Category Archives: News

News item related to LBC, James O’Brien and the Institute of Economic Affairs

By Paul Walter | Tue 10th August 2021 - 10:16 am

Readers may be interested in the Guardian story entitled “LBC’s James O’Brien wins Ofcom battle with Institute of Economic Affairs“:

The Institute of Economic Affairs has lost a two-year battle with LBC radio presenter James O’Brien over claims the registered charity is a politically motivated lobbying organisation funded by “dark money”.

Tagged institute of economic affairs, james o'brien and lbc radio | 4 Comments

Liberator 408 is out

By Liberator Collective | Mon 9th August 2021 - 2:01 pm

This issue we’ve done something a bit different by running extended pieces by Layla Moran and Michael Meadowcroft on Lib Dem strategy. Layla argues for a progressive alliance with Labour and the Greens, while Michael calls for the party to make itself matter again across the widest area possible. See which (if either) you think is right.

Liberator 408 also includes:

LABOUR FOR THE TAKING. 15

Far from seeking a ‘progressive alliance’ Liberal Democrats should “pummel the life out of Labour”, says Jonathan Hunt

Also posted in Lib Dem organisations | 7 Comments

Reminder: A week to submit your motions to Scottish Conference

By The Voice | Thu 5th August 2021 - 2:44 pm

Scottish Lib Dem Autumn Conference takes place online on 8-9 October.

The deadline for submitting motions is noon next Thursday, 12th August. So get your ideas down on paper and find either a local party, organisation like Scottish Lib Dem Women or Scottish Young Liberals, or 25 members to support it. If 25 seems like a lot, remember that there are over 700 members in the Liberal Democrats Scotland group on Facebook and you can often persuade people to sign the motion whether or not they agree with it just to give it the chance of being debated.

Tagged Scottish liberal democrat conference | 4 Comments

Reminder: Nominations for party awards close next week

By The Voice | Wed 4th August 2021 - 9:25 am

Every year at Conference we acknowledge those people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Liberal Democrats whether they have achieved elected office or not.

Nominations are open for this Autumn’s awards and close on 16th August.

So what are the awards and who is eligible?

The President’s Award

Eligibility: open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment.

Criteria: the winner will be recognised for outstanding commitment and service to the Party. Local, regional and state parties should be seeking to nominate people who deserve recognition for their hard work, long service, and demonstrable dedication to the party, at whatever level. It is expected to be special awards to be awarded from the Party for whom public recognition is overdue.

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

Background: this award is named for Harriet Smith, who campaigned and worked tireless for the Party, notably alongside Paddy Ashdown, with the Federal Conference Committee, and in the Bath party. A beloved figure, she is also missed from the Conference revue and by the team at the Liberator Magazine.
Eligibility: open to any Party Member never elected to public office.

Criteria: the Harriet Smith Award shares its conditions with the President’s award.

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

Tagged party awards | Leave a comment

Ed Davey: Government is failing Afghan people

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 4th August 2021 - 7:41 am

The idea of the Taliban getting closer to power in Afghanistan is very worrying indeed. That it comes at a time when we are withdrawing troops and slashing foreign aid by 78% shows astonishing irresponsibility on behalf of our government.

You can’t just walk away and leave people in the lurch as we are doing.

Ed Davey has spoken of his concerns about the advance of the Taliban:

As the Taliban take swathes of territory on their advance towards Kabul, millions of women and girls are facing the prospect of a new era of injustice, inequality and brutality – while the

…

Tagged afghanistan, ed davey, international aid and layla moran | 12 Comments

Carmichael accuses Scottish Government of flip-flopping on vaccine passports

By The Voice | Tue 3rd August 2021 - 8:30 pm

Alistair Carmichael has accused the Scottish Government of flip-flopping on vaccine passports for domestic use.

