Author Archives: Derek Meyer

Derek Meyer

The rules rule

By Derek Meyer | Tue 24th March 2026 - 3:41 pm

The Liberal Democrats have long prided themselves on being upholders of the rule of law and defenders of legal principles – a David standing against the philistine Trump in defence of the rules-based international order.

This plays well within the party, but it is worth asking whether this framing is as effective with the electorate as we assume. We risk misreading the national mood and how international law is understood by many voters. More importantly, our own policy positions do not always reflect the consistency that this stance implies.

Take illegal immigration, one of the most emotive issues in British politics today. Many voters see the issue in stark terms: illegal immigration is illegal, yet those arriving illegally are not prosecuted and are instead supported with accommodation and services.

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Posted in Op-eds | 13 Comments
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    @theakes "first past the post was a winner for us in 2024. Suggest we keep our heads down and live with it." If your opinion on an electoral system—...
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    Rob, you also say that we can't be the party of the NHS or the Environment because Labour and the Greens have those. Surely it is a mistake to abandon whole are...
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    Rob, you offer two possible groups of key target supporters for the Liberal Democrats. However, both are, as you note, just subsets of the affluent middle class...
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    >”He’d voted in every general election since 1974, he said, and this was the first time he had ever voted for a winning candidate.” Well I could say t...