Author Archives: Mary Reid

Mary Reid

Chester sends a message to Rishi

By Mary Reid | Fri 2nd December 2022 - 10:12 am

Labour held on to Chester in the Parliamentary by-election yesterday. That was, of course, no surprise; even the swing of 12% could have been predicted. But the Tories vote share was down not by 12% but by 16%, with support haemorrhaging in all directions.

Lib Dems put up a candidate and benefitted from that in a small way, with their vote share up 1.5%. So thank you to Rob Herd for flying the flag for the party.

Meanwhile something interesting is happening in the Tory held seat of Totnes. There is a call for the three main opposition parties to agree to put forward just one opposition candidate. Voters would select which of three opposition candidates they want to stand through the South Devon Primary process.

The idea of using a primary to select a candidate is not new to the constituency. Sarah Wollaston was selected for the Conservatives in an open primary and she subsequently won the seat in 2010, which she retained comfortably in the 2015 and 2017 elections. In 2019 she left the Conservatives and joined the Change UK group, then the Liberal Democrats.

Later that year Wollaston was defending the seat again but this time as a Liberal Democrat. The Green candidate stood aside, but the Tory still won. But the combined votes for our candidate and for the Labour candidate were pretty close to the Conservative vote. With the current collapse of Tory support this makes the seat winnable by someone other than a Tory. It remains to be seen whether the proposed South Devon Primary will find favour with local Lib Dems as well as with Labour.

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Mary Reid

Antidisestablishmentarianism

By Mary Reid | Wed 30th November 2022 - 12:50 pm

Yesterday’s report from the ONS showed that less than 50% of the population of England and Wales identified as Christian in the 2021 Census. This had led to calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England. It also gives me the opportunity to use the longest word in the English language. The fact that the word dates back to the 19th century shows that there is a long history to the call to reduce the formal role of the Church of England in public life – and opposition to it.

Note that disestablishment only relates to the Church of England. It does not refer to the worldwide Anglican communion, which includes the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of Ireland. To confuse things further, we all noticed that at his Accession King Charles sign a declaration of protection of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian and not Anglican.

A personal disclosure – I am an active member of the Church of England. However, as you will see, that does not mean I support its current political role.

I imagine we all know the 500 year history of the origins of the Church of England. Henry VIII enacted the Brexit of his day, and separated the English branch of the church from its Roman “masters”. Of course, the English Church had existed for over a thousand years before that, in its former Catholic form, and had had a huge impact on the culture, from its amazing buildings, its ancient learnings, its art and music, to its moral direction. However, Henry politicised the church in a way that hadn’t happened before.

Whilst the history is fascinating it has led us to a situation which in some ways is not in tune with today’s values.  The established church in England is central to many aspects of our cultural life including major public ceremonies from Remembrance Sunday to Coronations, and there is a question mark over all of these. In August the House of Commons Library published a briefing paper on The relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom. It covers all the attempts at reform over the past century.

However the current arguments for disestablishment tend to focus on two areas – membership of the House of Lords and compulsory worship in schools.

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Mary Reid

A marriage made in Portsmouth

By Mary Reid | Fri 25th November 2022 - 2:44 pm

One of our readers came across this BBC Parliament documentary about the merger of the Liberals and the Social Democrat Party in 1987-88. It was first broadcast in 2008 to mark the 20th Anniversary.

Enjoy!

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Mary Reid

So what is your political word of the year?

By Mary Reid | Wed 23rd November 2022 - 9:41 am

The OUP publishers normally select the Oxford word of the year, and last year they chose vax.  However this year they are asking the public to vote. Mind you, rather like the Tory leadership election, they are only offering a very short shortlist to choose from.

This year the words on the ballot are metaverse, #IStandWith and goblin mode. I must confess that I have never used the last phrase, but it usefully fills a gap in my vocabulary.

Collins also produce their word of the year. Last year it was NFT and in 2020, predictably, it was lockdown.

I have been watching The Crown, and eventually we reached the episode in which Charles and Camilla have that cringemaking conversation about Tampax. But I was surprised that the dialogue actually started by him asking her for feedback on a speech he was planning on the threats to the English language, in which he bemoaned the degradation of our beautiful language.  Note, this may or may not have been said in the actual conversation – I have done my research and can’t find it in any transcripts – but we know that it accords with his views. I think we can safely assume that Charles would not be happy with the shortlisted words of the year, or indeed of any year.

