Responding to Nigel Farage losing his cool on The Andrew Marr Show this morning, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:
Be it the 2016 or 2019 incarnation of Nigel Farage, he is still shamefully looking to point the finger rather than take responsibility. Just scratch beneath the surface and it is clear he doesn’t have the answers on Brexit, never mind a manifesto.
A vote for Farage, the Tories, UKIP, or Labour at the European elections is just a vote for Brexit and the years of damaging uncertainty that comes with it. If
The first question from the audience in Cambridge was about climate change.
Former Conservative Brexit Minister Suella Braverman hailed her party’s action on this.
I thought when I listened to it that Ed’s reply was going to be interesting.
Well, it was pretty forensic. He highlighted how the Conservatives had undone so much of the good work he had done as Climate Change Secretary and how important it was that we remain at the European table to have global influence.
Change UK MEP backs Lib Dems as ‘strongest Remain party’
Julie Girling, who has served as a South West Member of the European Parliament for the last 10 years, is calling on Remain voters to back the Liberal Democrats in the European elections.
Ms Girling was elected twice to the European Parliament for the Conservatives, before leaving them over Brexit. Ms Girling is widely respected across parties and recently announced that she was not going to be a Change UK candidate for the European Elections.
Julie Girling said:
The Liberal Democrats scored a huge success in last week’s local elections,
Well, this is interesting. Clearly people are seeing that Lib Dems are the biggest and best Remain Party based on our spectacular local elections results where we gained 704 candidates.
European Parliament voting projection, turnout adjusted:
Lib Dem manifesto sets out vision for the UK in the EU
Swinson: We need to give our economy a new purpose
Corbyn has trashed the hopes of Remainers
Lib Dems are strongest Remain voice for Peterborough (covered here)
Lib Dem manifesto sets out vision for the UK in the EU
The Liberal Democrats will today launch their manifesto for the European elections, setting out a vision for the UK inside the EU.
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable, who will be joined by colleagues at the launch in London this evening, said the manifesto is a “blueprint for what the UK …
There had been some speculation in the media that there would be one single Remain candidate in the Peterborough by-election, which will take place on June 6th following the recall of MP Fiona Onasanya.
However, nominations closed today and that didn’t happen. Lib Dem Beki Sellick was duly nominated to fight the by-election for us:
This morning, my family’s postal votes arrived. I’ve had a postal vote ever since I didn’t vote in the 1997 election because I was too busy helping in a target seat. I suspect Mrs Pankhurst would have approved, but I was determined that I would never again fail to have my say.
Never has that vote felt more precious. I want this country to say very clearly on 23 May that we want to stop Brexit, that we want to stay part of the remarkable institution which champions peace, human rights and democracy.
Many other postal votes will have landed on doormats today. So it’s pretty convenient that the Lib Dems kicked off their European campaign with a staggering display of both passion and competence.
Buoyed by strong results in last week’s local council elections, and unencumbered by the nuance of Labour’s position, Cable insisted the Lib Dems were the best-equipped party to challenge the message of Nigel Farage at the poll later this month.
“We are clearly the best organised, we have been leading the People’s Vote argument for three years and we’ve been the pro-Europe party for 50 years. We are credible and people recognise our unwavering clarity and commitment.
“We are taking it very seriously, we have a high-pressure social media campaign where we are doing more than Farage’s people,” he said, adding, “we are out of the traps early, and expect to do well.
And he outlined why we are the best place to deliver the maximum remain vote.
He has faced criticism for failing to make the media impact of his predecessor, or improve the Lib Dems’ poll ratings. But he hailed last week’s strong local election results as evidence that a steady approach of rebuilding the party from the bottom up is finally paying dividends.
“Infrastructure and organisation really does matter,” he said. “The lesson for other parties is you can’t function without that. There is no future sitting in London sending out messages.”
The manifesto launch tonight was brilliant. Four speeches. All passionate and delivered with heart. Sal Brinton talking about how the Lib Dems had stopped the Tories using Brexit legislation to undermine the NHS.
Ed Davey talking about the importance of stopping Brexit so that Britain can be a powerful force in the EU in the fight against climate change. I actually got a bit sad when he was speaking because he did so much to combat climate change in government and then the Conservatives, left to themselves, have unravelled so much of it.