Way back last December, when questioned by Willie Rennie, Nicola Sturgeon sounded pretty sceptical about them. Here’s the excchange:

WR: With the great news about the vaccine, people will want to know how the restrictions will be eased. As a Liberal, I am nervous about talk of immunity passports for getting into shops and restaurants or on to planes. Putting personal information on to large databases means risks to privacy and the possibility of fraud, hacking and theft. The World Health Organization questions the value of immunity passports, and the UK Government has said that it has no plans to introduce them. I want to go further, and I think that we need guidance. We might need to make changes to the law to protect people from its misuse. What is the Scottish Government’s policy on immunity passports?

Tagged Alistair Carmichael, vaccine passports and willie rennie | 3 Comments

Highland Lib Dem by-election candidates set out their stalls

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 1st August 2021 - 11:41 am

It’s great to have local government by-elections back, especially when we have as good a night as we did last Thursday.

We have a really good chance of gaining two new councillors in the Highlands on August 12th.

Colin Aitken is hoping to gain the Inverness West seat from Independent and Jill Tilt is hoping to gain Wick and East Caithness, also from Independent.

Liberal Democrat councillors are currently in administration with the Labour and Independent groups in this vast council which stretches from the north coast to Skye , Lochaber and more than 50 miles south of Inverness.

It takes a good 2.5-3 hours to drive between the two wards, although the journey is much easier than it was when I used to do it frequently in the 80s.

Colin and Jill have been setting out what they want to achieve as Councillors for their areas.

Tagged colin aitken, highland council, inverness west, jill tilt, local government by-elections and wick and east caithness | 2 Comments

The National really doesn’t like Alex Cole-Hamilton…

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 31st July 2021 - 12:38 pm

40 covid updates to my community since March’20, on regulations that change constantly. In my last I got a date wrong and sent out a correcting email as soon as it was pointed out.

Yesterday, Scotland led the world in drug mortality (again) and yet my typo is your lead story? https://t.co/fmFdcbaQTy

— Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP🔶🇺🇦 (@agcolehamilton) July 31, 2021

Alex Cole-Hamilton has done a brilliant job of keeping his constituents informed about the constantly changing Covid restrictions over the past 17 months. As soon as things change, he sends out an email to his constituents to let them know.

In over 40 updates since March last year, there have been two typos. I am slightly miffed that they didn’t pick up the one last year when he referred to the Caronavirus. I mean what could the symptoms of that one be? A sudden obsession with Doctor Who and Eurovision?

He got a date wrong for the lifting of one aspect of the Covid restrictions in Scotland in his most recent bulletin. Someone pointed it out and he issued a correction in minutes. So far, so not very dramatic.

But Scotland’s nationalist newspaper, The National, never Alex’s biggest fan, decided to give this the full front page headline treatment. Clearly they see him as a threat.

It’s really bizarre when you consider that yesterday Scotland yet again a new high of drug-related deaths. We should all be talking about that and sharing ideas to sort this out. It’s not something that a newspaper that is little more than an SNP Government mouthpiece should relegate to a side story.

Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton and Scotland | 7 Comments

Carmichael accuses ministers of bringing in vaccination passports by stealth

By NewsHound | Fri 30th July 2021 - 7:51 am

After some nightclubs in England began requiring an NHS Covid pass for entry, Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson, yesterday accused the government of introducing vaccination passports by the back door.

The government has just committed to vaccine passports by stealth. This deceitful move is deeply shameful.

Carmichael also called for parliament to be recalled to discuss the matter.

Tagged vaccination passports | 19 Comments

Mental health pressures on Olympic competitors

By Mary Reid | Thu 29th July 2021 - 10:26 am

Liberal Democrats have been strongly campaigning on mental health for several years now.

Here is the party’s response to Simone Biles’ acknowledgement of the pressures she has been under. She has won a total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals in gymnastics and the expectations placed on her are exceptional.

