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.
We’ve got a veritable torrent of press releases today, starting with an example of the Party being rather more radical than Labour…
Cable: £1.3 billion for higher-rate payers should be used to reverse welfare cuts
The Liberal Democrats have announced they will be voting against the Government’s plans to raise the higher-rate tax threshold to £50,000.
The policy – announced in Monday’s budget – will cost an estimated £1.3 billion pounds next year, money which could instead be used to reverse cuts to Universal Credit or end the benefits freeze a year early.
It’s Halloween, and the Press teams on either side of Offa’s Dyke are still working away…
Don’t Let Down Welsh Farmers – Welsh Lib Dems
Following the closure of the Welsh Government’s Brexit and Our Land consultation, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the Welsh Government to carefully listen to the views of farmers and ensure farmers are not let down as they begin to consider their response.
The Welsh Government’s proposed model for supporting farmers and land managers after Brexit involves removing any aspect of direct support and instead focusing on promoting economic resilience and public goods.
Liberal Democrat peer Brian Paddick will today lead the opposition to new government regulations that he describes as “yet another erosion of people’s civil liberties”.
Lord Paddick has tabled a motion to regret the Data Retention and Acquisition Regulations 2018 after Ministers failed to answer privacy concerns he raised in a Grand Committee debate last week.
The regulations would amend the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, also known as the “Snoopers’ Charter”, to give police the power to access communications data when investigating any crime “which involves, as an integral part of it, the sending of a …
As promised, part two of today’s output from the Party’s Press Team…
Fiscal Phil’s sticking plaster Budget
Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget, Liberal Democrat Leader and former Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
This was all very modest stuff, with more in it for potholes than schools and the police. A standstill non-event.
With growth remaining stubbornly low and Brexit weighing down our economy, it is clear the big problems are still to be tackled. It was a sticking plaster Budget, when major surgery lies ahead.
If we are to see an end to austerity, then we need a proper injection of
Budget Day always generates a lot of press coverage, and this year is no exception, but there have been plenty of other issues worthy of comment. Indeed, there has been so much that I’ve been forced to do this in two parts…
Welsh Lib Dems – Budget a Golden Opportunity
Ahead of the UK Government’s budget, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged Chancellor Phillip Hammond to seize the opportunity the budget presents to end austerity and create a fairer, more prosperous Wales.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling on the UK Government to stop Brexit, fix Britain’s broken tax system, fund public services …
Welcome to the review of a rather longer week in the Lords…
Our review starts, where else, with Monday, which was opened, after prayers, by Meral Ece, who wanted to know what steps the Government are taking to reduce youth crime in London. The answer, unsurprisingly, was that the Government are giving funds to support various small-scale projects. The decline in police numbers due to the loss of central support, not so prominent.
The debate on the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Bill has already been covered in these pages, and the other legislation …
Yes, it’s another week and, with just fifty-seven days until Christmas one hundred and fifty-one days until the cliff edge of Brexit, it’s beginning to get slightly scary, just in time for Halloween.
The Russians have formally objected to Government proposals to the World Trade Organisation, the Moldovans have objected to our participation in the global Government procurement grouping, so it’s all going swimmingly. That is, as swimmingly as it would be if your flotation device was leaking and the water was full of sharks. It’s all going terribly well, right, Dominic? Right?
Government infrastructure plans lack future proofing
Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Jenny Randerson has urged the Government to invest in “rail, low emission buses and electric charging points” as reports indicate the Government is set to announce new investment for roads in the Budget.
Jenny Randerson said:
While it is welcome news that the Government will finally set aside much needed investment for our roads, their infrastructure plan lacks any future proofing.
With climate change an ever greater threat, Liberal Democrats demand better. Ministers should be focusing on a model shift away from car use to public transport. That means investment in rail, low
Cable: Broken business rates system should be abolished
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable has warned the Chancellor’s business rates relief is nothing more than “hand-to-mouth support” and has called for the broken business rates system to be abolished.
