Category Archives: News

Caron Lindsay

Joint Young Liberals and Lib Dem Friends of Palestine statement on Gaza

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 29th August 2025 - 10:25 am

The Young Liberals and Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine released this statement following a debate on Gaza at the Young Liberals’ Conference last week.

Young Liberals set new a party precedent by calling out “Genocidal” Israeli activity in Gaza, and urge the UK government to take urgent steps to promote a just and lasting resolution.

Cambridge, 22nd August 2025 – At their Summer Conference 2025, the Young Liberals overwhelmingly passed a motion calling on the UK government to take urgent and concrete steps to confront Israel’s genocide in Gaza, end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, and support a just, secure and liberal future for both states. 

The motion highlights the immense suffering caused by Israel’s military assault on Gaza and deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid to the Strip. It notes the International Court of Justice’s January 2024 ruling that there are plausible grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, condemns its refusal to comply with the binding measures ordered by the Court, and affirms that it is now right to plainly describe Israel’s actions as genocidal. The motion has fired a starting gun on a new conversation within the party regarding the use of the term genocide, only weeks before the national Annual Conference takes places in Bournemouth.

The motion warns that the failure to justly resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict has eroded democracy and civil society on both sides, leaving Palestinians and Israeli civilians trapped in cycles of violence and insecurity, and affirms that only a negotiated political settlement can deliver a just and lasting peace that respects the right to dignity, freedom and security for both peoples. 

The Young Liberals urged the UK Government to uphold international law and end its complicity by:

  • suspending all military and security cooperation with Israel;
  • banning all trade with illegal settlements;
  • prosecuting British citizens credibly accused of committing war crimes in Gaza; and
  • launching a public inquiry into UK involvement in the conflict.

The motion further calls for:

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Mark Valladares

28 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 11:20 pm
  • Lib Dems call on Farage to intervene after Nottinghamshire Reform council bans local journalists reporting
  • Davey calls on Blair to give evidence in Parliament following White House Gaza meeting
  • Adult mental health waits stretching to more than 1,000 days
  • Rennie comments on report showing bill for flood schemes is spiralling

Lib Dems call on Farage to intervene after Nottinghamshire Reform council bans local journalists reporting

The Liberal Democrats have written to Nigel Farage to demand he intervenes after Reform’s Nottinghamshire County Council Leader blocked his councillors from speaking to local journalists from Nottinghamshire Live and the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson Max Wilkinson has written to Farage demanding he step in and urge Reform’s council leader Mick Barton to reverse the “dangerous and chilling” decision.

Max Wilkinson said the move risks contravening local government’s code of conduct, which calls on elected officials to “submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure … accountability”, and prohibits information being withheld from the public “unless there are clear and lawful reasons for doing so”.

Max Wilkinson MP, Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson, said:

Reform’s move to block local journalists from reporting on their work is straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook. It’s a cornerstone of our democracy that politicians of all stripes are held to account — but for some reason Farage’s cronies think they can make themselves exempt.

This move sets a dangerous and chilling precedent for if Reform were to win power nationally and goes against our deeply rooted British values of freedom of the press. We must stand up to Reform’s assault on those principles.

Nigel Farage pretends to champion free speech: I’m calling on him to take some responsibility for once in his political career and demand that Nottinghamshire County Council Leader Mick Barton reverses this decision.

Davey calls on Blair to give evidence in Parliament following White House Gaza meeting

Responding to Tony Blair’s meeting at the White House with the Trump administration discussing the war in Gaza, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Tony Blair needs to come before Parliament to give evidence about his discussions with the Trump administration about the ongoing war and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

If he has special insight into Trump’s intentions, it’s only right that Parliament and the Government are made privy to this.

Trump has a unique power to help end this war, get the hostages out, and get the desperately needed aid in to relieve the horrendous human suffering in Gaza. We must leverage all the information and resources at our disposal to make him do the right thing.

Adult mental health waits stretching to more than 1,000 days

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that the SNP have no plan to fix the crisis in mental health after new research by his party revealed shocking waits for psychological therapies across many of Scotland’s health boards, including a patient waiting more than seven years to start treatment.

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Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish and Welsh press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum
  • Cole-Hamilton: Scotland deserves better than Farage
  • Nigel Farage accused of plan to ‘rip up Welsh countryside’ with fracking
  • Scot Lib Dems comment on Simpson defection
  • Reconviction rate increases among prisoners

Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum

Speaking ahead of the Scottish Drugs Forum on Wednesday 27th August, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has called on the SNP government to take strong action on the growing number of drug deaths caused by synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than heroin.

