I’m a veteran Party bureaucrat, having joined the old Liberal Party at university. And, perhaps not entirely surprisingly, I’ve held a range of positions since then - everything from Secretary-General of the Young Liberals to being a member of the ALDE Party‘s Financial Advisory Committee. Returning Officer, Presidential consort, committee secretary, you name it, I’ve probably done it.
These days, I’m the Chair of the Parish Council for a (very) small rural village in Suffolk’s Gipping Valley, and a member of the East of England Regional Candidates Committee.
Rise in “dental deserts” leaves millions struggling to get NHS dentist appointment
Inflation: Deadly price hikes cannot go on any longer
Rise in “dental deserts” leaves millions struggling to get NHS dentist appointment
Six in ten areas have seen a rise in the number of people per dentist since 2019
Some areas have over 3,000 people per NHS dentist leaving people struggling to get an appointment
Lib Dem Leader calls for NHS dentist rescue plan to prevent desperate people resorting to DIY dentistry
Over six in ten local areas in England have seen a rise in the number of people per dentist since 2019, new analysis commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
The Commons Library research shows how the rise in “dental deserts” has left people struggling to get an appointment, with some areas now having over 3,000 people for every NHS dentist. 65 of 104 local areas in England have seen the number of people per dentist rise since 2019, the figures show.
ONS pay-squeeze figures: The Government simply doesn’t care
Rise in faulty sewage monitors as water firms accused of “covering up environmental scandal”
Prepayment meters: This half-measure is an insult
Lib Dems launch digital campaign on A to Z of Conservative sleaze and scandal
Calls For Welsh Labour to Take Stronger Action on Coal Mining Following Successful Lords Vote
ONS pay-squeeze figures: The Government simply doesn’t care
Responding to the latest ONS unemployment and earnings figures which saw average pay fall by 2.3% in the year to December 2022 to February 2023, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:
This is a damning verdict on the Government’s attempt to end the cost of living crisis.
Jeremy Hunt is the latest out of touch Conservative Chancellor to completely fail on rising prices.
The Conservative party’s gross mismanagement of the British economy has lead to inflation rising and growth plummeting. People need urgent help with rising food and energy bills, yet the Government simply doesn’t care.
Rise in faulty sewage monitors as water firms accused of “covering up environmental scandal”
Almost 2,300 sewage monitors found to be faulty – over one in six of all monitors
Number of sewage discharges potentially much higher than feared
Lib Dems accuse water companies of covering up environmental scandal by failing to fix monitors
New analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed water companies are failing to monitor hundreds of sewage discharges in coastlines and rivers.
Any Plans for Cardiff Congestion Charge Should be Put to a Referendum
Lib Dems Welcome Bannau Brycheiniog Name Change
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have welcome the change of name for the Brecon Beacons Nation Park to its original Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog stating that it is a positive move to use the history of the region to help build a successful future for the Park.
Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid & West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds said:
It’s great to see the re-introduction of the name Bannau Brycheiniog today. The message put forward by the
Keegan: You don’t need a maths A-level to see that these plans don’t add up
Government Pushed to Vote on Banning New Coal Mines
Government reported for breaking purdah rules
Sunak investigation: Another accusation of a Conservative PM bending the rules
Government defeated as Lib Dems win vote to ban new coal mines
Keegan: You don’t need a maths A-level to see that these plans don’t add up
Responding to Gillian Keegan’s morning media round about the Government’s maths announcement, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:
Gillian Keegan’s empty words are an insult to millions of people who are looking to the Government for
Commenting on today’s warning from the Local Government Association not to underestimate the difficulties Voter ID will cause for local authorities, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:
Today’s warning on voter ID from the LGA shows the Conservative Government cannot bury their heads in the sand any longer. This is a national scandal that could end in a disaster for our democracy.
The Government must urgently back my Liberal Democrat Bill which would end these regulations swiftly in the three weeks left before polling day.
NHS waiting lists rise to new record high as Sunak breaks pledge
Fly-tipping “effectively legalised” as just one in 500 incidents lead to a prosecution
NHS waiting lists rise to new record high as Sunak breaks pledge
The number of people waiting for NHS treatment has risen to a new record high of 7.22 million, new figures reveal today, despite Rishi Sunak’s New Year pledge that “NHS waiting lists will fall”.
