Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

Lib Dem Lords vs the Article 50 Bill: Julie Smith: We need to think about young people

By The Voice | Sat 25th February 2017 - 6:45 pm

The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, we’re bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. That’s no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobody’s going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future. 

Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and it’s right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future. 

Julie Smith made the very strong point that it was important to take into account those younger people who were going to have to live with the consequences of Brexit.

She went on to talk about the peace and security issues in which she is expert and on the rights of EU nationals. Now, she says, is the time for the UK to lead on this.

My Lords, it will come as little surprise to Members of your Lordships’ House that, on 23 June last year, I voted to remain. I am speaking today not to advocate reopening the debate on seeking to remain, the decision having been taken; rather, what I want briefly to reflect on—it is a different voice and a different perspective—is that, in the debate being held today and tomorrow, I believe that only five Members of the House who are to speak in it are part of what the noble Lord, Lord O’Shaughnessy, has called “Generation X”, those of us who were born in 1969 or later. So the demographic of the speeches is perhaps a little unbalanced. The average age in the United Kingdom is 40, but I do not believe that any of the speakers in this debate are 40 or younger; five of us fall between 40 and 50. So the demographic is somewhat different from that of the United Kingdom where the majority of people of my age and younger voted to remain. These are people who cannot remember life before the United Kingdom became part of the European Union. They believed that their future was as part of the European Union and their identity is European at least as much as it was British. They felt that our future was as part of a mobile European society.

Over recent days and weeks, many people have emailed me and other noble Lords demanding that we should try to thwart Brexit and amend the Bill, and a lot of those calls are coming from people who were disenfranchised in the referendum: EU nationals resident in the United Kingdom and UK nationals resident in the rest of the European Union who had been abroad for more than 15 years. They are citizens who would not, if there were to be a further referendum or a general election before the UK leaves the European Union, be any more enfranchised then than they were last year. There are many people currently living in the United Kingdom whose rights need to be thought about and secured.

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The Voice

Lib Dem Lords vs the Article 50 Bill: Anthony Lester: Government has failed to answer key political and legal questions

By The Voice | Sat 25th February 2017 - 6:15 pm

The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, we’re bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. That’s no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobody’s going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future. 

Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and it’s right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future. 

My Lords, after attempting unconstitutionally to rush to the Article 50 exit without legislative authority, the Government have produced this simple Bill, which is no better than a Motion to approve in legislative clothing, and a White Paper that fails to explain the Government’s strategy or to answer the key political and legal questions.

The Government interpret Article 50 as a trap that, once opened, cannot be closed. But its author, the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, who I am glad to see in his place, has made it clear that when the Article 50 process is triggered, the UK may continue to remain a member of the EU.

The White Paper—perhaps I should call it the off-White Paper—contains statements worthy of Dr Pangloss, George Orwell and Humpty-Dumpty. It claims that the UK’s constitutional arrangements make us,

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The Voice

Lib Dem Lords vs the Article 50 Bill: Ming Campbell: The public deserves the chance to change its mind

By The Voice | Sat 25th February 2017 - 5:15 pm

The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, we’re bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. That’s no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobody’s going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future. 

Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and it’s right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future. 

Ming Campbell was the first Lib Dem peer to bring up the status of EU nationals. It was, he said, extraordinary that the Government has not assured them of their right to stay given that they are so beneficial to our economy, academia and family life. He went on to talk about the right of the public to change its mind as the consequences of Brexit become clear.

My Lords, I am the 16th speaker in this debate, and I am already reminded of the explanation why the conventions of the Republican and Democrat parties in the United States last for four days, when two would be sufficient. The answer is that because usually, after two days, everything has been said but not everyone has said it. By the time we come to close of play tomorrow evening, that may be even more obvious.

