Category Archives: News

Jane Dodds is the new leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd November 2017 - 7:33 pm

Congratulations to Jane Dodds on her election today as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. She won 53.15 of the vote over Ceredigion’s Liz Evans.

ICYMI – @DoddsJane is the new leader of the @WelshLibDems! Read more here: https://t.co/WrDNvv0WM9 pic.twitter.com/LvFd63SJb2

— RhI Cymru (@rhicymru) November 3, 2017

Jane tweeted:

Honoured to be leader @WelshLibDems – thank you to all especially @liz4ceredigion. Falch i bod arweinydd Dem Rhydd a Diolch.Ymlaen/Onwards

— Jane Dodds (@DoddsJane) November 3, 2017

Jane told the County Times:

It is an honour to have been elected as the next leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats – to focus my energy on bringing like minded people together to rebuild our party and to re-establish the Welsh Liberal Democrats as the radical, progressive force of Welsh politics.

“I’d like to thank Liz Evans for running an excellent campaign and giving members a vital opportunity to discuss our next steps as a party.

I”’d also like to pay tribute to Mark Williams and Kirsty Williams for their unwavering commitment to our party.

“Wales needs the Welsh Liberal Democrats now more than ever.

Wales needs the progressive, pragmatic, and reforming voice of Welsh Liberal Democrats in the Assembly and in Westminster to give us an exit from Brexit, a fresh look on creating more and better paid jobs, protecting our environment, and delivering on Kirsty Williams’ education reforms.

“We have been down, but we aren’t out, and I’m confident of what lies ahead for my party.”

Good wishes have been coming in:

Congratulations @DoddsJane, elected new Leader of the @WelshLibDems pic.twitter.com/j6TMyTQ6wQ

— Vince Cable (@vincecable) November 3, 2017

Congratulations, @DoddsJane & @WelshLibDems! Great news. https://t.co/hyGBrxzScy

— SalBrinton (@SalBrinton) November 3, 2017

Take less from the rich

By Edward Morello | Fri 3rd November 2017 - 4:30 pm

According to The Equality Trust the UK has the 7th most unequal distribution of income amongst OECD countries. Earlier this year The Resolution Foundation estimated that the richest 1% of the UK population owns 14% of the nation’s assets (some £11 trillion worth), while the poorest the 15%, or nearly 7.3 million people, own no assets or are in debt.

Understandably given this massive inequality in the distribution of wealth there are often calls for the rich to be taxed more. After all, clearly they can afford it, right? And yet the richest 1% of taxpayers already generate nearly 30% of all the income tax raised, while only 10% comes from the poorer half of the population. Clearly it is only right that those who have more contribute more, but it is also true that simply pursuing the cause of demanding more from them does less for us as individuals than raising more from the rest of the population by increasing household income.

The problem is the real-term stagnation in household income since the 2007 crash. As Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, observed:

Real income growth has not been as weak in the UK since the middle of the 19th century.” In fact average earnings are not forecast to return to their pre-crisis peak of 2007 until 2022, until then average working households will continue to have less disposable income than they did in before the crash.

Research now suggests Millennials will be the first generation to be poorer than their parents, and homeownership has slumped to 63.5%, it’s lowest since 1987.

Based on the government’s own definition some 13 million people in the UK are living in poverty, at a cost to the public purse (according to The Joseph Rowntree Foundation) of around £78bn a year. To paraphrase one wit – It is very difficult to believe in capitalism if you don’t have any capital, or at the very least believe one day you might.

51 Comments

More women in elected office will help tackle harassment and bad behaviour

By Flo Clucas | Fri 3rd November 2017 - 1:30 pm

Women have faced sexual exploitation and harassment since time immemorial. But today, something different is happening. Sex pests, gropers, untamed rapists, physical and mental abusers are being ‘outed’ and exposed by media outlets as they are named and shamed.

So, Michael Fallon has fallen on his sword. If all of the gossip is to be believed, then more will follow. It brings not only the individual into disrepute, but the system too, that allows those individuals to behave as they do, with impunity.

He says his behaviour of ten years ago is not acceptable today. I have news for him. It wasn’t acceptable then, either.

