Phil Bennion

Europe and Africa – an Alliance for the Future?

By Phil Bennion | Mon 17th March 2025 - 10:03 am

With a Trump induced rethink of strategic alliances in throw, should Europe (including the UK) turn to Africa for a long-term economic partnership? The RENEW group in the European Parliament have been working on this idea for 2 years now through RENEWPAC, it’s engagement project with the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) allied political groups. The third such congress took place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire last month, the second I have attended on behalf of Liberal International, and the enthusiasm for a deep economic partnership was heightened by the unstable geopolitics of the moment. It was hosted generously by the Ivorian government and in particular Fisheries minister Sidi Touré, my fellow Vice President of Liberal International.

The basic theory is that Europe has shortages of labour and natural resources alongside an inward migration challenge, largely across the Mediterranean, but is relatively rich and well placed with investment resources. Africa conversely has an excess of available labour and copious natural resources, but a severe shortage of capital for investment. The African perspective is that Europe is a far better fit for economic partnership than China, as China also has excess labour and is more interested in importing African raw materials than the possibility of adding value in Africa. Europe is also much closer geographically and culturally. The Africans all stress that they do not want to replace Chinese investment, but to more than match it with investment from Europe.

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 17 March 2025 – still hazy after all these years…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 17th March 2025 - 7:30 am

Regular readers might have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet of late. The regular Monday morning columns where I touch upon things that have caught my eye, or that I simply want to get off of my chest, have been absent, and as the Day Editor, I’ve struggled to do much more than post articles that have come in. This is, perhaps, because politics, and the world generally, have become a bit depressing. With an American administration that sets examples that trouble me philosophically, and an increasingly unpeaceful world, it is often difficult to lift your eyes to the …

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Mark Valladares

15-16 March 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 16th March 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey on PM’s virtual summit: only way to achieve peace is to strengthen Ukraine’s hand by seizing frozen Russian assets
  • NHS England: Same urgency must now be shown for social care
  • SNP RAAC response non-existent compared to England
  • Rennie responds to Gilruth Dundee University comments

Davey on PM’s virtual summit: only way to achieve peace is to strengthen Ukraine’s hand by seizing frozen Russian assets

Responding to the Prime Minister’s virtual meeting with world leaders to discuss Ukraine, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Putin could end this war today if he wanted peace, but it’s clear he’s only interested in destroying Ukraine’s sovereignty and turning it into a vassal state of Russia.

The only way to achieve a just and lasting peace is to strengthen Ukraine. We must redouble our efforts to support their defence in the face of Putin’s barbarism. If Ukraine loses, all of Europe will be less secure.

The PM must now commit to seizing the frozen Russian assets in the UK, and forge an agreement to do the same across Europe, to help strengthen Ukraine’s hand and ensure we can achieve real peace.

NHS England: Same urgency must now be shown for social care

Responding to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, speaking this morning on scrapping NHS England, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson, Helen Morgan said:

The Health Secretary is right that the NHS is broken and in need of major reform after years of Conservative failure. The focus must now be on ensuring that scrapping NHS England, and any further cuts, do not have negative impacts on the quality of care for patients.

The Government must also take the same sense of urgency shown here to social care, and complete their review by the end of the year rather than continuing to kick the can down the road.

SNP RAAC response non-existent compared to England

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has criticised the SNP for doing nothing to support health boards in dealing with RAAC, after research by his party found that the dangerous building material has been removed in scores of NHS buildings across England.

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Michal Siewniak

What next for Councillor remuneration? 

By Michal Siewniak | Sun 16th March 2025 - 2:30 pm

I remember it so well. In July 2024, at our Handside Residents’ Forum, we looked at the Council finances. A rather interesting topic! I must say that even today, I am quite surprised how many people are unaware of the actual “wage” Councillors earn. First, I have to explain to people that we don’t get paid but we receive a small monthly allowance, which of course varies from District to District. The allowance, which is taxed, helps to cover some of our duties, which are associated with our roles; traveling, petrol, or even booking venues for some meetings as other elements of the budgets have been cut e.g. Community Chest funding in our case. I get paid just over £400. I receive only a basic allowance as I don’t hold any senior positions within the Council and I don’t Chair any of the remunerated Committees.

Although the Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel reviews our allowance, I always struggle when this topic is being discussed at our Full Council meeting. The last one took place on 12th March.

We all had a civic debate about this subject and it was important to listen to what my fellow colleagues had to say. Some were lucky enough not to rely on the Councillor allowance and asked whether they could reject the increased allowance. Others were saying that due to their personal or financial circumstances, they actually rely on it. Yes, every little helps as one famous advert says, especially if you are a student Councillor. Given the ongoing cost of living crisis, the immediate increase of NI and other pressures on public finances meant that the actual debate on the increase of the Councillor allowance was at times uncomfortable.

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Caron Lindsay

Adam Harley selected for key Scottish Parliament target

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 16th March 2025 - 12:30 pm

Picture of Adam Harley, Scottish Lib Dem candidateScottish Liberal Democrat members in the key target of Strathkelvin and Bearsden have chosen former charity worker Adam Harley as their candidate in the Holyrood election in May 2026.

The seat significantly overlaps with the UK Parliament constituency of Mid Dunbartonshire,  won by our Susan Murray by almost 10,000 votes at the General election last July.

Adam grew up and went to school in Bishopbriggs where he now lives with his wife and son. He originally worked in Theatre and the Arts before moving over to the Charity sector, fighting for the rights of people with cystic fibrosis to access life-saving medicines. He has also volunteered for organisations educating children from disadvantaged backgrounds and has worked with community groups supporting young people in danger of becoming involved in the criminal justice system, helping them turn their lives around.

He now works for Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The current MSP Rona Mackay has announced that she will be standing down at the forthcoming election.

Adam said:

So many people feel like nothing works anymore and that politicians aren’t on their side. I am committed to listening to the people and communities that make up Strathkelvin & Bearsden and giving my all to make sure they have the representation they deserve.

Under the SNP, our NHS has deteriorated, local schools are left in disrepair, and the cost of living has risen, making day-to-day life harder for everyone.