In a moment or two, I shall talk about the role of your Lordships in this most serious matter, but before I do that, I support the remarks made by the noble Lord, Lord Patel, about the position of EU nationals living in the United Kingdom. It is extraordinary that the Government have not yet made any concession in respect of their future. It is extraordinary that they have not recognised that those citizens are an essential part of our economy and, indeed, of our academic life. It is extraordinary that they have not accepted that they are husbands and wives, mothers and fathers of United Kingdom citizens. Are we really and truly contemplating even the remote possibility that we will be prepared to start knocking on their doors, whether at midnight or midday, expelling them from the United Kingdom? The fact is—in a debate in which we have referred to public opinion—all tests of public opinion say that these individuals are entitled to the protection that so many of your Lordships argued for in this House.

The central question for me and for others is: what is our role in this most difficult and complicated issue? Is it to accept without demur the Bill before us, and indeed to put aside the very idea of amendment? Some have exhorted and encouraged us, and even attempted to bully us into doing so. But I rather thought, when I had the privilege of being introduced to your Lordships’ House, that I was expected to use my judgment and experience and to exercise responsibility. In the circumstances in which we meet today, are not these qualities as important now as they have ever been?

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The Voice

Lib Dem Lords vs the Article 50 Bill: Jonathan Marks: The duty of this House is to mitigate the damage

By The Voice | Sat 25th February 2017 - 4:15 pm

The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, we’re bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. That’s no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobody’s going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future. 

Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and it’s right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.

Jonathan Marks concentrated his remarks on the effect on international relations and pointed out the absurdity of the Government’s position on the European Court of Justice. He described what he called the Government’s two “unrealistic and obsessive illusions” on immigration and ECJ. 

My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord Mandelson, in this debate. This is the most important issue that this House has debated in a generation. Yet there are voices out there who say that we should just get on with it and vote the legislation through unamended so as not to frustrate the will of the people. Many of us believe that we are about to make our biggest foreign policy mistake in decades, so just getting on with it and voting it through is not an option. As my noble friend Lord Newby eloquently asserted, we cannot and should not stay silent simply because the leave campaign won. That would be just as true even if it had won by a substantial majority.

I believe that the economic consequences of our leaving the European Union will be deep and lasting, but I fear that the most serious consequences will be for Europe and Britain’s place in the world. At a turbulent and dangerous time, we threaten to undermine our closest allies, who share our commitment to democracy, internationalism, the rule of law and human rights. We face an isolationist and protectionist America, led by a President who chooses to govern by Twitter, with scant regard to facts or principles, intent on jettisoning decades of carefully honed international policy that made America a worthy and safe leader of the free world.

In the Middle East we face ever-worsening violence, barbarity and terrorism, with little hope of reprieve. The refugee crisis in Europe, which is a consequence, cries out for a negotiated solution that combines humanity with pragmatism. We must deal with a dangerously resurgent Russia and a powerful and increasingly assertive China. Globally, we face the existential threat of climate change on which, in Paris, with Europe’s lead, we were making progress until President Trump changed America’s direction. Our leaving the EU threatens future European co-operation. Worse still, it strengthens and emboldens the fissiparous forces seeking to pull Europe apart—in France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands and elsewhere. Already, the referendum decision drives our Prime Minister to a weak and almost needy dependence on Trump’s America and Erdogan’s Turkey. The duty of this House is to mitigate the damage.

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The Voice

Lib Dem Lords vs the Article 50 Bill: William Wallace: Our democracy is in danger

By The Voice | Sat 25th February 2017 - 3:16 pm

The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, we’re bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. That’s no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobody’s going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future. 

Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and it’s right that we present them in …

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The Voice

WATCH: Tim Farron speech: How a clean energy revolution means Britain can lead the world

By The Voice | Fri 24th February 2017 - 12:15 pm

This week, Tim Farron gave a speech on clean energy and its potential to boost Britain’s economy.

Watch it here. The text is under the cut.

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The Voice

Lib Dem Lords aim to kill new Tory restrictions on disability benefits

By The Voice | Fri 24th February 2017 - 10:45 am

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion to kill Government attempts to severely restrict disability benefits.

