Anyone who has been active within the liberal family in the UK, Europe or internationally would know of and remember Robert Woodthorpe-Browne MBE
As I write this blog from the 64th Congress of Liberal International in Santiago, Chile, I cannot help but think of him. Were he still with us today, he would most certainly be at Congress, networking in Spanish like a local (just as he was as fluent in French and German), knowledgeable, affable and quintessentially internationalist.
The theme of this Congress was the Future of Freedom, apposite for this time in history, as we encounter the rise of populism in Europe and America, and escalating conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Indeed, this theme was explored in a round table discussion expertly led by Lord John Alderdice, on the Future of Liberalism. I would like to share a few nuggets that I took away from the discussions.
Informed by history and philosophical thinkers such as Isaiah Berlin, John called on Liberals to seek a more thoughtful way forward. What do we mean by freedom and liberty, he asked? It could be negatively defined as freedom from oppression, or positively, as the freedom of choice, the ability to do what one chooses without fear or retribution. John mentioned 3 important points: 1. We may be individuals, but we also exist through relationships, and we must consider the individual’s place in their community. 2. We assume that people have rational cognitive faculties, but we are also emotional beings who more often think emotionally. 3. Science itself is developing, complex systems engage with each other, opening up new possibilities.
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, there was an initial euphoria that liberal democracy had prevailed. We have however since realised that that was not to be. Instead, we have found ourselves in a world that is far more complex. There was a need to recognize “plurality of values” and liberalism has to be relevant to the lives of ordinary people. As liberals our responsibility is to stay true to our roots, whilst at the same time, to be open to new ideas and tolerant of those with views which are different from ours. John made reference to Ed Shapiro’s book “Finding a Place to Stand” (2020), encouraging self-reflection and asking the question even of those whom we disagree with (e.g. Trump): “What are they right about?”
The margin of two votes has been significant several times in Lib Dem history – winning Winchester in May 1997, heartbreakingly not taking back North East Fife by two votes in 2017. Yesterday, we won a surprise vote in Parliament on the first stage of a Ten Minute Rule Bill on changing the electoral system for Westminster and English local government elections to Proportional Representation which was introduced by our Sarah Olney. Normally what happens with these Bills is that MPs hear the speech. The MP proposing the measure then does a carefully choreographed approach to the Speaker and hands it over to be buried with loads of other Bills on some sitting Friday months in the future. But the Tories forced a vote to try to kill it without, it seems, doing their sums first.
Interestingly more Labour MPs voted for it than voted against.
This Bill doesn’t have a hope in hell of becoming law as Keir Starmer has said repeatedly that Labour opposes PR, despite the wishes of many of its members. However, between now and its second reading on 24th January, we can talk up the benefits of PR. For me, it’s about giving people the Parliament they ask for.
As well as 62 Lib Dem MPs, 59 Labour backbenchers voted for Tuesday’s bill, including a number of those first elected in 2024. Last month it emerged that dozens of Labour MPs from the 2024 intake had signed up to a parliamentary group calling for the UK to move to a PR system.
Labour’s 2022 annual conference voted overwhelmingly for the party to back a proportional system, after trade unions that had blocked previous motions swung behind the idea. However, while Keir Starmer has previously expressed at least some support for electoral reform, his leadership team has ruled out any immediate change, at least in the first term of a Labour government.
In Tuesday’s vote, 50 Labour MPs opposed the motion, indicating the continued lack of agreement on the issue. None of the government frontbench took part in the vote. All of the Conservatives who voted, 78 of them, opposed the idea, including some frontbenchers.
After the vote, Sarah Olney said:
This is a historic day in the fight for fairer votes and I am grateful to all the MPs who backed it.
Trust in our political system is broken following years of the Conservative Party riding roughshod over standards in public life.
Fixing our broken electoral system, introducing fair votes, and making sure everyones’ voice matters is the best way to rebuild this trust.
Today, as we have done for a century, Liberal Democrats are leading the fight for fair votes and making sure that no one can be ignored in our democracy.
The government must now listen to the will of the House, make time for the legislation and make fairer a votes a reality and we will be holding their feet to the fire to make this happen.
So the first chart announcement since Love is Enough, the song by young carers featuring Ed Davey was released is out. It would melt even the most permafrosted heart.
By Caron Lindsay
| Wed 27th November 2024 - 10:30 pm
Well that headline is a sentence I never thought I’d write.
And I have to admit that when I first saw the press release announcing it, I rather involuntarily invoked the name of the person we celebrate at this time of year at volume. Then I thought “No, please, not Sweet Caroline.”
However, I remembered that generosity is key to the spirit of Christmas and when I looked into it some more, I discovered that, actually, Ed’s collaboration with Bath Philarmonia’s Young Carers’ Choir is pretty decent. “Love is enough” falls into the category of heartwarming Christmas songs rather than the crazy ones. Though given some of the things Ed did during the General Election, I could be forgiven for fearing it would be the latter.
The song has been written by the young carers themselves to celebrate the bond between themselves and those they care for.
The result is uplifting and festive, and perhaps just the right side of saccharine to appeal to Christmas listeners. It does not, however, feature much audible input from Davey, whose contributions are slightly buried in the glossy mix.
This Parliament, anything less than 3 Lib Dems at PMQs is a disappointment – a benefit of having 72 MPs.
For the third time since the General Election it was a Lib Dem who kicked off proceedings. Daisy Cooper took the opportunity to ask the PM about her local hospital:
Today, I called on the PM to finally give the green light for a new hospital in West Herts 🏥
The last Conservative govt promised it but failed to deliver it – despite my asking close to twenty times.
