Author Archives: William Francis

William Francis

How the Liberal Democrats can benefit from the rise of Reform UK

By William Francis | Fri 16th May 2025 - 10:11 am

In the 1950s and 1960s, the leader of the Liberal party, Jo Grimond, believed our long-term aim should be to supplant the Labour party as the main party of the left in Britain. Over half a century later, our current leader, Sir Ed Davey, has said that it is the Tories that we should push into third party status.

Both these strategies assumed that the Labour-Conservative duopoly was too strong to be completely removed. Over the past couple of years, this assumption has been put to the test by Nigel Farage and Reform UK (RUK). Now the old duopoly is weaker than ever before, as support for Labour and the Conservatives crumbles. RUK’s rise to prominence should alarm liberals, given their policies on taxation, immigration, renewable energy, and flags, but there is a silver lining to this large cloud. The rise of RUK presents a golden opportunity for the Liberal Democrats to eclipse both Labour and the Conservatives in terms of political power and relevancy.

During the recent local elections, only RUK and the Liberal Democrats exhibited any material amount of growth, with the Conservatives reeling from a wipeout and Labour sliding backwards. As such, in many places, a RUK-Liberal Democrat contest for power will be the defining lens through which politics is viewed. In Cornwall, Gloucestershire, and Devon RUK is likely to be the official opposition to a Liberal Democrat led administration. The Liberal Democrats are also now the second largest party in many areas where RUK is the largest party, including Durham, Warwickshire, and Kent. These sorts of contests will be very beneficial for us. According to YouGov, the Liberal Democrats stand to benefit more from tactical voting against RUK than either Labour or the Conservatives.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 36 Comments
William Francis

Preparing for Trump Presidency Two Electric Boogaloo

By William Francis | Fri 8th November 2024 - 11:56 am

Many of us felt despondent at the results of the 2024 Presidential election. Bitterness, despair, disgust and fear. It is only natural given how the world’s most powerful country has elected a dangerous, destructive demagogue.

But it is not enough to fall into moral outrage. We must prepare for the coming storm and what could be an end to Atlanticism.

Liberalism has not faced a more powerful foe since the Cold War. The underpinnings of our national security strategy have been thrown into question. Our access to international markets has been thrown into doubt, undermining our prosperity. The threat of climate change has become even more menacing. Meanwhile, our politics threatens to be overrun reactionaries embolden by Trump’s example.

To be complacent is to invite economic, political, ecological and social ruin. To hope that fawning over Trump and his courtiers, in hope of being spared the worst of his mercurial nature, is a high-stakes gamble. Given Trump’s longstanding admiration of autocrats of their perceived strength, our best bet to project strength.

The good news is that we are not alone in this. Most of America’s many allies face the exact same dilemma. As Sir Ed Davey has said, its imperative that we rebuild our relationship with the EU and seek further integration. High tariffs on all our American exports will halve our anaemic and much need economic growth. Greater integration with the single market would offset some of effects of these tariffs, whilst giving us a stronger bargaining position with Trump over the incoming trade talks.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 16 Comments
William Francis

We should oppose any mass surveillance in Labour’s Fraud Bill

By William Francis | Fri 18th October 2024 - 8:47 am

In Citizen’s Britain Paddy Ashdown argued that despite the Conservative government’s claims of “rolling back the frontiers of the state”, they were in fact spending more and more on social control, coercion, and surveillance. The closing months of Sunak’s government echoed this aspect of the Thatcher era, with it planning to introduce mass surveillance legislation, which now could be implemented under the present Labour government.

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, which the Conservative’s failed to pass before this year’s general election, included surveillance provisions would have forced banks to monitor the accounts of all means-tested benefits claimants, and report every time an account went over the capital limit, or was used abroad for more than four weeks. It would have also empowered designated DWP staff to arrest claimants, search premises and seize any evidence they found without needing to use the police. Such legislation had the potential to create a Horizon-style scandal on a horrific scale, given how DWP software had wrongly flagged over 200,000 people over the last three years for investigation for suspected benefit fraud and error.