Three million people have been waiting longer than the Government’s target of 18 weeks, while 360,498 have been waiting more than a year.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for an NHS rescue plan to relieve the burden on hospitals and bring down waiting lists, including recruiting more GPs to guarantee patients an appointment within a week and raising the minimum wage for care workers to fill the vacancies in social care.
Police failed to attend over 45,000 burglaries last year
Over 100 burglaries going unattended by police every day
Postcode lottery as police in some areas attend fewer than one in two break-ins
Ed Davey calls for “Burglary Response Guarantee” with every case attended by police
Over 45,000 burglaries reported last year went unattended by the police, stark figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
The data, obtained by the party through Freedom of Information requests, shows there were 45,233 reported burglaries in 2022 where a police officer didn’t then visit the scene of the crime. This is equivalent to over 120 burglaries a day going unattended by police.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today call for a guarantee to ensure burglary victims are visited by a police officer and their cases properly investigated.
The figures also show a postcode lottery, with over one in two burglary reports going unattended by police in some areas. The worst performing police force was Bedfordshire, with police officers failing to visit the scene of over 60% of reported burglaries.
Social care funding halved: Elderly and disabled people will be the victims
Post-Brexit customs checks will mean more red tape for businesses
South Wales Police – Facial Recognition Technology Restart ‘Wrong Move’
Sunak must strip Scott Benton of the Conservative Whip
Social care funding halved: Elderly and disabled people will be the victims
Responding to reports that the social care reform budget has been halved, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
Elderly and disabled people will be the victims of the Conservatives’ decision to slash funding for recruiting care workers at a time of chronic staff shortages.
By damaging social care again, Rishi Sunak is also damaging our NHS. Patients stuck in hospital will face more delays in discharge, leading to longer delays in A&E and for operations. Only the Conservatives could damage people’s care and the nation’s health at the same time.
Liberal Democrats want a new Carer’s Minimum Wage to attract workers back to the social care sector and ease pressure on family carers, GPs and hospitals. It’s shocking that the Government refuses to back our fair deal for carers.
Post-Brexit customs checks will mean more red tape for businesses
Responding to the government’s announcement on the introduction of post-Brexit customs checks, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney said:
These new checks are only going to make trade between us and Europe harder. It’s staggering that the Conservatives looked at the chaos at Dover and said, ‘more of that please’.
The Government’s claims that these plans are going to ease trading chaos are downright dishonest. Let’s be clear: these proposals mean more checks and more red tape, not less – the last thing anyone wanted.
Businesses and the public have had enough of the Conservatives’ red tape and their botched deal with Europe. If you want to grow the economy, you have to fix our broken relationship with our closest neighbours.
Tomorrow sees the deadline for nominations for local elections in England and, like many of you, my nomination papers are with my local District Council for inclusion on the ballot on 4 May. We take on a serious responsibility, especially for those of us with prospects of victory, as representing our communities is not to be taken lightly, regardless of the level and scale of that position. But, whether you’re a target seat candidate, or an incumbent, or even just a name on a ballot paper, thank you in anticipation of what you’ll be doing over the next thirty-one days.
It’s been a testing few weeks for the Scottish Nationalists, with a leadership contest which exposed the philosophical divides within their ranks, and a new Leader who has attracted much ad hominem criticism from, it must be said, the usual English media suspects. I don’t pay enough attention to Scottish domestic politics to really know whether or not Humza Yousuf is up to the job, but he has a huge challenge on his hands following on from Nicola Sturgeon, whose leadership transcended the ideological question marks within SNP ranks.
I’m an agnostic on Scottish independence (sorry about that, Caron) as I respect the notion of self-determination. I’ve always said that independence comes with a price in terms of “blood and treasure” and, if Scots are allowed to make a properly informed decision and vote to go ahead, then so be it. That said, one does wonder if the SNP would long survive a victory given the loss of the one obvious factor which currently unites them.
Welsh rivers some of the most sewage filled in the UK
Water Plan: Taking the public for fools by re-announcing a policy from years ago
Welsh rivers some of the most sewage filled in the UK
An analysis of the sewage dumping statistics released by Welsh Water/Dŵr Cymru has revealed Wales’ rivers are some of the most sewage filled in the entire UK. The stats have sparked an angry response from the Welsh Liberal Democrats who have accused both Labour and the Conservatives of not doing enough to tackle the problem.
