More than 800 years ago, St Albans Abbey hosted some of the very first meetings that led to the drafting of Magna Carta - the "great charter of liberties".
That started a proud tradition here in our wonderful city - a proud tradition of fighting for greater democracy, liberties and freedoms.
And in the last few years, there have been many such fights.
Soaring temperatures worldwide, flash flooding in central London and increasing numbers of wildfires. These are just a few ecological disasters we are seeing as a result of climate change. It is painfully obvious we must act.
We need to be ambitious. It is only by working with every single nation across the globe that we can hope to take on this challenge.
Delighted to have the opportunity to speak this morning to theF37A Emergency motion: Solving the Supply Chain Crisis
I raised the issue of the HGV driver shortage impacting on local residents waste collections
The shortage of blood test bottles, related to the#Covid19Pandemic but the supply chain, transportation issues and the border control make a bad situation worse - this in turn will impact on the already stretched NHS and patients receiving a timely diagnosis.
These include mending the roof to prevent leaks and repairing the stonework on the front facade.
Safety hoarding has been erected around the building.
The work will take place from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and will take around three months to complete.
The Town Hall's programme of events and activities are unaffected by the works and people using the Town Hall can continue to access the building using the existing entrance. A temporary section of footpath has been installed to ensure the safety of pedestrians.
Ellen, this afternoon Ed Davey gave his first in-person Conference speech as leader. You can watch it here.
For politicians and parties these are big, important moments.
The broadcast media turns its full attention to us for a few hours, and we get a chance to speak to people on our own terms.
I thought it would be interesting and useful to explain some of the decisions and thinking behind what Ed has said today.
Throughout the pandemic it was hard for us to cut through in the media.
So we decided to focus our national work on two issues: small business and support for carers.
Our research with voters showed these worked harder to attract people to our party than anything else - and we need to repeat messages a lot for people to hear them.
But things are changing. Politics is starting to return to normal.
Since February our press coverage in national and local media has shot up: we're now averaging about 12,000 news mentions a month, and our threat to the Conservatives in the 'Blue Wall' is firmly on journalists' and editors' minds.
This means we can move our national message on, setting out more clearly what the Lib Dems stand for, and how we'd change the country. We can do this now because we have many more chances to be heard.
The single thing that resonates most with people in Blue Wall seats is 'being taken for granted' by the Tories.
We hear this again and again on doorsteps. And our approach of genuine community politics strikes a chord: knocking on doors, listening to people's concerns and taking action at a local level.
We know this is how people feel in the Blue Wall - in the seats we have to win for this Conservative government to be kicked out.
But just as importantly, it speaks to many other places too: the people being taken for granted by their Labour councils in the North; SNP voters who are sick of waiting for ambulances to arrive; those infuriated at Labour's unworkable vaccine passports in Wales and many others.
All places where we can build our crucial local government strength in office and opposition.
That's why the central argument of Ed's speech today is about getting a fair deal.
People have worked hard, made sacrifices and shown astonishing generosity and care for others throughout the pandemic.
And they feel strongly that the Government is taking them for granted.
We know this is fertile ground.
And it is particularly so in education, where parents have juggled jobs and home schooling to keep their children happy and learning throughout a chaotic year of lockdowns - while the Westminster Government has consistently let them down and messed them around.
That's why Ed's speech takes on education in England today. It shows what a fair deal starts to look like in education - one that recognises what parents deserve after the past year. Ed's speech looks to the future.
But it is firmly rooted in our history too: belief in education runs deeper in our party than any other.
As does belief in local decisions and government giving power to people to live their best lives, on their own terms.
The central offer of Ed's speech - a Covid catch up fund with head teachers making decisions free from Tory ministerial meddling, and £5bn given direct to parents to spend on their children's education - is one no other party would make.
This proposal reminds us why Liberal Democrats are needed, to bring our values to bear on the challenges we face as a country.
And it reminds us of a huge political gap too: Labour's ties to the unions means it cannot speak up for parents; the Conservatives remain obsessed with going back to the 1950s; and the SNP's record is one of repeated failure masked by nationalist rhetoric.
Parents have no-one on their side apart from Liberal Democrats.
Of course, a single speech by one politician won't change politics. But Ed's speech today is important.
It has started to sketch out a stronger, clearer vision for our country, and for our party.
Over the coming weeks and months, you'll hear more from Ed and our leaders across the country about what a fair deal looks like for Britain.
How to Cut Carbon Emissions Quickly and Effectively
Fossil fuels have delivered enormous benefits to humanity. Now, however, scientists are saying that the earth can't absorb much more of the carbon dioxide that fossil fuels produce.
The scientists can't be exact, but the remaining carbon budget will be used up in less than 10 years at the current rate of consumption.
The Conservative government was re-organised to great media attention. The much threatened changes suggest there will be little change in the basic approach of the government with the ideological make-up pretty unchanged, indeed the brexiteer true believers seem to have consolidated their position.
Their is some good news. Gavin Williamson possibly the most hopeless education minister in living memory has gone, as has Robert Jenrick whose illegal intervention
on behalf of a Tory donors development, and, biased allocation of levelling up funds to local towns called into question his probity and competence
Having missed the Afghan debacle whilst he sunned himself on holiday Dominic Raab has been moved from Foreign Secretary but not sacked. Instead he becomes Deputy prime minister and Justice Secretary. You couldn't make it up!
The government plan to remove the £20 per week uplift in universal credit at the end of the month has come in for a lot of criticism.
For many families with low earning jobs in retail and hospitality this is part of a double whammy which is about to hit them following the increase of 1.25% in national insurance contributions to fund limits of social care costs which will primarily benefit those with high priced properties in southern England who will be able to protect their inheritance . The tax starts to be paid at only £184 per week