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said:
The UK high street is suffering the worst year on record, with in-store sales falling and hundreds of thousands of jobs lost.
While I welcome any relief, hand-to-mouth support for businesses simply isn’t sustainable. Liberal Democrats demand better. There needs to be a fundamental change to the system.
A very diverse range of press releases today, it must be said…
Universal Credit causing unacceptable hardship
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has slammed the Conservative Government for refusing to listen to problems experienced by those on Universal Credit as the Public Accounts Committee urges Ministers to make fundamental changes to the scheme.
The Public Accounts Committee has today (26th October) published its report into the implementation of Universal Credit. The committee concludes that:
The DWP’s dismissive attitude to real-world experience is failing claimants
The recent announcement of delayed roll-out is not a solution
The Government must work with third-party organisations to shape programme
Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable and leading figures from opposition parties met Michel Barnier at the European Commission’s Berlaymont building headquarters in Brussels today.
The Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Greens are working together, alongside rebels from Labour and the Conservatives, to fight Brexit. Vince Cable pressed Barnier on the need for the EU to make contingency plans for a People’s Vote and to protect EU and UK citizens rights in the event of a no deal Brexit.
The other attendees were SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford, Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts, and Molly Scott Cato, the …
Yesterday, we received a lot of press releases with an embargo upon them until after midnight, so it’s a bumper bunch today…
Leading figures from opposition parties will meet Michel Barnier in Brussels today to say the UK must remain within the Single Market and the Customs Union.
The campaign to resolve Brexit through a People’s Vote will also be discussed. The Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens have all said they would support the public to have the final say on any Brexit deal in a vote in the House of Commons.
Cable: UC’s practical problems are being ignored, creating real hardship
In a pre-Budget speech to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation this morning, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable will call for a series of reforms to Universal Credit.
These include the reversal of cuts to the work allowance, worth around £3bn a year, and ending the benefits freeze a year early.
Vince Cable is expected to say:
The problems stem from conflicting objectives: providing minimum family income; providing incentives to work; simplification; and saving money. Simplification, saving money and work incentives have taken precedence over the first, crucial,
It’s been a busy day in HQ, and there’s news of a victory over the Government in the Lords…
Lib Dems: Research shows hard border for NI puts lives at risk
Research by the Liberal Democrats and PoliticsHome has shown how crucial a soft border is between Ireland and Northern Ireland, specifically in relation to emergency service call-outs.
A series of freedom of information requests has shown that 182 ambulances and 270 fire engines crossed into the Republic during 2016-17 in response to 999 calls, highlighting how a hard border could potentially leave people with far slower emergency responses if the UK …
It increasingly appears as though the Government is a rudderles hulk, limping towards a harbour of dubious safety, and business in the Lords is reflecting that, as a series of Bills, related to Brexit, either are delayed in the Commons or await publication.
Monday‘s main business related to the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to “amend the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in relation to procedures in accordance with which a person may be deprived of liberty where the person lacks capacity to consent, and for connected purposes”. In other words, it …
Firstly, I really should acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of people, some of our readers included, who gave up their Saturday to march in support of a People’s Vote. And, for the benefit of the BBC, it’s not a “so-called People’s Vote”. One does wonder if those who lead the BBC have given up on the idea of reporting altogether in favour of simply empowering the commentariat, i.e. the sort of people who have never had any problem in having their voices heard anyway.
But I digress. It was reassuring to see a mass demonstration of public support for a position, …
It’s a Sunday, and if you think that the Press Team go quiet, you’d be wrong. There’s always someone on duty…
Starmer must make People’s Vote Labour’s Brexit priority – Brake
On his programme this morning, Andrew Marr challenged Keir Starmer over the number of “hurdles” the Shadow Brexit Secretary was putting in the way of Labour fully backing a People’s Vote.
