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Lib Dem councillor calls for online participation in Council meetings

By Mary Reid | Fri 20th September 2024 - 1:43 pm

When lockdown hit us we all turned to Zoom or one of its online rivals to maintain our working and social lives. Local Councils worked out ways of carrying out essential business online, and that included formal Council meetings, although it did require emergency government legislation. In fact, all levels of Government, from Westminster to Parish Councils, met online, or held hybrid (mixed virtual and in-person) meetings, during the pandemic.

The House of Commons adopted hybrid meetings as soon as the technologies for viewing and voting were in place.

In May 2021 Councils were told the emergency legislation no longer applied and that they had to return to fully in-person meetings. This did cause concern for a number of reasons. Social distancing was still in place, and many Council chambers were not large enough to hold all the councillors and officers seated 2 metres apart. Also, some councillors were clinically vulnerable and were still shielding, or were doing so to protect a family member. Not surprisingly, there were many calls for hybrid meetings so people who needed to stay away could participate remotely.

Even Jackie Weaver, of Handforth Parish Council fame, said that it was a dreadful idea to end virtual meetings.

There was also some anger that the Commons continued to hold hybrid meetings for several more months after Councils were forced to stop them.

The Local Government Association has been campaigning for hybrid and virtual meetings ever since. There was evidence that virtual and hybrid meetings had widened participation by both councillors and the public, whereas fully in-person meetings had reduced it.

Over a year ago the BBC reported that councillors in 10% of councils were standing down because of the inflexibility. Reasons cited included disability, illness and caring duties. We should also mention County Councils and large rural District Councils where travelling to meetings can be very time consuming.

The issue has not gone away. This week a Lib Dem councillor, Jennie Jagger, got the unanimous backing of Worcester Council to call for options for remote participation in Council meetings. In Jennie’s case she is pregnant and concerned about how she will manage with a young baby, but she points out that a flexible approach will allow people with disabilities or full-time jobs to participate as well as those with caring responsibilities.

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged councils, hybrid parliament and online meetings | 1 Comment

Labour’s Employment Rights Bill – whither Liberal Democrat constructive opposition?

By Mark Valladares | Fri 20th September 2024 - 9:31 am

It looks as though Steve Darling, the Party’s newly appointed spokesperson for Work and Pensions, is going to have an early baptism in his new role, with an Employment Rights Bill expected to come before Parliament sooner rather than later.

As a reminder, this was what our manifesto said:

Modernise employment rights to make them fit for the age of the ‘gig economy’, including by:

Establishing a new ‘dependent contractor’ employment status in between employment and self-employment, with entitlements to basic rights such as minimum earnings levels, sick pay and holiday entitlement.

Reviewing the tax and National Insurance status of employees, dependent contractors and freelancers to ensure fair and comparable treatment.

Setting a 20% higher minimum wage for people on zero-hour contracts at times of normal demand to compensate them for the uncertainty of fluctuating hours of work.

Giving a right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months for ‘zero hours’ and agency workers, not to be unreasonably refused.

Reviewing rules concerning pensions so that those in the gig economy don’t lose out, and portability between roles is protected.

Shifting the burden of proof in employment tribunals regarding employment status from individual to employer.

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged employment rights, labour and steve darling | 3 Comments

19 September 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 19th September 2024 - 10:30 pm

Improving maternity care must be a key priority for the new government
Rennie responds to new Audit Scotland college report
Cole-Hamilton urges First Minister to act on antisocial driving
Cole-Hamilton attacks “vast” pay off to water industry boss

Improving maternity care must be a key priority for the new government

Responding to the Care Quality Commission’s report into maternity care services, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson, Helen Morgan said:

The ongoing postcode lottery of maternity care must end. That means raising standards across the board and making sure that no mother or baby is put at unnecessary risk.

Unsafe staffing levels and practices can have tragic consequences, as so many families across the country have experienced first hand.

Despite several reviews and inquiries, this new CQC report makes clear that much more progress needs to be made.

Improving maternity care must be a key priority for the new government as it seeks to address the broader crisis in our healthcare system.

Rennie responds to new Audit Scotland college report

Responding to a new Audit Scotland report which warns that colleges may not be able to offer the same learning experience to students as in the past and that further staff cuts are on the horizon, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie said:

College budgets have been first in line for the axe for years now. Figures from the Scottish Funding Council show that the SNP cut resource funding for colleges by 4.8% in the 2024-25 budget, hot on the heels of a real-terms reduction in funding of 8.5% over the previous two financial years.

The SNP’s neglect of further education has contributed to our wider economic malaise and it makes clear that ministers do not see colleges, their staff and students as a priority.

Colleges have a key role to play in providing people with the skills they need to flourish in key sectors like insulating homes, food and drink, tourism, social care and nursery education.

Scotland won’t reach its economic potential without a thriving college sector.