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Mary Reid

An “existential crisis” for English Councils

By Mary Reid | Wed 16th November 2022 - 3:45 pm

It has been many years since Councils have felt they had enough funding to provide the services that their residents need. For most of this century they have been cutting many non-essential and non-statutory services, such as youth clubs, and they have been outsourcing some essential services to cheaper and, in some cases, inexperienced and inadequate providers. And the cuts have happened year on year, so what seems unthinkable one year becomes a reality the next.

The core Council services are around housing and social care, for adults and children, plus a number of environmental services such as recycling and waste collection. Social care supports the most vulnerable, from essential care for the elderly and those with disabilities, to support for families in crisis and providing for looked after children. Most Councils also support an active volunteer sector with its increasing provision of food banks, as sure indicator that all is not well with society.

Throughout all this the Westminster government has been adding extra responsibilities to local government, but not the funding needed to meet them, all the while passing the blame onto Councils.

Councils get the bulk of their income from Council tax, business rates and central Government grants. The latter consists of the main revenue support grant, plus ring-fenced grants which simply pass through the Councils accounts and directly out to recipients, such as housing benefits and school funding. The formula for allocating the revenue support grant is shrouded in mystery, but seems to be based on historical assessments of need rather than current need.  It has also reduced on average by 50% in recent years, and some Councils get precisely zero in revenue support.

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Mary Reid

Sarah Olney (and other Lib Dems) on the problem of night flights

By Mary Reid | Wed 9th November 2022 - 12:08 pm

Sarah Olney was granted an adjournment debate yesterday, so took the opportunity to visit an issue that plagues her constituency – aircraft noise, especially at night. She was joined by her neighbouring MP, Munira Wilson, whose Twickenham constituency is affected even more. Christine Jardine and Wera Hobhouse also chipped in. Who knew so many Lib Dem constituencies had this problem?

You can read the full debate in Hansard, but here are some highlights.

Sarah Olney:

Night flights are the most intrusive form of aircraft noise and there is clear evidence that they harm both the physical and mental health of residents who live under flightpaths. This summer, the delays and chaos at Heathrow airport resulted in an increased number of flights landing through the night. For my constituents and for many others across west and south-west London, that disturbance resulted in countless sleepless nights.

This disturbance is completely avoidable. Night flights are by no means essential for airport operations. These flights can and should be moved and it is within the Government’s remit to ensure that that happens.

I therefore have two asks of the Department for Transport. My primary call is for a ban on scheduled flights at Heathrow airport between 11 pm and 6 am.  That is the only way we can be sure that residents will not continue to suffer from noise disruption. If the Government will not commit to that, they must commission a full independent analysis of the impact of night flights on the health of local communities, the environment and the UK economy to inform future policy development.

Munira Wilson:

My constituency of Twickenham is, of course, that bit closer to Heathrow and further along the flightpath, so I wholeheartedly welcome and support the two asks that she is making of the Minister today about trying to balance the economic benefits of night flights against the health risks and the distress that they cause to constituents. Does she agree that the Government could start by looking at extending the night-time restriction to 10 pm, from 11.30 pm, given the large number of frequent late-night departures that are blighting my constituents’ sleep?

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Lord Sharkey on protecting pensions

By Mary Reid | Wed 9th November 2022 - 9:14 am

Lib Dem peer John Sharkey has written in Politics Home under the headline “We must protect the triple lock on pensions ahead of a difficult winter“. He writes:

For the second time in a month, pensioners have been plunged into uncertainty over the future of their payments with the new Prime Minister refusing to take anything off the table ahead of the fiscal statement.

The triple lock was a core Liberal Democrat policy brought in by the Coalition government and we are determined to protect it throughout this turbulent time in politics.

This is in spite of the pledge by Rishi Sunak to uphold the 2019 Conservative manifesto which states “We will keep the triple lock”.

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey’s Autumn Speech in full

By Mary Reid | Sun 6th November 2022 - 1:46 pm

Here is the full text of Ed Davey’s speech, given at 1pm today.

Good afternoon friends.

