Category Archives: News

++May to resign as PM before next phase of Brexit

By Paul Walter | Wed 27th March 2019 - 6:13 pm

Embed from Getty Images
The Guardian reports:

Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister before the next phase of Brexit negotiations in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her withdrawal deal.

The prime minister said she would make way for another Conservative leader, after listening to the demands of MPs for a new leadership team.

Tagged brexit and theresa may | 11 Comments

Press Briefings and Top Lines – 27th March 2019

By Tahir Maher | Wed 27th March 2019 - 5:30 pm

Press Briefing:

Lib Dems: DWP is without a plan

Responding to the National Audit Office report revealing that two years into the strategy, ministers have not yet developed detailed proposals for their goal of getting one million more disabled people into work by 2027, Liberal Democrat DWP Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

“Quite frankly I’m unsurprised by these findings, which simply add to the mounting stack of evidence showing that the DWP is not fit for purpose.

“It’s shameful that the department responsible for monitoring work capability is incapable of producing a plan so they can reach their own targets. They boast about how many disabled people are now in work, but this figure is completely useless if it can’t be matched to a reduction in the number out of work.

“Disabled people deserve more from this shambolic Tory government. Liberal Democrats demand better.”

ENDS

Tagged press briefing and Top Lines | Leave a comment

Jo Swinson MP writes: Another week of Brexit chaos, another week of government ignoring the big issues

By Jo Swinson MP | Wed 27th March 2019 - 4:00 pm

On Monday morning the ONS revealed that 1.5 million workers in England alone could lose their jobs to automation, with young people, women and the low-skilled most at risk. Just as we start yet another week of absolute chaos in Parliament over Brexit, I am seriously concerned that no one in Government is thinking about how technology will shape our society.

As liberals, we instinctively embrace change, and we want to harness technological progress to solve challenges from disease to climate change. However, we must take steps now to ensure that everyone in society benefits from that progress. This is why we have called on companies with more than 250 employees to develop plans to support staff vulnerable to automation, and for Government to grant every adult £9,000 over their lifetime to fund lifelong learning.

Also on Monday morning, I hosted the second meeting of the Lib Dem Tech Commission together with Professor Sue Black. We started with a discussion about what kind of economy we want to build and broadly agreed that as a country we need to be better at encouraging entrepreneurship and at encouraging individuals to make mistakes and learn from failure.

However, to try something and be comfortable with failing is a luxury that only few can afford at the moment. As a society, we need to offer much stronger safety nets to ensure that many others can transform their ideas into successful businesses.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged jobs and technology | 10 Comments

Time to be the Party of Local Government again

By Ed Fordham | Wed 27th March 2019 - 3:00 pm

It’s local election time – indeed for someone, somewhere each April and May it is always a local election year. Of late, over the recent years you could be forgiven for not noticing – we Liberal Democrats have, somehow and for some reason, ceased to be “The Party of Local Government”.

For the first time in nearly a decade I have thrown myself back into the front line of party politics – so irritated am I by the body politic that I have concluded that locally, on my small patch of British, I might be the answer. So I am nominated to be a Liberal Democrat candidate for the Brockwell Ward of Chesterfield Borough Council. If it all goes wrong and I win (joke!) then I will be one of what we hope will be several gains from Labour in Chesterfield.

I am following a good tradition locally – the Ward has been previously held by Nicky Qazi, Roland Beckingham, Ray Russell and more. All giants of localism and liberal democracy in Chesterfield and indeed Derbyshire. Maureen Davenport is our sole remaining councillor in the three-member Ward and is defending her seat – Focus willing, we will re-elect Maureen and make two gains for the Liberal Democrats in this Ward.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged local elections | 14 Comments

I’ve reached 1.4 million people in the last month, and I am quite proud of that

By Stuart Bonar | Wed 27th March 2019 - 12:15 pm

A little over three years ago, just as Cameron named the date for the 2016 Europe referendum, I set up a Facebook page as a place to … well, I wasn’t sure, to be honest … however, I knew I wanted to campaign online as well as face-to-face.

I threw myself into that referendum campaign. I did plenty of street campaigning right across the South West, speaking with voters in places like Truro, St Austell, Liskeard and Plymouth as well as Taunton, Stroud, Bristol and Bournemouth.

