David Chappell

Life's been tough for lots of people over the past few years. And it's still tough. But with their trademark decency and strength, the British people are rising to the challenge. Raising families. Caring for others. And playing by the rules.

Now more than ever, it's time for a fair deal.

Yet with the rising cost of living, this Conservative Government is letting you down badly and taking you for granted.

Our focus this year has been squarely on understanding the party's overall political direction, our target voters, and the role our policies can play in helping us to persuade people and win votes. This was the main focus of our in-person awayday at LDHQ at the end of February, and has underlain all our other discussions, with the aim of informing both our current policy development work, and its direction for the future.

The Spring statement was a Sunak Swindle - hiking up people's taxes today while promising to cut them in future.

Rishi Sunak is following Boris Johnson's lead by not being up front and honest with the country.

Buried in the small print is a tax bombshell that will see the average family paying £1,600 more in taxes over the coming years.

Tim Farron and I are currently conducting a review into the Party's candidate selection processes.

The review has been commissioned by the The Federal Communications and Elections Committee (FCEC), following conversations with the State Parties. Candidate approval and selection is a State Party function within our governance.

Over the past month, as more than 3.5 million innocent Ukrainians have been forced to flee their country to escape Putin's war, people across the UK have responded with enormous compassion and generosity.

More than 150,000 have offered to open their homes to Ukrainian refugees.

The Anti-Refugee Bill is an awful piece of legislation that flies in the face of the incredible spirit of the British people.

On Wednesday, I returned from the Ukraine-Poland border. When I was there, I met refugees who have been forced to flee Putin's assault on their homes, including people who are desperate to come to the UK - often to join family members. I was proud to see many British aid workers and volunteers providing support and the generosity of the British public who are offering their homes.

Over the weekend, we unveiled a new Liberal Democrat Website.

It's the Technology Blog, which you can see here: https://tech.libdems.org.uk

This blog is hugely exciting - because it's been built on our brand new website platform, Fleet.

Fleet is intended to replace both Nationbuilder and Prater Raines FOCI for the party.

My trip to Eastern Poland, where I spent time meeting refugees fleeing Ukraine and the charities supporting them, was harrowing.

I witnessed firsthand the very human consequences of this war.

Although I've watched the scenes of Ukrainians fleeing their homes from my television screen, it was a completely different experience speaking to these families in person. I witnessed firsthand the very human consequences of this war. Families with their belongings stuffed in plastic bags. Children clutching their teddy bears as they arrived at the train station. Exhausted cats and dogs being held by their families who couldn't bear to leave them behind in Ukraine.

Yesterday was a good day for all those who have argued that we should be clamping down on Putin's cronies.

Liberal Democrats secured a significant win in emergency legislation being fast-tracked through Parliament to deal with dirty Russian money in the UK.

Liberal Democrats have secured concession after concession from the Conservative Government when it comes to finally taking action on dirty Russian money in our country.

Stopping criminals from reoffending is crucial for cutting crime and making our communities safer. The Conservative Government is failing badly on that score: rehabilitation is poor and reoffending rates are far too high.

We know that stable employment is a key factor that reduces the risk of reoffending, helping people to build lives free from crime. But the current rules around criminal records can negatively affect people's job prospects, as well as their ability to travel, adopt, access domestic violence shelters, and many other parts of civil life.