It was an enormous privilege to represent our party, and my Kingston and Surbiton constituents, at the funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Beneath the splendour of Westminster Abbey, surrounded by dignitaries from nations around the world – It was a beautiful memorial to a life of faith, devoted to our country and our Commonwealth. And a poignant celebration of values we all hold dear:

Patriotism. Compassion. Service. Values embodied by Her Majesty.

We thank her again. And we welcome her son, King Charles III, to the

…

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Mary Reid

Watch Ed Davey’s Autumn speech

By Mary Reid | Sun 6th November 2022 - 11:48 am

This post has been deleted.

For Ed Davey’s speech go to www.libdemvoice.org/ed-daveys-autumn-speech-71887.html

 

 

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Mary Reid

Autumn Leader’s Speech

By Mary Reid | Sat 5th November 2022 - 3:17 pm

We missed our usual Leader’s Speech in September when conference was cancelled following the death of the Queen. So instead Ed Davey will be delivering a major speech tomorrow (Sunday 6th November) from 12.50pm.

You can watch the speech live here.

Whilst most of the speech is under wraps until tomorrow, we have had some trailers, most notably in his proposal to make it a legal right for patients to see a GP within a week.

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey calls for legal right to see GP within 7 days

By Mary Reid | Fri 4th November 2022 - 3:37 pm

Getting a doctor’s appointment is becoming more and more of a challenge. Whether it means explaining in detail to a non-qualified receptionist who triages requests, or having to grapple with an inflexible online booking system, or having to join a phone queue at 8am exactly, or even filling in an online form just to be put in another triage queue – the processes seem designed to make you think it’s not worth it. They are particularly trying for anyone who is elderly, sick or in pain, or who has a chronic medical condition, and these, after all, take up a large proportion of appointments.

During the pandemic we got used to phone and video consultations, but we all knew these were not the most effective way to make a diagnosis, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that serious conditions were missed. It may still make sense for a doctor to hold an initial remote conversation, but only if an in-person appointment can be made speedily if needed.

But the delays in getting appointments is very real. Years ago no-one would have been offered a GP appointment in two weeks’ time for a new condition, and yet that is what is happening now.

Ed Davey is announcing plans to give us all the legal right to see a GP within a week (or 24 hours if urgent). It is certainly an indicator of the stresses within the NHS if a week’s delay is seen as an improvement. He has unearthed data which shows that 25% of people in some areas have to wait over two weeks for an appointment.  This is in the context of the two week target for suspected cancer cases to be seen by a specialist, where the clock only starts once someone has actually seen their GP. That wait could be doubled if they can’t get a GP appointment immediately.

The proposal is that this right would be enshrined in law, thus putting a duty on the Government to ensure that it happens.  Of course, it can only be achieved if the recruitment and retention of GPs is improved, and that requires action at the highest level.

So watch out for the announcement in Ed’s major speech at the weekend – designed to replace the missed Conference speech. Ahead of that he has said:

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Mary Reid

I’m a Westminster celebrity – get me out of here!

By Mary Reid | Fri 4th November 2022 - 8:59 am

Former MPs have livened up reality shows – think Ed Balls on Strictly, Edwina Currie on I’m a Celebrity and Ann Widdecombe on just about everything. And dare I mention that Lembit Öpik became a Pointless Celebrity? All of those had left Westminster behind when they were invited to appear in the shows, so they were free to build their careers in other directions, however bizarre.

However, some were still serving MPs when they were lured into the world of constructed reality. George Galloway famously gave us a cringeworthy performance of a cat on Celebrity Big Brother. Penny Mordaunt belly-flopped in Splash! Nadine Dorries ate unmentionable things in the I’m a Celebrity jungle.

So were they disciplined in the same way as Matt Hancock has been for taking off for a spell in the back yard of a hotel in Australia? George Galloway represented the Respect Party at the time of his embarrassing entry into reality TV – not a party known for its internal discipline. The Conservative whip was removed from Nadine Dorries for some months after her appearance, but her misdemeanour didn’t stand in the way of her becoming Culture Secretary. Penny Mordaunt was criticised by the Opposition but was not penalised by her party, probably because Splash! was not so much of an … immersive … experience.

Tim Farron reveals that he has been asked to appear in a number of similar shows.

(Tim Farron) said the TV appearances would have been great fun but that his job was to serve his constituents and not swan off for weeks on end doing reality TV.

If you do, by any chance, tend to watch I’m a Celebrity I think you know who to vote for the Bushtucker trials this year.

