Author Archives: NewsHound

LibLink: Ed Davey: New Data Law could lead to more Windrush scandals

By NewsHound | Wed 25th April 2018 - 11:55 am

There’s a nasty little clause in the Data Protection Bill soon to be finalised by Parliament which means that the Home Office is under no obligation to tell people why they’ve made their decisions.

The Home Office has a fairly consistent record of showing that it needs much more accountability rather than less.

In an article for Politics Home, Ed Davey sets out the issues:

This “immigration exemption” clause would allow the Home Office to cover up its mistakes – indeed, not even find out when it had made a mistake. Because the applicant to the Home Office – or more likely their lawyer – wouldn’t be able to get access to their file, the very information used to make a decision on their future.

So, if the Home Office acts incorrectly, as they have done with Windrush documents, an individual wouldn’t be able to challenge the decision – because they won’t be allowed to know the reasons why they are being thrown out of the country. By using the new law to block the “Subject Access Requests” lawyers use to check the Home Office has got the right information on their client – and even the right person – the Home Office will become party to huge injustices. This could lead to hundreds of deportations of people who have the right to be here – people who are British citizens.

MPs who work week in, week out, know the sheer scale of the mistakes the Home Office make, every day. Latest figures from the Law Society revealed how the Home Office lose 50% of cases on appeal. And specialist lawyers have provided MPs with plenty of examples of gross Home Office errors, where the Home Office gets the wrong identity, reads their own files incorrectly and doesn’t even acknowledge the decisions it previously made about an individual.

Posted in LibLink | Tagged data protection bill, ed davey and windrush | 1 Comment

LibLink: Catherine Bearder: Brexit threatens the very fabric of the Good Friday Agreement

By NewsHound | Sun 15th April 2018 - 11:50 am

The Good Friday agreement works to keep the peace in Ireland and Brexit threatens it, says Catherine Bearder in an article for the New European. She illustrates the difference it has made to one community:

In the early days of the Troubles, the British Army opened a barracks in Forkhill to accommodate around 600 soldiers right next to a housing estate. Helicopters regularly took off and landed over the roofs of these homes, some even damaging them. The army controlled the television signals as well as the street lighting. It was one of the most dangerous places for British soldiers.

No one wants a return to those days.

The residents of Forkhill had been looking towards the future, not the past. On the site of the old barracks they are building a community garden and a wider project called the Peace Forest Ireland Initiative which aims to plant 4,000 trees on both sides of the border in memory of those who died during the Troubles. This is an ex-military site being redeveloped as a clear signal that the local community is moving forward, putting the past behind it.

Brexit puts all that at risk, she argues, so those who have to live with the consequences should get the chance to say if they agree with the Brexit deal:

Posted in News | Tagged brexit, catherine bearder, northern ireland and The New European | 2 Comments

LibLink: Robin Teverson: It is the fuel poor who are destined to feel the post Brexit chill

By NewsHound | Sun 8th April 2018 - 2:55 pm

There are many ways in which Brexit will harm the poorest people in our society. The cost of heating their homes is one which Lib Dem Peer Robin Teverson highlighted in a article for Politics Home this week:

The good news is that excepting a major failure in replacing the Euratom regime that regulates our nuclear power sector, and if we manage to replicate Euratom’s nuclear cooperation agreements with our overseas nuclear equipment and fuel suppliers, Brexit blackouts are not the threat.

But even here there is little room for complacency. Our home-grown replacement for Euratom – the beefed-up Office for Nuclear

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged brexit, energy, politics home and robin teverson | 4 Comments

Liblink: Christine Jardine: My shock at Islamophobia wrapped up in Union flag

By NewsHound | Sun 8th April 2018 - 8:55 am

Twice recently, Christine Jardine has visited a Mosque in her constituency.