West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals NHS trust has eliminated 65-week waits and has now met all three national cancer standards. Those remarkable achievements by the staff are happening despite their working in terrible buildings that are life-expired and crumbling. If the Government are looking for a project that is high-performing and shovel-ready, that is it. Will the Prime Minister give our trust the green light to build a new hospital without further delay?
The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue, which is of importance to her constituents and beyond. The new hospital programme we inherited was a failure of the previous Government. We are committed to delivering, and we are reviewing to ensure that we can deliver. The Health Secretary will set out further details, but I am very happy for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister if she wants to follow up on the specifics.
Then came Ed Davey with two hard-hitting questions on ending the Winter Fuel Payment and the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions for hospices:
At PMQs today, I challenged the Prime Minister to address the cost of living crisis and restore winter fuel payments.
With energy bills set to rise yet again, millions will struggle to make ends meet this winter. pic.twitter.com/LTDMcfR6WK
May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the terrible impact of Storm Bert and all the flooding? Our thoughts are with all those affected, with thanks to our amazing emergency services.
Christine’s father was told that he needed end of life care, but after a few days it was removed due to funding cuts. He was told that he would not get it, and he died a few weeks later in excruciating pain. Christine says that it was terrible to watch him suffer. Does the Prime Minister agree that, whatever the House decides on Friday, it is urgent that we improve access to high-quality end of life care? Will he make that a key focus of the 10-year NHS plan, and will he now commit to protect hospices from the national insurance rise?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that case, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with the family involved. Obviously there is a very important vote on Friday, but whichever way that vote goes, we must invest properly in care across our health service. That is why, in addition to putting the NHS back on its feet, we are putting forward a 10-year plan to make sure that the NHS can give the care that everybody would expect across the spectrum, including end of life care.
Ed Davey
I thank the Prime Minister for his reply. I hope that we will hear more from Ministers, particularly on hospices and national insurance, in the days to come.
I turn to the cost of living crisis. On Friday, Ofgem said that energy bills will go up again in January, after last month’s 10% rise. Millions of people are really worried about how they will make ends meet this winter, not least hundreds of thousands of pensioners who are in poverty but above the pension credit limit, who will now lose winter fuel payments. With energy bills going up again, will the Prime Minister reconsider and restore winter fuel payments?
The Prime Minister
Obviously the whole House is concerned about energy bills, which are actually lower this year than they were last year. The long-term way to deal with this issue is to have clean power by 2030, to make sure that we drive energy bills down on a permanent basis, and that is what we will do. On the winter fuel allowance, the right hon. Gentleman knows very well what the Government’s position is; indeed, I have rehearsed it with him many times.
The fact that Keir just can’t be bothered defending himself any more makes Ed’s repeated returns to this issue all the more potent.
Mext up, Manuela Perteghella made her PMQ debut by raising the issue of a constituent of hers who is campaigning to end knife crime after her son was killed:
Today is the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls which kicks of the annual 16 days of activism against gender based violence which goes through until International Human Rights Day on 10th December.
Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by an intimate partner or family member.
Violence against women and girls must end.
We all have a role to play in preventing it.
More from @UN_Women on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. ⬇️ #16Days
The theme this year is #noexcuse. Because there is no justification, ever.
One of the good things about this Labour Government is that Jess Phillips, who has been fighting against violence against women and girls for her entire life, is now a minister and there has been a definite positive change in the tone of communications from the government and its view of the importance of these issues than we have seen in the past five years. To give Theresa May her due, she was key to getting the Domestic Abuse Bill through when she was Prime Minister.
In the Commons today, two Liberal Democrat MPs questioned Jess Phillips. Monica Harding asked about coercive control:
Today is White Ribbon Day which calls for the elimination of violence against women and girls. In parliament I asked about the assessments needed around the policing of domestic violence “Coercive control is a criminal offence but it is often overlooked”. pic.twitter.com/rlHCEysIls
The last week in November is, for me at least, packed with signifiant anniversaries and birthdays. Doctor Who and occasional Lib Dem Voice contributor Stephen Harte (come to think of it has anyone actually seen them in the same room together?) on 23rd, Christine Jardine on 24th and, on 25th our much missed Charles Kennedy.
Today would have been Charles’ 65th birthday. So many of us will have memories of him that are special to us. He was someone who the people of this country respected and listened to. He was one of the few calming voices during the torrid Scottish Independence Referendum a decade ago and it’s so sad that he wasn’t around to influence the Brexit vote.
He had the political courage to stand firm against the Blair Government’s actions in Iraq. And all the while he still remained firm friends with Blair’s right hand man Alastair Campbell.
A few weeks ago, I chanced upon his voice, sampled on Liberate, a Valtos and Project Smok production inspired by him. His words sum him up: “Ive always believed you have to put the people first” “the independence of spirit which has to be highland tradition:”.
Valtos, a duo who fuse electronic and celtic music, come from Skye, which Charles represented for most of his years in Parliament, was formed in 2021. They released Liberate last year, as Radio Skye announced at the time:
Scottish electro duo Valtos, comprising Skye natives Martyn MacDonald and Daniel Docherty, have teamed up acclaimed neo-trad trio Project Smok for the new single ‘Liberate’ which will be released on Friday 3rd February.
The upbeat record celebrates the independent spirit of Highlanders, using vocal samples from the late Charles Kennedy to drive home the poignant message.
Mr Kennedy who died in June 2015, served as member for Ross, Skye, and Lochaber for 32 years and was much loved by his constituents.
In the single the Highlander can be heard passionately speaking about championing Scottish tradition and putting the people first.
This is fused with the unmistakably skilled and infectious whistle-playing of Project Smok’s Ali Levack and driving guitar rhythm and a banging electronic beat on the track, which brings a late-night club sound to music rooted in place and traditional.
I’ve had this on repeat a lot recently. It makes me smile. Enjoy.
This time last week we were all celebrating the news of a stonking by-election win in Colinton/Fairmilehead in Edinburgh. We jumped from fourth place to first to elect Louise Spence after an intense campaign which saw activists from all over the city basically give up their lives for four months. This came just after the General Election, too. We are a party that prides ourselves in campaigning all year round, but we know that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve been sprinting now for 6 months. And it’s not over yet.
We’d known Louise well for years. She’d fought the ward in 2022, narrowly missing out on a seat.
On Tuesday came the shock that there was to be another by-election in the ward, which we had just won. SNP Councillor Marco Biagi, a former MSP, had taken up a role in the Scottish Government and resigned his Council seat.
That was nothing compared to the shock that hit Edinburgh Liberal Democrats just yesterday afternoon. A statement from Louise Spence explains:
I have had a sudden change in personal circumstances which meant I couldn’t in all conscience fulfil my role as a councillor.
At this time, my focus must be with my family. I have informed my Liberal Democrat colleagues of my changed circumstances and offered my resignation.
The Liberal Democrats rightly set high standards in terms of the service their local councillors provide. I myself argued that Colinton & Fairmilehead needed a local champion. While it would have been legally possible for me to continue as a councillor, I don’t believe it would be right to do so with my focus elsewhere.
This is why I have made the difficult decision to resign my council seat. With another by-election already due in the ward in February because of the SNP councillor’s resignation, my decision means this new vacancy can be filled at the same time; at no extra cost to the taxpayer. This is clearly the right thing to do for Colinton & Fairmilehead.
However, I know my decision will be deeply disappointing and frustrating for those who voted for me, for my council group colleagues and for all the Liberal Democrats who fought so hard to win the by-election. I am truly sorry at what has happened.
“OBR figures suggest that the increase in NICs will cost more to social care providers than the money that the government has announced for that sector in the budget.”@libdemdaisy has implored the government to protect health and care providers from the NIC hike. pic.twitter.com/ywt7qWuZK1
Scottish Conference took place in Perth on Saturday. The 300 year old Salutation Inn near the river has been putting up weary travellers for over 300 years and has been holding Lib Dem events for just about as long. I don’t think the decor has changed in all the time I’ve been going there since we moved back to Scotland in 2000 so it’s a wee bit dated but it serves decent pub food and the staff can’t do enough to help you. And the big win for me is that they make the toast for you at breakfast. You don’t have to stand for ages and watch helplessly as the slow moving toast machine burns your bread.
I shall cover the controversial debates – and there were a couple where we disagreed really well with excellent speeches – in another post, but I wanted to tell you about an innovation or two.
You know how quite often we get motherhood and apple pie motions which state the obvious Lib Dem position on an issue and nobody is ever going to vote against? Rather than give them half an hour’s debate, they have a party spokesperson present them in a report, speak for five minutes or so about the ideas and then have Conference vote. Housing spokesperson Paul McGarry, also the Conference Convener, was the first to trial this. His policy proposals were:
Ed Davey’s performance at PMQs today was described by New Statesman journalist Rachel Cunliffe as “devastating” to Keir Starmer. She compared and contrasted Kemi Badenoch’s mis-steps with Ed making Starmer “awkward” when faced with questions about the NI rise for GP practices.
At the very start of PMQs, Jardine set up the topic of the NI rise with a straightforward question on support for GP practices. Ed Davey then picked up the theme once Badenoch was finished, asking for a further commitment that GPs, pharmacies and other healthcare providers would be protected from the tax rise. His tone was mild, his question factual rather than aggressive. But it made Starmer more awkward than he had been at any point facing Badenoch. After the Prime Minister had answered, Davey said quietly: “I think patients and GPs listening to that will want more reassurance”. It was devastating.
Christine Jardine asked the very first question at PMQs today, on that NI rise, having spent last week meeting worried GP practices in her Edinburgh West constituency.
Changes to employers' National Insurance threaten the ability of GPs to deliver patient care. I asked the Prime Minister to explain to GPs, and others in my constituency, how they are meant to cope without extra support. pic.twitter.com/2Q9Ux3O9zF
In the two weeks since the Budget, several GP practices in my constituency of Edinburgh West, including my own, have contacted me with their genuine fears that the impact of the changes to national insurance employer contributions will threaten their ability to continue to offer the public the same standard of health service that they currently receive. And they are far from the only ones struggling, particularly in the health and social care sectors. Can the Prime Minister explain to me—perhaps he and his Chancellor would like to come to my constituency and explain to GPs, charities and others—how they are meant to cope without extra support from the Government?
The Prime Minister
Because of the tough decisions that we took, we have put forward a Budget with an extra £25.6 billion for the NHS and for social care. That includes an increase to carers’ allowance and £600 million to deal with the pressures of adult social care. We will ensure that GP practices have the resources that they need, and the funding arrangements between the NHS and contractors will be set out in the usual way.