Continue reading »

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, dangerous driving, further education, helen morgan, maternity services, water industry and willie rennie | Leave a comment

Up to 750,000 people disenfranchised in General Election

By Mary Reid | Thu 19th September 2024 - 3:36 pm

The Electoral Commission report on Voter ID in the General Election found that 16,000 would-be voters were turned away by polling officers because they did not have approved ID. But the picture is much worse than that, because many people simply did not turn up at the polling station because of the ID rules, or were stopped by the greeter and never returned. In fact, the Electoral Commission reckons that 750,000 people might not have voted in the General Election because of the need for Voter ID.

The report also found that while most people were aware of the requirement for Voter ID, 29% of people aged 18- 24 did not know about it and 24% of people from ethnic minority communities were unaware. In general, the impact was felt greatest by those two groups plus voters in social grade C2DE.

This is a topic I have written about before. On the day after the local elections in 2023, when Voter ID was first introduced, I asked: “Voter ID – did it prevent electoral fraud or did it interfere with voters’ rights?“. The answer came the following month with another report from the Electoral Commission: “14,000 voters turned away – but probably many more“. Then a month later a letter appeared in the press from eminent ethnic minority actors and artists, calling for the abolition of Voter ID because of its disproportionate impact on people of colour: “Actors and artists back the abolition of Voter ID“.

There are two possible responses to the latest findings. Either increase the types of acceptable photographic ID or abolish Voter ID altogether.

The Electoral Commission recommends that “The UK Government should undertake and publish a review of the current list of accepted forms of ID, to identify any additional documents that could be included to improve accessibility for voters.” At the moment travel passes for older people are acceptable but bizarrely those for young people are not. They also suggest that any voter who does not have a acceptable form of ID should be able to take a registered voter with them to the polling station to attest for them.

The other option – embraced by the Lib Dems, is to abolish Voter ID altogether. Its original purpose was to stop impersonation – when someone fraudulently claims to be someone else and steals their vote. This is a crime, of course, but one that seems to happen extremely rarely. Between 2019 and 2023 only 11 people were convicted of it.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2024 general election, electoral commission, featured, unlock democracy and voter ID | 5 Comments

Your freedom is my freedom: Remembering our distinctive philosophy

By Ben Wood | Thu 19th September 2024 - 12:19 pm

One of the unalloyed pleasures of the 2024 Election Campaign was speaking to friends about policies, which, it seemed to me, represented the very best of us as a Party. We called for a fair contribution from the energy companies, Social Media giants, and higher rate taxpayers to repair our mental health services and social care system while strengthening the safety net for carers. We campaigned against the pollution of our beloved waterways, the diminution of the Health Service, and threw our weight behind a national strategy to tackle the often-invisible blight of loneliness.

However, something niggled at me throughout the Campaign: How do we draw our policies and positions together into a coherent whole? After all parties are not just shopping lists of policies, they embody traditions of thought and feeling which transcend the electoral cycle. I was left thinking: What are we trying to say cumulatively about our Party and the society of which our movement is part? It seems to me that the Manifesto was a beginning in answering some of these questions, but the existential query of ‘what we’re for’ still feels unsatisfactorily blurry, even after all the stunning electoral victories in July.

What do we need to do in order to weave our policies together? The answer it seems to me lies in renewing our distinctive Liberal Democrat understanding of freedom.

In a powerful article from December 2022, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams argued that the thing that most blights contemporary Britain is endemic social insecurity. People are going hungry, millions of jobs in the economy are failing to meet basic financial needs, individuals, families and communities are struggling to keep their heads above water. Williams dusts off a slogan from the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘No one is safe until everyone is safe’ and asks us to apply it to the economy. What would it mean if we adopted a systematic understanding of communal security? The answer, thinks Williams, is that we would end up with a more expansive vision of acting and choosing.

As Williams writes:

It is not just that insecurity literally threatens lives; it is also that all those things financial security makes possible – the freedom to celebrate, to plan for your children, to give gifts to people you love – become monstrously complicated. Living with any fullness or imagination recedes over the horizon when choices are all about survival.

Williams’ point is helpful for Liberal Democrats as we navigate this new Parliament and its choices and trade-offs. For us Liberty has always been about the safety to live and care in community. This is where we differ so drastically from Trussite Libertarians and orthodox Thatcherites. We cherish the freedom to love and care, give and create, imagine, and yes, make our lives gloriously complicated. Not everything can or should be reduced to the bottom-line. Liberty should never be narrowed down to personal earning-power, property-rights, tax cuts, or consumer goods.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberalism | Leave a comment

Please, give young people like me a reason to hope and dream again

By Rodrigo Palmer | Thu 19th September 2024 - 10:07 am

The freedom to hope and dream is a precious thing. It is something which I treasure. The ability to wonder and aspire is something that us young people are constantly reminded to do. But I find it hard to dream. I found out about the climate crisis when I was about 12/13 years old and as the curious person I am I decided to read about it. I would read these IPCC reports trying my best to break them down and understand them. I distinctly remember the beginnings of the climate movement, Greta Thunberg talking about it, and I was so curious to find out more.

