Category Archives: News

Mark Valladares

30 October 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 30th October 2023 - 10:35 pm
  • HSBC profits: Govt cut taxes for big banks over protecting people’s mortgages
  • Reynolds: Number 10 Culture of Chaos laid bare

HSBC profits: Govt cut taxes for big banks over protecting people’s mortgages

Responding to HSBC announcing it made quarterly profits of £6.35 billion, boosted by higher interest rates, and more than double what they were through the same period last year, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

It was the Conservative party’s economic vandalism that crashed the economy and now the big banks are raking in massive profits off the back of working people’s spiralling mortgage payments.

To add insult to injury, this

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The Voice

Over 3 in 4 car theft and burglaries go unsolved in “crime catastrophe”

By The Voice | Mon 30th October 2023 - 10:07 am
  • New analysis reveals 76% of burglaries and 77% of car thefts went unsolved in the year to June 2023
  • 5,916 crimes are going unsolved every day, up 10% compared to last year
  • Lib Dems accuse Home Secretary of being “asleep at the wheel” as thousands of criminals are let off the hook

New analysis from the Liberal Democrats of Home Office statistics has shown the shocking extent of rising burglaries, car thefts and other crimes going unsolved under this Conservative government.

A staggering 214,076 burglaries went unsolved across England and Wales in the year ending June 2023 – up 6% compared to the previous …

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Charles Quinn

ALDC by-election report, 26th October

By Charles Quinn | Fri 27th October 2023 - 7:44 pm

There were 5 principal council by-elections this week. There were some great performances from Lib Dem candidates to enjoy.

First of all though we would like to celebrate a fantastic gain on Oswestry Town Council as newly elected Lib Dem Councillor James Owen gained Cambrian ward from the Green Party. This was an excellent result on so many levels. Having not stood in the ward previously our win was achieved with over 55% of the vote (and a 43.8% swing from the Green Party!).

James becomes our first councillor on Oswestry TC. A council that is in the constituency of recently elected North Shropshire Lib Dem MP Helen Morgan, and this amazing result follows our gain from the Conservatives last week on Shropshire Council!

Congratulations to James and the team in Shropshire. This result shows we can take on the Green Party and beat them – resoundingly!

Oswestry TC, Cambrian ward
Liberal Democrats (James Owen): 233 (55.2%, new)
Conservative: 98 (23.3%, -24.3%)
Green Party: 85 (20.1%, -32.4%)

Beginning our round up of principal elections in London on Waltham Forest LBC where Highams Hill was being contested by Lib Dem candidate Alex Lewis. Labour held the ward but Alex and the local Lib Dems almost doubled our vote share, adding 7% to the Lib Dem vote and jumping ahead of the Green Party into second place.

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The Voice

Ed Davey: An update on our response to the Israel-Gaza Conflict

By The Voice | Thu 26th October 2023 - 9:40 pm

Ed Davey has sent out an email, which we reproduce here in case you haven’t seen it.

I was horrified to wake up on 7th October to the awful terrorist attacks in Israel, which we have condemned unequivocally. I have been heartbroken and dismayed to see the scenes of violence in Israel and Palestine over the past two and a half weeks.

It is hard to watch the news right now. We continue to hear reports of the brutal terrorism of Hamas, which still holds more than 200 Israelis hostage in Gaza. And now we have a situation in Gaza which is

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Lord William Wallace

Don’t call it proportional representation

By Lord William Wallace | Wed 25th October 2023 - 2:02 pm

Most Liberal Democrats care passionately about electoral reform.  Most voters don’t begin to understand what it’s all about.  So how do we catch their attention, let alone their support?

Let me make some suggestions about how to gain public attention.  First, don’t talk about ‘proportional representation’ or ‘electoral reform’.  Say ‘fair votes’, and ‘a more democratic system’.  If we mention the choice between STV (the Single Transferable Vote) and the Additional Member System (AMS) eyes will glaze over.  Tell them that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic use more democratic systems.  The choice for fairer voting lies between the Irish and the Scottish systems; both are already in use and easy to understand.  Putting it this way makes it harder for Conservatives to argue, as ministers did when removing the Supplementary Vote system for electing mayors in the Elections Act in 2022 that even that half-baked form of the Alternative Vote (proportional when there is only one person to be elected) was ’too complicated for voters to understand’.  If Scots, Irish and Welsh voters can manage this, it’s absurd to argue that English voters can’t.