When she’s posted the pictures on social media, the nasty, racist comments started to flow. She wrote about that experience in the Scotsman this week:

I was brought up in Glasgow where sectarianism is almost commonplace. But I had never experienced anything like this. After removing a string of offensive and abusive comments from my page, I posted another comment asking people to be more respectful. That was a waste of time. It seems my offence was to cover my head, something my Church of Scotland-going grandmother long ago taught me

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged christine jardine, islamophobia and the scotsman | 1 Comment

WATCH: What’s Christine Jardine’s hidden talent?

By NewsHound | Wed 4th April 2018 - 10:25 am

Those nice people at Core TV have been interviewing MPs so we can find out more about them.

Remember Jamie Stone, the ferret and the pantomime dame?

Christine Jardine’s interview was very different. There was some light-hearted stuff about her hidden talents, but also some very personal reflections on the death of her husband during last year’s general election campaign which will resonate with anyone who has suffered that sort of loss.

Find out, too, what motivates her in politics, who she’s there for.

Posted in News | Tagged christine jardine | 2 Comments

The town that wants its own Brexit

By NewsHound | Sun 1st April 2018 - 8:55 am

A campaigning group in Stratford-upon-Avon believes that Brexit does not go far enough. Or rather, come close enough. They want to implement Brexit locally, so that the townsfolk can enjoy the advantages in advance of the national negotiations, without being held back by delays or transition periods.

Jack Prince and Dick Vos, leaders of the new movement, see no reason why the principles behind Brexit cannot be rolled out immediately to benefit everyone in the town. The group they have founded, dubbed STRIP (Stratford Independence for the People), has expanded from a founding nucleus of 6 to a present total of 28.

“We are hoping the public will not refer to us as strippers, like they call UKIP voters kippers”, says Prince. “So far this doesn’t seem to have happened; I think people recognise that we have a perfectly serious point to make, which deserves to be respected”.

The aim of the group is to let locals take back control of their own affairs, without interference from bureaucrats in London who do not understand the town’s history and special status.

“Stratford was a great place in Shakespeare’s day, and we want to make it great again”, explains Vos, “but we must cut the red tape that has tied our hands for so long. Give the town back to those who actually live here, not the ones who are just passing through, taking advantage of all our facilities”.

Thousands of foreign tourists invade Stratford every year, traipsing through Shakespeare’s birthplace, causing damage for which locals must foot the bill. Not to mention the traffic congestion and additional road repairs needed. So should a wall be built for security, following the example of York and other famous English towns in the past?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit | 5 Comments

LibLink: Sal Brinton: Ministers must protect our NHS against privatisation

By NewsHound | Fri 30th March 2018 - 10:25 am

This week, Sal Brinton and others argued in the House of Lords that action was needed to ensure that Brexit didn’t open the door to privatisation of the NHS.

She wrote about the issue for The House magazine:

If you asked most people what effect Brexit would have on our health service, regardless of how they voted in the Referendum, I suspect they will cite that large red bus from the Leave referendum campaign stating the EU costs the UK £350m per week, which on leaving could be invested in the NHS. Not only was this untrue, but there are now figures to show that the cost of leaving to our economy could be equal to £350m per week. And, at a time of unprecedented pressure on the NHS, it needs urgent and real investment to prevent it crumbling.

However, one of the lesser known pillars of protecting our NHS is also at risk with Brexit. With more and more parts of its services being put out to tender, the NHS has been protected by the EU Directive on Public Health Procurement. This directive governs the way in which public bodies purchase goods, service and works and seeks to guarantee equal access and fair competition for public contracts in the EU markets. It was approved in 2014 and includes protection for clinical services and more legal clarity on the application of procurement rules.

She also looked at some of the wider impacts on the Health Service that Brexit will have:

Posted in News | Tagged NHS and sal brinton | 11 Comments

Jo Swinson on leadership, the importance of humility and meeting a hero

By NewsHound | Sat 24th March 2018 - 11:30 am

This afternoon, Jo Swinson will be speaking at the “Aye Write” book festival in Glasgow.