The move follows an announcement by the Government that they will be tightening the criteria for claimants of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) which could see diabetics and those with mental illnesses stuck without support. The Government has introduced these restrictions after losing two cases at tribunals.  From the Minister’s statement:

The first judgement held that needing support to take medication and monitor a health condition should be scored in the same way as needing support to manage therapy, like dialysis, undertaken at home. Until this ruling, the assessment made a distinction between these two groups, on the basis that people who need support to manage therapy of this kind are likely to have a higher level of need, and therefore face higher costs.

The second held that someone who cannot make a journey without assistance due to psychological distress should be scored in the same way as a person who needs assistance because they have difficulties navigating. By way of example, the first group might include some people with isolated social phobia or anxiety, whereas the second group might include some people who are blind. Until this ruling, the assessment made a distinction between these two groups, on the basis that people who cannot navigate, due to a visual or cognitive impairment, are likely to have a higher level of need, and therefore face higher costs.

Responding to the announcement Baroness Cathy Bakewell, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said:

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The Voice

Tim Farron says thanks for by-election help

By The Voice | Thu 23rd February 2017 - 10:59 pm

Tim Farron has thanked members and supporters  for their hard work in the Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland by-elections. In an email tonight, he said:

The polls are now closed for by-elections in both Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland.

Members from all over Britain have volunteered, donated and cheered on these two upstart campaigns and I’m so grateful for everything that you’ve done.

We can be proud of the campaigns that Rebecca Hanson in Copeland and Dr Zulfiqar Ali in Stoke-on-Trent have fought – right up to their work today getting our vote out in storm force wind and rain.

In the face of strong opposition, they have stood up for our values and fought for every single vote; we couldn’t have asked any more of them.

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Lib Dem amendment to give power to mobile phone users defeats Government in Lords

By The Voice | Thu 23rd February 2017 - 11:37 am

After two days of debate on the Article 50 Bill, the House of Lords turned its attention to the Digital Economy Bill last night – and inflicted a defeat on the Government as the Mirror reports.

The House of Lords backed plans to cap monthly mobile phone bills tonight as peers inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the Government.

Supporters say it will stop cash-strapped users seeing costs spiral out of control, barring them from making calls when they hit their limit.

Tory ministers hoped to block the move, which would let customers set limits on how much they can spend.

But the plan, written as amendment to the Digital Economy Bill, was approved 244-198 (majority 46) against the government’s wishes.

Lib Dem Lord Clement-Jones backed it, saying: “Mobile phone billing is one of the most complicated areas of domestic expenditure.

There may be in particular some danger of vulnerable customers getting into difficulty and it should be possible for a consumer to set a cap on expenditure on a mobile phone.

The amendment also makes it easier for people to switch mobile phone contracts. Tim Clement-Jones added after the debate:

The Liberal Democrats have beaten the government to create a fairer system in which the consumer rights of many millions of mobile phone users are put first.

Today’s vote will mean greater rights for the millions of people across the country who have a mobile phone contract.

The Government now has to decide whether it is going to fight against this proposal. Overturning this amendment will be a slap in the face to anyone who has had been tied up with an unjust and exploitative phone contract.

The Government suffered a second defeat on the issue of rural broadband. Tim Clement-Jones explains:

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The Voice

LibLink: Liz Barker on Trump and his ‘hateful eight’

By The Voice | Wed 22nd February 2017 - 9:33 am

 

Lib Dem peer Liz Barker has written a post on Politics Home titled ‘Trump and his hateful eight are condemning women worldwide‘.

She writes:

So egregious is the Trump administration that it is difficult to focus one’s anger and start to plan a fightback.  The thing which spurred me on was that photograph of Trump and a bunch of old white men – the hateful eight – signing the executive order for the global gag.  At the stroke of a pen, a bunch of billionaires condemned women and girls all over the world to misery, illness and, in many cases, death.

