Category Archives: Europe / International

Anything to do with European / international issues

Ruvi Ziegler

The Liberal Democrats and Yesh Atid: a fundamental incompatibility?

By Ruvi Ziegler | Tue 12th May 2026 - 2:56 pm

In 2021, I wrote a Lib Dem Voice article warning that our Party’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is misaligned with that of our ‘sister’ party in Israel, Yesh Atid.

Over four years later, those concerns have not diminished. Yesh Atid continues to pay occasional lip service to a two-state solution. In practice, however, the party has repeatedly aligned itself with the assumptions and priorities of the Israeli nationalist mainstream, while failing to meaningfully challenge, and at times actively enabling, the blatantly illegal actions of the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government. Lapid’s hardline rhetoric on territorial expansion and Palestinian statehood, admonishment of the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, and most recently his formalised political alliance with right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett in a joint party list entitled ‘together’ (Be-Yachad) all point in the same direction. Whereas Yesh Atid adopts a liberal stance on certain domestic matters in Israel, including protections for the queer community, it is clearly not offering a liberal alternative on the question of Palestine.

In February this year, Lapid expressed support for expanding the Israeli state to its “biblical borders.” suggesting that Israeli territory could one day extend as far as Iraq. Months earlier, responding to the recognition of Palestine by the UK, Portugal, Australia and Canada, Lapid described the move as “a diplomatic disaster, a bad move and a reward for terror.” These are not the words of a man truly committed to the two-state solution.

Nor has this rhetoric been merely symbolic. In October 2025, Yesh Atid MKs voted in favour of annexing Maale Adumim, one of the largest and most strategically significant Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite annexation being clearly prohibited under international law.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 10th May 2026 - 8:52 am

In a fit of pique Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany. He also said that he was considering pulling soldiers out of Italy and Spain.

Why these three countries? Because their leaders had the temerity to criticise the US president.

Trump is cutting off Uncle Sam’s face to spite his nose while shooting him in the foot. In short, it is a stupid move. America needs Europe. For a start. Europe is the largest financial pillar outside the United States supporting the US defense industry—it spends more than $100 billion a year. And the US defense industry is five percent of America’s GDP.

American bases in Europe also enable the US to project power throughout Eurasia, Africa, the Middle East and the western end of the Indo-Pacific region. It has bases in Britain, Germany, the Baltic countries, Poland, Spain, Italy and even Greenland.

The US bases enable the Pentagon to pre-position equipment and fuel for rapid deployments; provide some of the world’s finest hospitals; repair centres; intelligence; command centres and deployment infrastructure. Europe is the foundational stone that makes global power projection possible.

Trump’s recently published National Security Strategy focused on “civilisational decline” in Europe and the need to focus on the Western Hemisphere. But it also said that Europe would “remain as a platform for US global operations.”

Given the above, it should follow that the US president should learn to be nicer to the people he needs.

Trump is off to China next week. To be exact, he is in Beijing next Thursday and Friday for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

At the moment the US and China are in the middle of a trade truce. That is because the trade war that Trump launched last April proved disastrous to both countries. Trump raised tariffs to over 100 percent. China immediately cut off America’s access to the rare earth minerals. Trump retaliated by reducing Chinese access to American technology and financial instruments. The result was a Mexican stand-off.

Both sides backed away, lowered tariffs and resumed access to products. But the spate left a bad taste in the mouths of both leaders. They think that Sino-American cooperation will only benefit the other. In fact, the only thing keeping Trump and Xi talking to each other is the fear of the economic damage each can inflict on each other’s country.

This will upset US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who has spent the first part of this year negotiated a set of trade deals which he hopes will be signed in Beijing. According to diplomatic sources, it is more likely that the best result will be a pair of fixed smiles and a handshake.

May should be an interesting diplomatic month for India. It will have to perform a delicate balancing act between the American-dominated West and the Chinese-dominated East and South.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 5th April 2026 - 10:07 am

Sir Keir Starmer should be Britain’s Foreign Secretary. His handling of foreign policy is first-class.

Unfortunately, for a country’s foreign policy to be effective, it needs a strong economic and political base and Sir Keir — as Prime Minister — has failed to produce that.

But the world economic crisis created by Trump’s attack on Iran and Iran’s closure of the Straits of Hormuz means that the British Prime Minister now must focus on world affairs.

He has decided that he — along with French President Emmanuel Macron — should take the lead in trying to find a diplomatic solution that would re-open the Straits of Hormuz.

This is right. Britain and France are — after the United States — the two biggest Western powers in the Gulf Region. But it is difficult to see how they can achieve their goal.

For a start there is a war and Trump could escalate or declare victory and suddenly pull out. It is almost impossible to predict what this mercurial Sir Keir Starmer should be Britain’s Foreign Secretary. His handling of foreign policy is first-class.

Unfortunately, for a country’s foreign policy to be effective it needs a strong economic and political base and Sir Keir—as prime minister—has failed to produce that.

But the world economic crisis created by Trump’s attack on Iran and Iran’s closure of the Straits of Hormuz means that the British Prime Minister now must focus on world affairs.

He has decided that he—along with French President Emmanuel Macron—should take the lead in trying to find a diplomatic solution that would re-open the Straits of Hormuz.

This is right. Britain and France are—after the United States—the two biggest Western powers in the Gulf Region. But it is difficult to see how they can achieve their goal.

For a start there is a war and Trump could escalate or declare victory and suddenly pull out. It is almost impossible to predict what this mercurial President will do next.

Next, in the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, Iran has discovered a new political weapon with which to beat the West and at the same time create an attractive revenue stream. It has declared the 20-mile-wide maritime chokepoint Iranian waters and says it will close it at will and/or levy toll charges on the oil tankers that pass through every day.

To prevent such a move Sir Keir and President Macron are talking about sanctions and everything short of Trump’s insistence that other western powers despatch warships to replace the American Navy and take control of the Straits of Hormuz.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Nuclear Questions

By Tom Arms | Sat 4th April 2026 - 9:55 am

The nuclear deterrent must be at the centre of Europe’s security policy. For nearly 80 years that deterrent has been in the hands of the US through its membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Britain and France have also had nuclear arsenals. But they do not come close to countering the stockpile of Russian weapons. Their purpose is to give heft to the political power of the two former European colonial powers.