Also when I wasn’t shuttling between high streets wearing the uniform of the time – an “I’m IN” T-shirt is worn tightly and awkwardly over all one’s other clothes – I was populating that Facebook page with news, links that helped willing volunteers to find local campaign opportunities, and a whole host of other things.

Moreover, that has never stopped. Now, three years later, the Campaign to Remain – keep Britain in Europe Facebook page is a community of over 55,000 people. In the last four weeks alone the page’s posts have reached 1.4 million people and generated 1.3 million engagements – that’s likes, comments, clicks on links, etc. The top post alone has been seen by 135,300 people and generated 49,900 engagements.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged facebook | 3 Comments

Indicative Votes – An alternative to the Meaningful Vote, Three

By Tahir Maher | Wed 27th March 2019 - 7:25 am

There is an old saying that goes “You couldn’t make it up” the drama of the last few weeks in parliament where Theresa May has been trying to get her deal passed has, in my opinion, been scandalous. May in her first attempt suffered the largest defeat in parliamentary history, followed by a second attempt when she faced the fourth largest defeat in history. Theresa May has not changed any of her red lines and then went on national television to blame MPs (how to win friends and influence people, Theresa May style). The only reason some of the MPs …

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged alternative vote and brexit | 45 Comments

23-24 March 2019 – the weekend’s press releases

By The Voice | Mon 25th March 2019 - 7:15 am

Cable: We are now a Remain country

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable today kicked off the ‘Put It To The People’ march by declaring to supporters that the UK is a “Remain country”.

The Liberal Democrat leader joined hundreds of thousands of supporters, including Liberal Democrat campaigners, MPs and Peers, who descended on London from as far as Redruth in Cornwall to Wick in Scotland.

Speaking at the march, Vince Cable said:

We are now a Remain country. 60% now want to Remain and reform from within. Nearly 90% of young voters who weren’t allowed to vote in 2016 would

…

Tagged brexit, business confidence, financial services, theresa may, tom brake and vince cable | 3 Comments

Eradicating race inequality

By Isabelle Parasram | Sun 24th March 2019 - 9:45 am

At Conference last weekend, my maiden speech as Vice President was in support of a Motion on a race equality policy paper: Eradicating Race Inequality produced by Merlene Emerson, Baroness Hussein-Ece and the Race Equality – Policy Working Group.

I talked about my experience, as a young barrister, of seeking to comfort a Caribbean grandma who couldn’t bear to watch her young, black grandson being sentenced for possession of a knife.

A knife he’d felt forced to carry to protect himself from gangs.

I assured her then that her grandson would be treated fairly, but had no idea that my words were as hollow then as they would be if I said them now, some twenty years later.

The statistics are shocking:

BaME people are the most likely in our society to become a victim of crime or to fear becoming a victim* (leading to disproportionate numbers of BaME people feeling forced to carry a knife for protection)
rates of prosecution and sentencing for black people are three times higher than for white people **

It is clear that our criminal justice system, like politics, is broken.

I am glad that the Motion was passed and that there was such overwhelming support for it. It provides an excellent blueprint for our policy work in this area going forward.

Registered supporters’ scheme

I later had the chance to speak in support of a registered supporters’ scheme.

I acknowledge that there were many aspects of the Motion that were controversial and I will leave it to those better qualified to address those particular points.

My viewpoint was in relation to attracting more BaME voters, members and candidates to our Party.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged airport security, diversity, isabelle parasram, knife crime, race inequality, supporters scheme and vice president bame. | 5 Comments

Layla responds to rumours about 2013 incident

By The Voice | Sun 24th March 2019 - 7:26 am

In a tweet last night, Layla Moran set out what happened at the 2013 Autumn conference. There had been rumours and speculation about it for some time.

Hi everyone. I have a story I want to share…. pic.twitter.com/iy9uKOCKau

— Layla Moran 🔶🕊️ (@LaylaMoran) March 23, 2019

Tagged layla moran | Comments Off

Excitement builds ahead of pro EU march

By The Voice | Sat 23rd March 2019 - 9:55 am

They’re coming from all over the country to London to make their voices heard. Have an amazing day, everyone!