It’s time for change. I want to build on the success of Susan Murray in the recent UK parliament election and work to make life easier, fairer and more affordable for everyone who lives here.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

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Victoria Collins MP

Fewer committees, more diversity – why I’m backing F10

By Victoria Collins MP | Sun 16th March 2025 - 10:28 am

I want us – as Liberal Democrats – to select great candidates, improve diversity in the party and empower our local parties to elect the best candidates to represent them. That’s why I’m backing motion F10 at conference – the one that seeks to implement the recommendations of the General Election Review around Westminster candidates. 

I am doing so for two reasons:

  • By reducing three committees to one it makes it easier to address the problems in our current candidates system;
  • By creating a place on the committee for the Vice President responsible for increasing engagement with ethnic minority communities, candidate diversity finally becomes a keystone in our Westminster candidate system.

Now, I am sure many in the party can give you verbatim – in probably the most intricate of detail – the constitutional intricacies and implications of the motion. However, I wanted to share with you my personal story of my journey to becoming a candidate and how this has led me to strongly support real reform of our candidates system.

From the top, I wish to say that none of this is criticism of individuals involved in the process. This is criticism of the process itself that volunteers spend hours dedicating their time to administer and deliver. I am truly grateful to them for this, but I want the system -those volunteers have to work with -to be better for them and for candidates.

I am in the incredible position of writing this post as the first Liberal Democrat MP of East and South East Asian origin, and the first MP for the newly formed seat of Harpenden and Berkhamsted. When my mother arrived from Malaysia 50 years ago, I don’t think she could have imagined that such a thing was possible. And yet here I am.  

Becoming a candidate is not easy. I should quickly add that nor should it be. It is right that we are put through our paces. But becoming a candidate shouldn’t be made harder by the inadequacies of our own systems and processes, inadequacies which frankly stand in the way of us improving our candidate diversity. 

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 16th March 2025 - 8:30 am

Ukraine

The Ukraine ball has bounced from Ukraine’s court to Russia’s court and now back into America’s court.

Donald Trump has always claimed a special relationship with Vladimir Putin– “He listens to me…the war would never have started if I had been in office…I can stop this war in 24 hours.”

Not if Vladimir can help it. As I write this Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff is flying back to Washington after exhausting talks in the Kremlin. He went asking Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine had already—under pressure from Trump—said yes.

Putin said…I’ll think about it. Actually he was a bit more diplomatic. He prefaced his hesitation with the normal flattery that must precede any exchange with the American president. He said that he is “aligned” with Trump and “expressed solidarity” with the man in the White House.

Then the Russian leader said: “I need more information,”which is another way of saying “I’ll think about it,”which is another way of stalling.

Putin is stalling because at the moment he is on the offensive. It looks as if he might soon push the Ukrainians out of their Kursk salient. He continues to inch forward in the Donbas and every captured inch improves his negotiating position.

That negotiating position has not changed for three years: Ukraine out of NATO and EU and demilitarised. International recognition for the annexation of the Donbas and Crimea. Sanctions lifted. Zelensky replaced by a Russian puppet.

Trump, however, is not focused on Putin’s long-term aims. He wants a ceasefire now. He has demanded it and has threatened renewed sanctions if his ultimatum is not met. It hasn’t been and Trump’s next move will reveal more about his role as honest broker.

Trump’s tariff rollercoaster

Tariffs up, down, off, on. Markets crave certainty. They fear uncertainty and they panic at chaos.

Trump’s muddled tariff policy is causing the stock market to dive. And according to Trump’s past statements, the stock market is the best judge of his economic policies.

He started off well. His election in November was followed by big rises. Nasdaq and the Dow Jones reached record highs in December. The S&P 500 two months later. American business was anticipating an economic boom fuelled by a bonfire of government regulations. It didn’t believe that Trump would actually follow through with threats of tariffs.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Ex Pat : Development Bonds

By Tom Arms | Sat 15th March 2025 - 8:30 am

It’s all about timing, and in my case the time may have arrived for an idea that I first mooted 25 years ago. In 2018 it was shortlisted for a prize in honour of the late Paddy Ashdown.

It if won first prize the idea might have progressed. But instead it has sat on my computer hard drive waiting for the right moment to be pulled out.

The idea concerns foreign aid. Trump has slashed US aid by 80 percent, Britain by 40 percent, France by a third and Germany and Japan by a to-be-announced amount. On top of that, the liberal bastion “The Economist” this week sounded “The Death of Foreign Aid.”

The result will be that literally billions of people will suffer. They will have less money for education, military protection, health and investment in infrastructure projects that can lift their countries out of poverty and create markets for the developed world. Many will die. Many already have.

The Economist argues that the cuts could be silver-lined clouds. That many developing countries have become aid-dependent and the dramatic cutbacks could force governments in the developing world to reorganize and pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

If so, development bonds, might be worth considering by both the developed and developing world. The concept of development bonds had its genesis in Renaissance Italy where bonds were sold to wealthy merchants to fund local building projects. The idea was unearthed by New York to finance the Erie Canal and over the years has become a financial pillar for America’s infrastructure finance. In 2023, $456 billion was raised in municipal bonds. It is estimated that $4.5 trillion is currently outstanding.

The structure is simple. Wealthy individuals invest in a bond issued by a state or local authority. The bondholders receive regular interest payments which they can deduct from federal income tax. When the bond matures they receive the principal which they invested. This also is untaxed.

My development bond proposal would extend the US system to the developing world. Wealthy individuals, banks, pension funds and others would invest in bonds to build infrastructure projects in the developing world. The investors would deduct the interest payments from taxes due in their country of residence.

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Mark Valladares

14 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 14th March 2025 - 11:15 pm
  • GDP: Reeves’s plan for growth leaves “economy on life support”
  • Scottish Government refusing to say whether Gupta firms in breach of legal agreements
  • Adam Harley selected for Scot Lib Dem target seat of Strathkelvin & Bearsden
  • McArthur welcomes watershed moment in assisted dying debate as GPs vote to drop opposition
  • Jardine comments on SNP MPs approved for 2026 candidacy
  • Rennie responds to Glen Sannox pulled from service

GDP: Reeves’s plan for growth leaves “economy on life support”

Responding to GDP shrinking by 0.1% in January, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Chancellor’s wretched Budget has left our economy on life support so the Spring Statement must deliver a much needed shot in the arm.