Once I truly understood it, I felt depressed. I felt trapped. It felt hopeless, like something beyond my control. Then I found politics. Politics I felt was a way in which I could use that hopelessness and turn it into passion, hope and drive to push for the solutions we need. I did all I could: I presented assemblies in school about the climate crisis, I successfully lobbied my school to implement a long-term sustainability strategy, I chaired a local climate action summit in which young people came together to discuss climate solutions. These are all things I am immensely proud of.

Looking at this government, I see no hope at all, no vision. They are not taking the climate crisis seriously, few people are. There doesn’t seem to be an urgency. If we were, it would be all over the headlines. We would be implementing long-term plans, we would stop our investments in fossil fuels, we would be investing in infrastructure. Don’t take it from me: the solutions are all there – there are experts who have devoted their livelihoods to advising, lobbying and pushing for the change we need. We just need to listen to them. These people have been banging their head against a brick wall for decades, they deserve the attention they have been asking for.

As the third biggest party, we have a responsibility to the people of this nation to tell it to them like it is. For example, we have an obligation to tell this government that investing £1 billion pounds in carbon capture is not good enough. Instead, we should use that money for technology which we know works: wind farms, solar panels. Trees – they capture carbon too! I am not against development in technology, but we frankly do not have the time. This is urgent. The Climate and Nature Bill is a great start, but we must do more. We need a long-term, cross party sustainability plan to reduce emissions to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

I will only be free to dream, hope and aspire once we truly take this seriously. Right now, I do not feel free. I look to the future with dread, with sadness. Just like those who were in East Berlin, I feel trapped and frightened. I can see the solutions are so close, just like those in East Berlin could see freedom and prosperity so close, but they were trapped. All I can see are barriers, massive barriers in front of me. The day that we finally take this seriously – and treat the crisis as a crisis will be the day my Berlin wall falls, and it will be one of the happiest days in my life. I will finally be free, and be able to dream.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged climate change and young people | 4 Comments

18 September 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 18th September 2024 - 11:45 pm

Ed Davey unveils new Lib Dem frontbench team to champion “the people’s priorities”
Cole-Hamilton: For ten years the SNP have picked at the scab of their defeat

Ed Davey unveils new Lib Dem frontbench team to champion “the people’s priorities”

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has announced his new frontbench, as he calls on his party to champion the “people’s priorities” and “clean up the mess left by the Conservative government.”

The new frontbench announcement follows Ed Davey’s conference speech, where he set out the Liberal Democrat plan to be a “constructive opposition” holding the new government to account. Davey unveils his new team of spokespeople after the party won 72 seats at the general election, becoming the largest third party in the House of Commons in a hundred years.

Daisy Cooper remains as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, but will also now become the party’s Treasury Spokesperson, where she will focus on the cost-of-living crisis and holding the Government to account as it clears up the terrible economic mess left by the Conservative Party.

Helen Morgan, who became MP for North Shropshire in a historic by-election victory in 2021, now leads on Health and Social Care, the number one priority for the party that is championing access to GPs and dentists as well as support for unpaid carers.

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Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, ed davey, liberal democrat spokespeople and scottish independence | 8 Comments

Daisy Cooper takes Treasury in Lib Dem Reshuffle

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2024 - 8:45 pm

We knew that there would be a reshuffle of Lib Dem MPs after Conference, but maybe not this quickly.

This afternoon, Ed Davey announced his new top team. Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper takes over as Treasury Spokesperson and will face Rachel Reeves.

Helen Morgan takes health and social care from Daisy and, given the precedence we are giving to this issue, she has a whole team – Danny Chambers on mental health, Alison Bennett on carers, Jess Brown-Fuller on hospitals and primary care.

There are big jobs for new MPs too. Lisa Smart takes Home Affairs and Calum Miller, a former senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, getting Foreign Affairs. We also have a Europe spokesperson again, James MacClearly. Does this mean we will be getting more vocal on the problems with Brexit?

Wendy Chamberlain now has a deputy Chief Whip in Tom Morrison and no longer has any other portfolios. Steve Darling will now cover DWP and Christine Jardine Scotland.

There are no jobs for Layla Moran, Alistair Carmichael and Jamie Stone as they are all going to be chairing Select Committees.

One person I would have thought would have had a job would be Richard Foord. His old defence portfolio goes to Helen Maguire. However, perhaps he will end up on the Defence Select Committee.

Christine Jardine loses the Cabinet Office but gains Scotland in addition to her current Women and Equalities portfolio.

Of the 33 front bench positions, 25 go to new MPs. Of our 15 MPs in the previous Parliament, 3 stay as spokespeople, 3 chair select committees and Richard Foord, Sarah Green, Sarah Dyke and Wera Hobhouse go to the back benches, but there are still Select Committee places to fill so they may be being lined up for them.

Of his new team, Ed said:

My new frontbench will champion the people’s priorities, ensuring we hold the new government to account as a responsible opposition.

I am humbled by the result of the General Election and the millions of voters who put their trust in the Liberal Democrats, including many for the first time. We will stand up for our communities every day on the issues that matter most, fixing health and care services, tackling the cost of living crisis and protecting our precious environment.

