Author Archives: Gary Shearer

Opinion: how will the Liberal Democrats once again become the party of my generation?

By Gary Shearer | Tue 27th March 2012 - 10:52 am

When I was a student between in the middle of the last decade the Liberal Democrats were the party of choice. That was because under Charles Kennedy we were seen as a radical centre-left alternative to the Labour party that championed the causes of the young.

It’s unlikely that many would have guessed that only five years after I left university we would be two years into a coalition with Nick Clegg at the helm. However, it is precisely the move into Government with the Tories that has alienated so many of the people who once saw themselves as Lib Dems. …

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

Opinion: even football supporters have civil liberties… don’t they?

By Gary Shearer | Tue 13th March 2012 - 11:52 am

There I was with a couple of mates when a group of police officers appeared and started filming us.

None of us had a criminal record, nor were we doing anything remotely suspicious. We were not drunk, we were in a public place and there was nothing untoward going on around us either.

Our only crime was to have visited a football stadium to watch a match.

To rub it in even further, not only was one of the officers recording video for almost the entire 90 minutes another stood right next to her and took dozens of pictures.

At first I thought the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 14 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Chloe
    Richard; Who picks up the tab for the net fiscal deficit of the Scottish & Welsh governments . Jana is correct - ultimate sovereignty is with Westminster. ...
  • George Thomas
    I think there are some issues which should unite Welsh politicians across the spectrum: - retrospective compensation for lack of devolution of HS2 funding; ...
  • Matt (Bristol)
    cim - I could see a situation where in a multi-winner STV election, if NOTA or RON (reopen nominations) would remain in contention but with a special threshold ...
  • David S
    The logical result of a NOTA vote would be the election of a place-holder candidate who fills the seat and prevents anyone else from getting in, but who also re...
  • Andrew Tampion
    There is no evidence that the Argentinian Government intends to invade the Falklands, although that could change. If our Government increases defence spending...