Author Archives: Caron Lindsay

Caron Lindsay

Radio phone-in highlights reality of homophobia

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 16th August 2023 - 12:40 pm

If i’m out and about with my husband and we hold hands, nobody bats an eyelid. If we see something that makes us laugh, we can look at each other and have a hug, we can o so without being hassled.  If he is meeting me off the train, I can rush up and give him a kiss. We can be pretty much as spontaneous as we like.

The stabbing outside The Two Brewers in Clapham on Sunday night, which is being treated as a homophobic incident, shows that not everyone can take the simple act of being out and about with their partner for granted.

In response to this appalling attack, the Young Liberals said:

Our account is run by two LGBTQ+ people who live in south London.

The appalling homophobic attack on two men in Lambeth on Saturday night is an horrific reminder that prejudice is alive and well in our capital.

Our thoughts are with the victims at this incredibly difficult time, and we would like to join @Ben_Curtis_1 and @LambethLibDems in sending our best wishes to the staff at the wonderful @2BrewersClapham for their response.

This incident is a reminder that we need to do so much more to tackle the hatred that our community faces, and we are glad to see the Met Police are treating this with the seriousness it needs.

A Radio 2 phone-in yesterday highlighted the everyday prejudice to which the LGBT+ community is subjected. Gay men described how they wouldn’t dare hold hands for fear of attracting trouble. Lesbians gave horrendous accounts of being sexually assaulted by men who were apparently trying to “turn” them. Even in a country where the majority of people back LGBT rights, too many can’t properly be themselves in public.

A friend told me that he and his partner of almost 10 years hardly ever hold hands in public and if they do, they do a risk assessment first. We also talked about how lesbians face both homophobia and misogyny.

It’s worth listening to the discussion on the programme to understand what LGBT+ people have to put up with.

Earlier this year, the UN’s independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity said that abusive rhetoric from politicians was to blame for a surge in hate crimes against LGBT+ people. In his report, he said:

Bolstered by strong protections of freedom of information in the UK, news media and social media are instruments for advocacy and visualizing violations of the human rights of LGBT persons. On the other hand, government authorities and civil society representatives in the UK informed the Independent Expert that those media channels are also spreading anti-trans discourse and stereotypical imagery of LGBT persons as dangerous, often employing homophobic and transphobic rhetoric.

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey calls for action to help those struggling with rising bills

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 16th August 2023 - 8:48 am

As inflation falls to 6.8%, Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey appeared on Sky News this morning to give our party’s reaction:

While it was positive news that prices aren’t using quite so fast, he said, but they are rising fast,  faster than they are in many other countries and faster than they have for many, many years.

Families and pensioners when they go and do their shopping, when they get their energy bill, when they pay their mortgage, their rents, they are still seeing them go up by huge amounts. And what is worrying Liberal Democrats today is that this month’s inflation figures will be used to calculate rail fares for next year and we are calling for a freeze as some way of helping people who are really really struggling.

Challenged that the Government has to balance the books, Ed said that we always do balance the books and go to the country with a fully costed manifesto, compared to the Conservatives who have been reckless with Government money and that’s why the country is in such a mess.

I listen to Conservative ministers and they seem so out of touch with the realities that most families and pensioners are facing. When we talk about these sorts of figures they seem quite complacent and give themselves a pat on the back when families are really struggling out there. I just want a Government that seems to care a bit more and this lot just don’t.

Let’s just pause a minute there. This “families and pensioners” phrase irks me a bit. It isn’t quite as bad as the awful “hard working families”, but it completely ignores a huge swathe of people who are struggling just as much as the soft Tory voters in the blue wall seats we are going after. They like the “families and pensioners” language because it has a comforting ring of deserving poor about it but that’s no excuse.

We need to make sure that the young people struggling to get by on low incomes, earning less and getting less in benefits despite living costs being just as high feel included, or the growing number of single person households with only themselves to rely on.

What’s wrong with just using people? Our mission as Liberal Democrats is to build a fair, free and open society where NO-ONE is enslaved by poverty, ignorance and conformity and our language should reflect that universality. We have so many good ideas that would help all people who are struggling so it seems a shame to limit our language.

Rant over and back to the interview. Ed was challenged that our plans to help people were not realistic. He said:

The real world is that the economy is struggling and we need to get people back to work. If you took up Liberal Democrat ideas to boost the economy, you would get more people using public transport which is more important for our economy, for the environment and so you have many benefits.

I just think the Government is so out of touch. They don’t seem to get how the combination of  price rises, mortgages, rents, energy bells railway fares, is hitting people.  We’ve calculated that a commuter family is going to be clobbered by an extra bill of £300 every month due to the combination of mortgage, food and rail fares. This is a huge amount and when I hear government ministers saying they can’t do anything. They could do something but they don’t. The fact that they don’t backs up my argument that they are out of touch and don’t care.

He was asked whether the energy price cap should be rethought as it harmed competition:

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Caron Lindsay

Review: Vince Cable at the Edinburgh Festival

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 10th August 2023 - 6:55 am

Our Glorious Former Leader, Vince Cable, came to Edinburgh yesterday to talk to Iain Dale. It was great to see him for the first time Bournemouth  Conference in 2019. He looks well and hasn’t aged even now he’s turned 80.

There was a time when our press office held its breath whenever he came to Scotland. I remember one Conference in particular, ahead of the independence referendum where he said something that wasn’t quite our line which the press and the SNP made hay with. Today, he could not have been more on message, praising what Ed Davey was doing in terms of building the party’s infrastructure and campaigning capacity.

Talking of Ed, he’s going to be here on Saturday at 4 pm, talking to Iain and his For the Many partner Jacqui Smith. You can get tickets here. If you haven’t listened to this podcast, do, it is bloody hilarious and you need it in your life. And if you are going on Saturday, get in touch with me ([email protected]) and I’ll let you know where we are meeting beforehand.

Iain started by asking him about his time as a Labour Councillor in Glasgow in the 1970s. Vince described how he was chief whip at a time when corruption was rife, and four of his group ended up in Barlinnie. He left for the SDP and has never felt  tempted by Keir Starmer’s Labour who are not offering anything positive. He criticised Wes Streeting for saying that it is better to offer no hope than false hope and thinks that they should be doing more to inspire people.