Ed followed up with his first question
“Will the government at least exempt GPs, community pharmacists and other health and care providers from this tax rise?”@EdwardJDavey pushed the government to rethink the NI hikes on GP surgeries which could see millions struggling even more to secure an appointment. pic.twitter.com/C78JugqAfB
His second was on the importance of working with European leaders to support Ukraine given the impending Trump administration:
Today, I questioned the Prime Minister on his plan if Donald Trump abandons our brave Ukrainian allies.
If the US won't support Ukraine in its fight against Putin's war machine, the UK and Europe must – and we should use frozen Russian assets to do it. pic.twitter.com/GrmA6rehn1
In recent weeks, we’ve had a steady trickle of emails from people who have found themselves hit with a 403 error when they have tried to access Lib Dem Voice.
We are sympathetic to this, given that this has affected several members of the team, including me.
We’ve found that the solution is generally to clear out your cookies and cache. I’ve found that doing it for the last hour has got be back on the site quickly.
Our tech guru, Ryan, has been working hard to stop this happening. It’s not particularly easy to track down what is going on and he’s been trying various things to try to fix it. We are really grateful to him for the time and effort he has put in to this. We’re hopeful that he’s found the culprit and booted it into oblivion.
Today at PMQs, Ed used his questions to challenge Keir Starmer on the UK Government’s approach to the incoming Trump administration.
Today, I asked the Prime Minister about how he plans to address President-elect Trump’s troubling praise for Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and his reckless stance on NATO.
The UK must lead in Europe to ensure strong support for Ukraine and uphold our shared security. pic.twitter.com/8BorWlxXhV
Ed Davey has called on the Government to fix our broken relationship with the EU in his first comments since Donald Trump won the US election. And he did not mince his words about the President-Elect, referring to him as a dangerous, destructive, demagogue.
He said:
This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world’s largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue.
The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security.
Millions of Americans – especially women and minorities – will be incredibly fearful about what comes next. We stand with them.
Families across the UK will also be worrying about the damage Trump will do to our economy and our national security, given his record of starting trade wars, undermining NATO and emboldening tyrants like Putin.
It’s not officially over yet, but it looks very much as though Donald Trump has won the US Presidential election and that the Republicans have won the Senate. And with Supreme Court Justices likely to retire, Trump has the chance to reinforce the already iron grip of conservatives on the Supreme Court.
It’s a very bleak morning. This is the result I have feared for a long time but allowed myself to hope that Kamala Harris might just pull off a victory.
In the 3 months since she became the Republican nominee, she has barely put a foot wrong as a candidate. She’s run a positive, optimistic campaign. She did not repeat the mistakes of 2016 when the Democrats withdrew from the key battleground states because they thought they had won.
If there was anything she could have done better, it was land a hopeful economic message. She also didn’t land the blame on Trump and the Republicans for blocking measures which would have improved people’s economic situation like a child tax credit and paid family leave.
She had to contend also with the Middle East situation. That undoubtedly lost her some votes – and probably from both sides.
Anyway, senior Lib Dems have started to process the news. This is what they are saying on social media:
Layla Moran, until recently our foreign affairs spokesperson:
Votes not yet all in but looks like hate is winning. The implications for security across the globe cannot be underestimated. Ukraine. Middle East. China. The UK will need to reevaluate its geopolitical centre of gravity.
Tim Farron:
Oh well!! 🇺🇸 😱 First thoughts…. The UK now needs to do one thing the left/liberals won’t like (establish strong early relationships with the Trump administration) and one thing the right won’t like (scrap all barriers to trade with Europe/increase military co-operation).
Mike Martin:
The UK immediately needs to:
– Increase defence spending rapidly (rather than shrinking its army)
– Focus its military strategy on deterring Russian aggression in Europe (rather than confronting ‘global threats’)
– Work with European allies to defend Europe under a NATO that doesn’t have US support (rather than assuming that America guarantees European security).
Chris Coughlan:
With the geopolitical shock of a likely Trump win the UK needs to move immediately back closer to our European allies- including reopening the issue of the single market
Freddie Van Mierlo
As the results of the US Presidential election still come in, the U.K. must urgently consider its position in Europe and our security. Slava Ukraini
Vikki Slade
This is just devastating – the world is moving in a scary way & I fear for all those vulnerable groups in USA but across the world.
Why would a country fall for such a con?
Since my last update at the back of 4, the outlook for Kamala Harris has become a lot bleaker. Trump is ahead in all of the battleground states and it looks like he is on course to win the popular vote.
It’s not over yet, but it’s not where anyone of a liberal disposition would want us to be at this stage of the count.
What’s worse is that it looks like the Republicans will have control of the Senate and the House is a bit of a toss up.
If you need reminding, Donald Trump is a convicted felon who refused to accept his defeat in 2021, leading to an insurrection which he encouraged. He tried to get his then Vice President to refuse to certify the results of the election. He has been ordered to pay $83 million to E Jean Carroll after he called her a liar for accusing him of sexually assaulting her. He still has outstanding court cases relating to the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection.
When he was last in office, he appointed 3 conservative Supreme Court Justices who overturned the historic Roe vs Wade ruling which guaranteed a federal right to abortion. This has led to abortion bans in many states which are so stringent that women who have miscarriages are being denied life-saving procedures.
I have just woken up and am catching up on how things are going.
And it’s not looking good, to be honest.
At this time in 2020, it didn’t look that good either and then it got better. However, CNN’s John King is now looking at Georgia and is saying that it looks more like 2016, when Trump won than 2020 when he eventually lost. He says it is possible that Harris can win the state, but “you would rather be Donald Trump in Georgia right now.” Harris is underperforming Biden’s 2020 result in 28 of the 159 counties.
