Author Archives: The Liberator Collective

… and you can download it for free here.

With more Lib Dem MPs than ever we have four writing for Liberator about how they see their role and what the party should do next.

Come and see us on stall H8 at Brighton.

WHAT WE DO NOW
To build on the 2024 result, Liberal Democrats must show they are the real opposition party and can challenge Labour authoritarianism, says Paul Kohler.

SOCK IT TO ME
Sorting out a constituent’s socks shouldn’t be an MP’s work, but the deluge of emails to a new one shows a better induction is needed, says Marie Goldman.

HOW TO INSPIRE THE NEW DAWNS.
Calum Miller borrowed Dawn’s vote in July. Now he wants the Lib Dems to give the ‘Dawns’ positive reasons to support the party.

FACE UP TO LABOUR
There’s a moral case to fight Labour in its urban heartlands, says Rachel Bentley.

CULTURE SHOCK
Westminster’s adversarial culture can drive good people out of politics. Sarah Green looks to the large crop of new MPs to change that.

RACE AGAINST TIME
Six years after a report told the party how to campaign among ethnic minority communities little has happened. The Lib Dems will pay the price at the ballot box, warns Janice Turner.

CAN HARRIS DO IT?
Kamala Harris’s late entry into the US presidential race has spared her several dangerous moments and united a fractious party like never before, says Martha Elliott.

PUBLIC BAD OR PUBLIC GOOD?
The Tories thought growth came only from private firms. Does Labour think the same, asks William Tranby.

ACTION CALL AS BANKS VANISH
Financial exclusion is getting worse and needs an answer, says Claire Tyler.

40 YEARS ON
The Liberal Revue delivered 14 full performances and a ‘crucifixion’ from its 1984 start until 2008. Mark Smulian looks back at when satire took centre stage.

REINTERPRETING RAWLS
The American Liberal philosopher John Rawls may be little known but his ideas remain important. Simon Banks looks at a new book that seeks to put Rawls in a modern context.

You can download Liberator 424 for free here.

This issue is a bit different from usual as since the last Liberator came out the Liberal Democrats have won an unprecedented 72 MPs and moved into some remarkable new territory.

But what happens now, and what can they do? There’s a huge Labour majority, second places are scarce and there is concern that the gains were made at the expense of the party in the rest of the country.

Contributors analyse the results and where to look for success next, explain how the Lib Dems moved into (or didn’t) some new places and some old ones and what happened to overseas voters.

We also have a former insider’s view of how the Tory party became such a self-inflicted disaster zone, and let’s not forget there were important elections for the European and French parliaments too.

What’s inside this issue?

You can download Liberator 422 for free here: https://liberatormagazine.org.uk/recent-issues/

Find out in Radical Bulletin why there was a row over Lib Dem participation in the South Devon primary election, why members got four conflicting messages about Rochdale and about a mind-bending case for STV enthusiasts, and much more.

Also in this issue:

Why Putin Cannot be Allowed to Win

Lib Dem MP Sarah Green joined a parliamentary delegation to Ukraine and saw a country still determined to resist a tyrant with whom negotiation is impossible

Ukraine Resists – With Some Help From Shakespeare

Nataliya Torkut is Ukraine’s leading expert on Shakespeare and a professor at Zaporizhzhia National University. She was interviewed by Kiron Reid about Ukraine’s continued resistance to Russia and the role in this of intellectual life

How to Look for the Next Leader

With no Lib Dem leadership contest due, Liz Barker looks to the long term of how the party should choose its next leader

The North is Red – at Least for Now

The Rochdale by-election showed the realities of fighting Labour where it is entrenched in its heartlands, even with the unusual circumstances of disowned candidates, says Jackie Pearcey

Does a Decade Make a Difference?

It’s 10 years since the death of Liberator stalwart Simon Titley. Jonathan Calder delves into his writing and finds it alarmingly relevant today

Traffic in a Jam

Mark Smulian looks at why councils’ installation of low traffic neighbourhoods can cause such rancour

It’s not often Liberator has a “hold the front page” moment but we did to briefly fit in something on the Guardian letter about party strategy and Ed Davey’s reaction to the 30 signatories, including by all accounts dissent at the Federal Policy Committee.

Find out the news in Radical Bulletin and the thoughts of Lord Bonkers, and this is what is in Liberator 420, which you can download for free here.

You can sign up to be emailed when each new Liberator comes out.

FOUR DAYS GOOD.