Education, he says, should be the priority at the next election, rather than the NHS. The Tories have failed so comprehensively on it and it desperately needs investment to improve attainment.

He reckoned that there was not much chance of us going into coalition after the next election. We would be heavily outnumbered, and the party would be reluctant to go there again.

Iain asked him if he was “pissed off “that he was seen as too old to go for leader back in 2006. He was, but he accepted the mood to hand power to the next generation

He talked about the coalition years, saying that he winced along with many of us at the Rose Garden scenes.  He says he’s probably the last man standing, though, who thinks that we were right to go in to the coalition and reeled off a long list of things that we had done,  the Green Investment Bank, the industrial strategy, investing in children from deprived backgrounds in school.

He vigorously defended privatisation of Royal Mail saying it was the only option to enble it to modernise as it wasn’t allowed to borrow.  He blamed the union for not co-operating. Iain pushed back on him as he thought the union leader was pretty reasonable from his interviews with him on LBC but Vince said that if they had co-operated, the privatisation would have brought in more money for the taxpayer. He also said that the most recent problems within Royal Mail were the result of bad management rather than the privatisation.

He considered resigning several times during the coalition years – over the  sting when he said some inappropriate things about the BSkyB takeover, when cuts started to hit his department, particularly in the further education sector and  towards the end when it was all going wrong.

He talked about his time as leader and the stroke which led to him stepping down. While he made a full recovery, he decided to stay quiet about it at the time in case it was seen as s sign of weakness.

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Caron Lindsay

Review: Iain Dale interviews Penny Mordaunt and Harriet Harman in Edinburgh

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 8th August 2023 - 7:53 pm

It’s Festival time in Edinburgh and I’ve been to my first shows since 2019. On Sunday, I went (with my parents, who would, I am sure, want me to make very clear that they are definitely not Lib Dems) to see Penny Mordaunt talk to LBC presenter Iain Dale.  It was probably the first time we had been to a show together since we saw The Great Soprendo in Wick Assembly Rooms circa 1980.

The venue, Edinburgh’s EICC, once the scene of a Lib Dem Spring Conference, is lovely. I was a bit worried that the unusually comfortable seats and low lighting would lull my Dad to sleep in the same way as he denies doing in front of the tv every night. But no, he was paying attention throughout.

There is also an ice cream stand to tempt you while you wait for the show with some very delicious flavours. This one is Lotus Biscoff and vanilla.

It’s worth saying at this point that Vince Cable will be appearing tomorrow at 1pm and Ed Davey on Saturday at 4pm. Click on the links for tickets.

A funny moment just as the show started. Someone’s phone went off and Iain started to berate the offender before realising it was his own.

Inevitably, the first part of the conversation  with Penny Mordaunt centred on her  starring role in the Coronation, how the incredible outfit she wore was designed, how it felt to carry those swords and the surprise of becoming a social media sensation.

The intention of these interviews is not to drag someone to Edinburgh and hand them their backside on a plate. However,  Iain doesn’t pass up the chance for news lines, asking her if she thought she would have been promoted had she not pushed so hard to cause a contest when Liz Truss stood down and if she still wanted to be Prime Minister. She very tactfully got round this by saying that she just makes the best of every opportunity she is given. She did say how much she loved working at the MOD though.  Possibly a job application.

Her long game seems to be to keep out of any of the existential arguments in the Conservative Party and bide her time. I can’t imagine that she would shy away from a third go at becoming Tory leader at some point in the future.  Her strategy seems to be outward looking. At one point she came out with “Everybody is a Conservative, they just don’t know it yet.” Had I not been within range of my mother’s death stare, I might have argued that one.

She slated the SNP for portraying a fierce nation as victims of Westminster and talked about how those of us who want the UK to stay together had to appeal to people’s hearts. She spoke about the importance of kindness and empathy in politics, exactly the sort of qualities  that are almost non existent in the Government of which she is a part.

It was a funny, classy hour with more light than heat. I wanted a wee bit more challenge to her but Mum and Dad loved it.

Yesterday’s conversation with Harriet Harman, however, gave me everything I wanted. The Labour MP has always been one of my heroes. Seeing a young, pregnant woman in a pink dress elected to Parliament inspired 14 year old me to believe that politics wasn’t just for shouty men. 

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Caron Lindsay

Are you planning on being an agent at the General Election?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 2nd August 2023 - 5:56 pm

If so, you’re an absolute hero. The job of agent, keeping the candidate and campaign on the right side of the law, recording donations and making the returns to the Electoral Commission is essential. It’s hard work and it doesn’t end on polling day. I feel like we need to appreciate those who act as agents more.

For this coming election, all election agents need to be certified by the Party as required by the Electoral Commission.  This is a really good thing as it means that every agent will have been through training and will know where to get help should they need it during the campaign. It also makes the job a lot less scary if you feel that you have the right tools at your disposal.

One or two day courses are being run all over the country in the next few months. I’ve signed up for one in, I think, November in Scotland.

It’s really important that every local party identifies who is going to be their agent soon and signs them up for a course.

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Caron Lindsay

Jo Swinson and Duncan Hames welcome third son

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 2nd August 2023 - 11:43 am

Former Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson and her husband Duncan Hames are getting used to being outnumbered by their children at the moment. On Friday night, their third son, Robin arrived.

Last night, his proud mum announced his arrival on Instagram

Welcome to the world, our baby boy Robin! Born at home on Friday night, a happy and healthy 8lb 3oz bundle of love.
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The best things come to those who wait, and though he didn’t appear until 17 days after his due date, he didn’t hang about in the end: first contraction to delivery a very intense 1hr 45mins!
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We’ll never know if it was the dates, raspberry leaf tea, curries, pineapple, birth ball bouncing, multiple sweeps, the more fun ways to induce labour or just the fact that he had to come out sometime. But – well – my waters broke 4 hours after @duncan.hames and I watched Barbie, maybe that was #kenough?

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Caron Lindsay

A huge moment in the US

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 2nd August 2023 - 9:36 am

It’s worth taking a moment to think about the enormity of the events in the US.

