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Category Archives: Op-eds

The Scottish constitutional question

By John Waddell | Fri 24th July 2020 - 9:18 am

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The constitutional question has dominated Scottish Politics for years and shows little sign of going away. It’s something the Liberal Democrats should have total strength on – we have been interested in where power does and should lie for decades. Decentralisation in a system of cross-national cooperative government is in our DNA.

However, this period of constitutional obsession and wrangling has done little to support our party. Many across the UK may feel a similar sense of exhaustion talking about Brexit that we feel in Scotland about independence, except we have been doing it for nearly 10 years, not just the last 4.

It is for this reason that many in the Scottish Liberal Democrats feel tired and done with talking about the SNP, wishing that we would take a different stance to our pro-UK position. This often comes with the accusation that we risk looking like Tory-lite and we must talk about federalism as an alternative – a proposal that no Liberal Democrat I have ever met disagrees with. However, we also run the risk then of looking to be insufficiently pro-UK, or that we have qualifications to our support of the UK, which is unacceptable to the majority of our base or floating voters and risks alienating us from the Scottish electorate even further. 5 MSPs and 4 MPs are better than none.

However, both of these suggestions miss the point. Brexit and Scottish Independence are symptoms of a much larger problem. Those that would vote for these, come what may, are far from the majority of the Scottish or UK population. Focusing on the constitutional wrangling of the UK does not address that so many people vote for these because they feel they have nothing to lose, in an economic system of stagnant wages, few opportunities, an ageing working population lowering the promotional opportunities for them to advance. A housing market has allowed house prices and rents to rise for the majority of property owners, but priced out the young and low income earners from saving and buying a home of their own.

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Tagged Scotland and snp | 14 Comments

Unconscious bias in the party

By Becky Forrest | Thu 23rd July 2020 - 5:48 pm

As an evidence based party we are more than aware that minority groups may be discriminated against, both unconsciously and unintentionally. This is one of the reasons the party runs unconscious bias training.

As human beings we are picking up social cues all the time and they inform our judgement, whether we realise it or not. As was demonstrated in the orchestra research, blind auditions were not enough when auditory cues, such as the distinctive tap of heels on a hard floor, were still present. But in removing both audio and visual cues to judge purely on merit, this has contributed to the increased hiring of female musicians.

I recently asked for the gender split of our most recent unconscious bias training. It was approximately 50:50. Sounds great doesn’t it! Except not particularly when you think about our current gender split in terms of membership.

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Tagged equality and unconscious bias | 11 Comments

Centre interviews the Liberal Democrat leadership contenders (Part 2: Ed Davey)

By Torrin Wilkins | Thu 23rd July 2020 - 3:00 pm

In this podcast we covered a huge amount. It included academic selection at the age of 11, Academies, Brexit, electric cars, UBI and lots more. Below I have looked at some of the areas in the discussion that I found particularly of interest. You can listen to the full podcast here.

The first thing was selection at the age of 11 which has created grammar schools, secondary moderns and in some cases technical colleges. In this we debated at length about the system and its issues with the low proportion of SEN and disabled students in these schools. We also discussed how it could be fixed with Ed suggesting ideas such as grants and including this as an element of Ofsted reports. Whilst this is a step in the right direction I am very much of the opinion, as I said in the podcast, that selection should be scraped as I don’t see any way to actually get around this issue. However, I was very happy that Ed was open to reviewing the issue in the future, not least as we have a paper coming out on this issue in a few months.

The second area I found interesting in our discussion was, of course. Brexit. As I mention in the podcast, this is the second time I have debated with Ed on this issue, the other time being the Victoria Derbyshire debate between Ed and Jo. Once again Ed showed he was passionate on the issue of Brexit but had moved towards accepting of a softer Brexit for the time being. However, I was a little worried at the mentions of a “Norway +” or a “Norway +++” model, something not really possible as it would require trying to simultaneously apply EFTA and EU free trade deals. I do still have some worries that if we are to sell a coherent policy on the EU to the public, it needs to be thoroughly researched first.