One coach left Inverness a couple of hours ago and another 3 are leaving Edinburgh in the next half hour. @richardpbacon #PVRoadTrip https://t.co/CTlOjETiGV

— Scotland for a People's Vote (@Scotland4pv) March 22, 2019

En route to London for the #PeoplesVoteMarch On the #peoplesvoteexpress 💜🇪🇺🙌 #StopBrexit #RevokeArticle50 bring it on! pic.twitter.com/7yNBKp4L2Z

— Kate Paisey 🇪🇺🕷🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💙🪩 (@KatePaisey) March 23, 2019

https://twitter.com/cliff_944/status/1109333018441932801

Welcome to the party, Clifford.

Tagged peoples vote march 23 march | 3 Comments

Great hold in Durham with increased vote share

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 21st March 2019 - 11:31 pm

I’m on by-election duty for ALDC tonight. And the first result of the night’s six by-elections was a cracker.

Great result from Durham’s Esh and Witten Gilbert ward. Bev Coult holds seat for @libdems with 62% of the vote, up 9.5%

Lib Dem Bev Coult: 1115
Lab: 366
Indi: 155
Con: 128

— ALDC (@ALDC) March 21, 2019

Nicely done, Bev. Congratulations to you and your team.

And in Southend on Sea, there was an advance of nearly 10% for Carol White:

Strong result in the Milton ward in Southend on Sea for Carol White – up nearly 10%.

LAB: 49.9% (+4.7)
CON: 31.6% (+5.3)
LDEM: 13.1% (+9.7)
FBM: 5.3% (+5.3)

— ALDC (@ALDC) March 21, 2019

And great to be standing a candidate in Thurroci:

Tagged local government by-elections | 8 Comments

Supporters Pack now available

By The Voice | Thu 21st March 2019 - 12:30 pm

Voice received the following from HQ:

On Saturday at our conference, members voted to create an registered supporter’s scheme for the Liberal Democrats.

In the first 24 hours after we launched the scheme, more than 2,000 people joined in almost every single Westminster constituency in Britain.

More supporters are joining every hour.

To help you make the most of these new supporters, the Membership team at HQ have produced some resources for you – which you can access here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/supporters-local-party-guide

The launch pack covers everything you’ll need – from an explanation of what supporters are to template emails and social media graphics to help recruit even more supporters.

It also includes how to find the people that have become registered supporters in your area.

Tagged liberal democrat membership and supporters scheme | 3 Comments

May statement open thread.

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th March 2019 - 8:31 pm

Well, the crest is still on the lectern. So no General Election then.

But…

Unless she whips off the crest partway through, Bucks-Fizz-style…

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) March 20, 2019

In the Land Of Make Believe 🎶

— Bill Alexander (@BillAlexander4) March 20, 2019

And she said absolutely nothing new. Blaming anyone but herself for the mess.

Basically, no say for the people, no participation in the European elections. She wants to be out by June 30th.

She says that MPs haven’t said what they want. Not sure how much clearer our lot could have been – People’s vote…That at least is achievable, even if the Labour unicorns are not.

145 Comments

Vince tells Sky that Corbyn walked out of meeting with PM because TIG were there

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th March 2019 - 7:42 pm

Vince Cable has just been on Sky News to say that the opposition leaders’ meeting with Theresa May was courteous but just went round in circles.

She was not willing to move at all.

So far so unsurprising.

But what was incredible was his revelation that Jeremy Corbyn was going to meet her with them. But as soon as he saw Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry there, he legged it.

So the country is in crisis and he is not prepared to behave like a grown up. I remember this sort of game playing in student politics days but not when the country is about to crash and burn.

It’s unbelievable.

I can’t actually believe the horrors that we have as PM and Leader of the Opposition.

I could not believe it when Theresa May said at Prime Minister’s Questions today that the Commons should stop indulging itself on Europe. Without a trace of irony.

It’s almost as if she had forgotten that we are in this mess purely because of the self indulgence of her party on Europe. David Cameron called the referendum to face own the right of his party and now we are all paying the price.