Ahead of that, she gave a long interview to the Sunday Herald. Here are some of the highlights:

She talked about how the author of the book she had requested as a prize at school had got in touch with her:

When Jo Swinson was a teenager, studying at Douglas Academy in Milngavie, she was awarded the Senior Dux prize for achievement, and was given a trophy plus a book of her choice. What she opted for, as she describes in her book Equal Power: And How You Can Make It Happen, was a popular title by Kate White, a journalist who would later go on to edit Cosmopolitan. It was called Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead But Gutsy Girls Do.

Swinson croons her enthusiasm when I mention the book. Recently, she tells me, she gave it a mention in a World Book Day article and as a result the author got in touch with her. “I’m just so over the moon about this,” says Swinson. “I got this email from her last week, out of the blue, saying I’m so touched that this book made such an impact. She said she’d like to meet up for a coffee. I’m so beside myself with excitement that I’ll have to try not to be a dreadful fan girl.”

She also explained why she had not gone for the Lib Dem leadership last year.

Posted in News | Tagged equal power and Jo Swinson | 1 Comment

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Brexiters wanted to take back control but we risk losing control of Ireland

By NewsHound | Fri 23rd March 2018 - 1:30 pm

Nick Clegg has been in Ireland this week talking about Brexit with fellow Remainers Michael Heseltine and Andrew Adonis.

In his iPaper column, he talks about the massive problems Brexit will cause.

We also share responsibility for a precious peace in Northern Ireland. But too many ministers, including the Prime Minister, have treated these obligations as inconvenient obstacles on the way to the hardest of Brexits. It was the same situation during the referendum, when leading Brexiteers were quick to dismiss any concerns about the Irish border. But there is no avoiding the obvious consequences of the British government’s determination to interpret the 2016 referendum result as a mandate to take the UK out of the Single Market and the Customs Union. Doing so will see a land border created between the EU and the UK for the first time, and if the tariffs, standards and regulations adopted by the UK diverge from that of the EU, then a working border, with customs checks, will be unavoidable.

So how do we get out of it? Parliament, Nick says, can vote it down, but some people just shouldn’t bother turning up because they just won’t help:

Posted in LibLink | 25 Comments

Swinson: EU nationals won’t be convinced by Labour

By NewsHound | Sat 17th March 2018 - 6:45 pm

Buzzfeed has done an analysis of our prospects in this May’s elections. They talked to former LDV co-editor Mark Pack and the party’s Deputy Leader Jo Swinson.

The Party is going after EU Nationals’ votes and has invested in a series of social media adverts targeted at various nationalities.

Swinson said EU nationals would not be convinced by Labour’s stance. “They are pretty furious at the current government and also not too impressed with Labour’s position because Labour are really letting the government off the hook when it comes to Brexit,” she said.

“In terms of the front benches and the direction

…

Posted in News | Tagged Jo Swinson, local elections 2018 and Mark Pack | Leave a comment

Jess Insall’s clarion call for gender-neutral school uniforms

By NewsHound | Mon 12th March 2018 - 2:53 pm

Given that there has been some comment about this policy proposal in the media and in some Liberal Democrat circles, it seemed like a good idea to publish Jess’s speech to Party Conference this weekend by way of answering some of the sceptics…

Thank you Chair, thank you Conference.

I am bursting for positive change. As a feminist, as an LGBTQ+ rights activist, and as a liberal democrat.

And we are making so many positive changes, but our schools are being caught short. There is one problem that causes so much harm, but is so

…

Posted in Conference and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged gender neutral school uniforms and jess insall | 11 Comments

Liberal Democrats call for new housing revolution

By NewsHound | Mon 12th March 2018 - 10:16 am

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a major overhaul of the powers of local councils to meet the goal of ensuring that everyone in Britain has a home.

