Author Archives: Paul Walter

Paul Walter

We’re all “Preamble Lib Dems”

By Paul Walter | Wed 30th September 2015 - 6:00 pm

There has been a very minor outbreak of people using the label “Preamble Lib Dem” to describe themselves.

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Paul Walter

VIDEO: The three minutes of Tim’s speech where he speaks with raw rage about refugees

By Paul Walter | Sat 26th September 2015 - 3:33 pm

People have been requesting this clip. Click below for the three minutes of Tim’s conference speech when he spoke about refugees. The video starts when the passage starts. The passage ends at 31’32 with a standing ovation and then the video continues with the rest of the speech if you want to see it.



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Paul Walter

Result – Lib Dem London Assembly list selection

By Paul Walter | Sat 26th September 2015 - 10:05 am

With a hat-tip to Mark Pack, here is the result of the internal Liberal Democrat party election to select the order of candidates for our London Assembly list:

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 16 Comments
Paul Walter

Liberal Democrat policy on railways

By Paul Walter | Thu 24th September 2015 - 10:45 am

Liberals must be on the side of business – ambitious for business – tearing down the barriers that stop businesses from fulfilling their ambitions. It is unambitious for the government to power down the Northern Powerhouse by stalling promises to electrify the Transpennines route. Instead, we say – invest in the best rail links in Europe.

Tim Farron, 23rd September 2015

This is the first of a couplet of articles on the subject of the railways this morning.

In August, on a comments thread, I outlined the Liberal Democrat railways policy, in response to a commenter.

I notice that commenters are still asking what our policy is on the railways, so I thought I’d set it out in a post.

First of all, here is a statement from the BBC news magazine from March 2015:

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 25 Comments
Paul Walter

Tim’s speech – Did you have to be in the hall to get it?

By Paul Walter | Thu 24th September 2015 - 9:40 am

Yesterday I had to work so I couldn’t be at Bournemouth to watch Tim’s speech.

So, through the miracles of the smartphone, the BBC and the car auxiliary connection point, I listened to Tim’s speech on the way to work this morning.

I therefore had a chance to test how the speech came over via audio only on the M4 in Berkshire. Were all these rave reviews coming from people in the hall yesterday mere hype? The result of mass hysteria which would not catch on outside the immediacy of the hall?

Well, no.

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Paul Walter

IN FULL: Tim Farron’s leader speech to conference today

By Paul Walter | Wed 23rd September 2015 - 1:36 pm

When I was growing up my school didn’t have a sixth form. I guess that’s because most of us didn’t do A levels. So I went to a separate sixth form college – Runshaw in Leyland – and, in my first week, I joined the Liberal Party.

I also joined a band.

I’m assuming you may have seen the photos.

The only good thing I can say is that because the photos are pre-digital they are so low resolution that you can’t make out the eye-liner.

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Paul Walter

“Wow, that was the best leader’s speech I’ve heard in just under 50 Lib Dem conferences”

By Paul Walter | Wed 23rd September 2015 - 1:30 pm

So tweeted Dr Mark Pack, formerly of this parish:



Here’s some other reaction:


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Paul Walter

Broadcast that underlines one of Tim’s big themes – the right to a decent home

By Paul Walter | Wed 23rd September 2015 - 10:00 am

The right for everyone to have a decent home is emerging as one of the big themes of Tim Farron’s leadership. It is the subject of his first Party Political Broadcast as leader, which you can view below. As well as packing a punch in terms of the theme, it is also a well presented broadcast. Tim is relaxed and seems normal.

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Paul Walter

If you missed any bits of conference…how to catch up on YouTube

By Paul Walter | Tue 22nd September 2015 - 5:45 pm

Lib Dem YouTube channelSssshhh! Don’t tell anyone. This is a secret and we need to keep it that way.

If you want to watch any bits of conference in “catch up mode”, head over to the party’s YouTube channel here.

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Paul Walter

VIDEO: Watch the “Scrapping Trident” debate in full

By Paul Walter | Tue 22nd September 2015 - 12:30 pm

Click below to watch this excellent example of Liberal Democrat debate from yesterday:

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Paul Walter

++Conference passes “One member one vote” for party elections and conference votes

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2015 - 6:49 pm

Hallejujah!

We have got there! We have at last completed our arduous journey over mountain, through thick jungle and through crocodile infested waters. We have at last arrived in the Elysian Fields!

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Paul Walter

“Scrapping Trident” debate – what conference voted for today

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2015 - 6:46 pm

Here follows the text of the motion passed by conference this afternoon at the end of the debate entitled “Scrapping Trident” on the agenda.

I have shown the original motion in normal text with the original line numbers, and lines through the text which was deleted by conference. In italics I have shown the text inserted by virtue of conference voting for Amendment 1:

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Paul Walter

VIDEO: Tim Farron’s very impressive debut Question & Answer session at conference in full

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2015 - 2:00 pm

Please click below to see the whole of Tim Farron’s Question and Answer session at conference yesterday. Tim was in extremely impressive form for his first such session – which can be extremely demanding for a party leader. He was relaxed, confident, funny where necessary and very passionate.