What is the Government scared of in Lib Dem South Cambridgeshire’s trial of four-day working, wonders council leader Bridget Smith

HYPOCRISY REIGNS IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Rebecca Tinsley wonders why mass killings in Sudan lack the attention focused on Gaza

A RAPID AND UNCONTROLLED DISASSEMBLY OF GOVERNMENT

Suella Braverman’s campaign against rough sleepers was enough to put J Frasier Hewitt off breakfast, and the rest of the Government looks hopeless to a former Tory too

RUNNING UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR

Mid Bedfordshire showed the Liberal Democrats how not to campaign, but Michael Meadowcroft sees a lesson form Poland in how to effectively take on nationalism and populism

AND SO TO MID BEDS

The failure in Mid Bedfordshire holds three lessons the Liberal Democrats should have the wisdom to learn from, says Roger Hayes

A LONG ROAD HOME

Getting the UK back into the European Union can only be a long-term goal, though one helped by Brexit’s manifest failings, says Nick Harvey

A FEW MORE BRICKS IN THE WALLS

What’s inside this issue?

You can download Liberator 418 for free here: 

https://liberatormagazine.org.uk/recent-issues/

“PAPERS PLEASE”.

Voter ID has caused a damaging fall in the number of people who can vote and must be reversed before the assault on democracy worsens, says Shaun Roberts

THE DIVIDE STARTS TO BREAK.

Stephen Farry MP reports on the Alliance party’s progress in Northern Ireland as its politics slowly sheds past sectarianism

HOW TO SUP WITH STARMER’S DEVILS

It may be necessary to have a tacit ‘progressive alliance’ at the next election but Liberal Democrats should remember that Labour is only slightly better than the Tories, says Peter Wrigley

HOW LABOUR KEPT CHERWELL BLUE

Labour scuppered a progressive majority alliance at Cherwell District Council, the last bit of blue in Oxfordshire, says David Hingley

WILL THE LAW FINALLY STICK TO THE TEFLON DON?

Donald Trump is in legal trouble, but there could be Republican candidates who are even worse, says Martha Elliott

Liberator 412 can be downloaded here . This is the April 2022 online-only edition of Liberator and we hope you enjoy reading it.

What’s inside this issue?

Alongside Radical Bulletin, Commentary and Letters, Liberator 412 includes:

UKRAINE’S COMEDIAN PRESIDENT IS NO COMIC.

Kiron Reid saw great hope on democracy’s eastern border in Ukraine when this article was published in Liberator 398 in November 2019 after the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as president. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we reprint it here, followed by some necessarily anonymous reflections on Ukraine now and the path to war from an observer

…

Liberator 411 is out and can be downloaded here.

This is the February 2022 online-only edition of Liberator and we hope you enjoy reading it.

Remember Liberator is now free and you can sign up on our website to get notifications of each new issue: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk

What’s inside this issue?

Alongside Radical Bulletin, Commentary and Reviews,  Liberator 411 includes:

UNABLE TO COUNT

The Liberal Democrats will be finished if they further narrow their appeal to voters, says Nick Harvey

TORIES PLUMB NEW DEPTHS

Home secretary Priti Patel’s use of cross-channel refugees as a populist weapon hasn’t been widely welcomed on the south coast, says Stewart Rayment

TIME TO GROW HAIRS

Last year’s two by-election gains showed what ‘Big Hairy Audacious Campaigns’ can do. Now spread that to wider campaigning, says Roger Hayes

LIBERATE SCHOOLS

Authoritarianism characterises too many schools, when wellbeing should be at the heart of everything they do, says Liz Makinson

AFGHANS NEGLECTED BY PATEL’S HOME OFFICE

Afghan refugees are being persecuted by the Home Office for suggesting how it could save money, says Rebecca Tinsley

Liberator’s second online only issue is out and available for free download at: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk

What’s inside?

Alongside Radical Bulletin, Letters, Reviews and Lord Bonkers’ Diary, Liberator 404 includes:

Conflict, uncertainty and being wrong: welcome to ‘the science’

Science isn’t about boffins imparting hard facts – it involves a lot of disagreement and uncertainty. Acknowledging this could improve both how politicians use science and public trust in them, says Christy Lawrance.

Dazed and confused

Constantly chasing regulations, the failure of ‘track and trace’ and local political incompetence have combined to make Covid-19’s second wave worse in northern England, says Jackie Pearcey.

