Hello, hello, can you hear me? Is this thing working?

* blows dust off keyboard *

Yes, all seems to be well enough.

As you might expect, the Liberal Democrat Voice team are somewhat busy at the moment, what with local elections this week, and a General Election to come thereafter, in which most of the regulars have key roles in various campaigns. And so I thought that I ought to step out of retirement to lend a hand. Many of our newer readers will not know who I am, so a quick (re-)introduction is in order. I’m a veteran Liberal Democrat from mid-Suffolk, currently serving as Treasurer of my Local Party but, perhaps of more relevance, as an elected member of the Party’s Federal International Relations Committee. I’ve done lots of other things, but time is short…

In today’s Liberal Democrat Voice, there will be a review of yesterday’s press releases which will hopefully be of use to you on the doorstep or elsewhere, and we’ll have a piece from John King on why Remainers must not allow themselves to be silenced. Later, Joe Zammit-Lucia reports on how Brexit is still being fought on social media. The second part of Rob May’s interview with Jo Swinson is scheduled for lunchtime, and there’ll be a response to Paul Pettinger’s call for a progressive alliance.

And, of course, things will crop up during the day, and we hope to respond to them as best we can. But, if you’ve got something to say, why not submit something to us – about 500 words seems to work well, although we will make exceptions if we think it appropriate.

* Mark Valladares is the former attack sea otter of Liberal Democrat Voice. He’s mellowed (a bit).