And if you are struggling, you need not be alone. There are multiple organisations and helplines that can be there for you. Just a few are below:@samaritans: 116 123@TheMixUK (for under 25s): 0808 808 4994@theCALMzone: 0800 58 58 58@switchboardLGBT: 0300 330 0630

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 28, 2021

Tagged mental health and olympics | 2 Comments

Alex Cole-Hamilton’s day in the media – New hope, right now

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 28th July 2021 - 8:16 pm

Since his announcement of his leadership bid last night, Alex Cole-Hamilton has been on a bit of a media whirlwind.

He held a press call near the beach in Cramond:

Launching his leadership bid for the Scottish LibDems, @agcolehamilton says between the SNP and “Boris’ Brexiteer Conservatives”, Scotland is gripped by “a clash of nationalisms”. @LBC @LBCNews
pic.twitter.com/okIdDcafuN

— Jack Foster (@jackfostr) July 28, 2021

BBC News highlights his interview on Good Morning Scotland:

Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, new hope right now and scottish liberal democrats | 7 Comments

BREAKING….Alex Cole-Hamilton makes his move

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 27th July 2021 - 10:25 pm

Alex Cole-Hamilton has tonight announced he is standing to be Scottish Lib Dem leader. The contest is taking place after Willie Rennie announced he was standing down two weeks ago.

Alex throwing his hat into the ring is the most surprising thing since the sun rose in the east this morning.

He announced the news in video posted on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/agcolehamilton/status/1420132996053704706?s=20

He is brilliant on all the touchstone liberal issues of human rights, civil liberties and social justice.

In his weekly column for the Edinburgh Evening News, he set out his stalll:

Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, featured and scottish lib dem leadership election 2021 | 7 Comments

Get your nominations in for the Party Awards

By The Voice | Sat 24th July 2021 - 2:25 pm

Every year at Conference we acknowledge those people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Liberal Democrats whether they have achieved elected office or not.

Nominations are open for this Autumn’s awards and close on 16th August.

So what are the awards and who is eligible?

The President’s Award

Eligibility: open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment.

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

Criteria: the Harriet Smith Award shares its conditions with the President’s award.

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

Tagged autumn conference 2021 and party awards | Leave a comment

Layla slams Government for “opening floodgates to new variants” and failing to protect troops

By NewsHound | Sat 24th July 2021 - 12:27 pm

Good work from Layla Moran in today’s press.

First, the Guardian reports the Commons Library research commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, which Layla chairs, which shows that the number of positive cases tested for variants has fallen dramatically.

The results suggest that in the three weeks to 17 March, there were an estimated 1,769 to 1,827 positive tests from people entering the UK from red list countries, of which somewhere between 63% and 68% were sequenced to determine the variant involved.

By contrast in the three weeks to 30 June, there were an estimated 445 to 507 positive tests from people entering the UK from red list countries, with estimates of the proportion sequenced ranging from 12% to 33%.

Layla highlighted the dangers of this:

Tagged APPG on Coronavirus, Covid-19 and layla moran | 12 Comments

Voter ID “straight out of the Trump playbook” – Broxtowe Lib Dems win vote

By NewsHound | Fri 23rd July 2021 - 4:57 pm

Where America leads, the UK follows is an old and sometime true adage. Suppression of voter rights in the United States is becoming rampant as the Republicans push to introduce legislation that would isolate the most disadvantaged from voting. Joe Biden has said: “Never before has there been an attempt by state legislatures to take over the ability to determine who won. Not count the votes, determine who won.”

Here, the government is determined to introduce voter ID despite no evidence of widespread fraud. Broxtowe was a pilot area for voter ID and the Lib Dems have taken a stand.

Tagged voter suppression | 14 Comments

Wera Hobhouse on 100 days to COP26

By NewsHound | Fri 23rd July 2021 - 9:56 am

Yesterday, MPs debated COP26 Conference Priorities in a Westminster Hall debate. The debate was co-sponsored by Wera Hobhouse. Lib Dem MP for Bath. She said this is the biggest opportunity for real climate action since the 2015 Paris agreement, after which we have had a “string of incredibly disappointing COPs”. Wera called for the government to get its own house in order instead of paying to lip service to climate change. The Government has failed to set any direction on how to heat homes in the future, how to expand the electricity grid for increased electricity need, let alone on tackling emissions from heavy industry, shipping or aviation.

