Author Archives: The Voice

It’s Friday, there’s an election on, there must be a funny story about Willie Rennie and livestock

You just need to Google “Willie Rennie and pigs” to find the funniest moment of last year’s Holyrood election campaign. 

Well, there’s another election on and Willie put the past behind him and went to see some lambs.

So far, so cute:

What could possibly go wrong?

Apart from the odd unfortunate camera angle.

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Lib Dems raise almost £10,500 an hour since election called – more than double Labour’s effort

The Lib Dems have raised more than £500,000 in individual donations since Theresa May called for a General Election on Tuesday morning.

From the BBC:

All parties have made cash appeals to supporters after Theresa May’s surprise decision to hold an election on 8 June.

The Lib Dems say they raised £500,000 in 48 hours.

A similar Labour fund-raising drive is reported to have raised £200,000. Labour has yet to comment on the figure, reported by the FT.

The Conservatives have been contacted for details of their fundraising efforts.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron claimed activists and donors were “flocking” to his party on the back of its distinctive anti-Brexit message.

The party, who are arguing for another referendum on the final Brexit deal, say they have seen their membership jump to 95,000, attracting 8,000 new members since Tuesday alone.

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Alex Cole-Hamilton to chair Scottish Lib Dem General Election Campaign

One of the party’s best ever campaigners has been chosen to chair the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ General Election campaign. Alex knows a lot about winning seats from the SNP after sensationally grabbing Edinburgh Western from them last year.

Alex  said:

I’m honoured to take on this important role for my party. We have a great grassroots organisation that is hungry for victory.

We have the wind in our sails and a hugely motivated activist base, keen to bring the party back to strength.

I can’t wait to get my teeth into the campaign.

Willie Rennie explained why he had chosen Alex:

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GE 17: Key dates

The Electoral Commission have got off the mark pretty quickly and published their election timetable.

Key dates are:

Close of nominations: 4pm on 11 May 2017

Register to vote by: midnight on 22 May 2017

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John Pugh to stand down as an MP

John Pugh has announced that he won’t be fighting the General Election in his Southport constituency.

From the BBC:

John Pugh, MP for Southport, said he planned to retire next month, but “did not bank on the prime minister’s opportunism” in calling an election.
He said he did not want to work through “the nightmare chaos of Brexit” in the next parliament.
The local constituency party will now choose a new candidate from an all-woman shortlist.

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+++Breaking: Jo Swinson to stand for East Dunbartonshire

Great news:

In a statement, she added:

This next Parliament will be pivotal for our country, both for Scotland’s place in the UK, and the UK’s relationship with the rest of Europe.

I’m standing in the general election because I’m passionate about keeping Scotland in the UK, and averting the disaster of the Tories’ hard Brexit. Most people in East Dunbartonshire agree – 61% voted to stay in the UK and 71% voted to remain in the EU. They deserve a pro-UK, pro-EU MP.

East Dunbartonshire is the SNP’s second most marginal seat, with a majority of just 2,167 over the Liberal Democrats. The result last time makes it absolutely clear: this is a fight between the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, and one I fully intend to win.

I helped her get elected the first time round in 2005. She put so much work into it over the preceding two years. She worked part time and every morning she’d go out delivering. Every afternoon and evening she spent canvassing. She was disciplined, organised and effective. And she turned out to be a brilliant MP and Equalities Minister.

Her announcement comes after her old boss at the then Business, Innovation and Skills Department, Vince Cable, announced that he was standing for Twickenham:

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Why Nick Clegg will defend his Sheffield Hallam seat

Nick Clegg has announced this morning that he will defend his Sheffield Hallam seat. He explained why:

Theresa May has called a General Election out of opportunism and intolerance: opportunism in seeking to exploit the weakness of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party; and intolerance in seeking a landslide majority to bring about ‘unity’, by which she means the ability to impose whatever interpretation of Brexit she wishes without meaningful scrutiny from Parliament.

Meanwhile, her Brexit-obsessed Government is failing to provide the decent schools, hospitals and social care which communities, including those I represent in Sheffield, rightly deserve.

This General Election once again places the interests of the Conservative Party ahead of the daily needs of the British people.

I will be re-standing as the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate in Sheffield Hallam – a constituency I have had the immense privilege to represent in Parliament for twelve years – because I vehemently oppose the direction that Theresa May wishes to drag our wonderful country.

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Carmichael: If you don’t want to come out of the single market, the Lib Dems are the only party who will speak up for you

Here’s Alistair Carmichael talking to BBC News earlier, saying that the Lib Dems are “optimistic and confident” about what we can achieve in this election:

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ALDC membership tops 3000

With party membership heading towards 90,000 it is also pleasing to hear that ALDC has recruited over 3,000 members. ALDC – originally the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors – is open to Lib Dems aspiring to be local councillors and well as those already elected, so now bills itself as the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners.