Though the details concerning Labour’s Fraud, Error and Debt Bill haven’t been made public recent comments by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall worryingly indicate people on benefits would be under similar surveillance. The Fraud bill would require banks and other financial institutions to check examine their own data sets to highlight cases of potential benefit fraud, to help the DWP investigate fraud and incorrect payments. Though Kendall made assurances that “only a minimum amount of data will be accessed” and that this would be done in a “legal, proportionate and targeted” manner, groups like Big Brother Watch and Campaign for Disability Justice remain highly sceptical that the government will be so restrained. They have every right to be, given the authoritarian tendencies of the New Labour governments.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 11 Comments
William Francis

Economic planning, obesity, and lessons from Japan

By William Francis | Sat 14th November 2020 - 8:55 am

Whilst many have discussed obesity as a national health problem, this framing ignores the curtailing of individual liberty that obesity produces; from the limits it often imposes on everyday activity to wide-ranging health risks and even potentially shortened lifespans. This framing is probably why the substance of obesity discourse revolves around how this often agency limiting phenomena is supposed to be ameliorated by limiting agency. 

As a Liberal whose BMI straddles the line between overweight and obese, I think that obesity reduction policies should be based on expanding the agency of people, rather than curtailing it through Pigouvian taxes or even outright fat shaming.

This can be achieved by learning from the successes of other countries, primarily Japan. According to the 2017 OECD report the rate of obesity in Japan was 3.7% among people aged 15 years and older, whilst in contrast, the OECD average was 19.5% and that figure stood at 26.9% in the UK.

What explains this low rate of obesity? 

More regular exercise? 

About 25% of Britons age over 16 are classed as “physically inactive” as of 2017/18 whilst at the same time over 40% of Japanese people (aged 18 and over) admit they don’t exercise or take part in sports activity.

A lack of poverty?

As of 2017, 15.7% of Japanese people lived on 50% of median household income or less, compared to 11.9% of people in the UK. 

So, what is going here?

A good answer comes in the form of a YouTube video by an American expat living in Japan. As a person who has lived in two different societies, he provides a unique perspective on Japanese and American diets and a beautifully simple thesis for Japan’s lack of obesity; Japanese people have access to cheap, varied and convenient healthy food in a way Americans (or indeed Britons) don’t.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 7 Comments
William Francis

Towards a national land value tax

By William Francis | Wed 4th March 2020 - 6:00 pm

To quote our party’s anthem “Why should we beg for work and let the landlords take the best? Make them pay their taxes on the land; we’ll risk the rest”.

Aside from voting reform, no one policy is as central to the Liberal Democrats as a land value tax. This should be a key policy for any platform our party promotes.

As of 2018 half of the UK ‘s net worth is tied up in land, amounting to some £4.9 trillion of wealth. More so than in many rich democracies. Given the large-scale wealth inequalities facing the country today, the adverse effects of artificially high land values (such as higher cost for entry for starting businesses, and the promotion of rent-seeking), and the growing need for more public spending (be it on existing institutions like the NHS, schools, local government or the Police or bold new projects like a Citizens Income) a land value tax kills many birds with one stone.

The question remains what form it should take, to which I have a few ideas.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 32 Comments
William Francis

What is our approach to Co-determination?

By William Francis | Wed 19th February 2020 - 3:40 pm

As a party, we have long advocated a cooperative relationship between labour and capital rather than an adversarial and hierarchical one, where the investor, the manager, and the worker are partners in the industry.
Such a vision was expressed in our 1964 manifesto, with the statement:
“Employees must be given a share in the decisions and profits of the companies in which they work. should be represented on the board of directors, or on a joint supervisory council”.

This vision has deeper roots in the Party’s history for in 1908, the Liberal government passed the Port of London Authority (PLA) Act, which mandated worker representation in the corporate governance of the PLA.
We should do more to revive this facet of ourselves, particularly with regards to co-determination.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 21 Comments
William Francis

Liberal policies for a Liberal Party

By William Francis | Tue 11th February 2020 - 9:30 am

With the leadership election approaching this an excellent opportunity to engage with wider debates about the direction for the party. Whilst many have argued for the party to be one for the political centre, I disagree.

History has shown that the British Liberalism does best when it offers a distinct and unique image (with a corresponding set of policies), that separate it from the Lab-Con duopoly.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 20 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Simon R
    It seems rather loaded language to say we are taking from the poorest people in the world when what we're actually doing is not giving as much. If I spent £70...
  • Suzanne Fletcher
    Interesting and relevant article from Bradley Hillier Smith: this is the beginning, I don't have the article weblink so just copy an pasting 1st page. message...
  • Cassie
    An eye-opening, and brave, article. Changing the recording system seems a very simple change to make, and it seems crazy no government has ever done it....
  • Nonconformistradical
    @Ben C "Difficulties valuing the few remaining properties that aren’t on the land register...." Do you know how many there are? If you don't why have you ...
  • Andrew Melmoth
    @Mick Taylor We are not re-joining the EU because there is a blocking minority capable of electing a Tory/Reform government. And that isn't going to change in ...