The abuse of women is a deep seated problem in our politics and our society. It is no wonder that so few women choose to stand for elected office at any level, as a recent report by the Fawcett Society pointed out.

Parliament, the centre of law making designed to protect the innocent, the young, the vulnerable from sexual abuse, has shown itself incapable of protecting those within its own walls. The Westminster Village, where power and access to power seems able to protect perpetrators and where party whips seemingly refuse to take action to curtail inappropriate and sometimes criminal, behaviour, has to change.

Tagged equality, gender balance and harassment | 13 Comments

Scottish Conference to discuss WASPI women, Exit from Brexit, mental health and gender neutral school uniform

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd November 2017 - 8:55 am

Scottish Lib Dem Autumn Conference takes place next Saturday, 11th November, in Dunfermline.

There are keynote speeches from Willie Rennie and Jo Swinson and a dazzling array of debates and policy motions.

The Scottish Young Liberals have provided some excellent motions on getting young people more involved in shaping public services and on civil education. Also, a young member has independently put forward a motion calling for gender neutral school uniform.

Christine Jardine MP and Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP put forward West Edinburgh’s motion to support women affected by changes to the State Pension age.

Housing standards and mental health provision for rural areas will also be debated.

Tagged Scotland and scottish liberal democrats autumn conference. | 1 Comment

Former MP Pugh elected to Council in a night of Lib Dem gains and holds

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd November 2017 - 11:56 pm

Congratulations to Cllr John Pugh. Southport’s former MP who retired from the Commons at the General Election has had a cracker of a win in a by-election for the Dukes Ward of Sefton Council.

Duke's (Sefton) result:

LDEM: 56.0% (+28.4)
CON: 26.3% (-9.4)
LAB: 13.9% (-2.3)
UKIP: 2.3% (-13.5)
GRN: 1.5% (-3.1)

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 2, 2017

That great result was upstaged by a 25% swing from the Tories in Arun.

Brilliant result for Martin Smith in Arun District. 25% swing from Tories. pic.twitter.com/xQuQTExGrf

— ALDC (@ALDC) November 2, 2017

Aldwick West (Arun) result:

LDEM: 52.7% (+34.2)
CON: 35.2% (-16.7)
LAB: 8.2% (+8.2)
GRN: 4.0% (+4.0)

LDem GAIN from Con.

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 2, 2017

Tagged john pugh and local government by-eections | 26 Comments

5p Cup Charge Might Just Happen

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 2nd November 2017 - 12:48 pm

Lib Dems led the way with hugely successful plastic bag charge, leading to a reduction of over 85% in plastic bags, and followed last year with policy to introduce a small charge on disposable coffee cups.

The plans were rejected by government last year, but there appears to have been a U-turn.

Yesterday, Environment Minister Therese Coffey told the environmental audit committee that the government will consider introducing a coffee cup charge to tackle the 2.5 billion disposable cups thrown away each year.

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron commented

It is good to see

…

Tagged environment, plastic bags and recycling | 2 Comments

Both Houses Debate Calais Today

By Helen Byrne | Thu 2nd November 2017 - 8:05 am

Ahead of the today’s debate in the House of Commons on “Calais and unaccompanied child refugees in Europe”, and in the House of Lords on “Government assessment of the condition of refugees and migrants still in Calais and the surrounding area” (led by Lib Dem peer, Lord Roberts of Llandudno) Lord Robert’s parliamentary researcher writes:

As anyone in the vicinity of Parliament Square last Tuesday will likely have gathered, given a well-attended protest in its recognition, October marks a year since the demolition of the Calais ‘jungle.’

Outside Ronnie Scott’s on Friday, where I was singing as part of the Citizens …

Tagged calais, dubs amendment and unaccompanied refugee children | 1 Comment

Benefit Cuts Will Increase Child Poverty

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 2nd November 2017 - 7:34 am

A new report just released by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that benefit cuts will increase child poverty, especially in the North East and in Wales.

Absolute child poverty would increase by 4%, and three-quarters of that would be linked to the freeze to most working-age benefits and limiting of tax credits and universal credits to two children. Using forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, combined with current benefit plans, the study shows child poverty will increase in each English region and nation of the UK.

Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions Spokesman, Stephen Lloyd MP, says

These figures from

…

Tagged benefits, child poverty, IFS and inequality | 11 Comments

Lib Dem Job Watch Special – ALDC seek Fundraisng and Sponsorship Officer

By ALDC | Wed 1st November 2017 - 10:32 am

ALDC are currently hiring for a new Fundraising and Sponsorship Officer, a Full-time role, based in Manchester. SO1-SO2 (£25,951 to £30,153)

This is an exciting opportunity to work with the leading campaigning organisation within the Liberal Democrats.

We are looking for someone who can help us deliver on our ambitious plans to grow our organisation through increasing our income from fundraising, sponsorship, grants and commercial activities. We are looking for someone who has experience of working in these areas who can bring their own ideas to help us grow our income.

A Job Description and a Person Specification are included in the Application Pack.

Vince: CBI survey shows small businesses losing confidence in Government over Brexit

By The Voice | Wed 1st November 2017 - 8:38 am

Optimism amongst small and medium-sized manufacturing firms has fallen for the first time in over a year, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly survey published today.

Vince Cable, unsurprisingly, talked about the need for that exit from brexit referendum.

Small businesses in the manufacturing sector appear to be losing faith in the Government’s ability to negotiate a Brexit deal that serves their interests.

Lacking anything resembling a strategy, the Conservatives’ willingness to entertain the foolishness of no deal is killing business confidence by the day.

The promise that a weaker pound would boost manufacturing exports has largely failed to materialise; the same will almost certainly

…

Tagged brexit and vince cable | 7 Comments

Update on that Australian constitutional crisis sparked by the blog of a former Lib Dem candidate…

By Paul Walter | Tue 31st October 2017 - 10:19 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Further to my blog this morning, many thanks to William Summers, who has got in touch from Melbourne. He’s sent us the link to the original blog post which led to the Australian Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, being ruled as ineligible to hold office, turning the Australian government into a minority one. Here is the link to the post.

As a recap, William Summers was the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Norfolk North West in 2010, and worked for Norman Lamb as an assistant. He now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Tagged australia | 8 Comments

Burns Commission proposes a smaller House of Lords, and how to get there

By Mark Valladares | Tue 31st October 2017 - 4:30 pm

It’s time, once again, for another attempt at House of Lords reform. Late last year, the House debated a motion aiming to reduce the size of the House from its current 800-plus, and the Burns Commission, chaired by Crossbencher Lord Burns, a former mandarin, set to work. So, what are the proposals, and what are the potential issues?

Size

Six hundred peers is the figure that the Commission have alighted on, equivalent to that of the Commons if Boundary Commission proposals are adopted but, in any event, no more than the number in …

Also posted in Parliament | Tagged lords reform | 17 Comments

Cable: Comments from Goldman Sachs boss shows threat of Brexit to our financial sector

By News Meerkat | Tue 31st October 2017 - 11:15 am

Embed from Getty Images

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, is turning out to be a bell-weather of the London banking community regarding Brexit. He doesn’t tweet very often, but when he does, his tweets cause quite a kerfuffle.

Recently he made interesting comments about Frankfurt:

Just left Frankfurt. Great meetings, great weather, really enjoyed it. Good, because I'll be spending a lot more time there. #Brexit

— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) October 19, 2017

Tagged brexit, lloyd blankfein and vince cable | 12 Comments

Australian constitutional crisis triggered by former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate

By Paul Walter | Tue 31st October 2017 - 9:45 am

This is all a bit bizarre.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Barnaby Joyce, together with four senators, has had his election declared null and void by the country’s High Court. There will be a by-election to fill the Deputy PM’s seat, which has been vacated by this ruling. There will also be recounts in the four senate seats.

All this was due to infringements of rules pertaining to dual citizenship. Australia’s constitution bans anyone holding dual citizenship from sitting in parliament. Mr Joyce discovered that he had joint New Zealand citizenship by descent from his father. He has since renounced this status and will fight the forthcoming by-election.