ALDC provides comprehensive advice on campaigning in local elections, including its excellent, and intensive, Kickstart weekends.

On 6th April Susan Morgan won a by-election at Aylesbury Vale District Council with a massive 38% swing from UKIP. She is now …

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Tim Farron’s Easter Message

Here is Tim Farron’s Easter Message

There was quite a fuss the other week when the National Trust was condemned for taking references to ‘Easter’ out of its publicity for a chocolate egg hunt.  This led to angry responses from some in the church and from politicians, including the Prime Minster.

It turned out that the National Trust had done no such thing and that all those who had got so cross had to wipe the chocolate egg off their faces. It was a reminder that we shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions and condemn.

The thing is, even if the story had been true, did it actually matter?  I mean, I hate to break it to you, but there is no reference in the Bible to chocolate eggs or generous bunny rabbits.

I fear that what the Prime Minster and others were actually getting wound up about was the thought that the National Trust might have been airbrushing out something comfortable and traditional. And given that we are turning the clock back to the early 1970s with Brexit (or indeed the 1580s if we do end up declaring war on Spain), then nostalgia is most definitely the mood of the moment.

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Canada legalises marijuana, “leading the way” says Nick Clegg

Deutsche Welle reports:

Canada is poised to become the first country in North America to legalize marijuana and other cannabis products for recreational purposes, a decision that has the support of a majority of Canadians.

But experts say federal legislation, expected to be introduced later this week, is only the first step, and the implementation of a countrywide, legalized cannabis system will likely differ from coast to coast.

Posted in News | 17 Comments

Catherine Bearder MEP: ‘Brexiteers lied to us. We want our country back’

Catherine Bearder on cracking form in the European Parliament.

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Lib Dem MBE Jen Yockney talks about discrimination faced by bisexual people

Last year Manchester Lib Dem Jen Yockney won the first MBE for services to the bisexual community. In the current issue of Big Issue North, she features in an article about bisexual people, highlighting the discrimination that they face, even within the LGBT community itself.

For example bi people earn less than their lesbian and gay peers. We are more likely to experience domestic violence and stalking than our gay friends. And we are less likely to feel we can be out at work – bi men are about four times less likely to be out at work, and given the impact on your income you might argue they are sensible to be cautious.

Despite the myth of bisexuality as a stepping stone towards coming out as gay or lesbian, Yockney says that at the Biphoria group as many attendees previously thought of themselves as gay as those who had considered themselves straight.

When I was first coming out 25 years ago the received wisdom was that bisexuality was kind of half gay, with an implication of having half the struggle, half the problems. That never made sense to me. After all, you never got half queerbashed! If you’ve a strong, secure sense of yourself as bi you can get through that but it’s silencing for a lot of people. And because you can’t tell by looking, that silencing makes bi people much more isolated.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 7 Comments

Anthony Lester on how Lib Dems and liberal politics have influenced progress of gay rights in UK

Yesterday in the House of Lords, Lib Dem peer Anthony Lester spoke about the Liberal Democrat involvement in changing the law, and, more importantly, public opinion on LGBT rights.

Here is his speech in full:

This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Leo Abse’s Private Member’s Bill that became the Sexual Offences Act 1967. It came ten years after the Wolfenden report recommended reform. The Act abolished the crime of sexual love between two men over the age of 21 in private.  It had crucial support from the then Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins.  But the path of reform has been long and tortuous and has required intervention from the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union.

The 1967 Act did not apply to Northern Ireland, and it required a judgment by the Strasbourg Court in Jeffrey Dudgeon’s case to persuade Parliament to abolish the offence in Northern Ireland.

The 1994 Act repealed the clauses in the 1967 Act that made homosexual activity in the armed forces and on merchant navy vessels a criminal offence. But clauses were introduced in this House that provided that nothing in the 1994 Act would prevent homosexual activity from constituting grounds for dismissal. The clauses were approved in Committee by a division on 20th June 1994.

The Strasbourg Court ruled in 2000 in Smith and Grady’s case that the provisions in the 1994 Act violated the right to respect for private life under a policy that involved investigating whether personnel were homosexual or had engaged in homosexual activity. If so, they were discharged.

EU employment equality directives and the Equality Act 2010 dealt with the problem. But the offending provisions remain disfiguring the statute book. As the Minister, Andrew Jones MP, said the Bill “addresses a historical wrong and the inadequacy of legislation to keep pace with out culture”.

