Author Archives: Paul Walter

Paul Walter

Slithering headlong down the rabbit hole

By Paul Walter | Fri 13th January 2017 - 1:15 pm

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? “I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud. “I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think-“
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

The latest Trump episodes really mark a drop down the rabbit hole. We were in “post-Truth” mode, but now we have switched over into an alternative reality.

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Posted in News | 26 Comments
Paul Walter

Book review – Jeremy Paxman: A Life in Questions

By Paul Walter | Thu 12th January 2017 - 2:33 pm

Santa kindly got me this book. I have just finished it – which for me counts as “speed reading”. (I once spent an entire year reading “To kill a mocking bird“).

Jeremy Paxman’s memoirs, “A Life in Questions” is an excellent read – it presents a journalist of great integrity, an interesting life story which is, in turns, fascinating, gripping and, sometimes, hilarious.

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Posted in Books | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Paul Walter

The physical network behind surveillance – an extraordinary video about Cornish internet apparatus

By Paul Walter | Mon 9th January 2017 - 9:53 am


The path to the beach at Porthcurno - geograph.org.uk - 1298346
The path to the beach at Porthcurno, Cornwall. The diamond-shaped sign indicates the presence of underground cables, of which there are many buried under the beach, this place being the landfall of many cables under the Atlantic Ocean. The small building houses the terminals of these cables.

Here on Liberal Democrat Voice, we often debate the subject of government surveillance. But do we ever consider the actual physical network of cables and buildings which underpin that surveillance?

Videographer Mark Thomas has published an extraordinary video on You Tube which shows cables, manhole covers, buildings and the like, to give a detailed picture of how the network, which presumably facilitates surveillance of data, works on the ground.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 7 Comments
Paul Walter

On losing so many heroines and heroes in 2016 – and telegraph poles

By Paul Walter | Fri 30th December 2016 - 11:00 am

First of all, I would like to express my deep sympathy to everyone who has lost close ones this year. Particularly at this festive period, I am conscious of the hell of grief many people are going through.

I’m not saying anything new here. But we seem to have lost one heck of a lot of famous icons, heroines and heroes in 2016.

The Mirror has a theory on why this is:

Between 1946 and 1964, there was a massive growth in population.
This means people in their 50s, 60s and 70s now make up a much larger percentage of the population than they did four or five decades ago.
And as a result, more of them are famous, the BBC notes.
These people, dubbed ‘baby boomers’, are reaching an age where they are more likely to develop life-threatening conditions such as cancer and heart disease.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 1 Comment
Paul Walter

We have a winner of our quiz!

By Paul Walter | Fri 23rd December 2016 - 1:50 pm

Many congratulations to Catherine Crosland, who correctly guessed that the box pictured on the right is used by the BBC to create the sound of money/glasses of drinks being placed on the bar of “The Bull” pub in Ambridge during recordings of The Archers in Birmingham.

Catherine’s prize is the title of “2016 Sound effect guru of the year”.

Well done Catherine!

Posted in The Arts | Tagged | 1 Comment
Paul Walter

Test your knowledge and ingenuity – quick quiz about a national institution

By Paul Walter | Thu 22nd December 2016 - 10:50 am

As we’re getting relaxed for the holiday season, here’s a quick quiz about a national institution. It’s not politically related but I suspect it’s on a subject dear to many readers’ hearts.

Look at the wooden box on the right. You can see that it’s nondescript, very battered and held together with insulation tape. It’s 35 years old.

It’s used to create the sounds of what could justifiably be called a “national institution”.

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Posted in The Arts | Tagged | 20 Comments
Paul Walter

Choosing one’s ideal Focus delivery tool

By Paul Walter | Wed 21st December 2016 - 10:50 am

Last April, while delivering Focus leaflets for a by-election, I had a slight disagreement with a member of the canine community. I came off the worst, resulting in a trip to the local minor injuries department and a spectacular dressing on my finger.

Ever since that incident, I have at last listened to wiser heads who have advised using a Focus delivery tool.

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged and | 11 Comments
Paul Walter

Extremely welcome news from The Gambia – ‘the marbles have spoken’

By Paul Walter | Sun 4th December 2016 - 2:30 pm

Well, well, well. Wonders never cease. President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has conceded defeat after the country’s Presidential Election. Those are words I never thought anyone would write. Jammeh has been President of The Gambia for 22 years. He once said he would rule for ‘a billion years’. He has recently become increasingly erratic and autocratic.