Second, link it to the broader issues of Westminster’s toxic culture and popular disillusion with the style of our national politics.  Both Sunak and Starmer attacked the close world of the UK’s over-centralised Westminster politics in their conference speeches this year – though neither suggested they were going to do anything much to change it. Ask your Tory and Labour counterparts if they are happy about the way Westminster has worked in recent Parliaments (Sunak said it’s been awful for 30 years) and how they propose to improve the way government and Parliament operate.  Changing the way politicians are recruited and elected is central to opening Westminster up.

Third, recognise that changing the way our political leaders are recruited is only a part of the reforms that are needed to open up UK democracy and regain public trust.  Tighter controls on party finance, loosening the government’s control of parliamentary business, reinvigorating local democratic authorities, reconstituting the second chamber, would all contribute to transforming British government and politics for the better.  The strongest case for electoral reform is as part of a broader programme of constitutional reform, not as a project on its own – as it was presented in the Alternative Vote Referendum in 2012.  Not all of those changes can be introduced within a short timescale, of course, nor without carrying a disengaged public with them.  If we want electoral reform to last longer than the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act has done (enacted in 2011, repealed in 2022), we need to build a groundswell of public support.

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The Voice

Jane Dodds criticises lack of flood defences in Welsh village

By The Voice | Wed 25th October 2023 - 11:24 am

It’s awful to see such horrendous damage caused by Storm Babet from north east Scotland to Wales. But it’s particularly frustrating that some of it could have been avoided, as Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds has observed.

Jane has expressed her concerns on the recent flooding in Trevalyn and the apparent misuse of flood defence equipment.

Extreme weather conditions brought on by Storm Babet over the weekend caused the nearby River Alyn to breach its banks, flooding the village located just North of Wrexham.

According to an article from BBC Wales, both Natural Resources Wales and residents stated that available flood defence equipment was, for some reason, not used.

Jane Dodds MS said:

I would like to express my thoughts and well-wishes to those affected by the flooding brought about by Storm Babet, particularly the residents of Trevalyn.
The fact that nearby flooding equipment wasn’t properly utilised is extremely concerning and I urge Natural Resources Wales to take urgent action.

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Caron Lindsay

Wera Hobhouse’s Bill to protect workers from sexual harassment to become law

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 24th October 2023 - 9:30 am

One of the highlights of last week came on Friday when Wera Hobhouse’s Bill to tackle workplace sexual harassment cleared its final legislative process. It will become law when it receives Royal Assent.

From the Lib Dem website:

Harassment in the workplace is a blight on society. It is widespread, it ruins lives and impacts effective working relationships in all walks of life. Not a week goes by without revelations of inappropriate behaviour in an organisation somewhere in the UK.

The Bill makes employers liable to their employees if they have not taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment. Shocking figures from the House of Commons Library have revealed that one in five people have experience sexual harassment in the workplace every year.

The Bill presents an opportunity to shift the culture in our workplaces where harassment is no longer tolerated. It will create a duty on employers to prevent harassment from happening and should bring about a long-term change in attitudes.

Wera said:

I am proud to have worked alongside brilliant organisations such as the Fawcett Society and the wider Alliance for Women, who continue to support this Bill because of the substantial difference it will make to workers’ lives. I am also grateful to the Minister for Women for her support, and to Baroness Burt, who worked tirelessly to steer this Bill through the Lords.

Employees should not have to wait any longer for safe and respectful workplaces. The passage of this Bill will send a clear signal that such behaviour is unacceptable, and that we take the protections of employees seriously.

The Bill isn’t entirely as Wera would have wanted it. The Lords took out key provisions on third party harassment, but she had to accept them to get it on the Statute Book.

You can read last Friday’s debate here. Some of the contributions and attitudes of Tory men show why this measure is needed as effectively as the statistics quoted by its proposer.

