North West Liberal Democrats

Last night the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Burnley in a council byelection, taking us to six seats on Burnley council.

The win from the Burnley & Padiham Independents - who slumped to third place - takes the Lib Dems ahead of the Conservatives to become the second largest group on the council:

Alistair Carmichael MP, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip, has today warned that the Conservative Government's inaction on the guilty verdict handed to the 'Umbrella Nine' in Hong Kong is an insult to all those in the region.

Alistair Carmichael used an Urgent Question in the House of Commons today to urge the Conservative Government to appeal against the guilty verdict handed to nine activists involved in the peaceful 2014 umbrella pro-democracy protests.

The nine activists could be sentenced for up to seven years. They were found guilty on rarely used colonial-era public nuisance charges.

Speaking after the Urgent Question, Alistair Carmichael MP said:

"Many in Hong Kong rightly look to the UK for protection and support for their continued autonomy and progression towards democracy. This guilty verdict and the Conservative Government's inaction is the latest insult to those people.

"Under the 'one country, two systems' framework, the UK has a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that Beijing does not undermine freedom of expression and human rights in Hong Kong.

"It is appalling that the Conservative Government have increasingly turned a blind-eye to this duty. Their silence is inexcusable. Liberal Democrats demand better.

"Beijing must stop it's increasing disregard for the Basic Law in the region and the UK must do all it can to uphold our end of the bargain by standing up to any violations of Hong Kong's democracy and freedom of expression."

South Lakeland MP Tim Farron has pushed the industry body for banking and finance to make a new reimbursement scheme available to past victims of online banking scams.

From the end of May, a new code of conduct will cover losses for people who have been tricked into transferring bank payments to fraudsters.

Jo Swinson, Deputy Leader and Foreign Affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, has today condemned new anti-LGBT laws in Brunei and warned the UK Government must no longer "cosy up to the Brunei regime."

The new laws, that will come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of crimes from making sex between men punishable by stoning to death, to punishment for theft by amputation.

Last week's damning report from the Chief Inspector of Probation makes it clear. We need a radically new approach to rehabilitation.

The primary purpose of our penal system should be to prevent crime by rehabilitating offenders. Right now, it's failing.

Prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. Violence, riots, drug use, self-harm and suicide are all far too common.