He also spoke about the importance of co-operation across the EU to tackle crime. Why, he said, do Brexiteers like criminals so much.
Jo Swinson gave a totally heartfelt speech about a visit to Bucharest. Her wonderful dad, Peter, was there to help the Romanians prepare for EU membership. She told how he had taken her to the People’s House, an outrageous structure built as a vanity project by Romania’s dictator while so many of his people lived in destitution and absolute poverty. She talked about the role of the EU in bringing peace across Europe, in Northern Ireland, bringing former enemies together.
The EU has been at the forefront of promoting human rights, liberal values and democracy, she said. The EU is the hope that made once warring countries work together and which is the cornerstone of the Good Friday Agreement. In a time of “strong men” leaders, now is not the time to be turning our back on European leaders who share our liberal values.
There are more relaxing ways to spend your 76th birthday. I thought Vince was actually going to cry when the audience sang Happy Birthday to him, but he went on to deliver a fantastic speech highlighting the clear Stop Brexit message that is driving the Lib Dem campaign. He said that nobody, not even the most ardent Brexiteers, were doubting that we would be worse off if we left the EU. The only thing is that these Brexiteers weren’t going to be the people who paid the price. It would be people much poorer and more vulnerable than they were.
The Lib Dems, he said, will be unapologetic about backing the four freedoms. The right we have to work and live across Europe was championed by Mrs Thatcher. The current Conservative Party has moved so far to the right that they are disowning the single market Thatcher created.
He said that while the Lib Dems will campaign to stop Brexit, this election is about returning a group of Liberal politicians from across Europe who will lead the fight against populism.
He highlighted the crucial EU role in making the likes of Google pay their taxes.
We won’t solve the Trump problem, he said, by grovelling to him and throwing him lavish state visits, but by standing up to him as part of the EU.
He set out our unique pitch – as the biggest and best organised of the Remain parties who has been fighting for for EU values for 50 years.
Jo Swinson has always been one to ask awkward questions. In an article in today’s City AM, she describes asking about corporate social responsibility during a seminar when she was a student:
…my classmates looked at me with puzzled expressions, as if I was rather off-topic.
Gone was the 1960s radicalism of the institution, and instead chasing the highest-paying banking internship was very much in vogue. When, after graduating, I chose a job placement with a small start-up company in Yorkshire on a £12,000 salary, the puzzled looks turned into disbelief.
She sets out three big changes to the way business should operate, putting responsibility to people and planet at their heart:
So, let’s start rewarding investors who are in it for the long-run and limit the powers of those who are in it just to make a quick buck. We can increase voting rights the longer an investor remains with a company, and we can taper the rate of tax for every year an investor keeps their share in the business.
Second, let’s put people at the heart of business. Let’s make it crystal clear that directors have fundamental responsibilities to their employees, their consumers, and the communities on which they depend.
Last, and by no means least, let’s get serious about the fact that we are the last generation that can stop irreversible harm to our planet. Any business that thinks it is immune to the threats we are facing is utterly deluded and is risking its own survival
Given that this column has been somewhat erratic of late, there was a danger that you might have thought, “Ah, Mark’s forgotten to do this again.”. But I haven’t. I understand that the Press Team have been pretty busy today, but that hasn’t manifested itself in a press release.
However, we do have one story that might be of interest to you given what’s coming up…
The ALDE Party has rather subverted the contest to be the President of the European Commission, the so-called Spitzenkandidate process, by announcing a team of prominent European liberals, rather than just one person, to lead the …
Rise in school exclusions is the symptom of broken schools system
Responding to today’s publication of Edward Timpson’s report into school exclusions, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:
Exclusion, whether temporary or permanent, should always be a last resort. And it should never be done under the radar.
But this report does nothing to address the reasons why headteachers consider excluding the pupils they find difficult. Off-rolling pupils is not the cause of our problems. It’s the symptom. The result of the perverse incentive to secure a better Ofsted grade or climb up the league tables.
At 23:59 tonight, it will be too late to register for the European elections.
So if you know anyone who isn’t registered, you might like to direct them here. And if they are an EU citizen, they will have to fill in this form and deliver it personally to their local electoral registration office by close of business today.
