Author Archives: NewsHound

NewsHound

Party sets up review of culture and processes focusing on race and ethnicity

By NewsHound | Fri 28th October 2016 - 9:34 am

The Liberal Democrats are committed to better representing the communities they seek to serve and have voted through a raft of measures, including the Diversity Quotas and Electing Diverse MP’s motions passed by members at Federal Conference in York and Brighton this year.

As part of the party’s ongoing commitment to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society; an independent review which will focus on the issues and/or barriers faced by BAME members and supporters has been commissioned by the Federal Executive. This review should help the party determine what and where the issues are and how we take action in this specific area.

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged and | 12 Comments
NewsHound

Tim Farron reacts to UKIP’s endorsement of Zac Goldsmith

By NewsHound | Thu 27th October 2016 - 4:49 pm

Following UKIP’s endorsement of Zac Goldsmith in the Richmond Park by-election, Tim Farron commented:

Zac Goldsmith claimed Brexit has nothing to do with this by-election. The very public endorsement he has picked up from the party of Nigel Farage nails that lie.

Zac Goldsmith was already the Conservative Party candidate. Now he is also the UKIP candidate. His campaign is the Nigel and Zac show.

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NewsHound

May is ‘blithely ignoring her own dire warnings” about hard Brexit – Tim Farron

By NewsHound | Wed 26th October 2016 - 4:07 pm

Revelations that Theresa May secretly warned about the economic effects of Brexit produced this sharp reaction from Tim Farron.

It is disappointing that Theresa May lacked the political courage to warn the British public as she did a group of bankers in private about the devastating economic effects of Brexit.

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NewsHound

Collapse of EU-Canada trade pact a “stark warning” against hard Brexit – Tom Brake MP

By NewsHound | Tue 25th October 2016 - 10:37 am

Commenting on the blocking of the EU-Canada CETA trade deal by the Wallonia region of Belgium, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Tom Brake said:

This is a stark warning against a hard Brexit that takes us out of the Single Market.

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NewsHound

‘Theresa May is making the UK a nastier, more divided and more resentful country’ – Tim Farron

By NewsHound | Mon 24th October 2016 - 10:51 am

This evening at Queen Mary University, London, Tim Farron will be speaking at an event with The Runnymede Trust addressing the issue of post-Brexit hate crime and rising xenophobia. This occasion is part of “Black History Month”. Other speakers are Dr Omar Khan of the Runnymede Trust, Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece, the Lib Dem Equalities Spokesperson and Sunder Katwala of British Future.

Here’s a sneak preview of some of the things Tim will say:

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: Witney result shows that the Liberal Democrats are back in the political big time

By NewsHound | Sun 23rd October 2016 - 11:10 am

winninghere-at-witney-from-holly-mathiesFollowing the excellent result for the Liberal Democrats, an excellent 30%, a swing from the Tories the likes of which hasn’t been seen for nearly two decades, Tim Farron has been writing for the Huffington Post. His message: we’re back.

The result not only signals that the Liberal Democrats are back in the political big time and the return to third party politics, but also a clear rejection of the Conservative Brexit government’s plan to take Britain out of the Single Market.

Don’t underestimate what we have achieved. We started here

…

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NewsHound

Tim Farron: Theresa May is putting views of hardline Brexiteers first

By NewsHound | Fri 21st October 2016 - 2:57 pm

Commenting on Theresa May’s first European Council summit, where her short statement on Brexit was reportedly met with silence from other EU leaders, Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:

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NewsHound

Witney scale swing to Lib Dems would wipe out Conservative majority

By NewsHound | Fri 21st October 2016 - 7:15 am

The huge swing to the Liberal Democrats of 19.3% per cent would wipe out Theresa May’s majority and hand 26 seats from the Conservatives to Tim Farron’s party. The swing rivals many that were seen in famous by-election wins under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown and Charles Kennedy.

Tim Farron, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

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NewsHound

Heathrow: Theresa May kicks the can down the road

By NewsHound | Wed 19th October 2016 - 11:30 am

Commenting on the news that MPs will not get a vote on Heathrow expansion until next year, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Jenny Randerson said:

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NewsHound

LibLInk: Jeremy Purvis: West’s response no match for Lebanon’s crisis

By NewsHound | Sat 15th October 2016 - 1:00 pm

Lib Dem Peer Jeremy Purvis recently visited Lebanon, an already struggling country which has taken so many refugees from the conflict in Syria. Here he writes for the Scotsman about his experience.