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Yeovil UKIP candidates blame NHS crisis on women doctors

If you listen to most experts, the reason for the crisis in the NHS comes from under-resourcing and an aging population. But, no, UKIP council candidates in Chard in Yeovil have come up with another explanation. It’s all the fault of women doctors and their career breaks and part-time doctors.  Buzzfeed has the story:

The leaflet was produced by local UKIP councillors in Somerset who suggest alleged positive discrimination in the GP hiring process could ultimately lead to local surgeries closing altogether.

“How many female Doctors are there in your surgery working 2 or 3 days a week?” it asks, warning the issue could result in thousands of patients being left without access to medical care when GPs retire.

They have a quote from Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Yeovil, Daisy Benson:

UKIP might wish we were living in the 1950s, but it’s 2017!

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Tom Brake on human rights in Saudi Arabia

Tom Brake has written a letter to the Prime Minister urging her to raise human rights issues in her meeting with Saudi Arabia.

Here is the letter:

Dear Theresa,

I am writing in advance of your visit to Saudi Arabia tomorrow, to ask you to raise urgently with the regime a number of serious human rights concerns.

1. The targeting of civilians in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition
According to the United Nations, over 7,600 people have been killed and 42,000 injured since fighting began in March 2015, the majority in airstrikes led by the Saudi coalition. The conflict and a blockade imposed by the coalition have also triggered a humanitarian disaster, leaving 70% of the population in need of aid, including millions on the verge of famine.

The Saudi coalition, in contravention of humanitarian law, has repeatedly targeted civilians, including at funerals, weddings and in market places.

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Farron on “ludicrous” Brexiteer sabre rattling over Gibraltar

It’s quite incredible how we’ve gone from an Article 50 letter that makes scant reference to Gibraltar to a Tory Brexiteer suggesting that Theresa May would show the same attitude to the British territory as Margaret Thatcher did to the Falklands.  Seriously.

This isn’t just some random right-wing Tory cheerleader. It’s a former Leader of the Opposition, for goodness’ sake. Michael Howard told Sophy Ridge, according to the Guardian:

Thirty-five years ago this week, another woman prime minister sent a taskforce halfway across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country, and I’m absolutely certain that our current prime minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar.

Tim Farron had this to say:

It is unbelievable that within a week of triggering Article 50 there are Conservatives already discussing potential wars with our European neighbours.

In only a few days the Conservative-right are turning long term allies into potential enemies. I hope this isn’t a sign of the Government’s approach to the long negotiations to come

Brexiteers have gone from cheering to sabre rattling for war in four days, it is absolutely ludicrous.

Paddy Ashdown said on Twitter:

I am old enough to remember when the border between Gibraltar and Spain was closed and what that meant for people on either side of it. Both countries being in the EU had enabled a mutually agreeable solution, an open border and 10,000 citizens of Gibraltar  now working in Spain. The family and social ties forged during the last three decades of free travel are now as much as threat as the economic ones.

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

7 bestMany thanks to the  13.500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Catherine Bearder MEP writes: Why we want to let Brits keep their EU citizenship after Brexit (14 comments) by Catherine Bearder

The UK’s ritual humiliation of disabled people Part 2: The PIP Interview (16 comments) by Geoff Crocker

 So this is how Jeremy Corbyn will be holding Theresa May to account on Brexit (41 comments) by The Voice

A whole load of love for the Lib Dem Press Office (15 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrat Voice gets over its trauma and moves on (25 comments) by The Voice

The Observer on a hard Brexit (18 comments) by The Voice

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Liberal Democrat Voice gets over its trauma and moves on

Following a gut wrenching, soul searching, gin-fuelled marathon editorial board meeting, we at Liberal Democrat Voice have an announcement to make.

While we remain dismayed at the result of the Brexit referendum, and even though we can and should be somewhat smug that events so far – the lack of any plan, the collapse of the leave lies, the collapse of the pound, the surrender of the Single Market – have proven us right, we recognise that the people have chosen for all this to happen and we can no longer realistically resist it. We will, therefore, no longer be publishing “remoaner” articles, and instead we will be offering a prize to the best submitted article that can find something positive to look forward to in this god-awful mess.

Furthermore, we do have to accept that Donald Trump won the US election and is the elected leader of the Free World. Whining about post-truth politics isn’t going to change a bloody thing. The American people aren’t stupid. They knew what an egomaniacal loose cannon they were voting for, and we have to accept that this is what politics is about these days. We need to find our own ways to be outrageous, our own post-facts to make up, our own ways, frankly to be more entertaining. So we’ll shortly be announcing a new competition for the most shameless and outrageous self-publicity our readers can come up with, to be judged by Lembit Opik.