This is such a crucial election and the future of our country depends on it. It is our chance to send a message to the Government that this deeply flawed Brexit process must be stopped.
Coming to a Lib Dem risograph near you very soon, I would imagine.
Seriously, Labour’s shadow international trade minister told Tory James Cleverly ON LIVE TV that “We are in there trying to bail you guys out” on Brexit.
.@BarryGardiner admission on BBC1 that @UKLabour are trying to bail the Tories out to deliver Brexit will go down like a lead balloon with Labour voters… looks like we are seeing that tonight #LocalElections2019
You could not make it up. No wonder reports from the talks earlier this week made them sound like a love in. And here is the moment where he actually says it:
The counting in the Northern Ireland local elections was finally concluded late last night. And the good news is that, matching Lib Dem successes in England, the Alliance Party increased their seats by 21, far more than any other party.
Alliance is our sister party in Northern Ireland. There is a small Lib Dem branch there as well, but they didn’t put up any candidates, and Lib Dem members are allowed to have dual membership.
Councillors are elected through Single Transferable Vote every four years, and there are five major parties, plus a handful of smaller ones. As a result no council has a party with an overall majority.
Alliance increased its share of seats on the following councils:
Welcome to the 1300 people who have joined the Liberal Democrats in the last day or so since our local election gains surpassed all our expectations.
It’s actually been really heartwarming to wake up every morning for the last few weeks and see a whole rush of “I just joined the Lib Dems” posts on Twitter.
Every so often I roll out this post, which is basically a rehash of an article that I first wrote in May 2015 when many joined the party in the wake of the General Election result. I thought it might be useful to tell you a little bit about how our party works and give you a bit of an idea of the opportunities open to you. If you are not yet a member, if you like what you read, sign up here.
What do we believe?
Before we get into the nitty gritty of organisation, the best statement of who we are and what we’re about can be found in the Preamble to our Constitution which underlines how we believe in freedom, opportunity, diversity, decentralisation and internationalism. Here’s a snippet:
The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.
We look forward to a world in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace and in which their different cultures will be able to develop freely. We believe that each generation is responsible for the fate of our planet and, by safeguarding the balance of nature and the environment, for the long term continuity of life in all its forms. Upholding these values of individual and social justice, we reject allprejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality.
We have a fierce respect for individuality, with no expectation that fellow Liberal Democrats will agree with us on every issue. We expect our views to be challenged and feel free to challenge others without rancour. We can have a robust debate and head to the pub afterwards, the very best of friends.
Obviously, our priority at the moment is to stop Brexit, but there is so much more to us than that. That bit about no-one being enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity shapes everything that we do.
The elves at LDV have been busy digging into the results to bring you a full list of all the Councils in England where Lib Dems made gains. Please let us know if they have made any errors.
So here they are. We have highlighted the ones where we are now in control.
Arun (where we are the largest party under NOC)
Barnsley
Basingstoke & Deane
Bassetlaw
Bath & North East Somerset
Bedford (where we are the largest party under NOC, and we retained the elected Mayor)
It’s 40 years today since Margaret Thatcher walked into Downing Street as Prime Minister.
There was an 11 year old girl in Inverness who was really excited by this – especially by the notion that a woman could become Prime Minister was a very powerful one.
Ten years ago, for the 30th anniversary, I wrote this post describing my shame. I suppose, in my defence, I have spent most of my time since fighting the forces of small state, selfish conservatism.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but thirty years ago tonight, I, a fairly innocent 11 year old, went to bed and prayed for Mrs Thatcher to win the 1979 election.
I really didn’t understand much about politics then – the geekery and obsession didn’t take hold until about a year and a half later, when I had had enough time to rue my earlier enthusiasm. I did know that I wasn’t keen on Labour – there seemed to be nothing but strikes, and my dad hadn’t had a properly stable job for a good couple of years. My parents and Grandma were all enthusiastic Tories and it seemed that life would get better with a new Government.
I quite liked the Liberal Party. The MP for Inverness, Russell Johnston, seemed to me to be a good man and the fact that a primary school child like me knew who he was was quite positive. He was also in favour of home rule for Scotland, which I always thought was a good thing. However, my staunch Catholic grandfather had told me time and time again, from the moment David Steel became Liberal leader, that he didn’t want babies to be born, so he had the same appeal for me as the Daleks. I literally would watch him on tv from behind a cushion. When I grew up and understood the issues involved, he became a lot less scary, but I actually thought he would pass a law forbidding people to have babies. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but in my defence, I had heard that in China you were only allowed to have one child, and I was only 11.
