SINCE the election something amazing has happened: people from up and down the country have been joining the Liberal Democrats in our “liberal fightback” – as I write this, our membership has rocketed by 10,000, with many people offering to volunteer locally.

It just goes to show that even after what can only be called a devastating General Election result, the Liberal Democrats are still here and ready to fight for our values.

Liberal Democrats can’t hide from the fact that the result was bad – it was clear that fear won the day.

The Tories spread the myth that voting Liberal Democrat would ensure Labour and the SNP were handed the keys to Number 10 and, although this clearly was untrue, for many voters that threat was too great to bear.

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, would have made an excellent MP, standing up for people in Oxford. She already has a campaigning track record and has been working voluntarily for nearly three years in Oxford, campaigning for flood protection and preventing the enlargement of Campsfield Detention Centre.

People believed they were electing the status quo but a Tory party governing alone is a very different animal to a Tory Party governing alongside the Liberal Democrats. We can already see just how different it is with plans made clear to abolish the Human Rights Act and to revive the “snooper’s charter.”

But the voters have elected a Conservative government – whilst this is the case we must move on and look to the future, and there is a very real need for liberalism.

We are building our party from the bottom up, showing that there is a Liberal answer to the politics of fear and grievance, so we are in a position to ensure hard-working, locally-focused, Liberal Democrat MPs are returned at the next election.

CATHERINE BEARDER MEP
Oxford