Just as the Chancellor’s jobs tax is set to hammer small businesses and plunge high streets into despair, the Government’s refusal to negotiate a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union to unleash economic growth is baffling.

At the Statement, the Chancellor must admit that her Budget has failed to reverse the years of Conservative economic vandalism and put forward a new plan that unleashes the growth potential of small businesses up and down the land.

Scottish Government refusing to say whether Gupta firms in breach of legal agreements

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Willie Rennie has today piled pressure on the Scottish Government after a minister repeatedly refused to say whether recipients of millions of pounds of taxpayer-backed guarantees who have repeatedly failed to file accounts were in breach of their deals with the government.

It was revealed in October that the CEO of Liberty House Group, Sanjeev Gupta is currently facing prosecution over his alleged failure to file accounts for more than 70 companies. This follows years of media reporting that accounts for both the Dalzell steelworks – acquired by Mr Gupta from Tata Steel in a controversial back-to-back deal facilitated by the Scottish Government – and for the Lochaber aluminium plant – also owned by Mr Gupta and owing £7m in loans to Scottish taxpayers – have gone unfiled.

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Matthew Ma

ALDC’s By-Election report – 13 March 2025

By Matthew Ma | Fri 14th March 2025 - 8:12 pm

We take a breather this week as there are only 2 principal council by-elections held across England and Scotland. Both seats are held by their respective parties: Lib Dems the seat in Devon and Cornwall and the SNP in Scotland. 

In the Lib Dem defence, Cllr Fabian King stood out from the four candidates as the clear first choice for residents in Exe Valley, East Devon DC. The seat in was last contested in by only us and the Tories in the 2023 locals, but when compared to 2021, similarly a 4-way race, our vote share actually grew by over 7%. Congrats to Cllr Fabian and the team for holding the seat!

East Devon DC, Exe Valley
Liberal Democrat (Fabian King): 256 (44.0%, -26.5%)
Conservative: 137 (23.5%, -6.0%)
Reform: 135 (23.2%, new)
Labour: 54 (9.3%, new)

For the Scottish by-election, Oliver Ferrario stood in the Broxburn, Uphall & Winchburgh and managed to grow the Lib Dem first preference votes. The SNP was elected at stage 7 of counting, who beat second place Labour by 22 votes. Thank you to Oliver for flying the Lib Dem flag.

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Peter Wrigley

Avoiding an end of history

By Peter Wrigley | Fri 14th March 2025 - 12:53 pm

As a dedicated Liberal I’ve always vaguely subscribed to the Whig view of history, defined roughly that, by and large, on the whole and in the main, things are gradually getting better.  Improvements are due to the gradual progress made in the development of democracy, increases in individual liberty, and advances in science and technology.  There are, of course, occasional steps backwards, but the direction is generally onwards and upwards.

To take each in turn, since 1945 in the UK we’ve seen the increase in women’s and minority representation in parliament, and the creation of effective specialist committees; we no longer hang people, racial discrimination is illegal, gays, lesbians, and unmarried mothers get a better deal, and couples can live together respectably without formal ties if they prefer things that way; and science and technology have made astonishing strides, especially n the fields and medicine and communications.

On the downsides, we still don’t have a fair election system, turnout at elections has fallen, local government has been enfeebled  and the executive’s control over parliament has increased intolerably; individual and institutional racism and suspicion of “the other” endure and have become a campaigning tools for mainstream parities as well as the extreme right; some scientific “advances” (eg plastics) are polluting the planet or contribute to climate change, improvements in communications have made it much easier to disseminate misinformation as well as enlightenment –  and nuclear weapons,  could bring an end to most life on the planet, except for microbes.

But by and large (again) Britain is a much better place to live in now than it was 80 years ago, and much the same can certainly be said of most of Europe and probably most parts of the rest of the world (exceptions being such as Tibet, Myanmar, parts of China, and, of course, the areas where “minor”  wars persist.)

However the election and actions of President Trump very clearly thrown a spanner in this cosy view of steady progress.

But we’ve been there before.

Consider the world at the turn of the last century, say 1900 to 1910.  A Liberal government with a massive majority set about taxing the rich to establish the welfare state, reducing the powers of the aristocracy in the House of Lords, amid growing recognition of the right for women to participate in  politics; there hadn’t been a major  war in Europe for 80+ years; the Royal Navy “ruled the waves,” we were on friendly terms with Germany, which already had a welfare state and Edward VII established the Entente Cordiale with France; the British Empire ruled about two thirds of the World’s ’s population and thought it was doing them a favour by  bringing “Civilisation, Christianity and Commerce” to  primitive lands and peoples; railways were taking the workers away for holidays at the seaside, cars, radio and cinema were  being invented, and the Americans were keeping themselves to themselves at the other side of the world.

What was not to like?

Yet for no apparent reason other than international rivalry which appeared at first to be no more than school sport-day style enthusiasm, by 1914 the world entered into the most devastating war it had experienced to that date, which continued for four years through a combination of pride and obstinacy.

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Jack Carter

New New Labour: a choice of poverty or work

By Jack Carter | Fri 14th March 2025 - 10:14 am

A philosophy of cynicism and cruelty

As a country, we have a very long and complex history when it comes to how we treat our most vulnerable. In recent years, it is abundantly clear that our country has failed to treat these people with dignity. From the Elizabethan Poor Laws to the introduction of austerity, we have a pattern of taking one step forward, followed by two steps back — and this Labour government is no exception to the rule.

We have a government that solely values its citizens based on how much income tax they pay, disregarding the many other ways they may contribute to our society — whether through intellectual, creative work, or contributions to their communities. To believe that the value of a person is derived from economic output alone is simply cynical and callous, although the Treasury does not share that worldview.

Ideology above basic economic sense

Upon hearing the recent announcements regarding the incoming welfare cuts, I took it upon myself to research the harms that will be inflicted, beyond increased food insecurity and squalor. On the surface, one might think that if welfare spending is likely to spiral out of control, it would make sense to make cuts to rein it in. However, once you consider the harms of doing so, you will arrive at a very different conclusion.

Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall would have you believe that welfare cuts will encourage people to enter the workforce and that our benefits are too ‘generous’ — even though the Resolution Foundation disproved this. Making our most vulnerable poorer will only make them sicker, not more inclined towards employment.

However, it doesn’t stop there — as we all know, bad policy leads to a domino effect of even worse outcomes. Whether you agree that current welfare spending is unsustainable or not, you cannot fail to recognize that making people poorer and sicker often comes with self-compounding economic harms:

  • Cutting benefits will inevitably lead to deeper poverty, increased NHS spending, and a reduction in employment figures — you won’t make people find a job by making them sicker.
  • Many claimants rely upon these benefits to afford care, whether that be social care or even from the private healthcare sector due to waiting lists. However, cuts to benefits such as PIP would distort both supply and demand in health and social care, due to reduced affordability, increased costs for local authorities, and unmet care needs — leading to inflationary pressure.
  • Health and social care won’t be the only sectors affected — it will reduce demand in retail and local business, as lower-income households tend to spend most of their income on essentials. Additionally, this could risk cost-push inflation.
  • We will see increased reliance on credit, as claimants will be left out of pocket by these cuts, leading to rising interest rates — a contributing factor to inflationary pressure.

Benefits such as Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment have a stimulus effect, because recipients have a high marginal propensity to consume, which leads to higher spending in local economies, a fiscal multiplier effect, and increased employment and productivity. Cancelling that effect with cuts will affect everyone.

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Mark Valladares

13 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 13th March 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey on PM speech: “we’ll never fix the NHS unless we fix social care”
  • NHS England: welcome steps but won’t matter unless Streeting “stops ignoring the elephant in the room”
  • Findlay should say if he agrees with Badenoch on maternity pay

Davey on PM speech: “we’ll never fix the NHS unless we fix social care”

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning, Ed Davey, who is also in Hull and East Yorkshire today, said:

There’s no doubt we need big changes like this to fix the NHS after the Conservatives left it on its knees. Now we need to see the Government take the action patients desperately need: making sure everyone can see a GP when they need one, cutting waiting lists, and fixing our crumbling hospitals.

We’ll never fix the NHS unless we fix social care – and I’m afraid the Government still isn’t treating that seriously or urgently enough. Liberal Democrats will keep pushing for the cross-party talks to finish this year, so the Government can get on with it.

The Prime Minister badly needs to read the room. People don’t want more speeches about civil service reform and government machinery, they want bold action that will turn things around for them now.

NHS England: welcome steps but won’t matter unless Streeting “stops ignoring the elephant in the room”

Responding to Wes Streeting’s statement in the Commons on scrapping NHS England, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

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Robin Stafford

The quest for liberal democratic capitalism

By Robin Stafford | Thu 13th March 2025 - 3:21 pm

It’s easy to argue that today’s failures – public services, low investment, poor productivity, decaying infrastructure, environmental degradation, etc – are the result of 10-15 years of economic policies pursued by a government pandering to selfish interests. But what if the problem is wider than those policies and ideology? What if our underlying economic system is actually working against the interests of liberal democracy, and contributing to the rise of populism and authoritarianism?

This is the core argument of one of the seminal texts to be published in the last two years, Martin Wolf’s The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism. The Financial Times’ chief economics commentator charts how today’s form of capitalism is actively undermining democracy, which it sees as getting in its way: interfering with its single-minded focus on money for shareholders and executives, regardless of the consequences for the wider economy, society and the environment. The result is that inequalities are growing, whilst those with money are retreating from society and criticising governments for money spent on public services. Wolf argues for reviving faith in the common good, and says citizenship has a vital role to play.

This presents an opportunity for Lib Dems to develop a different approach to the economy as a whole, building on the thinking of those economists who have been challenging the prevailing orthodoxy – not just Wolf but the eight who signed September’s letter to the FT, including Gus O’Donnell and the former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill. Their letter said it was so vital to invest in restoring Britain’s crumbling public services that they urged Rachel Reeves not to cut public spending (unfortunately, Reeves seems to have opted for austerity-lite, growing steadily heavier by the week.)

I’m not suggesting I have the perfect oven-ready new economic model to hand, but that’s deliberate. To gain widespread support, such a model needs to reflect the interests of a wide section of society, including the environment. There are countries which already have successful models that differ from the Anglo-Saxon version, notably in Scandinavia.

Such a model has to place a much greater emphasis on sustainability – not just environmental, but social and economic as well.  Economic policy must question the current roles of the Treasury and the Bank of England, which currently reflect the interests of finance rather than the wider economy, society, and sustainability. Business/industry policy must tackle underinvestment; it must look at the role of the City and finance in driving short termism and excessive rewards for a few; it must toughen regulation on monopolies and those firms and sectors that act against the country’s social, economic, and environmental interests; and it must act as a catalyst for publicly desirable activities, like the growth of renewables and improvements to quality of life. The aim is wealth creation for the whole country, not just wealth extraction to benefit a small minority.

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The Voice

Davey calls for “polluters to pay” for North Sea clean up and for emergency government summit following ship collision in visit to Hull

By The Voice | Thu 13th March 2025 - 7:30 am

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and Hull Council Leader Mike Ross have today called for “the polluters to pay” for any clean up of the North Sea following this week’s ship collision, as well as for an emergency summit in Yorkshire so civic leaders and the public can be made aware of any security and environmental risks.

This follows the collision on Monday of two ships in the North Sea near East Yorkshire. The full extent of the sea pollution and damage is unclear at the moment, but environmental charities including the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have expressed serious concern about the …

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Mark Valladares

12 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 12th March 2025 - 11:55 pm
  • Steel tariffs: Business and Trade Secretary needs to toughen up against Trump
  • PM speech: Starmer “tinkering around the edges”
  • Bathing Water Monitoring Announcement: Ultimately, this is not enough
  • Rennie calls for statement to Parliament on future of University of Dundee
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to Sturgeon stepping down

Steel tariffs: Business and Trade Secretary needs to toughen up against Trump

Responding to Trump’s levelling of 25% tariffs on steel and comments by Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Being repeatedly kicked by the other side and doing nothing is not an effective negotiating position. The Business Secretary needs to toughen up.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives would roll over and beg Trump for a bad trade deal that sells out British farmers and our NHS.