That is changing. It must change. Trump’s repeated threats to withdraw have made it necessary. The most recent is the most worrying. The US president went to war without consulting his NATO allies and without a clear goal or exit strategy. He inevitably ran into difficulties and called upon his NATO allies to extricate him from what looks like an unwinnable conflict. Not wanting to be dragged into a “forever war” in the powder keg Middle East, the NATO allies refused. Trump responded by heaping insult on insult and issuing his clearest threat yet to withdraw from the “most successful military alliance in world history.”

Of course, a Trumpian withdrawal from NATO would not be a simple matter of signing an Executive Order. Marco Rubio saw to that shortly before he was appointed Trump’s Secretary of State. While still in the Senate he co-sponsored a bill which requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate for US withdrawal from the NATO Treaty.

Trump has a one-seat majority in the Senate. But even if it were larger, it is unlikely that he could twist enough Senate arms to secure a two-thirds majority. Fourteen Republican senators — including his sycophantic ally Lindsey Graham — have said they would vote to stay in the alliance. So that route appears blocked.

But the president could still severely damage the alliance. As commander-in-chief he has operational control over all military units so he could simply order the 70,000 US troops in Europe to come home. It would be a stupid move and put him on a collision course with his party in the Senate, but it is just the sort of thing Trump would do.

Such a move would immediately put a big question mark over whether America’s nuclear umbrella would stay in place. Which is why the European members of the alliance are discussing how they could replace the American deterrent.

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John Kelly

Report of the Gaza Tribunal

By John Kelly | Mon 30th March 2026 - 1:23 pm

Published on 16th March 2026, the Gaza Tribunal Report follows a two-day tribunal held in Westminster in September 2025 at which evidence was taken from 91 witnesses. The Tribunal Members who wrote the report were Jeremy Corbyn, the Independent MP and well-known critic of Israel, as well as Dr Shahd Hammouri, a Palestinian/Jordanian Lecturer in International Law from the University of Kent and Professor Neve Gordon, an Israeli who is Professor of International Law at Queen Mary University of London. The inquiry was launched in response to what organisers described as a lack of political or legal response to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and insufficient scrutiny of the UK’s response to it.

The report is organised around four questions: what has happened in Gaza; what Britain’s legal responsibilities are; what Britain’s role has been; and whether Britain has fulfilled its obligations.

The Executive Summary sets out the scale of destruction in Gaza, stating that the official death toll had exceeded 73,000 at the time of writing, including at least 20,000 children, and citing further research suggesting that the true figure will be significantly higher. It records more than 170,000 injuries, the destruction or damage of over 80% of buildings, more than 90% of housing, 97% of schools, 91% of hospitals, and all universities. It also documents the widespread destruction of agricultural land and the displacement of around 1.9 million people.

The report then turns to sector-by-sector testimony. The accumulation of horror as you read these passages in sequence makes for especially powerful reading. One chapter describes Israel’s near-total destruction of Gaza’s health system, including attacks on hospitals, the killing and abduction of health workers, and the collapse of the conditions needed to treat the wounded and sustain civilian life. Another details the destruction of schools and universities and the killing of teachers and professors, with long-term consequences for the Palestinian education system, while another describes the deliberate killing of journalists (“press combatants”) and the implications for evidence-gathering and press freedom. Finally, a chapter on famine focuses on blockade, water deprivation, aid restrictions, and the destruction of agricultural infrastructure and food systems.

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Robert Harrison

Our Vision – the Liberal Democrat European Group

By Robert Harrison | Mon 30th March 2026 - 9:42 am

As we navigate the current political landscape of 2026, our party needs to develop a clear-eyed, long-term vision for rebuilding our relationship with our European neighbours. At the heart of this mission is the Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG). We are a dedicated associated organisation of local activists, policy-makers, and internationalists working to ensure that the UK’s European future is not just a distant dream, but becomes once again a practical reality.

LDEG sees its role as a bridge between our party and other organizations in the UK and across the continent, particularly through our work with the party’s Federal International Relations Committee (FIRC) and the ALDE Party as well as with the European Movement and Grassroots for Europe. In the coming year we want to continue providing the intellectual and grassroots energy needed to accelerate our party’s step-by-step roadmap for closer alignment with the European Union, with the longer term goal of rejoining. We shall champion the benefits of the Single Market and Customs Union, as well as membership of other European-wide agencies, and fight to dismantle the trade barriers that continue to hinder British businesses and researchers, as well as tourists.

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Mark Valladares

27 March 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 27th March 2026 - 10:30 pm

Still no luck with HQ press releases, I’m afraid, but nonetheless…

  • Scottish Liberal Democrats can win in every corner of Scotland
  • Historic Anti-Corruption Law adopted: Liberals and Democrats increase protection for citizens and democracy

Scottish Liberal Democrats can win in every corner of Scotland

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today continued his party’s speedy start to the election campaign by speeding up the Clyde in a powerboat as he set out how his party can win seats on the peach regional ballot in every corner of Scotland and how more Liberal Democrat MSPs will get more done in the next parliamentary term.

Mr Cole-Hamilton highlighted his party’s achievements in the Scottish Parliament including:

  • Fresh support for high street businesses struggling with the cost of living
  • A 10% increase in the college budget to produce the skills our economy and public services need
  • Investment to speed up autism and ADHD assessments
  • Millions for hospices so they can attract and retain staff
  • Young entrepreneurs being backed to take their idea to the next level
  • New facilities for new mothers and babies born addicted drugs
  • Cash for flood-stricken families and businesses in Fife when the government turned its back
  • More money for ferries in the Northern Isles
  • Suzanne’s Law and Michelle’s Law, strengthening the rights of victims and their families
  • Money restored to the housing budget after it was cut by the Greens and SNP
  • Family carers have the right to earn more
  • Work restarted on Edinburgh’s Eye Hospital and the Belford in Fort William

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

We’re making a speedy start to this campaign because Scottish Liberal Democrats believe in getting things done.

There are some political parties which only fire out angry press releases, oppose everything for opposition’s sake, and achieve absolutely nothing for their constituents. There is another way of doing things. Budget by budget, bill by bill, case by case, we care to use our leverage as MSPs to deliver change with fairness at its heart.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have shown that we are serious about getting you the fair deal you deserve. There is a long list of changes that we have won for our constituents and for Scotland as a whole. The more MSPs we have, the more we can get done, like delivering more GPs, dentists and mental health professionals near you.

This election is your chance to elect local champions and win the change our country desperately needs. We can gain more constituencies from the SNP than any other party. But wherever you are, you can have an MSP who will get stuff done by backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach regional ballot.

Historic Anti-Corruption Law adopted: Liberals and Democrats increase protection for citizens and democracy

Renew Europe welcomes today’s final adoption by the European Parliament of the new EU anti-corruption law, marking the successful conclusion of interinstitutional negotiations and delivering tougher sanctions, stronger prevention and greater protection for citizens and journalists across Europe.

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Mark Valladares

26 March 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 26th March 2026 - 10:30 pm
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats launch election campaign in seat they will take from SNP
  • Greene comments on Reform’s Scottish campaign collapse
  • Greene comments on latest wave of ferry chaos
  • Labour missing golden opportunity to set up Port Talbot industrial supply chain
  • EU-US Turnberry deal: Renew Europe backs Parliament’s firm mandate

Scottish Liberal Democrats launch election campaign in seat they will take from SNP

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today launched his party’s campaign, setting out how his party can win ten constituencies to deprive the SNP of a majority and win big on the peach regional ballot in order to get more done in the next parliamentary term.

Speaking at the launch at Newhaven harbour, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

We know you feel let down by the other parties.

We think Scotland deserves better than this. But it needs to be change with fairness at its heart.

Scotland has so much going for it. But right now, it feels like our country simply isn’t working.

Household bills are soaring. The long waits to see your GP. The national embarrassment of the ferries fiasco. And Scottish education just isn’t what it used to be.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats believe Scotland deserves better than this. We believe in fairness for everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from. That’s why we have a realistic plan to get things done: delivering first-rate health care, helping you with the cost of living, getting Scotland moving again, and getting Scottish education back to its best.

I’m bursting with excitement for the campaign ahead. I will be travelling all over our country letting people know that the Liberal Democrats are winning again, with more councillors, a record number of MPs and more to come.

Let me be straight with you. You have two votes. In many constituencies like Edinburgh Northern, we are on the verge of winning against the SNP. Our victories can deny them the parliamentary majority that John Swinney craves. Equally importantly, wherever you are, every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach ballot will deliver MSPs committed to delivering change with fairness at its heart.

Scotland deserves better. And with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can vote for it.

Greene comments on Reform’s Scottish campaign collapse

Responding to the news that two more Reform UK Holyrood election candidates have withdrawn their candidacies this morning — bringing the party’s total number of dropouts to four — Scottish Liberal Democrat Jamie Greene MSP said:

As the wheels continue to come off Reform’s Scottish campaign, Lord Offord continues to prove he and his party should be nowhere near politics or power.

Two candidates have dropped out because of ‘administrative errors’, one because of shady business dealings during Covid, and another after calling Humza Yousaf an ‘Islamist moron’. Good riddance, yes, but it’s not enough.

We found out this week that Lord Offord has a vile sense of ‘humour’ that makes him unfit for public office, while another Reform candidate is still standing despite having publicly backed Tommy Robinson.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there are yet more skeletons in the closet and candidates dropping out in the coming weeks.

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Mark Valladares

25 March 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 25th March 2026 - 10:30 pm
  • More than 17,000 children waiting longer than a year in temporary accommodation
  • David Chadwick calls for Government action to protect Rural Community Transport Schemes
  • Greene: Aspiring politicians must campaign with decency
  • Greene: Offord and Reform should reject secretive crypto donations
  • Collien Fernandes: Renew Europe calls for EU action to close loopholes on AI deepfake abuse

More than 17,000 children waiting longer than a year in temporary accommodation

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson and Central Scotland candidate Paul McGarry has today accused the SNP of “catastrophic neglect” as he published figures showing that over the past five years, there have been more than 17,000 children trapped in temporary accommodation for more than a year.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information to every Scottish council asked for the number of children stuck in temporary accommodation for over twelve months in every year since 2020.

Of the 30 councils which provided the data, the responses show that:

  • Between 2020 and 2025, a total of 17,811 children were trapped in temporary accommodation for longer than a year.
  • This included a total of 10,147 children in Edinburgh and 3,742 children in Glasgow.
  • In 2024, 3,504 children waited over a year in temporary accommodation- the highest level of the five-year period.
  • Between January and October 2025, 3,126 children waited over a year in temporary accommodation.

It comes amid separate figures showing that the number of children currently in temporary accommodation has a reached a new record, rising to 10,480.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Paul McGarry said:

These figures lay bare the SNP’s catastrophic neglect.

As Housing Secretary, Mairi McAllan was supposed to offer a fresh start, but things have gone from bad to worse. Housing is clearly not a priority for the SNP.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out a realistic plan to tackle a lack of availability and poor-quality homes.

We want to see change with fairness at its heart, which starts by confronting the housing crisis head-on: getting more homes built, maximising existing stock and giving everyone a safe place to call home.

If you are disgusted by the SNP’s failure to build enough homes, no matter where you are, you can back Scottish Liberal Democrats on the peach regional ballot paper at May’s election and deliver the change that Scotland needs.

David Chadwick calls for Government action to protect Rural Community Transport Schemes

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick has called on UK Government ministers to urgently update outdated mileage rates for volunteer drivers which haven’t been updated since 2011, warning that community transport services across rural Wales are under growing pressure from rising costs.

Speaking in a debate on support for voluntary groups and community centres, Mr Chadwick highlighted the vital role community transport plays in keeping rural communities connected, particularly for older residents and those without access to a car.

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Mark Valladares

24 March 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 24th March 2026 - 10:30 pm
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to embargoed A&E analysis
  • Cole-Hamilton comments on drops in cancer survival
  • Cole-Hamilton comments on avoidable mortality
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to SNP missing key health target
  • Welsh Lib Dems respond to RCEM report – nearly 1,000 deaths linked to long Emergency Department waits in Wales in 2025
  • Greene responds to Malcolm Offord homophobia report
  • EU-Australia deal: a strategic milestone for Europe’s security and prosperity

Cole-Hamilton responds to embargoed A&E analysis

Responding to new analysis from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which reveals that it could take more than 200 years to reduce the number of people waiting 12 hours or more at A&Es, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

People never used to wait so long at A&E, but the SNP have turned 12 hour waits into a terrifying new norm.

The only way to cut these waits is to fix the broken social care system because every night there are 2,000 people marooned in hospital unnecessarily. They are medically ready to leave, but there are not enough care packages and care workers to get them home. It’s a care bottleneck that means long waits in A&E, ambulances stacking up outside and longer waits when you dial 999.

In May, you should back the Scottish Liberal Democrats on your second, peach, regional ballot paper to reward care workers and attract more people into the profession to free up vital space in A&Es.

Cole-Hamilton comments on drops in cancer survival

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has said that Scotland deserves a government that will “move mountains for cancer patients”, following a drop in the survival rates for certain types of cancer.

New figures published today show:

  • The one-year survival rate for leukaemias dropped from 77.9% to 75.4% between 2013-17 and 2018-22
  • The one-year survival rate for head and neck cancer fell from 75.2% to 72.6% between 2013-17 and 2018-22
  • The five-year survival rate for leukaemias decreased from 61.9% to 57.5% between 2013-17 and 2018-22
  • The five-year survival rate for men diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphomas dropped from 68.0% to 64.1%
  • A huge range in survival rates for the period 2018-22, varying from 23.1% for pancreatic cancer to 97.9% for testicular cancer

The Scottish Government’s standard states that 95% of eligible patients should wait no longer than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment.

This target has never been met since it was introduced in 2012.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

It is alarming to see a drop in survival rates for certain types of cancer.

Much more needs to be done to improve care, but all we have seen is an SNP government never once meeting a key cancer waiting times target in the fourteen years since it was introduced.

Scotland deserves a government that will move mountains for cancer patients.

To boost survival rates, Scottish Liberal Democrats would cut waiting times, detect and treat cancer early and roll out a new national lung cancer screening programme capable of saving hundreds of lives a year. We would also enable US scientists to finish their cancer research here, instead of letting Trump cancel all their good work.

Cole-Hamilton comments on avoidable mortality

Responding to new figures which show that Scotland continues to have a higher avoidable mortality rate than England and Wales, with 1 in 4 deaths considered avoidable in 2024 and the rates in the most deprived areas quadruple those in the least deprived, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

The SNP simply cannot be trusted with your health.

They have allowed waits for cancer, care packages, mental health and A&E to spiral out of control.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have got a realistic plan to get people the first-rate healthcare they need. We will cut waiting times and make sure you’re able to see your GP, NHS dentist or mental health professional when you need them.

If you like the sound of that, it’s time to back us on your second, peach, regional ballot paper in May.

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Leon Duveen

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

By Leon Duveen | Tue 24th March 2026 - 11:41 am

At his first inauguration as US President, back in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt famously said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”.

Over 90 years later, that phrase could be applied to the Palestine/Israel conflict or, more precisely, to Palestinians and Israeli Jews. The biggest driver in preventing a solution is that Palestinians fear Israelis and Israelis fear Palestinians.

Of course, many individual Palestinians and Israelis have friends, good friends, on the “other” side but there are also many more who do not have any contact across the divide except through the ongoing violence as participants, as victims, or simply as observers.

It is this lack of knowledge about the lives, the desires, the pain of those who live close by but in a different world that has allowed cynical politicians on both sides to exploit the natural fear most of us have of those who we don’t know. Especially when there has been a long, bloody history of attacks and atrocities by both sides for over 100 years.

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Mark Valladares

23 March 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 23rd March 2026 - 11:30 pm

We’ve been having a few problems with these of late – a technical problem with HQ Press Office and e-mail bouncing appears to be at fault. Whilst we continue to try to solve this…

  • Greene responds to Findlay’s cost-of-living claims
  • Slovenian election interference allegations: European democracy is not for sale

Greene responds to Findlay’s cost-of-living claims

Responding to Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay’s claim that his party will put Scotland’s cost-of-living crisis front and centre of its campaign, Scottish Liberal Democrat Jamie Greene MSP said:

The Tories’ fiscal plans seem to be centered around making poorer people worse off to fund tax cuts at the

…

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Gareth McAleer

Reuniting with Europe: Rebuilding What Brexit Broke

By Gareth McAleer | Mon 16th March 2026 - 12:04 pm

Six years after Britain left the European Union, the promise that we would “take back control” rings hollow. The truth is painful: Brexit has weakened our country. It has diminished our prosperity, our standing, and our confidence. What was sold as liberation has instead become a slow estrangement from our closest allies and from the European identity that once helped define us as an open, confident nation.

For Liberal Democrats, the damage goes deeper than trade or economics. Brexit was a rejection of something essential: our belief that Britain’s strength lies in cooperation and shared purpose. It narrowed our horizons and encouraged a politics of resentment and blame. For millions who see themselves as both British and European, it felt like being written out of the story of our own nation.

The Damage Done

Brexit has left marks on every part of our national life. Small firms struggle with new border checks that slow exports and drain their budgets. Farmers face endless forms and higher costs. Musicians and creative workers have lost easy access to European tours. Investment has slumped, and the “global trade revolution” we were told to expect has produced little reward.

Yet the damage is not only economic. It is emotional, generational, and cultural. For young people, the Continent is no longer a place of effortless study, work, and discovery. The loss of Erasmus+ was not a policy detail but a breaking of connection. Freedom of movement, once taken for granted, is now a memory, and many Britons are only beginning to understand what that freedom meant. Families that once moved easily between London and Lisbon or Glasgow and Athens now feel distance where closeness used to be.

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Lord William Wallace

Can we prevent Middle Eastern conflict dividing British politics and society?

By Lord William Wallace | Mon 2nd March 2026 - 3:14 pm

Immediate domestic reactions to American bombing of Iran have displayed how divided British political parties are on Israel, Iran and US approaches to Middle Eastern politics. Priti Patel as Conservative shadow foreign secretary was firm in her support. Nigel Farage was even more enthusiastic and uncritical. Liberal Democrat MPs have been critical, and insistent that the UK should not become directly involved. Labour has been cautious, contributing only to ‘defensive’ operations against Iranian responses. The Greens have condemned the American attack. The old idea that politicians of all parties should stand shoulder to shoulder when international crisis threatens has long gone.

Attitudes to the USA partly shape this. But we have to be aware, in our ethnically and religiously diverse country, of the domestic dimension, and do whatever we can to limit bitter divisions abroad from becoming rooted within Britain. We have a valued and long-established Jewish community, many of whom are deeply unhappy about Bibi Netanyahu’s hardline policies but who nevertheless take their turn in guarding their synagogue and defending their community. We have also a growing Muslim community, from South Asia, Yemen, the Gulf states, Malaysia and East and West Africa – many first-generation immigrants, but most now their children, grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. Younger British Muslims naturally feel solidarity with their Palestinian and Iranian counterparts. Relations between British Hindus and Muslims of South Asian origin have in some places been adversely affected by Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu nationalism, feeding into a narrative of Islam under attack.