The battleground is now very much in the 3 “rust belt” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. At this point, Trump is ahead in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania but there’s still a while to go. The “blue wall” is going to be as crucial in the US election as it was in ours.
The Harris campaign does not expect the contest to be resolved tonight.
American presidential elections in days of yore were pretty simple. We all went to bed at our usual time and then when we woke up in the morning, we knew who was going to be President.
And then Bush v Gore 2000 happened and it all took a bit longer as we learned about things like “Hanging Chads” and how they affected the vote counts in Florida. It took until 12 December until the Supreme Court stopped the recount and Gore conceded the next day.
In 2020, we spent four long nights and three and a half long days constantly refreshing CNN and agonising in WhatsApp chats before it was clear to everyone except Donald Trump and his followers that Joe Biden had won.
This year I’m not sure I have a big enough cushion to hide behind as the results come in. But before we get too absorbed in the details, take a minute to have a good laugh at Kamala’s appearance on last night’s Saturday Night Live. Pitch perfect:
We are probably not going to know for a while after the polls close whether the US will have a President who will respect women’s rights, put more money back in the hands of the poorest and grow the economy, or someone who will give to his billionaire mates, pursue policies that see more women die because they can’t get medical treatment if they have a miscarriage, and threaten US democracy itself.
The conventional wisdom amongst commentators at the moment is that Donald Trump will get his second term in the White House. Let’s hope they have it as wrong as they had it in 2016 when they all thought Hillary was going to win. We have to remember that part of the reason for the Democrats losing back then was because they were so convinced they were going to win that they stopped spending money in the swing states while Donald Trump spent a fortune on wall to wall advertising.
The Democrats are not making that mistake again. The Harris/Walz campaign has been concentrating on the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. The election will likely be decided on tens of thousands of votes in those places. It’s a bit like how our elections are decided in 100 or so marginal seats across the country except on a bigger scale.
She’s had some help in the past week from Scottish Lib Dem Leader who went out there with some friends (at their own expense) to knock on doors. It’s not the first time he has been out. He turned out to be a good luck charm for Obama in Virginia in 2008. He made some observations on Twitter this week about his trip an the prospects in the election:
The field campaign team there are exceptional but they are utterly exhausted and driving hard for the finish line, I’m proud to know them. They certainly put me to work in getting out the vote.
With over 1k doors knocked across 9 communities in Lackawanna county, PA, I got to see a lot of the Scranton area in stunning autumnal beauty. These are warm, resilient communities, but in many ways they have cause to feel left behind.
This is an exceptionally tight election, everyone knows that, but I’ve never seen tribalism run quite so deep before. Those houses without partisan lawn signs are in the minority and this election is dividing communities and even families, like never before.
A standout highlight for me was getting to meet Tim Walz in person, but above that I will never forget the warmth of the people I met on the doors of Pennsylvania.
My assessment? She can absolutely do it, but turnout is everything.
With Keir Starmer out of the country, it was down to the deputies to take the stage at Prime Minister’s Questions. Angela Rayner and Daisy Cooper put in their first appearance of the new Parliament in their new roles. For Conservative Oliver Dowden, it was his last in the role. There was very funny love in with menaces between him and Rayner in their exchanges. It was a bit like a seaside comedy show. The serious stuff came when Daisy asked her two questions.
Every winter, our NHS is overwhelmed.
Will the Prime Minister consider the Liberal Democrats proposal for an NHS winter task force, to put an end to the cycle of patients paying the price for the social care crisis left by the Conservatives? @LibDemDaisy#PMQspic.twitter.com/7UqpodJHzs
May I associate myself and the Liberal Democrats with the Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks about Chris Hoy, and about all those involved in the train crash?
Our NHS is bracing itself for a winter crisis. One of the causes of the winter crisis every year is that there are thousands of people in hospitals who are fit to go home, but who cannot be discharged because there are not the care workers in place to enable people to recover at home or in a care home. Will the Deputy Prime Minister consider the Liberal Democrats’ idea of an NHS winter taskforce to winter-proof our NHS, end the cycle of the winter crisis, and put to an end the scandal of hospital patients paying the price of the social care crisis left by the Conservatives?
I thank the hon. Lady for her comments, and I share her desire to ensure that care workers are given the respect and importance that they deserve. They are critical to solving the problems in our national health service. The Labour party will create a national care service, and we are launching our first ever fair pay agreement for care professionals to boost recruitment and retention. We must get the NHS back on its feet after the disaster of the Conservatives, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will have more to say on that in the Budget.
Daisy kept to the same theme for the second question, talking of the dangers to the care sector of increasing employers’ National Insurance contributions, something she had mentioned in her Sky News interview on Sunday:
I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for her answer. We stand ready, as a party of constructive opposition, to work with the Government to fix our social care system. However, a measure that could make it harder for us to keep the carers that we so desperately need would be an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions. Were that measure to go ahead, it would affect millions of small businesses, including 18,000 small care providers. Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure the House that nothing in the Budget will make it harder for vulnerable people to access the care workers and the care that they desperately need?
A bit of flannel from Rayner in return, but at least the job of setting out our position had been done:
Again, I will not speculate on the Budget, not least with the Chancellor sat beside me. To reiterate what the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have said, this Budget will recognise that working people of this country and enterprise in this country have been hard-hit by 14 years of the Conservatives. We will rebuild Britain, and we will grow our economy to pay for our public services.