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Tagged ed davey and leadership 2020 | 12 Comments

From Russia with Loathing

By Tom Brake | Thu 23rd July 2020 - 12:30 pm

I got my first taste of Russia and the other side of the Iron Curtain on a schoolboy visit to Moscow and Odessa in 1976. Brezhnev was the Soviet Leader and the Soviet Union was in the middle of a hot Cold War with the West.

The contrast between East and West could not have been greater.

In Russia, apart from in the hard currency shops, consumer goods were in noticeably short supply, as was anything edible except for seasonal produce. The efforts of shadowy black marketeers, who descended on our group at every touristic stopover, whispering ‘buy jeans, dollars, chewing gum’ would have done little to plug the supply shortages.

In hotels, we were under constant surveillance, with a babushka sitting at a desk, at the end of every corridor. The promised day with a Russian family, the much-anticipated highlight of our trip, was cancelled without explanation.

It was only on a visit to a secondary school that we detected some common experiences shared with our Russian peers – an interest in heavy metal bands Led Zeppelin, Motorhead and Van Halen, and scruffy torn denims.

Returning to Moscow last year, over forty years later, jeans were available in all sizes and price ranges, chewing gum could be purchased in every flavour imaginable and the supermarkets were bulging with produce flown in from around the world.

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged uk russia relations | 8 Comments

100% face masks in English shops on Friday? They’re having a laugh…..

By Paul Walter | Wed 22nd July 2020 - 3:00 pm

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We’re sailing breezily towards Friday when, suddenly, everybody is meant to be wearing face masks in shops.

It’s not going to happen.

I see hardly any face masks being worn out at the moment.

To expect a sudden pivot on Friday is just ridiculous.

The police aren’t going to enforce the rule to any significant extent.

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Tagged Covid-19 and face masks | 130 Comments

An opinion piece

By Tahir Maher | Wed 22nd July 2020 - 12:00 pm

Both the Tories and Labour have a dominant elected represented presence across the UK on many different bodies. Because of their current dominance, people almost expect that they should be represented. Such prevalence has allowed some poor performance, by these parties, to be masked/accepted as the public find it difficult to see beyond, what has become, their own basic political norms.

The Lib Dems message is not being heard. We live in a liberal country that has liberal values, a liberal outlook on life and politics, and there is one real party that represents those values – the Liberal Democrats. We can’t get aligned with these dominate traits that the voters live by. You do have to ask the question why?

I am not going to go off on some socio-political anthropologically discussion, simply as I am not qualified to do so. But I do want to look at why we are not being heard or are more relevant across the country.

There are many reasons – not enough reach in the ethnic minority’s communities – yes OK, we have rightly supported more women candidates in the party for internal and external positions (although I would say where we have replaced white middle-class men, in most cases, with white middle-class women and not women who are care workers, single mothers, from working-class families etc.), we don’t have any traction in urban housing estates and so on.

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Tagged councillors and Local government | 48 Comments

We don’t talk – really talk – enough about race

By Sarah Cheung Johnson | Tue 21st July 2020 - 2:02 pm

We don’t talk enough about race. Properly talk, that is.

It’s become obvious, as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has come to the fore with the murder of George Floyd in the United States, that, whilst many of us who consider ourselves liberals have a desire to be anti-racist and create a society where your skin colour does not determine your life chances, we lack the language and the understanding of how to achieve this.

We excel, instead, in talking around the edges of it: about statues, colonial history and political history.

If you agree, I would heartily recommend the book: “Me and White Supremacy” by Layla F Saad – as an essential read, whether you are white or not. It has given me a language, terms and understanding of issues around race and discussing race that have long troubled me, that I have had no easy way to express.

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Tagged chinese liberal democrats, institutional racism, race equality and racism | 21 Comments

Neo-liberalism is deceitfully plundering society

By Steve Trevethan | Tue 21st July 2020 - 9:30 am

We face interactive networks of problems. Some were and are easily perceived, some not. All need analysis and addressing.

The U.K. is amongst the worst performing nations in the protection of its citizens against the current plague.

A chronic cause is under-investment in national health infrastructures.