5 Comments

Meanwhile, in liberal Europe… October’s election results…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 30th October 2017 - 2:20 pm

Whilst British politics is dominated by Brexit, elsewhere in Europe, life goes on. And yes, the question of “what Europe?” is playing a key role in the changing scene, but it is not the only issue.

Earlier in the month, the Austrian Parliamentary elections saw the triumph of the shiny new leader of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), Alexander Kurz, aged just thirty-one. Talk of a coalition with the far right Freedom Party (FPÖ), led by Heinz-Christian Strache, was somewhat curtailed when, once all the votes were counted, the Social Democrats (SPÖ) limped into second place by less than 1%. Putting …

Tagged elections and europe | 11 Comments

This week in the Lords (30 October – 2 November) – the preview…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 30th October 2017 - 10:32 am

Welcome, once again, to Liberal Democrat Voice’s preview of the week in Parliament or, to be more precise, the (usually) more dignified end of the Palace of Westminster.

It feels a bit like a phony war at the moment, with the Lords to some extent killing time until the EU Withdrawal Bill finishes its passage through the Commons, but there is still plenty to interest the connoisseur.

Diving straight in, Monday sees the first day of the Committee Stage of the Data Protection Bill. Leading for us will be Tim Clement-Jones, accompanied by Brian …

Also posted in Parliament | Tagged data protection and house of lords | 6 Comments

Cable: PM right to call for reforms to Parliament grievance procedures

By The Voice | Mon 30th October 2017 - 8:15 am

Vince Cable has backed Theresa May’s calls for new grievance procedures in Parliament following allegations of sexual harassment of staff by MPs.

The Prime Minister set out proposed reforms in a letter to Commons Speaker John Bercow, copying in the other party leaders.

Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said:

The Prime Minister is right to be calling for these changes.

Parliament clearly needs improved procedures to respond to allegations of harassment.

The Liberal Democrats have introduced similar changes since a review in 2013, which has proved a positive step.

Tagged mps code of conduct | 4 Comments

ALDC’s by-election report – 26 October 2017

By ALDC | Sat 28th October 2017 - 4:26 pm

This week there were 7 seats up for grabs in 6 seats in England, with a mixed, although largely positive, set of results. Most pleasing is that we’ve continued our trend since the General Election of standing candidates in the vast majority of seats, standing candidates in 3 seats where we didn’t last time, leading to an overall increase of our share of the vote of 5.7% in last night’s seats and 6.0% over all of October.

Derbyshire Dales DC, Ashbourne South – Conservative hold

Con 495

LD Rebecca Goodall 334

Lab 242

Grn 0

Massive thank you to Rebecca Goodall for being the first Lib Dem to stand in this seat since it was created in 2003, and a massive congratulations to everyone in Derbyshire for taking home 31.2% of the vote. Not bad for your first result in a seat!

Tagged aldc and local govennment by-elections | 3 Comments

Lib Dems offer to vote for EU Withdrawal Bill

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 25th October 2017 - 8:55 am

The Government seems to be suffering a bit of a lack of votes for the EU Withdrawal Bill.

With rumours circulating in Whitehall that the Bill has now been pushed beyond the November recess, our Tom Brake has written to David Davis, offering him a wee bit of a helping hand. .

Mr Brake will be willing to work with the Secretary of State to smooth the Bill’s passage through Parliament. However, there are strings attached. He wants Government support for a number of critical Liberal Democrat amendments.

These include:

Maintaining EU citizens’ rights
Ensuring the Good Friday Agreement is not undone
A referendum on the final deal

Tom said:

It is clear the Government no longer have a majority on this Bill. To ease the Government’s pain and to provide some direction to their Marie Celeste of a Bill, I will be willing to work constructively with David Davis to improve the Bill.

This would be in return for the Secretary of State supporting some critical Lib Dem amendments, including providing for a vote on the final deal and enhanced scrutiny of the Bill.

The full text of Tom’s letter to David Davis is:

Dear David

I am writing to you regarding the Amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill which have been tabled by the Liberal Democrats.