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Mary Reid

Daisy Cooper asks Sunak about the future of hospital funding

By Mary Reid | Wed 26th October 2022 - 6:15 pm

Today Daisy Cooper asked a question during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Two weeks ago she asked a very similar question of the then Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and received a very evasive answer.

Did she get any further this time?

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Mary Reid

The Government must protect the triple lock on pensions

By Mary Reid | Wed 26th October 2022 - 4:18 pm

Our saintly Steve Webb – the Lib Dem pensions expert who became Pensions Minister during the coalition – created the triple lock pledge on pensions. Here he is talking about its history.

And the only thing that Liz Truss did that was commendable on the economy – admittedly under pressure – was to reaffirm the triple lock in her final Prime Minister’s Questions last week.

As a reminder, the triple lock on state pensions means that they will rise by average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is the highest.

So it is hugely disappointing to realise the Rishi Sunak is refusing to commit on the triple lock, which presumably means that it is “under review” in the run-up to the Budget on 17th November.

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Mary Reid

Wendy Chamberlain’s Carer’s Leave Bill

By Mary Reid | Fri 21st October 2022 - 5:04 pm

Today Wendy Chamberlain spoke on her Carer’s Leave Bill, which has cross-party support and passed its second reading.

Carer’s UK have described this as a ‘landmark’ piece of legislation which would help carers to better balance work and care.

Last month Wendy held an event with major employers to explain her proposals, which were met with widespread support. She points out this is only a small step to recognise the vitally important work of unpaid carers but one that will be appreciated. There are already systems in place to support parents in their caring responsibilities, but nothing for those who care for adults, usually family members.

Scottish Lib Dems added their support.

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Mary Reid

The fallout

By Mary Reid | Fri 21st October 2022 - 3:43 pm

Lib Dems have been busy today dealing with the fallout from the resignation of Britain’s shortest ever Prime Minister. I’ll rephrase that – the British Prime Minister who served for the shortest time in office EVER (although the original version is probably also true, if of no political significance).

First, all departing Prime Ministers are entitled to an annual allowance for the rest of their lives of £115,000 to cover office costs. This was covered in a press release yesterday, where Christine Jardine is urging her not to take it. Today Ed Davey told LBC radio:

Most people have to work at least 35 years to get a full state pension. I think working 45 days shouldn’t give you a pension that is many many times what ordinary people out there get after a lifetime of work.

Second, traditionally Prime Ministers can hand out peerages and other honours in a resignation list. Boris Johnson has only just honoured 29 people in that way. Another tranche following so soon from Liz Truss would be completely inappropriate. Wendy Chamberlain, Lib Dem Chief Whip, has written to the Chair of Parliamentary and Political Service Committee:

As you know, it is traditional upon a Prime Minister’s departure from office for them to issue a ‘Resignation Honours’ list. This list signifies individuals who are to be rewarded with an honour from the King which, in turn, would be considered by your committee.

However, because of the unprecedented circumstances surrounding Liz Truss’s tenure and resignation, I am writing to urge you and the committee to reject any Resignation Honours list put forward by her.

Liz Truss will be the shortest serving Prime Minister in British political history. It is possible that by the time she formally resigns, she will not have held office for more than 50 days.

I do not believe that it would be appropriate for Liz Truss to be permitted to issue a resignation honours list, given the extremely short length of her tenure.

I urge you to make it clear that you and your fellow committee members would not sign off on any such honours, which would be the second list in a matter of months.

Third, there is a lot of concern that Boris Johnson is thinking of entering the leadership contest. This was, of course, the Prime Minister who was only persuaded to stand down after 50 ministers resigned. As also mentioned in press releases our MPs have now tabled a motion to stop anyone who has broken the law while in Government from ever becoming Prime Minister. It reads:

That this House believes that the upholding of standards by its Members is of vital importance to the functioning of UK democracy; believes that it is vital that the Prime Minister and Ministers uphold these standards; and therefore resolves that any honourable or right honourable member that is found to have broken the law whilst in Government should be barred from holding Prime Ministerial Office.

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey gets no comfort in Prime Minister’s Questions

By Mary Reid | Wed 19th October 2022 - 2:20 pm

Today at PMQs Ed Davey asked about carer’s allowances. He started by referring to the daily care that one disabled child needs and asked how carers can meet the additional costs this winter. In particular, he demanded that carer’s allowance should be raised in line with inflation.