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Jack Meredith

In response to Dominic Rider: confederation is comfort, federalism is capability

By Jack Meredith | Wed 28th January 2026 - 12:40 pm

Dominic Rider is right about the moment we are in. The transatlantic guarantee is wobbling; Europe is being reminded, again, that dependence is not a strategy. When Washington treats alliances as transactional, Europeans either grow up fast or get pushed around slowly. The Liberal Democrats should say what comes next.

Where I part company with Dominic is on the destination. He argues for “confederation, not a superstate”. That contrast misses the real problem. Europe already exercises power: the single market sets rules, sanctions shape foreign policy, and standards shape economies. The question is not whether Europe will have power; it is whether that power is democratically governed and has clear lines of responsibility.

A confederation keeps the fog. It offers reassurance, but it leaves the constitutional flaw untouched: paralysis. Dominic is right that unanimity lets one government block action. Qualified majority voting helps, but procedure alone will not fix a system designed to avoid clarity. A Europe that wants to act like a strategic player needs institutions built for action, not for reassuring capitals.

Federalism is the democratic solution. A federal United States of Europe is not the abolition of nations; it is the constitutional ordering of shared power. It means voters can see who governs, what they control, and how to change course. That is not a “superstate”. It is power placed under law, limited by a written settlement, and answerable to citizens.

The principle is simple: do together what must be done together; keep the rest close to home. Defence, trade, external borders, major infrastructure, and climate commitments belong at the federal level because they are cross-border by nature. Taxation, welfare, health, education, culture, and constitutional arrangements should remain national, devolved, or local because diversity is a strength. Subsidiarity should not be a slogan; it should be enforceable.

Defence is the acid test. Pooled procurement is valuable, but deterrence cannot rest on voluntary top-ups and ad hoc deals that unravel whenever politics shift. If Europeans want strategic autonomy, they need a single security actor: capability planning that matches threats, industrial scale to reduce duplication, and a chain of command that is democratically accountable. Committees do not deter revisionist powers; credible forces and clear commitments do.

The “superstate” fear is real, but it is misaimed. What people resent is unaccountable decision-making. The EU already has a far-reaching influence, just in a hybrid form where citizens struggle to “throw the rascals out”. Federalism does not add power for fun; it puts existing power under democratic control, clarifies competencies, and makes responsibility legible.

That is also the British opportunity. Public opinion has shifted; more voters now believe Brexit was a mistake. Yet that sentiment will remain politically inert unless someone offers a serious answer to the next question: rejoin to do what? Labour treats Europe as a problem to be managed, not an opportunity to be seized. Conservatives are trapped by their own coalition. The Liberal Democrats have the freedom, and the duty, to lead.

But leading means more than tiptoeing back into yesterday’s Europe. People can smell timidity. They will not rally to “rejoin, but change nothing”. A federal programme is clearer: Britain should return to help build a Europe that can defend itself, compete economically, and uphold liberal values, not just with speeches.

So what should Liberal Democrats argue for? Treaty reform towards a constitutional settlement: an elected European executive accountable to an elected parliament; a senate of states to protect national voice through transparent votes; majority decision-making where collective action is required; and hard subsidiarity so everything not explicitly federal stays closer to the citizen. That is how you make European power democratic.

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Jack Meredith

In praise of destabilising tyranny

By Jack Meredith | Mon 12th January 2026 - 10:25 am

As we speak, for the 15th consecutive day, Iranians are protesting the Islamic Republic and its tyrannical leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Iran was once a society that embraced egalitarianism, was open to working with the West, and boasted natural resources that made countries like Japan reliant on partnerships to secure national energy security. The Pahlavi dynasty, albeit an absolute monarchy, oversaw this modernisation against a backdrop of press repression and the use of secret police to suppress opposition against its rule.

While some claimed victory over the Monarchy following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the reality of what this theocratic regime has delivered upon Iran is beyond inhumane. In 2025 alone, 1,922 executions were carried out by the Islamic Republic, with Ayatollah Khamenei threatening the use of the death penalty against protestors.

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Larry Ngan

From Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire to Jimmy Lai’s political persecution end impunity for crimes against journalists

By Larry Ngan | Mon 15th December 2025 - 5:00 pm

For the past two years, my father (Jimmy Lai) has been on trial under Hong Kong’s arbitrary and draconian national security law…. His skin is drying up, his nails are changing colour before falling off, and his teeth are decaying. His eyes are often dry and bloodshot.

– Claire Lai, The Washington Post, 9th December 2025

Lai was the owner of Apple Daily, the largest pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong. Mere words of concern from the UK government are not enough when it comes to his political imprisonment in Hong Kong. The UK Government needs to take action to end impunity in …

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Jack Meredith

Let us meet this challenge with unyielding resolve

By Jack Meredith | Fri 12th December 2025 - 1:55 pm

As of writing this, the date is 11/12/2025.

The illegal expansionist Russian invasion of Ukraine has now reached its 11th year, with the firing shot taking place all the way back in 2014, with the unlawful annexation of Crimea and the Donbas Region, followed by several years of empty threats from Russia, whilst occupied Ukrainians suffered under Russian rule. 

Ukraine’s forces, while still strong in spirit, are beginning to be pushed back by invading Russian troops, due to several factors.

North Korean troops have been deployed, in aid of Russia, to assist in the illegal expansionist invasion. The Kremlin has previously brought in Russian mercenaries and Syrian fighters to bulk up its numbers against defending Ukrainian forces, along with troops pulled from Russian-occupied lands, including South Ossetia, Transnistria, and Abkhazia. It is currently recruiting fighters from Iran.

America’s support for Ukraine has recently faltered, with President Trump supporting a peace plan that was all but engineered by the Kremlin, including capping the size of the Ukrainian military and preventing Ukraine from joining NATO, with the recognition of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk by Ukraine as ‘de facto Russian’; following the unveiling of this ‘peace plan’, Ukraine, understandably, rejected it, seeking a new plan that would not involve ceding territory to an invading country.

