that far ahead."

Barnet Council presented me with a vellum of appreciation at last week's full council meeting.

This is in recognition of 30 years' service. The mayor read out a very, very, very long list of council committees I had served on. It has been a privilege to serve residents for so long.

I must add that in the 30 years I have worked with some fantastic, hard-working councillors from across the political spectrum.

I have to put my hands up. I set up an out of office automatic response on my council email account for part of August. I was not away but decided I needed a rest.

August is usually a quiet month but not this year. A couple of residents thought I was unwell or something because my out of office had no return date. There is no full council meeting in August, September and October. The last one in July convinces me, if I ever needed convincing, that council meetings are becoming more and more irrelevant.

Given the turmoil in both the Labour and Conservative parties, it feels so refreshing to be a Liberal Democrat.

Looking back now, the five years in coalition was a period of stable government.

I suspect many people are now realising how well the Liberal Democrats actually performed, especially in keeping the Conservatives in check.

So Barnet is to set up an independent inquiry to investigate the voting fiasco. I was alerted to something wrong almost as soon as the polls opened. I thought it applied to only one polling station in my ward. I soon discovered that voters were being turned away at polling stations across the borough.

Former Councillor Duncan Macdonald is the Liberal Democrat Candidate in the by-election for Underhill Ward on 5th May. The by-election, which was caused by the resignation of a Labour councillor, is taking place at the same time as the Mayor and GLA elections.

Duncan Macdonald was a Barnet Councillor from 2005 to 2010. He has lived in Underhill for 23 years.

• A third of councils in London (10 boroughs) failed to prosecute a single landlord for providing unsafe accommodation in 2014/2015
• A further half of London councils (18) prosecuted fewer than 10 landlords for providing unsafe accommodation in 2014/2015
• The one London Borough (Newham) with mandatory licensing in place for the entire year of 2014/2015 was responsible for over 70 per cent of all prosecutions in London under the Housing Act (2004)
• There is significant variation in the level of enforcement activity by London boroughs, with some councils inspecting one in 14 private rented properties for hazards, and others only inspecting one in five hundred properties.

In 2013 just 63.3% of mothers in London were in employment, compared with 72.9% nationally, the lowest level of employment for any UK region

Since 2012 the cost of a part time nursery place for an under 2 year old has risen by 10.5%, in contrast to an increase of 7.7% nationally

The number of registered childminders in London has recently fallen by 13%, from 9900 in 2010 to 8585 in 2013

At Boris Johnson's last Mayor's Question Time Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group examined the Mayor's real record in tackling knife crime over his two terms of office.

The Mayor made tackling knife crime one of his key pledges back in 2008, claiming he would lead the "fightback" against violent crime.

Stephen Knight, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, speaking after questioning the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) Chairman and Chief Executive at City Hall today said:

"While no one denies many great successes of the Olympic Park there still remain questions as to whether the best deal has been struck for the taxpayer.

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson, commenting on this week's decision by TfL to not scrap the Woolwich Ferry, but instead to purchase two new vessels to replace the three existing life-expired craft said:

"I very much welcome this back down by TfL.

"In the rush to push ahead with the tolled Silvertown Tunnel and other road crossings TfL were willing to sacrifice the free Woolwich Ferry, which is not only popular locally but incredibly helpful for pedestrians and cyclists.

Barnet Council looks set to increase council tax by just under two per cent. In reality, central government controls the purse strings.

For 2016/17, councils are limited to a two per cent hike in council tax - so any higher amount triggers a referendum.

However, the government this time will permit an additional two per cent rise ringfenced for adult social care services. The Conservatives' proposed tax increase uses the ringfenced allowances, so council tax for all other servicer is frozen.

• Number of incidents of tube delays caused by overcrowding has doubled in the last two years
• Tube passengers lost 280,355 hours in 2015 due to tube overcrowding - in 2013 tube overcrowding resulted in 130,813 lost customer hours
• Jubilee Line is the worst London Underground Line for tube delays caused by overcrowding

The Mayor's decision to extend funding for the work of the charities RedThread and Oasis Youth, which support young victims of knife crime, has been warmly welcomed by Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, who personally urged the Mayor to support these organisations last December. The need to support such organisations was a key recommendation in Caroline's report on tackling knife crime in London, which was published last November.

In a letter sent to Caroline this week the Mayor has stated that MOPAC (Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime) has now secured funding to maintain the vital services provided by RedThread and their youth workers in London's four Major Trauma Centres for the next three years. Another positive development is that MOPAC will also be funding Oasis Youth enabling them to extend their services and place youth workers in Middlesex Hospital until the end of 2016/17.

These youth workers provide vital support for young victims of knife crime and other violent offences and help to end the tragic cycle of violence we see too often on our streets.

The Mayor also accepted another long standing recommendation by Caroline Pidgeon to ensure that MOPAC adopt the 'Cardiff Model' across all A&E's in London. The 'Cardiff Model' is an approach to sharing and using anonymised data on violent offences obtained through A&E admissions to inform and develop crime reduction policies by the police and local authorities. In areas where the Cardiff Model has been implemented there has been a 42% reduction in A&E admissions due to violent crime.

Welcoming the Mayor's announcement Caroline Pidgeon said:

"This announcement is incredibly welcome.

"Sensible and much needed policies to help young victims of knife crime are now being given the support they so desperately needed.

"Finally every A&E department across London will share anonymised data to help reduce violent crime across the capital."

• New report recommends a smarter, more flexible system of congestion charging that reflects the level of congestion when a person enters the zone
• Introduction of an additional diesel levy on the Congestion Charge could be a 'game changer' in tackling London's appalling air pollution
• Huge potential to encourage a higher take up of the Congestion Charge Autopay system by removing the charge for registering and developing a free, easy to use App

Building more affordable homes must be the top priority of the Mayor's budget is the central message of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group amendment to the Mayor's draft budget for the next year.

Their amendment to the Mayor's budget, which will be considered later today (Wednesday 27^th January) , sets out ambitious plans to dramatically increase housing investment in London by converting the current Olympic precept, which is typically £20 a year for most householders, into a new 'housing precept'.

The Mayor's obsession with the New Routemaster is forcing Transport for London to purchase more of the expensive buses for the sole reason of keeping the production line running at Wrightbus it has been revealed today.

Transport for London's Finance and Policy Committee is set to purchase 30 more New Routemaster buses so as to "enable Wrightbus to maintain the operation of one of the two current production lines" confirming that there is no market for the New Routemaster buses outside of London.