Author Archives: Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd

Southern Rail Debacle. Time for the Tory MPs in the South East to step up!

By Stephen Lloyd | Thu 22nd December 2016 - 12:25 pm

Rail users have had to put up with an appalling service from Southern Rail over the last few months. Even before the strikes the company’s service was one of the worse amongst all the train companies across the UK but now the situation has become totally unacceptable.

Businesses in the South and South East of England are being adversely affected, important hospital appointments missed, everyday family routines of commuters are being wrecked, people are losing their jobs because they cannot guarantee their employer what time they will get into work or, on strike days, even that they will get into work.

All this because of the deplorable non-service provided by Southern Rail. This cannot go any longer.

It is time for the Secretary of State at the Department of Transport (Dft), Chris Grayling MP, to act now before it is too late and serious long term damage is done to tens of thousands of lives and businesses as a result of the shocking rail service southern commuters have had to endure for far too long.

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… A better future for our coastal communities and inshore waters

By Stephen Lloyd | Thu 11th December 2014 - 9:15 am

imageFor the past few years in my role as MP for Eastbourne, I have been working with residents and councillors from across the political spectrum on an outstanding, £80million redevelopment plan for Eastbourne’s harbour. Together we have drawn up plans which aim to bring 1,500 jobs, new and affordable housing, as well as leisure activities to the community.

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes…Ed’s climate change deal shows how UK can reform EU


By Stephen Lloyd | Wed 29th October 2014 - 2:00 pm

Yesterday the Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament reminded us thatthere are two EU stories around at the moment. Sadly one is getting far more attention than the other! One is about the Prime Minister “standing up to Europe” and refusing to pay a £1.7bn demand. The other which is ultimately of much greater significance, concerns the EU agreeing an ambitious climate change deal, under British leadership, as described by Catherine Bearder and Ed Davey recently on LDV.

Liberal Democrats can rightly be proud that as the greenest of the main British political parties and as “the party of in” we have shown …

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… The jobs agenda – a lot done, more still to do for single parents

By Stephen Lloyd | Mon 21st July 2014 - 5:00 pm

Budding Artists Create Holiday MasterpiecesIn my constituency of Eastbourne, one in four households with children is headed by a single parent. This mirrors the diversity of modern families across Britain, where families come in all shapes and sizes, and reinforces my commitment to support and promote policies which enable each and every one of these families to balance work with bringing up their kids.

I am proud of the coalition government’s record on job creation and bringing down unemployment – reflected in the latest statistics out last week which showed that unemployment had fallen to its lowest level in nearly six years – but recognise that there is still more for us to do to ensure that everyone is able to benefit from the economic upturn.

This week, single parent charity Gingerbread has published a new report, Paying the Price: The long road to recovery, which highlights single parents’ experiences in work and of finding work. In reading the report, I was struck by how motivated single parents are to work and support their families – indeed 60% of single parents are already in work – a fact which is reinforced by the stories I hear from the single parents I meet at my constituency surgeries.

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… Can good Religious Education build better communities?

By Stephen Lloyd | Wed 16th April 2014 - 10:45 am

lessons from quran, drasIn the UK we benefit from a truly diverse and multi-cultural society, yet we continue to be bombarded with distorted images of nationality, customs, faith and belief in the mainstream media and the internet.

Sadly some of these myths and stereotypes have become embedded in the national psyche, making it harder for our young people to make important ‘informed’ decisions around faith and belief and distorting perceptions of some minority groups.

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd writes… It’s all about the jobs!

By Stephen Lloyd | Tue 12th November 2013 - 3:08 pm

Stephen Lloyd with Matt Hancock MP, the Minister for Skills & Unemployment Stephen Lloyd with Matt Hancock MP, the Minister for Skills & Unemployment

The “jobs agenda” is one of the top priorities for all Liberal Democrats; whether you’re an activist on the doorstep, someone who is concerned for the future of our young people – or indeed a parliamentarian. I happen to be all three!

In Government, our party has actively pursued policies that are enabling many people to benefit from work and to a greater extent, they are working! Almost one and a half million new private sector jobs have been created; a million new apprenticeships are getting our young people into work and Liberal Democrat policies are helping businesses grow with the £3.2 billion Regional Growth Fund.

We have seen real results from core Liberal Democrat policies. The achievement I am most proud of so far is a subject I am passionate about. In fact, it is one of the issues that drew me back to politics: the dignity afforded to us by being in a job. The scar of benefit dependence that has built up over generations, alongside the apparently intractable problem of high youth unemployment, is something I have been keen to tackle, and have worked furiously on both locally in Eastbourne and nationally in Parliament.

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… 100 Members in 100 Days: The Eastbourne Challenge

By Stephen Lloyd | Sun 6th October 2013 - 11:05 am

Just after I was first elected as MP for Eastbourne, some three years ago (crikey – doesn’t time fly by) I pledged to do everything I could to ensure Eastbourne would buck the economic trend; and it’s worked. We have had a tremendous success in keeping unemployment down locally – it’s actually 30% lower than at the General Election! A key part of that success was to start an apprentice recruitment campaign early on – I was the first new MP to do so after the general election.

Under the banner ‘100 Apprentices in 100 Days’, I set about contacting …

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes…Break point for Religious Education

By Stephen Lloyd | Thu 18th July 2013 - 11:56 am

Watching Andy Murray storm to victory over Novak Djokovic on centre court, I couldn’t help drawing some unlikely parallels with one of my own passions – the plight of religious education.

Like Andy Murray, RE has suffered from outdated perceptions. In Murray’s case an off-the-cuff comment to a tabloid journalist in 2006 unfairly implanted the perception of a grumpy, vehemently anti-English Scotsman in the eyes of millions.

RE has suffered from a similar misrepresentation. Some people would like you to believe that the subject is about indoctrination and teaching young people to be religious. Often these views are simply outdated, stemming from …

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… £140 a week for every pensioner – sound familiar?

By Stephen Lloyd | Fri 23rd March 2012 - 7:50 am

There’s no need to adjust your screens, it is true; we’re on the way to introducing a flat rate pension for all of £140 a week. You might be thinking you’ve heard this before; well you’re not wrong, except in opposition we used to call it the ‘Citizens Pension’.

We are on the verge of delivering on another key manifesto promise after the Chancellor announced in yesterday’s budget the coalition’s intention to give pensioners £140 a week. While this morning’s headlines are heavily slanted to the reduction of the 50% tax rate, and the ‘granny tax’, nestled away inside …

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… This government is working

By Stephen Lloyd | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 1:13 pm

The last six months as the new Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne have been more of a rollercoaster than I could ever have imagined they would be! I’ve been pretty much just as flat out, albeit in a different way, as an MP as I was during the 6 months frenetic run up to the General Election.

Much has gone on as you’ll all be aware but the two things I’d like to write about today show the upside of being in Government and the upside of having the privilege of influence all MPs enjoy.

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP’s maiden speech

By Stephen Lloyd | Sun 13th June 2010 - 1:49 pm

Yesterday we brought you maiden speeches from Stephen Gilbert and Michael Crockarty; here today we have Stephen Lloyd and later we will have Ian Swales. We are reposting maiden speeches here for the information of our online community, so that people can read and comment on what our MPs choose to use as their first words in Parliament.

I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech this evening. It has been a privilege to listen to so many of my colleagues making their maiden speeches. I mention particularly the previous three speeches-from Mark Reckless, who has deep …

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