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Paul Walter

Foreign affairs – facing up to failure

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2015 - 1:00 pm

20th Sep 2015 conference LDV fringeLiberal Democrat Voice hosted a very stimulating conference fringe meeting yesterday evening. Our editor, Caron Lindsay chaired the session discussing how we forge a liberal foreign policy in these challenging times. The panel consisted of Hannah Bettsworth, Julie Smith, William Wallace and Nick Tyrone. My photo above shows the panel while Hannah was speaking.

Thank you to the panel for each providing extraordinaryly thought-provoking inputs. Thank you also to the representatives who came along and asked excellent questions or made superb points.

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Paul Walter

A welcome rebalancing of the media/members ratio at conference

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2015 - 11:30 am

Tim Farron 2015 bournemouth

Tim Farron, with Rosie Farron, awaits the cue to deliver his first conference speech as leader at Saturday’s night conference rally.Photo by Paul Walter.

Pssst. Let me tell you a little secret which you may not have noticed if you haven’t attended Lib Dem conferences. As we went through the coalition years, the numbers of members attending conference dwindled. No doubt someone is going to dispute this and quote detailed numbers. But it was pretty obvious and, towards the end, feintly embarrassing.

While the numbers of members attending conference went down, the numbers of media, police, security guards and sycophantic business people buzzing around soared.

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Paul Walter

Three ways to watch conference live

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2015 - 10:00 am

There are three ways to watch the Lib Dem conference live:

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Paul Walter

VIDEO: Last night’s conference rally in full

By Paul Walter | Sun 20th September 2015 - 3:02 pm

Click below to see last night’s “standing room only” conference rally.

The sequence of speakers is:

  • Party President Sal Brinton (don’t worry – the image of Sal appears after a bit)
  • New member, Amy Stuart, from Bristol
  • London Mayoral candidate, Caroline Pidgeon
  • New member Zack Polanski
  • London International Gospel Choir
  • Tim Pickstone
  • Party leader Tim Farron
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Paul Walter

New “Policy Pitch” opportunity hits conference

By Paul Walter | Sun 20th September 2015 - 1:30 pm

imageA new format hit conference yesterday. At the end of Saturday’s session, we had a “Policy Pitch” section. This is a new idea whereby members submit ideas to the conference commitee and three of those ideas are accepted for discussion at the conference.

The chosen members gave a short speech outlining their policy proposal. Then they sat down in a comfy chair on stage with three “assessors”, who were: Julie Smith, Jeremy Hargreaves and Willie Rennie. There was then a little interviewing of each proposer from the three assessors.

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Paul Walter

‘Going to the south coast once a year and putting your hand up should not be the only way to contribute to party policy making’

By Paul Walter | Sun 20th September 2015 - 12:00 pm

Autumn 2012 conference - Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats
The quote above came from Lorna Dupré at the policy making process consultation

On Saturday morning, conference got off to a flying start with a consultative session on the party’s policy-making process. This followed the publication of this document.

The session was organised and led by the Federal Policy Committee, which is the leading body for policy making in the party. Tim Farron is the chair of this committee.

The session was chaired by Julie Smith, with Gareth Epps and Jeremy Hargreaves heavily involved in facilitating the discussion. Duncan Brack also spoke.

These “consultative sessions” are, I think, an exciting part of conference. They allow members to input ideas into the formation of processes and policy before working groups have started to write a formal motion for conference. So, it is an excellent way for members to influence things.

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Paul Walter

+++This is officially the biggest Liberal Democrat conference ever+++

By Paul Walter | Sat 19th September 2015 - 11:08 am

News came through via Gareth Epps at the morning consultation session that the number of member registrations at this Bournemouth conference have now passed the previous record for the party. So this is now the biggest Liberal Democrat party conference EVER!

The party said:

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Paul Walter

Conference kicks off

By Paul Walter | Sat 19th September 2015 - 8:26 am

imageConference kicks off with an important consultative session on party policy making this morning at 10am in the Marriott Hotel.

The main conference centre opens at 12.30 for members.

I took this photo of Bournemouth pier at 8am today.

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Paul Walter

Conference Countdown 2015: This is where you can keep up with all the conference news, views, gossip and scandal

By Paul Walter | Fri 18th September 2015 - 5:15 pm

Since July 10th, we’ve published over 30 posts about the Bournemouth Conference here on Liberal Democrat Voice. These have included views on key motions being debated as well as more gossipy items such as ones about the Lib Dem Disco and Dr Who.

You can read all those posts and all the ones coming up in the next week by clicking on our Conference category here or on where it says “Conference” after “posted in” at the bottom of any of our posts about the Bournemouth gathering. Additionally, you can click on “Reportage” at the top of each conference post.

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Paul Walter

Aliens? Migrants? Exiles? Refugees? Asylum seekers? People? Dreamers?