As I am sure you are aware, the Liberal Democrats are greatly concerned that the EU Withdrawal Bill in its current form grants ministers control over legislation with little scrutiny and signals an extreme Brexit on the horizon for the UK, bringing with it economic chaos and confusion for businesses, EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU.

The Liberal Democrats however want to hold out an olive branch to the Government and your department and offer to work constructively with you on the Bill to smooth its passage through Parliament.

The Amendments cover a number of the most pressing issues which have arisen as a result of the Government’s policy towards Brexit and this Bill. I have set these issues and the Amendments out below.

Amendment 120 – Referendum on the deal

This Amendment would ensure that the people, not the Government will have the final say on the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU. A referendum on the terms of the deal would give people the opportunity to support the Government’s deal or state that the UK should remain a member of the EU.

Tagged brexit, eu withdrawal bill and tom brake | 4 Comments

Layla to May: Sack “witch-hunt” whip

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 24th October 2017 - 8:02 pm

It’s not surprising that an MP for a university town is horrified at the actions of a Government whip in writing to universities demanding to know who is teaching what about Brexit on their campuses.

It was reported today that Chris Heaton-Harris, a leading eurosceptic MP and a senior government whip, wrote to vice-chancellors at the start of this month asking for the names of any professors involved in teaching on Brexit and the content of their lectures.

Layla who is also Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson said:

This chilling letter could have come straight out of a dystopian novel.

Conservative Brexiteers know

…

Tagged brexit, education, layla moran and universities | 12 Comments

Brake: Labour Brexit Bill intervention “Too little, too late”

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 22nd October 2017 - 2:55 pm

Today’s pronouncements by Keir Starmer that Labour might, if it feels like it, work with Tories to secure some moderate changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill are hardly earth-shattering.

I can’t find the words “single market” anywhere in his red lines. Perhaps the people’s red lines are, like the Glee Club song, slightly pink. I certainly don’t think that Labour should be expecting gratitude any time soon. They are barely managing the minimum you would expect from an opposition.

Lib Dem Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake is similarly unimpressed:

It’s entertaining to see the Labour front bench attempting to have a backbone,

…

Tagged brexit, labour and tom brake | 19 Comments

Julian Huppert won’t stand again in Cambridge

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 22nd October 2017 - 12:55 pm

Sad news for Julian Huppert’s many fans. He announced on Twitter this weekend that he won’t be standing for Parliament again.

It was an honour to represent my home town as MP & to make a positive difference locally & nationally. However, I will not be standing again

— Julian Huppert (@julianhuppert) October 21, 2017

I remain passionate about many issues & will continue to try to make things better, in different ways. We need fairer, more liberal society

— Julian Huppert (@julianhuppert) October 21, 2017

While I understand that he might want his life back after seven years of ceaseless campaigning, I am very sad to see this. Julian was on the same side as me on practically every argument the party has had. It was fantastic to have such a prominent figure in the party campaigning so strongly against replacing Trident.

Julian was such a credible voice on matters of science and technology and riled the less knowledgeable to the extent that they greeted him with derision every time he got up to speak. He played a crucial role in making sure that the party stopped the Tories introducing the Snoopers’ Charter during the coalition years.

Tagged cambridge, civil liberties and julian huppert | 8 Comments

We should be defending the fundamental rights of the people of Catalonia

By Alan Collins Rosell | Sun 22nd October 2017 - 10:55 am

An illegal vote. State police censoring political websites. Paramilitary police using violence against peaceful protesters. Calls from Amnesty International to release imprisoned political campaigners. The right-wing preparing to seize control of a democratically-elected government.

You might think that I’m talking about a backward dictatorship in a far-flung corner of the world. Rather depressingly, I’m not. Instead, these events are happening right now in one of our fellow EU countries.

By now, I’m sure most of you are aware of events in Catalonia. You may not be aware that this is not a sudden constitutional crisis, but the culmination of centuries of repression from Madrid and, more recently, a failure of the right-wing national government to engage in meaningful dialogue with the wealthy north-east region’s autonomous government.

Spain’s transition from the brutal dictatorship of General Franco to democracy has often been admired by foreign observers. 40 years on from the horrors of Franco’s Spain, the country is now regarded as a respected liberal democracy.