Mr Speaker, millions of family carers have been forced to cut back on food and heating. One told Carers UK: ‘My son is incontinent… if we don’t wash him in warm water several times a day this will cause him to physically decline. So how do we pay for the gas to heat the water if we are currently at max budget?’

Vulnerable people and carers are struggling enough already in this cost-of-living crisis, Mr Speaker. So will the Prime Minister guarantee that support for the vulnerable – including Carer’s Allowance – will rise by at least today’s inflation rate of 10.1%?

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Mary Reid

Meet the candidates for Party President

By Mary Reid | Wed 19th October 2022 - 12:45 pm

Update: Since this post was published we understand that the date for the hustings for England will be rearranged. We will update you as soon as we can.

Following on from the Newbies Guide to the party elections we now have the dates for the presidential hustings.

There are three candidates for President of the Liberal Democrats:

  • Lucy Nethsingha
  • Mark Pack
  • Liz Webster

Three online hustings have been arranged, one each for England, Wales and Scotland.

  • England: Sunday 23rd October, 6pm to 8pm  New date Thursday 27th October, 6pm to 8pm
  • Wales: Wednesday 26th October, 6pm to 8pm
  • Scotland: Sunday 30th October, 1.15pm to 2pm.

These meetings are for members only. You do need to book here in order to receive the link to the online event.

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Mary Reid

Lib Dems demand Parliament must sit tomorrow

By Mary Reid | Fri 14th October 2022 - 4:43 pm

On a fast moving day in Downing Street, Lib Dems have called for Parliament to sit tomorrow so that Jeremy Hunt can deliver a new fiscal statement. This is sorely needed to calm markets before they open on Monday.

Sarah Olney is our Treasury spokesperson and she says:

This government has overseen a slow-motion car crash as Britain’s economy barrels towards disaster. For weeks Ministers have sat on their hands as their mini-budget unfolded. Parliament must sit tomorrow so we can hear from this new Chancellor.

Every day this disastrous Conservative Government staggers on, it plunges Britain into more turbulence and pain. Rather than show leadership, they’ve just delivered more chaos and confusion. After shamefully cutting her press conference short this afternoon, the Prime Minister and her new Chancellor must come to the House of Commons tomorrow to face questions from MPs.

As the revolving door at Number 11 continues the very least the latest one can do is come to Parliament tomorrow and deliver an urgent statement putting the final nail in the coffin of this budget.

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Mary Reid

Reactions to the churn

By Mary Reid | Fri 14th October 2022 - 2:15 pm

So Kwasi Kwarteng is out and Jeremy Hunt is in. How long can Liz Truss last after today’s extraordinary moves?

Prominent Lib Dems have, of course, been giving us their take on the news:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think we can see a clear message here!

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Mary Reid

Daisy Cooper on PMQs

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 7:18 pm

Daisy Cooper had a question about hospitals with dangerous roofs at Prime Minister’s Questions today. Bizarrely Liz Truss seems to be answering a totally different question.

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Mary Reid

Candidates announced for internal party elections

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 2:13 pm

Nominations for the party elections closed this week and the full list of candidates has now been published.

There are three candidates for Party President: Lucy Nethsingha, Mark Pack and Liz Webster, but only one for Vice President: Amna Ahmad.  Only three people have been nominated for the three places for Scottish representatives on the Federal Council, but all the other committee places are fully contested so we can expected lengthy ballot papers.

The ballots, which for most of us will be online, will be sent out on 25th October.

The makeup of each body is subject to diversity rules which you can read at the bottom of this page.

Note that this post is announcement only. We have turned off comments to avoid references to individual candidates.

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Mary Reid

How will the Coronation affect local elections?

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 10:12 am

It has been announced that the Coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday 6th May 2023 (although that news on the BBC was quickly eclipsed by the information that he will be appearing in The Repair Shop).

So how will that affect the local elections due to take place on Thursday 4th May? These will include elections to a number of metropolitan, unitary, district and parish Councils that elect by thirds, together with many where the whole council will be elected, plus some directly elected Mayors.