Here is Wera’s speech in full with interventions:

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The Voice

Listen: Christine Jardine on Any Questions

By The Voice | Tue 24th October 2023 - 7:41 am

Given that half the panel had been up all night doing by-election media, it was pretty incredible that they were still going strong into the evening to do Any Questions.

At around midnight, Christine Jardine was the first to say publicly that Labour had won Mid Beds even if she did get John Curtice and John Spencer (Leo McGarry from The West Wing) mixed up i her comments.

At 8 pm, she, Tory Minister Andrew Bowie, Dame Jackie Baillie from Labour, Pete Wishart from the SNP and Blair Jenkins, former Chief Executive of Yes Scotland, the campaign for Scottish independence, took audience questions in Glasgow.

Christine was last to answer the question on Israel and Gaza and it can be quite difficult when you are the last of five people, four of whom were saying broadly similar things. She still managed to find something new, if depressing to say.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Threading the diplomatic needle

By Tom Arms | Sat 21st October 2023 - 9:42 am

An American-led offensive is desperately trying to thread a narrow diplomatic needle and prevent the Gaza Crisis from exploding into an uncontrollable wider war.

Joe Biden, Olof Scholz and Rishi Sunak have all been to Israel this week. Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni will soon follow.

Together they are known as “The Quint” and they are all preaching the same message: 1- Support for Israel and its right to defend itself. 2- Total condemnation of Hamas. 3- The need to differentiate between Hamas and Palestinians. 4- The urgent need for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents 5- Prevent the red mist from blinding Israel to the wider consequences of a no-holds barred invasion of Gaza. 6- Deter Iran.

The foundational premise of the diplomatic offensive is that American support for Israel is granite-like. The oppressive security-heavy policies of successive Likud-led governments has chipped away at American backing. But the American-buttressed plinth on which Israel sits is so large that it is unlikely to ever be reduced to rubble.

Alongside Israeli over-reaction is the associated problem of Iran’s reaction to the Gaza crisis. Its foreign minister (Hossein Amir Abdollahian) has threatened to activate the “Axis of Resistance” if Israeli forces move into Gaza. In fact, Tehran may have already done so. On Thursday the American warship USS Carney intercepted Israeli-bound missiles fired by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. US troops in Syria and Iraq have suffered drone attacks and Hezbollah has launched missile attacks from southern Lebanon.

In response to the Iranian threat, the US has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean and 2,000 additional troops into the region. Washington said they are meant as a deterrent.  On the diplomatic front, Washington is relying mainly on Qatar to act as a go-between. The Gulf kingdom has good relations with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as well as playing host to 10,000 American troops. Japan, which has reasonable diplomatic relations with Tehran, has also offered its services.

The immediate focus of the Western countries is humanitarian aid to Gaza. This is a signal to the Arab countries that while condemning Hamas, they do not hold the Palestinians as a whole responsible for their actions. President Biden has pledged $100 million. The EU has trebled its assistance to Gaza to $75 million and the UK has increased its aid to $12.8 million. Canada and Japan have upped their aid to $10 million each and Australia is sending $32.4 million in aid to Gaza

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Charles Quinn

ALDC By-Election Report, 19th October

By Charles Quinn | Fri 20th October 2023 - 5:59 pm

On top of the major parliamentary by-elections this week there have also been some big council by-elections for the Lib Dems.

Results were good overall. We secured some brilliant increases in our vote share and one amazing gain from the Conservatives. The Conservatives lost all four council seats they were defending this week with some drastic falls in their share of vote. A truly disastrous week for them.

We start our round up on Shropshire Council where we took Alveley and Claverley ward from the Conservatives with a stunning 36.2% increase in our share of the vote!

Congratulations to Councillor Colin Taylor and the local Lib Dems in Shropshire on getting almost 60% of the vote. An outstanding performance!

Shropshire Council, Alveley and Claverley
Liberal Democrats (Colin Taylor): 662 (58.7%, +36.2%)
Conservative: 408 (36.3%, -33%)
Labour: 55 (4.9%, new)

Another brilliant increase in our share of vote came in Surrey County Council in Horsleys division. Lib Dem candidate Paul Kennedy increased our vote share by 25%. Sadly we just missed out on the seat by 72 votes. The seat was held by the Residents for Guildford and Villages group but their vote share, along with the Conservatives, tumbled.