Enough is enough. We must act from a position of strength, standing up for British steel and the UK economy through retaliatory measures.

PM speech: Starmer “tinkering around the edges”

Commenting ahead of the Prime Minister’s speech tomorrow, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Prime Minister is tinkering around the edges while our economy continues to stutter.

The last Conservative government left behind mountains of waste, but these measures are doomed to fail without far more ambition to get the economy growing.

Keir Starmer needs to act now by reversing his devastating National Insurance jobs tax and moving much faster to fix social care – the only way to save the NHS.

If the Prime Minister is committed to kickstarting growth he must urgently negotiate an ambitious new deal with the EU to boost trade, grow our economy and create jobs.

Bathing Water Monitoring Announcement: Ultimately, this is not enough

Commenting after the UK Government announced that monitoring for swimming sites in England and Wales will be updated for the first time since 2013, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said:

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David McKenzie

The SNP’s Defence delusions: A fantasy that puts Scotland at risk

By David McKenzie | Wed 12th March 2025 - 5:08 pm

The Scottish National Party has long promoted an unrealistic vision of Scotland’s defence in the event of independence. Their incoherent and reckless approach, outlined in the deeply flawed 2014 White Paper, demonstrates an alarming lack of seriousness in dealing with modern security threats. With a resurgent Russia invading Ukraine and probing NATO’s defences, the world becoming increasingly unstable and Donald Trump back in the White House openly questioning America’s commitment to NATO, the SNP’s defence policies are not just inadequate, they are dangerous.

The 2014 White Paper proposed a budget of just £2.5 billion for Scotland’s armed forces barely enough to maintain a credible defence structure. It assumed Scotland would inherit assets from the UK Armed Forces, despite no legal mechanism ensuring this. It envisioned a ‘Scottish Defence Force’ with a handful of frigates, a small army, and a limited air force, all while rejecting the very defence arrangements that currently protect Scotland. The reality of setting up a military from scratch was entirely ignored. Where would personnel be trained? How would equipment be procured? What alliances would Scotland rely on, given that SNP membership remains broadly opposed to NATO? These are fundamental questions that remain unanswered.

The SNP has no serious plan for dealing with the threats Scotland faces. Russian military aircraft routinely test the UK’s air defences, often requiring RAF jets to intercept them as they approach Scottish-UK airspace. Currently these intrusions are swiftly dealt with by highly trained personnel operating from Lossiemouth. An independent Scotland, with a small air force and no serious defence infrastructure, would struggle to respond adequately. If the SNP still intends to pursue another independence referendum in the next Scottish Parliament, they must be forced to explain how they would protect Scotland from these threats. The UK’s integrated defence network, intelligence-sharing agreements, and military alliances provide Scotland with essential security. An independent Scotland would be left exposed.

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Lucy Nethsingha

We can start to improve social care by tackling attitudes towards migrants

By Lucy Nethsingha | Wed 12th March 2025 - 11:12 am

If ever there’s an issue – or a sub-section of a broader issue – that sums up the sense that the UK is broken, even eight months after a new government was supposed to set a new direction, it’s social care.

The crisis in social care has been recognised for decades, but successive governments have failed to tackle it, and it’s getting rapidly worse. This is bad enough on its own, but it has two serious knock-on effects: it reduces the effectiveness of the NHS as it cannot release from hospitals some patients who are fit to leave but have nowhere to go; and it further drags down the reputation of local government, which doesn’t have the resources to deal with social care and sinks ever lower in the public’s estimation. Add the effects of Brexit, Covid, the cost-of-living crisis and a toxic debate on immigration, and you see why the situation with social care is worse now than it has ever been.

So what do we do? Well, a lot of money would help – most solutions to the social care problem require money, but, let’s face it, the kind of public spending that just isn’t feasible at the moment. So we have to look in other directions.

There have been four major shocks to the social care system in recent years: Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit, and Britain’s attitude towards immigration. The first two are factors largely outside our control. We can’t undo the loss of so many NHS and care staff due to the impact of Covid, and the cost of living crisis, coupled with repeated rises to the Real Living Wage and NI rates for employers, has sent the cost of staff rocketing, with many care companies struggling to compete for permanent staff and often forced to pay high wages to agency personnel.

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Mark Valladares

11 March 2025 – today’s Scottish press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 11th March 2025 - 11:15 pm
  • Jardine calls for doubling of maternity pay
  • Cole-Hamilton: We cannot fix A&E waits without fixing social care
  • Carmichael calls for government response following shipping collision
  • 1,065 drugs deaths last year
  • Vacancies in majority of care homes and care at home services
  • Rennie responds to Dundee University news

Jardine calls for doubling of maternity pay

Liberal Democrat women and equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP has called for the UK Government to do everything possible to tackle economic barriers for women, including by doubling statutory maternity pay and expanding parental leave.

As well as backing parental leave as a day-one right at work, Liberal Democrats are calling on the UK Government to:

  • Double Statutory Maternity Pay to £350 a week.
  • Increase paternity pay to 90% of earnings.
  • Create a new use-it-or-lose-it ‘dad month’, encouraging more fathers to take parental leave.

Currently, low rates of statutory maternity and paternity pay are not high enough to give parents a real choice, while the UK’s two weeks of statutory paternity leave lags far behind most advanced economies. Around a quarter of fathers are not eligible for paternity pay, either because they are self-employed or because they have not been with their employer continuously for six months.

The party argues that encouraging more fathers to take parental leave is critical to closing the gender pay gap. On average, women face a ‘pay penalty’ of 45% lower earnings in the six years after giving birth to their first child.

Ms Jardine said:

As we celebrate the achievements of women and girls across Scotland, we cannot forget about the barriers that stand in the way of progress.

That’s why my party is committed to doubling maternity pay and expanding parental leave.

Doubling maternity pay would help ease the pressure on women to return to work before they are ready.

Meanwhile, encouraging more fathers to take paternity leave will give women greater choice and help new dads to spend time with their child.

Liberal Democrats want to see women given the choice and flexibility they need, backed up by a proper package of support.