The policy originated in 1984 under Reagan and was reinstituted under both Bush governments, all three Republicans. The policy in the past required non-US NGOs to certify that they would not “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning” (an anti-abortion lobby standard line), even with non-US funds, as a condition for receiving USAID global family planning assistance

The Trump version of the policy of 23 January 2017 is, predictably, bigger and more insidious.  NGOs who are receiving any US global health assistance will have to sign the Gag Rule, including those running HIV programmes, maternal and child health programmes, infectious diseases programmes, or those dealing with Zika virus – as well as family planning programmes. Moreover, it applies whether the funds come from USAID, as in the past, or from any US government agency or department.

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 19th February 2017 - 3:55 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the  14,700 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

P-9: What Labour just don’t get about Stoke-on-Trent (19 comments) by Ed Fordham

Brexit – a view from the Continent (48 comments) by Robert Harrison

The campaign against Brexit continues (36 comments) by Nick Hopkinson

Breaking: Stoke on Trent Lib Dems challenge Labour to condemn “offensive and illegal texts” (20 comments) by The Voice

Donald Trump, Twitter and Distraction (11 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Labour leaflet: It’s a lie to say Labour opposes Brexit (22 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Tony Blair is on our side. Eek! (64 comments) by Caron Lindsay

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Tom Brake: Plans to divert aid for Brexit negotiations are a disgrace

By The Voice | Sun 19th February 2017 - 2:25 pm

One of the things we can be most proud of is that we ensured that this country was committed in law to providing 0.7% of GDP in foreign aid to provide things like food, humanitarian aid, water, schooling and protection for women and girls at risk of abuse to the poorest places on the planet.

Now it seems that the Brexiteers in government plan to divert some of that money to EU countries to advance our position in the Brexit negotiations. That doesn’t strike us as being what it’s for.

Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Tom Brake has called the plans a disgrace:

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Farron: National scandal of thousands of deaths linked to social care cuts

By The Voice | Fri 17th February 2017 - 8:48 am

Tim Farron has described new research linking tens of thousands of deaths to a lack of proper social care as a “national scandal” and has called for action, including a potential tax rise.

The new research paper by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University of Oxford concluded that “the evidence points to a major failure of the health system, possibly exacerbated by failings in social care”

Tim said:

It is a national scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world, vulnerable older people are missing out on the services they need and may even have

…

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By-Election watch

By The Voice | Thu 16th February 2017 - 11:47 pm

We are defending 3 seats tonight and the first result is in. It’s a good one.

A healthy increase in the vote, too.

Sadly the news from Uttlesford is not so good as we were not able to hold off a challenge from a Residents’ Group.

Well done to us for fielding a candidate (Lib Dem Voice contributor Alex Hegenbarth) in the Forest of Dean ward of Lydbrook and Guardian where we gained 6.6% of the vote in a seat that the Greens took from UKIP. This is the first time we’ve stood in the ward since the 90s.

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Breaking: Stoke on Trent Lib Dems challenge Labour to condemn “offensive and illegal texts”

By The Voice | Thu 16th February 2017 - 10:01 am

In response to media reports of text messages being sent warning Muslims to vote Labour in the Stoke-on Trent Central by-election, Stoke-on-Trent Central Lib Dems have issued the following statement:

Stoke-on-Trent Central Liberal Democrats call on the Labour Party nationally and locally
1. To condemn the campaign of misinformation and intimidation currently underway in their name in Stoke-on-Trent.
2. To apologise for their members and activists who have been involved in stirring up community tensions and to suspend all those involved in the text scandal and have them removed from the Labour Party campaign with immediate effect.
3. For Gareth Snell to make

…

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 12th February 2017 - 4:00 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the  15,300 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Two Lib Dem GAINS from the Conservatives (17 comments) by Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Tim Farron on Sky News “It’s a dark day” (56 comments) by The Voice 

P-16: What is Stoke’s daily paper saying about the by-election? (5 comments) by Ed Fordham

Farron attacks government plans to make patients pay upfront for NHS treatment (42 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Farron: Lib Dems will not make a pact with Corbyn’s Labour (34 comments) by Newshound

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this story in the Independent (3 comments) by Caron Lindsay

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The Voice

WATCH: Tim Farron on Sky News: “It’s a dark day”

By The Voice | Wed 8th February 2017 - 8:57 pm

Tim Farron was on Sky News this evening just before MPs voted for the final time on the Article 50 Bill before it goes to the Lords. He could not conceal his anger at the Tory and Labour MPs who had simply given the Government carte blanche to pursue a hard Brexit that “wasn’t on the ballot paper.” He called those MPs who had defied the Tory and Labour whips noble and suggested that history would be kind to them.

