Vegan leather. What do you think it is? It certainly sounds healthy and natural. After all, a vegan sausage is made of nice nutritious vegetables and pulses, vegan milk is made from nuts. Vegan anything is marketed to convey wholesomeness and virtue.

Vegan leather is not however remotely good or remotely natural. It's made from polyester and polyurethane. It's a type of plastic and plastic is bad for the planet. Education about the evils of plastic is far more effective these days and the understanding of how injurious plastics are to our damaged planet is improving. So selling a plastic mac doesn't test as well in focus groups of potential customers as it once did. Hey presto - change the name! I'd love to meet the evil advertising genius that thought up selling plastic macs as 'vegan leather' ones.

Surveys repeatedly show that a significant proportion of the population are concerned about climate change. Many want 'things to change'. Most have bought in to the need to recycle. But then things get tricky. An electric or hybrid car is probably on the 'I'll do that one day' list. Choosing not to buy fruit and vegetables that are transported half-way around the world, that's tricky. Insulating one's home, that looks too expensive. Looking after and wearing clothes for years, well…!

In May 1756 Admiral John Byng failed to win the 'Battle of Minorca'. An ailing and failing Government needed a scapegoat for the defeat and Byng was ultimately executed by Firing Squad. The incident, famously, caused Voltaire to write satirically "il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres" - for the non-francophones "it is good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others".

"But how intolerable bright the morning is where we who are alive and remain, walk lifted up, carried forward by an effective word."

― David Jones, 'In Parenthesis'

As Remembrance Sunday approaches my thoughts turn as ever to my Great Grandfather William Pitt. He was a Serjeant in the Machine Gun Corps, and was killed at the third battle of Ypres, perhaps better known as Passchendaele. He has no known grave, but is commemorated at the War Cemetery of Tyne Cot. I didn't know him although I did his youngest daughter Lille, who was born two weeks before he was killed. He never saw his daughter. Lille was my link to that most dreadful struggle, the Great War. I'm very proud of William.

Make no mistake we are not trying to reopen the Brexit debate. The United Kingdom has now left the European Union.

That will present both opportunities and challenges. The opportunity is for the Government to make good on promises to boost United Kingdom exports. The challenge is to do so without compromising United Kingdom standards in manufacturing and food quality. It will be a hollow victory indeed if a 'more global Britain' is also a less safe and a less healthy one.

The coronavirus crisis has changed many aspects of our lives. This month one of the pressing questions for parents of young children is "should I let my children go trick or treating?".

You'd have thought this would be an easy question for the Conservative Government to answer. But interviewed this past week all Tory Minister Nadhim Zahawi would say is "hands, face, space" (good advice) and "use your common sense". So yes or no Minister? Is it a good idea for children to be going from house to house?

We are holding a Candidate Q+A Evening on Friday 30th October at 7pm. The event will be held via Zoom. If you would like to attend please contact the Secretary via email at secretary@centraldevon-libdems.org.uk

We hope you can join us and meet your candidates.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will today bring a motion of 'no confidence' in Mid Devon District Council Leader Bob Deed. Councillor Deed recently 'sacked' Liberal Democrat members of his Cabinet after losing a vote, 7 to 1, on the controversial Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP).

The Plan proposes significantly more house building than envisaged under the Council's own neighbourhood development plan and has met with opposition, as it is seen as being more about the urban needs of Exeter than the rural needs of mid Devon.
In a reference to the despotic French monarch, Louis XIV, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Luke Taylor, accused Mr Deed of "… acting like the Sun King, imposing his will on the Council against all standards of reasonable democratic behaviour."

You may just be noticing references in newspapers and on TV to the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP). You may be wondering what it is, and if it will affect you. It could have big implications for Mid- and East Devon, Exeter and the Teignbridge areas affecting house building, roads and infrastructure. As such it is likely to be controversial, with some in favour, some very strongly against. We will try to set out here what the big picture is, and how it may affect us, without taking sides. This is likely to be a big local issue over the next few years, so you may want to take the time to learn a little more.