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

Don’t pass by homeless/needy people on the street

By Paul Walter | Sat 3rd December 2016 - 6:31 pm

Often we get into a habit of walking past homeless/needy people sitting on the side of the street. We are told that it is wrong to give them money, so we just pass awkwardly by.

It takes a lot of courage, but with temperatures dropping, I would suggest just stopping and chatting to the next person you see in such a situation. They may ask for money – and I would suggest declining that request. But what you can do is offer to go and buy them a drink of coffee/tea/soup or a sandwich or some chocolate.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 25 Comments
Paul Walter

President Trump’s mode of entrance for his first visit to China?

By Paul Walter | Sat 3rd December 2016 - 3:54 pm

As a snub, the Chinese once forced President Obama to leave Air Force One via “the ass of the plane“, upon arrival in China

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Posted in Humour | Tagged and | 9 Comments
Paul Walter

Do we need to brace ourselves for Trump being perceived as a “great President”?

By Paul Walter | Sun 27th November 2016 - 12:30 pm

The fellow on the left of the photo (above) is Jared Kushner. He is the son-in-law of Donald Trump and, perhaps, “the power behind the throne” of the new President. An MBA and Harvard graduate, he knows how to run a business. Given Trump’s extraordinary victory, of which he was the architect, he is also a successful political campaign manager.

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Posted in LDVUSA | Tagged and | 19 Comments
Paul Walter

Last weekend – big push for Sarah Olney in Richmond Park

By Paul Walter | Fri 25th November 2016 - 9:40 am

kingston-office-montage

Yesterday I spent all day at Richmond Park. In the morning I was delivering Gazette newspapers in New Malden. Then in the afternoon I joined our very hard-working clerical team in the Kingston office. I bumped into LDV colleague, Mary Reid, who has a crucial top secret role at the Kingston office, which she fulfils every evening. I could tell you what this role involves, but I’d have to eat you afterwards.

It was great to see the streets teeming with orange diamond posters and busy LibDem volunteers.

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Paul Walter

Even George Osborne’s Brexit black hole warning wasn’t high enough

By Paul Walter | Thu 24th November 2016 - 7:15 pm

George Osborne got a lot of stick back in June, when he warned that a Brexit vote would leave a “£30 billion black hole in (the) public finances”. Indeed, his warning resulted in his entire career being shunted into a siding. Crestfallen, he went off to Vietnam to let off steam with an M60 machine gun.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 54 Comments
Paul Walter

Book review – Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero by Chris Matthews

By Paul Walter | Thu 24th November 2016 - 11:30 am

Books and films about the last second of President John F Kennedy’s life have been plentiful. “Jack Kennedy – Elusive hero” by Chris Matthews is a very engaging book which focusses on the great politician’s life before that last second.

Chris Matthews is a very well-known US TV broadcaster. He prefaces this book in a personal context – explaining his great admiration for JFK. The book does an excellent job in answering the key question which John F Kennedy himself described as the pivotal one for biographies: “What was he like?”

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Posted in Books | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Paul Walter

Postcard from India – monumental bank note upheaval

By Paul Walter | Wed 23rd November 2016 - 3:00 pm

cow-mini-market in Goa by Paul Walter
Paul Walter is now back at home. As is often the case, this postcard arrived after the sender returned to Blighty!

We’ve had an enrapturing holiday in Goa, India. The welcome from the Goan people was wonderful. The beauty of the place was breathtaking.

By coincidence, we arrived just a couple days after a major monetary change by the government. To wrong-foot terrorists and criminals, there has been a monumentally huge exercise called “demonetisation”, going on across this, the second most populous nation in the world. All the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes have been withdrawn from circulation at two hours’ notice.

In the Times of India, Santosh Desai wrote: “86% of the currency in circulation becomes illegal virtually overnight”. That relates to an estimated $210 billion worth of money notes. $210 billion! That is a mind-boggling figure.

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged | 1 Comment
Paul Walter

Enough with the flagellation of the “liberal elite” – Hillary Clinton actually got the most votes!