The package, passed by the party at its Spring Conference in Southport, calls for new powers that will see local authorities able to build and invest in more affordable and social housing. This includes greater access to borrowing for local authorities, strengthened powers to bring empty homes back into use and the power to direct the use of otherwise unwanted public land. Alongside measures to allow local government to abandon Right to Buy …

Posted in News | Tagged housing policy and wera hobhouse | 15 Comments

LibLink: Vince Cable: Tories must ditch red lines for the Rock

By NewsHound | Fri 9th March 2018 - 11:55 am

In this week’s New European, Vince Cable says that the British citizens on Gibraltar must not be sacrificed in the Brexit negotiations.

Clause 24 of the EU 27’s joint negotiating position, published in April last year, included a Spanish veto over the application of any deal between the EU and UK over Gibraltar. Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said it was “plainly obvious” that such a veto would be part of the EU’s negotiating guidelines. Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, described clause 24 as “discriminatory and unfair”.

A footnote to the draft legal text of the Withdrawal Agreement published last month confirmed that this veto would also apply to the transitional period. The Gibraltarian government has rightly pointed out that “by its very definition, transition is a continuation of the existing European Union legal border” and therefore this veto cannot apply.

Spain’s claim to Gibraltar is fatally undermined by the statistic that 98% of Gibraltarians want to remain British and there is no sign of that view changing. The Conservatives’ first act in response to the publication of the joint negotiating position should have been to insist on the removal of clause 24 – instead they gave us a general election that further weakened the Prime Minister’s bargaining power in Europe, because she ended up losing her Parliamentary majority.

Fortunately, Spain’s hard-line stance has slightly softened. Foreign minister Alfonso Dastis has been clear that he doesn’t want a border closure, which last occurred under General Franco in 1969. Such a move would be mutually damaging: disastrous for the 13,000 people who live in Spain and work in Gibraltar and leave the Rock with a staff shortage.

But the veto remains and Gibraltar’s politicians have sounded out legal opinions that would see them take the European Commission to court over clause 24.

Moreover, Spain continues to demand joint control of the Rock’s airport, which is, after all, British infrastructure on British soil. This might seem a reasonable suggestion for a post-Brexit relationship, but this should be seen in the context of even the seemingly reasonable Dastis pointing out that “sovereignty is something we aspire to, that we are not renouncing”.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit, gibraltar, The New European and vince cable | 9 Comments

Lib Dem Councillor Suzy Horton mentioned on Amnesty’s Suffragette Spirit map

By NewsHound | Thu 8th March 2018 - 7:09 pm

Portsmouth Lib Dem Councillor has been named one of Amnesty’s Suffragette Spirit human rights defenders.

Suzy represents the city’s Central Southsea ward. From The News:

While over in Southsea, Councillor Suzy Horton’s dedication to inspiring people to think differently on issues from homelessness to equality.

She recently tabled a motion to commemorate the centenaries of both women’s suffrage in the UK and the election of Portsmouth’s first female councillor.

From an earlier News article:

Liberal Democrat Councillor Suzy Horton has proposed a motion to have a blue plaque installed at number 2 Kent Road,

…

Posted in News | Tagged #iwd18, amnesty suffragette spirit and suzy horton | 1 Comment

WATCH: Layla Moran talk about gender neutral school uniforms

By NewsHound | Wed 7th March 2018 - 10:25 am

The quality of education only improves if people feel comfortable in what they are wearing

So said Layla Moran on yesterday’s Daily Politics in a discussion about gender neutral school uniforms.

Watch the whole thing here:

Posted in News | 12 Comments

“Cook along with Miriam”

By NewsHound | Mon 5th March 2018 - 9:41 am

Spotted in Saturday’s Guardian, an article in a series of celebrity cooking with a difference, where Stephen Bush attempts to cook meals suggested by celebrities and comments on how he got on. It would be fair to say that he wasn’t impressed with Paul Newman…

Miriam González Durántez, on the other hand, seems to have been rather more convincing;

On Wednesday I make meatballs. Because González Durántez – or “Notorious MGD” as I have taken to referring to her – is a badass, her recipe for her children’s meatballs includes a glass of white

…

Posted in News | Tagged cookery, humour and miriam gonzalez durantez | Leave a comment

TUC General Secretary to meet with cross-party leaders to set out Brexit concerns

By NewsHound | Mon 5th March 2018 - 8:00 am

The TUC’s General Secretary has accepted an invitation to speak to a group of cross-party opposition leaders about the TUC’s position on Brexit.