…

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Alex Cole-Hamilton on Trump’s travel ban: We will not tire, we will resist

By The Voice | Mon 6th February 2017 - 1:27 pm

Over the weekend, Edinburgh Western MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton went to his second protest of the week against Donald Trump’s travel ban in Edinburgh. This time, he spoke to the 1500 strong crowd. Here’s what he said:

Edinburgh I’m proud to know you.

You’re in great voice and that matters because we are here, we are unified and we are part of a global resistance to the biggest threat to humanity since the Second World War.

Now I don’t know about you but I settled down to watch the US election results with hope in my heart. Hope that I could look my two year old daughter Darcy, who’s here today, that I could look her square in the eye and say Darcy, let there be no limit to your ambition, let there be no limit to your feeling or self worth or your position and safety in our new society. (At this point Darcy  clambered on stage and into his arms)

But as the night wore on, I had to drastically rethink what I would say to her. A cold misogyny, a new paradigm of racism and homophobia was taking hold of a country that I have long admired and I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t.

So, I got out of my chair and I stood up. Like all of you here, I stood up. In the months before Inauguration when Trump took shots at the freedom of the press, I stood up. When he started to fill his White House with white male bigots I stood up and when he closed the border to families from Syria on their knees in search of sanctuary, I stood up. I’m proud to stand with you today Edinburgh, we are part of a global movement and we will not sit down, let me hear you!

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The Observer agrees with us on a referendum on the Brexit deal

By The Voice | Sun 5th February 2017 - 9:59 pm

Well, well! The Observer has started agreeing with us again. Here’s what it had to say on this coming week’s Article 50 Bill amendments:

Any MP planning to vote against the amendments to the bill that seek to ensure this – whether or not they supported Brexit – should reflect long and hard on precisely what they think parliament is for, if not to scrutinise the government on this most momentous of decisions. Second, the British people must have the opportunity to accept or reject the deal negotiated by the government. The referendum result provided a democratic mandate for Britain to leave the EU; it did not give permission to the prime minister to negotiate any deal she sees fit.

Voters may choose to ratify the government’s deal in a second referendum or, faced with a concrete set of terms for Britain’s exit, they may choose to reject the deal and deliver a mandate for the government to seek to try to remain in the EU. But the final say should rest with them.

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 5th February 2017 - 2:30 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the 22,000  visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Lamb and Mulholland to abstain on Article 50 vote. What does this mean for the party?  (86 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Why I’ve left the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election campaign (12 comments) by Ed Fordham

Yet another massive Lib Dem GAIN from Labour (25 comments) by Caron Lindsay

In full: Tim Farron’s speech in the Article 50 debate (49 comments) by The Voice

ICYMI: Nick Clegg’s brilliant speech in the Article 50 debate (21 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Is this the beginning of the end for May’s government? (44 comments) by Katharine Pindar

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Tom Brake’s speech in the Article 50 debate

By The Voice | Sat 4th February 2017 - 12:59 pm

The final Liberal Democrat contribution in the Article 50 debate came from Tom Brake. We have published all the others as it is important for us all to be aware of what our MPs did and said on this most momentous of decisions.

I hope that I am wrong, but I believe that the decision that the country took on 23 June will result in the biggest self-inflicted wound since our disastrous intervention in Iraq. That wound is festering and it will leave the UK permanently economically weaker, even after it has healed. I believe that, when Members of Parliament believe that a course of action is going to be a catastrophe, they have a duty to harry, assail and oppose the Government, not to acquiesce.