An immediate cause is serial governmental ineptitude.

A foundation cause is the power of the theory of Neo-liberalism, with its policies of social programme cuts, the transfer of wealth to the wealthiest, the reduction of the costs to “Big Business” and its associates, the opening up of public infrastructures for profitable exploitation etc.

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Tagged Covid-19 and neo-liberalism | 81 Comments

UPDATED: Watch Ed and Layla at hustings

By The Voice | Sun 19th July 2020 - 3:45 pm

This post will be regularly updated with links to recordings of Ed and Layla at the many hustings events that are taking place.

I’ll update it and re-post it whenever there is something new to add.

First up, the very first formal hustings, with the Social Liberal Forum on Saturday 11th July.

The most recent hustings took place on 1st August – the Norfolk County

Also this week, the Yorkshire and the Humber event

And a themed hustings – the Green Agenda, from Wednesday 29th July

The first of the party’s big set piece hustings, on jobs and the economy took place on Wednesday 15th July:

More events under the cut. First South Central from 11 July

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Tagged ed davey, featured, layla moran and leadership election 2020 | 10 Comments

Why Scottish Liberal Democrats oppose a second Indyref

By Fred Mackintosh | Sun 19th July 2020 - 8:55 am

Last Sunday, Lib Dem Voice published my article on how the Scottish Liberal Democrats should promote polices that use the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament create a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland. Some commented that since Brexit has happened Liberal Democrats in Scotland should pivot to support for independence, or at least put the question back to the people of Scotland. I thought it might help to set out some of reasons why Scottish Liberal Democrats oppose a second referendum and want to keep Scotland in a reformed and federal United Kingdom.

The preamble to our constitution commits us to promoting promote a democratic federal framework for the United Kingdom. Independence is not the same as Home Rule in a Federal UK and it should come as no surprise when we say that. We should also learn from David Cameron what can happen if you support a referendum about something you oppose.

Over the past three decades the Scottish Party has successfully helped deliver devolution and home rule for Scotland within the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has substantial powers. Those powers should be used to address the problems our country faces now.

Politics is about choosing what to spend time, money and effort on. Choosing to talk about the constitution means that other issues will inevitably be neglected. In March 2017 the head of the Civil Service in Scotland warned Scottish Ministers that preparing for another independence referendum would see de-prioritisation of domestic policies. This is a real issue in SNP run Scotland. Standards have slipped. Scottish schools have declined in international rankings, college places have been slashed and the Scottish Government has failed to meet its own targets for the provision of nursery places. Another referendum and potentially the creation of a new state will suck attention and money from almost every other problem we face. Whether you’re a parent with a child at school, a patient waiting for surgery or a homeless person in desperate need of a roof over your head, you don’t have the luxury of years of more constitutional wrangling.

But what about Brexit? We know the arguments against Brexit. Separating from our largest trading partner will harm our economy for years to come, reduce opportunities for young people, for science, research and development and make it harder to tackle Climate Change. The debates about the Northern Ireland backstop have highlighted the problems a new land border between the EU and a non-EU member state. The real financial cost of Brexit is much larger than any ‘savings’ from ending EU budget contributions.

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Tagged federalism, Scotland and scottish independence | 26 Comments

The Independent View: The con(s) of student fees and the increase in debt since 2002

By Roger D'Ornellas | Sat 18th July 2020 - 11:01 am

In 1998, Tony Blair introduced University Student fees with the assertion that the “poor” should not have to contribute (through taxation) to University Student fees for graduates who would likely become “wealthy” as a result of University education.

There are about 42 million people in the UK of working age ( 16 to 1 day short of 65 ). About 20% do not wish to work (inactive), about 4% are unemployed, about 20% do not earn enough to pay income tax, which leaves 56% who do pay income tax. Split that 56% into an upper half and a lower half. From this table (Income tax for % groups), the upper half pays approx 90% of income tax, the lower half 10%. The government receives taxes other than from Income (e.g. NI, Indirect taxes such as VAT, Corporation tax) – almost all 42 million people of working age will pay some of these taxes. Assume, therefore, that the “upper half” of income tax payers pays 75% of the total tax and the “lower half” pays 25% (for the purposes of this post ignore the rest).

