Liberal Democrats meeting the voters - Tories refuse to pay their "bar bill"

Theresa May has given yet another speech about how she and only she can negotiate a wonderful Brexit deal - something she didn't believe was possible only a year ago. Mrs May is being dishonest with the public, Wendy Taylor, Liberal Democrat candidate for Newcastle East told a hustings meeting of Jesmond residents.

Both the Conservative & Labour parties are over-optimistic It's a bit like going to your local sports club and saying you don't want to pay the membership fee, but you still want to use all the facilities. Oh and by the way, because you're leaving you won't pay your bar bill

What is clear about Brexit is that the other 27 EU countries can't and won't allow the UK to be better off outside the EU than inside.

The effects of Brexit are already being felt. The value of the pound has plummeted. Inflation has risen. Growth in the economy has slowed, and the government is already borrowing billions more to fill the gap in lost tax revenue. Young people, who voted overwhelmingly to remain, are being ignored

The Conservatives are campaigning for a Hard Brexit. That means leaving the Single Market, ending freedom of movement, and abandoning the Customs Union - even though these choices will make the UK poorer. That wasn't on the ballot paper last year.

We believe trade must continue without having damaging customs controls at the borders. We want the UK to unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU nationals in the UK

We would defend the hard won social and workers rights, protect environmental standards, and work to maintain shared access to police databases and the European Arrest Warrant-so important in tackling terrorism & organised crime

At the end of negotiations, there will be a decision on the deal. We believe the final decision should be made by the British people , not by politicians. So we want a second referendum on the terms at that time.

But urgent problems, such as the future of the NHS, social care, housing & the enviroment are being neglected because of the sheer scale of the challenge posed by Brexit.

The NHS and social care services are in a state of crisis due to underfunding. Social care is facing a funding black hole of £2 billion this year alone and more than a million older people are missing out on the care they need.

So the Lib Dems would put a 1 penny rise on the rate of Income Tax to raise £6 billion additional revenue, ring-fenced to be spent only on NHS and social care services. £1billion would go towards improving mental health care, which has been a Cinderella service for far too long. The rest would go towards social care, primary care & public health to prevent ill health & keep people out of hospital. Unlike the Conservatives, we are committed to putting a cap on the cost of social care, so no-one would have to sell their home to pay for care for themselves or their relative. And we are campaigning for a cross-party Health & Care Convention to work out a sustainable future for the NHS & social care and stop the NHS being used as a political football

On education we would invest £7 billion more for school and college budgets to reverse cuts to front-line school and college budgets We condemn the Conservatives plan to scrap free school lunches & we would extend them to all children in primary education. We'd scrap the planned expansion of grammar schools. We would also bring back maintenance grants for the poorest students in higher education

To tackle the housing crisis, we would build 300,000 homes a year and introducing a new Rent to Own model, so tenants would own the property outright after 30 years.

We would end the cap on public sector pay to ensure workers including nurses, teachers and the police have pay rises to keep up with inflation & we'd protect the triple lock on pensions introduced by the Lib Dems

To tackle the dangers of Climate Change & stop fuel poverty, we'd insulate a further four million properties.

We'd reduce air pollution & invest in and expand renewable energy, aiming to generate 60% of electricity from renewables by 2030. We would also pass five green laws: a Green Transport Act, a Zero-Carbon Britain Act, a Nature Act, a Green Buildings Act, and a Zero-Waste Act

That's just a flavour of what's in our manifesto, but we believe our plans would ensure an open, tolerant & united Britain. I hope you'll support all three Liberal Democrats standing in the great city of Newcastle upon Tyne.