In …

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Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Energy price cap: Government must cancel rise and take up plan to halve bills
  • Mounjaro supply chaos: Lib Dems call for CMA investigation
  • Farage u-turn shows he “has taken as much time reading his own plan as he does his constituents’ emails”
  • Thames Water fines: Govt should stop “wheeling and dealing” and finally put customers first
  • Ed Davey to boycott Trump state banquet in push to end Gaza’s humanitarian disaster

Energy price cap: Government must cancel rise and take up plan to halve bills

Responding to Ofgem announcing that the energy price cap will rise by 2%, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The last thing struggling

…

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The Voice

Ed Davey to boycott Trump State visit banquet over Gaza

By The Voice | Wed 27th August 2025 - 7:37 pm

Ed Davey has announced that he will boycott the State Banquet to be held during Donald Trump’s State Visit because of Trump’s complicity in the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. He explains why in this video:

He said:

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Jack Nicholls

We are the party of human rights, and we need to sound like it

By Jack Nicholls | Wed 27th August 2025 - 11:55 am

When Ming Campbell ran for the leadership, his best line was that Britain did not need a third conservative party. The situation now is so much worse; we have three hard authoritarian parties engaged in virility contests for who can be more horrible to and about very vulnerable people. I would like us to be much more emphatically full-fat liberal in the things we do and say, particularly in relation to migration.

I want to see our spokespeople saying that immigrants make us a stronger, better country, are net contributors to both the exchequer and our wider social life, and that in a liberal, plural society, and we are just about still a liberal society, the presence of another culture  does not have to threaten yours.

I want them to bang the drum for human rights, both in law and spirit. I want them to say proudly and firmly that people have a right to seek asylum, and that this right comes from the same laws and conventions that protect everyone who was born here. I want them to say that to claim asylum you have to physically show up, and that is harder to do by conventional routes since the Tory government shut a lot of them down.

I want them to say that if we leave the ECHR, which I fear Starmer and Cooper are now privately toying with, everybody in this country will be less safe. I want them to cite Tony Benn – a good civil libertarian, whatever our other differences with him – saying that how a government treats refugees is instructive of how it would treat the rest of us if it could get away with it.

I want them to bang on about how swapping human rights for a British Bill of Rights means your statutory standing and privileges are based on your citizenship, which, however rarely it might happen, can be revoked. Ask Sajid Javid, he did it. 

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The Voice

Nominations for party President are open

By The Voice | Wed 27th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Yesterday party members should have received an email from Civica Election Services titled The Liberal Democrats Internal Federal Elections 2025 – Nominations Process. 

This is the starting gun for the Federal Party’s internal elections this year when all the Federal Committees will be up for election alongside the Party President and Vice President.

The email tells you what you need to do to put yourself forward as a candidate and nominate others.

At this stage nominations are only open for President and Vice President.

At the time of writing there are two publicly declared candidates for President, both of whom have written launch pieces for Liberal Democrat Voice, Josh Babarinde and Prue Bray.

Liberal Democrat Voice has also been advised that Natalie Bird has declared herself to be a candidate, although as yet we are not aware that there has been a public campaign launch.

There are two declared candidates for Vice President, Kamran Hussain and Victoria Collins.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Fewer WTE GPs now than in 2019
  • Cole-Hamilton comments on record NHS waiting lists, social care delays and worsening A&E waits
  • Chamberlain: Crime statistics “deeply troubling”
  • SNP oversees worsening outcomes for looked-after children
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to record low birth rate

Fewer WTE GPs now than in 2019

Commenting on the publication of GP workforce numbers, where despite an uptick there are still fewer whole time equivalent GPs now than there were in 2019, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

The Scottish Government is absolutely miles away from delivering the 800 extra GPs it promised by 2027.

General practice is overwhelmed. People are ringing their surgeries hundreds of times to try and get an appointment. GPs tell me that they can rack up nearly 100 separate contacts with patients in a single day.

Scottish Liberal Democrats would draw on the wider skills that exist in mental health, physiotherapy, pharmacy and more. By adding specialists to local teams we can lessen the load on GPs and get you fast access to the best care.

Scottish Liberal Democrats also secured more money for GPs in this year’s budget. This money can start unpicking years of damage caused by the SNP, but what the NHS really needs is a change of government.

Cole-Hamilton comments on record NHS waiting lists, social care delays and worsening A&E waits

Responding to official statistics showing a record 879,215 patients are now on outpatient, inpatient or diagnostic waiting lists, including thousands waiting for years, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP commented:

Hundreds of thousands of people are waiting in pain and uncertainty. People can’t get on in life and it’s impacting the economy.

Waiting lists in Scotland are now far worse than those in England, the rollout of national treatment centres has stalled, and repeated SNP promises to speed up treatment have fallen flat.