By Paul Walter | Thu 10th November 2016 - 12:00 pm

In the wake of the US election, there’s been a lot of sneering condemnation of the “sneering metropolitan liberal elite” including under posts on this very site.

Perhaps just hold the horses on this condemnation for a second, eh?

What is the objective of a candidate in an election?

Go on.

Try it.

Ah yes, you say – to win the most votes.

Well Hillary Clinton won the most votes in the US election: 59.8 million to Trump’s 59.6 million.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 25 Comments
Paul Walter

US election results: This isn’t an anti-establishment vote (in effect anyway)

By Paul Walter | Wed 9th November 2016 - 6:36 am

It is strange that this election night is being seen as an “anti-establishment” vote in the US, or as an “insurgency”.

The Republican establishment is wiping the floor of the Senate, the House, State governorships and state legislatures, plus they have the White House (with, at least, a nominal Republican in there). And this will lead to a marked right wing shift in the Supreme Court as well (I certainly fear for Americans on that score).

This is the Republican establishment with a stranglehold on power right across the US.

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Posted in LDVUSA | Tagged and | 66 Comments
Paul Walter

+++It’s President Trump – live blog/open thread

By Paul Walter | Wed 9th November 2016 - 4:29 am

Open thread/live blog.

Just watching the results, I think we’re looking at President Trump. Hillary Clinton is struggling in Wisconsin and Michigan so it seems unlikely she can win.

This is an extraordinary result.

The New York Times gives Trump over a 95% chance of winning.

I need a glass of water.

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Posted in LDVUSA | Tagged and | 44 Comments
Paul Walter

Rolling Stone magazine weighs in: ‘Donald Trump cannot be President of the United States’

By Paul Walter | Tue 8th November 2016 - 2:48 pm

Jesse Berney has written a corker of a piece in Rolling Stone magazine about Donald Trump, saying: “By virtually any measure, he is unfit to lead a Cub Scout troop, let alone the nation with the world’s most powerful military.” It’s worth reading the article in full but here is its brilliant conclusion:

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Posted in LDVUSA | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Paul Walter

We need to stop the drift towards self-destruction

By Paul Walter | Sun 6th November 2016 - 8:48 am

It is more in sorrow than anger that I review the events of the last few days.

And if you want sorrow rather than anger done beautifully, then watch this wonderful piece of James O’Brien’s LBC show. He patiently asks why the caller asked for British law administered in Britain by British judges but is now angry about British law administered in Britain by British judges.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 126 Comments
Paul Walter

Article 50 ruling follows a monumental misjudgment by Theresa May

By Paul Walter | Thu 3rd November 2016 - 6:30 pm

It is difficult not to see today’s High Court ruling as anything other than a disaster for Theresa May. The first big decision she made as PM turns out to have been a monumental misjudgment. She has been ruled out of order and, unless an appeal is successful, she’ll have to go cap in hand to Parliament.

Mike Smithson of Political Betting put it very well:

Tim Farron commented:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 69 Comments
Paul Walter

We must all examine our consciences regarding mobile phones in cars

By Paul Walter | Thu 3rd November 2016 - 5:30 pm

geograph-3292071-by-david-dixonIt’s a local stretch of the A34 I know well. On August 10th we were all stunned and horrified by the terrible accident which occurred there, as reported by the Guardian:

A lorry driver who killed a woman and three children when his vehicle ploughed into their stationary car while he was scrolling through music on his mobile phone has been jailed for 10 years.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons, Ethan, 13, Josh, 11, and stepdaughter, Aimee, 11, died instantly when Tomasz Kroker drove his lorry into their car at 50mph. Their car was shunted underneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle and crushed to a third of its size.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Paul Walter

Phew! Thank goodness for the High Court ruling

By Paul Walter | Thu 3rd November 2016 - 2:27 pm

Today’s High Court ruling is quite a relief.

Up until now, the government’s approach to Article 50 has been rather like that of a load of drunks in a speeding train carriage, intent on pulling the emergency cord to jump off the train in the middle of nowhere.

To embark on Article 50 without parliamentary consensus, and with a confused government position, would have been disastrous for this country’s interests.