There are several factors to take into account:

  1. Many Councils now do the count on Friday during the day, instead of overnight, and some carry on into the Saturday, especially where there are elections at several levels. Parish Councils are normally counted on Saturday.
  2. We would expect a day to be announced as a Bank Holiday in lieu of the Saturday. Could that be on the Friday?
  3. The week will be full of news on all media of the preparations for the Coronation which could deplete turnout.
  4. Is it possible that the coverage in the run-up to the event, with a lot of patriotic fervour, may sway voters?
  5. If the results are bad for the Conservatives – which would not be surprising! – this news will be conveniently buried.

Your thoughts, please.

Note that this is a post about the impact of a major national event on local elections – it is not about the monarchy itself. 

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Mary Reid

Vast majority of burglaries are unsolved

By Mary Reid | Wed 5th October 2022 - 10:18 am

You would think that police would be obliged to attend all household burglaries, wouldn’t you? Apparently they don’t. And even when they do the chances of them actually finding the criminal is very slim.

In England and Wales last year 73% of all domestic burglaries were unsolved. An even smaller percentage (3.5%) resulted in someone being charged. Put another way, in the last five years 1.4 million burglaries went unsolved. And the percentage resulting in a charge has gone down year on year so that by last year it was less than half that in 2017 (which was bad enough, anyway).

These figures were provided in a press release today from the Lib Dem Media Team. You can see the police figures, broken down by area, here.

So now we hear that police forces in England and Wales have pledged to attend every home burglary. This would appear to be the minimum expectation on a police force. I can’t imagine how devastating it would be for a person to come home to find their home has been broken into, and items stolen, but when they report it to the police no-one comes to investigate. However we have to ask whether this will increase the clear-up rate. Or more pertinently why the clear-up rate is so low.

We have a comment from Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael:

It is devastating for victims that the overwhelming majority of burglaries go unsolved.

While this is a positive step, without proper resources from the Government this pledge risks being nothing more than a box-ticking exercise.

The Conservatives are letting down victims and allowing burglaries to run rife.

Ministers must give police the officers, time and resources they need to properly investigate crime.

The fear of crime has a noxious effect on our social lives, whether it makes women afraid of going out after dark, or keeps people who live alone awake at night. Sales of home security systems with cameras have rocketed, but it seems that even where there is an image of a burglary or attempted burglary the chances of anyone being arrested are very low. Burglary must seem like an attractive career choice to some.

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Mary Reid

“The Tories are the most economically right-wing major party in the developed world”

By Mary Reid | Fri 30th September 2022 - 3:00 pm

According to John Burn-Murdoch in the FT “The Tories have become unmoored from the British people“. The charts are very telling and worth looking at. You can see them here but best to go to the FT itself.

Through the mini-Budget Liz Truss has moved the Conservatives to the right of Brothers of Italy and US Republicans, and even to the right of Bolsonaro’s party in Brazil.

This is set alongside a chart showing the position of British voters on the two axes of social and economic values. Even the most right wing of Conservative voters are not in sympathy with Trussonomics. Lib Dem and Labour voters lie even further to the left, of course. In numerical terms, the Truss Government scores 9.4 out of 10 (far right), whereas Conservative voters average 4.2, and British voters overall have an average score of 3.2.

The Tories have plotted a course to the very edge of the economic map, and when they scan the horizon there is nobody to be seen.

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Mary Reid

What does the economic chaos mean for us?

By Mary Reid | Fri 30th September 2022 - 9:12 am

Yesterday’s YouGov poll gave Labour an unprecedented 33 point lead over the Tories. With Lib Dems dropping to 7% you might think that is bad news for us, but, as we all know, polling is granular, and it actually increases our chances in Blue wall seats.

In the Guardian, Gaby Hinchcliffe reports on our chances in Surrey, driven by fears over fracking as well as the cost of living (which has now gone far beyond high energy prices).

For in his (Jeremy Hunt’s) South West Surrey seat and Dominic Raab’s Esher and Walton, plus neighbouring Guildford and Woking, Lib Dems are snapping closer to Tory heels.

Seats like this only really wobble in a crisis, as happened in the mid-1970s after economic turmoil under Ted Heath, and in the 1990s after the last sterling crisis. The combination of economic chaos and threats to the green belt is theoretically a gift to them. But is it enough to collapse the “blue wall”, that small but strategically important set of Tory-held seats where Labour can’t win but the Lib Dems just might?