Education spending in 2014 (i.e. it is after 1998, so university students are already paying some portion of their fees) was approx £84.7 billion, consisting of £10.4 on Universities, £37 on secondary schools, £26.1 on primary, £5.2 on under 5’s and £6 on “other” (all billion). The “lower half” would pay 0.25 x 84.7 = £21.1 billion of the £84.7.

The spending on secondary, primary and under 5’s = 37 + 26.1 + 5.2 = £68.1billion. If it is assumed that all of that £21.1 billion goes into secondary, primary and under 5’s, that covers only 31% of that spending but everyone uses that part of the education service. So the “lower half”, say, is half the users but covers only 31% of the spending even without the university and “other” spending. I won’t try to argue what percentage is fair for the “lower half” to pay but on this basis, the “upper half” is paying 69% plus all the university and other spending. I am not aware of Tony Blair ever justifying his assertion for introducing university student fees.

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Tagged tony blair and tuition fees | 32 Comments

What is in a name?

By Mark Hofman | Sat 18th July 2020 - 9:01 am

Lib Dem run Watford Borough Council this week voted unanimously to pass a motion in favour of reviewing our town’s street names with links to slave and colonial history.

The Black Lives Matter Campaign and others have rightly highlighted the harm slavery, indentured labour and exploitation inflicted on individuals and whole societies during the cruel period of slavery – the legacy of which continues to this day.

It is important to remember that sickness and destitution were rife amongst slaves, there was a significant need for acclimatisation for immigrants to any slave colony, however, many slave owners failed to do this and as a result thousands of slaves died within weeks of arrival.

Others eventually succumbed to the poor working conditions on plantations and within other slave roles. Slaves were literally worked to death.

As part of the slave trade whole families were imported from Hindu, Muslim, African and European cultures, living together in barracks in often squalid conditions with minimal privacy.

Many slaves committed suicide, with trade unions and strikes made illegal by the governments of the West Indies.

Even indentured slaves had to seek permission to leave their plantations, corporal punishments were enforced for crimes including insulting the plantation owner.

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Tagged history, human rights, Local government, slavery and watford borough council | 14 Comments

A liberal lion not alone – in support of Maajid Nawaz

By Lorenzo Cherin | Fri 17th July 2020 - 7:15 pm

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The Liberal Democrats are not a bitter and twisted lot. The, or we, are not a lot at all. There are not as many as two larger groupings, but we avoid groupthink and would think of ourselves as a lot of individuals, together. Or not always together. Liberals, by nature, are good soloists as well as sociable choristers! Perhaps I am preaching to the choir, I think many surely must know what I mean. When a Liberal Democrat steps back a bit, goes his or her own way, this party do not say, as others seem to, ” good riddance to bad rubbish!” We are far too keen on recycling for this approach!

Very recently a Liberal Democrat withdrew from our party. He had not been active as a member since taking up more independent broadcasting, but he had been a Parliamentary candidate, in the worst election for this party, 2015. His reasons for not currently wanting to continue his membership are, it seems, to work cross party, on serious issues that are above party. He appears to be wanting to be more assertive on things he is vociferous about, and to maintain a distance as well as not bring the party into controversy, if he needs to criticise politicians. But whether in or out of the Liberal Democrats, he is one of the strongest proponents of liberalism. His parting comments were, that his departure is not a divorce and that he will always love the Liberal Democrats and send liberals our way.

Maajid Nawaz has been on a quite epic journey. It is one that we should both relate to and be impressed with. He made the journey from Essex to Egypt, from Islamism to liberalism, from liberalism to the Liberal Democrats, from the Liberal Democrats to where he is today.

He is on a hunger strike. He is doing it to demand action on behalf of and for the plight of the Uyghur people in China. He wants citizens of the UK to sign a petition to get a debate in Parliament to consider sanctions against the powerful in China. His is specifically a struggle against a government, for a people, not against the people of China. As one who is a prominent voice within the BAME community of the UK, he is very clear to express it as what it is and what it is not.This is an issue about humanity, as I explain on this site, recently, that is important.