Since June 2024, the number of people waiting over two years for outpatient appointments has more than trebled. Some waits are even longer still.

After almost two decades in charge, the SNP have proved to be bad for your health. Scotland deserves better.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are bursting with fresh ideas to get our NHS back on its feet and get everyone the care they need in good time. At next May’s election, everyone can vote for those plans by backing my party on the peach regional ballot paper.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights
  • Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed
  • Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax
  • Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”
  • Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights

Responding to Reform’s press conference this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don’t have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools.

Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave. Doing so would only make it harder for each of us as individuals to hold the government to account and stop it trampling on our freedoms.

On Zia Yusuf’s comments regarding paying the Taliban to take back Afghan migrants, Daisy Cooper added:

Reform’s Taliban tribute plan would send British taxpayers’ cash to fund their oppressive regime, fuelling the persecution of Afghan women and children and betraying our brave Armed Forces who sacrificed so much fighting the Taliban. Clearly British values mean nothing to Farage and his band of plastic patriots.

Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed

Responding to the news that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde MP said:

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Nick da Costa

Making sure local government has a real voice at Conference

By Nick da Costa | Sun 24th August 2025 - 11:08 am

Following a letter from Joe Harris, Leader of the Lib Dem Group on the LGA, and Heather Kidd, chair of ALDC, to myself and Party President Mark Pack, we have had a very constructive series of discussions. We all agreed on the need to ensure the brilliant work of our local authority groups is properly recognised at Conference.

Some of the steps we discussed will require agreement also from others, but following the discussions this is the plan:

For this year’s Conference:

Rally: HQ have confirmed there will be a strong local government focus.

Conference Showcase: The programme includes the ReformWatch panel in the auditorium, led by local government voices.

Looking ahead to future Conferences:

Keynote Speaker: FCC would welcome a keynote speaker from local government; proposals (with supporting reasons) need to reach me/FCC Chair by late May for Autumn Conference.

Conference Directory: I’ve suggested an advertorial double-page feature where ALDC/LGA can highlight local government achievements.

Civic Opening: I’d like to reintroduce a full civic opening of Conference, led by the local authority or council group leader, rather than opening by the President. As our Bournemouth Conference has both a local Lib Dem council leader and a local Lib Dem MP, Mark has offered anyway to step aside this time to give more time to the council leader We will work also with the Media Team around coordinating local / regional media.

Auditorium Sessions: I’ve encouraged ALDC/LGA to pitch further auditorium sessions (panels, presentations, etc.). Not all can be guaranteed – but we need good options to consider.

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s cornucopia – 23 August 2025

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd August 2025 - 2:30 pm

I thought I’d make up a list of things that took my fancy this week.

First up, if you know someone going to the Notting Hill carnival, Liberty has an excellent guide to your rights if you are zapped by facial recognition technology.

Former Love Island contestant Sharon Gaffka talks to Politics Home about how her experience of reality tv gave her a platform to campaign for women’s rights and highlight the discrimination women face.

I’m very chuffed with the Guardian for sticking by its journalism and the women who told their stories about their dealings with Noel Clarke, who lost his libel case against them yesterday. Editor Katharine Viner takes us through the events of the past couple of years.

 

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Caron Lindsay

Vince at the Book Festival

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 22nd August 2025 - 7:07 pm

Vince Cable talks about his new book at Edinburgh Book FestivalI may not always agree with Vince Cable, but I always want to know what he thinks about international economics because he always has relevant, interesting and well-researched observations. So when he came to the Edinburgh Book Festival on Wednesday, I really wanted to be there to see him talk about his new book “Eclipsing the West: China, India and the forging of a new world.”

The last time I’d seen him in Edinburgh was when he appeared on Iain Dale’s All Talk on a miserable lunchtime in front of a fairly small audience. So I was delighted to see that there was a massive queue for his show, though I was not so delighted to be at the end of it. It was interesting that I didn’t spot very many Lib Dems among them, though I found out later that they had occupied the front couple of rows.

The Book Festival used to be located in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square, but has been in the new Edinburgh Futures Institute since last year. I loved the old venue and was sceptical about this one but the courtyard is lovely, the theatres much more comfortable and the toilets infinitely better than the old portable ones. It’s more challenging for me to get to but it is in the heart of the Festival. The Futures Institute is part of the University and is in the renovated old hospital building on Lauriston Place.  I and my family have this location app and the first time I was at the Book Festival I got a message from my sister asking if I was ok as she thought I had been murdered and dumped in a storage container as the Google Earth images the app uses are a bit out of date and show when it was a building site.