The latest figures show sewage was dumped in Welsh rivers 83,000 times …
Water company fines: Pointless whilst it remains legal to dump sewage into swimming waters
Braverman pushes botched Rwanda scheme while queues pile up in Dover
Water company fines: Pointless whilst it remains legal to dump sewage into swimming waters
Responding to the Government re-announcing they will change the fine structure on water companies, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron said:
This is pointless whilst it remains legal for water companies to dump sewage into swimming waters. It is a national scandal that water companies are allowed to pump sewage into our rivers and coastlines all because Ministers refuse to get tough with them.
Conservative MPs have blocked taking tougher action on water companies, and these new half-baked plans from Ministers will do nothing to deter water companies from their polluting actions.
Thérèse Coffey must now resign. She has had months in post with nothing but hot air and empty rhetoric. Under Coffey’s plan, sewage will be pumped into our rivers for decades to come. Shamefully, the Environment Secretary has refused to ban water companies rewarding themselves with multi-million pound bonuses. It is time we had an Environment Secretary who actually cared about the environment.
The official Home Office data, analysed by the House of Commons Library, revealed there were 100,000 car thefts in the the first three quarters of 2022.
Of the instances of car theft, an eye-watering 68,800 went unsolved. And – of those cases who did have a suspect – just 2% resulted in a charge.
Analysis of the statistics shows that the number of car thefts rose by over a third in the past year when comparing the same time period in 2021 to 2022, up from 74,605 in the first three quarters of 2021 to 97,225.
Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing with known officers on the beat to clamp down on crime.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library found that the number of community police officers have fallen by more than 4,000 since 2015 across England and Wales.
Liberal International will convene its 206th Executive Committee in Ottawa between 2-6 May 2023. For five days the global liberal family will come together at the seat of political decision-making in Canada – the federal capital – as LI returns to North America for its first statutory event in the region for 14 years.
Together with LI full member, the Canadian Group of Liberal International (CGLI), delegates will not only contribute to developing liberal policy and engaging throughout the ExCom between 2-4 May with new applicant parties but are cordially invited to fully participate in the Liberal Party of Canada (LI full member) convention which takes place (4-6 May) at the same venue directly following the conclusion of the 206th executive committee meeting.
Welsh Liberal Democrats Launch Plan to Save NHS Dentistry in Wales
Interest Rate Rise Signals More Pain for Homeowners in Powys
Welsh Liberal Democrats Launch Plan to Save NHS Dentistry in Wales
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have launched their plans to save NHS dentistry in Wales, warning that unless the Welsh Labour Government takes action now NHS dentistry risks going extinct.
The Party have accused Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay of utterly failing to get to grips with the problem, allowing an appalling two-tier system of dentistry in Wales to flourish whereby if you can afford it you go private, but those who can’t are left waiting in agony for months and sometimes years.
Talking to her party Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds outlined that using her influence to fix NHS dentistry is one of her top priorities in the Senedd.
A previous FOI by the Welsh Liberal Democrats showed that over 800 children in Powys were waiting for an NHS dentist while in Cardiff the waiting list for children and adults is over 15,000 people. Other health boards do not operate centralised waiting lists which the Liberal Democrats state is a problem in itself.
Among the proposed actions laid out in the report, which was produced with industry professionals include:
Resolving outstanding contract issues as a priority
Integrating primary dental care more closely with other NHS primary care, especially to ensure that services are available in remote and rural areas
Increasing per-capita spending from the current £47 to match the levels of Scotland (£55) and Northern Ireland (£57)
Setting targets for Health Boards in terms of numbers of, and waiting times for, appointments, empowering them to use salaried staff to achieve those targets as well as entering into agreements with private sector providers
Setting up set up a national waiting list system to ensure that the process of getting an appointment is more efficient, and that fewer appointments are lost
Number of GP practices falls by over 500 since 2019
Lib Dems call for ban on strip searches in schools
Coffey attacks farming journalists
Number of GP practices falls by over 500 since 2019
Lib Dem Leader launches Local Election campaign calling for a return to “proper local health services” amid GP shortages and appointment delays
Rural areas “bearing the brunt of GP practice closures”, forcing people to drive long distances to see a doctor
Government on course to break Conservative manifesto pledge on doctor recruitment as GP numbers plummet by over 850 since the last election
New analysis of NHS data by the Liberal Democrats has found there are 547 fewer open and active GP practices in England compared to 2019 – despite rising patient numbers.
