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Listen to Bill Newton Dunn MEP on security in Europe here
Missed the rally at Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth? You can watch it online, including Tim Farron plugging a book, by-election winner Jane Dodds, future MP Laura Gordon, a host of Liberal Democrat MEPs, Guy Verhofstadt, Jo Swinson and latest recruit Sam Gyimah.
The latest defection to their ranks will embolden optimistic Lib Dems to think that we are on the verge of a big realignmen. David Steel once told a Liberal conference to "go away and prepare for government". They went away and remained in opposition. Vince Cable once said that he could imagine himself becoming prime minister. Which is where that idea stayed: in his imagination. Nick Clegg did take them into government during the coalition years, an experience that ended with the Lib Dems losing all but eight of the 57 MPs they started with five years earlier.
Catch up here: Sam Gyimah MP joins the Liberal Democrats! Sam Gyimah joined us on the stage at conference rally,...
This evening, I had the pleasure of welcoming Sam Gyimah onto stage at Lib Dem conference, as our eighteenth member of Parliament. Sam Gyimah is a fantastic Remain campaigner. He was one of the 21 Conservative MPs that had the whip removed for helping us to stop no deal. He is a man of principle, and I'm so glad he's joined the Liberal Democrats this evening. Sam joins Chuka Umunna, Sarah Wollaston, Jane Dodds, Phillip Lee, Luciana Berger and Angela Smith in joining us in recent weeks. And it's not just MPs. We've been seeing the biggest and most sustained membership surge in our party's history in recent months. We've had 40,000 new members join us, 20,000 more register as supporters, and we're surging in the polls. There is something special happening in the Liberal Democrats. Labour and the Conservatives are led by ineffective leaders and have been taken over by the extreme wings of their parties. It is clear that people are rallying around the Liberal Democrats as the strongest party to
Years of Conservative cuts have hollowed out the legal aid system, leaving millions without access to timely legal advice. Our new policy will legal aid a guaranteed right, ensure no one is left without help.
![New Homes [Image: Tim Prater]](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/a/csm_newhomes_23c101933f.jpg)
Millions of people are still trapped in England’s broken leasehold system. Our plan will end the leasehold rip-off, strengthen building safety, and give residents the control, fairness, and dignity they deserve in their own homes.
Hong Kongers living in the UK, and across the world, face an increasingly robust and alarming campaign of transnational repression from Beijing. Our new policy will protect pro-democracy activists and ensure this intimidation has no place in the UK.