I am so proud of my entire team of 72 Liberal Democrat MPs who will serve as strong local champions in Westminster as we clean up the mess left by the Conservative government.

Here is the top team in full:

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Tagged lib dem mps and reshuffle | 8 Comments

WATCH: Ed Davey’s speech to Conference

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2024 - 8:01 pm

You’ve got to feel sorry for poor Max Wilkinson, our MP for Cheltenham. He confessed at the rally to having no love for Abba, and he had to sit through Dancing Queen as Ed came on.

Here is the text.

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Posted in News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference, ed davey and speeches | 1 Comment

Maiden speech: Clive Jones MP for Wokingham

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2024 - 11:49 am

Now that Conference is over, we can start catching up with the maiden speeches our MPs made last week. Here is Wokingham MP Clive Jones speaking in the Budget Responsibility debate.

The text is below

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged clive jones and maiden speeches | Leave a comment

Last chance to apply for Scottish Future Leaders 2024

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2024 - 7:48 am

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been running a Future Leaders programme for the past few years. 10-12 Scottish party activists are given an intensive programme over the course of 9 months or so. By the end of this, your skills in so any areas will have improved.

One of this year’s graduates, Andy Williamson, talks about it here.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Chief ExecutiveRachel Palma Randle describes the course and the commitment you will need to make.

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Posted in News | Tagged future leaders programme and scottish liberal democrats | Leave a comment

17 September 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th September 2024 - 10:30 pm

Ed Davey speech: “Make the NHS winterproof”
Cole-Hamilton comments as Scotland marks ten years since Independence Referendum

Ed Davey speech: “Make the NHS winterproof”

In his speech to Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton today, Leader Ed Davey will call on the Government to set up a new “Winterproof NHS Taskforce” to put an end to the annual winter crises in the health service.

With NHS chiefs warning that “this winter is likely to see urgent and emergency care services come under significant strain”, Ed Davey will urge the Government to “make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS”.

Last winter, ambulances across England collectively spent a total of 112 years waiting outside hospitals to hand patients over, according to official NHS figures. Between November 2023 and March 2024, 732,000 patients faced A&E waits of over 4 hours to be admitted, with 228,000 waiting more than 12 hours.

For the first time, the Taskforce would bring together a team of experts reporting directly to the Health Secretary, responsible for strengthening coordination across the NHS and allocating long-term funding and resources to prevent winter crises.

Over the past seven years, the Government has announced an average of £376 million of emergency funding each year to tackle the NHS winter crisis. Under the Liberal Democrat proposal, the new Taskforce would instead manage a ringfenced fund of £1.5 billion over the next four years, to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.

This would allow integrated care boards and NHS Trusts to plan their budgets more efficiently to prevent winter crises, instead of just receiving emergency funding from the Government at the last minute.

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Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, ed davey, NHS and scottish parliament elections | Leave a comment

WATCH: Jane Dodds’ speech to Lib Dem Conference

By The Voice | Tue 17th September 2024 - 8:15 pm

Here is Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds’ speech to Lib Dem Conference.

Enjoy!

Posted in News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference, jane dodds and speeches | 1 Comment

In Full: Daisy Cooper’s speech to Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 16th September 2024 - 2:57 pm

BBC Politics has a clip of that incredibly moving part of Daisy Cooper’s speech in which she describes the moment she was told she needed major surgery or she had four days to live. And then the further blow that she was so ill that she would likely never work again.

“I lay in my bed on the 13th floor of that hospital and I sobbed. I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed for 17 hours straight”

During a speech to her party’s conference, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper reflects on being diagnosed with Crohn’s diseasehttps://t.co/BGLrmJA0gI pic.twitter.com/tEakVFKV3p

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) September 16, 2024

Watch the whole thing:

Here’s the text of her speech in full:

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Posted in Conference and News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference and daisy cooper | Leave a comment

Where Next?

By Chris Moore | Mon 16th September 2024 - 11:45 am

Post-General Election, there has been a slew of articles, in Lib Dem publications, about our strategic direction. Three interlinked commonplaces come up time and again. All, in my view, are wrong.

Let’s take them one by one.

1. There are not many plausible targets left.

In fact, there are twenty-five plus seats where we are in obvious contention. The majority are located in our southern heartlands and adjoin existing seats, easing the use of regional organisers and help from other local parties.

But twenty-five isn’t many, you may say.

Here is a short list of our best General Election results in seats since World War II.

2024: 64 gains
1997: 28 gains
1983: 12 gains
2005: 11 gains

All the rest were single figure gains or losses. In historical terms then, we clearly do have enough targets to be getting on with.

2. There is little else left to gain without significantly increasing vote share.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged future party strategy | 33 Comments

WATCH: Wendy Chamberlain’s speech to Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 16th September 2024 - 10:25 am

Wendy Chamberlain gave her keynote speech to Conference on Saturday. Enjoy:

Posted in Conference and News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference and wendy chamberlain | Leave a comment

Welcome to my Conference day: 16 September 2024 – “who are all these people, and where did they come from?”