Frances O’Grady will meet with the Westminster leaders of the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party to discuss the need for a Brexit that protects workers’ rights, jobs and livelihoods of millions of people across the UK.

The General Secretary will also set out why the TUC believes that single market membership and customs union should be on the table for the next phase of Brexit negotiations.

The meeting is set …

Posted in News | Tagged cross party co-operation, tuc and vince cable | 5 Comments

LibLink: Christine Jardine: A shadow over the Edinburgh Festival

By NewsHound | Fri 2nd March 2018 - 12:40 pm

In an article for the New European, Christine Jardine highlights the threats to our cultural events, most notably the Edinburgh Festival, posed by Brexit:

But sadly if our creative industries are not protected world class events like the Festival, Glastonbury, and many others may find that musicians used to touring Europe freely with no issues over EU crew or equipment licenses could find the whole process becomes slower, more expensive and just downright difficult.

They might opt to take up other opportunities on the continent or elsewhere.

Music development organisations and other cultural groups might also find themselves without the vital funding stream previously provided by the EU.

But that is the immediate effect. There could also be collateral damage for one of our other most important industries if they cease to be the cash cows the tourist industry has come to depend on.

And the scale of visitor numbers attracted by the Edinburgh Festival every year demands a huge hospitality sector in which an estimated 50 per cent of the workforce come from other EU states.

Posted in News | Tagged brexit, christine jardine, culture and edinburgh festival | 1 Comment

LibLink: Tom Brake: Boris and Davis aren’t the only ones suffering from “Delusionitis”

By NewsHound | Fri 2nd March 2018 - 10:43 am

In an article for the Huffington Post, Lib Dem Brexit Spokesperson forensically takes apart six arguments made by the Tory MP for Sutton and Cheam in a letter to his constituents.

Tom tackled the assertion that the thought of a referendum on the deal would encourage the EU to give us a bad deal.

So far, the negotiations have clearly demonstrated that the EU is in a much stronger negotiating position, with our Government capitulating at every turn. In fact, when asked in December to name a concession that the EU had made, the only thing EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier could think of was that he did not “at this stage insist that the UK should pay the removal costs” for EU agencies. This should come as no surprise as the EU’s GDP is five times larger than ours. In other words, Brexit will damage our economy much more than theirs.

The EU’s position has been clear from the very beginning; The integrity of the Single Market must be protected and is non-negotiable. This does not mean punishing Britain by giving it a bad deal. It simply means that a country that does not accept the four freedoms, the jurisdiction of the ECJ, and contributing to the EU budget, will not enjoy the exact same benefits of the Single Market membership. Neither a Hard Brexit nor a second referendum is going to change the EU’s position. We know what is on offer, and the ball is thus in the Government’s court to decide what type of future relationship with the EU it wants.

He also poured scorn on the idea that the Tories could be trusted to maintain the workers’ rights that the EU currently guarantees:

Posted in LibLink | Tagged brexit, huffington post and tom brake | 4 Comments

Brake: Major is right on Brexit

By NewsHound | Wed 28th February 2018 - 8:10 pm

So, John Major is the latest figure to suggest that a referendum on the Brexit deal might not be a bad idea.

While he did not enjoy being “out of step” with his party, the stakes were so high than he felt obliged to speak out at such a crucial moment in the negotiations.

“Leaving Europe is an issue so far-reaching, so permanent, so over-arching that it will have an impact on all our lives – most especially on the young and the future,” he said.

“With only 12 months to go, we need answers, not aspirations.”

While he was not actively calling for a further referendum, he said the “option” must remain open to a “sovereign” Parliament to insist upon.