I remember that day, not far off 49 years ago, when the resignation of a US President was of such monumental importance that there was tv at breakfast time.

Almost half a century on, there’s a 24 hour news cycle and social media to chew over the fact that a former leader of the free world has been charged with trying to fraudulently overturn the result of the election in which he was defeated by Joe Biden.

You can read the whole indictment here on the Guardian’s website.

Its opening paragraphs are shocking:

Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than 2 months following the election day on 3 November 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false and the Defendant knew they were false. But the President repeated and disseminated them anyway, to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger and erode public trust in the administration of the election.

It’s about as far from the presidential oath, in which he promised to preserve, protect and defend the US constitution as you can get.

The indictment relies heavily on the fact that Trump and his co-conspirators knew what they were doing. A significant part of the evidence is based on the contemporaneous notes of Vice President Mike Pence. Trump had asked him not to declare the results of the election in Congress on 6 January and at one point, when Pence refused, told him that he was “too honest.”

The team from Pod Save America, one of my favourite US politics podcasts analyse the indictment here. Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor were all staffers during the Obama administration and set up Crooked Media in 2017.

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Caron Lindsay

Party Awards – just over a month to get your nominations in

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 23rd July 2023 - 11:55 am

There’s just over a month to get your nominations in for the party awards which will be presented at Autumn Conference.

You need to get your nominations together by 24th August.

All the information you need about how to do this is here.

The awards being presented in Bournemouth are:

The President’s Award

Eligibility: open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment.

Criteria: the winner will be recognised for outstanding commitment and service to the Party. Local, regional, and state parties should be seeking to nominate people who deserve recognition for their hard work, long service, and demonstrable dedication to the party, at whatever level. It is expected to be special awards to be awarded from the Party for whom public recognition is overdue. Nomination portal

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

Background: this award is named for Harriet Smith, who campaigned and worked tirelessly for the Party, notably alongside Paddy Ashdown, with the Federal Conference Committee, and in the Bath party. A beloved figure, she is also missed from the Conference revue and by the team at the Liberator Magazine.

Eligibility: open to any Party Member never elected to public office.

Criteria: the Harriet Smith Award shares its conditions with the President’s award. Nomination portal

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

Background: this award is named for legendary campaigner Belinda Eyre-Brook, whose achievements with the Party include being Ed Davey’s agent in 1997, overturning 15,000 Tory Majority, and establishing one of the party’s longest-serving MPs.

Eligibility: given to recognise and celebrate the efforts of people working for our elected representatives in their local areas – from local party employees to political assistants to council groups, to people working in MPs’ constituency offices.

Criteria: the winner of this award will care about their local area and be committed to the success of Liberal Democrats within it. Turning local political priorities into electoral success, and priorities for elected officials is a key part of the work of successful local Party figures – as is linking with the national party. Nomination portal

The Dadabhai Naoroji Award

Background: this award is named for the ‘Grand Old Man of India’, Liberal MP, and joint founder of the Indian National Congress, Dadabhai Naoroji. His work highlighting the reality of British rule over India and campaign for justice is an example to us all and his place in history, as the first non-white and first Indian Parliamentarian, is assured.

Eligibility: presented annually to the local Party that has done most to promote ethnic minority participants to elected office as Councillors, Assembly Members, Members of Parliament or Members of European Parliament.

Criteria: this award is designed to encourage local parties to work towards the goal of increasing their ethnic diversity to more accurately reflect the areas they represent, and to recognise those that already make a great effort to involve different communities in their work. Nomination portal

The Penhaligon Award

Background: this award is named for former MP David Penhaligon, a cherished former stalwart of the Cornish Party who took the seat of Truro in 1974. David was a prominent figure in the party and the nation and will always be remembered for his succinct advice to local campaigners: “‘stick it on a piece of paper and stuff it through a letterbox’.

Eligibility: any local Party

Criteria: presented to the local party anywhere in the world which demonstrates the most impressive increase in membership and exemplary activities to deliver and involve members and supporters. It recognises the hard work done to build a Party which is attractive and effective at a local level. Nomination portal

The Patsy Calton Award

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Caron Lindsay

Kicking off the weekend

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 22nd July 2023 - 11:03 am

Welcome to the first proper weekend of the Summer holidays,  in England at least. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, we’re about half way through.

Powys Lib Dems help low-income families during Summer holidays

For many of us, it’s a chance to relax and unwind with our families. For others, it can be an incredibly stressful time. For parents on low incomes, the Summer holidays can be a nightmare. In Powys, Liberal Democrats have helped a bit with that, as we reported earlier in the week, by finding the money to continue the vouchers for families entitled to free school meals in their area. It was shocking that the Welsh Government scrapped the scheme introduced by our Kirsty Williams when she was Education Minister.

Labour is doing its best to kick struggling low income families in the teeth with Keir Starmer’s announcement that Labour would not get rid of the two child limit on benefit claims. He’s got himself in hot water with his own party. I have to say that if I had been a single mother with 3 kids in Uxbridge,  struggling to pay the bills, I’d not have been inclined to go out and vote Labour on Thursday. They can blame ULEZ all they like for their narrow defeat, but could they have won if they had had anything hopeful to say to people living in poverty?

Somerton and Frome shout-outs

Of course, it’s always great to wake up on the Saturday after a glorious by-election win. The heroes of the campaign have, I hope, managed to get some sleep. A huge shout out to Paul Trollope, whose arrival in Somerset within 24 hours of the by-election being a reality got the short campaign off to a flying start. Ruth Younger, match fit from 3 by-elections already helped deliver Sarah Dyke’s victory yesterday.

I suspect all of the staff involved had plans for the Summer which probably involved getting some r and r before the build up to a General Election year. For the fourth time in two years, they mobilised and delivered a cracking campaign so well done to all of them.

And to everyone who travelled there, including the fair few who went from Scotland, a massive thank you.

One group of people who don’t often get thanked are the volunteers who host the Maraphones. Richard Huzzey, Jacquie Gammon, Stephanie Ouzman and Hannah Perkin have been running these events at least 4 days a week since June. On polling day, they were joined by Federal Conference Committee Chair Nick Da Costa who just popped in to make calls but ended up pulling a 12 hour shift as a host to help with the many people who joined in the event. Thousands of calls were made during the maraphones, to voters and to members to encourage them to go, which is crucial in the early days of the campaign to build momentum.

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Caron Lindsay

What on earth is Keir Starmer playing at by refusing to remove two child limit?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th July 2023 - 8:43 pm

One of the cruellest things that the Conservatives introduced was limiting benefits claims to two children.

Just last week, the Child Poverty Action Group and other children’s charities wrote to all party leaders highlighting the impact of this dreadful measure and calling for its removal.  They said:

The two-child limit is a discriminatory policy which is a clear breach of children’s human rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The two-child limit robs children of the basic joys of childhood. It forces parents to take out a loan to buy a school uniform. Children give up hobbies because of the costs associated, and they miss out on birthday parties as they cannot afford to bring a gift for a friend.

The cost of living crisis has made the impact of the policy even more acute. The number of affected families struggling to pay for gas, electricity and food has risen sharply in the last 12 months.

The two-child limit has a devastating effect on families like Joanna’s.  Joanna works full-time and lives with her partner and three children. Her partner is too unwell to work at the moment. They lose out on £270 a month due to the two-child limit. Joanna has struggled to keep up with rent payments and, in June 2023, her landlord was granted an outright possession order to evict the family. They have just 14 days to leave their home.

Scrapping the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty. It would lift 250,000 children out of poverty and mean 850,000 children are in less deep poverty.  This single policy change would transform the life chances of 1.5 million children across the UK, children like Joanna’s, who are currently facing homelessness.

Children deserve the chance to thrive, but continued inaction will permit a cohort of children to grow up in poverty, to miss out on play, to be held back at school and denied a better future. If nothing is done, over half of children in larger families will be growing up in poverty by 2027/28.

So I was genuinely shocked to see Keir Starmer tell Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday that Labour would retain this regressive, poverty increasing measure.

Of all the bad things the Tories have done, surely to goodness this would be one of the first to go?

For the avoidance of doubt, Liberal Democrats would get rid of it. We opposed it when the Tories brought it in and continue to do so.

UPDATE 20 July 9 am

In fact here is Ed telling Kay Burley exactly that yesterday.

As well as being the wrong thing to do morally, Starmer has now put himself in a position where he has picked an unnecessary fight with his party. Scottish Labour MSPs Monica Lennon and Pam Duncan Glancy expressed their frustration on Twitter:

They were joined by constituency Labour Parties, MPs and other MSPs.

Monica Lennon later wrote in the Daily Record:

Knowingly plunging children and their families into hardship is heartless and with the cost-of-living crisis hitting low-income families hard, it’s never been more vital to scrap the cap.

Many of those affected are working families, who despite grafting to provide for their kids, struggle to put enough food on the table in our unequal society. Single mothers are hit the hardest.

It’s no wonder many people are feeling scared and hopeless because the choice between heating and eating is no choice at all.

I agree with every word of that.

Starmer has given himself a problem he didn’t need to have.

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Caron Lindsay

10 years since Same Sex Marriage Act

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 17th July 2023 - 12:55 pm

One of the Lib Dems’ major achievements in coalition was giving same sex couples the right to marry. Today, it’s 10 years since the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 received royal assent. It would be another eight and a half months before the first marriages took place in England and Wales. Scotland would pass its own legislation on 4 February 2014.

Each of the Parliamentary stages saw mostly bright and cheerful vigils outside. The picture comes from the second reading in the Lords on 3rd June.

Brightness, positivity and reasonableness were the …

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Come and see Ed Davey and Vince Cable at the Edinburgh Festival

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 1st July 2023 - 10:55 am

Vince Cable and Ed Davey  are appearing at the Edinburgh Festival next month.

On Wednesday 9th August at 1pm, Vince will be taking part in Iain Dale’s All Talk and you can buy tickets here.  I went to a few of Iain’s shows back in 2019 and they were very entertaining and aimed at getting past message discipline and exposing the human being. This will be pretty easy with Vince. I say with great affection that message discipline was not always his biggest priority which is probably why he was so well liked. Rumours that the press team will be watching his performance from under a desk are exaggerated. Probably.

Under Vince’s leadership, the Liberal Democrats had some stunning results, winning 16 MEPs and gaining 700 councillors in 2019. We benefitted from a clear message, mission and purpose. And it was all the more remarkable that he led us with so much energy when facing his own health challenges, including having a mini-stroke in the Summer of 2018. However it was his economic credibility, his prediction of the 2008 economic collapse and telling Gordon Brown that he had gone from being Stalin to Mr Bean that he is perhaps best remembered for. He has had a fascinating life, from starting out as a Labour Councillor in Glasgow and the 70s, to marrying his first wife Olympia against his family’s wishes. And of course there was Strictly.

Ed will be appearing on Saturday 12 August, the Glorious Twelfth itself, at 4pm on Iain’s For the Many show with former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. You can buy tickets here. When his appearance was first announced, I wrote:

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Lib Dems put David Cameron right on same sex marriage

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 25th June 2023 - 1:52 pm

This week David Cameron wrote a gushy article for the Independent on how proud he was to have introduced same sex marriage.

I was prime minister, driving forward a bill that would allow gay people to get married. The opposition was fierce, from the Church, sections of the press, a number of party members (one even tore up their membership card in front of me), and from some of the MPs I was hoping would help to turn the bill into law.

People assume now that equal marriage was inevitable, that the bill sailed through Parliament without difficulty. It’s true that the majorities in favour were ultimately large ones (the House of Commons voted in favour by 400 to 175!). But the antipathy from so many quarters really did make me think on several occasions that we would have to drop it.

Talk about fairweather friend! He actually admitted that he thought he would have to put a stop to the measure.

His self-congratulatory re-writing of history concludes:

It is one of the achievements of which I am proudest (I usually make a joke about my “gay pride”). As with many things, it was tough, but it was worth the fight.

This would have been fine if it had been his fight. This was a Liberal Democrat idea and it was our Lynne Featherstone who made it happen. She did the hard yards before she was moved from the Home Office. She even wrote a book about it, which LGBT+Lib Dems cheekily reminded Cameron:

On Twitter, Lynne Featherstone herself thanked Cameron for supporting it. There’s a but, though.