Responding, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:
The People’s Vote march was genuinely cross-party and one of the striking features was the number of Labour voters who attended. This backs up authoritative academic research showing that around four
There were two press releases today, one of which has already been covered on these pages. Here’s the other one…
Cable: Arms sales to Saudi Arabia “embarrassingly compromising”
Responding to Saudi Arabia’s claim that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a fight in its consulate in Istanbul, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said:
This situation gets murkier and murkier – Saudi Arabia seems to have forgotten about a death in its own consulate.
The UK’s heavy reliance on Saudi Arabia for arms sales is embarrassingly compromising in these circumstances.
The government should have already suspended arms export licences to Saudi Arabia
Extending transition period another embarrassing climbdown
Responding to the news that Theresa May is open to extending the transition period, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:
Theresa May once argued that we didn’t need a transition period at all. Admitting that an extension is on the table, and the billions it would cost, is yet another in a long list of embarrassing climbdowns for this Tory Government.
The blame for this mess falls squarely at the Prime Minister’s feet. Over the last two years, her Government has failed to find solutions to
Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Layla Moran will today move an amendment to the Overseas Electors Bill to lower the voting age to 16 for UK citizens living abroad.
The Overseas Electors Bill, which proposes extending the right of UK citizens living abroad to vote in UK elections, will be debated at the Public Bill Committee today .
Ms Moran is moving her amendment in the wake of the Welsh Assembly supporting plans last week to introduce votes at 16.
Welcome to the second day of our week of publishing the Party’s press releases as we receive them. Do let us know in the comments if you find this valuable…
Government must improve care for those with eating disorders
Today Wera Hobhouse will lead a Westminster Hall debate on the role stigma plays in preventing people with eating disorders from accessing early treatment.
Eating disorders affect 1.25 million people in the UK and despite evidence showing early intervention is critical to a recovery, people wait three-and-a-half years, on average, between the onset of symptoms and starting treatment.
It’s been suggested quite often in these pages that the media coverage we get as a Party isn’t that great. And, often, it is suggested that we need to crank up our media operation. So, for one week, I’ll be publishing all of the press releases that Liberal Democrat Voice receives from HQ, honouring the embargos as they are advised.
Today’s press releases are;
Welsh Lib Dems Urge Health Boards to Monitor Loneliness
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged health boards across Wales to monitor the scale of loneliness in their areas and treat loneliness and isolation as a health issue following an …
We used to poll our readers quite a lot, and very interesting the results were too. Not always entirely reflective of the wider Party membership, but often the only meaningful attempt to assess the direction of travel on a range of subjects.
Well, we’re keen to resume our polling, but before we do, we’d like to invite those of you who are members to register for the forum linked to the site (assuming that you haven’t already done so) so that we can send you an e-mail inviting you to take part when the time comes.
Parliament returned to Westminster on Tuesday after the conference recess, and the Lords was immediately presented with one of those challenges it so often rises to, another anti-terrorism Bill, the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, which received its Second Reading.
From the Liberal Democrat benches, Jonathan Marks outlined the four key tests against which the proposals would be judged;
First, what is the purpose of the measure and what is the mischief it seeks to address? Secondly, is the measure necessary to achieve that purpose? Thirdly, is the measure a proportionate response to the mischief, having regard to the restrictions on liberty
Yes, it’s back, as the end of the Peer show returns to a Parliamentary chamber near you. And this time, I’m going to try to produce a column every week…
The ninety-eight strong Liberal Democrat group returned to battle this week, having shrunk by one more just before the Summer Recess. Ronnie Fearn, after two terms as the MP for Southport, and seventeen years in the Lords, retired under the terms of the 2014 House of Lords Reform Act on 11 July at the age of eighty-seven. No doubt the wear and tear …
I’ve spent a rather relaxing weekend in Hampshire and Dorset, but it’s time to return to reality, or at least mid-Suffolk and a new week.