It will not be a surprise that Tom Brake our Brexit spokesperson thinks he’s right:

Posted in News | Tagged brexit, john major and tom brake | 5 Comments

LibLink: Jenny Randerson: The drone market is a bit like the Wild West. It needs some rules to make it safe

By NewsHound | Tue 27th February 2018 - 10:55 am

Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson Jenny Randerson has written for Politics Home about the need for regulation of drones for safety reasons.

So why are they a problem? Apart from the obvious terrorism and defence related issues, there are some more ordinary dangers:

In 2016 the police dealt with 3,456 incidents involving drones; that was 12 times the number of incidents logged in 2014, so the problems – like drone ownership – are growing rapidly.

Possibly the greatest risk is to aircraft. Drones can smash the windscreen or break the rotor blades in the case of helicopters, which would bring the aircraft down. Research

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged drones, jenny randerson and transpot | 1 Comment

LibLink : Floella Benjamin : Ministers should seize the baton and get serious on child obesity

By NewsHound | Mon 26th February 2018 - 3:52 pm

As noted this morning, Floella Benjamin had an Oral Question in the House of Lords today on the subject of childhood obesity. On a day when Simon Jenkins is suggesting that obesity is a greater threat for millennials than cannabis (add your own comment there, I suggest), the question of the health of our children is a live one.

In a piece for The House Magazine, Floella, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood, notes;

From day one, we’ve said that if we are to defeat the obesity

…

Posted in LibLink and News | Tagged child health, floella benjamin and obesity | 4 Comments

LibLink: Dick Taverne: The MP who beat Eurosceptics to hang on to his seat

By NewsHound | Sun 25th February 2018 - 8:54 am

A passionately pro European MP faces deselection by an anti-European local party. What happens then?

You could imagine this scenario unfolding for a fair few MPs today, but one person actually had this happen to him and he survived. In 1972, Dick Taverne’s local Labour Party in Lincoln deselected him or voting for us to join the then Common Market.

It wasn’t the end of the world for him. He resigned as an MP and fought the subsequent by-election as an Independent and won.

He writes about his experience in this week’s New European to give moral support to any MPs in a similar situation today.

What also swayed a lot of votes was my appeal that politicians should put country first, constituency second and party third.

Burke proved popular. Indeed Roy Jenkins, not a natural populist, temporarily became a popular hero and told me that taxi drivers would wind down their windows if they passed him and shout: “You stick to your guns, mate.”

Are circumstances less favourable for a deselected dissident today? They are probably more favourable. At that time, party loyalties were much stronger than now. When I announced I would stand as an independent, the general view in the media was that I had committed political suicide.

Posted in LibLink | Tagged brexit, dick taverne, europe and The New European | 7 Comments

Layla Moran: I almost left the Lib Dems over tuition fees

By NewsHound | Tue 20th February 2018 - 10:25 am

Yesterday, Layla Moran talked to Julia Hartley-Brewer about that difficult issue of tuition fees.

Referring to the Lib Dem nightmare on the subject, she said that it was horrible and that she had almost left the party over the failure of our MPs to keep the pledge not to vote for any increase in tuition fees that they had signed during the 2010 election.

Looking to the future, Layla spoke of the importance of maintenance grants for poorer students in improving social mobility.

You can listen to her whole interview on the Talk Radio website here.

She added that the system is “broken” but the idea that university should be free for everyone – and that tuition fees should be abolished, an idea propounded by Jeremy Corbyn – is unsustainable.

When asked by Julia why it is sustainable in other countries, Moran said that those countries cap the number of students who go to university, a comment which brought agreement from Julia, who said the idea that 50% of students are suitable for university education is “laughable.”

In terms of specific ways to improve the education system, Moran says we must restore maintenance grants, the means-tested funding provided to poorer students to cover living costs. She also said that we must take greater care of the 50% who don’t go to university, and offer children more information to help them choose their GCSEs.