Now go and sell it

The Liberal Democrats have backed the idea of a universal basic income. Now they must promote it as the cornerstone of a new radical politics, says Paul Hindley.

The North moves the political plates

Liberal Democrat conference had to duck the issue of English regions, but anger is rising in the north at the lack of devolution, says Tony Greaves.

Will he go quietly?

Liberator’s first online issue is out and available for free download at: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk

Alongside Radical Bulletin, Letters, Reviews and Lord Bonkers’ Diary, Liberator 403 includes:

The coffee smells off

Ed Davey’s listening tour is all very well, but have the Lib Dems any idea what they want people to think about them, wonders David Grace.

Generous Gesture

Julian Huppert explains the origin of The Generous Society,Tom King’s new booklet on the meaning of liberal values.

Will Russia rescue Trump again?

Tell a big lie often enough and people will believe it; that is presidential politics in the age of Trump, says Martha Elliott.

Who won the Iraq war?

Turns out it was Iran as American errors left the country at the mercy of their militias and a revived IS, says Rebecca Tinsley.

My enemy’s enemy

We’d intended to announce at York that Liberator will become a free online only publication in September.

Given the pandemic though, with potential readers stranded at home, we’re doing this a bit early with our 400th issue, which also marks Liberator’s 50th anniversary.

Go to: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk and you can download a pdf onto any device.

We will soon announce arrangements for those who’d like to sign up to be notified of when new issues come out.

Also now available on the website is our post-election review in Liberator 399.

Subscribers have been sent Liberator 400 by post and subject to how the present restrictions pan out we intend to produce Liberator 401 and 402 in print and then Liberator 403 will be online only. That was intended to coincide with the September conference but as that is in limbo we may have fortuitously picked the right time to go online only.

Liberator 400 includes:

Issue 395 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

Our first free sample article for this issue gives Liberator’s take on the potential contenders – with varying degrees of probability – as the next leader following Vince Cable signalling his retirement.

In the second Paul Hindley wonders why the Lib Dems won’t grasp Liberal policies in place over decades offer solutions to the crises of Brexit and inequality,

Both are on: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk 

Also in this issue:

Getting on without us? – The UK may end up absent but European Parliament elections will be held in May. David Grace assesses the ALDE group’s chances

What’s the record of the last man standing? – Vince Cable probably did not intend to become leader in 2017, but as others fell away the job was his. How did he do, ask Ruth Coleman Taylor and Mick Taylor?

From riches to rags – Lorraine Zuleta charts Venezuela’s fall from wealth and democracy to poverty and repression under its socialist government

And they’re off! – With 16 candidates already in the field do the Democrats have any hope of finding someone who can beat Donald Trump asks James R Davidson

Porn baffles the tories – The Government’s bid to stop minors accessing porn sites is technologically illiterate and bound to fail, says Natasha Chapman

Issue 393 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

Our first free sample article for this issue is by Sarah Green deploring the diversion of money and time caused by the way Vince Cable’s reform proposals were handled.

In the other free article, Liverpool group leader Richard Kemp explains why he for one is not a ‘moderate’.

Both are on: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk 

Also in this issue:

Reverse Double – The Immigration debate at Brighton showed the party both morally and politically wrong, says Natasha Chapman 

Damned From the Start –The Liberal Democrats’ new foreign policy paper is riddled with flaws, hardly surprising when …

Issue 388 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

Find out with our two free articles from this issue how Adrian Sanders thinks there is an ‘exit from Brexit ‘, and why Rebecca Tinsley is sounding the alarm over the persecution of Cameroon’s English speakers.

Also in this issue:

Blood Flows in Myanmar – Phil Bennion describes Liberal International’s activity to try to protect the Rohingya

How Universities Sold Their Souls – Trevor Smith looks at why seats of learning decided to chase money

Battling Brexit From the Red Benches – Tony Greaves on what Lib Dem peers can do to try to halt Brexit

Corbyn is Nick Clegg’s Fault – Allan Biggar has been out of active politics for many years, and looks at whether he should contemplate a return.

Issue 386 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

Find out with our two free articles from this issue why Norman Lamb wants the party to tackle the endemic powerlessness that helped lead to Brexit, and why Sarah Olney might have benefitted from a ‘progressive alliance’ in Richmond Park, but views the idea with great suspicion.

Also in this issue:

John Pugh says a state that wants to enable has to be active too.

Sarah Green looks at who the new Liberal Democrats are, as they now vastly outnumber the old ones.