The scale of the flow of refugees into Lebanon cannot be understated. Amnesty International puts the figure at more than 1.5 million. The flow of refugees into the country is proportionately the equivalent of the US taking most of the population of Mexico (little good a Trumpian wall). The number of refugees that the UK has accepted pales into insignificance by comparison.

Driving along the Syrian border area I

…

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NewsHound

LibLink: Willie Rennie: The Conservatives are fanning the flames of xenophobia

By NewsHound | Fri 7th October 2016 - 8:11 am

Willie Rennie writes in the Times that the Tories are throwing petrol on the fires of prejudice unleashed by the Leave campaign during the EU Referendum.

Telling doctors from other countries who are here saving lives in our NHS that their position is only secure until we can rush a crop of new graduates through medical school is not responsible. Telling people from other countries who are thinking about moving here to work and pay taxes that their names might be included on a list of foreign workers is not responsible.

If we are publishing lists of foreign workers, we may as well pull up the drawbridge. These policies are not about controlling immigration. They are about demonising immigrants.

The message this sends to foreign students, medical staff, businesses and others is clear. You are not welcome here. As a liberal who has always believed that we can achieve more when we work with those around us, this does not just make me sad. It makes me incredibly angry.

The Scottish Conservatives are just as responsible as their colleagues, he adds:

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NewsHound

Soft Brexit preferred choice of Britons as poll shows willingness to compromise on immigration

By NewsHound | Wed 5th October 2016 - 2:10 pm

The Independent reports:

A majority of people would rather the UK have a soft Brexit, which sees the country give concessions on EU immigration in return for access to the single market, a poll has found.

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NewsHound

Exhibit A on how the Lib Dems restrained the Tories

By NewsHound | Wed 5th October 2016 - 12:40 pm

Commenting on the Home Secretary’s speech to the Conservative party conference, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:

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NewsHound

Farron: May’s Hard Brexit “means disaster for British jobs, businesses and our economy”

By NewsHound | Sun 2nd October 2016 - 9:53 pm

Tim Farron has commented on Theresa May’s Conservative conference speech:

Theresa May has just confirmed that we are going for a Hard Brexit. This means no single market for Britain.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: Labour under Corbyn can’t be decent opposition – so it’s up to me

By NewsHound | Sun 25th September 2016 - 2:48 pm

Tim Farron has been writing in the Independent about how the Liberal Democrats are the only party capable of providing decent opposition to the Conservatives following the re-election of Jeremy Corbyn:

If one child was lifted out of poverty by Blair, that would be a progressive legacy. But what will Corbyn’s legacy be? At this rate, to render Labour so unelectable that successive Tories will be able to play pass the parcel with the keys to Number 10.

Perhaps the Corbynistas can afford such generosity to the Tories, but the people I grew up with in towns such as Preston can’t. Self-righteous, ideological purity doesn’t buy food, pay the rent or provide the training that might lead to a better life.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: The Lib Dems are fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united

By NewsHound | Sat 24th September 2016 - 11:43 am

There was a big difference between Tim Farron’s frst two conference speeches as leader. The first came 3 months after a brutal general election at a time of existential crisis for the party. The second, at a time of existential crisis for the country, enabled him to set out our party’s mission: to fight for the values we hold dear and not to let the Tories away with 25 years of untrammelled rule while Labour fiddle on the sidelines..

He’s written about that for PoliticsHome.

I said on the night of my election as Liberal Democrat leader: “Our survival, revival, our rebirth, our rebuild will happen in communities in councils in common rooms, away from the stuffy corridors of Westminster.

“Step by step, we will change people’s lives for the better and as we do that we will regain their trust.”

This is happening and you can see the results for yourself. I’m not getting ahead of myself but adding to our results in May’s local elections, when we had the best results in a decade, this shows we have started to turn the corner.

Some of the commentators will do what they always do and use up ink talking about our demise; but like we have shown many times in the past, they are wrong and we will show that again.

Just take the case of the byelection in Sheffield. Nearly two weeks ago our team in Sheffield delivered a local and purely liberal message and it worked. They campaigned from dusk till dawn and won. But where was Labour?

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Posted in LibLink | 16 Comments
NewsHound

Two Lib Dems make shortlist for Scottish Politician of the Year Awards

By NewsHound | Thu 8th September 2016 - 8:34 pm

Two out of the five Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs have made it on to the shortlist for the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards as the Herald reports.