Posted in News | 141 Comments

Cable on Davis speech: Brexit Secretary Secretary makes strong case for staying in the EU

By NewsHound | Mon 19th February 2018 - 10:30 pm

In a speech tomorrow, Brexit Secretary David Davis will demand that the UK’s regulatory standards are accepted across the EU post-Brexit. He will ask for “mutual recognition” and “close, even-handed co-operation”.

Responding, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said:

David Davis might as well be making the case for staying in the EU. He appears to be acknowledging the great achievements of the Single Market – a British idea introduced by a British government – yet the Conservatives want to leave that and the Customs Union.

Posted in News | Tagged brexit, david davis and vince cable | 2 Comments

No love lost on the road to Brexit

By NewsHound | Fri 16th February 2018 - 11:55 am

Vince’s Valentine’s Day column for Times Red Box contrasted the consistency of the Liberal Democrats on Brexit with the split Labour and Conservative parties. He said that our party was “open to refugees.”

For some MPs, I do anticipate that the myopia of the Labour and Conservative parties could drive them away from their folds. Liberal Democrats, unsurprisingly, have a liberal policy on refugees and will welcome with open arms and an open mind anyone from a different political tradition who wants to join our party. However, many aghast rebels will retain old tribal loyalties but nonetheless choose to vote with the Liberal Democrats on Brexit issues. I welcome that too.

Beyond Westminster, we need an effort in the country to mobilise public opinion on three key points: firstly, that Brexit is not inevitable; secondly, that the best and only democratic way to stop Brexit is through a vote on the final deal; and finally, that the Government’s deal will not be better than staying in the EU. It is in this respect that Liberal Democrats are critical. None of the many groupings springing up to take on the pro-European mantle have what we can bring to the table: a young, enthused membership of 100,000 troops to campaign on the ground.

Posted in LibLink | Tagged brexit, times red box and vince cable | 10 Comments

LibLink: Layla Moran: There are no winners from Brexit’s nuclear option

By NewsHound | Sun 4th February 2018 - 11:55 am

Layla Moran has been writing for the New European on the problems that exiting Euratom, the organisation founded in 1957 to create a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe.

She said:

The government has said it wants a “close association” with the Euratom Research and Training Programme and will seek open trade arrangements for nuclear goods. Both laudable ambitions – but this could all be best resolved by remaining in Euratom instead of creating uncertainty and seeking to negotiate what will certainly be a second rate option. In the meantime, the brilliant nuclear scientists from the EU, working together with their UK colleagues at places like Culham in Oxfordshire, on vital nuclear fusion research, are left in limbo. Some of these people, taking their precious skills with them, have already begun to drift away from the UK.

Then there is the issue of medical radioisotopes. As Mike Galsworthy explained in theNew European last week, these nuclear materials are used in cancer treatments and have very short half-lives, so any delays at borders would diminish the number of doses available. Those in the medical industry are deeply concerned.

What could be more pressing than making sure cancer patients still get treated? Well, it seems that, once again, keeping the fractious Tory party together through insistence on delivering a hard Brexit trumps the national interest.

The Government is keen to play this down, and accuses those who raise it as scaremongers, but the industry needs more than just assurances from the Government that a ‘close relationship’ will be achievable. Industry experts suggest it could take up to seven years to negotiate a treaty as wide-ranging as Euratom so I fail to see how we are going to get this finished in time.

Posted in LibLink and News | Tagged brexit, euratom, layla moran and The New European | Leave a comment

LibLink: Vince Cable: With 100 Lib Dem peers, Brexiters are coming on to our turf

By NewsHound | Wed 31st January 2018 - 1:30 pm

Vince Cable has written for Politics Home about what the Lib Dem peers hope to achieve with the EU Withdrawal Bill:

He summarises where we are. As public opinion turns against Brexit, Labour just wants to make it more extreme:

This is why Jeremy Corbyn’s announcement this weekend that the “ship has sailed” on staying in the EU is so bizarre. At best, this shows he does not have the stomach for the fight; at worst, it reveals what many of us have long suspected given his decades of Parliamentary opposition to the EU – that he wanted out all along.