Cole-Hamilton: We cannot fix A&E waits without fixing social care

Responding to new figures showing only 63.5% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 2nd March, while 3,532 people waited over 8 hours and 1,510 waited over 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

For years under the SNP our A&E departments have been left mired in crisis and it’s leading to staff burning out.

The problem at A&E is that there isn’t enough capacity. Too many people are stuck unable to leave hospital because they can’t get the care package they need to leave safely.

We cannot fix these A&E waits without fixing the problems in social care to create the capacity needed to get people seen on time. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats fought for more money for social care in the budget and back a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.

Carmichael calls for government response following shipping collision

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has said that a shipping collision off the coast of North-East England today must be “a spur for stronger regulation” against unsafe behaviour by tankers, including in the waters around the Northern Isles. Mr Carmichael noted local complaints about tankers sheltering in areas off the coast of Shetland in particular, despite these being marked as “areas to be avoided” for such vessels.

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Mark Valladares

11 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 11th March 2025 - 10:15 pm
  • Thames Water Appeal: Company must be put into Special Administration
  • Hull leader Mike Ross calls for emergency COBRA meeting in light of North Sea collision
  • DEFRA halting incentives another “outrageous” attack on farming communities

Thames Water Appeal: Company must be put into Special Administration

Today, Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard will be appealing the High Court’s judgment on plans that would see an additional £3bn debt added to Thames Water’s existing debt of more than £16bn. Commenting ahead of the appeal, Charlie Maynard said:

Today I am fighting for the 16 million customers who have been left to foot the bill of Thames Water’s mismanagement.

Both Ofwat and the government have buried their head in the sand, as firms such as Thames Water ramp up billions of pounds of extraordinarily expensive debt while continuing to pump tonnes of disgusting sewage into British rivers and seas.

This cannot continue, and the Liberal Democrats will lead from the front and fight to protect customers. The ultimate question is who should bear the costs of the disastrous way Thames Water has been run. The shareholders and creditors who were responsible for making those decisions, or the customers who have had to put up with poor service at extortionate prices.

The solution is obvious. Thames Water must be put into Special Administration, so much of the debt can be written off and the company put onto a stable financial footing.

Hull leader Mike Ross calls for emergency COBRA meeting in light of North Sea collision

Liberal Democrat leader of Hull City Council, Mike Ross, has called for COBRA to be convened in response to the North Sea collision and fuel spill.

It comes following the collision of two ships off the coast of Withernsea, East Yorkshire, with a risk of fuel leaking into the Humber estuary, and the Aviation, Maritime and Security Minister’s update to the Commons.

Ross said COBRA was needed to avoid potential “environmental catastrophe” adding, “It is only right and proper that all available resources are used to try to contain and limit the damage.”

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Stephen O'Brien

PIP: A lifeline for disabled people to work and live independently

By Stephen O'Brien | Tue 11th March 2025 - 10:55 am

PIP (Personal Independence Payment) isn’t just another welfare benefit. It’s absolutely essential for disabled people who want to work and remain part of society. For so many, it’s the key to overcoming barriers and being able to lead the lives they choose, despite the many challenges they face. PIP helps cover the extra costs associated with disabilities, from getting to work to needing a carer to assist them throughout the day. It’s not just a handout, but a vital tool that allows disabled individuals to live with dignity and independence.

The importance of PIP cannot be overstated. It enables people to get into work, stay there, and contribute to society, instead of being stuck on the sidelines. It’s about providing an equal opportunity for disabled people to engage in the workforce, despite the physical and financial obstacles they might encounter. Without PIP, many disabled people simply wouldn’t be able to work, or would struggle to stay in employment. PIP helps level the playing field, enabling disabled people to live more independently and participate fully in society, just like everyone else.

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Andrew Chandler

Sick man of Europe, again: welfare, work and Britain’s dilemma

By Andrew Chandler | Tue 11th March 2025 - 9:00 am

In the 1970s, Britain was called the sick man of Europe. Years later, that sick man has returned; with its withered cane. This time, however, it comes to us in sickness benefits (a cruel irony); having ballooned 25% since 2019. Some chalk it up to COVID’s long shadow. However, our European counterparts, who also endured the pandemic and post-recovery, have not seen the same rise in welfare. This suggests why some circles are calling it a “British disease”.

Rachel Reeves’, boxed in by her fiscal rules, is staring down a £9bn hole. A hole that might come from welfare cuts. Labour ministers are proclaiming that people are “gaming the system”.

Now, bad actors exist. I’ve no doubt there are people who cheat the system – I saw this as a Housing Officer. But also during that period, I saw the vast majority of sickness benefit claims were done in good faith. A recent example, I recently spoke to a man who had worked for decades as a Health & Safety Lead and Warehouse Operator for a supermarket. The stroke took that away from him. His employer, despite years of service, couldn’t make meaningful adjustments to keep him on. But he still had his Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to shelter him. If it was not for PIP, the stroke would have been the least of his problems – he remarked. This is why we have a safety net. It suggests to me that businesses aren’t doing enough in making adjustments. If we are going to win on Social Security then we need to also win on Job Security.

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Mark Valladares

10 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 10th March 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Hull Council Leader Mike Ross calls on Government to set out “Rapid Response Plan” after North Sea Collision
  • Cole-Hamilton backs Scottish cheerleaders in exam battle

Hull Council Leader Mike Ross calls on Government to set out “Rapid Response Plan” after North Sea Collision

Liberal Democrat Hull Council Leader, Cllr Mike Ross, has called on the Government to hold an emergency meeting in East Yorkshire and to set out a “Rapid Response Plan” following the events unfolding in the North Sea.

The call comes as a major operation is underway off the east coast of England after an oil tanker and a cargo vessel collided …

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Michal Siewniak

How can Town Twinning be “resurrected” in the UK?

By Michal Siewniak | Mon 10th March 2025 - 5:04 pm

As a Polish born Councillor, I have always wanted to show my beautiful nation to some of my Council colleagues. Although Poland has become a popular tourist or a city-break destination, I think that still many of us have incorrect perceptions of the country of my birth. Since 1989 and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and in particular since the beginning of the centre, Poland has changed beyond recognition. Membership of the EU since 2004, high levels of growth, investment and productivity, and a strong economy helped Poland to establish itself as a key decision maker in Europe, and a country that many look up to.