Commiserations to Paul and Surrey Lib Dems but well done and thank you for such an amazing performance.

Surrey CC, Horsleys
Residents for Guildford & Villages: 1095 (39.3%, -8.5%)
Liberal Democrats (Paul Kennedy): 1023 (36.7%, +25.1%)
Conservative: 569 (20.4%, -17%)
Labour: 99 (3.5%, +0.3%)

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Mark Valladares

Another disastrous night for the Tories, but Emma comes up short in Mid Bedfordshire

By Mark Valladares | Fri 20th October 2023 - 5:12 am

The results are in and it’s another day not to be the Conservative spokesperson, as Labour have won both of yesterday’s by-elections.

In Mid Bedfordshire, Alistair Strathern will go down in the record books as having overturned a near 25,000 majority:

  • Labour 13,872 (34.1%, +12.4%)
  • Conservatives 12,680 (31.1%, -28.6%)
  • Liberal Democrats 9,420 (23.1%, 10.5%)

It’s the first by-election of this Parliament in which voters had a choice between three alternatives with a credible chance of winning but it appears at first glance that, on the day, wavering voters opted for Labour rather than us as the means to defeat Nadine Dorries’s stand-in.

However, as Daisy Cooper put it:

We nearly doubled our share of the vote which would see the Lib Dems win dozens of seats off the Conservatives in a general election.

The Liberal Democrats played a crucial role in defeating the Conservatives in Mid Bedfordshire, and we can play a crucial role in getting rid of this Conservative government at the next election.

I’m so proud of Emma Holland-Lindsay and her campaign which convinced thousands of lifelong Conservative voters in the villages of Mid Bedfordshire to switch to the Liberal Democrats.

Unlike in North Shropshire, where in a short campaign we were able to “make the weather” and quickly overwhelm the Labour campaign, the long phoney war between the somewhat petulant announcement of Nadine Dorries’s resignation and the actual one meant that Labour had the time to organise a strong campaign. But nonetheless, it’s a good win for Labour, a decent result for us, and an awful one for the Conservatives, albeit they’ll probably expect to win it back in a General Election.

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Mary Reid

It’s a three horse race!

By Mary Reid | Thu 19th October 2023 - 10:04 am

Unfortunately we don’t have a graphic for that!

The contest in Mid Bedfordshire today is, unusually, a fight between three parties – Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems. The other by-election today in Tamworth is a much more straightforward affair, between the Tories and Labour.

Traditionally on polling day we don’t speculate on outcomes (often because we are much too busy!), but in the early hours of tomorrow morning Lib Dem eyes will be turned towards Mid Beds.

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The Voice

Sarah Dyke makes her maiden speech

By The Voice | Wed 18th October 2023 - 10:52 am

Yesterday, our newest MP, Sarah Dyke, made her maiden speech in the House of Commons, on the Levelling Up Bill:

You can watch it here on Parliament TV.

She promised to champion the cider industry, stand up for farmers and she told the stories of some of Somerset’s key women, including her predecessor Mavis Tate who fought for women’s rights in the 30s and 40s. She talked about the importance of real devolution and of making sure that the needs of people living in rural areas were taken into consideration when dealing with the cost of living crisis.

Here is the text in full:

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Caron Lindsay

Layla Moran tells of her extended family’s plight in Gaza

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 17th October 2023 - 9:39 pm

Our Layla Moran, the first British MP of Palestinian descent, has been talking about how members of her extended family in Gaza have had to flee their home and seek refuge in a Church.

She talked about this in the Commons yesterday when she questioned Rishi Sunak:

As you are aware, Mr Speaker, my immediate family are from the west bank, but I have extended family in Gaza city. Their house was bombed by the IDF, so they went to seek sanctuary in a church—we are Christian Palestinians—and I am afraid to say that they are still there, because they are too old to leave. They say to me that they have nowhere to go.