Liam McArthur is nominated for his “immersion into Orkney life.” He is up against Labour’s Jenny Marra and Jackie Baillie. The latter defied the party whip to vote for the renewal of Trident because Faslane employs so many people in her Dumbarton constituency.

In news that will surprise nobody, Alex Cole-Hamilton finds himself up in the “one to watch” category. Since his election in May, you could probably wallpaper the entire Parliament building three times over with the number of press-releases he’s put out. As the Party’s health spokesman, he is keen to keep the SNP’s attention focused on the deteriorating state of the NHS in Scotland.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: The Lib Dems will fight Brexit. Labour is not doing its job

By NewsHound | Wed 7th September 2016 - 1:36 pm

Tim Farron is popping up everywhere today. You’d think that this was co-ordinatd or something.

He’s written for us about his plan for Britain and Europe. He was on Good Morning Britain before dawn, Radio 5 Live, the Today programme.

He’s also gone and pitched a massive great marquee on Labour’s lawn in this article for the Guardian.

Labour, he says, are all over the place.

For Labour, it is still deciding whether it’s even a pro-European party. Owen Smith has made clear he wants it to be, but Jeremy Corbyn’s ambivalence was plain for all to see in the referendum campaign, and he has already made clear he wants to see the Brexit process get underway.

If they can’t or won’t hold the Government to account in the way that is required, the Liberal Democrats will. And if you think that’s unlikely, you might want to look back to the last session of the Scottish Parliament where it was the wee Lib Dem group that scored most forced changes in SNP government policy. Don’t ever underestimate us:

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NewsHound

Duncan Hames cleared of wrongdoing over election expenses

By NewsHound | Fri 12th August 2016 - 9:49 am

Remember the ongoing controversy over the Conservatives bussing activists into marginal seats and whether the costs should feature on local expenses returns? Around 20 police forces are still carrying out investigations into a serious issue.

At the same time, there were a few complaints about former Liberal Democrat MPs’ expenses. There were suggestions that visits to constituencies by the Leader’s Tour should somehow be put on local expenses. Given that these visits were about promoting the Liberal Democrats to the country and providing the piece for nightly news bulletins, the costs were, of course, included on the national return.

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LibLink: Jo Swinson: The media’s reporting of the Child’s Review sums up why we are still light years from equality

By NewsHound | Sun 7th August 2016 - 12:57 pm

Recently Jo Swinson commented on the media coverage of the Childs Review, a report which made a number of recommendations about how the diversity of Parliament could be improved. The reporting put a huge emphasis on breastfeeding in the Chamber despite this having barely been mentioned in passing.

She wrote this for the Huffington Post:

None of these 43 recommendations are about breastfeeding. The word ‘breast’ is mentioned just twice in the body of the report, in a sub-section under recommendation 12 on page 21, which covers the need for a clear policy on maternity, paternity, parental,

…

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg: The honeymoon will be short if Theresa May can’t tame the Tory right

By NewsHound | Sun 31st July 2016 - 10:55 am

In his regular column for the Standard, Nick Clegg predicts that the current harmony in the Conservative Party will be short-lived and they will soon be just as divided as Labour again as the dogma of the Brexiteers gets in the way of what is actually good for the country.

The signs of trouble are already there.

Stories have emerged that the awkward squad on the Tory backbenches are organising themselves to oppose anything other than a “hard Brexit”, whatever that means. And their outliers in the press, such as columnist Melanie Phillips, are already issuing breathless warnings that there will be a “revolt” if May doesn’t do exactly as they say.

He describes an encounter with two of the main proponents of Brexit.

When I recently bumped into Douglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan — two arch-Brexiteers — I pointed out that they are now key members of the new Brexit elite which runs our country. They both looked startled.

They have spent so long acting as anti-establishment insurgents that they are clearly unprepared for the responsibility that comes with actually getting their way.

This mirrors the ashen faces of Gove and Boris on 24th June.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: Scrapping Minister for Refugees shows May’s Govt shrinking from role in solving refugee crisis

By NewsHound | Wed 27th July 2016 - 10:25 am

Syrian refugees by Syria Freedom Freedom House Flickr CCL 2In an article for the Huffington Post, Tim Farron has slammed Theresa May for scrapping the post of Minister for Refugees, a post which was only established by David Cameron last September to make it look like he was doing something.