I respect those who voted to leave. They had, and have, genuine grievances about a lack of jobs or education prospects, and concerns about the changes they see in our society, including concerns about immigration. The Brexiteers claimed that leaving the EU would address those concerns by stopping the cancellation of urgent hospital operations—paid for, presumably, by the tsunami of cash that was going to come to the NHS post-Brexit—improving teacher shortages in our schools and boosting housing supply. It will not do any of those things. In fact, it will make them worse. I doubt that even the leave campaign’s most prominent pledge, to reduce immigration substantially, will be achieved. Why would it be? After all, the Prime Minister has spent many years seeking to reduce the level of non-EU immigration, and nothing changed there.

What leaving the EU will do with certainty is diminish us as a nation and reduce our influence and international standing. That has already happened. Brexit has forced our Prime Minister, a born-again hard-line Brexiteer, to line up with Trump—indeed, to walk hand in hand with him. While European leaders and Canada condemned his Muslim ban, our Prime Minister’s initial response was to say, “Not my business.” Worse, she immediately offered him, with indecent haste, a state visit—far quicker than any other US President—which I am sure had absolutely nothing to do with her desperation to secure a trade deal, any deal, with the protectionist Trump.

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ICYMI: Sarah Olney’s speech in the Article 50 debate: We can’t build country without fear & poverty by turning our back on our neighbours

By The Voice | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 10:25 am

When I think of the country that I would like my generation to give to our children, I think of a country that lives without fear, poverty and inequality, but we cannot build that world by turning our back on our neighbours, closing the door to our friends, turning a blind eye to tyranny or walking hand in hand with intolerance.

Sarah Olney has got the hang of making great speeches in the House of Commons pretty quickly. In the Article 50 debate, she spoke from the heart while revealing the obfuscation of the Government as they try to deny people the true information about the consequences of Brexit. Here is her speech in full:

In this country, we have settled, through a process of trial and error, on a system of parliamentary democracy as the most effective form of governance. The importance of Parliament’s role was once again asserted by the Supreme Court last week. The responsibility of parliamentarians is clear: to take decisions in the best interests of the country with particular regard for the needs of their constituents. I believe that leaving the European Union will be hugely damaging for this country; the British people, through the referendum, narrowly expressed a different view. It is now up to Parliament to take account of the result of the referendum and decide what is in the best interests of the country.

There is no evidence, and none has been presented, that the best interests of the country will be served by the immediate triggering of article 50 and the pursuit of the hardest Brexit possible. It seems to me an abdication of responsibility to say that the only factor that can be considered in deciding whether to trigger article 50 is the result of the referendum. “The will of the people” cannot be tied down to one single point and be presumed never to change or waver. It should not be assumed that the decision of a narrow majority of people, willing and entitled to express a view on 23 June, should be the only thing to determine the fate of the whole population for now and many decades into the future. This is not the end of the debate; it is only the beginning.

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Tim Farron’s message for Time to Talk Day

By The Voice | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 2:40 pm

Today is Time to Talk Day, when we are asked to talk about mental health to help reduce the stigma and provide support to those who suffer from mental ill health.

Tim Farron has recorded a message for the day.

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The first results in the party internal elections are in

By The Voice | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 10:25 am

As we have publicised a couple of times, a new round of party elections is taking place. The electorate is the Federal Board.

The following people have been elected unopposed:

Registered Treasurer & Chair of Federal Finance and Resources Committee:     Peter Dunphy

Party Treasurer:                                               Lord Mike German

Chair of Federal Campaigns and Elections Committee:                               James Gurling

Chair of Campaign for Gender Balance:                                             Candy Piercy

Vice Chair of Federal Board:                                               Neil Fawcett

Federal Board Rep on Federal International Relations …

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In full: Tim Farron’s speech in the Article 50 debate

By The Voice | Wed 1st February 2017 - 5:30 pm

Tim Farron spoke in the Commons debate on Article 50 this afternoon. Here is his speech in full:

She is not in her place now, but I want to pay tribute to the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson) for her excellent maiden speech.