At the end of February, I was absolutely delighted that, thanks to an invitation from Mr Łukasz Kuźmicz, the Mayor of Syców, the Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Councillor Frank Marsh, and I had an amazing opportunity to visit the South-West part of Poland.

It is fair to say that we were truly overwhelmed with our trip so far; incredible hospitality, well run and organised Council, fantastic staff at local primary and secondary schools, and students with fluent English. The list goes on! I was so impressed with the Polish “can-do” attitude, willingness to cooperate and just constant drive to make things happen.

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Nathan Hunt

Why Labour’s council reorganisation threatens young people’s representation in politics

By Nathan Hunt | Mon 10th March 2025 - 12:48 pm

Local government reorganisation is happening. That’s the reality.

As a current district councillor, I could debate the pros and (many) cons of this all day – but one topic I’ve heard worryingly little about is how these reforms could destroy what little representation young people have in local government.

Currently, young people in local government are a rarity. According to 2022 data from the Local Government Association, just 16% of councillors are under the age of 45 – despite the same group accounting for over 40% of the population.

The same dataset found that just 1.2% of councillors were aged under 25 – around 200 in total across England.

There’s currently half as many under-25s who are councillors than players in the Premier League.

This isn’t a surprise. The role on paper just doesn’t work for young people. Whilst being a councillor is intended to sit on top of a full time role, the reality is very different, with meetings easily spilling over into the daytimes, ever-growing casework piles, huge time pressures, and residents’ needs to meet. On top of this, councillors with special responsibilities face even greater challenges.

This blind spot is a huge problem. Our councils need to reflect our whole communities, not just a subset of them. Councils need councillors with a range of experience and backgrounds to make good decisions – and councils that lack young voices (and voices from other underrepresented backgrounds) lack views from the whole community. Whilst a good councillor is capable and able to represent the views of their whole community, it’s still absolutely vital to have young people around the table.

Unitarisation makes these problems worse. It raises the barrier to entry significantly, and higher barriers to entry can often lead to worse representation of underrepresented groups – placing the already dire representation of young people further at risk.

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Duncan Brack

A distinctive defence niche for the Lib Dems to seize

By Duncan Brack | Mon 10th March 2025 - 10:35 am

In the last couple of weeks, policy on defence has suddenly moved centre-stage – to the point where even Lib Dem Voice has an article about it! The support given to Ukraine by our parliamentary party is no less than one would expect, but perhaps we should look a little deeper, as there’s an idea for making defence spending more effective which the Liberal Democrats are ideally placed to champion.

Much political and media attention is focused on the need to spend more on defence as a percentage of GDP. Starmer realised the significance of this and the need to act urgently ahead of his visit to the White House. He shifted from his 2024 manifesto position of 2.5 per cent ‘when resources allow’ to 2.5 per cent from 2027, with funding coming from reductions in international development assistance. 

But we need to be clear on what the money will buy. What capabilities does the UK need? Also, how do we ensure value for money – maximising the benefit from each pound, both in terms of defence capability but also as a contribution to UK jobs and economic growth, rather than US imports?

Currently the UK’s defence, intelligence and security arrangements are effectively joined at the hip with the US. Our nuclear deterrent is supplied by the US. Our intelligence comes largely from the US through the Five Eyes network, led by the US. Much of our kit is purchased from the US and our command and control is dependent on US technology. 

So a pressing question is whether we now need to establish our own defence capability independent of the US. In the short term, this may be difficult – hence the need to maintain a relationship with President Trump. But in the medium term, and particularly in how the UK uses its increased defence budget, there is an urgent need to move away from US dependence, as the last few weeks have underlined.

We could attempt to do this on a UK-only basis. Or we could attempt it through much greater cooperation and integration across Europe. While grateful for European support, the Ukrainians have experienced at first hand the difficulties of fighting a war using what they have described as a ‘military zoo’. The EU has 12 types of battle tank, while the US has one.

This, then, is the opportunity. At a time when the UK and its European partners need to step up expenditure on defence when resources are limited, it is vital that the extra money is spent as efficiently and effectively as possible. Crucially, if the UK is to realise economies of scale and interoperability and have the ability to act without relying on the US, then Europe’s military capabilities must be integrated much more closely. We need to create a single European defence industry capable of supplying our needs, ensuring European control of the technology, and ensuring that the economic benefits, including jobs, are shared fairly with our partners on this side of the Atlantic.

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Mark Valladares

8-9 March 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 9th March 2025 - 11:59 pm
  • Davey: Starmer should visit new Canadian PM and stand in solidarity against Trump “turning the screws” on Canada
  • Chamberlain: Remove barriers for women by supporting unpaid carers
  • Cole-Hamilton: Long Covid still harming lives five years since pandemic
  • Rennie demands urgency as half of Scotland’s universities fall into deficit

Davey: Starmer should visit new Canadian PM and stand in solidarity against Trump “turning the screws” on Canada

As Mark Carney is announced the new leader of Canada, Ed Davey has called on Starmer to head to Ottawa to stand in solidarity with the country’s new Prime Minister in response to Trump’s threats against Canada.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has offered his “warmest congratulations” to the new Canadian PM, Mark Carney. He celebrated the joint Commonwealth history of the two nations, including their shared monarch.

He has also called on Keir Starmer to fly to Canada this week as a show of support, as Trump continues to threaten the imposition of tariffs on Canadian products – as well as on steel and aluminium imports, including from the UK, later this week. Trump has also continued to make alarming comments about wanting to turn Canada into America’s ‘51st State’.

It’s vital for both British and Canadian security that the Commonwealth allies “stand strong together”, Davey said – urging Starmer to show a “united front” against Donald Trump’s “senseless” threats against Canada’s sovereignty and economy.

Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

I would like to express my warmest congratulations to the new leader of Canada, Mark Carney. We treasure Canada’s historic relationship with the UK and I look forward to our two nations’ ties becoming ever stronger during your premiership.