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Tagged maajid nawaz and Uyghur people | 20 Comments

Observations of an expat: The Thucydides Trap

By Tom Arms | Fri 17th July 2020 - 3:02 pm

Huawei, Hong Kong, Uighurs, the South China Sea, Chinese economic and military growth, “Kung Flu”, economic crisis, cyber-attacks, intellectual property theft, trade wars, sanctions, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping … are all combining to raise the spectre that the world is marching eyes wide open into the Thucydides Trap.

What, you may ask is the Thucydides Trap? It is a political/military term coined by American academic Graham Allison in 2012 to warn against the inevitability of war between China and America.

It was based on the work of the Greek historian Thucydides who explained that the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was the result of a growing power (Athens) rising to challenge the supremacy of the established power (Sparta) to such an extent that the only possible resolution was war.

The scenario has been used to explain the causes of several conflicts throughout history including World War One (Germany challenging Britain) and World War Two in Asia (Japan challenging the US).

Not all of the contests have resulted in an exchange of blows. The Soviet challenge was successfully contained at the Cold War stage. This was partly because of the nuclear-based Mexican stand-off and partly because the Soviet system failed to develop an economic model that challenged American supremacy.

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Tagged china, hong kong, huawei and usa | 5 Comments

Liberal Democrats – the Interdependence Party

By Adrian May | Fri 17th July 2020 - 10:22 am

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One of the things I like about our Party is our willingness to bounce ideas off one another.

On a Zoom meeting of our local party Exec this evening, once the formal business was out-the-way, we socialised over an optional drink. This was no epic drinking session of lore in the making, to be sung-about to our as-yet unspawned grandchildren, but a glass was nonetheless raised.

The frustrations of campaigning in Scotland, where the national dialogue is no longer Left vs Right, but Unionism vs Nationalism, came to the fore. In this common parlance, Liberalism doesn’t get much of a look-in. You might as well try to talk to people in the street about Confucianism.

Ask people why they voted SNP in their local council election, and they’ll go glassy-eyed and start bandying around words such as ‘Independence’ and ‘Freedom’, meanwhile their bins go unemptied. Even on a national scale, failings in Education and Health get brushed aside for this snake-oil cure for all ills, this panacea that is Independence. How exactly this constitutional change is supposed to improve their lives… well, let’s just say the detail starts to get a bit thin.

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Tagged Scotland and snp | 6 Comments

Isolation diary update: Thinking about the future

By Mary Reid | Thu 16th July 2020 - 5:00 pm

I am very pleased that the Government is finally going to enforce the use of masks in shops. Those of us who are shielding will be in lock down until the end of the month, but we will only emerge cautiously after that. Don’t forget that we are at high risk of dying from Covid-19 if we catch it.

People have been telling us that in the town centres social distancing is not being observed, masks are not being worn and many shoppers are flouting the rules about queuing and following routes. Don’t they realise that they are condemning some of us to permanent lock down?

Having got that off my chest I have been thinking about what needs to change from now on.

But first, this is what has changed, hopefully permanently:

Neighbourliness – WhatsApp groups for roads have sprung up; neighbours have got to know each other better and have been helping each other out.
Black Lives Matter – the timing of this in the middle of a pandemic has focused our attention. I have heard this said several times: “I am reading to educate myself on the issue”. There is a widespread new understanding of privilege and unconscious bias, as well as institutional/structural racism. And people who have responded with “All lives matter” have been gently corrected.
Online tools – we now all recognise the usefulness of Zoom and Microsoft teams and will no doubt continue to use them where they bring added value.
Value of care workers – we sort-of knew that they were important; now we really know.
How we all love the NHS – I found Danny Boyle’s tribute to the NHS at the 2012 Olympics a bit puzzling. I don’t now.