There are two elements of the BBC’s coverage of the local elections that are simply ridiculous and need to be complained about.
The first is their oft expressed line that the message the voters were giving to the Conservative and Labour parties is that they wanted them to get on with Brexit.
So that would be why they voted in huge numbers for the party whose aim is to stop Brexit, then, is it?
The Liberal Democrats gained over 700 seats, a spectacular feat by any standards. We put in our best ever performance in terms of seat gain in a local election. The message is clear – a significant proportion of the electorate want this Brexit nonsense to be stopped.
There was a moment that I feared that we would end up gaining 666 councillors.
It happened.
Briefly.
But it quickly passed.
And the final total topped 700.
The Tories briefed the papers last weekend that they could lose 1000 seats. This, we all thought, was expectation management. We thought that our own 500 gains briefing to the press was about as good as it could get. And we were wildly pessimistic in the end.
I was thrilled to see my old mate and former Chesterfield Lib Dem MP Paul Holmes re-elected to the Council. And regular Lib Dem Voice contributor Ed Fordham elected as Councillor for Brockwell along with two ward colleagues.
Moor ward in that town has a history of close elections. I remember missing out on winning a seat from Labour in a by-election there in about 1994 by 17ish votes.
Look at how close we were to 9 gains there:
It’s a long time since we had a night like this.
But let’s just enjoy it as a stage on the journey. It’s not the end in itself. We need all Remainers to swing behind us on May 23rd to send a very clear message that Brexit can and must be stopped.
Here are the final May 2nd council election results, now that all the results are in.
The Lib Dems are UP by a stonking 703 (net) seats, with 688 holds, 683 gains and 7 losses. We’ve gained control of 11 councils. We have become the largest party in a “no overall control” situation in 5 further councils.
Huge changes at Mole Valley Council as Lib Dem’s win 9 seats and control of the council. I’m back in – now in Beare Green. An unexpected but enjoyable win against a strong incumbent. pic.twitter.com/xWnmt3R7qb
The news has just come in that the Liberal Democrats have won control of Mole Valley District Council. We gained 8 seats, while the Tories lost 9. There was one gain for an Independent.
So, the status is currently:
With 162 out of 248 councils declared:
The BBC say we are on 19% of the national vote with the Tories and Labour tied on 28%.
Coming to a Lib Dem risograph near you very soon, I would imagine.
Seriously, Labour’s shadow international trade minister told Tory James Cleverly ON LIVE TV that “We are in there trying to bail you guys out” on Brexit.
.@BarryGardiner admission on BBC1 that @UKLabour are trying to bail the Tories out to deliver Brexit will go down like a lead balloon with Labour voters… looks like we are seeing that tonight #LocalElections2019
You could not make it up. No wonder reports from the talks earlier this week made them sound like a love in. And here is the moment where he actually says it:
**6:33 summary: The Lib Dems have gained control of eight councils (two from NOC) and held two. We’ve won 177 extra council seats – making a total of 384 including seats held. The Tories have lost 11 councils and 254 seats. Labour have lost 2 councils and 45 seats. We’ve gained control of:
FROM THE TORIES:
CHELMSFORD
SOMERSET WEST AND TAUNTON
HINCKLEY AND BOSWORTH
BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET
COTSWOLD
WINCHESTER
FROM NOC:
NORTH NORFOLK
NORTH DEVON
We’ve also held South Lakeland and Eastleigh.
Layla Moran has summarised this as “the best @LibDems local election results since 2003 – right in the aftermath of the Iraq war”. Ed Davey has described this news as “the best results in a generation”.**
7:07 ++The Lib Dems have won control of the Vale of the White Horse district council from the Tories after winning 20 out of 38 seats with several results still to come.
6:53 The Guardian Live results tracker has us on 259 gained seats and 253 held. They have the Tories with 377 lost seats and Labour with 63 lost seats.
6:44 The Press Association report:
The Conservatives have failed to take control of Torbay, after winning 15 seats of the 35 declared with just one result to come.