Finally we must recognise that the resurgence of populism and hatred over calm ethical reason speaks to the basic needs of the left behind – to have somebody to blame for their problems – and that the problem with liberalism is its failure to identify compelling scapegoats. Every other political movement you can think of beats us on this score: some blame the rich, or the poor, or the Jews or the Muslims, or the English or the French. So let’s not be wusses, let’s find somebody to blame – other than the Brexiters obvs – and get angry about it – in a post-fact, entertaining way..

Posted in Humour | 34 Comments

Farron: May taken to Tusk

The Lib Dem Press Office has had its Weetabix this morning. Not only did it get its punchy analysis of the EU’s statement about the Brexit negotiations out quickly, but it came up with a pretty eye-catching headline.

Here’s what Tim Farron had to say about the EU statement – and it does not reflect well on Theresa May and her Brexiteers:

These guidelines show the strength of the EU in these negotiations, and the carelessness of the UK government in isolating themselves from our European allies.

The terms are clear: no sector by sector deals, no bilateral negotiations and no new trade deal until the withdrawal terms are agreed. This leaves no doubt that Davis’ comments about special arrangements for the car industry or financial sector are worthless.

It is still possible for the British people to stop a Hard Brexit and keep us in the Single Market. And if they want, it is still possible for the British people to choose to remain in the European Union. The Liberal Democrats are the only party opposing this hard, destructive Brexit.

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Brake: Great Repeal Bill is the biggest power grab since Henry VIII

There is a certain arrogance about naming a piece of legislation “great”  before it is even enacted. The Government has today revealed how it will legislate to get rid of those pesky bits of European law that the Tories hate so much. You’ll hear a lot about “Henry VIII powers.” This is what the Parliament website says about them:

The Government sometimes adds this provision to a Bill to enable the Government to repeal or amend it after it has become an Act of Parliament. The provision enables primary legislation to be amended or repealed by subordinate legislation with or without further parliamentary scrutiny.

Such provisions are known as Henry VIII clauses, so named from the Statute of Proclamations 1539 which gave King Henry VIII power to legislate by proclamation.

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Newby: May’s Brexit plan will make us poorer, less generous and diminished as a nation

Lib Dem Lords Leader Dick Newby threw some serious shade at the Government yesterday in his response to the Prime Minister’s statement on Article 50 being triggered. He went through it and pointed out the many inconsistencies and false promises it contained. It’s a cracker.

Today is for me and my colleagues an extremely sad day. It marks the point at which the UK seeks to distance itself from its nearest neighbours at a time when, in every area of public policy, logic suggests that we should be working more closely together rather than less.

But sadness is a passive emotion, and it is not the only thing that we feel. We feel a sense of anger that the Government are pursuing a brutal Brexit, which will rip us out of the single market and many other European networks from which we benefit so much. We believe that the country will be poorer, less secure and less influential as a result, and we feel that at every ​point, whether it be the calling of the referendum itself or the choices made on how to put its result into effect, the principal motivation in the minds of Ministers has been not what is best for the long-term interests of the country but what is best for the short-term interests of the Conservative Party.

We do not believe that the Government have the faintest clue about how they are going to achieve the goals that they set out in their White Paper last month or the Prime Minister’s Statement today, and we have no confidence in their willingness to give Parliament a proper say either as the negotiations proceed or at their conclusion. We therefore believe that, at the end of the process, only the people should have the final say on whether any deal negotiated by the Government —or no deal—is preferable to ongoing EU membership. We will strain every sinew to ensure that outcome.

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LibLink: Catherine Bearder – Dear Prime Minister – Playing Hard Ball On Brexit Will Only Weaken Britain’s Position, Not Strengthen It

Lib Dem MEP Catherine Bearder has been providing some advice to the prime minister over on the Huffington Post:

Dear Prime Minister,

This weekend I had the pleasure of joining the tens of thousands of people marching in London against your vision of a Britain after Brexit.

A sun-soaked Parliament Square provided a brilliant back drop to what was also a celebration. As you know, this weekend marked the anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, and while we marched in London your European contemporaries met in Rome to mark 60 years of peace in the EU.

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So this is how Jeremy Corbyn will be holding May to account on Brexit….

At Prime Minister’s Questions today, any half decent opposition leader would have lined up his most ferocious MPs to go to town on the PM over Brexit. We’ll gloss over the fact that any decent Leader of the Opposition wouldn’t have let the Article 50 Bill pass unamended in the first place.