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Rishi Sunak is as tin-eared as Thatcher

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 25th June 2023 - 11:04 am

I am absolutely livid this morning. I watched in disbelief as Rishi Sunak, without so much as the tiniest bit of empathy, said we all have to “hold our nerve” as interest rates rise higher than they have been in decades.

That is not going to go down well with the millions of homeowners who face having to find an average of £2900 more a year if they are unfortunate enough to have to remortgage in he next year as their fixed terms come to an end. This is on top of the double whammy of high inflation and energy prices.

A Prime Minister who does not have to worry about money telling people that he’s going to make unpopular decisions for their own good is never going to go down well, but he could at least have tried to do something to show that he was on their side.

I don’t think I have ever heard anything so tin-eared from a Prime Minister since Thatcher refused to listen to reason over the poll tax back in the early 90s and that did not end well for her.

Let’s be clear, people are at risk of losing their homes if they can’t keep up their mortgage payments, whether they are forced to sell or whether their home is repossessed. I lived through that in the 90s where every day I saw people having their homes repossessed. And sometimes it was the tenants, finding out at the last minute that bailiffs were coming to evict them, who would turn up in shock, seeking support and a way out of this horrible situation.

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Lib Dem Mathew Hulbert on LBC’s Cross Questions

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st June 2023 - 9:09 pm

Back in the day, BBC Radio Scotland did a panel show that was a bit like Any Questions. Sadly, it fell victim to budget cuts about six years ago, but it was great. And part of the reason was it didn’t just have people from inside the Holyrood or Westminster Bubbles on it. I did it several times over the years and really enjoyed the experience.

LBC have a similar show, Cross Questions, that has the same approach with a good variety of guests

Last night, former Lib Dem Councillor and friend of this site Mathew Hulbert was on the panel and he had had his Weetabix. `He articulated a clear, liberal position with real passion. He also had a go at Labour, saying Keir Starmer was so cautious he was constipated.

You can watch the whole thing here, but here are some of the highlights.

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Nowhere is Labour more constipated, to coin Mathew’s phrase, than on immigration. They are a few flights to Rwanda short of the Tories, which is a disgraceful position for any progressive party. So it was good to see some good, proper liberal thinking.

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Caron Lindsay

All the fun of the by-elections

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st June 2023 - 9:52 am

As a Liberal Democrat, possibly the most fun you can have, apart from Federal Conference, is going and helping at a by-election. And there’s plenty to choose from this mad Summer. Somerton and Frome, Mid Bedfordshire (when Nadine eventually gets round to resigning), Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Selby and Ainsty  are all due to happen soon.

There is something very pleasurable about going to a different part of the country and meeting other Lib Dems round every street corner.

I have been to a fair few in my time. And getting in there early is particularly key. Not just because it helps establish the party as the key challenger, but because the team is just getting together and it’s just fun to be around all that.

In 1995, my husband and I decided to pop in at the Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election for a day or so at the start of what we thought might be a week touring the North West. Well, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we ended up staying the entire week there and going home exhausted but happy. We went back for another weekend later in the campaign and I returned for polling week. I met many people there who have been lifelong friends.

Then there was the Dunfermline by-election in the middle of Winter when having no leader and there being a difficult media story every five minutes didn’t seem to matter as Willie Rennie’s positivity won the day. That actually came 4 months after a by-election on my own patch after the sudden death of the much-missed Robin Cook. It’s a completely different experience when you suddenly have to arrange to accommodate all the hundreds of Lib Dems who flock to help you.

Most recently, my trip to Llandrindod Wells in 2019 to help Jane Dodds by car, plane, bus, train and boat (because of course I was going to get off the airport bus at Cardiff Bay,  visit Ianto’s Shrine and head into the city by boat)  led me to a wonderful new friend and got me a bargain in the process. I had been sent out to a gorgeous village in the pouring rain with Margaret:

Margaret told me that this was her first by-election. She joined the party shortly after arriving at Edinburgh University to study medicine sixty years ago. She saw a poster saying “What do Liberals believe?” and thought she might like to find out.

A young man was speaking at the meeting about how we should have more co-operation with our European friends and look after the environment. We are nothing if not consistent. Margaret liked the sound of that and signed up on the spot.

She hasn’t had the time to get involved in active politics but an email from James Lillis inviting her to go to Brecon came at just the right time and she has thrown herself into the by-election since Tuesday.

I only hope that my utterly crap navigation skills have not put her off for life.

She had intended to go home yesterday but stayed over to come to the Pint with Peers featuring Kate Parminter, Dorothy Thornhill and Chris Humphries.

You can read the rest of mine and Paul Walter’s Brecon diaries here.

The pandemic and Long Covid has put paid to my desires to go to the by-elections we have won since the 2019 General Election, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help. On Monday I hosted my first of the Maraphones of the Mid Bedfordshire campaign. Every session, there is a mission we need to complete to help the campaign and if you have never done by-election phoning before, don’t worry. There are lots of people in the Zoom room who can help.

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Caron Lindsay

MBEs for Lib Dem Councillors Prue Bray and Heather Kidd

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 17th June 2023 - 10:17 am

Honestly, you think you know someone, and then you find out they were on Fifteen to One back in the 90s!

I found this out from Wokingham Today’s profile of my friend and Lib Dem Deputy Leader of Wokingham Borough Council Prue Bray who has been awarded an MBE for political and public service.

The Winnersh politician has been active in politics since the 1990s. She moved to Winnersh in May 1989, and was elected to Winnersh Parish Council in May 1995, and served as the Wokingham Liberal Democrat chair between 1997 and 2000.

She was elected to Wokingham District Council in 2000, and carried on as the council became the borough council.

As if that wasn’t enough, she has stood as the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Wokingham in the 2005 and 2010 general elections. She was also a finalist in the 1990 series of Channel 4 game show Fifteen To One.

Prue is, of course, well known for many roles in the English Party and is currently also a member of English Council. She is one of the wisest people I know and I am thrilled to see her work over decades recognised.

Ed Davey said:

Prue has always gone above and beyond for the Liberal Democrats, dedicating herself to voluntary service with little recognition or personal benefit herself.