Tagged brexit and vince cable | 14 Comments

Vince and other (non Labour) opposition leaders play hardball with May

By The Voice | Wed 20th March 2019 - 7:18 pm

Vince Cable, Liz Saville-Roberts, Ian Blackford and Caroline Lucas have been meeting the Prime Minister this evening. And they went in with intent to argue with her pretty robustly.

They basically said that Parliament should sit in continuous session until they can sort this out. MPs would not be bullied into making a choice between a disaster and a catastrophe.

And they added that they would bring forward a vote to revoke Article 50 “as a last resort”.

They issued a joint statement before going in to No 10.

The Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Green Party have been working together and meeting regularly for the past two years since the EU referendum.

“We agree that the House of Commons must formulate a plan that will give the EU Council the confidence to agree a longer extension beyond 30th June, so that by the end of next week legislation can be in place to prevent a No Deal exit.

“Parliament should now sit in continuous session until it can reach a decision and set out a clear plan.

“We will be pushing for the House of Commons to support a referendum on remaining in the EU, others will put forward their own positions. If the Commons cannot agree, as a last resort we would be prepared to take steps to secure a parliamentary vote on the revocation of Article 50.

Tagged brexit, caroline lucas, ian blackford, liz saville-roberts and vince cable | 4 Comments

A fairer share for all – ending poverty in the UK. Part Three

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Wed 20th March 2019 - 4:00 pm

On Friday afternoon at our Federal conference, there was a consultation session on A Fairer Share for All – consultation paper. The consultation period continues until Sunday 31st March. I think members should email their comments rather than answer the questions the working group asks as I don’t think the questions cover all the areas that need commenting on.

The consultation paper doesn’t talk about levels of benefits (which I have done mainly in a-fairer-share-for-all-ending-poverty-in-the-UK-part-two-60199. The working group asks about reforming or scrapping Universal Credit. I think Universal Credit should be scrapped and replaced with a Working Credit for people of working age in work and all the old benefits kept. This new benefit should keep the 63% taper of Universal Credit but apply it to the new rates of benefit I set out in part two, where for every pound of net income a person loses 63 pence in benefit. However, the “work allowances” should be replaced with disregards and they should be the same for people no matter if they are receiving housing benefit. Instead of restoring the three ‘higher work allowance’ rates of £734, £536 and £647 a month I would replace both the higher and lower rates with £140 a week for claimants with children and those receiving Employment and Support Allowance.

Moreover, instead of the £110 a month for those without children, I would set it at £50 a week for each adult who is in work (therefore if both parents were in work they would have a weekly disregard of £190 a week. I wonder if the taper on housing benefit which would be the last element to be reduced should be higher. A very complicated system would be to apply to say a 70% taper to the first £70 of housing benefit a week, 80% of the next £70 and 90% of the rest (over £140 a week). The new Working Credit could be calculated every two weeks or every month as chosen by the claimant.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged Ending Poverty | 4 Comments

This weekend’s march is about so much more than a vote on the Brexit deal

By Charlie Murphy | Wed 20th March 2019 - 2:30 pm

Brexit March

In Parliament, MPs have been debating on (and rejecting) this botched Tory deal. Beyond Parliament, young people have been watching on in horror and disbelief. As a wealthy Brexit elite, red in the face, tell themselves to hold their nerve, it’s clear that they’ve got no regard for our future.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn? They just aren’t listening – they are completely detached from reality. They’re causing embarrassment on an international scale, the world over the country we love is a laughing stock. It’s shameful, and history will look harshly on the perpetrators of this chaotic mess.

I’m 20 years old, less than a month off of voting on the 23rd of June 2016. There are almost 2 million like me who can now vote. The fact is that the UK does not want Brexit anymore, and young people just like me deserve a say on our future. The British people deserve the right to a final say now we’ve got a deal on the table, and not some fanciful, wildly unrealistic ideal.

Before our very eyes, my generation is seeing jobs and investment sapped out of the UK. We’re seeing our futures – lives that should be spent with the right to live, love and work freely across 28 nations, the largest free trade area in human history – all being snatched away from us. It would be dystopian if the last three years hadn’t numbed us all to this warped reality.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged London Brexit March and young liberals | 17 Comments

Isabelle Parasram elected as Lib Dems’ first Vice President BAME

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th March 2019 - 1:58 pm

Barrister Isabelle Parasram has been elected by the Federal Board as the party’s first Vice President BAME.