Anyway, back to Vince. He was interviewed by the BBC’s Douglas Fraser, but there wasn’t really much for him to do. It was more like a lecture as Vince took us through slides charting how China and India’s economies were growing at a rate that would have them well ahead of anywhere else within the next 75 years. He looked at what this meant for the world order and predicted that we are in for a bit of a turbulent time. The world needs someone to lead it and as the US steps back, and nobody is ready to assume the responsibilities it carries out, who is going to be in charge of keeping key international institutions and work going – critical things like dealing with climate change and international trade.

He made the point that both India and China had told Trump to take a running jump with his tariffs. China had been able to get its tariffs reduced because it had the minerals the US needed. It is maybe a lesson, though, for people who think that sucking up to him is a good idea.

He contrasted key differences in the way China and India were run and looked at the challenges for both of them. He said that while the Chinese leadership still cracked down on dissent, they were allowing more debate about certain issues. He cited the recent controversy over a young woman being expelled from a Chinese university because of her relationship with a foreign man. There has been some outrage on social media in China about this.

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Chris Ward

ALDC by-election report, 21st August

By Chris Ward | Fri 22nd August 2025 - 5:24 pm

It has been a bumper package of by-elections this week, with eight polls for nine seats, including the replacement of a double-hatted councillor.

In Hinchley Wood, Claygate & Oxshott, Councillor Andy Burton and the team pulled off a great victory on Surrey County Council, which sees the end of Conservative control of the county. Congratulations!

Surrey County Council, Hinchley Wood, Claygate & Oxshott
Liberal Democrats (Andy Burton): 1,656 (38.1%, -6.2)
Conservative: 1,346 (31.0%, -16.0)
Independent: 659 (15.2%, new)
Reform UK: 551 (12.7%, +8.3)
Green Party: 101 (2.3%, new)
Labour: 31 (0.7%, -3.6)

Liberal Democrats GAIN from Conservative

Turnout: 34%

In East Hampshire, congratulations are also due to Councillor Lizzie Marshall and the team for this solid hold, with an increase in vote share!

East Hampshire District Council, Alton Amery
Liberal Democrats (Lizzie Marshall): 407 (54.9%, +1.6)
Reform UK: 189 (25.5%, new)
Conservative: 145 (19.6%, -9.9)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

Turnout: 36.45%

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Mark Valladares

21 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 21st August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Rising numbers in asylum hotels: Govt must speed up processing to get backlog down
  • Scottish NHS still relies on almost 600 buildings which are more than 70 years old

Rising numbers in asylum hotels: Govt must speed up processing to get backlog down

Responding to this morning’s immigration figures showing a rise over the past year in the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said:

The asylum backlog has been far too large for far too long.

The Conservatives trashed our immigration system and let numbers spiral. Now this Labour government is failing to get a grip on the crisis.

The Government urgently needs to stop dangerous Channel crossings and speed up asylum processing to bring down the backlog and end hotel use once and for all.

Scottish NHS still relies on almost 600 buildings which are more than 70 years old

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that making sure the NHS has the facilities it needs to thrive must be a top priority, after new research by his party revealed that almost 600 NHS buildings are more than 70 years old.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request to all of Scotland’s health boards found that:

  • There are 597 NHS buildings over 70 years old across Scotland.
  • 121 of these are located in NHS Glasgow, where there are also 210 buildings up to 50 years old.
  • 104 buildings are more than 70 years in old in NHS Lothian. This figure is 97 in NHS Grampian and 93 in NHS Tayside.
  • In NHS Ayrshire and Arran 30 buildings are more than 80 years old – predating the founding of the NHS.
  • Across Scotland, there are also at least 18 buildings which are both more than 70 years old and require high risk repairs.
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Caron Lindsay

Former Lib Dem MP Annette Brooke dies

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 21st August 2025 - 7:36 pm

I know that you will all be sad to know that former Mid Dorset and Poole MP Annette Brooke passed away yesterday.

Ed Davey paid tribute to her on Twitter.

“My heart is full of sadness today, as we have lost a dear friend and wonderful former colleague, Annette Brooke.

“Annette dedicated her life to public service, always fighting for the people who needed her voice.

“She served her local community with great dedication as a councillor and later Mayor.

“Annette made history, not only by being the first woman to be elected as an MP in a general election in Dorset, through her tireless campaigning, she also went on to become the longest-serving female MP for the Liberal Democrats.

“The countless people she helped over her wonderful life of public service will miss her deeply.

“My thoughts and prayers are with her wonderful family, friends, and the Dorset community.”

Her husband Mike and daughters Caroline and Eleanor were quoted in the Bournemouth Echo:

Her husband, Mike Brooke, said: “She was very accessible to everyone.

“She cared for everyone, and she was determined to do the best for others.

“She wasn’t proud.

“In fact, I think her humility was recognised by many, many people.”