At the last election, the Conservative party promised to recruit 6,000 more GPs. However, today’s analysis reveals there are now 850 fewer GPs compared to 2019.
Rural communities are suffering most from GP practices closing. A recent study found 206 villages where patients must travel at least 5 miles to see a doctor – a 12% rise on 2017.
This new analysis of NHS figures follows a research poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats which reveals over a quarter (29%) of UK adults have tried and failed to get a face-to-face GP appointment in their local area over the past twelve months.
Embarrassingly for the Government, GP practices are even closing in the Heath Secretary’s own constituency, with a Cambridgeshire practice serving thousands of local people due to close its doors this month.
Tomorrow (Wednesday 29th March), Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will launch his party’s local election campaign in Hertfordshire, where he will call on the Government to invest in local health services. The South of England is the worst part of the country for GP appointment problems, where over 1 in 3 people tried and failed to secure a GP appointment last year.
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to recruit 8,000 more GPs and have set out plans to give patients a legal right to see a GP within 7 days. It would be achieved through increasing training places for GPs, a programme to retain experienced doctors and staff, and launching a recruitment drive to encourage those who’ve left the NHS to return.
“Inept Approach to Public Finances” – Welsh Lib Dems Respond to Welsh Gov Accounts Report
Responding to a Senedd report on Welsh Government accounts, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:
This report highlights an inept approach to Wales’ public finances from the Labour Party which shows a failure to protect public services during the pandemic.
£155 million is an extortionate amount for Wales to have missed out on.
It is also clear that neither Labour nor the Conservatives can be trusted to tackle fraud and that Welsh Labour criticisms of the UK Government losses to fraud during the pandemic now ring hollow.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for the creation of a “Celtic Sea Powerhouse” to serve as a new economic region for Wales harnessing green technology on the first day of their spring conference.
The policy comes on the back of the announcement of freeport status in Milford Haven and Port Talbot.
The policy calls for the cutting of red tape in Wales to establish floating offshore wind farms which can currently take up to 10 years for floating offshore wind to be given planning permission.
The Crown Estate Estimates the Celtic Sea has the economic potential to accommodate up to an additional …
Responding to the leaked names on Liz Truss’ Honours List, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said:
Handing out more expensive gongs to Conservative allies is a truly remarkable way to reward the shortest tenure as Prime Minister in British political history.
Truss and her Conservative colleagues trashed our economy and left millions in misery.
Those selected for honours are the very people who helped plunge the country into chaos and crisis.
Rishi Sunak must block these Honours immediately as allowing Truss to dish out positions of influence shows a stunning lack of humility.
Interest rates rise: Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation in tatters
Responding to the Bank of England raising interest rates, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Treasury Sarah Olney MP said:
This news will come as a hammer blow to countless hardworking families.
People seeing their mortgage bills go up by hundreds of pounds a month have been left high and dry by this Government, which sent interest rates soaring with their catastrophic mini budget.
Rishi Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation is in tatters.
The Government could be cutting household energy bills and extending energy support for businesses to help keep prices down. Instead,
Inflation rises: Proof the Chancellor should have cut energy bills in the budget
Windsor Framework: Conservative MPs are mutinous pirates who no longer care what their captain says
Inflation rises: Proof the Chancellor should have cut energy bills in the budget
Responding to this morning’s inflation figures, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:
This rise is just more proof why the Chancellor should have cut energy bills in the budget. Instead he sat on his hands and we are left with rising inflation once more.
People across the country are struggling and the Government has failed totemically to support hardworking families and pensioners.
High borrowing: Govt blew a hole in our public finances
Responding to the latest ONS statistics which show public sector net borrowing at the highest February total since records began, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:
This Conservative Government blew a hole in our public finances and made hard-working families pay for it through unfair tax rises, higher mortgage bills and soaring inflation.
The Chancellor could have taken action in last week’s Budget to put our economy on the right track, but instead we saw a total lack of ambition and no economic plan.
Firstly, an apology to those of you who’ve been waiting for comment moderation this evening – my duty as Chair of my small, but perfectly formed, Parish Council took me away from my desk.
