Flair LD Acceptance Speech

Locked
User avatar
Rebecca Flair
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:15 pm
Constituency: Westmorland and Lonsdale
XP: 0
Trait(s): None
Discord username: DylPickle

Flair LD Acceptance Speech

Post by Rebecca Flair »

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to begin my comments today by paying tribute to the man I replace. Charles Trevorrow was taken from us far too young and far too soon, he was a strong Parliamentarian and a good leader embodying all the values that we as a party seek to embody. I wish I could be standing here in happier circumstances but my thoughts are with Charles' family at this difficult time and with the people of Truro at the sudden and unexpected loss of a local warrior committed to fight for his constituents whatever the personal cost. Charles, we'll miss you.

I stand here today a proud liberal, the first female leader of the Liberal Democrats or either of the parties that came together to form us, and it is that spirit of making history and charting a new course that will guide my politics. As a young girl growing up in Scotland I never for a second considered the possibility that I could be leading a political party, much less a party as incredible, resilient, and strong as the Liberal Democrats. As our party leader I will be unashamed in my commitment to liberal values whether that be cutting taxes, overthrowing the homophobic Section 28, or returning power to the people at the local level. These are liberal priorities and while other parties around us lose their way, falling prey to corruption or to the rise of the far right ideology best embodied by the British National Party and the National Front we will not stumble nor lose our way.

When soundings were being undertaken for the leadership race I made three policy pledges to my parliamentary colleagues. Policy pledge number one was that I will be a tax cutting leader for our party. With the Budget mere months away we have already begun to work on our party's pitch to voters and my number 1 priority will be to put more money in your pocket. To that end I can announce that the Liberal Democrats will, under my leadership, advocate for the abolition of the starting rate of income tax in its entirety and for the cutting of VAT to the EU minimum of 15%, putting more money back in your pockets and allowing it to keep its value without a large portion of it finding its way into the government's coffers. The Liberal Democrats are the party of economic liberalism and we will proudly stand up for the working and middle classes, your family, and your income against excessive government taxation.

The second policy pledge I made to my colleagues was that the Liberal Democrats will be a party that puts the future first, we will be a party which is committed to fighting for our environment but unlike the Tory Party will not ruin the economy to get there. I can officially rule out the possibility that we will follow in the footsteps of the Conservative Party in advocating a Carbon Tax, instead we shall advocate funding to the relevant departments from Government finances as they currently exist. The Liberal Democrats will advocate for £50mn to begin the process of re-foresting Britain's ancient woodlands and reintroducing lost species to our wildlands where it is safe to do so. We will advocate to double the environmental research and development budget and we will increase funding for other rural regeneration projects to ensure that we are as green and carbon neutral as we can be as a nation without damaging our economy.

The final policy pledge I made to my fellow Liberal Democrat MPs was that the Lib Dems will advocate for all people in our United Kingdom. Whilst the Conservative Party wish to send you "home" if you can't speak English or, in some cases, even if you can the Liberal Democrats will stand up for all. We will invest in all corners of the United Kingdom, including the advocating of funding for future sporting competitions which shall be hosted across the United Kingdom including £100mn for the 2012 Olympics and advocating £100mn to support a bid for the European Championship football competition to be co-hosted by England, Scotland, and Wales. Further funding will be provided by way of a Second Home levy which shall be levied against properties that are not the primary residence of an individual or family unit with the proceeds going to fund Local Authorities and to pay for the freezing of Council Tax. Localism is a cornerstone of liberalism and I am proud to stand here today and pledge that the Liberal Democrats will continue to be the most locally oriented political party in Westminster, continuing to build on the strong work of my predecessors including Charles Trevorrow.

Ladies and Gentlemen my vision for the United Kingdom is unashamedly ambitious, a nation that respects individual rights and liberties, furthers the incomes of its citizens, puts a green future squarely in its headlights, and advocates for ambitious policies with regards to local people and localism. We are coming off of the best performance by a third party at a General Election since the election of 1923 where Herbert Asquith led the Liberal Party to 158 seats. There is a long road ahead of us if we want to come close to that number but I believe that the Liberal Democrats are capable of speaking to the people who have been left behind both by New Labour and by the same old Conservatives. Because the two party system is failing people, we have a Labour Government which is rejecting legislation to clean up the appointments system less than half a year after the Prime Minister promised to clean up the appointments system and we have a Conservative Party in the clutches of hard right neo-National Frontists who Cowboy Croft wanted to throw out but now finds himself unable to. I will be a leader of the Liberal Democrats who will continue to speak for a middle ground, one that is unashamed in its views but also welcoming to new faces who have become disillusioned by the two party politics of the past.

Thank you.
Rebecca Flair
MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale 2010 - Present

Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2015 - Present
User avatar
Barclay A.A. Stanley
Posts: 249
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 1:26 pm
Constituency: Macclesfield
XP: 0
Trait(s):
Discord username: @BarclayCalhoun#5933

Re: Flair LD Acceptance Speech

Post by Barclay A.A. Stanley »

Oooh now this is interesting. For the first time, the more Liberal wing of the Liberal Democrats is in charge and they're promising tax cuts, environmental protections, and a compassionate immigration policy. Basically, Rebecca Flair has seen William Croft's handling of his more milquetoast members and said "come to me, orphans." It's not a bad strategy, especially when looking at the electoral results from the last election. The Lib Dem's clearest, simplest path to victory is to knock the Tories out of those middle-of-the-road constituencies where they came close. Croft should also take a look and see that if he keeps knocking back his moderate colleagues he may be in trouble.

Flair gets +2 XP, which doesn't really matter because she already controls her entire faction.
Lt. Col. Sir Barclay A.A. Stanley, Rtd., KBE
Member of Parliament for Macclesfield

Armed with nothing but a pint of gin, Sir Barclay went to battle against the forces of Communism, Socialism, and Liberalism.
Locked

Return to “Marked Press Cycles & Speeches”