By Mark Valladares | Mon 16th September 2024 - 9:26 am

Next month, I’ll have been a Liberal, and then Liberal Democrat, for forty years, something I occasionally find hard to credit, but my body reminds me of from time to time. I’ve seen a lot, and met a lot of people in that time. What that means is that there are plenty of people that I run into at Federal Conference who I know, or who know me, and it’s always nice to find out what they’re up to, running councils, or doing serious things elsewhere.

But what’s noticeable is the astonishing number of people who I don’t know, and don’t …

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Posted in Op-eds | 2 Comments

Monday at Conference: What’s on?

By The Voice | Mon 16th September 2024 - 7:30 am

Here’s Monday’s events in the main hall. We have keynote speeches from Daisy Cooper and Welsh Leader Jane Dodds, policy motions on bereavement support, supporting musicians, the Israel Gaza conflict, prisons and international development and a consultation session on the General Election Review.

You can find full details in the agenda here. Don’t forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store.

If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here.

09.00-09.45 F29 Policy motion: Fair Votes Now

09.45-11.05 F30 Consultative session: General Election Review

11.05-11.20 F31 Speech: Daisy …

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Posted in News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference | Leave a comment

Well that was massive – Lib Dem parliamentarians join hundreds in show of solidarity for trans people

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 10:15 pm

Following on from my post his morning about the show of solidarity with trans people planned for this lunchtime, this is how it went.

The event was attended by women and equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, Baroness Sal Brinton and former leader Jo Swinson as well as hundreds of Conference goers.

Adrian Hyyryylainen-Trett has some more fabulous photos on Twitter:

Great to be outside #LibDemConf with the longest #trans & #nonbinary banner with hundreds of delegates firmly stating our party support for #Transrights – well done @CharleyHasted @LGBTLD @caronmlindsay @SalBrinton @chalmersdavidn @cajardineMP pic.twitter.com/YLRtfylmne

— A.Hyyrylainen-Trett (They/Them) (@Juvelad) September 15, 2024

The event was reported in Pink News and LGBT+ Chair and LDV editorial team member Charley Hasted is quoted:

Hasted said that the demonstration was designed to demonstrate their support for trans people, particularly in the context of widespread anti-trans rhetoric across the UK, and that LGBT+ Lib Dems would use it as a jumping off point to campaign for “reform and guidance on the law on protected beliefs”.

They continued: “This isn’t just about trans people- there are thousands of protected beliefs including veganism, Scottish independence, anarchism and so on. If a charity, trade union or political party can’t include or exclude people based on their beliefs then how do we maintain the existence of those organisations?”

They continued: “This isn’t just about trans people- there are thousands of protected beliefs including veganism, Scottish independence, anarchism and so on. If a charity, trade union or political party can’t include or exclude people based on their beliefs then how do we maintain the existence of those organisations?”

“It’s our job to take the gesture and use it make a real difference. We have to do better. All of us,” they added.

It’s important to say that this was a display of solidarity for trans rights, but the people who were there also fight for women’s rights, racial equality and rights for disabled people. We all stand side by side and fight for each other’s rights. That’s how it should be. We don’t try and divide and rule.

At the Federal Board report session today, Party President Mark Pack was asked about the decision to allow the anti trans group to have a stall by another friend of LDV, Leon Duveen. This is his response:

Continue reading »

Posted in News | 11 Comments

The reality of the crisis in our NHS

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 9:12 pm

Today Lib Dem Conference debated health and social care and passed an 11 point plan to deal with the crisis the NHS faces.

The debate was unsurprisingly one of the most heavily subscribed at Conference.

Regular readers will know that Leicestershire Lib Dem Mathew Hulbert’s lovely mum Jackie passed away in 2022 two days after an eleven hour wait for an ambulance.

He had written a speech for the debate today but was one of many who were not called.

He sent us his speech and you can read it below.

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2024 autumn conference, mathew hulbert and NHS | 1 Comment

Caling all trans allies in Brighton – show support at 1pm today

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 10:58 am

Jude Parker spent two days this week sewing a huge trans Pride flag with the help of Douglas, her much loved sewing machine. It’s pretty massive 15 metres and weighs 4.5 kg. She carried it to Brighton along with the rest of the merch for the LGBT+ Lib Dems stall. It was a real labour of love in response to the blow of hearing that an anti trans group had been allowed to have a stall at Liberal Democrat conference.

This flag will be unfurled outside the Brighton Centre at 1pm today in a show of solidarity with trans people in our country and in our party. Everyone who supports trans rights is welcome to show support.

We are proud of our history as a party that has always stood up for LGBT+ rights, as we’ve stood up for women’s rights, for racial equality and human rights generally. It’s in our core. So what on earth are we thinking allowing in a group that does not align with our values?

This group have been wanting to have a stall for some years and we have turned them down. In fact, the Federal Conference Committee turned them down again for this Conference. Unfortunately, the legal advice the party sought was apparently clear that we could be liable for significant costs and damages if, as was considered likely, this group sued us. They seem to have the resources to do so, and, unfortunately, LGBT+ people in the party do not have access to such deep pockets. So, FCC was over-ruled and they were given a stall.

