Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

Yeovil UKIP candidates blame NHS crisis on women doctors

By The Voice | Wed 5th April 2017 - 4:45 pm

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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The Voice

Tom Brake on human rights in Saudi Arabia

By The Voice | Mon 3rd April 2017 - 7:39 pm

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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The Voice

Farron on “ludicrous” Brexiteer sabre rattling over Gibraltar

By The Voice | Sun 2nd April 2017 - 4:37 pm

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 2nd April 2017 - 1:27 pm

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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The Voice

Liberal Democrat Voice gets over its trauma and moves on

By The Voice | Sat 1st April 2017 - 8:52 am

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..

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The Voice

Farron: May taken to Tusk

By The Voice | Fri 31st March 2017 - 10:15 am

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Thu 30th March 2017 - 4:37 pm

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Thu 30th March 2017 - 11:10 am

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Thu 30th March 2017 - 9:04 am

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Wed 29th March 2017 - 8:25 pm

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Wed 29th March 2017 - 3:12 pm

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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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Wed 29th March 2017 - 1:12 pm

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 Voice

The Observer on a hard Brexit

By The Voice | Mon 27th March 2017 - 4:45 pm

 

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”.

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 26th March 2017 - 7:44 pm

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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The Voice

Paddick: Spying on encrypted messages would be draconian and ineffective

By The Voice | Sun 26th March 2017 - 3:09 pm

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.

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Thu 23rd March 2017 - 4:06 pm

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

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The Voice

Tessa Munt to challenge Somerset Tory County Council Leader in May

By The Voice | Wed 22nd March 2017 - 11:07 am

Former Liberal Democrat MP for Wells Tessa Munt hopes to make a political comeback in May as she is standing for Somerset County Council against the current Tory leader.

From Somerset Live:

A spokesman for the Lib Dems said the party has identified mid Somerset as a key battleground.

Speaking as Wells Lib Dems introduced their local candidates, Ms Munt said: “I simply cannot stand by for the next three years and watch as the Conservatives run our county into the ground.”

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The Voice

WATCH: The Conference rally with Olney, Clegg, Farron, Malik and Pearcey

By The Voice | Tue 21st March 2017 - 6:00 pm

We reported on the Conference rally the other night. Now you can watch the whole thing here. See Sarah Olney thank her helpers and talk about why she joined the party and is fighting Brexit. See Nick Clegg take apart the Brexiteers’ case and warn of the populists undermining the checks on their power. See Jackie Pearcey tell us why we should go to Manchester Gorton to help her. See Hina Malik talk about her passion for dives it and how Simon Hughes and Nick Clegg persuaded her to join the party.

Finally, Tim Farron, after the obligatory pops at George Osborne and Dr Paul Nuttall, talk of Liberal Democrat values of internationalism and of giving EU nationals the right to stay and about why the people having the final say on the Brexit deal was so important.

Enjoy!

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The Voice

Cole-Hamilton: Greens have no mandate to call for second Scottish independence referendum

By The Voice | Sun 19th March 2017 - 8:55 am

This week, the Scottish Parliament will vote on whether to seek a Section 30 order, the device in the UK Parliament’s power that would give it the right to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence. The SNP Government is expected to win with the support of the Greens. However, Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has made it clear that the Greens do not have a mandate to call for a referendum given that the three conditions in their manifesto have not been met. He has challenged Greens leader Patrick Harvie – who could easily merit being called “Pushover Patrick” for voting with the SNP on these critical issues, to explain his actions.
Alex  has asked Mr  Harvie why the party has turned its attention away from public service reform, back-tracked on its requirement that opinion polls should indicate support for a new referendum, and scrapped its requirement that a million-strong petition should be the trigger.

Alex said:

The Scottish Greens had three criteria to allow a referendum from their manifesto. None has been met.

The Greens have no mandate for a referendum. They should respect that and decline to vote for a referendum at Holyrood next Wednesday.

Scottish Liberal Democrats had a manifesto commitment against a referendum and we will stick to that.

With education performance slipping, the mental health strategy abandoned and the economy sluggish, Scotland needs its Parliament working on these issues instead of a referendum.

Alex has written to Patrick Harvie saying:

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The Voice

WATCH: Tim Farron’s Q & A

By The Voice | Sat 18th March 2017 - 9:00 pm

Here is Tim Farron’s question and answer session from Spring Conference in York Enjoy!