COP26 must be a COP of global solidarity. It is time for the Government to put their money where their mouth is. The world is watching to see whether the UK will step up to the plate.

Tagged climate change, COP26, featured and wera hobhouse | 16 Comments

That 3% rise for NHS staff in England

By NewsHound | Thu 22nd July 2021 - 9:40 am

Lib Dems have been quick to respond to pay rise of 3% to NHS staff in England. Munira Wilson is our Health & Social Care Spokesperson and here she is challenging the Government in the Commons BEFORE the pay rise was announced:

The Govt bottled it today, failing to announce the highly anticipated pay rise for our amazing NHS staff

Words and clapping are cheap. A 1% pay rise is not enough to thank our heroic NHS staff pic.twitter.com/pRtIIRi514

— Munira Wilson MP (@munirawilson) July 21, 2021

Only a hour later she was tweeting:

The 3% NHS pay rise is a slap in the face to NHS heroes who have put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe

The pay rise won’t even be felt by NHS workers given the cost of living is set to go up by the same amount this year

They deserve a higher reward. It’s a disgrace https://t.co/uNS8Z2orAj

— Munira Wilson MP (@munirawilson) July 21, 2021

Tagged ed davey, munira wilson and NHS | 38 Comments

Welcome to my day – 19 July: Freedom (to ignore the consequences) Day?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 19th July 2021 - 9:12 am

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the new “new normal”, when we’re all encouraged to throw off the shackles of Covid restrictions and return to our old lives. That is, unless you’re immuno-compromised, or minded to take into consideration that those around you might be cautious, or unvaccinated, or… well, you know the rest…

So, what have we got today?

Katie Hopkins (you remember her, yes?) is awaiting her deportation flight from Australia, having been flown in by a local television station to take part in their version of Celebrity Big Brother (and yes, the definition of “celebrity” is clearly being stretched gossamer thin here). Flouting Australia’s incredibly tight quarantine rules was one thing – telling the world via Instagram that you were doing it and deliberately so quite another. What is it about faux-libertarians and consequences?

70 Comments

Suzanne Fletcher on her lifelong mission to speak up for the most vulnerable people

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 18th July 2021 - 3:38 pm

Suzanne Fletcher is one of the hardest working, humanitarian, compassionate people I have ever known. She has devoted her life improve living conditions for the poorest people with the least power.

Her local paper, the Darlington and Stockton Times, has done a wonderful profile of her as part of their series of features inspired by Middlesborugh Soroptimists’ list of outstanding local women.

Suzanne talked of her own experience of poor housing when she was small:

“We lived in an awful place, near the slag heaps,” says Suzanne. “It was difficult and dangerous as there was so much pollution in the air. Coal gas came up through the cellar, our plants died, as did my pet mouse, and the curtains rotted. My mother and father were both hardworking and did their best to keep everything clean, but when we complained the authorities didn’t listen. They considered our living conditions to be fine.

“The noise and swearing from the police cells at night kept us awake. My mother would prepare meals for the prisoners. They were sometimes sent back uneaten, but she was determined they would be treated with dignity.”

Tagged asylum seekers, human rights and suzanne fletcher | 10 Comments

Willie Rennie: “A cheerful voice for a more decent politics”

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 18th July 2021 - 1:35 pm

Willie Rennie has done two major interviews this weekend talking about his decision to stand aside as Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and his hopes for the future.

The Times (£) leader had praise for him yesterday, too:

It is to be hoped that Mr Rennie remains active in public life. He has been a cheerful voice for a more decent politics and his brand of low-key, relaxed liberalism is more necessary than ever. After a summer running in the hills he should return to the fray, ready to play his part in building a bigger and better centre.