Always willing to pitch in where needed, her wealth of knowledge has made a significant difference to our party. I am so thrilled she is getting the recognition she deserves.

Lib Dem Councillor Heather Kidd, who represents Chirbury and Worthen on Shropshire Council has been given the same award for services to rural communities. From Shropshire Live:

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Caron Lindsay

Is it just abortion law that needs reform after woman handed 28 month sentence?

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 13th June 2023 - 8:29 am

Carla Foster is waking up in prison this morning. Her three children are waking up without their mother for the first time in what will be a 14 month ordeal for them.

Ms Foster was given a 28 month sentence yesterday for inducing an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy.  There is controversy about whether a custodial sentence was appropriate in this case, particularly as there were so many mitigating factors. Coming just months after a man who repeatedly raped a 13 year old was shown leniency, it seems like yet another instance when women are disadvantaged in the legal system.

You can only imagine how desperate she must have been to take that course of action, under huge pressure in the middle of lockdown.

The Judge, in his sentencing remarks, made clear that she was a good mother to her children, one of whom is described as having “special needs which means he is particularly reliant on your love and support.”

I tend to take the view that you should only imprison people if they are a danger to the public and it is quite clear that Ms Foster is not.  The first step to rehabilitation is to acknowledge and feel remorse for whatever crime you have done and the Judge is clear in his sentencing remarks that she is traumatised by her actions. It’s hard to see what good locking her up does.

What is particularly egregious is the fact that she is actually in prison on a technicality. Had she pled guilty at an earlier stage, her sentence could have been suspended. Surely she would have been taking the advice of her legal team at that time? The consequences of this seem disproportionate. Maybe this aspect of the law needs to be reformed.

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Caron Lindsay

One resignation doesn’t make a Summer

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 10th June 2023 - 9:48 am

I’m sitting here in my shorts at barely 9am, fully suncreamed up. This, I can assure you, is an extremely rare state of affairs for Scotland, even at the height of Summer. It is also serendipitous that our warmest day of the year so far coincides with no Lib Dem meetings or other such commitments. So a day in the garden with books it is for me. And I need to take advantage because it is due to rain tomorrow.

To brighten my mood further, yesterday, two unpleasant right wing narcissists went at least some way to getting the come-uppance they deserved. The full details of Trump’s indictment are shocking. I’m sorry but nobody needs to keep nuclear secrets in their loo.

If Boris Johnson had stuck to the rules he imposed on the rest of us and not told Parliament things which were obviously untrue, then he wouldn’t be in the mess he is in.

But both men play to their bases with self-indulgent claims of victimisation. I don’t believe for a second Boris actually believes that the Privileges Committee outcome delivered to him on Thursday is a conspiracy between that wing of the Conservative Party that hates him, Harriet Harman and remainers, but he’s going to make himself sound like the victim. Unfortunately, too many will believe him. The chances of him being able to revive something of a political career out of raising a sense of grievance may seem slim, but I wouldn’t write him off completely. Give him a platform and a lot of someone else’s money and who knows where he will end up.

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Caron Lindsay

Heartfelt tributes to Elspeth Campbell

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 6th June 2023 - 8:19 am

I was so sad to hear that Elspeth Campbell, wife of former Lib Dem Leader Menzies Campbell for just a week short of 53 years, died yesterday morning.

His tribute to her had me in bits:

After more than 50 years of marriage, my bright, beautiful and witty Elspeth has gone.

She was my constant political companion, always my encouragement and forever my first line of defence.

When I had doubts about the leadership of the Liberal Democrats her advice was clear, she said “never say never.

She was renowned for her hosting of political Sunday lunches which often lasted well into the evening.

Her passion for politics, her support of me and her love of her family will be very much missed.

Anyone lucky enough to have been invited for lunch at their house were in for a treat. Great food and brilliant chat. Elspeth had an office in Scottish Lib Dem HQ for many years where she was a unique and sparkling presence. She was unfailingly kind and would have us in stitches with funny stories. We all loved her.

She did love to smoke and when the smoking ban came in  in 2006, it’s fair to say she was not a fan.

When you asked her how Ming was doing, her face would light up. Those two were an absolutely perfect match and I am sure all our hearts go out to him. They were married within three months of meeting back in 1970. I remember how worried we all were when Ming had Lymphoma back in 2002.

Alistair Carmichael paid a really lovely tribute to her on Facebook which he’s given me permission to reproduce here:

I have never smoked cigarettes and never really been tempted to. One of the few things that might have made me want to was the chance that it would have brought me into more regular contact with Elspeth Campbell. She was a force of nature and one of a kind.

I first met her in 1983 when Ming was standing for rector of Glasgow University.

I was waiting to hear him speak in a GUU debate but had taken myself up into the public gallery where I could eat my takeaway pakora which I was washing down with a pint of Tennent’s Lager.

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Caron Lindsay

Liberals must speak out against conservative attacks on divorce and same sex marriage

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 21st May 2023 - 6:30 pm

Last week, Conservative MP Danny Kruger made some controversial remarks about marriage at the awful National Conservative Conference in London. He said:

The second truth is that the normative family – held together by marriage, by mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children and the sake of their own parents and for the sake of themselves – this is the only possible basis for a safe and successful society.

“Marriage is not all about you. It’s not just a private arrangement. It’s a public act, by which you undertake to live for someone else, and for wider society; and wider society should recognise and reward this undertaking.

I guess it is good in a way that these comments are now considered controversial. It does show how far we have come in the past few decades. Christine Jardine, our equalities spokesperson said Mr Kruger’s comments

show just how utterly out of touch the Conservative Party is with modern day Britain.

Conservative MPs are happy to lecture families on how to live, while making life harder and harder for millions of families through the cost-of-living crisis and years of unfair tax rises.

East Midlands Lib Dem commentator Mathew Hulbert did a good interview on Peter Cardwell’s Talk TV programme:

Mathew said:

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Caron Lindsay

Memories of the 1983 General Election – Detention, a bonfire and the relief of victory

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 21st May 2023 - 4:30 pm

Like first love, your first General Election is a special and precious thing.