There is surely an issue around access to justice in all of this. If only the rich can take action which sets legal precedents, there is a clear power imbalance which should worry us.

Some would argue that the party should have said, as Harry Willcock famously did in 1950 when asked to show his ID card “We’re liberals and we’re against this sort of thing.”

I can definitely see the logic in that and a bit of me wishes we had the courage to stand up against an unfair and illiberal law, even if the sums involved in defending a legal action makes me, as a recovering state party treasurer, wince with pain. Even if you win your case, you rarely get all your costs back and it’s expensive and time consuming.

Our conference exhibition is our shop window to the world. A law which compels us to include people who do not share our values on the grounds that they have a “protected belief” seems ridiculous. As a political party, we surely should have the right to choose who sits in our shop window.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged 2024 autumn conference, featured and Trans Rights | 14 Comments

Ed Davey on Kuenssberg: We’ll be a better opposition than the Conservatives

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 10:09 am

Ed Davey did his Conference interview with Laura Kuenssberg this morning. Speaking from the top of the Brighton Centre after arriving at the Conference by jet-ski yesterday, he was quizzed about whether we were going soft on Labour. Were we actually going to challenge them.

Ed was keen to point out that we already had on issues like the Winter Fuel Payment, and we’d do it more effectively than the official opposition.

We will challenge them when we disagree with them. We’ll be a better opposition than the Conservatives who are going further to the right

We are keeping people’s trust by talking about the issues they care about – the NHS and cost of living.

He said that the Government had already made mistakes on both of those things.

Being constructive means you have a different tone. You don’t do the yah-boo politics that people are sick of.

We are trying to put forward our own ideas.

Kuenssberg suggested that Labour don’t have to listen to us. Ed replied

You have to do opposition in a particular way to get heard. We’ll put forward ideas we championed at the election and our MPs will be champions for our constituents and we will get our voices heard.

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Posted in News | Tagged ed davey, interviews, laura kuenssberg and media | Leave a comment

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 15th September 2024 - 9:35 am

United States

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene WAS the female darling of the Republican far-right. No longer. The new girl on the block is 31-year-old Laura Loomer who is so far to the right that right-wing Ms Greene has called her “mentally unstable and a documented liar.”

Ms Loomer is also emerging as a confidante of Donald Trump. She travelled on his plane to the 10 September presidential debate in Philadelphia and is said to have fed him the story about immigrants eating pets in Ohio.

She continued with the former president to New York and was with him when he attended the bipartisan services to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attack. This despite the fact that Ms Loomer has claimed that 9/11 was an “inside job” perpetrated by the Deep State liberal elite.

Laura Loomer loves right-wing conspiracy theories. In her playbook the mass shootings at Last Vegas, El Paso and Parkland were all staged by the anti-gun lobby. The winter storm that disrupted the Iowa caucus was created by meteorologists hired by Deep State Democrats to help Republican candidate Nikki Haley.

Ms Loomer proudly identifies as an “Islamaphobe.” When told that 2,000 Muslim immigrants had drowned while crossing the Mediterranean, she tweeted: “Good. Here’s to 2,000 more. “

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have all banned her for spreading hate speech and misinformation, although Elon Musk reinstated her account. She has also been banned by the online banking services Paypal, Gofundme and Venmo. The taxi services Uber and Lyfft have barred her from using their vehicles because of her attempts to ban Muslim taxi drivers. She is suing all of the above – unsuccessfully.

Twice Ms Loomer has run for Congress for a Florida seat. Twice she lost and twice she was endorsed by Donald Trump. She has written for Alex Jones’s Infowars; The Geller Report which pushed the Obama birther lie; Rebel Media which describes as a counter-Jihad platform and Veritas, a major broadcaster of conspiracy theories.

Ms Loomer denies that she is a White Supremacist but proudly admits to being a White Nationalist. She is not a Christian nationalist because she is Jewish and has been the target of death threats from the anti-Semitic wing of America’s far right.

Her loyalty to Donald Trump is rock solid. She told the Washington Post: “If Trump doesn’t get in I don’t have anything. Ms Loomer attacked Florida governor Ron de Santis and his wife for daring to challenge the former president and has advised Trump that he should make a list of those who have challenged him in the courts and elsewhere and, when re-elected president, “execute them for treason.”

United States – more

What if Trump loses? Will there be a repeat of January 6 when rioters stormed the US capitol in a vain attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory?

Unlikely. But only because this time around Biden – not Trump – controls the security apparatus. And he has put in place an array of measures to protect not only the capitol building, but the entire metropolitan area of Washington DC.

No. If there is a threat to the election it will be in the voting booths, the counting rooms, the election boards and the courts.

As in 2020, Trump is planting the seeds for a legal challenge in case the vote goes against him. This time his objections will be based on illegal immigrants voting for Harris. He told a rally in Las Vegas this summer that “the only way they can beat us is to cheat.”