Will the week ahead see a rash of Cabinet resignations, as Brexiteers realise that the next set of Government compromises in search of a deal will take them ever further from whatever Brexit they individually want or understand? Is Theresa May really a sleeper agent for an Exit from Brexit, or just being tossed from crisis to crisis?
The suggestion that talks between Dominic Raab and Michel Barnier broke down without agreement last night do not augur …
Good morning, and welcome to another week here at Liberal Democrat Voice.
Something is happening out there, with Liberal Democrat polling numbers consistently edging up into double figures. Is it the start of the long march to credibility, or is it a reflection that, compared to Labour and the Conservatives, our stance on Brexit is beginning to cut through?
Last week, Labour decided that, rather than take a view on Brexit, or on a People’s Vote, they would offer several. Unfortunately, whilst Sir Kier Starmer was enthusiastically received for suggested that a new referendum would include the option of remaining inside the …
Look, Theresa, I really don’t understand this. The European Union have told you that you can’t have this. You keep telling them that it’s what you want. When are you going to understand that, when you choose to leave, you get what they want you to have, especially when you have no status quo to revert to?
One assumes that someone has tried to explain this to our Prime Minister, but given that she has rather painted herself into a corner, it probably wouldn’t make any difference. In fairness though, even without her ludicrously self-harming red lines, her platform is being demolished by the ERG on one side, and the Democratic Unionists on the other.
And yes, there are signs that more thoughtful senior colleagues are looking for a way out, but between a Canada+++ option, which doesn’t solve the Irish border issue, and a Norway (—?) option, which doesn’t really exist, it does appear that we’re heading for either a snap election or no deal. And whilst Liberal Democrats might benefit from the former, is it likely to resolve anything, or would another even more painfully hung Parliament be the outcome? I was, at least, impressed by Jeremy Hunt’s spoken Japanese…
So, where are we now? Labour are meeting in Liverpool, with creative ambiguity the order of the day over Brexit.
If Labour bows to middle class liberal elites' demands for a second referendum (because they're the only ones who want one), they thereby insult the millions of Labour voters who knew exactly what they voted for in June 2016. And almost guarantee they lose the next election-IMHO pic.twitter.com/3QmHc91ka7
The Party’s membership, having been described as a middle-class elite by Iain Dale (who should really know better), appears to be overwhelmingly in favour of a “people’s vote” – it’s called internal Party democracy, Iain – with a leader who, frankly, isn’t. Can. or will, Jeremy and his mate Len deny their supporters the vote that they seem to want? And if they do, what do those who joined Labour to fight Brexit do?
Elsewhere, the Prime Ministers of Malta and the Czech Republic have suggested that a referendum wouldn’t be unwelcome. In other words, if a referendum took place, European leaders would be minded to give us an extension to the deadline in order to complete it. Unsurprisingly, this was seen by the Brexiteers as being an unwarranted interference. It’s called “giving you more options”, but these are Conservatives against choice, it seems. As is always the case, Conservatives only believe in freedom and choice when the freedoms and choices on offer are ones they approve of.
But I sound angry this morning, and it’s too nice a day for that. We’ve got a full slate of articles on Brexit, on party reform, on electoral reform and campaigning, so there’s plenty for you to get your teeth into.
And, if you need a laugh, here’s a video of men in penguin suits attempting to fill buckets of water on a revolving turntable (TW: Stuart Hall is doing the commentary)…
Richard Whelan Good luck Sarah. I wish you every success in your campaign....
Peter Davies Simon Hughes was an MP when he stood. He got our best result....
Mary Reid David Raw - yes, it would trigger a Parliamentary by-election if she won as Mayor. Selection itself would not require it....
Adrian Moss Outstanding article. Lib Dems need to lead the way on reasoned arguements in support....
John Kelly @jonathan brown “I regret to say that I believe our failure to take this message strongly out of parliament and to the people has contributed to us underperf...
Welcome to the review of a rather longer week in the Lords…
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Richard Whelan 
Peter Davies 
Mary Reid 
Adrian Moss 
John Kelly 