THE news that Dr Phillip Lee is now a Liberal Democrat MP has been welcomed by Wokingham borough party members.
Cllr Clive Jones, the party’s deputy leader on Wokingham Borough Council, said: “I am pleased we have another Lib Dem MP”.
In the 2017 General Election, Cllr Jones stood as the candidate for Wokingham constituency, which includes parts of West Berkshire. If he is selected for any forthcoming General Election, which could be as soon as next month, Cllr Jones said: “I will look forward to sitting next to him on the Liberal Democrat benches”.
He added: “It is likely that over the next 24 hours, we will know if there is a General Election [in the next few weeks].
“We may not know the day, but sometime in October, it depends on what Boris will say. He could say after October 31, which would be the wrong thing to do.
“October 14 seems strange, we haven’t had an election on a Monday for a long time.”
And Cllr Jones shares Dr Lee’s concerns over a no-deal Brexit.
“There is a possibility there will be disruption – we’re not sure if the supply chain of pharmaceuticals is as watertight as it could be. There doesn’t seem to be much progress,” he said.
“I think there could be problems which will put people in danger.”
These include a lack of refrigeration storage as “industry has moved to a ‘just in time’ process”.
And Cllr Imogen Shepherd-Dubey, who is the party’s candidate for Reading East when the next General Election is called, said: “I am very pleased.
“The opposition is now bigger than the Conservatives.”
She added: “I want to see the end of no-deal Brexit. The Lib Dems believe that if Brexit happens, we’ll be campaigning to go back into the EU.”
And Cllr Shepherd-Dubey was looking forward to getting past the Brexit hurdle.
“We need to deal with the real issues this country has,” she added, citing housing and policing.