In the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin the Trump-controlled Republican National Committee has put 102 election deniers on local and state election boards. In Georgia, for instance, the election deniers control the state-wide board and have already introduced rules that allow them to delay voter certification while they conduct “investigations” into “unspecified irregularities.”

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged donald trump, joe biden, Laura Loomer, russia, ukraine and united states | 18 Comments

Sunday at Conference: What’s on?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 7:30 am

So what’s on at Conference today? You can find full details in the agenda here. Don’t forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store.

If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here.

One of the highlights is Ed’s question and answer session. He’s generally very good at these, better I would say than his big keynote speech.

There’s a keynote speech from Munira Wilson.

There are big policy debates on the NHS and national parks and a discussion on our policy in the future.

Here’s how the day unfolds:

09.00-09.30 F16 Policy motion: National Nature Parks

09.30-10.25 F17 Policy motion: Our Plan to Save The NHS< 10.25-11.05 F18 Topical issue discussion 11.05-11.20 F19 Speech: Munira Wilson MP Lunch break and fringe

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Posted in News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference | Leave a comment

Breaking: that Lib Dem Disco set list

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th September 2024 - 10:28 pm

It’s nearly time for the Lib Dem Disco and, in accordance with tradition, we are publishing the set list.

Ed Davey dropped a fairly big hint at the rally tonight that he might put in an appearance. Could we hear Sweet Caroline? If so I am manifesting video.

UPDATE: I do not need to manifest after a wonderful friend Vita sent me this:

Sweet Caroline at Lib Dem Disci

Anyway, here are the DJ set lists. Good luck to them all.

David Chadwick MP:

Murder on the dancefloor, (Sophie-Ellis Bextor),
Blue Da Ba Dee (Eiffel 65, ft – Gabry Ponte)
Alors on danse, Stromae
El Merengue – Marshmello
Europopa – Joost.

DJ Smartie (Lisa Smart MP):

Don’t stop me now, Queen
Shake It Off, Taylor Swift
Crazy In Love, Beyonce
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Arctic Monkeys
Mr Brightside, The Killers

Susan Murray MP:

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Posted in News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference, david chadwick, ed davey, lib dem disco, lisa smart, steff aquarone and susan murray | Leave a comment

Conference Day 1 highlights

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th September 2024 - 7:39 pm

I’m usually in the pub during the rally and catch up on You Tube later. Tonight I listened to Al Pinkerton open the event while I was chopping coriander stalks to go in a chlli. So far, after Al, we’ve had Max Wilkinson’s shocking admission that he doesn’t like Abba, Pippa Heylings describing some doorstep encounters and Josh Babarinde describing the experience of having his mother and Ed Davey critique his bungee jump and Sarah Olney talking about her terror on that rollercoaster.

I am missing Conference terribly. The livestream is fine, but it’s nothing compared to being in the auditorium …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2024 autumn conference | 1 Comment

Observations of an Expat: The Debate

By Tom Arms | Sat 14th September 2024 - 9:27 am

Trump lost. In the words of his acolyte Senator Lindsey Graham: the debate was a “disaster.” Not surprisingly, Trump has refused to debate Kamala Harris again, making it one of the few times that he has turned down the opportunity to blow his horn.

The former president did land a few punches in Tuesday’s verbal brawl. In fact if you listen to the first and last ten minutes then you might come away thinking that Trump won. But the political theatre will be remembered for how he was mocked, rattled and lied, lied and lied.

Millions around world sniggered or guffawed when the former president claimed that immigrants were eating the pets of the residents of Springfield, Ohio.

He was clearly rattled when Kamala Harris invited viewers to attend one of his rallies and added the pointed observation that numbers of attendees are dropping and people are leaving early, bored with his rambling monologues. Rubbish, he retorted, and then falsely claimed that Kamala Harris paid people to attend her rallies.

The lies came fast and furious – Millions of criminals are flooding across America’s borders. In reality, of the 1.4 million illegals who entered the US in the past year, 14,700 were found to have a criminal record or .01 percent. They were immediately deported. Among native-born Americans there were 16.5 violent crimes for every 100,000 in 2021.

Violent crime, claimed Trump, was going through the roof (again, he said, because of immigrants). Wrong. According to the FBI homicides were down 26 percent in 2023 and violent crime as a whole is at its lowest level in 50 years.

Abortion is a hot election issue. Trump claimed that the Democrats want abortions in the ninth month of pregnancies and are killing babies after they are born. This earned a gawp of disbelief from Kamala Harris and was quickly corrected by moderator David Muir.

Inflation, according to the former president, “is the worst in US history.” It was bad. It reached 9.7 percent. But it has been higher five times since they started keeping records.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged donald trump and kamala harris | 1 Comment

Saturday at Conference: What’s on?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th September 2024 - 7:30 am

Lib Dems are gathering in Brighton and there’s a mood of optimism and celebration. Our spectacular General Election result has given us 74 reasons to be cheerful – 72 MPs, an adorable guide dog and the restoration of our third party status.

We have had to deal with a fair few lean years so we might be forgiven a bit of shameless gloating.