It’s vital for both British and Canadian security that we stand strong together. With global instability rising, it’s never been more important to show a united front with our Commonwealth friends – and to stand together against Trump senselessly turning the screws on his allies, whether that’s Canada, the UK or Europe.

Responding to the trade war along the North American border, our Prime Minister must stand in solidarity against Trump’s bullying and visit Ottawa in a joint show of strength. Starmer must be clear that Trump’s threats against Commonwealth nations’ sovereignty are unacceptable.

Chamberlain: Remove barriers for women by supporting unpaid carers

Speaking on International Women’s Day, Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP has pledged to improve support for unpaid carers in order to tackle gender inequality across society, as she highlighted that the majority of Scotland’s unpaid carers are female.

According to the Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Carers Census survey, 73% of all unpaid carers are female.

A 2023 survey from Care Scotland found that a third of female unpaid carers have given up employment to care. A further 55% said that their physical health has suffered as a result of their caring role, while 81% felt stressed or anxious because of it.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have brought forward a series of measures to help unpaid carers across the country, including through Ms Chamberlain’s Carer’s Leave Act.

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Caron Lindsay

Cole-Hamilton stands up for Long Covid sufferers on National Day of Reflection

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 9th March 2025 - 10:33 am

It’s almost 3 years since I first had Covid, an experience which has made my life a lot smaller. My road to recovery from Long Covid has been erratic and very, very slow. It’s only now that I’m properly starting to enjoy life as I used to – in small doses. I have to be very careful about planning, pacing and prioritising – which is exhausting in itself. I consider the effect on my life to have been profound, but I am also aware that I have got away relatively lightly. Those who got Long Covid in the earlier days particularly are much worse off.

Through this time, it’s been incredibly comforting to see Liberal Democrats push the case for more to be done for people for whom Covid has been a life-limiting experience. Layla Moran and Alex Cole-Hamilton particularly have been steadfast in their support having met so many people who are either affected or who are treating those who have been.

Today, on the National Day of Reflection, Alex highlights those struggling with Long Covid. He also paid tribute to NHS staff and communities

Five years on from the pandemic, thousands of Scots are still suffering from Long Covid. More than 80% of them say that the condition has adversely affected their ability to undertake day-to-day activities.

A 2024 Cambridge Econometrics report, The Economic Impact of Long Covid in the UK, estimated that Long Covid, ‘may have macroeconomic costs of some £1.5bn of GDP each year’. The report also indicates that, ‘lower employment of around 138,000 by 2030 follows as a consequence’.

Adjusted for Scotland’s share of the UK population, this suggested a yearly economic impact of £120m and 11,000 jobs by 2030.

In recent budget negotiations, Scottish Liberal Democrats secured millions more in funding for dedicated support for Long Covid sufferers.

Alex said:

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 9th March 2025 - 8:30 am

Germany

Friedrich Merz is steaming ahead—and he hasn’t even formed his government.

The string bean leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is certain to be chancellor as soon as he has formed his coalition with the Social Democrats. But that will take several weeks of political haggling and the fast moving and fast deteriorating international scene dictates that the power house of Europe must be involved NOW.

So, next week the German parliament is being recalled to amend the federal constitution to allow the government to increase borrowing to boost the economy by investing in infrastructure and to pay for a bigger defense establishment. This means that when the new government is sworn in on March 25th it will have the financial means to hit the ground running.

Up until the election of Donald Trump Merz was a firm Atlanticist. But on election night he he spun 180 degrees. “My absolute priority,” he told supporters, “will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.”

And for those who worry about Trump pulling out of NATO, Merz strongly hinted that Europe may be the ones to leave the alliance.

United States

The US Department of Defense recently published a manual on counter-insurgency called Joint Publication 3-24 (JP3-24). It argued that the lessons over the past 60 years show that in the 21st century the only way that one country can successfully occupy another is through total annihilation.

“To hold countries,” wrote the American planners, “you need to impose order. To impose order you need to control populations. To control populations you need to use violence. Violence leads to violence, which is inherently antithetical to order.”

American forces have discovered in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan that, even with the support of local governments, tiny pockets of resistance can make chaos more or less permanent. Attempts to quell that chaos are counterproductive as they only result in reactive violence.

The days of colonial empires imposing their rule on near-docile populations is over. In the post-colonial world populations demand the right to rule. If occupiers want to usurp that right they have to impose draconian anti-insurgent measures and each new imposition undermines their control.

What the US has found to its cost, the Russians should have concluded after the failure of their Ukrainian puppet Viktor Yanukovych and will discover again if they succeed in ousting Volodomyr Zelensky and installing a stooge in Kyiv. Vladimir Putin will certainly discover the truth of JP3-24 if he goes onto re-establish the Russian empire and conquers Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and others.

His only hope is to replace the local majority with an ethnic Russian majority. This was a well-tried tactic of the tsars and Joseph Stalin which led to the forced removal of local populations to less equable climes such as Siberia.

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Mo Waqas

My mother: my hero. A tribute on International Women’s Day

By Mo Waqas | Sat 8th March 2025 - 4:30 pm

On this International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate the greatest hero in my life — my mother, Amtal.

My mother is a woman of extraordinary strength, resilience, and unwavering principles. She may stand at just 4’11”, but her presence is far greater. She carries herself with dignity, pride, and courage that inspires everyone who knows her.

Today, my mother lives a peaceful and independent life in a small village called Kotha, in the Gujrat district of Punjab, Pakistan. She spends her days tending to her small plot of land, growing her own food, nurturing her beautiful flowers, and caring for her chickens and beloved dog. After years of hardship and struggle, she now enjoys the quiet life she always deserved — a life she built through resilience and hard work.

The values that shaped me

My mother’s greatest gift to me wasn’t just her love — it was her wisdom. She believed that strength is measured not by power or status, but by how you treat others.

She taught me to stand up for those who can’t defend themselves, to never compromise on my values, and to remain humble no matter how much success I achieve.

I remember her telling me, “Never bow before small men in big offices.” She believed that respect should be earned through character, not through titles or wealth. This principle has stayed with me throughout my life — in my career, in politics, and in my relationships.

Whenever I faced tough decisions or difficult people, her voice echoed in my mind: “Do what’s right, even if you stand alone.”

Her unshakable spirit

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