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The Voice

Emergency motions deadline approaching #ldconf

By The Voice | Sat 18th March 2017 - 12:00 pm

There is space for two emergency motions in the Conference agenda. Five have been submitted.

As ever, conference reps have the chance to vote for their favourites.

A ballot paper is on the back of the Conference Daily. Complete and return it to the ballot box in the main auditorium before 12:40. Your badge will be punched so you can’t vote more than once.

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The Voice

Tim Farron’s speech to the Conference rally: I am the only UK party leader opposing Brexit

By The Voice | Sat 18th March 2017 - 10:30 am

Here, in full, is Tim Farron’s speech to last night’s Conference rally. It went down very well in the hall with several bouts of spontaneous applause.

So, never let it be said that I don’t play fair.

My daughter Gracie went on Spanish exchange to Madrid last month to stay with her friend Alba, and her Parents took them to Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium.

This week it’s our turn to host Alba, and where have we taken her in return?

That’s right, we’ve brought her here to Liberal Democrat party conference.

We’re telling her its Wembley.

We told her the truth really. She is incognito, but she is here tonight…

So welcome to the only party in Britain that is unashamed to say that we actually like foreigners.

It is great to be here in York again. A city that exemplifies our liberal values. That the folks of York can – not just once, but two years running now – welcome a party led by a Lancastrian, just shows what a tolerant place this truly is.

And we gather here at the end of a week that will go down in history.

The week that our government won the right to trigger article 50 and throw our country out of the plane without a parachute

The week that Nicola Sturgeon chose to exploit Brexit to seek to divide our country

The week that 3 million EU citizens who have made our country their home were told that they did not count

Let that sink in. This is a time when you need to trust your gut instincts.

If those three events this week make you instinctively angry,

then the time for posting distressed statuses on facebook is over,

the time for crying into your coffee is over,

the time for throwing stuff at the TV is over.

The time has come for you to do something about it

You need to stand with the only party that stands for Britain in Europe;

that stands for Britain together,

that stands for a Britain that honours all who live and work here.

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The Voice

Clegg: Brexiteers are shameless pedlars of fake news and fake hope

By The Voice | Fri 17th March 2017 - 4:55 pm

At the Conference rally tonight, Nick Clegg will take apart the arguments of the Brexiteers, calling them shameless.

He will say:

I’ve had enough of the continued, blatant attempt by Brexiteers to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. They spread fake news as indiscriminately as Trump’s Twitter rants. It started on the campaign trail with a promise of £350 million for the NHS – rejected by its authors the day after the result. Since then we’ve had patently false claims that Brexit will lead to more not less trade – a logical impossibility if we leave the EU’s single market and customs union – and the Utopian commitment to have all the details of our new relationship with the EU signed and sealed within 24 months.

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The Voice

Farron: Now is the time to stand and fight

By The Voice | Fri 17th March 2017 - 5:58 am

The first big showcase event of Spring conference takes place this evening. At the rally, Tim Farron will call on pro Europeans to stand and fight.

First of all, though, he may gloat a bit about being named Remoaner in Chief by Arron Banks’s outfit:

If remoaning means standing up for EU citizens who have made their lives here in the UK.

If remoaning means demanding that the British people have the final say in this process

If remoaning means standing up for a family of nations that has healed the wounds of two world wars and a terrifying cold war

Then I am proud to be your remoaner in chief!

He will go on to talk about how we need to continue the fight against the destructive Brexit course chosen by the Conservatives and Labour:

I am not an enemy of the people, but I am the enemy of those people who seek to divide our country, to pervert the referendum result for their narrow ideology and trash our values by turning our backs on our neighbours.

And the more they come after us, the louder I will shout.

Despite what this government and their fanatical Brexit supporters in the press would like us all to believe, democracy did not end on the 24th of June.

It might be a political risk for us to speak out against the direction our country is going.

But it is the right thing to do.

Because what Britain does in the next two years will define us for the next one hundred.

So now is not the time to sit down and shut up.

Now is the time to stand up and fight.

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The Voice

WATCH: Lynne Featherstone on 5000 same sex marriages

By The Voice | Tue 14th March 2017 - 8:27 pm

The Liberal Democrats have discover that there are 10,000 happy people thanks to Lynne Featherstone’s persistence in getting same sex marriage through.