There will come a time when we have to make decisions about our strategy to deal with the new political environment. Conversations will take place in earnest in bars and fringe meetings. There is a feeling that we were very lucky. We managed to combine an upbeat campaign with a few key messages and we succeeded. We were a bit light on overall vision and that’s not going to be enough the next time round. We need to have answers that will work to prevent the country falling back into the grip of populists. We need to show our distinctive liberal colours and show ourselves as a credible alternative to populists, Conservatives and Labour.

So what’s on at Conference today? You can find full details in the agenda here. Don’t forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store.

If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here.

We don’t have to wait too long for the first of many chances to cheer a new MP. Alison Bennett, our MP for Mid Sussex opens Conference.

We have keynote speeches from Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain, 9 years after she first joined the Party and 8 and a half years after her first Conference in York and from Cotswold District Council leader Joe Harris.

We start the day with a bit of Lib Dem procedural nerdery, changes to the reference back procedure to ensure that requests for references back must be submitted at the same time as amendments.

There are some good policy debates. The official organisation representing women in the party, Lib Dem Women, has submitted a motion on supporting women and anyone giving birth through pregnancy and the neonatal period. There are motions on supporting free movement of young people around Europe, liberalising the Sunday trading laws (they are already much more liberal up here in Scotland and the universe has not imploded), supporting disadvantaged children and consumer law.

After a day of debate, there’s all the razzle of the Conference rally. Plenty room for a bit of well earned self indulgent celebration there. If I were there, I’d probably spend it in the pub with my friends, though, and watch it back later.

Here is how the day unfolds:

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Posted in Conference and News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference, lib dem disco and what's on | 1 Comment

Sunday Trading Reform: Open All Hours or Keep Sunday Special

By Michael Bukola | Fri 13th September 2024 - 5:27 pm

Party conference this year will be a moment of celebration, after our stunning General Election results – but it will also be the occasion where we look forward, and develop our responses to the host of massive challenges facing the nation.

Yet, reading through the agenda, as we prepare to gather in Brighton, I see that the first policy motion is to further reform Sunday trading laws. Should this really be a key priority?

The motion describes Sunday, the traditional day of rest, as ‘outdated social norms’, a reference to cultural norms that have largely faded from public consciousness as the country evolves towards patterns of lifestyle where consumerism, overindulgence, and social media are more evident. That feels far removed from the collective fellowship, reflective contemplation and communion enjoyed by millions seeking direction and salvation – at least where I live, in the London Borough of Southwark, along the Old Kent Road, where these values still very much matter today.

We should not forget why Sunday trading laws were introduced in the first place: the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ campaign was introduced in part to protect the Sabbath. Epitomised by the Parliamentary Tory rebellion, when 72 backbenchers defied a three-line whip and defeated Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980’s. Liberal MP, David Alton, led the charge of Mrs Thatcher’s only parliamentary defeat on the Shops Bill of 1986.

Look, it is fairly obvious that there are millions of people who do shop on Sunday. So, on exactly what basis should they be prevented from doing so?

In fact, there are a host of non-religious reasons for limiting Sunday retail trade – a point highlighted by the breadth of the broad coalition behind the famous 1986 campaign to oppose liberalisation.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2024 autumn conference and sunday trading | 12 Comments

Budget Challenge from Lib Dems: Capture Land Values

By Tony Vickers | Fri 13th September 2024 - 2:32 pm

According to ONS, the land value alone of UK accounts for 60% of its net worth and is “the most valuable asset in the economy, estimated at £6.3trillion (2020).

It accounts for 98% of all non-produced non-financial assets and these – as a proportion of all national assets including those produced (buildings, goods and services) or ‘financial’ (such as stocks and shares) – rose from 39% in 1995 to 58% in 2020. Almost all that rise in non-produced assets was due to increased residential land values.

The role of land wealth in our economy is commonly overlooked. Yet the cost of land, and access to it, affects all aspects of life. Land has no cost of production. Its value only arises from our demand for homes, businesses, food production, leisure, public services, transport etc. The same applies to all natural resources – oil, gas, minerals, the radio spectrum, solar energy, wind, water, rivers, oceans, etc.

In 2018, helped mainly by ALTER and its allies in the Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ), a new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Land Value Capture (LVC) was set up. Vince Cable was its first chair and the then Chair of ALTER, Joe Bourke, acted as its Secretary. He still does.

When Vince stepped down from Parliament, John McDonnell took over the Chair. The Labour Party has an active group of MPs – mainly on the left and including Jeremy Corbyn – who support Land Value Tax, called the Labour Land Campaign. The Green Party is a member of CEJ – north and south of the border. The SNP also supports it.

An APPG can’t exist without support from members of the governing party in the Commons and plenty of Conservative MPs in the last Parliament across a wide spectrum in that party also favoured various forms of LVC, albeit few backed LVT as strongly as the Liberal Party did in the 20^th century. Tory led governments consistently blocked all efforts to implement any form of LVC throughout that time.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged ALTER and land value tax | Leave a comment