The High Court ruling is based on the key constitutional principle that parliament only decides UK domestic law. By invoking Article 50 via royal prerogative, the government would have been ending all the …

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Posted in Op-eds | 41 Comments
Paul Walter

How you can volunteer to help Sarah Olney win in Richmond Park

By Paul Walter | Mon 31st October 2016 - 9:44 am

sarah-olney-for-rp-600

After her selection yesterday as our candidate at the Richmond Park December 1st by-election, Sarah Olney is calling for volunteers to help her campaign.

Update: Sarah’s website has now gone live.

Click here to choose how you can help Sarah.

This webpage has the information you need about making calls.

This webpage allows you to donate to the campaign.

We leafleted the whole constituency within 48 hours of Zac Goldsmith announcing that he was standing down.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Paul Walter

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By Paul Walter | Sun 30th October 2016 - 7:00 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

++BREAKING NEWS : Zac Goldsmith has resigned as MP for Richmond Park (77 comments) by Mary Reid

Brexit is a war already lost (54 comments) by Phil Aisthorpe

In the mayoral election, why did Zac Goldsmith get such a low vote in his own backyard? (13 comments) by Lester Holloway

Oppose Brexit – it’s bad for the country

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Paul Walter

++Lib Dems select Sarah Olney to be our candidate at the Richmond Park by-election

By Paul Walter | Sun 30th October 2016 - 5:51 pm



Sarah Olney has been selected to contest the Richmond Park and North Kingston December 1st by-election for the Liberal Democrats.

An opinion poll has shown it is a two-horse race between local woman Sarah and Zac Goldsmith, the out-going Conservative Brexit MP whose resignation triggered the by-election. Sarah, an accountant and married mother of two, was selected at a meeting of the local party in Richmond today.

Sarah Olney said:

This by-election is a chance for people to have their say on Brexit, the NHS and Heathrow. Only a vote for the Liberal Democrats will make a stand against Heathrow and Brexit, not to mention the scandalous underfunding of the NHS.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 52 Comments
Paul Walter

Clegg: People don’t vote for economic self-harm

By Paul Walter | Sun 30th October 2016 - 3:45 pm

Nick Clegg talked this morning with Robert Peston about Brexit and the Richmond Park by-election. Here’s a transcript of the interview:

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 27 Comments
Paul Walter

‘Within 48 hours of Goldsmith’s standing down on Tuesday, the Lib Dems had leafleted the entire constituency’ – Guardian

By Paul Walter | Sat 29th October 2016 - 10:05 pm

richmond parkThe Guardian have a great article which liberally quotes Sarah Olney, the Lib Dems’ “prospective candidate” for Richmond Park and has this passage:

Within 48 hours of Goldsmith’s standing down on Tuesday, the Lib Dems had leafleted the entire constituency and were trying to find a bigger office from which to mastermind their campaign.

Nassar Kessell, a party activist who was out on the streets on Friday, admitted that Goldsmith, who fought an unsuccessful campaign to become mayor of London earlier this year, was popular locally. But he was still beatable.

“There’s no doubt that people like him. He’s been the MP for a very long time. But there is certainly a part of the constituency that is upset about the issues he’s championed – Brexit, for example. We can absolutely provide the alternative.”

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged and | 14 Comments
Paul Walter

Nissan announcement – did May promise any cash for Qashqais?

By Paul Walter | Fri 28th October 2016 - 1:55 pm

At the end of the day, we’re all Brits together. I rejoice that Nissan have announced the production of the new Qashqai and X-Trails at Sunderland.

Tim Farron has commented:

The commitment to Sunderland by Nissan is obviously very welcome. Ensuring that jobs are protected at the plant is vital for Sunderland and our economy.

However, it is utterly ridiculous that Theresa May is having to give special assurances to key manufacturers in order to deal with the Brexit fallout her government is creating.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 31 Comments
Paul Walter

The David Rendel Award – helping young people to get involved in by-election campaigns

By Paul Walter | Wed 26th October 2016 - 10:10 am

David RendelDavid Rendel was MP for Newbury from 1993 to 2005, winning the seat in a famous by-election with the largest majority ever attained by a Liberal Democrat. A campaigner of renowned energy, he was greatly admired both locally and nationally. At the time of his death in 2016, he still inspired huge loyalty within and beyond the Newbury and West Berkshire (NWB) Local Party and area. One of David’s key strengths was his ability to inspire other people, particularly young people, to become actively involved in politics.

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