Author Archives: The Liberator Collective

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.

This issue’s free sample online content is the Commentary on how the party got both the vote on Syria wrong and the process leading up to it.

Also as a free sample, Seth Thevoz describes how, as he saw it, the attempted ousting of Nick Clegg after the disastrous results of May 2014 nearly succeeded – and why it didn’t.

Elsewhere the issue has news and gossip in Radical Bulletin, book reviews, Lord Bonkers’ latest thoughts and among the articles:

More Cats Needed: Sarah Green offers an answer to the Liberal Democrats’ essay competition

Not In My Name: By backing bombing in Syria the …

Issue 373 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers and this one’s free sample online content is the Commentary on Tim Farron’s election as Lib Dem leader, and Tony Greaves’ article in which he argues that the party has forgotten how to campaign and must avoiding wasting the potential of its thousand of new members. The full version of Liberator 372 is now also online. See: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk

The new issue also includes:

THE PATH TO PADDY’S HAT – the general election exit poll should not have surprised those who had followed what the market research industry was doing, says Alex Dee

WELLBEING WORKS – Looking at wellbeing provides liberals with route to express their commitment to redistribution, and they should accept the need for state involvement, says Claire Tyler

PLACES THAT DON’T MATTER – The wave of migrants trying to reach Europe is driven by corruption and poverty in misgoverned African states, says Rebecca Tinsley

POWER CHANGES IN NIGERIA – A first peaceful change of power between civilian parties shows Nigeria’s democracy has finally established itself, says Donald Inwalomhe

The latest 32-page issue of Liberator, the independent radical liberal magazine, is on its way to subscribers.

This issue will also be on sale at spring conference in Liverpool.

Live sample contents from Liberator 370 online are:

Commentary, on how the Lib Dems’ appear to be positioning themselves as the only party with no distinctive profile in the general election.

The lead story from Radical Bulletin is on whether, in the event of another coalition, the ‘triple lock’ is now quite what it appears to be.

The sample feature Survivors’ Guide, sees Roger Hayes suggest how Lib Dem candidates can avoid the worst of the bucket of ordure voters are about to tip over them.

The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.362 – November 2013) was delivered to subscribers last week.

Here’s a summary of the new magazine’s contents:

The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.359 – June 2013) is being delivered to subscribers this week.

Here’s a summary of the new magazine’s contents: