Category Archives: News

27 January 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 27th January 2020 - 7:05 am

New visa is nothing more than a Tory gimmick

Responding to the Government’s announcement of a “Global Talent” visa to attract top scientists, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

This announcement is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Boris Johnson is showing that he fundamentally doesn’t understand what makes our science sector so successful. Changing the name of a visa and removing a cap that’s never been hit is not a serious plan.

Science relies on thousands of researchers, and this announcement does nothing for the vast majority of them. If the Government is serious about championing UK science, it must

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24-26 January 2020 – the (long) weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 26th January 2020 - 10:00 pm

Liberal Democrats welcome Citizens’ Assembly
Liberal Democrats: Sadiq Khan’s mass surveillance roll-out unacceptable
Ministers must explain soaring cost of HS2 to Parliament
Government must review assisted dying laws

Liberal Democrats welcome Citizens’ Assembly

Ahead of the first meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly on climate change, set up by House of Commons Select Committees last year, Liberal Democrat Climate Action Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:

The climate crisis is doing irreversible damage to our planet. The UK must cut its emissions to net-zero, be it by improving how we heat our homes or cutting emissions from flying.

This Citizens’ Assembly could help the government take the difficult decisions

…

Tagged assisted dying, christine jardine, citizens assembly, climate change, HS2, london, mass surveillance, munira wilson, siobhan benita and wera hobhouse | 3 Comments

23 January 2020 – the day’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 26th January 2020 - 8:55 pm

Time to catch up with the press releases…

Tories’ headline-grabbing gestures on knife crime have clearly failed
Welsh Lib Dems – NHS Wales waiting times unacceptable

Tories’ headline-grabbing gestures on knife crime have clearly failed

Responding to the new official crime statistics, released today, which show knife crime continuing to rise to a new record high, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

These statistics are heart-breaking. Far too many young people are having their lives destroyed by knives and gangs. We urgently need to break the grip of this epidemic of serious violence.

The Conservatives’ approach has clearly failed. Their huge

…

Tagged christine jardine, jane dodds, knife crime, nhs waiting times and Wales | Leave a comment

Siobhan Benita slams London Mayor’s mass surveillance roll-out as a real risk to civil liberties

By News Meerkat | Sun 26th January 2020 - 1:00 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Responding to the Metropolitan Police’s announcement on Thursday that it will begin to use automated facial recognition surveillance operationally, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London Siobhan Benita said:

It is unacceptable for a new form of mass surveillance like this to be rolled out onto London’s streets without proper consultation, regulation or oversight.

Facial recognition technology is hopelessly inaccurate. It is biased against women and ethnic minorities. The evidence that it will make us safer is patchy at best, but there is a real risk that it will erode civil liberties and increase distrust and discrimination.

To make London safer we must restore effective community policing, starting with the re-opening of local police stations, which the current Mayor has shut down.

Liberal Democrats do not want London to become a city where innocent people feel as though their every movement is being watched. The fact that Sadiq Khan has given the go-ahead for this undermines his recent claim to share our liberal values.

If Londoners want a liberal mayor with a positive vision for a safer, greener, kinder capital, their best option is me.

Tagged cctv, facial recognition cameras, london, metropolitan police, sadiq khan and siobhan benita | 12 Comments

Dr Phillip Lee selected as Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Wokingham

By Paul Walter | Fri 24th January 2020 - 3:00 pm

Embed from Getty ImagesWokingham Today reports:

DR PHILLIP LEE is to carry on his connections to Wokingham after being appointed by the local Liberal Democrats to be its parliamentary spokesperson for the year ahead.

Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged phillip lee | 24 Comments

Full results from last night’s by-elections

By Paul Walter | Fri 24th January 2020 - 11:30 am

There were four seats up for grabs in Brent, two of them in one ward – Barnhill.

Well done to all our candidates, Anton Georgiou, Jyotshna Patel, Michael Brooke and Larry Ngan and their teams who worked so hard in the run-up to yesterday.

Here are the results from the Brent Council website:

6 Comments

Safe spaces in which to comment

By Mary Reid | Thu 23rd January 2020 - 7:15 pm

Embed from Getty Images

My fellow editor, Paul Walter, has been doing some extensive work to regulate the trolls who sometimes emerge on Lib Dem Voice.

As he reminded us last week, we ask commenters to stick to just one name. You can use a pseudonym (that’s because some readers are politically restricted) but you should be consistent. We do ask for a valid email address. Recently Paul has identified a couple of individuals who each use multiple names and they have been put on permanent moderation.

We also ask you to avoid personal attacks – by all means disagree with whatever is expressed in a post or comment, but don’t make unpleasant accusations about the person who made them.

If your comment is put into moderation don’t take it personally. It will probably be because you used one of our trigger words, which in some contexts could be offensive. We editors are all volunteers with other commitments beyond Lib Dem Voice, so sometimes it takes a while before one of us is able to check through the comments sitting in the Pending file and release those that are fine.

All this is to ensure that the space below the line is safe for anyone who wishes to comment.

But whilst we have been reasonably successful in keeping the discussions civilized, we are still not attracting enough women to contribute or comment. Yesterday we published five posts – all written by men – which produced 63 comments. Not a single one of those comments was written by a woman.

31 Comments

22 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 22nd January 2020 - 11:00 pm

Lib Dems launch national lobbying campaign urging Tory MPs to back WAB amendments
Govt must strip South Western Railway of their franchise

Lib Dems launch national lobbying campaign urging Tory MPs to back WAB amendments

The Liberal Democrats have launched a national lobbying campaign urging Conservative MP’s to “restore public faith in politics” and back amendments in the House of Commons to protect the rights of EU citizens and child refugees in the UK.

The campaign was launched after Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords handed Boris Johnson his first parliamentary defeat since the election by passing three amendments to the …

Tagged child refugees, christine jardine, eu citizens, munira wilson and rail franchises | 1 Comment

21 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 21st January 2020 - 11:15 pm

Tories’ new counter-terror plans undermine civil liberties
Welsh Lib Dems: Every child has a right to RSE
Govt must invest to demonstrate it values teachers
Welsh Lib Dems: UK Government must rethink Withdrawal Bill
Lib Dem peers win vote to protect child refugees

Tories’ new counter-terror plans undermine civil liberties

Responding to the Government’s announcement of new counter-terror legislation, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

If you could stop terrorism by passing illiberal new laws, the Conservatives would have ended it ages ago.

It’s less than a year since the Conservatives passed their last piece of unnecessary, reactionary legislation in the name of combatting

…

Tagged child refugees, christine jardine, counter terrorism measures, eu withdrawal bill, jane dodds, kirsty williams, layla moran, relationships and sex education, sally hamwee, teacher pay, Wales and welsh senedd | Leave a comment

20 January 2020 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 21st January 2020 - 10:18 pm

Apologies for the delay, press release fans! Unfortunately, the Parish Council I chair ran late, so I wasn’t able to get these up last night…

Young people deserve a clear, unambiguous commitment to Erasmus
Ministers must explain to Parliament why HS2 costs have soared
Lib Dems urge Govt to extend provision of free period products
PM must put child refugees above politics
Lib Dem peers defeat Govt on vote to protect EU citizens’ rights
PM negotiating deadline with EU woefully unrealistic
Lib Dems inflict another defeat on Govt’s Brexit Bill

Young people deserve a clear, unambiguous commitment to Erasmus

Responding to reports the Government is extending an exchange scheme …

Tagged alan beith, Alistair Carmichael, child refugees, christine jardine, dick newby, ed davey, erasmus, eu citizens, eu negotiations, HS2, jonny oates, layla moran, legal precedent, munira wilson and period poverty | Leave a comment

Lib Dem peers inflict defeats on government’s Brexit bill

By Paul Walter | Mon 20th January 2020 - 11:13 pm

The Guardian reports:

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has received a setback in the Lords after three amendments to the bill were passed.

In the government’s first parliamentary defeat since the general election, peers voted for EU citizens to have the right to be given official documentation if they lawfully reside in the UK after Brexit.

They backed a cross-party amendment to the withdrawal agreement bill allowing for physical proof of status.

Tagged eu withdrawal bill and house of lords | 10 Comments

20 January 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 20th January 2020 - 11:31 am

Draconian changes to immigration rules are utterly unworkable

Responding to reports the Conservative Government could remove a temporary extension of the current immigration rules until 2023 and impose new restrictions on low-skilled migrants moving to the UK after Brexit, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

Decisions like this make it loud and clear that this Conservative Government has no intention off ending the hostile environment. It’s a national embarrassment.

For business and our economy, such draconian changes to immigration rules is utterly unworkable. To think the Home Office could implement the changes in the time given is a joke.

The Liberal Democrats

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Tagged christine jardine and immigration policy | 3 Comments

18-19 January 2020 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 19th January 2020 - 9:32 pm

Lib Dems launch campaign to scrap cash machine fees
Chancellor must take blinkers off and pay attention to industry
Johnson cannot be trusted to fix broken politics

Lib Dems launch campaign to scrap cash machine fees

The Brecon & Radnorshire Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign calling on the UK Government to provide the funding necessary to scrap transaction fees at local cash machines. With the number of bank branches across Powys dwindling, a growing number of residents are forced to reply upon Post Offices and local cash machines to access their money.

Last year Jane Dodds, then MP for Brecon & Radnorshire, led …

Tagged banking standards, brexit, constitutional reform, ed davey, house of lords, james gibson-watt, jane dodds, regulatory alignment, rural economy and wendy chamberlain | 3 Comments

Our President on the timetable for the leadership election

By Web Magpie | Sat 18th January 2020 - 7:01 pm

Our party President and Co-leader, Mark Pack has just commented on the leadership election timetable on his blog:

The Board discussed in some detail different possible options for the timetable, and we carefully considered the pros and cons of, for example, having a leadership election that took place sooner. Considerations such as wanting to get our review of last year’s elections done first and also avoiding distracting key activists from the May elections were weighed against the benefits of having a new leader sooner.

The close of nominations date will also

…

Tagged leadership election 2020 and Mark Pack | Leave a comment

Lib Dems pay tribute to Lord Robert Maclennan

By The Voice | Sat 18th January 2020 - 5:31 pm

The Liberal Democrats have today led tributes following the death of Lord Robert Maclennan.

Lord Robert Maclennan of Rogart, known as Bob Maclennan, was the last leader of the Social Democrat Party before it merged with the Liberal Party. He then became joint interim leader of the new party.

Bob Maclennan was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001. Upon stepping down as MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Bob Maclennan was elevated to the House of Lords.

Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey said:

It

…

Tagged featured and robert maclennan | 9 Comments

+++Timetable to elect new leader set out

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 2:16 pm

The Liberal Democrats have today agreed the timetable to elect the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.

At a meeting today of the party’s Federal Board in London, the party agreed to open nominations for candidates on the 11th of May and close them on the 28th of May.

The ballot will then open on the 18th of June and close on the 15th of July, after which the party will announce the next leader.

In the meantime, Ed Davey MP and Party President Mark Pack will continue as joint acting leaders of the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking after the meeting, Liberal Democrat Party …

14 Comments

Annoyance of LibDem MPs over power of “new sexy people” in 2019 election decisions – Five candidates ready for party leadership contest – Timetable today

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 9:00 am

Ailbhe Rea has written a long article on the Liberal Democrats for the New Statesman.

There are some interesting points about the 2019 election covered, based on reported conversations with our MPs:

Tagged 2019 general election, chuka umunna, Jo Swinson and leadership election 2020 | 40 Comments

17 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 17th January 2020 - 11:52 pm

Lib Dems oppose Johnson’s Parliamentary agenda
Fall in retail sales demands a radical rethink
PM should seek to bring the country together

Lib Dems oppose Johnson’s Parliamentary agenda

The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech for debate on Monday 19 January. The amendment details the key reasons why Liberal Democrat MPs will oppose Boris Johnson’s agenda for government, including:

failure to introduce ambitious plans to tackle the climate emergency;
failure to set out measures to tackle poverty and inequality;
failure to protect human rights or to strengthen the voice of citizens.

The amendment also urges Government to introduce a system of proportional representation. …

Tagged Alistair Carmichael, brexit, business rates, ed davey, high streets, retail sales and sarah olney | 2 Comments

Sir John Curtice on the Lib Dem general election performance

By Web Magpie | Fri 17th January 2020 - 2:06 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Jonathan Fryer has blogged about this week’s presentation at the National Liberal Club by Sir John Curtice entitled: “The 2019 Election: A Tale of Hope and Disappointment”.

Jonathan notes the following points about the drop-off of Lib Dem support during the election campaign itself:

Many commentators at the time also attributed the fall in LibDem support to (1) Jo Swinson’s call to Revoke Article 50, rather than pitching wholeheartedly for a second EU Referendum, and (2) her claim to be a potential PM in waiting, despite the modest number of LibDem MPs (albeit supplemented by both Labour and Conservative defections). However, Professor Curtice said polling, notably from YouGov, did not support that assumption. Instead, he highlighted three conclusions about the election result based on his research:

Tagged john curtice and national liberal club | 23 Comments

Vote share increase for Tara Murray in Bristol

By Paul Walter | Fri 17th January 2020 - 12:36 pm

Well done to Tara Murray and team (above with Ed Davey) for an impressive vote share increase in the Brislington East by-election in Bristol yesterday.

The result was:

16 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 16th January 2020 - 11:15 pm

Lib Dems call on PM to back automatic rights for EU citizens
Lib Dems: Tories have failed on knife crime
Lib Dems demand more action on gambling addiction

Lib Dems call on PM to back automatic rights for EU citizens

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Conservative Government to back legislation to guarantee automatic rights for EU citizens, as new official statistics show the number not granted permanent Settled Status has risen to more than 1 million.

Liberal Democrat peer Jonny Oates this week tabled amendments to the Government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill to automatically guarantee EU citizens’ rights in law.

The latest EU …

Tagged addiction, christine jardine, daisy cooper, eu citizens, gambling, jonny oates and knife crime | Leave a comment

15 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 15th January 2020 - 11:45 pm

Lib Dems question FlyBe bailout
Tory minister wrong to promote flying in the face of climate emergency
Ed Davey calls for better support for bereaved families at PMQs
Government must repeal unlawful Snoopers’ Charter
Lib Dems: Prime Minister must now keep his promise to protect Erasmus
Lib Dems: PM agrees to work with Lib Dems on human rights abuses in Syria

Lib Dems question FlyBe bailout

Responding to news that the Government intends to bail out Flybe, Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson, Munira Wilson MP, said:

Flybe provides a vital service in connecting many regions of the UK which are otherwise hard to travel between, not least

…

Tagged bereavement, christine jardine, ed davey, erasmus, flybe, layla moran, munira wilson, snoopers charter, syria and wera hobhouse | Leave a comment

14 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 14th January 2020 - 11:57 pm

Tories should be cutting emissions, not air passenger duty
Lib Dems call out Johnson duplicity on Iran Nuclear Deal
Home Office cover up slammed by Lib Dems

Tories should be cutting emissions, not air passenger duty

Following the reports that the Conservative government is considering cutting air passenger duty on domestic flights as part of a plan to save regional airline Flybe from collapse, Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson Munira Wilson said:

Flybe looks set to follow Thomas Cook, despite only being “rescued” last year. The way to ensure our businesses stay afloat is to provide certainty, rather than the chaos the Conservatives have presided over

…

Tagged air passenger duty, christine jardine, ed davey, flybe, home office, iran and munira wilson | 4 Comments

14 January 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Tue 14th January 2020 - 7:59 am

Tories failing to keep people safe

Responding to the HM Inspectorate of Probation report, which has found that the National Probation Service (NPS) is hampered by staff shortages, stretched middle managers and poor facilities, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

This Conservative Government is failing in its most important duty: keeping people safe. Staff shortages in the Probation Service mean that high-risk individuals in our communities are not being properly supervised.

This alarming report shows that ending private probation contracts and unifying the system, while clearly necessary, will not be nearly enough to fix the major problems in probation.

Liberal Democrats are calling

…

Tagged daisy cooper and probation service | 2 Comments

13 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th January 2020 - 9:59 pm

Treasury must act on rural ATM charges
UK facing worst slowdown since aftermath of financial crisis

Treasury must act on rural ATM charges

Jane Dodds has joined Kirsty Williams AM and Cllr James Gibson-Watt in calling for the UK Treasury to take action to abolish transaction charges at rural ATMs.

Transactional charges are becoming increasingly common across Wales as more and more banks cut back on support to ATM providers, meaning the running costs are being passed onto the customers. The ATM at Hay Post Office is the most recent local example of this, with customers now being charged 99p per transaction.

Jane Dodds, Leader …

Tagged bank charges, economic growth, ed davey, jane dodds, kirsty williams and rural economy | 7 Comments

13 January 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th January 2020 - 7:31 am

Welsh Lib Dems reducing infant class sizes

The Welsh Liberal Democrats’ Infant Class Sizes Fund has been found to be ‘making a real difference’ a new report published today has shown.

The £36m Infant Class Sizes Fund is a Welsh Lib Dem policy that was implemented as part of the Progressive Agreement between Kirsty Williams and the First Minister. The policy targets schools that would most benefit from smaller classes, such as those with high levels of deprivation.

The report shows that the percentage of all infant classes and learners in classes over 30 has reduced since the introduction of the grant, with …

Tagged class sizes, jane dodds, kirsty williams and Wales | 1 Comment

11-12 January 2020 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 12th January 2020 - 10:00 pm

Govt must back Lib Dem bill for family reunion rights for child refugees
Lib Dems demand statement on arrest of British ambassador to Iran
Lib Dems demand reform to protect High Street retailers

Govt must back Lib Dem bill for family reunion rights for child refugees

Responding to an NGO report calling for child refugees to be given the right to sponsor close family members to join them, the Liberal Democrats have urged the Government to support their bill that would do just that.

Without My Family, a report published today by Amnesty International, the Refugee Council and Save the Children, criticises the …

Tagged child refugees, christine jardine, ed davey, high streets, iran, retailing, sally hamwee and sarah olney | 2 Comments

10 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 10th January 2020 - 11:00 pm

Lib Dems: Fight against upskirting is far from over
Nine prisons overcapacity by more than 50%

Lib Dems: Fight against upskirting is far from over

Responding to data revealing that incidents of upskirting have been reported to the police at a rate of almost one a day since it became a specific sexual offence, Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, who originally proposed the Bill, said:

This horrifying statistic serves to show how necessary a change in the law was. Victims across the UK were failing to get justice and perpetrators of the crime were walking free.

The change to make upskirting a specific sexual offence

…

Tagged daisy cooper, prison overcrowding, upskirting and wera hobhouse | Leave a comment

Rumour: Jo Swinson set to be awarded a peerage

By Paul Walter | Fri 10th January 2020 - 4:55 pm

This fortnight’s edition of Private Eye is proving to be quite a goldmine. I thoroughly recommend buying a copy at your local newsagent or similar outlet.

Tagged featured, honours list, house of lords and Jo Swinson | 48 Comments

“Her disastrous miscalculation” – Sir Nick Harvey’s view on Jo Swinson’s support for December election

By Paul Walter | Fri 10th January 2020 - 9:50 am

Former North Devon MP, Sir Nick Harvey stood down as Liberal Democrat party chief executive shortly before 20th October last year.

In this fortnight’s Private Eye, a letter from Nick is published which severely criticises a decision made by the then party leader, Jo Swinson, soon after he left the role on 28th October.

Tagged 2019 general election, featured, Jo Swinson and sir nick harvey | 99 Comments

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Category Archives: News

27 January 2020 – the overnight press release

24-26 January 2020 – the (long) weekend’s press releases

23 January 2020 – the day’s press releases

Siobhan Benita slams London Mayor’s mass surveillance roll-out as a real risk to civil liberties

Dr Phillip Lee selected as Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Wokingham

Full results from last night’s by-elections

Safe spaces in which to comment

22 January 2020 – today’s press releases

21 January 2020 – today’s press releases

20 January 2020 – yesterday’s press releases

Lib Dem peers inflict defeats on government’s Brexit bill

20 January 2020 – the overnight press release

18-19 January 2020 – the weekend’s press releases

Our President on the timetable for the leadership election

Lib Dems pay tribute to Lord Robert Maclennan

+++Timetable to elect new leader set out

Annoyance of LibDem MPs over power of “new sexy people” in 2019 election decisions – Five candidates ready for party leadership contest – Timetable today

17 January 2020 – today’s press releases

Sir John Curtice on the Lib Dem general election performance

Vote share increase for Tara Murray in Bristol

16 January 2020 – today’s press releases

15 January 2020 – today’s press releases

14 January 2020 – today’s press releases

14 January 2020 – the overnight press release

13 January 2020 – today’s press releases

13 January 2020 – the overnight press release

11-12 January 2020 – the weekend’s press releases

10 January 2020 – today’s press releases

Rumour: Jo Swinson set to be awarded a peerage

“Her disastrous miscalculation” – Sir Nick Harvey’s view on Jo Swinson’s support for December election

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