By Paul Walter | Fri 18th September 2015 - 9:25 am

Immigration is perhaps the main debate area where terminology gets very confused. The Express and Mail get people very wound up about “immigrants”. But what are people exactly getting wound up about? Illegal immigrants? Asylum seekers? Legal immigrants? Or people who were born in the UK, and who perhaps have several generations of antecedents who were born here, but just look different to themselves? We have to be very precise about terms or we get into a very emotionally-charged muddle.

In an LDV article entitled “Don’t talk to me about migrants” Caron noted on here last month that words matter in the reporting and discussion of the refugee crisis. I’ve read some correspondence between a complainant and the BBC from last month (and I’m sorry I can’t find it at the moment) where the BBC were adamantly sticking to the word “migrant” to describe the current movement of people across borders.

So, I couldn’t believe it when on Wednesday night on the ten o’clock news on BBC1, a BBC reporter actually referred to “refugees”. (I know it’s not the BBC, but Ben Shephard on ITV also referred on Thursday morning to the “refugee crisis”.) And a quick search of the BBC website for the last few weeks shows that they have been frequently using the word “refugees”. But they still use the word “migrants” in many blanket headlines.

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Paul Walter

Spin doctors urgently needed to manage an inspiringly authentic car crash

By Paul Walter | Wed 16th September 2015 - 2:45 pm

Yes, it’s another Corbyn post. Sorry about that.

But there’s the thing. Politics is absolutely fascinating at the moment. If Burnham or Cooper had won the Labour leadership, we would have had the same old Blair-like triangulating platitudes. Instead, we have inspiring authenticity from Jeremy Corbyn.

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Paul Walter

Norman Lamb: ‘It is ridiculous that we still put people in prison for personal drugs use’

By Paul Walter | Thu 10th September 2015 - 9:42 am

Norman Lamb spoke last night in Newbury at a panel discussion on drugs misuse and our current drug laws.

Norman said that he has thought through the “drugs danger” and whether it should receive a criminal response or a health response. He said he has concluded that there should be a health response. He alluded to John Stuart Mill’s ‘self-regarding acts’, where the state shouldn’t interfere and ‘other-regarding acts’ where some state intervention may be justified. He said that it is wrong to criminalise those suffering mental ill health who resort to drugs because of their condition. It is “ridiculous”, Norman asserted, that we still put people in prison for personal drugs use.

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Paul Walter

Farron: the Tories are turning up at the school gate and stealing children’s lunch money

By Paul Walter | Sat 5th September 2015 - 4:49 pm

School meals by COventry City Council Flickr CCLThe Mail reports today:

Ministers are poised to scrap Nick Clegg’s controversial free school meals programme, it emerged last night.

The flagship Lib Dem policy was supposed to ensure all primary school children were given free lunches in their first three years of education.

Tim Farron has responded:

If this goes ahead, the Tories will show they are willing to take an axe to the education budget at the expense of children’s learning.

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Paul Walter

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

By Paul Walter | Sat 5th September 2015 - 3:19 pm

Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp! Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!


Emma Lazarus – words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, New York City (with thanks to Rev. Giles Fraser).

Tim Farron has today responded o David Cameron’s approach to the refugee crisis as follows:

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Paul Walter

How to show that refugees are welcome in your home area

By Paul Walter | Fri 4th September 2015 - 1:15 pm

38 degrees does have its uses. Their “Refugees Welcome” campaign allows you to go their website, enter your postcode and see if their is a current “Refugees welcome in -name of town or city-” petition for your locality. If there is, you can sign it if you want to. If there isn’t one for your area, you can just hit the red button to “start a campaign” and you can set up a petition for your home town, village or city, and then publicise it via Twitter, Facebook, email etc.

The Guardian has a list of ways you can help refugees. – As does The Independent.

My eye has been caught by these two refugee-related good causes:

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Paul Walter

Conference Countdown 2015: …And breathe – advice for first time conference goers

By Paul Walter | Thu 3rd September 2015 - 10:36 am

When you first go to conference there is a risk of overloading with “stuff”.

Bear in mind that conference is a very unusual situation for a human being.

You are there being pumped full of the highest octane level of high octane political content for up to 18 hours a day. I once counted up over 50 subjects on which I had listened to speeches or explanations during a conference week.

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Paul Walter

Is George Orwell’s view of England still true?

By Paul Walter | Tue 1st September 2015 - 7:54 pm

George-orwell-BBCOver on the (unaffiliated) Journeyman blog there is a review of George Orwell’s collection of essays called Why I write, which was originally published in 1946.

The review quotes a couple of passages where Orwell makes observations about England. (I apologise that these opinions are very specifically given about England only, rather than the country as a whole).

The first passage is about the artistic and intellectual characteristics of the English:

Here are a couple of generalizations about England that would be accepted by almost all observers. One is that the English are not gifted artistically…the English are not intellectual… another English characteristic which is so much a part of us that we barely notice it, and that is the addiction to hobbies and spare-time occupations, the privateness of English life… The most hateful of all names in an English ear is Nosey Parker.
(The Lion & The Unicorn pp14-16)

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