Because of this, not despite it, I attended a vigil in Oxford organised by the Jewish community. Between our communities, we now share profound emotions, loss and grief. When the Prime Minister says never again, I agree with him. Will he give his assurance that it will be never again and that, whenever we get through whatever happens in the next few days, he will keep the promise he made to my great-grandfather that there will be a Palestinian state to call our own at the end of it?

The Prime Minister:

I start by expressing my sympathies to the hon. Lady and her family for what they are going through. I know this will have been an incredibly difficult time for them. I also pay tribute to her, because her presence at the vigil, in spite of everything, will have meant an enormous amount to many people, and the courage she shows in talking about that experience here today is admirable. She looks forward to a more positive future, which is an ambition I share.

This is an unspeakably difficult situation, a tragedy, but we must find a way to move forward to secure a more stable, peaceful settlement for those living in the middle east, because this tragedy has reminded us all of the horrors of war and the horrors of terrorism. We must find a way to bring peace and stability to the region, and that is what I will strive very hard to help bring about.

Today, she was interviewed on Good Morning Britain and spoke in more detail about the lack of food and fuel and her worries of this turning into a humanitarian disaster:

In a display of ignorance not worthy of a respectable interviewer, Richard Madeley had the nerve to ask her whether she or her family had any idea of what Hamas had planned. It was such a disgraceful thing to say, equating a hideous terrorist organisation with ordinary Palestinian people. That one has to be worth a complaint to OfCOM.Madeley has since made one of those non apology apologies, but that is simply not good enough.

Layla spoke later to the BBC

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The Voice

Scottish Lib Dems internal elections underway

By The Voice | Tue 17th October 2023 - 7:00 am

Returning Officer John Lawrie started off the Scottish Lib Dems internal elections yesterday. Nominations are now open for candidates for office bearer positions and the party committees, along with representatives to Federal Party Committees and the Federal Council to serve for the next two years.

It’s a challenging time for the Scottish Party. The people elected at this set of elections will need to progress the 150 Rising project, to almost double our councillors at the next set of council elections in 2027, as well as get us through the General Election and prepare for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026.

Nominations close on 13th November, to give people time to think about standing and to get nominations at and after Autumn Conference on 4th November.

Any member of the Scottish Party can stand and the nominations process is all online, so there is no need to get anyone to sign bits of paper.

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Charles Quinn

ALDC By-Election Report, 12th October

By Charles Quinn | Fri 13th October 2023 - 3:11 pm

It has been a quiet week for principal council by-elections with just two taking place. However there were positive results in both – including a great hold in Suffolk – and we also had a great town council gain too.

We held Woodbridge division on Suffolk County Council – winning over 50% of the vote. Congratulations to Councillor Ruth Leach and Suffolk Lib Dems on holding the seat in a more crowded election than when it was last fought with over half the vote.

Suffolk CC, Woodbridge
Liberal Democrats (Ruth Leach): 990 (51.2%, -12.3%)
Conservative: 642 (33.2%, -3.3%)
Labour: 301 (15.6%, new)

The other principal election this week was in Cheltenham Borough Council in Prestbury ward. Lib Dem candidate Ben Ingram moved the Lib Dem vote share forward by over 5% and jumped from 4th to 3rd place. A really good result. Thanks to Ben for standing. The ward was held by the People Against Bureaucracy Group.

Cheltenham BC, Prestbury
People Against Bureaucracy: 644 (32.7%, -8.5%)
Green Party: 484 (27.9%, +9.7%)
Liberal Democrats (Ben Ingram): 346 (20%, +5.4%)
Conservative: 258 (14.9%, -6.5%)

Finally we had a great gain reported to us on Great Aycliffe Parish Council in Shafto St Mary’s ward. Congratulations to Councillor Ben McAnaney and the team in Great Aycliffe for a great gain from Independent.

Great Aycliffe TC, Shafto St Mary’s
Liberal Democrats (Brian McAnaney): 260 (63.3%)
Independent: 151 (36.7%)

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Mark Valladares

12 October 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 12th October 2023 - 10:30 pm
  • NHS waiting list: Public are tired of waiting on this government that has given up
  • London Assembly Liberal Democrats Back Motion to Condemn Hamas Terrorist Attacks

NHS waiting list: Public are tired of waiting on this government that has given up

Responding to the news that the NHS waiting list has risen to 7.7 million, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

This is yet another damning indictment of this Conservative government’s record on the NHS.