But there will be those of you who will be disappointed with my decisions today. William Byrd might well fairly reflect my thoughts on that:
My wealth is health and perfect ease,
And conscience clear my chief defence
I never seek by bribes to please
Nor by desert to give offence
Thus do I live. Thus will I die
Would all did so, as well as I
We have had a number of what I would describe as the online equivalent of “drive-by shootings”, which in truth were pretty easy to decide upon, and then there are those who use absurd arguments, or obviously false names or e-mail addresses, or who deliberately misrepresent the views of others. There are also more “shades of grey” comments where, if I’m honest, I may have erred on the side of caution – I am a bureaucrat, after all. But, for the benefit of the unhappier of you, I courteously point you towards our comments policy, a document which some people might benefit from reading. We retain the right to publish comments (or not) as we see fit.
Moderation is, by its very nature, art not science. Balancing freedom of expression against protection for the vulnerable is, I feel, a mark of one’s liberalism, weighing the rights of the individual against the interests of the wider community. It does mean entertaining the notion of honest doubt and responding accordingly, something that isn’t without its risks.
And, with that final thought, I bring today to a close. But, as I pass over the editorial baton, I leave you with William Byrd’s “My Mind to me a Kingdom is”, and hope that it brings you, as it does me, some joy and just a little peace.
Revealed: Over 100 Met officers still working while under investigation for sexual abuse
Over 100 Met police officers are still working on the frontline while under investigation for allegations of sexual or domestic abuse, a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
A total of 548 Met police officers are currently under investigation for claims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, or a combination of both.
144 of the officers under investigation for these offences are still working and carrying out their normal duties, the response from the Metropolitan Police reveals. Of these, 111 are under investigation for sexual abuse. 28 …
Lib Dems call for emergency action to end dental deserts
Banks’ £17.8 billion tax cut could have funded pay rise for 150,000 carers
Lib Dems call for long-term strategy to end energy crisis
Lib Dems call for emergency action to end dental deserts
The Liberal Democrats have blasted the Government for the spread of ‘dental deserts’ across the UK.
Vast areas of the country are without access to NHS dental appointments, often in rural or deprived areas.
The Party passed a motion at its Spring Conference today which called for urgent reform to the NHS dental contract to ensure everyone can get the care they need and isn’t forced to go private.
The plans also call for an emergency scheme to ensure children, pregnant women and young mothers have access to their free check ups on time.
This comes as Healthwatch England found that 41% of people are struggling to get an NHS dental appointment, with one in five unable to access all the treatments they needed.
Under the proposals, there would be an increase to the number of dentist training places in the UK and continued recognition of EU trained dentists’ qualifications.
The Liberal Democrats are also calling for the removal of VAT on children’s toothbrushes and children’s toothpaste.
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Daisy Cooper MP said:
Our NHS dental system is completely broken. NHS appointments are scarce at best and in some places don’t exist at all. People are being forced to spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds on private dental care with some even resorting to their own at-home DIY dentistry.
This Conservative Government has done next to nothing to tackle this crisis.
Rishi Sunak would rather engage in divisive culture wars to cover up his government’s appalling record on the NHS, which is leaving dental patients in pain and distress.
The Liberal Democrats believe that everyone should be able to access a dentist when they need one.
Steve Brine must step down from Health Select Committee
‘Show Sunak the door’ – Lib Dems update by-election door as victory props take centre stage in blue wall rally
Welsh Conservative MPs should “hang their heads in shame” over rail funding
Steve Brine must step down from Health Select Committee
Responding to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner launching an investigation into Steve Brine over allegations of inproper lobbying of the NHS, Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
Steve Brine should immediately step down from the Health Select Committee whilst this investigation takes places. It is absurd for an MP who may have wrongly
Train journeys back from Conference tend to offer a chance to reflect on the events of the past few days, especially for someone who likes to travel in a bubble of isolation (nothing personal, fellow Liberal Democrats, but sometimes I just like to be alone). And this Conference has been no different.
Was their journey really necessary?
Sadly, the culture wars that have poisoned our national body politic have come to the Liberal Democrats and, unlike our more authoritarian opposite numbers, we’re curiously more vulnerable in some ways. Many of us find confrontation enervating rather than enjoyable, and we have a tendency to wish away conflict rather than address it head-on. And I do get that – we’re (mostly) nice people who want to be welcoming. And that means that not so lovely people can get quite far into the Party’s core before anyone necessarily notices.
However, at some point, unless you draw lines in the sand in terms of behaviour and values, you find that what you had is gone forever, and that the liberal party you thought you were part of is no more. And it does happen, for example in Hungary, where it is now hard to believe we were once a sister party to FIDESZ, the conservative nationalist party which forms the most unpleasant administration in the European Union.