Either way,

…

Posted in News | Tagged brexit and vince cable | 22 Comments

Lib Dems “most sweary peers in House of Lords”

By NewsHound | Tue 23rd January 2018 - 7:10 pm

Something to amuse you on a dark January evening from iNews:

Our Lib Dem Lords make six out of the top ten profane peers

Six of the top 10 “sweary peers” are Lib Dems, with Baroness Sarah Ludford leading the pack with 51 profanities in 2017. It’s a pretty admirable feat given that peers only managed to score 287 swears between them across the whole year.

They have been joking about it on Twitter:

The Leader of the our Lords group was perhaps upset that he didn’t make the list:

B…..y disgrace! https://t.co/WwY8s2YzDX

— Richard Newby (@RichardNewby3) January 23, 2018

Sarah Ludford was modest:

I think I might be getting credit on false pretences since the worst I said myself was a – welldeserved IMHO – ‘twat’. Otherwise retweets, so the credit is to the originators! https://t.co/0zRIvUosk8

— Sarah Ludford #FBPE (@SarahLudford) January 23, 2018

Liz Barker is such a diplomat:

Posted in News | Tagged dick newby, lib dem lords, liz barker and sarah ludford | 8 Comments

Op-eds

OFSTED should not ostracise children who choose to practise faith (Khalil Yousuf)
So, what does being an English Liberal mean? (Mark Valladares)
Scottish Liberal Democrats back abortion clinic exclusion zones and decriminalisation (Caron Lindsay)
Don’t be fooled by Labour’s posturing on #peoplesvote (Caron Lindsay)
My first year as Director for People (Rachel Palma-Randle)

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Author Archives: NewsHound

LibLink: Ed Davey: New Data Law could lead to more Windrush scandals

LibLink: Catherine Bearder: Brexit threatens the very fabric of the Good Friday Agreement

LibLink: Robin Teverson: It is the fuel poor who are destined to feel the post Brexit chill

Liblink: Christine Jardine: My shock at Islamophobia wrapped up in Union flag

WATCH: What’s Christine Jardine’s hidden talent?

The town that wants its own Brexit

LibLink: Sal Brinton: Ministers must protect our NHS against privatisation

Jo Swinson on leadership, the importance of humility and meeting a hero

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Brexiters wanted to take back control but we risk losing control of Ireland

Swinson: EU nationals won’t be convinced by Labour

Jess Insall’s clarion call for gender-neutral school uniforms

Liberal Democrats call for new housing revolution

LibLink: Vince Cable: Tories must ditch red lines for the Rock

Lib Dem Councillor Suzy Horton mentioned on Amnesty’s Suffragette Spirit map

WATCH: Layla Moran talk about gender neutral school uniforms

“Cook along with Miriam”

TUC General Secretary to meet with cross-party leaders to set out Brexit concerns

LibLink: Christine Jardine: A shadow over the Edinburgh Festival

LibLink: Tom Brake: Boris and Davis aren’t the only ones suffering from “Delusionitis”

Brake: Major is right on Brexit

LibLink: Jenny Randerson: The drone market is a bit like the Wild West. It needs some rules to make it safe

LibLink : Floella Benjamin : Ministers should seize the baton and get serious on child obesity

LibLink: Dick Taverne: The MP who beat Eurosceptics to hang on to his seat

Layla Moran: I almost left the Lib Dems over tuition fees

Cable on Davis speech: Brexit Secretary Secretary makes strong case for staying in the EU

No love lost on the road to Brexit

LibLink: Layla Moran: There are no winners from Brexit’s nuclear option

LibLink: Vince Cable: With 100 Lib Dem peers, Brexiters are coming on to our turf

Lib Dems “most sweary peers in House of Lords”

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Paul Tyler writes…Was the Brexit poll compromised?

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