Let me be frank and shatter those illusions for you:

There is nothing liberal about national leaders refusing to engage with political problems (instead passing that responsibility to the courts and ensuring that, rather than progress reflecting changes to the political reality, the status quo is maintained at all costs).

There is nothing democratic about sending riot police in to beat peaceful demonstrators and elderly citizens to stop them from exercising the most fundamental democratic right: the right to vote.

Tagged catalonia and spain | 16 Comments

WATCH: Vince Cable talking about the Brexit Bill and how it undermines Parliament

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 21st October 2017 - 8:55 am

Here’s Vince talking on the Daily Politics the other day about Theresa May’s offer to EU nationals, trade and how the EU Withdrawal Bill in its current form undermines democracy.

He emphasised that the British Government is in a very weak negotiating position with the EU.

Tagged daily politics and vince cable | 4 Comments

Cole-Hamilton: Children must have equal protection from assault

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 20th October 2017 - 1:30 pm

Well, this will probably be a controversial one as the issue over whether parents should have the right to hit their children for some peculiar reason always causes a big argument in liberal circles. My own view has always been that there are no circumstances in which it is justifiable to hit a child and that there is always a better way. Having children grow up thinking that it’s fine to hit someone smaller and defenceless to get your own way really isn’t a good look. Some children will grow up emotionally scarred from the experience of what some people …

Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scotland and smacking | 5 Comments

WATCH: Jo Swinson talking about her political comeback

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 20th October 2017 - 11:55 am

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Jo Swinson was on the Daily Politics this week talking about her two years out of politics after her defeat in 2015 and what motivated her to come back. She cited the threat to liberal values posed by Brexit and Trump and the unwelcome prospect of another divisive referendum on Scottish independence as the driving forces which spurred her to contest her seat again.

Watch her discusser own comeback – and whether Nick Clegg could do the same, here:

Tagged Jo Swinson | 3 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Bickering brexiteers and teenage footballers

By NewsHound | Fri 20th October 2017 - 10:25 am

Nick Clegg has been telling the readers of the New Statesman all about his week.

As he attended a reception on mental health at Buckingham Palace, he remembered one of his first appearances as Lib Dem Leader at PMQs:

In the evening, I attended a reception at Buckingham Palace to support people who work in mental health, listening to a good speech by Prince William and a funny and moving one by Stephen Fry. Almost exactly ten years ago I raised mental health at Prime Minister’s Questions when Gordon Brown was at the despatch box as PM, and I was a newly elected Lib Dem leader. At the time, it was considered a “brave” thing to do – party leaders never raised mental health in the Commons. So it’s massive progress that mental health is now talked about openly in parliament, in the media, and even in Buckingham Palace. But the gap between words and deeds is huge. The taboo may have been broken, but the problems of poor mental-health provision still exist.

On a trip to Brussels, he learned something quite alarming about Brexit:

I caught up with some senior European Commission officials in Brussels, some of whom I’ve known for more than 20 years, from the time I worked there. One told me that the most striking moment in the Brexit negotiations so far was when UK officials asked whether the EU could provide Britain with “technical assistance” on how to process and transport nuclear materials, tasks presently overseen by Euratom (the European Atomic Energy Community). “Technical assistance is what the EU provides to some of the poorest countries of the world,” my friend told me. “Now the UK is asking for help like a developing nation. Wow.”

Then he went to see Hillary Clinton at the South Bank Centre and had some observations on defeat:

Tagged new statesman and nick clegg | 38 Comments

Observations of an ex pat: Patriotism vs Nationalism

By Tom Arms | Fri 20th October 2017 - 8:55 am

Patriotism: Good. Nationalism: Bad. At least that is how it reads in my political lexicon.

Patriots love their country. They love the land and the sky, the people, the culture, the history and the values. If necessary, they are prepared to die for their country.

Nationalists feel all the above, but then take it a step too far. Sometimes several steps. And therein lies the problem. Nationalists (in my political lexicon) believe that their country is better than other countries. That it and their fellow citizens are superior to other countries and their citizens.