Her family said Dame Annette was “supportive, determined, caring”, put “everyone in the community before herself” and was always “prepared” to campaign for her constituents.

Her daughter, Caroline Blunden, said: “As a mother, she wanted the very best for us.

“She encouraged us to follow our passions.”

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The Voice

Conference Countdown: Federal Policy Committee Report

By The Voice | Thu 21st August 2025 - 9:21 am

Federal Committees report to each Conference. It’s an important way for members to hold them to account. Conference votes on whether to accept or reject each report. You can read the reports here.  Members can also ask questions which need to be submitted here by 1pm on 8th September.  We’ll be looking at what they say. 

Our next stop on our meander through the agenda is the Federal Policy Committee report written by vice chairs Jeremy Hargreaves, Lucy Nethsingha and Helen Morgan MP.

They set out what the Committee has been doing during the past year including the policy review chaired by the Young Liberals’  and Women Lib Dems’ Eleanor Kelly, which will be voted on separately at Conference. Other policy papers to be debated at the Conference are on climate change and opportunity and skills.

Two working groups set up by FPC earlier this year, on mental health and town centres and high streets have consultation sessions at this Conference.

They also report on recruitment for further working groups on Defending Democracy and Primary Healthcare, international security and re-invigorating the economy.

FPC has also been reviewing how it operates, particularly with relation to diversity:

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Mark Valladares

20 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 20th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Liberal Democrats: Rail passengers must not be priced off trains
  • “Taken for a ride” – Liberal Democrats urge rail fare freeze as inflation bites
  • Headphone dodgers: Govt should take a leaf out Irish Rail’s book and back Lib Dem calls for fines
  • Carmichael voices concern over abolition of UK Space Agency

Liberal Democrats: Rail passengers must not be priced off trains

The Liberal Democrats have demanded an urgent rail fare freeze ahead of inflation figures which are expected to determine the amount rail fares rise next year.

Almost half of all fares in England are directly controlled by the Government. Millions of commuters and families risk being priced off the railway if ministers allow another steep increase, based on the latest inflation figures.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, Paul Kohler MP, said:

Rail passengers are already paying sky-high prices for overcrowded trains and unreliable services. Hiking fares yet again would be a betrayal of passengers who are simply trying to get to work, travel to school or visit family and friends.

Families and hardworking commuters are being hit with the cost of living crisis month after month, and now face being ripped off on the railways too. Pricing people off the trains will only drive more cars onto our congested roads, increase pollution and damage our economy.

The Liberal Democrats are urging Ministers to freeze rail fares and get more people onto the trains. Raising fares is a false economy that will only drive down passengers and revenue in the long run.

“Taken for a ride” – Liberal Democrats urge rail fare freeze as inflation bites

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Paul Kohler MP has warned the Government that passengers are being “taken for a ride”, as the latest inflation stats suggest rail fares are set to rise.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for rail fares to be frozen to avoid another hit to the cost of living and encourage more people on to trains.

New figures released today (20 August) show that regulated rail fares are set to rise 3.8% in 2026-27 if they follow inflation. That means some commuters could face rises of above £2,000 since 2020, Liberal Democrat research shows. This follows increases of 4.6% in 2025-26, 4.9% in 2024-2025, and 5.9% in 2023-2024.

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The Voice

Chancellor needs to take bolder action on inflation – Daisy Cooper

By The Voice | Wed 20th August 2025 - 11:58 am

July’s inflation figure of 3.8% is a sign that the Chancellor needs to take stronger action says Lib Dem Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper. And she has an idea up her sleeve about how to do that:

Rising inflation is grim news for families, pensioners and businesses still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

After the Conservative Government oversaw the biggest fall in living standards on record, people desperately need things to change. But, so far, Labour has failed to offer a vision for the economy or a strategy to bring down the cost of living.

The Chancellor needs to take far bolder action, starting with the Liberal Democrat plan to halve energy bills by 2035.

Details of that plan to halve energy bills can be found here:

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Mark Valladares

19 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 19th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey: commit British typhoon jets to strengthen Zelensky’s hand
  • Poorly thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off
  • Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening
  • Scotland’s LED road signs break down 1,419 times

Davey: commit British typhoon jets to strengthen Zelensky’s hand

Following the conclusion of yesterday’s talks between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said:

Trump’s plan to hand Ukrainian territory to Putin would not bring peace. It would be the greatest reward for aggression in living memory, and only lead to more Russian aggression in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe.

Ahead of Zelensky’s trilateral with Putin, the UK and European leaders need to step up. For Starmer that means making a commitment to providing British typhoons to the Ukrainian air force, seizing the frozen Russian assets and showing Putin that we will continue to back Ukraine.