They broke their promise to recruit 6000 GPs, broke their promise to build 40 hospitals and now they’ve broken their promise to bring down

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The Voice

Alex and Wendy go paddleboarding – the new Scottish Liberal Democrat broadcast

By The Voice | Wed 11th October 2023 - 10:25 am

Last night the new Scottish Liberal Democrats PPB, featuring Alex Cole-Hamilton and Wendy Chamberlain was broadcast. Enjoy

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Simon McGrath

Ed Davey : I stand in solidarity and support tonight with Israel and all Israelis

By Simon McGrath | Wed 11th October 2023 - 9:20 am

Those were the opening words of a powerful speech by Ed Davey at the  Vigil outside 10 Downing Street on Monday evening following the Hamas attack on Israel. Ed was there  representing our Party with Daisy Cooper. 

Ed went on to say: 

The Liberal Democrats stand in solidarity and support tonight with Jewish people across the world and we stand in support and solidarity with the amazing Jewish community in Great Britain.

And I stand in support together tonight with Tom, with Robert, with David .  Let them hear this, the government and the opposition stand in solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people. This most horrendous terrorist attack by the terrorist Hamas must be condemned by everybody completely.

Let us, as we do that, remember the people who were killed. Let us mourn for each and every one of them.

The children, the women, the men who were killed in their homes, killed in their villages, killed as they came together in a festival for music and peace.

That is what the terrorists want to do. They want to kill innocent civilians going about their everyday lives and they must never be forgiven or forgotten that they impose this murderous act on Israel.

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Mark Valladares

Lord Paddick to join the Metropolitan Police as a Non Executive Advisor

By Mark Valladares | Tue 10th October 2023 - 8:04 am

Metropolitan Police have announced that Lord Brian Paddick is joining them as a Non Executive Advisor.

As a result he is stepping back from his position as a Liberal Democrat Peer to a non-affiliated Peer for the duration of the appointment.

Lord Paddick said:

It is with some sadness that I am leaving the Liberal Democrat Group in the Lords, but I know that they will continue to work as an extraordinary force within Parliament to represent the very best of Liberal Democrat values in this House.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

I wanted to personally thank Lord Paddick for all his incredible

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The Voice

Layla Moran: Lib Dems condemn the terrorism of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

By The Voice | Sat 7th October 2023 - 11:51 am

We will all feel very anxious about the horrendous scenes from Israel and Palestine this morning and for what might happen as a result.

The Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Layla Moran has condemned the attacks and called for an end to the violence:

I am horrified to wake up to such dreadful scenes of violence in Israel and Palestine this morning.

Last year, I met with Israelis living in villages on the Gaza border. I am mortified to learn that these places are facing terrorist attacks as we speak.

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Charles Quinn

ALDC By-Election Report, 4th and 5th October

By Charles Quinn | Fri 6th October 2023 - 6:55 pm

There were 4 principal council by-elections this week. Unusually there were 2 on Wednesday and then 2 on Thursday. But it was great to see Lib Dem candidates in most elections and some very positive results too.

Beginning with Wednesday night – there were two elections on Haringey London Borough Council.

Thank you to David Schmitz and David Vigoureax for standing in South Tottenham and White Hart Lane wards respectively and giving hundreds of Lib Dem supporters in the area a Lib Dem option on the ballot paper.

Labour held both wards. But in both elections the result was tight behind them. In White Hart Lane in particular we were just  a few dozen votes off second place.

Haringey LBC, South Tottenham
Labour: 1258 (68.2, +4.6)
Conservative: 286 (15.4%, +0.4%)
Green Party: 235 (12.6%, -3.3%)
Liberal Democrats (David Schmitz): 71 (3.8%, -1.8%)

Haringey LBC, White Hart Lane
Labour: 1081 (59%, +1.6%)
Conservative: 289 (15.8%, +3.7%)
Green Party: 247 (13.5%, new)
Liberal Democrats (David Vigoureux): 215 (11.7%, +1.4%)

On Thursday night there was another London by-election with Vauxhall ward being contested on Lambeth LBC. Here Lib Dem candidate Fareed Alderechi pulled off a fantastic performance – increasing our vote share by 17% and jumping from fourth to a very close second – just a couple of hundred off winning and setting the ward up for the future.