Sometimes that sense of superiority is applied not to national identities but to race or religion, such as White nationalists, Black nationalists or Islamic nationalists. But whichever vehicle they use, nationalists carry a strong sense of entitlement based on their nationality, colour or beliefs. And, if they are superior to others, than it must follow that whomever the others are, they must be inferior.

That is why nationalism is bad.

European colonialism was bad because it was at least partly based on the belief that Europe was bringing a superior civilisation to a barbarian world. Colonialism was a form of European-wide nationalism. In fact, much of the world that Europe viewed as barbaric had enjoyed the fruits of civilisation centuries before anything approaching civilised structures were even thought of in France, Britain or Spain.

Nazi Germany was the ultimate expression of nationalism. It encompassed race, language and culture, It claimed ultimate superiority for the German state and German race and used that assumed superiority to wage genocide and set out to subjugate the rest of the world.

18 Comments

Vince Cable’s message for Diwali

By The Voice | Thu 19th October 2017 - 9:00 pm

Full text is below:

Tagged diwali and vince cable | Leave a comment

Kent County Council to debate “all options” on the Customs Union today

By Antony Hook | Thu 19th October 2017 - 10:00 am

Kent is known as the Garden of England and the Gateway to Europe.

As a County Councillor, you will rightly expect me to be proud of the place. It’s England largest county authority with 1.82m people. It has a significant economy (GDP about £37 billion in 2015). We have everything from Blue Flag beaches (where you can quite often find a Lib Dem peer swimming…) to UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Our history has been shaped by being only 17 miles by sea from continental Europe. Today it’s just 75 minutes by ferry or …

8 Comments

Op-eds

Mathew on Monday – Andy Burnham must act on Social Care now (Mathew Hulbert)
Welcome to my day: 27 July 2026 – and let the silly season begin… (Mark Valladares)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)
AI at the crossroads: two stories, one warning (Sean Worrell)
Observations of an Expat: The American Vote (Tom Arms)

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Vince Cable writes: The rebirth of council housing

An early win for affordable housing – now let councils build

William Wallace writes: The case for higher taxes

ALDC’s By-Election Report 09.07.26

Category Archives: News

Jane Dodds is the new leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats

Take less from the rich

More women in elected office will help tackle harassment and bad behaviour

Scottish Conference to discuss WASPI women, Exit from Brexit, mental health and gender neutral school uniform

Former MP Pugh elected to Council in a night of Lib Dem gains and holds

5p Cup Charge Might Just Happen

Both Houses Debate Calais Today

Benefit Cuts Will Increase Child Poverty

Lib Dem Job Watch Special – ALDC seek Fundraisng and Sponsorship Officer

Vince: CBI survey shows small businesses losing confidence in Government over Brexit

Update on that Australian constitutional crisis sparked by the blog of a former Lib Dem candidate…

Burns Commission proposes a smaller House of Lords, and how to get there

Cable: Comments from Goldman Sachs boss shows threat of Brexit to our financial sector

Australian constitutional crisis triggered by former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate

Meanwhile, in liberal Europe… October’s election results…

This week in the Lords (30 October – 2 November) – the preview…

Cable: PM right to call for reforms to Parliament grievance procedures

ALDC’s by-election report – 26 October 2017

Lib Dems offer to vote for EU Withdrawal Bill

Layla to May: Sack “witch-hunt” whip

Brake: Labour Brexit Bill intervention “Too little, too late”

Julian Huppert won’t stand again in Cambridge

We should be defending the fundamental rights of the people of Catalonia

WATCH: Vince Cable talking about the Brexit Bill and how it undermines Parliament

Cole-Hamilton: Children must have equal protection from assault

WATCH: Jo Swinson talking about her political comeback

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Bickering brexiteers and teenage footballers

Observations of an ex pat: Patriotism vs Nationalism

Vince Cable’s message for Diwali

Kent County Council to debate “all options” on the Customs Union today

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Vince Cable writes: The rebirth of council housing

An early win for affordable housing – now let councils build

William Wallace writes: The case for higher taxes

ALDC’s By-Election Report 09.07.26

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