Jonathan Calder revisits the work of Richard Rorty, a philosopher who has much to tell liberals now about what happened when the cultural left supplanted the reformist one.

Roger Hayes argues that opposing Brexit and the economic crisis it threatens isn’t Liberal Democrat policy, but the context against which the party must set its policy.

Wendy Kyrle-Pope looks at how to tempt savers into investing in new affordable housing, while Jon Reeds says homes should not be directed into ’garden towns’ that waste land.

Rebecca Tinsley reports on why too much foreign aid money goes into perpetuating inadequate education systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

Issue 385 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This includes in Radical Bulletin our piecing together of the story of Tim Farron’s resignation and who did and did not conspire to do what. We also look at what went on in some controversies over candidates and campaigns.

Its traditional for Liberator to send a questionnaire to leadership contenders, so we did so even though there is only one and Vince Cable’s answers can be seen here.

This issue’s other free sample article is Liz Barker’s recounting of how she tried to get Tim Farron to see the political implications of his views on gay sex.

Elsewhere, Liberator includes Vauxhall candidate George Turner’s criticism of party headquarters’ role in his campaign, reflections on the results from Tony Greaves,  Michael Meadowcroft, Paul Hindley, Nigel Lindsay and others, and to remind us that it’s not just the UK that has had a general election, Marianne Magnin reports on Macron’s win in France.

Issue 384 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This necessarily rather truncated pre-election issue’s free sample online content is from Claire Tyler on why the poor pay more by being excluded from financial services, and Andrew Duff on why the UK should seek an association agreement with the EU

Elsewhere in the issue there is:
How the Lib Dems Lost Their Think Tank – Seth Thevoz analyses Centre Forum’s slide out of liberal politics and eventual demise
Out With the Old – English county results show some old guards should step aside, says Chris White

Issue 383 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This issue’s free sample online content is from Tony Greaves on what ‘taking back control’ really means, and from Dave Raval on why the much-vaunted post-Brexit trade deals will bring more problems.

Elsewhere in the issue there is:

On the Fence With A Part-Time Submarine

Liberal Democrats look set to yet again show they lack the guts to scrap the waste of money that is Trident, says David Grace

A Vote for A Delusion

Leave voters who think they have made Britain a global player again are in for a shock, says Paul Hindley

The Tinkerbell Approach to Politics

Issue 382 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This issue’s free sample online content is from Nick Harvey on winning back support in the south west from voters who may have backed Brexit, and from Lester Holloway on whether the Alderdice review of diversity will tackle issues facing Liberal Democrats from ethnic groups

Elsewhere the new issue has:

MENTAL HEALTH – WHY IS IT LAST IN LINE FOR RESOURCES?

by Claire Tyler, who has secured new legislation to improve child mental

health

TROUBLE IN J-TOWN by Rebecca Tinsley, who has seen terrorism, religious polarisation, and eye-watering corruption in northern Nigeria

Issue 380 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers, and the magazine can be bought from our stall at the Brighton conference. It’s only £25 a year.

This issue’s free sample online content is from former MP David Howarth on how to use the 48% as the basis for building a core vote, and from Lord Trevor Smith on how politics must respond to the effects of ‘robber barons and falling incomes’.

Elsewhere the issue has:

• Norman Baker on what it was like to work with Theresa May in government.
• An analysis by Seth Thevoz of how the Liberal Democrats badly misdirected their campaign spending at the last general election.
• Paul Hindley on why the north mainly voted for Brexit.
• Rebecca Tinsley explains the fresh outbreak of war in South Sudan.
• Our American correspondents Christine and Dennis Graf look at whether Donald Trump can be stopped.

Issue 379 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This issue’s free sample online content is from Baroness Julie Smith on what went wrong with the Remain campaign, and Roger Hayes on a plan to take the political temperature of the post-referendum UK and devise liberal responses to this.

Elsewhere the issue has the Commentary on how 48% of the electorate is an ample pool in which the party can fish, news and gossip in Radical Bulletin, reviews and Lord Bonkers’ Diary.

There is also more referendum reaction from: Kiron Reid, Sir Graham Watson, Jane McBennett and Lord Trevor Smith and a set of Vox Pops from party activists.

Jonathan Calder looks at the final disgrace of Tony Blair in the Chilcot report, David Grace reviews David Laws’ book on the Coalition and Energlyn Churchill assesses what he calls the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ existential crisis. Nick Winch contributes an obituary for David Rendel.