Author Archives: Paul Carroll

Paul Carroll

The need to rediscover Social Justice

By Paul Carroll | Sun 30th July 2017 - 11:32 am

So, we are to be a party of the centre; open, tolerant and united. Four adjectives for the LibDems of the future.   Given that we are currently polling around 7%-8%, I feel we need to take a long hard look at ourselves.   So for what it is worth, here is my take on the first of these adjectives: party of ‘The Centre’.

The problems of being a party of the centre are well known.  Suffice to say that barring a massive misjudgement on the part of the Labour or Conservative parties we will never hold the centre captive, un-contested and fertile. It is absolutely essential therefore, for the LibDems to find a political territory that is distinct and independent of the Tory Labour axis and effectively communicate that territory to the electorate.

I was recently advised in a dialogue on this site to revisit the preamble to our constitution and it seemed to me that written through it, like a stick of rock, was the notion of Social Justice.  The more I reflected on this issue the more it seemed to offer explanations and possibilities, not only as a guiding principle but as a strong and powerful narrative for the public imagination. But for it to work, ‘Social Justice’ cannot just be a brand or a slogan, it has to be defining, intrinsic and all pervading; a raison d’être.

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Posted in News | 65 Comments
Paul Carroll

The heart weighs far more than the head

By Paul Carroll | Mon 21st November 2016 - 12:30 pm

please-dont-goIn David Thorpe’s recent post his opening sentence asked: “Ever lost a lover and then spent hours replaying the whole of the time you had together back in your mind?”

This sentence resonated with me and little did I think on the announcement of the referendum result that I would end up doing exactly this.  Being a bit of a news addict I think my initial reaction to the referendum was to find the whole thing quite exciting.  During the campaign it was a standard joke in our house to come home and say ‘I’m an inner today’, followed by the next day of ‘I’m an outer today’.  I researched and thought about the likely economic impact of Brexit.  Researched and tried to distil fact from fiction on immigration and budget contributions.  Still I was undecided. Why, when all the hard evidence pointed to remain?

Then one day I caught a glimpse of the cover article of Der Spiegel with ‘Please Don’t Go’ blazoned across a Union Jack.  Bang! My mind was made up and fixed. The EU is really made of people who wanted us to stay, our neighbours, friends and colleagues.  Europe is in our DNA, literally, even Boris Johnson’s family tree is testament to that.  Yes, we have arguments and sometimes we don’t treat each other particularly well but we are still a family. What were we thinking about? It took that headline to give me that emotional connection to the remain side of the EU debate.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 15 Comments
Paul Carroll

“What part of ‘Leave’ don’t you understand?”

By Paul Carroll | Thu 10th November 2016 - 1:25 pm

gina-miller-on-andrew-marr

When Nigel Farage asked this of Gina Miller on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday she was far too polite and politically unseasoned to respond in kind to this patronising and arrogant question.

Well, Mr Farage, I would like to ask you what part of ‘Advisory’, ‘Parliamentary Democracy’ and ‘Independent Judiciary’, don’t you understand. Moreover I think your question should be directed more at the people who you persuaded to vote Leave in the referendum.

To the old man in the queue in front of me, the day before the referendum who said he “was voting leave because we were going to get a new hospital every week”. Don’t you understand that you were being lied to?  In fact there is probably going to be less money for the NHS as the economy ails.

To the pensioners: the government is already making noises about abandoning the triple lock in favour of linking pensions to earning only.  With inflation predicted at 2.7% next year and rising in following years. What you  don’t understand is that your pension could be worth 10% less in real terms in four years time.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 51 Comments
Paul Carroll

It beggars belief that Brexit has escaped basic parliamentary democracy

By Paul Carroll | Wed 26th October 2016 - 2:37 pm

I thought that in the UK, we had a parliamentary democracy. We elect representatives to tackle, understand, debate and ultimately enact legislation in order to build a cohesive, fair and prosperous society.

OK, our politicians have seen fit on a few occasions, to gauge the mood of the country and seek ‘advice’ from the electorate on a singular matter of importance, via a referendum. Surely, under these circumstances, that received advice should then be subject to the normal process of parliamentary understanding , debate and action as parliament sees fit. In this way the factors of cohesion, fairness and prosperity are woven into our democratic process.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 48 Comments
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