Mine was 1983 and this post is inspired by the earlier one about Simon Hughes’ 40th anniversary celebration.

It must be pretty much exactly 40 years since I first walked into Bob Maclennan’s campaign HQ in Wick to ask for a copy of the manifesto. It certainly was a Saturday afternoon about 3 weeks before the election. They didn’t have one, but it took them an impressively short time to persuade me to deliver leaflets for them.

But all didn’t go smoothly. There was a lady in her garden burning some rubbish. I put on my best and most charming smile, and handed the leaflet to her. She gave me an absolute death stare and tossed the leaflet on the burning pile. I later discovered that she was a leading light in the local Conservatives. I have to say, that if a young person from an opposition party handed me a leaflet, I’d be impressed that they were interested in politics and I’d be very nice to them.

Anyway, that didn’t put me off and I became an an enthusiastic part of the campaign team. At 15, I was obviously the youngest by a very long way. It was great to spend my first campaign in the company of Bob, his wife Helen, his agent Peter Kelly and Ken and Brenda Fraser who were my friend’s parents but became my friends. Bob’s staff Jeanne and Con were also up with him. They were an impressive bunch to learn from.

Campaigning was so different back in those days. We actually had to cut up the electoral register to make canvass cards.  I remember one soggy Friday when we all got on to this truck thing and drove around Wick, with posters and megaphones, generally annoying everyone.

For me, I had just finished my O Grade exams so didn’t have to be in school much during May unless I had an exam. However, about a week before the election on 9 June, I had permission to be out of school to compete in the Caithness Music Festival. My bit was finished earlier than I expected so Helen spirited me away to the other side of the county to go canvassing. Unfortunately, one of my teachers saw me get into her car, so I ended up with the only detention I ever had to do as a result. However, I had learned about how to canvass with warmth and the personal touch. If people weren’t in, Helen left them a personal note to come home to.

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Caron Lindsay

Celebration of Simon Hughes’ 40 years in public life

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 21st May 2023 - 12:30 pm

On Friday night Southwark Lib Dems had a celebration to mark Simon Hughes’ 40 years in public life.

I find it quite scary that it’s 40 years since I,  then a teenager in the far north of Scotland, was inspired by his victory in the Bermondsey by-election. Nobody expected him to hold the seat in the General Election 4 months later, nor at many subsequent elections. I remember the heart-stopping in one election in the late 90s early 2000s when the BBC flashed up that he had lost. And he was a huge loss from our parliamentary team when he finally did lose in the horrendous election of 2015.

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Caron Lindsay

Thousands denied vote in local elections due to voter ID law

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 20th May 2023 - 2:38 pm

As we start to work out the impact of the Conservatives’ attempt at voter suppression, early analysis shows that at least 10,000 people lost out on the chance to vote in the local elections in May. Figures released by local councils suggest include those refused inside the polling stations and don’t count those turned away by greeters on the door.

From the BBC

David Cowling, a former BBC polling expert who is now a visiting research fellow at King’s College London, also says it must be borne in mind that some voters initially turned away later return with ID.

He says evidence from metropolitan borough councils, and the pilots, suggests around 60% of people initially refused a ballot return with valid ID – producing a rough figure of 0.2% refusals of the votes cast.

“That’s arguably 0.2% fewer people than there should be not participating – but on the other hand, it doesn’t seem to me that the death of democracy is on the agenda either,” he told BBC Radio 4’s More or Less.
He adds, however, that there are “imponderables” in the council data, including the fact that people turned back by so-called greeters outside polling stations were not included in the published figures.

This first outing for voter ID has taken place at a relatively low turnout set of elections. Turnout in the General Election will be higher and potentially more people will lose out on the opportunity to have their say.

This initial analysis comes in the week when Jacob Rees-Mogg basically admitted at the dreadful National Conservative conference that the measures had been introduced to boost Conservative support but he argued that they had lost the party votes:

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey to LGBT+ Community: I support you, I stand with you

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 17th May 2023 - 3:30 pm

Today is the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.It’s great to see Ed Davey state unequivocally the party’s commitment to and record of delivery of LGBT+ rights. Watch his video here.

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Caron Lindsay

Daniel Callaghan will take on Rishi Sunak for Lib Dems at General Election

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 14th May 2023 - 3:08 pm

I was so chuffed to see the result of the Lib Dem selection in the Richmond, Yorkshire constituency of the Prime Minister. Daniel Callaghan, who will take on Rishi Sunak at the election is a former colleague of mine.  He is fantastic to have on your team – calm, clear, hard-working and he has a brilliant sense of fun.

Daniel now works in public affairs in the  science and technology sector.

Born into an army family at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, he grew up in  Catterick and Richmond, attending Richmond’s St Francis Xavier Secondary School and  then Darlington Sixth Form College. He sat on the Richmond Youth Council and forged  links working in several local businesses before leaving to work and study in Bath, Paris  and London. 

After his selection, Daniel said:

Having grown up in the constituency and being personally connected with  many here, I know first-hand the issues that people in our towns and villages are facing.  This is the place I will always call home and my deeply held love for this area and for the  people here is the reason I want to be their voice in Parliament.

Philip Wicks, Chair of Richmond (Yorks) LibDems added,

We are delighted to have such  an experienced political campaigner as our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. Daniel  has been at the heart of some of our Party’s big success stories – working with the team  in Bath, and with MPs Christine Jardine and Tim Farron. That knowledge, combined with  the fact his roots are firmly embedded in our area, make him the perfect choice to take  the fight to the Conservatives here in Rishi Sunak’s own back yard.

Stokesley Councillor Bryn Griffiths, Leader of the Opposition on the new North  Yorkshire Council noted that Daniel was ideally placed to represent the party:

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Caron Lindsay

Want to know who Ed Davey would snog, marry and avoid?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th May 2023 - 11:55 am

Ed Davey is heading to Edinburgh on Saturday 12th August to take part in the For the Many Podcast with Iain Dale and former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Tickets, which cost £17, are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance by snapping them up here.