It is at times like this, therefore, that those who believe in the liberal values of tolerance and mutual respect have to step up as Conference did on Saturday.
ONS economy stats: Tomorrow is judgement day for Jeremy Hunt
Braverman must apologise to women and girls for police dropping complaints
Conservative MPs must back amendments to ban child detention
Budget is “judgement day” for Chancellor on cost of living crisis
Jane Dodds responds to Health Minister statement on Dental Reform
ONS economy stats: Tomorrow is judgement day for Jeremy Hunt
Responding to this morning’s ONS earnings and employment figures, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:
Tomorrow is judgement day for Jeremy Hunt. He must finally end the cost of living crisis and the endless pay squeeze which is crippling families across the country.
The revolving door of Conservative Chancellors in recent years have all failed at keeping prices down. Jeremy Hunt can take action tomorrow and cut energy bills by £500, by introducing a proper windfall tax on the bumper profits of oil and gas firms. They are raking in billions off the back of higher energy bills and the public won’t stomach it any longer.
Braverman must apologise to women and girls for police dropping complaints
Responding to the figures that show police forces drop most complaints of officer violence against women, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip and former Police Officer, Wendy Chamberlain MP said:
These statistics tell us what millions of women and girls already know. Across the country, they look to the police to protect them and ultimately the buck stops with the Home Office to fix this crisis.
Violence against women and girls has no place in our society, not least in the police forces that are meant to keep us all safe.
We need swift action from Suella Braverman, including a promise to tighten vetting and investigation regulations. But first, she needs to apologise for the Government and police forces letting women and girls across the country down.
Liberal Democrats urge Conservative MPs to ‘examine their conscience’ ahead of Small Boats Bill vote
Lineker is back, Sharp must go
Responding to the news that Gary Lineker and the BBC have come to an agreement, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:
Everyone will be pleased to see Gary Lineker and the football and sports coverage back to normal on the BBC next weekend.
However, given his ties to Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party, and the scandal surrounding his appointment, the public simply cannot trust Richard Sharp to restore the BBC’s credibility.
This year sees the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, one of this country’s great composers. As a Catholic myself, I am reminded that he converted to Catholicism in his thirties at some personal risk given the culture of the day. It is a reminder that state-sponsored attacks on minorities and other vulnerable people is not a new concept, and that the conservative right have never been afraid to secure power through the demonisation of others.
And of course what is particularly ironic is that Tory MPs, who are usually championing the right of people to be as racist, sexist and transphobic as they like in the name of free speech, are now going after Gary Lineker.
There is a perfectly obvious reason for this, which is that not only are these people hypocrites, but they don’t care that they contradict themselves over and over again. It’s all about stirring up anger and distracting attention from their failure and incompetence. Find the smelliest, deadest cat they can find and hurl its foul carcass on the table so that we’ll talk about that rather than stick to the issues that matter.
Hunt’s budget set to be “more hot air and no real or urgent help”
Davey: Richard Sharp must resign
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has called on Richard Sharp to resign.
Davey has said that Richard Sharp’s position is “untenable” and blamed the Conservative Government for “systematically attacking the independence of the BBC”.
Richard Sharp has spent recent months wrapped in controversy around his role in an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson. The Chairman of the BBC is head of the BBC Board and responsible for maintaining the independence of the BBC.
Katharine Pindar @ David Raw. Thanks for your comments in this thread, David. And yes, it's good that we seem now to have a government which the Liberal Democrats can work with,...
Katharine Pindar No I can't, Peter, but hopefully the government under Andy Burnham can! Are you not persuaded yourself that now your Socialist party can finally be the 'real d...
Katharine Pindar Peter Martin: as to why we need the USA still to defend Europe, it is surely that we need President Trump to stand up to Putin for Ukraine and promote the end o...
Peter Martin @ Katharine,
" It’s difficult now to see how Keynesian full employment can be fulfilled these days, to generate production of goods and economic grow...
Meg Thomas Important move. Thanks very much. The sad thing is we know it will fall on stony ground, but it really needs saying...
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David Alton, Andy Burnham and telescopic radicalism
Will Burnham abandon neoliberalism by adopting a radical agenda?
Conservative councillor joins Lib Dems in Cannock Chase
The AI world and some fallacies about it
Yet another government makes a mess of local government reform
Front Street looking great
Katharine Pindar 
Peter Martin 
Meg Thomas 