I joined the Liberal Democrats in 2017.

Full statement

Previously I had taken liberal values for granted; I had seen the movement though much of the 20th century for votes for women, decriminalising homosexuality, movements towards greater equality and progress against discriminatory pracices in the workplace and many more.

In recent years it has become more and more apparent that these Liberal values should be actively celebrated. Against a backdrop of nationalism and chauvainism and faced with a world that was moving away from the trend towards tollerance and inclusivity I realised that if we wanted to maintain the progress we have made and if we want to avoid falling back to a more shameful era in our history we must step forward and campaign for what we believe in.

We face unprecedented challenges in this time: environmental issues - including but not limited to climate change, poverty - and the pernicious effects that poverty brings, intollerance - ant the exclusionary effects this can have on our society. Some of these things can only be tackled at the naional level, some internationally but many of these issues can be addressed a the local level with the right policies based on strong evidence and sound judgement. I hope I can count on your support to take a small step to making our lives better.