Author Archives: Daniel Russell

Daniel Russell

Opinion: UK sets the right example on same sex marriage

By Daniel Russell | Mon 4th February 2013 - 11:23 am

The Polish parliament - Some rights reserved by Kancelaria PremieraIt’s been a week of ups and downs with regard to marriage equality and I am not just talking about in Britain. This week the Polish parliament voted down a bill that would have introduced civil partnerships. Despite an impassioned plea by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a significant part of his governing party voted against the bill, teaming up with conservative members to destroy any chance it had of becoming law. Indeed, one member declared that she would be voting against the bill because gay people “are of no use whatsoever to society.” From this position, equal

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 14 Comments
Daniel Russell

Opinion: Strange bedfellows?

By Daniel Russell | Sun 31st May 2009 - 3:30 pm

As a Liberal Democrat supporter currently residing in Warsaw, Poland it is with great interest that I have read David Cameron will be in my adopted home town tomorrow to launch with Czech and Polish partners, a new right-wing group in the EU parliament. It is well documented that Cameron pledged to withdraw the Tories from the centre-right EPP grouping but as can be seen from this weekend’s Guardian this is not altogether a popular decision amongst senior Tories.

The Tory party has long made itself irrelevant on European issues – but what bothers me so much is that the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Daniel Russell

Opinion: Pushing for PR

By Daniel Russell | Wed 20th May 2009 - 8:07 pm

In a week which has seen the Commons Speaker lose his job over his part in the mis-handling of MPs’ expenses – which is merely the culmination of a less than satisfactory tenure in the prestigious position – surely it is time for other sweeping changes to be undertaken for the good of politics in the UK? In particular, now must be the time for the Lib Dems to be pushing even harder for proportional representation.

Voter apathy has been all too apparent in recent years and the disconnection between the public and the political process has been getting wider and …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    The deafening silence about who might be a good new LD leader tells its own story. A leadership change is a big opportunity for a party to reposition itself an...
  • Neil Hickman
    For good reason, Town Council byelections normally aren't included. But I think the result in Uckfield West is worth noting. Straight fight between the Lib Dem...
  • Peter Martin
    LibDems aren't invisible. If you were, you wouldn't have 72MPs and thousands of councillors. You don't have more because yourselves and the Labour Party aren't ...
  • Kevin Hawkins
    Here is my usual monthly summary of the last fifty local by-elections. Percentage Vote Share: Reform 24.46%, Labour 18.81%, Conservatives 17.13%, Liberal ...
  • David Raw
    In Sheffield Southey (Brightside constituency) the Lib Dem vote has dropped by half to a mere 2.2% and fifth place. Is it not a cause for concern that in 20...