The Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party), "the party for liberal democrat values in Europe", is a major force in European politics. ALDE Party's member parties include those of seven prime ministers of EU countries--Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia--and the Liberal Democrats. It is led by Guy Verhofstadt (MEP, and the European Parliament's representative in the Brexit negotiations).

Keeping up with Brexit news can be a multi-media experience! If you're tired of reading the newspaper and staring at the computer screen, or if you want to keep up with Brexit developments while lazing in the bath or catching up with the myriad other things that fill your weekend, then perhaps a podcast is for you. There are plenty to choose from.

"The Prime Minister cannot say one thing in Brussels and another in Britain. She needs to face down the right-wing Brexiteers in her party in order to guarantee the talks actually move forward. Above all she still needs to protect citizens' rights to ensure they are not a casualty of a no-deal Brexit, and the European Union must also do more to make this happen.

• Local authorities in England recorded 1,002,154 cases of fly-tipping in 2016-17, up 7% on the previous year. This is equivalent to 114 every hour.

• The estimated cost to the taxpayer for clearing up fly-tipping was £58 million, up 16% on the previous year

• The number of prosecutions for fly-tipping fell by a quarter to 1,602, compared to 2,135 the previous year

• 83 of 150 local authorities in England will see per pupil funding fall in in real terms during 2017-18, i.e. once inflation is taken into account.

• England as a whole will see spending per spending per pupil fall by £29 (0.65%) in real terms.

• Local authorities with some of the worst school results in England, including Blackpool, the Isle of Wight and Poole, will be hardest hit by the funding cuts

• The South East will see the largest real-terms fall, with funding per pupil falling by £131 (3%.)

Knife crime was up 26% year-on-year, while overall crimes increased by 13%.

Commenting on the reported rise in violent crime, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, said:

"People's lives are under threat because Theresa May is failing to back Britain's police.

"These increases in violent crime are frightening and it ought to be government's first priority to protect the public. Yet with her police cuts, Theresa May has gone soft on crime and is letting the country down.

"Theresa May was the Home Secretary for six years: she ought to understand the needs of the police. Instead, she has left them out in the cold."

Meanwhile, prices in the shops increased by 3.3% compared to last year, the largest annual rise since March 2012.

Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented:

"This fall in retail sales shows shoppers across Britain are feeling the Brexit squeeze.

"A toxic combination of rising prices and stagnant wages is severely constraining household spending.

"Year on year retail growth is also looking weak compared to previous years.

"Given the UK's unhealthy over-reliance on consumer spending, the government must clarify where future economic growth is going to come from."

"Labour's Brexit blank cheque was cashed in by Theresa May six months ago, after Labour MPs were ordered to vote through Article 50 with no conditions.

"Today is a chance for Labour to announce to EU leaders they will now fight to stay in the single market and customs union, and support a referendum on the deal.

"This report shows that a whole section of society are being failed by this government and remain permanently trapped in low-paid work.

"This is only being made worse by the Conservatives' pursuit of an extreme Brexit that is damaging businesses, pushing up prices and hitting the poorest hardest.

"We urgently need to invest more in education, including adult learning, to improve social mobility and help people escape from poverty.

"Employment rules must be made fit for the 21st century, to strengthen rights and increase security for workers."

Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson Stephen Lloyd MP said:
"The government has shown contempt for parliament by yet again seeking to ignore votes that happen to be inconvenient. Parliamentary votes are meant to matter, this is not a debating society.

"None of this changes the fact that the government's Universal Credit proposals are a slow motion car crash. The government lost the argument, and now it has lost the vote.
"Ministers must now re-consider these proposals that will draw millions into poverty. Parliament has spoken, the government has a duty, a moral duty, to now listen.