Liberal Democrats on Kent County Council

Martin Vye, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Children's Services, has welcomed the fact that OfSTED inspectors, after their recent inspection of KCC's Adoption Service, judged the Service to be 'adequate', rather than the damning 'inadequate' at the previous inspection.

Martin said:

"At least this shows that the Adoption Service is on the right track, and I praise the hard work of all staff who are beginning to make it a service the County Council can be proud of. The commissioning of Coram, the voluntary adoption agency, to provide the leadership and management of the Service, was clearly a good move."

The Evert Vermeer Foundation has nominated South East MEP Catherine Bearder as Fair Politician of the Year.

The foundation's Fair Politics initiative aims to reward an MEP based on their questions, amendments or reports to the European Parliament.

Catherine said: "It is an honour to be nominated for this award, which is a reflection on the way MEPs do business.

Hundreds of children could be put at risk of trafficking and abuse if the UK Government opts out of EU crime fighting measures, it emerged today (Wednesday, June 12).

Catherine Bearder, an MEP for the South East, has backed Justice Against Borders campaign which is opposed to UK plans to dump 130 EU police and criminal justice measures.

A Tory campaign urging MPs to back an 'in/out' referendum on UK's membership of the EU spreads further uncertainty for everyone in the business community, Catherine Bearder MEP has said.

The Conservative party is keen to rally support for Tory MP James Wharton's Private Members' Bill, which calls for a referendum by the end of 2017.

Extractive companies (such as mining and logging) will no longer be able to operate in the shadows when the European Parliament votes to ratify tough new rules on corporate transparency.

The vote, to be held in Strasbourg tomorrow (Wednesday 12th June), will conclude nearly a year of EU negotiations between the European Parliament, Council of Ministers, and the European Commission.

Sharon Bowles (ALDE, UK), Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, on Tuesday welcomed the Commission proposal for rules to facilitate compensation for victims of breaches of competition law. At the start of a meeting with Commissioner for competition policy Joaquin Almunia, Ms Bowles said the following:

Banking 2020: A Vision for the Future (Edited by Steve Tolley)

Introductory speech at book launch by Sharon Bowles MEP

"Steve tells me he chose the 2020 date because by then various measures that have been legislated or are in the pipeline will have come into force.

"To mention a few:

"The major reform on capital - Basel 3 - which comes in via the epic-proportioned Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive (known collectively as CRD4) has several relevant start dates - 2014 for most things through to 2018, by which time we should have the final rules on liquidity and leverage calibrated and running.

Thousands of jobs in the South East depend on our continued involvement with Europe, as does our ability to keep Britain safe and secure.

Today (07/06), Catherine Bearder MEP joined other Lib Dem candidates at Westminster to stress the importance of the European Union to the South East economy.

Catherine said: "In recent years there has been a rising tide of opinion against the EU, much of it built on falsehoods and misunderstandings.

Catherine Bearder, a member of the European Parliament representing East Sussex, has campaigned for radical changes to the Common Fisheries Policy.

Last week a deal was struck between the European Parliament and Council negotiators to put an end to the discard of millions of tonnes of fish each year.

On Thursday June 6 Greenpeace's 50-metre ship the Arctic Sunrise will arrive in Hastings to offer its support to local small-scale sustainable fishermen at a crucial time in their fight for a fairer share of Britain's fish.

The 950-tonne icebreaker, veteran of campaigns from the Arctic Ocean to the Amazon river, will drop anchor a mile off the Hastings shore where it will be met by a flotilla of local fishermen.