I hope he knows what he is letting himself in for as these shows can be quite the wild ride with a generous helping of smut and comedy alongside the politics. There’s usually a bit of snog, marry, avoid and in the most recent live show, outgoing Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price was asked which politicians he would like to see on Naked Attraction. There are some questions to which “none” is the only acceptable answer. To be fair, the live shows are usually less lurid than the weekly episodes, the audience providing a reminder that someone else is actually listening.

I reckon our Ed will handle himself pretty well as long as he realises that there are few boundaries. He is, I think, much better at these sorts of informal events than at the big set piece speeches.

For the Many has been going since 2017 and, if my calculations are correct, will hit its 400th episode during its Edinburgh run. I started listening to it by accident just before Christmas last year and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Since, I’ve gone back to listen to some of the episodes covering Brexit, Covid and the ongoing Tory psychodrama. As you would expect, Lib Dems don’t usually get the credit we deserve in their analysis so I generally fall asleep during the serious bits and wake up in fits of rib-breaking laughter at some of the outrageous filth they come out with.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems challenge coronation arrests

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th May 2023 - 10:25 am

Back in the 1930s, there was a deep suspicion amongst courtiers of broadcasting royal events on the radio. They worried that the events would be demeaned by men listening to them in public houses with their hats on. Ninety years on, these courtiers would have been utterly disgusted at the prospect of women watching last Saturday’s coronation (as I did) on their phones on sunbeds in Spain, one pina colada to the good.

I hadn’t intended to watch any of it while I was away on my first ever girls’ holiday. Truth be told, I’d had trouble even mustering up indifference. However, one of our party had a friend participating and she wanted to see if she could spot him.

So I managed to marvel at some of the proceedings, including Penny Mordaunt’s impressive sword-holding while dressed as every Tory Boy’s Thatcherite fantasy.

However much I like the spectacle, I am far from convinced that a hereditary monarchy, even one with few powers, is the best way for our country to be governed. I am not too exercised by the question, though, as there are many more pressing things – including giving people the Parliament they ask for – that need to be done.

I totally get why protesters from the organisation Republic might want to make their point by protesting in the run up to the coronation. They have every right to do so in a democratic society. Yet heavy handed action by the Police saw protesters, and in one case a royal fan who was there to enjoy the day, arrested and deprived of their liberty for hours.  A retrospective expression of regret by the Police is just not good enough.

The events showed the flaws in the recently passed Public Order Act, exactly as our people in Parliament had warned as it was debated.

As you would expect, Lib Dems have been highly critical of the arrests. Alistair Carmichael, our Home Affairs spokesperson, said on Twitter:

Tim Farron said that tolerating protest would be the “most utterly British thing imaginable:

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Caron Lindsay

Stella Creasy is right – trolls who make malicious complaints should face consequences

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 29th April 2023 - 4:24 pm

Being a woman on the internet in possession of an opinion has long been a wild ride. For most women in public life, abuse is so much worse than a man would get. And I think most of us are so used to it that we barely flinch unless the abuse directly threatens us or the people we love.

The misogynistic trolls who spend so much of their time trying to make life miserable for women they don’t agree with rarely face consequences. Now one of them has found a new way to persecute a high profile feminist and has got away with it.

Labour MP Stella Creasy has described in today’s Times (£) how a misogynistic troll went as far as reporting her to social services, saying that her views on violence against women and girls put them at risk. How on earth wanting to make misogyny a hate crime puts anyone at risk is beyond me.

Thankfully her local social services didn’t take long to realise that it was actually Stella who was at risk. But when the MP complained to the Police, she was shocked at the outcome:

The police accept that his behaviour is harassing but aren’t treating this as a crime because “as you had kids he was worried that your views would affect their upbringing, this belief was genuine and not by any sort of hate”.

At no point have they expressed any concern about the impact of this incident on my children, instead claiming that, as I am an elected representative, I should “expect” to be challenged in this way.

As Stella says, this is just another example of the institutionalised misogyny of the Police laid bare in the Casey Report.

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Caron Lindsay

The Tolley Report is worse than you might think from the media reporting

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 23rd April 2023 - 2:03 pm

I have spent this morning reading Adam Tolley KC’s report into the complaints about Dominic Raab’s behaviour. Of its 48 pages, the first half is devoted to the process and dealing with multiple criticisms of his methods from Dominic Raab. It’s always interesting that those accused of bullying behaviours often spend a lot of time picking holes in the investigations against them that could arguably have been spent reflecting on their own behaviour and its impact on others.

Tolley’s conclusions are being spun as though Raab has not been found to have done much wrong and that he had to deal with these civil servants who were not up for doing his bidding.  Raab makes much of the conclusion that he didn’t swear at people or throw anything at them as though overt aggression is the only way to intimidate people.

In addition to the two findings of fact that led to Raab’s resignation, Tolley criticises his Raab’s “black and white” approach:

The DPM tends to take a clear view of an issue, whatever it may comprise. This applies across the range of matters with which he deals, from policy decisions to the presentational format of papers. In the context of the investigation, this approach manifested itself in what I considered to be a somewhat absolutist approach in his response to certain points, such as whether a particular conversation had occurred, either at all or in a certain way. His responses were frequently put in ‘black or white’ terms, with no room for nuance even where nuance might reasonably be expected. I did not find this approach persuasive.

Tolley also makes the very valid point that even though Raab does not appear to have held grudges against individuals, it was understandable that they didn’t see it quite that way:

The DPM tends to ‘wipe the slate clean’ from one occasion to the next; he will neither expect to offer criticism nor necessarily offer it. What is, however, also apparent is that some officials, not used to the DPM’s approach, may reasonably anticipate that one occasion of criticism from the DPM will necessarily lead to another. The anticipation of criticism may well be
inhibiting to good performance.

The report paints a picture of someone with insufficient emotional intelligence or self awareness to be trusted with leading a department and enacting any transformational change.

Tolley goes out of his way to commend the civil servants’ sincerity and hard work.

I find that the complainants were in every case acting in good faith in raising concerns which they genuinely held. In some cases, their experience involved a significant adverse impact on their health. While I have not been able to reach any findings on whether such effects were in fact caused by the DPM’s conduct, I recognise and accept that the impacts communicated to me had genuinely been experienced.

And far from being the “snowflakes” that some would suggest, they are well aware of the high pressure environment and high quality of work expected.

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