Rayner had to face another three Lib Dems in the session. This is great to see, and likely to be more commonplace now that we make up more than 10% of the House.
First up was Monica Harding who had a heartbreaking story of a young boy in her constituency who has been out of school for a year because they don’t have the right special needs provision for him.
Today in PMQs I called on the Govt to take immediate action to address the crisis in SEND by properly funding it in the budget. In Surrey 1800 children are at home rather than school bc their needs cannot be met & are waiting 2 yrs for an ADHD diagnosis. It is a scandal @LibDemspic.twitter.com/lWLrJHGvUA
Charlie from my constituency is an eight-year-old boy with an autism diagnosis who has been out of school for almost a year. He is one of 1,800 children in Surrey missing school because of a lack of appropriate special educational needs provision. Will the Government commit to ending this scandal by properly funding special educational needs provision in next week’s Budget, so that children like Charlie, in my constituency of Esher and Walton and beyond, are no longer let down?
Angela Rayner was sympathetic but had nothing concrete to offer:
Daisy Cooper was on Sunday with Trevor Phillips on Sky News. As our new Treasury Spokesperson, she was asked about what she wanted to see in the Budget.
But first, she was asked whether she accepted the Government’s narrative about the £22 billion black hole in the public finances.
She replied that there was no doubt that Conservatives left the economy in a mess. There may be an argument about the 22 billion number but what people want to know is if public services are going to get better. Are they going to get the health and social care they need?
She said that we were deeply uncomfortable about the rumoured increase in National Insurance employers’ contribution because of the effect on smaller businesses. In particular, she mentioned how this might affect small care companies and that might lead to even more care home closures and increase the crisis in care.
However, we would support taxing banks and gambling companies and changing fiscal rules to allow more investment to build more schools and hospitals.
Another rumour is that fuel duty is going to go up for the first time in 15 years. Daisy said that we were concerned about the impact of doing this during a cost of living crisis. If there was a viable alternative with good public transport it might be easier to stomach. The burden of cleaning up the Tory mess should be on big companies, not on ordinary people.
She was pressed by Phillips about the effect of our proposals on taxing banks. What impact would that have on our savings and pensions? She answered that the four or five biggest banks made £40 billion in profit and we want to reverse the tax cuts they have had which could raise just a tenth of that, a small amount of money for them, to help turn our public services around.
She said that we would have to look at the budget as a whole but would likely vote against a rise in employers’ NI contribution.
The main Liberal Democrat priority for the Budget was to see health and social care. Daisy talked about her own experience of serious illness and her Crohn’s diagnosis:
After every General Election, it’s become our habit to have a good look at what went well and what went badly and publish a General Election Review.
This year’s will doubtless be a lot happier than the last few. The Review team is led by Tim Farron. He is joined by
Cllr Ade Adeyemo
Paul Farthing
Cllr Donna Harris
Cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay
Mike O’Carroll
Sally Pattle
Their remit is to:
review the party’s performance at the general election, based on both the campaign period itself and the preparatory work and strategy through the whole Parliament.
particularly focus on the lessons relevant to the party’s next stages of development, including the linkages between electoral success at different levels, and make recommendations accordingly.
Time is running out to complete the online survey. The website says that it is open until 3 November – which isn’t long – but one of the review team said in a WhatsApp chat that it closed on 18 October, eg this Friday. So if you haven’t completed it yet, you’d be well advised to get a wiggle on.
I think that our campaign was perfect for the moment. But the moment was that the entire country wanted rid of the Tories. Our fun filled campaign, built on years of careful campaigning, did what it needed to.
Today is the first Liberal Democrat Opposition Day of this Parliament. This means that we need to set the agenda. Does anyone want to take a guess about the topics we have chosen to debate?
You get no brownie points if you correctly answered Carers and Health – though you could, I guess have chosen sewage. We are highlighting the issues that we ran on during not just the election but in the four years leading up to it.
Our Carer’s Allowance motion says:
That this House recognises the remarkable contributions that the UK’s 5.7 million unpaid carers make to society and the huge financial challenges many face; notes with deep concern that tens of thousands of carers are unfairly punished for overpayments of Carer’s Allowance due to the £151-a-week earnings limit; believes that carers should not be forced to face the stress, humiliation and fear caused by demands for repayments of Carer’s Allowance; condemns the previous Government for failing to address this scandal; calls on the Government to write-off existing overpayments immediately, raise the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit and introduce a taper to end the unfair cliff edge; and further calls on the Government to conduct a comprehensive review of support for carers to help people juggle care and work.
The health one is about access to GPs and dentists:
The A483 runs through my constituency from Llanymynech to Oswestry. It is one of the busiest and most dangerous roads in the constituency, and National Highways says the crossroads at Llynclys is the worst accident blackspot in the midlands. It has a proposal to improve the situation, but Treasury rules place a higher value on road speed than on the lives of North Shropshire’s residents. Will the Prime Minister look at flexing those rules to back National Highways and my residents, to give them the safe road they deserve? (900579)
The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Member for raising this. It is obviously a big and important issue in her constituency. It is vital that as we invest we improve safety and deliver better journeys for drivers. National Highways continues to study the case for safety improvements to the A483 and will continue to do so. As she probably knows, decisions will be set out under the third road investment strategy. I know that the Roads Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), will have heard her representations and will agree to a meeting, if that is what she would like.