Poorly thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off

Responding to County Councils warning that Government proposals will place an unfair burden on rural taxpayers, Liberal Democrat Housing, Communities and Local Government Spokesperson Vikki Slade MP said:

Councils across the country are already teetering on the edge after years of Conservatives’ neglect of local funding and services – from bus services cuts in rural areas to the rising costs of social care. These ill thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off.

To truly help local authorities, the Government should urgently look at supporting councils who receive the least grant funding and those that face additional pressure on services in rural and coastal areas, to help them with spiralling costs.

Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today urged the Scottish Government to adopt his party’s plans for a national lung cancer screening programme, as new figures showed that a rise in the number of deaths from cancer in Scotland.

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Caron Lindsay

“A price we cannot allow Ukraine to pay” – Ed Davey calls out the BS from last night’s White House talks

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 19th August 2025 - 8:23 am

Not going to lie, I don’t often punch the air and squeal during Ed Davey interviews, but he has just been fabulous on BBC Breakfast.

I watched the scenes from the White House last night with a growing sense of anxiety that Trump’s appeasement of Putin was being presented as a good thing and a positive step forward. While it was great to see Zelensky go mob-handed with his European supporters, this did not hide the unfairness and injustice in what was being asked of him and his country: that he should give up vast swathes of territory to an aggressor who had helped himself to it, committing atrocities along the way.

I wanted someone to call out the BS. And along comes Ed on BBC Breakfast and says almost exactly my thoughts.

He said that the idea of Ukraine giving up so much land was “À price we cannot allow Ukraine to pay,” adding “If you appease an aggressor we know from history that this ends in a bad way.”

On the proposed trilateral meeting with Trump and Zelensky, he said:

“it should worry us. They are essentially asking Zelensky to sit down with a war criminal who has invaded Ukraine and continues to kill innocent Ukrainians.”

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Mark Valladares

18 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 18th August 2025 - 11:00 pm

To quote Granny Weatherwax, I aten’t dead, merely returned from some family time. And so, to pick up where I left off…

  • Uber ambulance: 2.7 million did not take an ambulance to A&E last year – up 340,000 on 2019
  • Jardine welcomes children’s evacuation

Uber ambulance: 2.7 million did not take an ambulance to A&E last year – up 340,000 on 2019

There were at least 2.7 million attendances at A&E where someone did not use an ambulance to get there, with over a quarter-of-a-million in need of very urgent medical attention opting not to use one, Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) have revealed.

It has led to the party saying that there is an “Uber ambulance crisis” and that the Government should create a new £50 million-a-year emergency fund to allow ambulance trusts to reverse closures of community ambulance stations, as well as launching a campaign to retain, recruit and train paramedics and other ambulance staff.

The FOIs found that the number of A&E attendances from not arriving in an ambulance had risen by 14% since 2019, from 2.36 million to 2.7 million. Only 30 of the 144 NHS Trusts responded with full data so these figures are likely to be far higher in reality.

The data also revealed the severity of injury of those attending, which is broken down into five codes. Code 1 is those in need of immediate medical attention including those in need of immediate resuscitation. There were 10,600 Code 1 incidents last year, up by 1,600 on 2023’s figure of 9,000. Code 2 represents those in need of very urgent medical attention. Across 2024 there were 256,000 attendances of this type with a massive spike of 55% on 2019’s figure of 165,000.

The Trust that saw the largest rise in non-ambulance A&E attendances was Sandwell and West Birmingham, where there was a 320% rise since 2019 with the figures jumping from 3,900 to 16,500 last year. Mid and South Essex has the highest number of attendances through not arriving in an ambulance with 322,000 last year, up on 2019’s figure of 263,000.

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Do not trade Hong Kongers’ safety for political expediency

By Christopher | Mon 18th August 2025 - 11:55 am

The Labour government is proposing a controversial amendment to the UK’s extradition law concerning Hong Kong. This development, in my view, poses a significant threat to human rights and democratic values for those who have sought sanctuary here.

To truly grasp the gravity of what is being proposed, allow me to briefly explain how the UK has historically categorised territories for extradition. We had three main classifications:

* Territory 1: This category encompassed European Union (EU) countries. The UK implicitly trusted these nations to uphold similar judicial standards and human rights, meaning extradition requests typically bypassed significant UK judicial scrutiny.

* Territory 2: This included non-EU countries that had signed European human rights conventions, and notably, former British Commonwealth territories, which previously included Hong Kong. In these cases, the UK government and its courts retained greater power to review extradition applications, particularly concerning human rights considerations.

* Case-by-case Category: This third and most scrutinised category applied to countries like North Korea and mainland China, which were not deemed to meet Western judicial standards or provide adequate human rights safeguards. Extradition to these nations was handled on an individual basis, undergoing rigorous scrutiny by UK courts.