I was delighted by this result because I voted for her and encouraged others to do so as I had been really impressed by her clear vision for the role. She talked a lot of sense about how to change the party’s culture. I’ve seen that her previous work, the report into dealing with complaints of sexual impropriety, has been thorough, clear and fair.

In an email to members, Miranda Roberts, Chair of the Federal People Development Committee, welcomed Isabelle’s appointment.

At our Spring Conference over the weekend, Party President Sal Brinton announced that Isabelle Parasram has been elected as our new Vice President BaME.

This position has been created to encourage more BaME representation and participation across the party.

I am delighted that Isabelle is taking on this new role. Her election is an exciting and important step towards building a more inclusive and diverse party.

Tagged isabelle parasram and vice president bame. | Leave a comment

ALDC advice: filling in and submitting nomination forms

By ALDC | Wed 20th March 2019 - 10:30 am

We advise that you fill in your nomination forms at the earliest opportunity possible. You’re able to submit them from March 27 onwards and the deadline for returning them is 4pm on Wednesday 3 April.

The following paperwork needs to be completed correctly and submitted on time:

Nomination papers
Candidate’s consent to nomination
Candidates address form
Deposit (not for locals)
Form for the appointment of the agent
Delegated Nominating Officer (DNO) paperwork (for use of the party name and logo on the ballot paper)

Most Returning Officers will supply forms, but some may expect you to supply your own from the Electoral Commission’s website. You should always use the Party’s own DNO paperwork – download it.

Find more information on filling in your forms correctly.

Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged aldc and Nomination forms | 1 Comment

We must make sure they weren’t just empty words

By Jon Hubbard | Wed 20th March 2019 - 7:30 am

On Sunday I was delighted that Conference overwhelmingly passed the emergency motion on knife crime and youth work that I was so pleased to propose.

The excellent motion, drafted by our lead member on the LGA Children’s Board, Cllr Lucy Nethsinga, made clear the clear link between the dramatic cut in youth services across the country and the subsequent increase in knife crime.

In passing the motion, Conference reaffirmed the Party’s commitment to invest in both universal and targeted youth work. However, we need this affirmation to lead to more than just empty words, words that sound good in the conference hall but never appear in the manifesto.

Also posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged youth | 3 Comments

19 March 2019 – yesterday’s press releases

By The Voice | Wed 20th March 2019 - 6:45 am

‘Govt treating EU citizens appallingly’ with Settled Status call charges

Responding to reports that thousands of EU citizens are being forced to pay for calls to the Home Office’s Settlement Resolution Centre for help with their Settled Status applications, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:

EU citizens in the UK are our neighbours and our colleagues, our families and our friends. But ever since the Brexit referendum, they have been treated appallingly by this Conservative Government.

Making them pay up to 40p per minute to get help navigating the complex Home Office system for applying for Settled Status is just

…

Tagged brexit, cross party co-operation, ed davey, modern slavery, settled status and vince cable | 2 Comments

By Friday, we should be talking about revoking Article 50

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 19th March 2019 - 11:10 am

Dangerous moments are like buses. You have decades free of them and then loads come along all at once. And every day our country’s future is in the hands of a gruesome coalition of extreme right and left – the ERG, DUP and the Corbynistas – it gets more and more dangerous as Brexit day just a week on Friday looms.

We’ve kind of running out of road as far as Brexit is concerned. As things currently stand, we crash out without a deal in 10 days’ time.

That’s right. The biggest economic catastrophe ever will be underway next week unless someone does something.

We have constantly been demanding a People’s Vote pretty much since the referendum.

Theresa May has made it clear that isn’t happening.

Our policy passed in York last Saturday was clear:

Conference calls for the Government to revoke the Article 50 notification if the House of Commons has not passed a resolution approving (relating to) the negotiated withdrawal agreement one week ahead of the date on which the UK is due to leave the EU.

So, this Friday, we have to start talking about revocation, assuming nothing else changes.

And we have to be quite loud about it. It is a nuclear option, but we’re in the most dangerous moment for our country in 80 years.