Today is PANS/PANDAS Awareness Day. PANS stands for Paediatric Acute-onset Neuro-psychiatric Syndrome and PANDAs stands for Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. Wendy has been interested in this since the parents of a constituent told her of the trauma they had suffered with their own child. Last year Wendy led a debate on the issue which you can read here.
At that time she said:
We do not need to be parents ourselves, although many of us here may be, to understand how utterly distressing it must be to have a formerly healthy, happy child suddenly find themselves unable to leave their bedroom, dress, eat, wash, talk to others or attend school and to see them vanish as the illness takes over. Sadly, that distress is compounded and worsened many times over by the lack of available support for patients and their families, as PANS is often not even suggested, considered or acknowledged.
Wendy took the opportunity of PANS/PANDAS Awareness day to ask for a meeting with the Department for Health on getting more funding for investigations and research. She said:
It’s great seeing Ed getting a guaranteed two cracks of the whip at PMQs every week.
And many people in the party will be thrilled that he pushed the PM on Europe and asked him to consider a youth mobility scheme to give people in their 20s the chance to live and work in Europe for 3 years.
I did wonder before the recess if he was maybe letting Starmer off the hook on his second questions and I think he could have pressed that point a bit further today – though he did say he would leave it for another time before moving on to improving the trade deal.
I look back with fondness on Willie Rennie’s legendary and dogged persistence of one issue at a time with the SNP, whether it be college cuts, ferries, conditions in prisons, free school meals or mental health at First Minister’s Questions. He would prosecute a line pretty forensically over several weeks and that got him noticed. And sometimes it resulted in concessions from the Government when he had destroyed all their rebuttals.
I get the argument that keeping Starmer guessing about the topic also has its merits, but I would like to see a bit more follow-through. When the Prime Minister fails to answer the question the first time, I’d like to see Ed find his inner terrier.
Watch the first question here.
A Youth Mobility Scheme would be great for young people, great for small businesses, and a big step towards repairing the relationship with our European neighbours.
One of the most moving and powerful debates at our recent Brighton Conference was on a motion from the official Lib Dem Women organisation on improving the inherent inequality in neonatal and maternity care.
Lib Dem Women had put forward a motion on tackling inequality in pregnancy and neonatal care. Some of the stories of maternal and pregnancy loss were shocking, and the higher rates among black and Asian communities shameful. Laura Gordon told a terrible story about the death of a young refugee who didn’t get the care she needed and died. Maybe if she had had an interpreter, her life might have been saved. There’s no sign of Labour improving things because of the lack of money. As Tam Langley said “We have to invest in babies who can’t wait for the economy to recover.”
Donna Harris has written an article for Comment Central about the motion and why it was needed.
espite being the second-largest economy in Europe, the UK has a higher infant mortality rate than 26 of its European neighbours, earning a troubling reputation as the infant mortality capital of Europe. How is this possible? These deaths are preventable. These tragedies are avoidable. Yet, nearly half of our maternity services are rated as “inadequate” or “requiring improvement” by the Care Quality Commission
The motion called for those who had suffered pregnancy loss to be offered help and support by the NHS after one miscarriage, not three. Donna explains why:
Women who suffer miscarriages often face not only the grief of losing their babies but also often endure traumatic medical interventions. Their pain and trauma are often dismissed, swept under the carpet as if it never happened. In the National Health Service, a woman must endure three miscarriages before being referred to a consultant. It is little surprise that many women who experience pregnancy loss suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder. This policy must change now!
The figures on infant mortality for black and asian mothers and babies babies compared to white mothers and babies are shocking:
By Caron Lindsay
| Mon 30th September 2024 - 11:58 pm
I am so incredibly sad tonight.
I woke up from a nap this afternoon to see the dreadful news that Neil Mackinnon, our first Press Officer in the Scottish Parliament, had died suddenly and unexpectedly.
I know that many of our Scottish readers will share my shock and sadness.
When I first came back to Scotland 24 years ago, Neil was one of the first people I got to know. He had a really funny dry wit and he was one of the wisest liberals. He was very good at sitting me down and trying to talk me round to the establishment position and sometimes he even managed it. I’ll never forget the raising of his eyebrow when I did something he disapproved of – and the twinkle in his eye that gave away that he wasn’t really that mad.
He stopped working for the party about 15 years ago and went off to work for the Edinburgh Fringe and then the UK Government in various guises but he was still a supporter and constructively critical friend of the party. He could phone canvass like a demon, too.
There is something going on in my life at the moment that I know he would have liked and I had been meaning to message him to tell him. Lesson for today is when you have the thought to contact someone, just bloody do it there and then.
Alongside Neil in the Scottish Parliament worked a young Alex Cole-Hamilton. He paid tribute to Neil tonight. Here’s the press release in full:
The Scottish Liberal Democrats regret to report that our friend and former colleague Neil Mackinnon has died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Neil worked for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the press office for the period from before the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until 2009. After leaving Holyrood he went on to enjoy a career with the Edinburgh Fringe, and then as a project manager first with HMRC and then the UK Government.
Neil was a familiar figure to those working in Scottish politics, especially at Holyrood and will be sorely missed.
He died last week suddenly and unexpectedly. Formal legal processes still need to be undertaken before any further news or announcements can be made.
The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
“Neil was a fierce defender of liberalism and he was our friend. An important voice in the early days of the Scottish Parliament, Neil was liked immensely across the political spectrum and throughout the press pack.
By Caron Lindsay
| Sat 28th September 2024 - 7:55 am
Back in the day, before even blackberries were invented, the more tech savvy MPs were issued with these palm pilot things so they could get their emails on the move.