But we don’t have a decent Leader of the Opposition. We have Jeremy Corbyn. You just get the feeling that if PMQs had been extended by a couple of hours, he wouldn’t have got round to asking a question on Brexit. No doubt he’d have asked about the weather and who the PM thought had done in Ken Barlow on Corrie.  He should have taken May apart on Brexit. He should have had half a dozen MPs lined up with killer questions.  But Labour MPs asked about anything but – until Tulip Siddiq came along. The MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, a passionate and effective opponent of Brexit, asked about the £350 million a week for the NHS.

Later, in his reply to the Prime Minister’s statement, rather than deliver a feisty riposte, he sounded like he was discussing the relative merits of different kinds of broad bean. There was no passion, no fire. “If she meets our tests, we’ll back her,” he said. Labour’s tests are meaningless anyway as they have failed them themselves. They had every opportunity to ensure that the Government’s strategy was changed to include membership of the single market, to stand up for the rights of EU nationals, and to give Parliament a meaningful vote on the deal. 

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WATCH: Tim Farron: Time to fight against a hard Brexit

Tim Farron has made a video on the triggering of Article 50.

How dare the Government enforce a hard brexit on us without giving the people a say, he asks.

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Article 50 invoked: Lib Dem reaction: The fight goes on

So, the deed is done, but the Liberal Democrats aren’t giving up the fight.

Here’s how senior Liberal Democrats have reacted:

Tim Farron – The people must have their say

The world needs liberal democratic values – this is something Churchill, Thatcher and others rightly decided that Britain could deliver from our place at the heart of Europe.

I believe the Prime Minister is twisting the will of the people, leaping into the abyss without any idea of where our country will end up.   In her statement the Prime Minister admitted we would lose influence as a result.

Theresa May has chosen the hardest and most divisive form of Brexit, choosing to take us out of the Single Market before she has even tried to negotiate.

Membership of the Single Market was not on the ballot paper last June, yet without a mandate she has chosen to rip Britain, our businesses and our people out of the world’s biggest market.

It is still possible for the British people to stop a hard Brexit and keep us in the Single Market. And if they want, it is still possible for the British people to choose to remain in the European Union. Democracy didn’t end on 23rd of June – and it hasn’t ended today either. The people can have their say over what comes next.

It is a tragedy that Labour are helping the Conservatives in doing this damage to our country.  They no longer deserve to be called the Official Opposition. Britain deserves better than this.

Catherine Bearder MEP: The clock is ticking – but it can be stopped

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The Observer on a hard Brexit

 

We don’t usually cover newspaper editorials, but the one yesterday in The Observer was extraordinarily angry and intense. The subeditors and author seemed to have had second thoughts about how it should be titled. The online version was originally headed “The triggering of article 50 jeopardises 60 years of unparalleled peace” – a quote from the piece, and a strong enough sentiment, but it does not do justice to rest of the hard-hitting post which begins:

Like sheep, the British people, regardless of whether they support Brexit, are being herded off a cliff, duped and misled by the most irresponsible, least trustworthy government in living memory.

By the time it appeared in the print version it had become “Hard Brexit is an epic act of self-harm – only reinforcing rancour and division”.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 18 Comments

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

7 bestMany thanks to the 14,100  visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

In full: Tim Farron’s speech: I love my country and I want it back from the Nationalists (36 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Observations of an ex pat: Brexit goes nuclear (8 comments) by Tom Arms

Cole-Hamilton: Greens have no mandate to call for second Scottish independence referendum (27 comments) by The Voice

Yet another Liberal Democrat GAIN from the Conservatives (20 comments) by Caron Lindsay

From selfies with Clegg to the Glee Club Stage: My first Liberal Democrat Conference (16 comments) by Rebecca Yates

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Paddick: Spying on encrypted messages would be draconian and ineffective

The Home Secretary Amber Rudd has demanded that security services be given access to users’ encrypted messages on services like WhatsApp. It’s kind of good that we have someone who actually knows what they are talking about, because they have been an Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, to assess these plans. Brian Paddick is not impressed. He said:

These terrorists want to destroy our freedoms and undermine our democratic society.

By implementing draconian laws that limit our civil liberties, we would playing into their hands.

My understanding is there are ways security services could view the content of suspected terrorists’ encrypted messages and establish who they are communicating with.

Having the power to read everyone’s text messages is neither a proportionate nor an effective response.

Posted in News | Tagged , and | 9 Comments

Video – Farron: Those who attack us hate our freedom, our peaceful democracy, our love of country

Courtesy of the Lib Dem Facebook page, here is Tim Farron’s response to the prime minister’s Commons statement earlier today:

Posted in News | 2 Comments
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