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Jack Meredith

The cruelty is the point: ruscism and Russia’s war on civilians

By Jack Meredith | Wed 10th December 2025 - 8:55 am

I read a lot of posts and articles from people who try to dissect the reasoning behind Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Some conclude that it is simply a geopolitical squabble between two post-Soviet states. Others suppose that NATO and/or the EU must have “provoked” Russia into invading a completely separate nation that is not formally a member of either international organisation, despite both organisations allowing nations to join or leave as they please; see Brexit for the EU and the most recent threats of US departure from NATO.

However, I propose a much simpler, albeit darker, reason for Russia’s invasion. And that reason is ruscism, a term that encapsulates the ideology of Russian imperialism rooted in a history of expansionism, chauvinism, and a belief in Russian superiority, which fuels aggressive actions like the invasion of Ukraine.

Ruscism, or ‘Russian fascism’, was first identified during the First Chechen War when Dzhokhar Dudayev described it as: ‘a variety of hatred ideology which is based on Great Russian Chauvinism, spiritlessness and immorality.’

That phrase, “extreme cruelty”, comes up a lot whenever Russia is involved. 

In the First Chechen War alone, there was the indiscriminate bombing of Shali, a Chechen town, with the use of cluster bombs focused on targeting markets, gas stations, hospitals, a Muslim cemetery, schools and collective farms. There was also the Samashki Massacre, during which “Zachistka” took place. “Zachistka” is a Russian euphemism for “mopping up” in relation to killing civilians inside occupied enemy territories.

The UNCHR reported that over 100 people, mainly civilians, were murdered by Russian troops in Samashki, noting that soldiers “deliberately and arbitrarily attacked civilians and civilian dwellings”, by way of shooting, using flame throwers and throwing grenades into basements where mostly women, elderly people and children were hiding.

In the Second Chechen War, while both sides committed war crimes, Human Rights Watch noted that the majority of deaths of civilians were caused by Russian forces, ranging from the refusal to create safe evacuation corridors to ignoring the Geneva Convention, to looting from civilians’ homes before murdering said civilians. Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who the Kremlin murdered for shining a light on Russian war crimes in Chechnya, documented in her book “A Dirty War” the atrocities she both came across and was told about by survivors, including finding a school essay by a Chechen child which reads:

I do not know if Putin has a heart. But if he did, he would not have started such a war. Putin thinks human life is worth fifty kopecks. He is deeply mistaken. I’d like Putin to know that we are also human beings.

Fast forward to today, to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. And what do we see? The use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russian army has occurred approximately 465 times. Nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories. More than one million people have been deported from Ukraine to Russia by Russian forces. The UN has reported numerous cases of civilians being “arbitrarily detained and subjected to enforced disappearances“. Amnesty International has stated that Russian troops had “shown a blatant disregard for civilian lives by using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons with wide-area effect in densely-populated areas”. These don’t even begin to cover the scope of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, ranging from mass graves to sexual violence and the forced conscription of Ukrainians in Russian-occupied areas.

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David Chalmers

ALDE Party Congress: Liberal Democrat leadership at the heart of Europe’s liberal family

By David Chalmers | Mon 17th November 2025 - 10:59 am

Three weekends ago, I had the privilege of leading the Liberal Democrat delegation to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Congress in Brussels — one of the most important international gatherings for liberal parties from across Europe. It was the culmination of months of preparation and a clear demonstration that the Liberal Democrats are once again stepping up as leaders within our wider liberal family.

The response to our call for delegates was exceptional. We took 35 members to Brussels — one of our largest, most diverse delegations in recent memory. We were proud to include a wide mix of ages, genders and sexualities, with representation from a range of ethnic backgrounds and lived experiences. Importantly, members with disabilities and those requiring carers were fully supported to participate. Many were first-time delegates.

The feedback was inspiring. Delegates repeatedly described the weekend as energising — one told me it reaffirmed their political home in the Liberal Democrats at a moment when they had been uncertain whether to stay in the party. The improvements we have made over the past three years — pre-Congress webinars, structured support, clear communications and social activities that build team spirit — have turned our delegation into one of the most effective in ALDE.

We should celebrate that success. We are not just showing up — we are shaping the international liberal agenda.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Project 2025 revisited

By Tom Arms | Sat 25th October 2025 - 10:30 am

Remember Project 2025? It was the blueprint for a second Trump Administration written by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and published in April 2023.

When it came out only 4 percent of Americans approved of it. Donald Trump said it was “ridiculous and abysmal” and he added: “I know nothing about Project 2025. It has nothing to do with me and I have no idea who is behind it and attempts to connect me with it are pure disinformation.”

Is that so?

After just over nine months of the second Trump presidency it is worth a review of Project 2025 how much it has it has influenced the administration, if at all.

Let’s start with Trump’s assertion that he had no idea who was behind the 920-page document which is actually entitled “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” The paper was a collegiate effort. Seven of the key writers are now in senior positions in the Trump Administration.

They are: Russel Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget; Peter Navarro, the White House adviser on trade and tariffs; Brendan Carr, head of the Federal Communications Commission; Tim Homan, the border Czar; John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence; Monica Crawley, Assistant Secretary of State; and Michael Anton, Director of Planning at the State Department.

At the centre of Project 2025 is a belief in a strong unitary executive authority. The paper proposes that the president assume that authority by attacking courts and academic institutions; taking control of the military and issuing a slew of Executive Orders that either ignore or override the courts and Congress. Trump has done exactly that.

In his first 100 days, Donald Trump signed 141 Executive Orders. Joe Biden signed 160 in four years and Barack Obama put his name to 277 in eight years. Trump, with the help of Speaker Mike Johnson, has castrated Congress by simply refusing to consult the legislators unless absolutely necessary. Judges who disagree with him are personally attacked as being “on the radical left.”

Project 2025 advocates that the president undermine the independence of selected federal agencies by taking control of them. Top of that list are the Department of Justice and the FBI. Under Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel, he has turned the heart of federal law enforcement into an arm of the White House and is using those agencies to pursue his political opponents such as James Comey, John Bolton, Letitia James and Lisa Cook.

The Heritage Foundation paper called for increased use of fossil fuels and the rolling back of environmental protection regulations. Trump has called for the American oil and gas industry to “drill baby drill.” As for environmental regulations. The Trump-controlled Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formally proposed revoking the 2009 greenhouse gas “endangerment finding” which underpins the climate regular framework under the Clean Air Act.