The pivotal moment came in 2020. Following Beijing’s draconian imposition of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, the UK, alongside other allied nations such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, made a principled decision: it collectively suspended its extradition agreement with Hong Kong. This suspension effectively removed Hong Kong from “Territory 2”. As a result, the current status quo means that the UK rejects all extradition requests from Hong Kong, regardless of the alleged crime. This represents the greatest possible protection for Hong Kongers residing in the UK, safeguarding them from potential politically motivated cross-border suppression.

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Liam Yip

ALDC’s By-Election Report 14 August 2025

By Liam Yip | Fri 15th August 2025 - 5:11 pm

In Cardiff, a close-fought election between the Greens and Labour emerged, with the Green Party ultimately being victorious. Thank you to Irfan Latif and the local team for flying the Liberal Democrat flag.

Cardiff Council, Grangetown
Green Party: 818 (24.0%, +5.5)
Labour: 774 (22.7%, -24.8)
Plaid Cymru: 639 (18.7%, +0.2)
Reform UK: 495 (14.5%, new)
Propel: 327 (9.6%, +0.1)
Independent: 156 (4.6%, -2.1)
Conservative: 139 …

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey: “perilous” Alaska summit could see two of “most unreliable Presidents imaginable” carve up Ukraine

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th August 2025 - 10:30 pm

I expect most of us will be holding our breath as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska tomorrow. Heavens above, Trump doesn’t even know his own territory, saying on Monday that he was “going to Russia”, so the thought that he could carve up anyone else’s is really scary.

Ed Davey has  described the summit as a “perilous moment.”

This is a perilous moment for Europe as two of the most unreliable Presidents imaginable seem to think they can carve up Ukraine amongst themselves without any word from the Ukrainian people.

Even at this late hour I hope Trump reverses his position and invites Zelensky to Alaska.

Whatever happens the UK must stand with our European allies and continue to make sure that democratic Ukraine is in charge of its own destiny.

He also remembers the 20,000 children abducted by Russia during the war on Ukraine:

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Samuel Jackson

AI Chatbots should not play a role in our parliamentary democracy

By Samuel Jackson | Wed 13th August 2025 - 11:55 am

Last week, Mark Sewards, Leeds South West and Morley’s freshman MP, announced that he had created an AI chatbot version of himself, complete with a facsimile of his voice and an uncanny avatar. While Sewards has become the first MP to take such a step, this is not the first time that Neural Voice, the tech company behind the chatbot, has dabbled in politics; in 2024, they fielded an AI version of their chairman Steve Endacott as an Independent candidate in the Brighton Pavillion.

The West Yorkshire Labour MP said that his chatbot will “help strengthen the connection between an MP’s office and the constituents we serve” by allowing people to ask for help with local issues or policy queries and providing access to that support “24/7, 365 days a year”. However, this will likely have the opposite effect.

Prof Victoria Honeyman, a British politics lecturer at the University of Leeds, gave a nuanced verdict on Sewards’ chatbot. She said that if used to “answer simple messages, then most people would be relatively comfortable as we have in lots of different areas of our lives nowadays”, thus granting Sewards more time to focus on complicated casework. However, she conceded that it “might cause more upset” and “ people’s confidence in their MP” if mistakes are made when contending with more complicated, potentially emotionally challenging cases.

With Sewards admitting that his new chatbot is a “prototype”, he acknowledges that adjustments may be needed. It would be unfortunate if such adjustments were necessary as a result of of serious mistakes made by the AI that will negatively affect inquiring constituents. For a real-life example of AI failing under such circumstances, last year a bereaved Air Canada passenger (flying to attend his grandmother’s funeral) was misdirected by the chatbot to purchase a full price ticket rather than a bereavement discount ticket; having been told by the chatbot that he would be reimbursed the difference, Air Canada refused it. While this was an embarrassment for a private company, a community’s champion at Westminster making such mistakes would be a dereliction of duty. 

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Natalie Andrusyschyn

A blip in Trump and Putin’s relationship

By Natalie Andrusyschyn | Tue 12th August 2025 - 10:13 am

For decades Trump has been singing Putin’s praises, calling the 2014 annexation of Crimea “so smart” and his 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine “genius”. Since the beginning of his second term in office, he has been very friendly towards Putin. However, the last few days have seen Trump be less accommodating to the Kremlin. Trump reduced Putin’s ceasefire deadline, threatened sanctions, and positioned US nuclear submarines closer to Russia. Trump is clearly growing impatient with Putin’s unwillingness to end the war. Do Trump’s recent actions signal a meaningful change in the dynamic between Trump and Putin or are Trump’s threats empty and unlikely to have an impact on his cosy relationship with Putin?

