Liberal Democrat leader Ming Campbell has launched a major campaign initiative this week, emailing all the party’s members about plans for a mass “community canvass” across the UK in the week after the party’s autumn conference:

I am a great believer in meeting people. Talking to them face-to-face. Having real discussions with real people about the issues that matter to them. Persuading them to back us.

We can’t let politics just be a Punch and Judy exchange of 15 second soundbites on the TV. We can’t let political decisions be about someone sitting in a distant office in Whitehall deciding what’s best for everyone.

That is why I am launching our first ever “Community Canvass Week”, for 22nd-30th September. Thousands of Liberal Democrats across the UK will be out calling on people, conducting surveys, hearing what people think on issues and recruiting new members and deliverers.

Our Community Canvass Week material will include ideas for carrying out door-to-door surveys, as well as more traditional canvassing or going out to recruit more members and deliverers.

I hope you will be able to join me and thousands of other Liberal Democrats around the country in taking part in this Community Canvass Week in your area.

Bringing a human face to politcs and building a larger team of supporters and helpers is vital – both for the long term health of our own party and also for the health of our democracy.

If Gordon Brown does call an October general election, a successful Community Canvass Week will give our general election campaign a flying start. If he holds on until the Spring, or perhaps even latter, then this week will set up our candidates and campaigners with more data and more helpers so we are even better prepared when the election comes.

All our local parties are being sent material and information about this week. You can also see the events that have been publicised already – and add your own – on Flock Together.

Hundreds of events are already being organised across the country. I will be out on the doorsteps during that week. I hope you can be too.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has written to party members about the plight of Iraqi interpreters seeking asylum in the United Kingdom:

The Government’s decision to review the cases of 91 Iraqi translators who have worked for the British may be welcome but their plight needs to be treated with far greater urgency. You can back our campaign at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/interpreters

The sad fact is that all these people’s lives will be at great risk when the British concentrate all their resources at Basra air base and then, eventually, leave the country altogether.

There is no doubt in my mind that Britain has a moral responsibility towards them and it would be a betrayal of that duty of care if they were not better looked after and where appropriate given asylum in this country.

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Ming Campbell has today emailed party members and supporters urging them to lobby their MP about Friday’s freedom of information debate in Parliament.

In the email Ming wrote:

This Friday the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill will once again be debated on the floor of the House of Commons.

Liberal Democrat MPs at Westminster, spearheaded by Norman Baker and Simon Hughes, are working hard to stop it. You can help us by contacting your MP – via www.writetothem.com – and asking them to publicly declare their opposition to the Bill.
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From Ming Campbell’s email sent to party members today:

In a little under a month’s time, the Federal Party’s spring conference in Harrogate (2nd-4th March) will get underway. The Final Agenda and accompanying papers are now on their way to local party representatives.
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What were your New Year’s resolutions?

I’m probably one of the few people who hasn’t resolved to take more exercise!

But the New Year isn’t just about going to the gym more. After spending so much time and money on presents and celebrations at Christmas, I know many people decide the New Year is time to look beyond their friends and family to the wider community.

I can’t guarantee that being a Liberal Democrat will mean you lose weight.

But I can promise that it will make a genuine difference to the future.

We’re the only Party which is standing up against the Government’s compulsory ID card scheme: www.libdems.org.uk/noidcards

We’re the Party which first put the environment high up the agenda by making green taxes the core of our tax policy: www.greentaxswitch.com

And we’re the only Party which had the courage to oppose the Iraq war.

Perhaps these are the reasons why we start this year with 63 MPs – more than ever before.

We all know that Tony Blair will step down this year, and there’s a chance Gordon Brown will call a snap General Election. If there is, then every extra vote will mean a stronger voice for Liberal Democrat values in Parliament.

You might be one of the many people who back the Lib Dems. Perhaps you already vote for us – perhaps you already help us at election time.

Why not start your New Year as you mean to go on by joining the Liberal Democrats? In return, you get to have your say about the future of the Party – and a vote in all Party elections, for Leader, President and your local candidates.

The recommended subscription to join the Liberal Democrats is £45. Your generous support will help our election campaigns in the coming year and help build a fighting fund for the General Election.

And if that’s too much for your circumstances, the minimum subscription is just £9.

Join online or over the phone today via 020 7227 1335.

With many thanks for your support.