Tagged brexit | 68 Comments

London Region recruiting a Development officer to boost local campaigns

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 19th March 2019 - 9:55 am

Looking back to last May, there was much to celebrate in London’s election results. Winning back control of Kingston and Richmond was very welcome , as was retaining our control of Sutton. And then there were excellent results in Haringey – our group grew from 9 to 15 – and Merton leapt up from just a single Lib Dem councillor to 6!

Looking closely at the areas that make such great progress, we can see how beneficial it is to have full time staff – and volunteers – working on our campaigns over a long period. Their hard work and skills correlates with good results.

The other side of this particular coin is in 22 out of London’s 32 boroughs we don’t currently have any Lib Dem councillors, alongside 4 boroughs with less than a handful. In many boroughs we have keen and enthusiastic campaigners, but many people have full time jobs, family responsibilities and maybe long commutes. There may be little time in the evening to prepare for a weekend activity although actually quite amazing stuff does get done! But It’s clear that it’s very difficult to compete when our opponents have more in the way of resources than we do. We feel that if we make things a bit easier we can help those keen campaigners achieve more.

Tagged london liberal democrats | Leave a comment

18 March 2019 – yesterday’s press releases

By The Voice | Tue 19th March 2019 - 7:15 am

Swinson: Tories posturing over UK aid is shameless

Following the Taxpayers’ Alliance launch of their report attacking elements of UK aid, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Jo Swinson MP said:

The UK should be incredibly proud of what our aid budget has achieved across the world. Between April 2015 and March 2018 alone, UK aid provided humanitarian assistance to a staggering 26.8 million people, including at least 8.2 million women and girls.

Through the Department for International Development and its work with multilateral organisations, UK aid not only changes lives but does so in a transparent and effective way: DFID is

…

Tagged Jo Swinson, katy gordon, overseas aid and unpaid internships | Leave a comment

UPDATED: Bercow rules out a third attempt by Theresa May to get her Brexit deal passed – how should the Liberal Democrats respond?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 18th March 2019 - 4:32 pm

In dramatic scenes in the House of Commons, The Speaker, John Bercow, has ruled that Theresa May can’t hold a third vote on her Brexit deal without major changes to it. This appears to leave only five options;

No deal;
No Brexit;
Seek a long extension to allow time to negotiate a new deal;
Prorogue Parliament to allow a new session in which the deal can be brought back, and;
A General Election

Here’s some early reaction from the Party…

Speaker rules that a third meaningful vote must be different to first two. He is clearly as bored with Theresa May's deal as we all are and knows it will never get through Parliament!

— Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) March 18, 2019

May now officially can't keep coming back with the same deal. Her deal is dead, and unless she finds significant changes, her deal has no path through Parliament. How do we solve this crisis? We need to put the deal to the people, with the option to remain. #PeoplesVote

— Wera Hobhouse MP 🔶 🇺🇦 (@Wera_Hobhouse) March 18, 2019

UPDATE – we’ve now received the official press comment…

Responding to the decision by Commons Speaker John Bercow to rule out the Conservative Government holding another vote on …

Tagged brexit, parliamentary procedure, the speaker and tom brake | 73 Comments

16-17 March 2019 – the weekend’s press releases (part 2)

By The Voice | Mon 18th March 2019 - 3:34 pm

Lib Dems: Revoke Article 50 if a deal isn’t agreed

The Liberal Democrats have today called for the Government to revoke Article 50 if no Brexit deal can be agreed a week before departure date.

The proposal, debated and passed by delegates at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in York today, comes after a week of key Brexit votes in the House of Commons in which MPs again rejected Theresa May’s deal, ruled out no-deal and voted to extend Article 50.

Speaking after the debate, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake MP said:

It is absolutely clear that Brexit will hit

…

Tagged article 50 revocation, brexit, justice, legal aid, tom brake and wera hobhouse | Leave a comment

Vince Cable’s Leader address to Lib Dem Spring Conference

By The Voice | Mon 18th March 2019 - 1:30 pm

It is a sobering thought that just under 2,000 years ago there were people gathered on this spot no doubt complaining about a treaty from Rome.

…with tiresome regulations about daily baths and straight roads; muttering under their breath that these legionnaires should go back to Gaul or Carthage.