When I worked for him, Willie Rennie would spend Friday afternoons constantly checking his waiting for the ALDC email with all the local government by-elections in it. He used to get so excited, like a child who’s been told he can go to the sweetie shop after school and spend all his pocket money.
These days, you don’t have to wait for the email to come out. The results start rolling in on ALDC’s Twitter feed from midnight on Thursday onwards. Yesterday was Willie’s birthday and the Scottish Party delivered him not one but two new councillors.
The first result from Strathallan in Perth and Kinross came in just after midnight. New Councillor Alan Watt had taken a seat from the Tories. The local team had been running a pretty joyous campaign. Not the best start to what would become Russell Findlay’s first day as Scottish Conservative leader.
Of Alan’s win, Alex said:
I am absolutely thrilled to see Scottish Liberal Democrats scoring an amazing by-election victory against the Conservatives in their heartlands of rural Perthshire. Alan is going to make a fantastic councillor, standing up for the people of Strathallan and championing the issues that matter to them.
This brilliant result comes hot on the heels of our party overtaking the Scottish Conservatives at the last general election. I am meeting more and more people who once voted for the Scottish Conservatives but feel disenchanted with the party as it lurches towards ever-greater extremes.
People across Scotland are crying out for a change to the SNP, but it’s clear the Conservatives can’t deliver that. That’s why more and more people are turning to the Liberal Democrats to get the fresh start we desperately need.
By backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you will get hard-working local champions who will put your priorities first. Only we have a plan to bring down NHS waiting lists, get a fair deal for carers, help struggling pensioners, lift up Scottish education and grow the economy.
Alan Watt added:
I am delighted to have been elected as the Liberal Democrat councillor for Strathallan, and I want to thank everyone who came out to help me deliver our positive message.
Across the ward, people are doing really great things for our community, so this is a chance to work well and ensure we can get the best outcomes for the people of Strathallan.
I want people to see that by backing the Liberal Democrats, you get someone who’ll fight for you and put the issues that matter at the very top of the agenda.
By Caron Lindsay
| Sun 22nd September 2024 - 10:13 am
Keir Starmer and Labour had earned the right to a bit celebration in Liverpool this week. Having turned Labour around from an utter mess to a party with the size of majority nobody should ever have, their Conference in Liverpool could have been an even bigger celebration than our display of sunshine and unbridled joy in Brighton last week.
However, the mood in Liverpool becomes gloomier with each headline.
And while some of the headlines are definitely the right wing press making trouble, others are signs of serious trouble within the Government.
Let’s take the fuss about the clothes first. Starmer, his Deputy Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves tried to stem the damage from reports that they had taken thousands of pounds for work clothing from wealthy donors by announcing that they would no longer do so.
I find it difficult to muster up anything other than mild irritation about this. It absolutely does not look great to people who are struggling to pay the rent every month and there is an argument that this should have been blindingly obvious to those who benefitted from these generous donations. When you are taking a vital help with energy bills from poor pensioners and not doing anything about social care, you need to really think about how out of touch you can look if you are seen to be throwing yours or someone else’s money around. And they should maybe have seen that it would have been lumped together with everything we’ve heard about Tories in a recent years in a file marked “sleazy politicians.”
There is no equivalence between the profligate, venal, corrupt behaviour of the Tories, doing things like handing out billions of public money to their mates and the stories we have seen about Labour. Many people, on whose votes they rely, won’t necessarily look at the detail and see the massive difference in scale. They may well be propelled into the arms of populists as a result. And given that some of those populists earn an almost six figure sum for a few hours’ work a month on the media, there is an irony there.
As far as the clothing is concerned, maybe that is a bit on us as well. It is perfectly possible to look smart by picking up a dress and jacket, or suit from some well known High Street stores, but we all have unconscious biases about how people look that have been fed by the media for years. We also know that those biases apply much more to women than they do to men.
When it comes to Keir Starmer’s box at Arsenal, I can see his point of view on this. If he were to stay in the stands, the security would undoubtedly cost a fortune and we’d all be complaining about that. You can see why he thinks that having a box is less disruptive and solves that problem. Going to the football is something that he has long done with his son, who is not going to be a boy forever and I can’t find it in my heart to grudge him that. In isolation, I don’t think anyone would have really bothered about this. The trouble is it’s being lumped in with all the other stuff.
David Allen Yes. The Lib Dems have become a Janus Party - Facing both ways. There is a lot of detailed social-liberal centre-left word-play, designed to keep the activist...
Richard Wow – four political philosophers – Mill, Kroptokin, Rawls and Clegg referred to in a single article !!! As Nick Clegg discovered in 2010 and Keir Starmer i...
Tristan Ward The original article deplores political opportunism, and suggests Lib Dm MPs are indulging in it by opposing Labour's IHT reforms and imposirtion of VAT in pri...
Tristan Ward @Mick Taylor
I didn't say Kropotkin was a communist. I said he was a "proponent of anarchist communism".
Which, for what it is worth, is what Wikipedia ...
Cllr Gordon Lishman I agree with Ben.
William: Ben is at the forefront of doing exactly what you ask - wait for the forthcoming book he's editing and see what you think. Publicat...
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
John Stoa Original Art exhibition #dundeewestend
The Muesli Assassins
Nick Cook: England's forgotten spinner of the Eighties
David Allen 
Richard 
Tristan Ward 
Cllr Gordon Lishman 