Neil Sherlock, a former adviser to Nick Clegg, fought South West Surrey for the Lib Dems in 1992. He remembers the thrill of feeling the tide running his way, until the last few days when voters suddenly got cold feet. “They’d say, ‘I’d love to vote for you, but we’re not having that Neil Kinnock’,” he recalls. The Lib Dems thrive under opposition leaders who don’t scare their voters, a description that increasingly fits Keir Starmer. But still, though they came within a few hundred votes of snatching South West Surrey in 2001, it’s always hovered just beyond reach.

The YouGov poll may be a bit of an outlier, so we need to watch the general trend, of course. However the vultures are gathering.

For example, a petition to Parliament to “Call an immediate general election to end the chaos of the current government” is already well past the 100,000 threshold that triggers a debate in Parliament.

As we reported yesterday, Ed Davey has called on Liz Truss to cancel the Conservative conference and recall Parliament so MPs can debate the economic crisis.

And there are rumours that letters of no confidence in Liz Truss have already been sent to the 1922 Committee. Although the rules state that a leader should not be challenged for at least a year after a contest, there is nothing to stop the Committee changing the rules.

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Mary Reid

Apologies

By Mary Reid | Wed 28th September 2022 - 9:51 am

We are very sorry out the outage overnight. Our technical wizards have been working on it and have now restored LDV to its former glory.

As usual, please email us on [email protected] if you spot any issues with the website. Sometimes all the team are either glued to Strictly, in a council meeting or out for a drink and miss these things.

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Mary Reid

Reactions to the “fiscal statement” (not a Budget, apparently)

By Mary Reid | Fri 23rd September 2022 - 1:22 pm

First from Ed Davey:

Sarah Olney is our spokesperson for Treasury and Business & Industrial Strategy and she spoke in the debate:

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Mary Reid

Does trickle down economics actually work?

By Mary Reid | Fri 23rd September 2022 - 11:28 am

I will start by stating loud and clear that my understanding of economics is at a very basic level. However the concept of trickle down economics is refreshingly simple, so even I get the gist. But does it work?

Ed Davey addressed the question in his interview on Sky News yesterday, where he says that the practice of boosting big business with tax cuts will not help the 4 million SMEs:

And neither will it help those many millions of people who are struggling now, at this very moment, with the cost of living crisis. Even if Truss’s proposals did manage to kickstart the economy again it would take months, if not years, to impact on ordinary citizens/consumers.

However the evidence appears to be that, even in the long term, trickle down (or supply side) economics doesn’t achieve its intentions.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 24 Comments
Mary Reid

The question of monarchy

By Mary Reid | Thu 22nd September 2022 - 12:30 pm

“Well, I wouldn’t start from here if I were you.”

I don’t think any of us would have invented our current constitutional setup from scratch. It is something that has evolved over hundreds of years, emerging from a bloody history that includes the execution of monarchs and civil war, as well as the Glorious Revolution. And like all evolved creatures it bears redundant remnants of its past.

However there are some very beneficial features of the system that we have inherited:

  • It has given us a stable parliamentary democracy, which is rightly envied, and copied, across the world. The formal power of the aristocracy and the wealthy are severely curtailed.
  • There is clear separation between the Head of State and Government, to the extent that the Head of State is effectively banned from taking part in any political activities. This is coupled with clear separation between Government and Judiciary.
  • The smooth transition of power from one Government to another is pretty much guaranteed.
  • The (normal) longevity of the Head of State gives them a perspective on the nation and the world that few others can emulate, and this can inform Prime Ministers (who are, of course, free to ignore it).
  • The ceremonial and historical aspects of the monarchy are hugely popular and act as a focus for community cohesion.

However there are still some problems.

  • The legacy of Empire is still problematic, marked as it was by slavery, abuse and cultural annihilation, and for many the monarchy represents all that was wrong with imperialism.
  • The House of Lords still exists in a form that has echoes of its feudal past. Its scrutiny role is essential, and the inclusion of cross benchers with real expertise is undoubtedly a good thing. The question is how to create an elected chamber which is not just a pale reflection of the Commons.
  • Members of the Royal Family (as opposed to the office of the Monarch, which is funded by income from the Crown Estates) have accumulated vast personal wealth.
  • The wealthy from all sectors of society can still wield substantial soft power over Government.
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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 21 Comments
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