Liberal Democrats have always been proud internationalists. It was the Liberals who backed Winston Churchill’s European vision in the 1950s, even when his own party did not do so. Since our foundation, we have been champions of Britain’s role in the European Union and fought for co-operation and openness with our neighbours and with our allies. We have always believed that the challenges that Britain faces in the 21st century—climate change, terrorism and economic instability—are best tackled working together as a member of the European Union.

Being proud Europeans is part of our identity as a party, and it is part of my personal identity too. Personally, I was utterly gutted by the result. Some on the centre left are squeamish about patriotism; I am not. I am very proud of my identity as a northerner, as an Englishman, as a Brit, and as a European—all those things are consistent. My identity did not change on 24 June, and neither did my values, my beliefs, or what I believe is right for this country and for future generations. I respect the outcome of the referendum. The vote was clear—close, but clear—and I accept it.

But voting for departure is not the same as voting for a destination. Yes, a narrow majority voted to leave the EU, but the leave campaign had no plans, no instructions, no prospectus and no vision. No one in this Government, no one in this House and no one in this country has any idea of what the deal the Prime Minister will negotiate with Europe will be—it is completely unknown. How, then, can anyone pretend that this undiscussed, unwritten, un-negotiated deal in any way has the backing of the British people? The deal must be put to the British people for them to have their say. That is the only way to hold the Government to account for the monumental decisions they will have to take over the next two years.

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Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Tagged , , and | 49 Comments
The Voice

4000 new Lib Dem members in a month

By The Voice | Wed 1st February 2017 - 4:08 pm

The Liberal Democrat figures for January are out and they are impressive – 4000 members in the month, 2000 of them  in the last 10 days and 1000 since Tim Farron led the opposition to Trump’s travel ban and called for the offer of the state visit to be withdrawn.

Party President Sal Brinton said:

Reaching 82,000 members is the highest membership in over two decades. With more than 4,000 new members having joined us in January and more than 1,000 joining since Trump’s Executive Order on Friday, people are responding to the politics of hatred by joining the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats are the real opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government and it is great to welcome so many new members.

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The Voice

Lib Dem amendment to give people a vote on final Brexit deal

By The Voice | Tue 31st January 2017 - 1:31 pm

Liberal Democrat MPs have tabled amendments to the Article 50 Bill demanding a people’s vote is held on the final Brexit deal, that the government must commit to securing Britain’s membership of the Single Market and that EU nationals living in the UK are guaranteed the right to remain.

The first requires a referendum on the final deal, the alternative being to remain a member of the EU. This is the “reality v reality” referendum, as opposed to the “reality v fantasy” that we had. It doesn’t address the question of whether Article 50 is unilaterally revokable – if it turns out not to be, the EU would have to agree to our remaining members.

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The Voice

LibLink: Alistair Carmichael calls on Labour to get behind the Liberal Democrats on Brexit

By The Voice | Mon 30th January 2017 - 2:50 pm
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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 17 Comments
The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 29th January 2017 - 6:35 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the 19000  visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Remainer myths and post truth politics (99 comments) by Ben Andrew

Zulfiqar Ali can win Stoke on Trent Central for the Lib Dems but he needs your help (10 comments) by Ed Fordham

The indecent haste of Theresa May (45 comments) by Geoff Crocker

How did our constituencies vote in the EU Referendum? (14 comments) by Duncan Brack

Stoke-on-Trent Central is important beyond the Liberal Democrats (10 comments) by Ed Fordham

Maybe …

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The Voice

Lib Dems set up branch in France

By The Voice | Sat 28th January 2017 - 5:00 pm

The Liberal Democrats have set up a branch in France. Until now, members in France had been part of the Brussels and Europe branch, but, as an article in the English language French  newspaper Connexions shows, new member Paul Fisher has created a French branch which has its inaugural meeting this week. He told the paper:

“We want to ensure that the voice of British citizens living in France is heard back home,” Mr Fisher said.

The branch includes among its aims campaigning to support and enhance the rights of Britons in France and “supporting and campaigning for UK Liberal Democrat

…

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