President Trump has found a soulmate in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Between them, they have enacted Project 2025’s proposal to emasculate federally-financed health services. Five members of the board of the National Institutes of Health have been been fired. Two other senior figures have resigned. RFK has also fired the director of the Centre for Disease Control two deputies and a thousand workers. Others have resigned in protest. Perhaps more importantly, the administration has frozen the NIH budget. In 2024 the budget was $47.4 billion, most of which went on medical research grants.

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Larry Ngan

LGBT rights in Asia and the challenges ahead

By Larry Ngan | Sun 19th October 2025 - 2:30 pm

The defeat of Hong Kong’s 2025 LGBT Bill marked a sobering moment for equality advocates across Asia. The bill would have granted limited rights, such as in medical and funeral matters, to same-sex couples who had already registered their unions overseas. Moreover, it was meant to comply with a 2023 court ruling. City legislators, however, voted it down 14 to 71.

What made sentiments harsher was that the failed bill neither legalised same-sex marriage nor established civil partnerships. Same-sex couples would still have to resort to registering civil partnerships in nearby countries such as Taiwan and Thailand. They would continue to face discrimination in society, especially regarding funeral arrangements and medical treatment. The Guardian even went so far as to criticise the bill for offering only the “bare minimum” of rights to same-sex couples.

Hong Kong society, however, overwhelmingly supports same-sex marriage. According to opinion polls, over 83% of Hong Kong citizens do not oppose same-sex relationships, and more than 60% agree with legalising same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, of the 14 legislators who voted “aye,” most will not stand again, making the chances of passing the bill even slimmer.

Hong Kong’s struggle is not unique in the Asia-Pacific region. Traditional Asian familial values remain the dominant factor, particularly among the older generations.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 19th October 2025 - 8:30 am

As I write this, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, is preparing to sit down in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump.

The Ukrainian leader had high hopes for this meeting. Trump had broadly hinted that he was prepared to give Ukraine Tomahawk missiles. These weapons can be launched from air, land or sea and have a range of 1,500 miles and carry an enormous payload.

That means that Ukraine could launch the missiles from anywhere inside Ukraine or on the Black Sea and easily hit targets in Moscow and beyond. Up to now the West has been reluctant to provide Ukraine with long-range weaponry for fear that it would escalate the conflict. These missiles are a game changer.

Then, while Zelensky, was in mid-flight, Trump and Vladimir Putin had another marathon telephone session—two and a half hours.

Putin held out the golden carrot of “colossal” trade projects for America once the Ukraine War ended and sanctions were lifted.

Nothing tempts Trump more than money. Putin stressed that money came with peace and that he had control over when that peace came—not Zelensky.

So, Trump agreed to hold another meeting Putin; sometime in the next fortnight in Hungary. It is likely, but not certain, that the Tomahawks to Ukraine deal will go on ice or out the window altogether.

In the meantime, Putin is increasing the military pressure on Ukraine. On Thursday night there were dozens of Russian missile attacks and 300 drone attacks on Ukrainian targets. They mainly hit gas and electricity infrastructure as Ukrainians prepare for another hard, cold winter.

These attacks—and a wavering Trump—seem to be Putin’s main cards. The frontline is at stalemate and the Russian economy is struggling from sanctions and Ukrainian attacks on oil depots.

Britain’s collapsed Chinese spy case has brought into focus the structure and nature of Chinese intelligence.

Basically, when we talk about the Chinese intelligence service we are talking about the Ministry of State Security, aka MSS. Although, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is responsible for military intelligence.

The MSS is huge. One unofficial estimate puts the number of employees at 100,000. One former diplomat pointed that is only the ones on the payroll, “the rest of the population are unpaid interns.”

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Humphrey Hawksley

The need for cross-Party policy on China

By Humphrey Hawksley | Sat 18th October 2025 - 2:15 pm

Why is there not yet a cross-party policy toward the way Britain handles China? After all, we have cross-party support on Ukraine and Russia.

Like oil and water, intelligence does not mix well with public debate, and the current spy case would be better handled with less damage behind the scenes by mature politicians.

The Labour government is still finding its feet. The Conservatives snap around like playground bullies.

The Liberal Democrats could take a lead here by making clear that the security of the nation stands way above political scalp hunting and click-bait sound bites for the 24-hour news cycles. …

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Gaza’s Future

By Tom Arms | Sat 18th October 2025 - 8:30 am

Peace in Gaza has hit a snag. Actually it has hit three, but one is bigger than the others.

This is not surprising. No one but a total naiveté could have thought that total peace and harmony would have descended once Donald Trump had spoken.

There are decades of mistrust, hatred, violence and lies to overcome. In fact, more than a century if one goes back to the Balfour Declaration and the Jewish settlements of the 1920s.

But back to the present day when both sides have been accusing the other of bad faith and breaches of the ceasefire/peace agreement. Hamas has accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of continuing to fire on their fighters. They also complain that the promised aid has not arrived. The Israelis are angry that Hamas is slow in returning the bodies of dead hostages.

The IDF admits that since the ceasefire it has shot and killed Hamas fighters. Hamas claims that 24 have died. The Gaza Ministry of Health puts the death toll at four. The number, however, is less important than the fact that Palestinians who should be alive are dead.

Israel says that the Palestinians who died attacked Israeli soldiers and that they reserve the right to defend themselves. They probably did attack. How they attacked we do not know because journalists are now allowed inside Gaza. But we do know that the IDF has a reputation for shooting boys who throw stones. Hamas, however, has a reputation for ruthlessness and an inability to control its fighters.

Hamas’s other complaint is linked to a complaint from Israel—the supply of aid. There are three crossings from Israel into Gaza: Rafah, Erez and Kerem Shalom. All aid must go through these land crossings as Israel maintains a tight naval blockade. Two of the crossings are still closed by Israel. Therefore not enough aid is getting through and the Gazans are continuing to starve to death.

The Israeli government, however, is under pressure from the hostage families to withhold aid until all the bodies of the dead hostages are returned.

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Mo Waqas

When barbarism knocks on your door: why the Taliban must be confronted, not tolerated

By Mo Waqas | Thu 16th October 2025 - 8:55 am

I can’t watch what’s happening on the Pakistan–Afghanistan border without feeling both anger and heartbreak. Anger at the Taliban a barbaric force that has dragged an entire nation back to the Middle Ages and heartbreak for the innocent people who will pay the price of yet another war they didn’t start.