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Michael Taylor

The hole in our democracy

By Michael Taylor | Fri 6th October 2023 - 3:33 pm

There is an increasing hole in our democracy, a place where election candidates and political parties are finding increasingly difficult to reach. I refer, of course, to gated communities and those many high-rise blocks where access is by code or fob.

This is not assisted by owners and managers of these houses making it almost impossible to contact them to seek access. I have personally been escorted off the premises by officious caretakers who point blank refuse to give details of who manages the blocks. Now whether this only applies to political parties with whom they disagree, I have no idea.

Sometimes, there is a way round this problem. Some blocks have a trades button that operates for a few hours in the morning and enable those in the know to get in. Sometimes, it is possible to persuade a resident to let you in. (However, as I found out in a gated community in Mid Beds, that doesn’t mean they leave the gate open long enough to get out and I found myself having to climb over the gate!)

There are some rights, I am led to believe, in the Representation of the People Acts that purport to give candidates access to voters, but they are difficult to enforce, and obdurate officials simply stonewall and refuse to give access.

I now think this is a case for legislation to ensure that candidates and campaigners get access to every property to deliver leaflets and to canvass. If such houses were obliged to display at their access gates the name, address, phone number and email of the company managing the block (with suitably large fines for non-compliance) and those property managers were obliged to arrange access for election campaigners within say 48 hours of a request (again with large fines for non-compliance), then this problem might be solved.

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Mark Valladares

5 October 2023 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Thu 5th October 2023 - 7:30 am

IFS Report: Schools are paying for “Government’s economic incompetence”

Commenting on the IFS report being published tomorrow showing that schools costs are growing faster than economy-wide inflation, particularly support staff pay, energy and food costs, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:

Today’s IFS report mirrors what I am being told by head teachers day-in and day-out. Schools are struggling to make ends meet.

School trips are being axed, teaching assistants are being laid off and urgent classroom repairs are being ignored as buildings crumble. The lack of proper funding means pupils with additional needs won’t get the

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Mark Valladares

4 October 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 4th October 2023 - 10:30 pm
  • Ed Davey on Sunak speech: PM has lost control of his party and lost the trust of the country
  • 10 things Rishi Sunak didn’t mention in his conference speech

Ed Davey on Sunak speech: PM has lost control of his party and lost the trust of the country

Responding to Rishi Sunak’s conference speech, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

This chaotic conference shows Rishi Sunak has lost control of his party and lost the trust of the country.

Every bungled announcement confirms that this shambles of a Conservative Party is not fit to govern.

Sunak had no answers on how to fix our crumbling health services or help people seeing their bills go through the roof. Instead we got just more empty rhetoric from a lame-duck Prime Minister who is running scared of a general election.

It’s time to give the British people the chance to kick Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party out of government.

10 things Rishi Sunak didn’t mention in his conference speech

The Liberal Democrats have accused Rishi Sunak of being so out of touch he may as well be living on another planet, after highlighting ten pressing issues facing families which the PM didn’t mention once in his speech.

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Mark Valladares

3 October 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 3rd October 2023 - 10:30 pm
  • Twenty’s plenty: 20 Conservative politicians and Councils who backed 20 mph zones
  • Ed Davey slams Sunak over Conservative conference chaos on visit to Mid Bedfordshire

Twenty’s plenty: 20 Conservative politicians and Councils who backed 20 mph zones

The Liberal Democrats have accused Rishi Sunak of “rank hypocrisy” and “playing politics with road safety” for criticising 20 mph zones, despite Conservative politicians across the country backing them.

It comes as analysis by the party reveals a list of 20 Conservative MPs and Councils, including three Cabinet Ministers, that have backed 20 mph speed limits.