Watch her video on the subject;

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 12th March 2017 - 4:47 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the 19.500  visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

 Donald Trump is dangerous and a complete joke – but the joke is on the American people (15 comments) by Paul Walter

From UKIP to social democrat in the Lib Dems (53 comments) by Alexander Balkan

The other side of Brexit – what about the leavers? (65 comments) by Mark Argent

++Breaking: Jackie Pearcey will fight Manchester Gorton for the Lib Dems (23 comments) by Caron Lindsay

This is our time now, a time for assertiveness and for anger (75 comments) by Katharine Pindar

Yet another Lib Dem GAIN from the Conservatives (18 comments) by Caron Lindsay

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The Voice

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference

By The Voice | Sun 12th March 2017 - 10:08 am

It was a speech full of warmth, positivity and passion. Willie Rennie knows that a second referendum on Scottish independence needs the positive, emotionally resonant pro UK argument that was so lacking in 2014. He planted the Lib Dem flag in the progressive pro UK/pro EU space in Scotland, saying that we represented the views of the Scottish people. The challenge for the party is to turn that into votes. Watch his full speech here.

The text is below:

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The Voice

Today at Welsh Conference

By The Voice | Sun 12th March 2017 - 8:00 am

Welsh Conference continues this morning. There are more spokespeople Q and A sessions along with a debate on future relations with the EU. They will also be discussing their Governance Review with a call to establish an 8 member task force to take this forward. Here’s the full agenda.

9:30 Party Spokespeople
Bob Griffin: Economy and Infrastructure
Cadan ap Tomos: Young People, Equalities and the Welsh Language

9:50 PM5: Future Relationship with the European Union

Having regard to:

  1. 1  the narrow majority for ‘Leave’ in the EU referendum;
  2. 2  the need to respect that majority and the views which led up to it;
  3. 3  the multiplicity of beneficial outcomes from Brexit then suggested to the electorate;
  4. 4  the limited two-year negotiating period after Article 50 is triggered.

Notes with concern that:

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The Voice

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s Facebook Live interview

By The Voice | Sat 11th March 2017 - 10:46 am

Here is the Facebook Live interview that Willie Rennie did for the BBC yesterday:

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The Voice

Today at Welsh Conference

By The Voice | Sat 11th March 2017 - 8:00 am

Welsh Liberal Democrats gather in Swansea this weekend for their first Spring Conference since the disastrous election last year which saw them lose four of their five AMs. The party has had to pick itself up from that heartbreaking and thoroughly undeserved defeat. It has re-organised its resources and is ready to fight the Council elections in May. They also have the only Liberal Democrat Minister standing, in Kirsty Williams, who is doing a great job as Wales’ Education Secretary. Below is their agenda for the day.

They are having discussion sessions with their party spokespeople, motions on students and the community, ending the right to buy and community banking and  a long debate on their council elections manifesto. The details are below.

Morning session

09:15 Opening of Conference
9:40 Party Spokespeople: Cllr Peter Black: Finance, Local Government, Heritage, & Housing Jane Dodds: Communities & Social Justice

10:00 Topical/Emergency Motion

10:20 PM1: Students and the Local Community

Conference notes:

  1. The positive impact of students and universities on the local economy
  2. The transient nature of student communities
  3. The tensions that can arise between long-term residents and the changing studentpopulation

Conference believes:

  1. Collaboration between groups leads to the most effective and sustainable solutions to the issues and challenges transient communities face
  2. That it is the responsibility of students, landlords, and local authorities to keep the local areas tidy
  3. More can and should be done to improve community relations between long-term and student residents

Conference calls for:

7. Local authorities to work with students unions and universities on a variety of projects including:

  1. Creating an information pack for students and landlords detailing what resources are available to them within the community. This can include material and adverts from local businesses and groups, guidance on contacting the council, guidance around bin collection and local events.
  2. Informing students of their rights as renters through online materials and workshops
  3. Run community building projects such as Cardiff Digs and Love Bangor
  4. Promote and work with Communities 1st and similar groups
  5. To recognise work done by students in the local community through the useof Higher Education Achievement Report or other award schemes

10:50 PM2: Standing up for our Local Communities

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