The minister, amongst other things, oversaw the implementation of Britain’s commitment to take 20,000 Syrian refugees from the region and an additional 3,000 vulnerable refugee children from the Middle East over the course of this Parliament. This process was already moving at a snail’s pace – by the end of March of this year only 1,602 people had been resettled in the UK. Now, with no one holding the ball on this issue you have to wonder how anyone can remain optimistic that we will hit this target.

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LibLink: Alistair Carmichael: We put an end to child detention. Now the Tories have backtracked

By NewsHound | Sat 23rd July 2016 - 2:49 pm

Alistair Carmichael writes for STV News about the Tories sneaking out the announcement about the closure of the Cedars facility:

It is the oldest trick in the parliamentary book. Slip out all the bad news on the last day when MPs are already looking out the Ambre Solaire and the flip flops. By the time the Commons returns in September the moment for protest will have passed and the pressure will be off.

Thursday’s clutch brought the usual mix of the good, the bad and the indifferent. And one more — the shameful. Buried in amongst announcements about schools funding, Ecofin and Armed Forces Pay Review Body appointments, there is one entitled “Cedars pre-departure accommodation”. It is a cosy-sounding title that betrays its true nature.

Cedars was the accommodation set up under the coalition government when implementing the commitment in the coalition agreement to end the detention of children for immigration purposes. It meant that children in families awaiting removal from the UK would no longer have to spend time in lock-down institutions.

Why should we treat children of asylum seekers less well than we would want our own to be treated, he asks.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron: Turmoil makes case for voting reform

By NewsHound | Fri 22nd July 2016 - 10:50 am

Tim Farron has written a thoughtful article for the Yorkshire Post saying that we need to reform our voting system to make it fairer and to reflect the views of the people.

What’s surprising is that there’s more than just Lib Dems talking about it:

But just as extraordinary in its way has been the letters page of The Yorkshire Post. It has been bursting with debate on the need for electoral reform in the light of Brexit and the divided state of our country.

Tim went on to talk about conversations with Leave voters in Preston who felt that their concerns were not reflected in Westminster:

Many said that London had boomed while places that had been hit hard by the recession still haven’t seen much evidence of a recovery.

True, there were some who had voted Leave because they were worried about what they saw as an erosion of sovereignty. But many raised issues such as low wages, poor housing and lack of investment.

Even when immigration was mentioned, it was in the context of lack of training and opportunities for people in cities such as Preston to improve their lives and share in prosperity. I pointed out that London certainly has its share of disadvantaged people, but several people asked: “Where is the infrastructure investment in other parts of the UK?”

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NewsHound

Nick Clegg: We need more than warm words and bromide from May

By NewsHound | Wed 20th July 2016 - 9:51 pm

In his first few hours as our EU Spokesperson, we’ve had more sense from Nick Clegg than we’ve had from the whole government in the four awful weeks since the referendum.

Tonight he was on Radio 4’s PM programme saying that it was really important that we started to see some detail from the Government on its plans for Britain’s exit from the EU. We need, he said, a very detailed plan to extricate ourselves from the complex web of economic and legal ties between us and the EU.

He said that if the Government wanted to retain the closest possible ties with the single market, their own backbenchers would kick off.

You can listen to his interview here from about 39:30.

In a piece for the i newspaper, Nick pointed out a few discrepancies between what the Tories say they want and the likelihood of it happening without compromise:

Theresa May can’t, for example, promise that we will be able to enjoy all the benefits to our economy that full access to the world’s largest borderless single market will bring, without accepting freedom of movement in return. So which is it? What matters more – our economy and jobs or clamping down on immigration?

David Davis, Theresa May’s new Brexit minister, appears to believe the single market is just a free trade arrangement. It isn’t. Free trade means removing tariffs so that companies can trade without paying different levels of tax on the goods they buy and sell. But the single market is much more ambitious. It is about harmonising all the standards and regulations that apply to goods and services across Europe, so that companies can trade with each other on a truly level playing field.

So it’s good that someone is on the case. He sets out his own plans:

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NewsHound

LibLInk: Alistair Carmichael: Theresa May’s liberal rhetoric a surprise

By NewsHound | Wed 20th July 2016 - 10:29 am

Alistair Carmichael has written an article for today’s Scotsman in which he matches up Theresa May’s words on entering Downing Street to her actions in government. Certainly we can all remember Margaret Thatcher’s warm words about bringing peace and harmony when she entered No 10, and we know how that turned out.

