Author Archives: Eddie Sammon

Encouraging a four day working week

Years ago, I thought the idea of a four-day working week was an unrealistic socialist policy, however over the past 18 months I’ve come around to the idea. After work, most people would like to relax (or canvass for the Liberal Democrats!), but many of us find that there is scarcely the time, especially those who commute and have dependents. After housework and life administration, there is sometimes little time to do anything else besides get ready for bed. 

I still study for professional qualifications and a day off work to study, rather than trying to only squeeze it in on the evenings and weekends, would be useful. I imagine many others who would like to retrain or continue with their studies whilst working feel the same way. 

We shouldn’t force companies to give people an extra day off per week, but we can encourage the option by introducing an Employer National Insurance (NI) tax break for companies offering an extra day off per week. At the moment, the Employer NI rate is 13.8% on the value of salaries and benefits above £166.01 per week. The offer would have to be made to all employees if the individual company wishes to take advantage of the scheme – this would prevent discrimination as there would be no tax break for the company for employees earning below £166.01 per week. Companies would not be forced to offer the extra day off per week, but if they do, it must be offered to all employees. 

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 9 Comments

The need to tackle far right extremism

Shortly before 00:20 n Monday 19th June a van mounted a pavement and drove into people near Muslim Welfare House and Finsbury Park Mosque. The police have confirmed that all the victims were Muslims and the suspect has been arrested.

Nine people were taken to hospital after the attack. Makram Ali, 51, died around the time of the attack, but whether it is directly related is unclear at the time of writing.

Thankfully, all of those who were taken to hospital with injuries are now out of critical care, but that doesn’t mean the effects won’t last with the victims for a lifetime.

The Muslim Council of Great Britain has called for increased security outside Mosques as a matter of urgency, considering we are approaching the end of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid. They also call for transformative action to be taken to tackle attacks on Muslims and Islamophobia.

Tim Farron, made a statement on the same day of the attack:

The Finsbury Park attack is senseless barbarism. Yet again we are rocked by a horrific incident for which there is no rhyme or reason.

People who commit these heinous acts want to divide us, force us to turn in on ourselves and fight each other. We cannot and must not let them win. Our values matter, we must stand together.

My deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families.

I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of the emergency services, who, yet again, have gone above and beyond to help those in need. In these moments while others run in the opposite direction, our emergency services run towards danger.

Posted in News | Tagged | 7 Comments

Grenfell Tower fire: Answers, accountability and help are needed

At approximately 00:54 on Wednesday morning an horrific fire was reported at Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, London. Within half an hour the flames were reported to have engulfed an entire side of the building, leaving many people trapped inside. We need answers and to do whatever we can to help the victims and ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.

Firstly, The Guardian has are some questions that need to be answered:

  • How did the fire start?
  • Why did the fire spread so quickly? Was the recently fitted new cladding at fault?
  • Did the new gas pipes, which were

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 33 Comments

Opinion: The right is winning on Facebook and votes, but the left on Twitter

facebook and twitterI have been thinking why it seems that right wing parties are more toxic than left wing parties. Is this true? Or is it simply my prejudices? Is there anything in the “shy Tory” phenomenon?

It does seem that popular culture is more left leaning, but I thought some numbers would help us understand society better and also help Liberal Democrats decide who to vote for in the upcoming leadership election.

For this analysis I have used the Facebook likes, Twitter followers and 2015 General Election votes for the following parties: Conservatives, UKIP, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Liberal Democrats, Labour, the SNP, The Green Party of England and Wales, the Scottish Green Party and Plaid Cymru. I didn’t use Sinn Fein because they campaign throughout the whole of Ireland and I didn’t use any other parties that I deemed to be “minor”.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 22 Comments

Opinion: Why I’m voting Liberal Democrat on 7th May

With less than a month to go until the general election and postal voting starting next week I thought I would write a quick piece on why I’ll be voting Liberal Democrat on the 7th of May.

First of all I think the party shares my values more than any other. I care about public services, but I also care about taxes and being self-employed I don’t like overly burdensome regulation.

I care about both my security and my privacy and feel that I shouldn’t have to choose between one and the other.

I don’t want a party that favours privatisation so much that they are willing to sell assets or contracts on the cheap, or so against it that they are willing to run things inefficiently just so they can say they haven’t used any private firms.

Locally Liberal Democrats become embedded into their communities. Community politics is a fundamentally Liberal Democrat principle.

Posted in News | Tagged , and | 148 Comments

Opinion: Ed Miliband has taken the left along for a ride

 

Ever since Ed Miliband was elected as Labour leader in 2010 all the talk has been about how he is taking Labour back to the left, but the truth is very different. The problem is he has gone along with this narrative and now runs a deeply divided party, saying one thing, but doing another.

Posted in News | Tagged | 31 Comments

Opinion: It’s #timetotalk about mental health and to act too

Time to talk 2015I am a Lib Dem supporter (most of the time), who has been commenting below the line on Lib Dem Voice for a few years and I have suffered from severe anxiety and depression. I still have anxieties that affect me every day, but they are reducing and I find that doing something new, even a small act such as submitting an article on here, helps me to recover and move on.

It is hard to talk about mental health, but perhaps you will find that there are more people willing to listen than you think. Help is always available from the NHS or charities such as Mind,  Rethink Mental Illness  and Samaritans.

I am so used to commenting below the line that I feel ready to finish my article after only 150 words ☺. I will begin to wrap up, as I don’t want to try to do too much, but before I finish I just want to highlight the good work that Lib Dems such as Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb have been doing in this area.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 12 Comments
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