Looking to the start of Trump’s second presidency, we have seen him, time and time again make concession after concession to Russia whilst rolling back US support for Ukraine. Trump refused to reproach Putin for invading Ukraine, voted alongside Russia, Belarus and North Korea against a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion, and his administration has held ‘peace’ talks with Putin without Zelenskyy. He has further acted in the Kremlin’s interests by stepping back from NATO, and undermining western consensus on the war.

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Liam Yip

ALDC by-election report, 7th August

By Liam Yip | Fri 8th August 2025 - 2:06 pm

In Llanelli, Reform UK were able to secure a decisive victory against Labour, who were attempting to defend the seat. Thank you to Justin Griffiths and the local team for flying the Liberal Democrat flag.

Carmarthenshire, Llangennech
Reform UK: 694 (43.1%, new)
Plaid Cymru: 489 (30.4%, -7.2)
Labour: 380 (23.6%, -38.8)
Liberal Democrats (Justin Griffiths): 26 (1.6%, new)
Conservative: 14 (0.9%, new)
Gwlad: 6 (0.4%, new)

Reform UK GAIN from Labour

Turnout: 39.37%

In County Durham, Reform UK were able to secure a convincing victory against Labour and two independents, marking the first time that Reform UK have successfully defended a seat. Thank you to Chukwuka Okuchukwu and the local team for flying the Liberal Democrat flag.

Durham CC, Easington & Shotton
Reform UK: 1,208 (46.7%, -3.5)
Labour: 523 (20.2%, +0.8)
Independent: 520 (20.1%, -1.6)
Independent: 179 (6.9%, new)
Green: 60 (2.3%, new)
Conservative: 47 (1.8%, -2.6)
Liberal Democrats (Chukwuka Okuchukwu): 27 (1.0%, -3.2)
Independent: 23 (0.9%, new)

Reform UK HOLD

Turnout: 21.7%

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NewsHound

Lib Link: Ed Davey – Brexit has been a resounding disaster. Starmer must find the courage to change course

By NewsHound | Wed 6th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Many party members will be very happy to see Ed Davey say out loud that Brexit is not working in a piece for the Guardian.

Our leader said:

Brexit isn’t working, and the British people know it. Poll after poll, including that unveiled this weekend by More In Common for the Sunday Times, shows that people are feeling the terrible damage caused by the deal forced upon us by Boris Johnson, Kemi Badenoch and the rest of the Conservative party, and want something different. The latest shows less than a third of Britons would vote to leave the EU if a referendum were repeated. There’s no doubt that fundamental change is needed. There’s no doubt the public will is there to make it happen. The question is: will Keir Starmer seize the moment and deliver it?

He urges Starmer to stop tinkering:

Of course, we know why Starmer has been reluctant to go further. He’s spooked by the combined threat of the Conservatives and Reform, both of whom are itching for the chance to plunge Britain back into the nasty Brexit wars of the past decade. Well, I say let them try. With so many serious problems in need of urgent solutions, the British people have absolutely no appetite for all that division and distraction, and they will have no truck with politicians who do.

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The Voice

Get ready for Autumn Conference – papers published

By The Voice | Mon 4th August 2025 - 7:33 pm

It’s just six weeks on Saturday until we all gather in Bournemouth for Autumn Conference.

Over the past few days, the party has published the final agenda, Conference reports and the outcome of the Policy Review. You can read them all here.

The four days of Conference will see debates on topics ranging from youth work to climate change to emergency care, transport, reducing harm from gambling, helping contaminated blood victims, giving Ukrainian children certainty in the UK and protecting women’s rights across the globe.

On Monday afternoon the Policy Review will be debated. This is the outcome of a year’s work by a group chaired by Ed Davey. It seeks to identify any areas where they think our policy needs to be updated in the run-up to the next election.

From the forward:

The Liberal Democrats’ purpose in British politics, however, is much
greater than just vanquishing what’s left of the Conservative Party and
being the careful scrutineers of Labour’s actions – crucial though those
jobs are. Our purpose is as it has always been, as it is spelt out in our
party’s constitution: to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society,
in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality
and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty,
ignorance or conformity.

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Liam Yip

ALDC by-election report, 31st July

By Liam Yip | Fri 1st August 2025 - 3:07 pm

In Barnstaple, we secured victory, successfully defending the seat. Well done to Josh Rutty and the local team for ensuring this seat remained in Liberal Democrats’ control.

North Devon DC, Barnstaple with Westacott
Liberal Democrats (Josh Rutty): 505 (40.5%, +0.5)
Reform UK: 383 (30.7%, new)
Conservative: 205 (16.4%, -6.1)
Green Party: 154 (12.3%, -2.4)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

Turnout: 22.27%

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