For many people there were three main reasons for being pleased to see Theresa May enter No 10 Downing Street last week. Firstly she was not Boris Johnson; secondly she was not Michael Gove and thirdly she was not Andrea Leadsom. As a father, I felt it could have been worse. Mrs May, a vicar’s daughter we are told, delivered a little homily for the benefit of the world’s media outside her new residence. The rhetoric was good. I know from five years in coalition government that getting some Conservatives even to acknowledge the inequalities of modern life can be difficult. Here we had a Conservative prime minister not just acknowledging them but promising to tackle them.

But her record so far doesn’t quite reflect this:

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LibLink: Tim Farron: What’s next?

By NewsHound | Sun 17th July 2016 - 5:27 pm

Tim Farron has written a blog for the party website where he outlines 3 Liberal Democrat priorities. They are:

I’ve already announced that at the next General election, our party’s manifesto will contain a clear commitment to take us back into the European Union.

Our manifesto will contain a clear commitment to take us back into the European Union.

We have also launched a campaign to protect EU citizens right to stay in the United Kingdom. Thousands have already signed a petition backing the campaign online (you can add your name here) and this week, Tom Brake introduced a bill to the House of Commons, intended to do exactly that.

EU Citizens have built their lives here, they’re our friends, family, co-workers and neighbours and we must guarantee their future in this country.

EU citizens have built their lives here, we must guarantee their future

Our fight will not stop there – as Theresa May’s new government begins to negotiate Brexit, we must hold the Brextiers to account for the promises they have made.

They cannot be allowed to get away with the lies and half truths they told during the referendum and they cannot be allowed to escape responsibility for what they have done.

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LibLink: Shirley Williams: Bring all sides together to negotiate our future with Europe

By NewsHound | Sun 10th July 2016 - 2:26 pm

While Tory and Labour parties rip themselves apart, the Liberal Democrats have spent a great deal of time offering ideas and solutions. The latest is Shirley Williams in today’s Observer:

She succinctly sums up the mess we are in:

With every passing day, the problems confronting the new prime minister multiply. The balance of payments worsens, the pound sinks against the dollar, the London property market, no longer attractive to ambitious young bankers and financial experts, declines and Brexit begins to look more and more like snake oil.

How do we face those challenges? Well, it needs strong government and opposition:

To get through the business of negotiating an alternative to membership of the European Union, and to do so without our country falling apart, will require patience, tolerance of different and often strongly held views and good, grown-up government. None of these were evident in the bitter, brutal referendum debate. We need not just good government but a serious, responsible opposition as well.

She draws parallels with the mess of the Labour Party in the 80s.

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LIbLink: Alistair Carmichael: Parliament can not duck responsibility for UK joining Iraq war

By NewsHound | Sun 10th July 2016 - 11:55 am

As we have a 13-years-too-late mea culpa (but a big boy made him do it) from John Prescott, Alistair Carmichael writes for the Times about Parliament’s role in supporting the Iraq War.

He makes the very valid point that Parliament could have given Blair a much harder time, asking for more evidence, scrutinising every claim made, but they ducked it.

Too many of those who now say, “Of course, if I had known then what I know now …” must be challenged. For the most part they could not have known then what they know now because they were not prepared to ask the questions or to demand the evidence.

Attention focuses on the actions of the prime minister and government of the day and rightly so — they failed to do what they should have done. That is, however, equally true of the Conservative opposition. Where they should have questioned, they acquiesced. Where they should have demanded evidence, they accepted assertions. As a party of the establishment, they could not allow themselves to believe that the various arms of government would be embarking on a war without a sound basis in law.

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Michael Moore calls for UK to copy Nicola Sturgeon’s Brexit action

By NewsHound | Sat 9th July 2016 - 1:20 pm

In the days after the Referendum, Nicola Sturgeon assembled a team to advise the Scottish Government on all aspects of Brexit. Academics, financial, legal and constitutional experts will be making sure that Sturgeon and her team get well-informed advice.

Former Lib Dem Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore, now an adviser with PwC, welcomed this move and said that the UK Government should do the same. The Herald has the story:

He praised the expertise of those who will be advising the First Minister.

“Everybody on that panel, you can see how they have earned their place, and they are also quite independent-minded.

“(For instance) Charles Grant, who is probably one of the most pre-eminent European experts in the UK and Europe, is the kind of guy who can go in and talk to the top officials and ministers anywhere on the continent.

“The First Minister and others deserve credit for having a broad range of people, who won’t just go along with a particular view.

“They are there to offer expertise and presumably also to challenge.”

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