Author Archives: Willis Pickard

Opinion: Will Leveson changes bring about more factual EU coverage?

By Willis Pickard | Wed 5th December 2012 - 8:57 am

Buried away in the Leveson Report is a denunciation of those parts of the press which systematically misrepresent the European Union.

Pro-Europeans like the Liberal Democrats will welcome this recognition of a chronic irritant.

Editors of the offending papers rarely if ever give the opportunity to correct errors. Now, although the anti-Europe

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Opinion: Lib Dems should promote Somaliland’s case for international recognition

By Willis Pickard | Wed 1st February 2012 - 12:56 pm

While Scottish Liberal Democrats are playing a full part in the debates about the country’s constitutional future, they should not forget problems facing other less fortunate small lands. The plight of Somaliland is a case in point and is exercising the Scottish branch of Liberal International.

The first problem Somaliland confronts on the world stage is that people confuse it with lawless Somalia. It is an immediate neighbour and shares Somali culture but is largely peaceful and enjoys a recent record of solid democratic progress. So are its achievements in the troubled Horn of Africa lauded? Not a bit of it, …