It’s 2025, yet in Afghanistan, women are being treated worse than cattle. The Taliban’s idea of governance is to lock women indoors and call it “virtue.” They’ve banned girls from secondary school and university, stopped women from working, and ordered that no woman can travel without a male guardian. In July this year, dozens of young women were arrested in Kabul for wearing colourful clothes. Their so-called “vice police” humiliate and beat them for what they wear. The United Nations calls this gender apartheid and it’s hard to argue with that.

Nearly eight out of ten young Afghan women are excluded from education, jobs, or training. Hospitals are turning away female patients who come alone. Pregnant women die because they’re not allowed to travel without a man.

And now this tyranny is spilling over into Pakistan. In October 2025, heavy fighting broke out along the frontier in Kurram and Chaman. Pakistan says 23 of its soldiers were killed when Taliban-linked fighters attacked border posts. The Taliban claim they’ve killed 58 Pakistanis in return. Whatever the truth, one thing is certain civilians are dying on both sides.

Markets have shut. Villages are emptying. Families are fleeing through the night. Those who can’t escape huddle in their homes, praying the next shell doesn’t land on them.

But I understand why Pakistan has lost its patience. For years, militants based in Afghanistan particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have terrorised Pakistani towns and cities. I’ll never forget the images from Peshawar in 2014, when 132 schoolchildren were murdered by the TTP. Or the mosque bombing in 2023 that killed 84 police officers during prayer. Just a few months ago, in June 2025, a suicide bomber in Mir Ali killed 16 soldiers and injured dozens more. Pakistan’s critics often forget: this is a country that’s buried tens of thousands of its own citizens because of terrorism.

But I’ll be honest Pakistan helped create this monster too. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, its generals thought they could use the Taliban as “strategic depth” against India. They armed them, trained them, and looked the other way as extremists spread. Western governments, including our own, played along during the Cold War. We all did this. And now, the same monster we fed has turned on its maker.

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Mo Waqas

Remembering my Nana: War, partition, and the case for peace

By Mo Waqas | Sun 7th September 2025 - 10:43 am

Picture of Subidar Major Choudry Sikander KhanMy grandfather my Nana Subidar Major Choudry Sikander Khan, was born in 1925 in a small village called Kotha Gujjaran, in what was then British India. Our family belong to the Gujjar community, a community known for two things: dairy farming and joining the army. For generations, these paths defined who we were: tending buffalo in the fields, or carrying a rifle on the front lines.

My Nana embodied that tradition. He served in the army with courage and discipline, fighting not just in the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, but also in the 1947 conflict that came with Partition, and again in 1971. Before him, his own uncle had worn the uniform of the British Indian Army and fought in the Second World War, in Burma. Ours is a family, like many from Punjab, that has spilt blood in the name of causes decided far from the villages where they were born.

When Partition came in 1947, it tore Punjab in two. It was not just a cartographer’s line it was, as historians have rightly called it, a bloody line. Millions were uprooted. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs neighbours for centuries suddenly found themselves enemies overnight. Entire trains of refugees crossed the new borders, and too often, those trains arrived full of corpses. The soil of Punjab is rich, but it is also heavy with the weight of that blood.

Kashmir too became, and remains, a wound. A valley of beauty turned into a permanent battlefield. My Nana and so many others were sent to defend or reclaim a line on a map. Young men were told to fight and die, while politicians and generals decided their fate in offices hundreds of miles away.

This is the reality of the subcontinent’s wars: they solved nothing. Borders remained disputed. Families remained divided. The scars are still visible three generations later. The only thing these wars achieved was suffering lost fathers, lost sons, widows and orphans, poverty, displacement, and trauma.

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Tanvir Ahmad

Rebuilding Gaza: Britain must lead with action, not just recognition

By Tanvir Ahmad | Wed 30th July 2025 - 12:13 pm

This week, Britain made a historic announcement – Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recognise the State of Palestine by September unless Israel meets strict conditions, including a ceasefire and allowing the UN to resume aid deliveries.

It’s the boldest shift in UK foreign policy for decades. But recognition alone will not clear the rubble, feed starving children, or rebuild lives. That’s why I am calling for the UK to go further – to lead the mission to rebuild Gaza.

Recognition of Palestinian statehood is long overdue. Over 140 countries have already done so. But as the UN warns that “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” and aid convoys are looted amid chaos, recognition without a reconstruction plan risk being symbolic rather than transformational.

Why Gaza must be rebuilt

More than 60,000 Palestinians are dead, entire neighbourhoods are gone. UN experts report that over 1,000 people have been shot searching for food. The UK itself estimates 500 aid trucks a day are needed to reverse famine.

The humanitarian crisis isn’t just an emergency – it’s a moral and legal imperative. Under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations (1907), occupying powers and international actors have a duty to restore civil order and public welfare.

A Marshall Plan for Gaza

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Hannah Bettsworth

ALDE Party Council, Helsinki 2025 – a report

By Hannah Bettsworth | Thu 17th July 2025 - 2:15 pm

Last time I was in Helsinki, it was about 10 years ago when I was a Young Liberal and had been attending the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) congress on the ferry between Helsinki and Stockholm. My memory of it is a bit patchy, admittedly…

A decade later, I was there as a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Council. Nae bad for a quine fae Aberdeen. Which reminds me, I’ve still got to share my memories with LYMEC ahead of their 50th anniversary next year. I’m sure some of you reading this might want to do …

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Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett

On the frontline for freedom – Budapest Pride 2025

By Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett | Mon 30th June 2025 - 7:33 am

Flying out to Budapest on Friday, there was some trepidation about this trip – and my fears were confirmed at the first meeting at the Town Hall on Friday evening. As a political representative, I was given a yellow wristband, given to all VIPs on the basis that, if we were arrested, the yellow band should signify status. I’m not sure if that would have worked, but it was an indication of how worried the organisers were, and put the entire weekend into context.

On the Friday night, we gathered at Budapest Town Hall and listened to the Mayor of Budapest, who had bravely confronted Orban and insisted that the Pride protest would indeed go ahead, and that the law that Orban brought in to ban Prides would be overridden by the Mayor’s prerogative as that had precedence. Other significant mayors from major cities – Athens and Amsterdam – spoke of their hope that the March would be peaceful and safe, and the presence of large parliamentary delegations of MEPs and MPs from many countries would make Orban look bad if anything occurred.

Sadly, there were, to the best of my knowledge no British MPs at all – of any party – and the only two attending in a political capacity were Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor for Housing from the GLA, and myself. I stand corrected if anyone else did attend from a UK political delegation – but perhaps that says a lot about the current crisis we are facing here.

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