Willie spoke to Magnus Linklater for the paper (£) and talked about his hope that Labour and the Lib Dems would work more closely together to present a progressive, pro-UK alternative to the nationalism and populism of the SNP and Conservatives:

“I think working together with Labour on issues of common interest would be a good thing,” he said in an interview with The Times. “I wouldn’t run before we can walk. But build confidence between the parties and also amongst the electorate to show we’re getting our act together.”

This is about trying to show that for middle Scotland there is something better and stronger than the Conservatives or the SNP, that it’s got energy, it’s got momentum, it’s got ideas, and that’s the most important thing, so people know that if they vote for it, it will be worth it,” he added. “The actual mechanism is less important — it’s the energy behind it that matters.”

He talked about how much Scotland had changed in the past decade or so – and not for the better:

Tagged featured, interviews, Scotland and willie rennie | 24 Comments

ALDC Conference – a must for anyone who wants to be a Lib Dem Councillor

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 18th July 2021 - 10:25 am

If you are hoping to be a Lib Dem Councillor next May, you really need to be a member of ALDC, the Association of Lib Dem Councillors and Campaigners. They have all the tools you need to win and you will be able to access all of them and attend their brilliant online training if you join.

They are having an online conference for members which includes their AGM on Saturday 4th September. There are sessions on things like how to win, how to make a difference in your community and local government in Europe.

ALDC Chief Executive Tim Pickstone said in an email to members:

Tagged aldc and ALDC Conference 2021 | Leave a comment

Ed Davey: “The Blue Wall is game on”

By NewsHound | Sat 17th July 2021 - 5:00 pm

In an interview with the I, Ed Davey has announced that the Lib Dems are picking candidates in “blue wall” seats like Chesham and Amersham with the aim of taking seats off the Tories at the next General Election.

Speaking in Guildford, a former Lib Dem seat held by the Tories since 2005, Sir Ed said: “We’re selecting our candidate, do it early and get them on the doorstep.”

He added: “If we get through these selections, which are now going well apace, we’ll have campaigns, we’ll have people who are going out there and knocking on doors, week in week out, listening to people, and the Tory MPs are going to find them getting worried. They’ll start feeling that at the local level but it will feed through to the national level.”

He talked about his experience of knocking on doors in Chesham and Amersham:

Lib Dems win Telford & Wrekin Lawley by-election by one vote

By Greg Spruce | Fri 16th July 2021 - 4:48 pm

The Liberal Democrats are celebrating a close win in the Lawley and Overdale Parish Council by-election.

Lib Dem Catherine Salter took 140 votes, to the Conservative’s 139, with Labour trailing a distant third on 69 votes. The independent candidate came fourth with 38 votes.

The focus of Cllr Salter’s campaign was engaging with and listening to local residents’ concerns about speeding, lack of public transport and poor finishing of new estates by developers.

Tagged by-election reports | 9 Comments

Wera Hobhouse calls for Olympian steps to halt Xinjiang atrocities

By NewsHound | Fri 16th July 2021 - 7:31 am

In a Commons debate on Thursday, Bath MP Wera Hobhouse warned it would be unacceptable for the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, senior diplomats and officials to attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year. To do so would give credibility to a regime that is accused of genocide in Xinjiang. Western countries had to take a stance against China’s human rights abuses.

Hobhouse told MPs is totally unacceptable that peaceful demonstrations during protests on the field of play or in medal ceremonies are barred by the IOC under the threat of sanctions. Given the ongoing human rights abuses, is it at all justifiable for the games to go ahead?

Tagged china, featured, wera hobhouse, winter olympics and xinjiang | 8 Comments

Up and down

By Mary Reid | Thu 15th July 2021 - 12:13 pm

At Lib Dem Voice we don’t usually cover the results of political polls, because they do fluctuate. Also, paying too much attention to poll results can have unintended consequences for our party’s campaigning. Liberal Democrats were riding high in the polls during the last elections to the European Parliament in 2019, and some people imagined that we could win a swathe of seats in the General Election later that year simply based on the polling data. Seasoned campaigners, however, know that we only win seats if we do a lot of work on the ground – the support shown in polls is never enough.