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Tagged isolation diary | 16 Comments

Centre interviews the Liberal Democrat leadership contenders (Part 1: Layla Moran)

By Torrin Wilkins | Thu 16th July 2020 - 3:02 pm

This week Centre sat down with Layla Moran to explore why she wants to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats. Below are my thoughts on the interview and some of the key takeaways. However, if you want the full interview, you can find it here.

In the first part of the discussion, Layla spoke about her upbringing, how she travelled around the world during her childhood and her love of physics.

We also spoke about her proposals for a Universal Basic Income. Layla supports a UBI of “£40-50 a week for an adult, maybe a bit more if there’s children” although programs such as housing benefits would remain in place. In the Compass model that would give adults a slightly higher £60 per week, this means raises in Income Tax and National Insurance to generate an extra £81 billion for the government. That’s a sizable sum of money when such an increase would almost double education spending from 2019-2020 levels. We need to decide if this is the best place to spend new revenue such as this.

I am also concerned as to whether this will be enough for people to live on, especially if it ends up around £40 a week. I spoke to an Asylum Seeker the other week who was struggling to live off £40 a week even with free accommodation. Therefore, I do worry whether £40-50 will be enough and whether this is really the best way to spend new tax revenue.

Whilst I have concerns over the specifics, there were also some particularly good points Layla made when talking about UBI. Even for someone like me who is sceptical she sold the idea very well as if it were a form of people pulling together after COVID-19.

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Tagged layla moran and leadership 2020 | 12 Comments

The Arts and humanity’s cause

By Lorenzo Cherin | Thu 16th July 2020 - 12:08 pm

For many years, I have been at what is today referred to as the intersection, in this case, of culture and politics. As someone who has worked in different ways and continues to in the cultural area, I have always seen the connection. As one, also involved directly in politics, more so. I particularly want to convey this on this excellent political site, contributing so regularly as I do, and appreciating very much all those involved.

There is overlap, and rapport between, cultural politics and political culture. This is true of the theatrical stage and on the political stage. Some time ago I did something about the need to link these, in keeping with liberal values, and contribute more as a result. It is a project in development. It is The Arts and Humanity’s Cause. A website set up and given shape is now joined by a channel which it would be marvellous if people could subscribe to on YouTube.

There is much to do from now in a situation where, as a result of the pandemic, there is a significant effect on livelihoods as well as lives, a cultural politics that needs greater awareness, and a political culture that needs greatly to change.

I see the scope of the connections that can and should be further explored. I have just partnered with the Ustinov Prejudice Awareness Forum. This is a forum which I contribute to, and work regularly with, as a member and writer. This terrific project was started by Sir Peter Ustinov, who was amongst many things a Liberal all his life, to continue his legacy as a man of many parts in the arts and as a humanitarian. He set it up originally at Durham University, where he was Chancellor. It continues online as a part of the Ustinov Network, which is an international effort with Sir Peter’s son, artist Igor Ustinov, at the helm. As someone of immigrant origin, with different aspects to his multinational background and family, the Ustinov efforts feel poignant and personal – to understand and eradicate prejudice. Yet these are efforts we can all, here, relate to and take up ourselves.

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Tagged arts | 8 Comments

On cancel culture

By Matt Harwood | Thu 16th July 2020 - 9:53 am

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A tenet of the liberal standpoint is freedom of speech and ideas – that debate with reasoned arguments is essential to progress and democratic participation. This seems to be a view that is being tested with what many call the “culture wars” of the moment, centred around racism (historic and current), as well as trans rights.

The charge is that activists on various sides look to deny people with opposing views the opportunity to express them. From pressuring institutions to cancel speakers, to hounding the opposition off Twitter, impassioned campaigners are trying to redraw the boundaries of what is acceptable and “up for debate”, and what is beyond discussion.

As liberals, where is that line drawn? And, further, is it OK for that line to be moved with the prevailing culture?

My gut reaction to debate being closed down is that it is unhealthy to do so when looking at the overall benefit to society. A free market of ideas is what helps us get to a better place, to make progress. But it’s only fair to test that – what would I feel uncomfortable about encouraging a debate about? Can I imagine allowing, as an extreme example, a pro/anti debate on paedophilia on a University campus?