6:42: Our Bath and North East Somerset victory includes a win in ward where Jacob Rees-Mogg lives! Here’s a great quote from defeated former Conservative council leader Tim Warren, who lost to Lib Dem David Wood:
The guy who took my seat did a great campaign and when you are running a council you have to work full-time, and I didn’t have the time to match him.
Well done everyone for all your hard work! It’s great to see some really good news this morning. Look at this snapshot!:
Vince Cable is meant to be standing down as Lib Dem leader after these elections. At this rate, they'll be carrying him shoulder high out of party HQ. pic.twitter.com/2wdj7vXouO
As this post goes live, indefatigable Liberal Democrats the length of England will have been up for hours delivering last minute leaflets in the local elections.
They have a tough day of more leafletting and knocking up (which is nowhere near as exciting as it sounds) ahead of them.
One of the best smells in the world is the breakfast roll cooking when you come in from your good morning leaflets.
But after that, there’s still a good 12 hours of work left.
And usually after the local elections, you can put your feet up for a week or so. Well, that didn’t happen in 2017 because some woman had a rush of blood to the head on a walking holiday in Wales and called a general election. It’s not going to happen now either because of the impending European elections.
The polling day operation is a crucial part of the campaign. Voters in local elections aren’t always inclined to go to the polls – the turnout is usually pretty small compared to a general election. Getting more of ours out than the opposition gets of theirs is crucial.
However tired you may feel, hold on to the idea of how brilliant it will feel if we win these elections. It will give us huge momentum going in to the Euros.
Keep going up until 10pm tonight. I’ll be on the phones for candidates across the country this evening.
Special good luck to our regular contributor Ed Fordham who is seeking elected office for himself for a change in the Brockwell ward in Chesterfield, to the North Devon team led by our Kirsten Johnson, to April Preston in Manchester Withington and Tom Gordon in Wakefield’s Knottingley and Ferrybridge ward.
April has the support of Jo Swinson in this video recorded a couple of months ago.
Following the sacking of Gavin Williamson as Defence Secretary over the Huawei leak, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable has called for a thorough criminal investigation into breaches of the Official Secrets Act. He said:
Four Seasons collapse shows social care crisis unfolding on Tory’s watch
Gosport investigation vital to ensure justice is done – Lamb
Free sanitary products to be available in Welsh colleges
Lib Dems: A vote for Labour is a vote for Brexit
Four Seasons collapse shows social care crisis unfolding on Tory’s watch
Responding to the news that one of Britain’s largest care home groups, Four Seasons Health Care, is on the brink of administration, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Judith Jolly said:
For the many thousands of residents and staff at the Four Seasons Health Care, the news that the group is set to go into administration
At this exact moment 20 years ago, the third of three nail bombs in two weeks exploded in London. The Admiral Duncan was deliberately targeted in a homophobic hate crime. Three people lost their lives and many more were injured. The attack followed on from two others, in Brixton and Brick Lane, which targeted black and Bangladeshi people.
The racist, homophobic murderer was arrested shortly after and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment.
Liberal Democrat London Mayoral Candidate Siobhan Benita summed up her feelings in this tweet:
Today, 20 years on, we remember everyone killed or injured in the horrific London nail bombings.The senseless attacks were driven by racism and homophobia. We must all stand united against such hatred where it sadly remains evident today. #AdmiralDuncanhttps://t.co/Xqe36CKpRl
Mick Taylor We did have a democratic system for the House of Lords and Charles Kennedy made one round of Lords appointment based on it. Then, disgracefully, the party execu...
Jason Connor That's because the party isn't speaking to the country and by and large the media isn't listening. One policy you haven't mentioned is Burnham plans to raise th...
Jana “ Democratise Lib Dem Lords appointments”
A brilliant idea. I hope you suggestion leads to a constitutional amendment for next Party conference....
Peter Martin The Labour Party has, at least for many years, been full of those who decline to call themselves Socialist but will, just about, accept they are Social Democra...
John Kelly Let’s hope the Palestinian elections scheduled for later this year do go ahead - they are indeed long overdue. The last attempt to hold elections was frustra...
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Burnham starts with the low-hanging fruit
Mick Taylor 
Jason Connor 
Jana 
Peter Martin 
John Kelly 