Author Archives: Mark Valladares

It’s been a very pleasant weekend in mid-Suffolk, with a Branch garden party to attend in Needham Market, a fascinating lunch with a new friend talking about Brexit and wider geopolitics and an intriguing dinner party, but it’s now time to return to work, as the week begins anew. And what have we for you today, I hear you ask?

It hardly seems like two years since the last London Assembly elections, but it really is, and as a sign of how seriously the Regional Party are taking 2020, we today can announce the schedule for the selection of the Party’s …

The grass in my garden is looking a bit distressed, and the oasis of a new centrist party is looking like a bit of a mirage. But life goes on, and so does Liberal Democrat Voice. So, what have we got for you today?

Ben Andrew kicks us off with some suggestions that would help the young amongst us. And yes, he does touch upon student finance, but his focus is on earlier years too.

We have news on proposals for Horizon Europe. “What’s that?”, I hear you ask. Well, it’s a major funding programme, supporting collaborative research and development across the …

An opinion poll this weekend showed a significant shift from the Conservatives to UKIP, which perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise given the reaction to Theresa May’s proposals for Brexit. If, and one cannot be too cautious here, it is an early sign that Brexit supporters will desert the Conservatives if she proceeds as outlined, the beneficiaries are likely to be Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Of course, it might also cause Theresa May to revert to a more hardline approach…

But, whilst the experts and the commentariat pick through the entrails, we’ve got a website to run. And we start …

I’ll be honest, I’m struggling today. Despite being half-Indian, I really rather prefer temperatures in the lower twenties Celsius. But as the burning sun beats down on most of us, Liberal Democrat Voice does not rest.

As the Government staggers from one attack from within to the next, and as senior Ministers overtly start their campaigns to replace Theresa May, what are Liberal Democrats to do? We’ve got a contribution which offers an interesting perspective on that from James Porter.

If there is a people’s vote, what should we want to see on the ballot paper? John King has been thinking about …

I was told on Saturday that there was going to be an announcement of £20 billion for the NHS, and my first response was incredulity. “Where does that come from?”, was my question.
But sure enough, the announcement has come, and whilst the proposal for finding this sum is, how can I put it, less than entirely concrete still, it has complicated the arithmetic of opposition to Brexit. I’ll take an initial look at the numbers later.

It’s expected that the Lords could be sitting as late as midnight, as the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill returns for consideration of Commons amendments. Will …

So, it’s apparently possible that we’ll be reduced to hunting and grazing off of the land within weeks of Brexit, if the Sunday Times is to be believed. I suppose that, as Chair of my Parish Council, I’ll be organising bands of villagers, armed to the teeth, to keep you away from our food supplies… But seriously, whilst the scenario supposedly outlined may be exaggerated for effect, it is a reminder that, in a world of interdependencies, no country is an island, even when it consists of nothing else.

But, of course, no …

Today’s Liberal Democrat Voice is brought to you from sunny West Yorkshire, starting in Brighouse and ending… probably in mid-Suffolk, which isn’t very Northern, I’ll admit.

No promises about today’s content, I’m afraid, although there might be something about Parish Councils again, given what happened last week.

So, sit back with the light refreshment of your choice, as we set off on this Bank Holiday Monday…

* Mark Valladares is Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice. Sometimes, it’s much easier than it looks…

It’s St George’s Day today, the anniversary of Queen Anne being crowned at Westminster Abbey (1702), and of the chartering of Connecticut as an English colony in 1662. And, coincidentally, on this day in 1516, Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria endorsed “The German Beer Purity Law”, which I think we could all support.

I’ve been spending the weekend celebrating a significant anniversary, and clearly you’ve all been outside enjoying the fine weather (except our Scottish colleagues, who’ve been at their Conference), or campaigning for elections, as we’ve got precious little in the kitty …

Another week starts here, and today marks the 165th anniversary of the first passenger train in India, which ran from Bori Bunder (now the site of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly Victoria Terminus) to Thane.

Closer to home, the Battle of Culloden was fought on this day in 1746, whilst in 1963, Martin Luther King penned his Letter from Birmingham Jail, whilst imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama when campaigning against segregation.

For those of you who might be wondering, I’m at home in Suffolk today, which is a good link to our first item today, which comes from a near neighbour on …

Do you know, I’d almost forgotten that I was today’s duty Editor. That’s what a four day weekend does for you. Well, that and the fact that today’s Liberal Democrat Voice is brought to you from Chisinau, the capital of Moldova!

I’m here in part to explore a little known corner of what some describe as New Europe, and also to meet some Moldovan liberals, which should be interesting given the local politics here.

So, moving on, what have we got for you today?

First up is Gordon Lishman, who offers us a report of …

So, the big weekend of pro-Remain parades is over, with a weekend of Liberal Democrat campaigning still to come. And whilst the Government continues to flounder in the face of all of the things it was warned about, there is still no apparent sign that they will do anything other than keep on going, in the hope that it will be alright on the night. Besides, with a Leader of the Opposition almost as committed to freeing the country from the supposed restrictions placed upon us as the Conservatives are, there is little risk of defeat.

Hope springs eternal though, and …