And you would have heard lots of people saying Interum sumo inferium. For those amongst you who don’t converse in classical languages, that means: take back control!

It then took them over 300 years to get their ’Rexit, when the Romans went home.

That’s the kind of timescale Theresa May seems to …

Tagged 2019 spring conference, leader's speech and vince cable | 7 Comments

16-17 March 2019 – the weekend’s press releases (part 1)

By The Voice | Mon 18th March 2019 - 8:44 am

Liberal Democrats demand a Clean Air Act

The Liberal Democrats have today demanded the Conservative Government bring forward a Clean Air Act enshrining the legal right to unpolluted air.

The proposals, set out at the Liberal Democrat conference in York, are based on World Health Organisation guidelines and would be enforced by a new Air Quality Agency.

If successful, the Clean Air Act would also demand air pollution testing took place more widely and frequently, with warning signs displayed in pollution hotspots and sensitive areas, such as near schools.

Speaking after the debate, Liberal Democrat Climate Change Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:

The

…

Tagged air pollution, meral ece, party policy, race equality, tim farron, town centres and wera hobhouse | Leave a comment

What’s on at Spring Conference today?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 17th March 2019 - 6:55 am

Today is going to be quite sad because it will be Vince’s last speech to Conference as Leader. He’s been the grown-up of British politics and he’s served us well these past two years. He deserves to be cheered to the rafters for stepping up as he did in 2017.

The Federal Board report at 9:45 is likely to prove controversial. There are some very awkward questions in part thanks to Gareth Epps not being politically restricted any more. He’s making up for lost time.

09.00-09.45 F12 Policy motion: Access to Justice for All

09.45-10.00 F13 Report: Federal Board

10.00-10.45 F14 Emergency motion or topical issue

10.45-11.30 F15 Policy motion: Town Centres for the Future

Tagged spring conference 2019 | 2 Comments

In full: Christine Jardine’s keynote speech

By The Voice | Sat 16th March 2019 - 12:22 pm

The first keynote speech of Comference came from Christine Jardine.

She covered the pink tax, called for an end to the benefits freeze and condemned the government for marginalised asylum seekers and not letting them work.

Here is her speech in full.

Its fantastic to be back here in York. And a bit eerie for me.

You see making a speech on this stage to all of you was the very last thing I did before my selection process in Edinburgh West.

A lot of things have changed since then… and there is a lot more we want to change.

Some of them are about the party. Some are about the country.

And then there’s Brexit. But lets not bring the mood down.

Certainly that is one of the things we are working to change.

But on a personal level I’ve been focussing on three things.

Asylum seekers. DWP. And the thing I’ve had most fun with:

The Pink Tax.

Taking multi-national corporations to task for thinking its ok to charge women and girls more for everything from deodorant and disposable razors to clothes and services.

Over the next few weeks Ill be lining up meetings with some of the big manufacturers and retailers to persuade them that they really

Want to act now. Fix the Pink Tax themselves.

They’ve seen what we did to the Gender Pay Gap and well if they don’t fic the Pink Tax.

Ill set Jo Swinson on them.

That’ll teach them.

I didn’t think Id be fighting the big corporations the last time I was in York.

So it’s all very different from the last time I was in York.

But it is wonderful to be back here in York.

I was going to make a joke about Vikings. Or maybe Rowntree’s Fruit pastilles. I do love them

But isn’t it strange for us

Liberal Democrats.

To be holding our conference so close to Theresa May’s spiritual home and the area from which her Government must be drawing its guiding principles.

The Shambles…

Well actually I’m being too kind to them.

Tagged spring conference 2019 | 31 Comments

Op-eds

A Proposed Alternative to Coalition: The Reserved Time Confidence Agreement (Owen Driscoll)
ALDC by-election report – 5 November (Charles Quinn)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)
Observations of an Expat: Post Election Worries (Tom Arms)
How Liberal Democrats can ride Britain’s youth wave on the pro-EU shift (Rupinder Singh)

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Chris Coghlan: put children with complex needs at centre of SEND reforms

SNP Govt defeated on Lib Dem motion

Vince Cable writes: A budget of small things

Chadwick launches leadership bid

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