But we have to admit that it is exciting when our poll position makes a substantial leap from 6% to 13%. The Evening Standard reports an Ipsos-Mori poll which shows that support for both Labour and the Conservatives has fallen by 4 points since their last poll. The Conservatives are still 9 points ahead, but net satisfaction of Boris Johnson and the Government have fallen to and -16 and -20 respectively. But the Liberal Democrats have jumped to 13%, and this is the first time we have been at that level since the 2019 General Election.

So what do we make of it? Undoubtedly our win in Chesham and Amersham produced this bounce. The party cleverly exploited the publicity immediately afterwards. The image of Ed Davey knocking down the blue wall with a small yellow mallet visually encapsulated our key message to the whole country very neatly – those who criticised it as a stunt clearly don’t understand how the media works.

Tagged ipsos-mori and Polls | 14 Comments

Tuesday by-election GAIN for Lib Dems

By The Voice | Wed 14th July 2021 - 8:53 am

Good news from Wells:

Tagged lib dem gain, local government by-elections and wells | 3 Comments

Howard Sykes condemns “appalling” arson attack on Oldham Council leader’s car

By NewsHound | Tue 13th July 2021 - 7:49 pm

In the early hours of this morning, a car belonging to Cllr Arooj Shah was firebombed. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

From the Oldham Times:

A force spokesman said: “Police were called just before 1:30am on Tuesday, July 13 to reports of a vehicle on fire in the Glodwick area in Oldham.

“Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service attended along with police, and it was established that the vehicle was deliberately ignited, also causing slight damage to a neighbouring property.

“The fire was extinguished, no-one was injured, and officers are investigating the circumstances.”

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Howard Sykes condemned the attack and called on people to stand together in the face of such appalling acts:

Tagged howard sykes and oldham council | Leave a comment

Wendy Chamberlain hits out on cynical tests for overseas aid cuts

By NewsHound | Tue 13th July 2021 - 6:18 pm

Wendy Chamberlain, MP for North East Fife attacked the government’s commitment to reducing the overseas aid budget below 0.7% in the House of Commons today.

It is a straight choice: do we return to 0.7%, as we were all elected to this place to do, or do we fail to be the global leader on this issue that the UK has been to this point?… the poorest will be hardest hit by these cuts. The reality of the covid pandemic is that no one is safe until everyone is safe… The fiscal tests for development spending presented today are the height of cynicism. They are designed never to be met.

The government, which has a majority of 80, won the vote by 35.

Tagged overseas aid | 10 Comments

Pilates, comedy and an orchestra – Lib Dem virtual conference registration open

By The Voice | Tue 13th July 2021 - 8:57 am

When you think of Lib Dem conference, you think of debates, packed fringe meetings with varying quality of buffets and events like the Glee Club.

These things are difficult to replicate on a virtual platform, but the Federal Conference Committee has flagged up Pilates classes, a comedy night and a classical music concert with an orchestra as just a few of the attractions at this year’s digital Autumn Conference, to be held from 17-21 September.

Registration is now open, as FCC Chair Nick De Costa announced in an email to members:

Tagged autumn conference 2021 | 2 Comments

Op-eds

The social media ban is illiberal, unworkable, and our stance is the wrong one (Cian Tynan)
Caring doesn’t STOP at 67- so why should Carer’s Support Payment or Carer’s Allowance (Amanda Clark)
WATCH: Charles Kennedy Memorial Lecture (The Voice)
J.M. Keynes “Anything we can actually do, we can afford.” (David Moon)
Mathew on Monday: Banning Under-16s from Social Media is the Wrong Answer (Mathew Hulbert)

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Category Archives: News

The President’s Award

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

The President’s Award

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

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