Among those who have previously backed 20 mph zones is Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who pledged his support to a 20’s Plenty campaign saying that “dropping your speed by merely 10 mph can make all the difference in preventing potentially fatal accidents.”

Other Cabinet Ministers who have expressed support for 20 mph speed limits include the Welsh Secretary David Davies and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

Health Minister, Helen Whately, has backed the expansion of 20 mph speed limits in her constituency saying “there are benefits for everyone from a lower speed limit – safer roads, cleaner air, and better quality of life.”

And even in Rishi Sunak’s own backyard, Conservative run North Yorkshire Council has proposed the ‘the most significant 20 mph zone the council has ever introduced’ as they believe they are ‘safer’.

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Mark Valladares

2 October 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 2nd October 2023 - 10:30 pm
  • Hunt rules out tax cuts as Conservative soap opera continues
  • Water bill hike: Bosses paid £41m in bonuses while customers asked to pay for upgrades
  • Liz Truss’s £18,000 golden goodbye same as five-year mortgage hit for typical Blue Wall family
  • HS2: Rishi Sunak makes Liz Truss look like a political genius
  • Covid Inquiry: Sunak’s failure to send messages is another “Conservative cover up”

Hunt rules out tax cuts as Conservative soap opera continues

Responding to Jeremy Hunt’s latest comments this morning ruling out tax cuts this year, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

The Conservative Party are fighting like rats in a sack, while

…

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The Voice

Caroline Pidgeon’s farewell speech to Conference

By The Voice | Sat 30th September 2023 - 11:55 am

Caroline Pidgeon will bring 16 years of service as a Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member to an end when she stands down in May.

In her farewell speech to Conference this week, she reflected on her time at City Hall.

Enjoy.

 

The text is below.

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Michael Kilpatrick

Why I spoke for 30 seconds at Conference

By Michael Kilpatrick | Sat 30th September 2023 - 10:30 am

Party members at Autumn Conference may have noticed my slightly breathless, short interjection towards the end of the debate on the pre-manifesto paper “For a Fair Deal”. I spoke briefly on House of Lords reform after it had been mentioned by earlier speakers. I submitted a Speaker’s Card barely 30 minutes before the end of the debate, saying “I will speak for only thirty seconds”. I had done similar five years ago, speaking for one minute precisely when the Chair at the time, Zoe O’Connell, knew me well enough to gauge that I’d do as promised. It gave me an equally warm feeling to be trusted by Nicholas de Costa, squeezing me in to make my “elevator pitch” as he called it, even though the conference session was overrunning.

There are two facets of this I thought worthy of a write-up, so this is the first of two articles. The second will expand on my surprise that almost all members choose to fill (or overrun!) their allotted three minutes simply because they are given three minutes, and my feeling that our debates, especially the shorter ones, are therefore limited to too few speeches and possibly a lack of variety of opinions. I think we should introduce a more flexible system in all our debates, regardless of length. More on that later.

Firstly, though, please indulge me in my policy geekery. Political reform is of course only a small part of “For a Fair Deal”, and members who are aware of my involvement in “England within a Federal United Kingdom” as passed at Autumn Conference 2021 will know that I immensely pleased with the outcome. So why did I interject for thirty seconds? In a nutshell, when speakers at the podium say “Lib Dem policy is for an elected House of Lords” as happened the other day, this statement is both true and false. Is this some sort of quantum policy? Well, yes it is. We want the House of Lords in our current unitary state to be replaced by a representative body. It is standing party policy. Simultaneously our more recent policy is for a federal United Kingdom; this implies some form of senate as the upper house.

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Mark Valladares

29 September 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 29th September 2023 - 10:40 pm
  • IFS comment: People are sick and tired of this unfair, irresponsible government
  • Sunak scrapping winter fuel allowance a “slap in the face” for pensioners

IFS comment: People are sick and tired of this unfair, irresponsible government

Responding to the IFS’s comments that this will be the biggest tax-raising Parliament on record, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP said:

This Conservative government crashed the economy and is making the public pay the price. This is the same party which promised not to raise people’s taxes and is now taxing families through the nose.

Despite this, Ministers have given tax cuts to the big banks, failed

…

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