To be honest, I can’t. To allow the suggestion that both sides would have a 50/50 split of credence would not seem reasonable. My criteria here isn’t the law (it should be perfectly acceptable to argue something should be legal), it’s the severity of disgust and opposition to the ‘motion’ I feel. Is this a good basis for trying to deny someone avenues to talk about their point of view?

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Tagged liberalism | 27 Comments

Two options

By Mark Lavender | Wed 15th July 2020 - 12:15 pm

I never thought that I would end up having a fear about my job! I currently have two part-time jobs. One, there is no problem at all, but the second has become quite a worry. That is because it is working behind the bar in a social club, and I have type1 diabetes, which I have had for 34 years.

I have pretty much had the concern about starting back behind the bar since we went into lockdown. As the months have flown by, and more of the restrictions have been lifted, I have realised that I have a constant niggle in the back of my head!!

With certain things, I am not so perceptive, but with other things, I am extremely observant. None so more than when I have been out shopping, or for prescriptions. This constant niggle, which I have become very aware of, is from my observations of people while I have been out, which is once a week. Are they wearing a mask, have they sanitised their hands when walking through the shop door, how far away from others are they, and so on.

My impression is that a lot of people have pretty much gone back to the way we were before isolation. I thought that might be where I am currently living in England, but after observing what is happening around the rest of the UK and the world, this mentality does not seem to be restricted to just where I live.

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Tagged Covid-19, diabetics and Lock down | 4 Comments

The Tories’ Decision on IR35 Reform Will Impact More People Than You Think

By Nathan Sutherland | Wed 15th July 2020 - 9:15 am

Unfortunately, despite the Lib Dem call for the IR35 reform to be scrapped, the Government has announced it will go ahead with the reform from April 2021.

Before I get onto the effects it will have on the Self-Employed, let us go over a little background. In the 2019 General Election, the Liberal Democrats were the first to address the IR35 reform, saying they would review it. Ed Davey said it would “undermine the flexibility of self-employed people”. They were followed by Labour, who pledged to halt the IR35 reforms, then went back on it, then changed their minds again. This is only one part of Labour’s confusing relationship with IR35 as it was the idea of Gordon Brown in the first place! The Conservatives, “the party of business”, worried contractors with their silence over the issue until Sajid Javid announced that if the Tories retained their Government, they would review the IR35 reform, it was more a last-minute vote grab than a policy.

Anyway, back to now, what effects will this reform have on self-employed? The aspect of the IR35 reforms with the biggest impact has been the responsibility of employment status being on the client/employer/agent rather than what was previously the responsibility of the contractor/employee to evidence.

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Tagged hmrc, IR35 and The Tories | 17 Comments

Post-18 education – a chance for the Lib Dems to make a real impact?

By John Marriott | Tue 14th July 2020 - 1:02 pm

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The Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson MP, has recently placed the Blair philosophy of ‘further education’ in doubt by saying that we are sending too many young people to ‘university’. You might say that this isn’t that surprising coming from a Tory, albeit one who was educated in a state comprehensive school.

However, quite a few people have been thinking this for years and some, like me, have been prepared to say it out loud. Does that make us bad people? Have we perhaps lost our way as a nation when it comes to equipping our young people with the knowledge and skills not only to make a success of their lives but also to make a valuable contribution to our nation’s future economic success?

We can’t keep relying on other countries to provide us with qualified people, whether they be doctors, nurses, scientists, teachers and engineers or bricklayers, plumbers and joiners. We have got to start producing more of our own home-grown material and not expect other countries to provide us with the qualified people we undoubtedly need. The same also surely applies in this uncertain age to manufactured goods.

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Tagged comprehensive schools, higher education, polytechnics, secondary modern schools and university | 23 Comments

Every so often, it’s worth having a look at this table…

By Paul Walter | Tue 14th July 2020 - 10:23 am

OK, I know that countries have very different ways of reporting deaths from Covid-19.

But this table, from Worldometer (excluding a couple of micro-states), gives us some idea how the UK is doing in terms of Covid-19 deaths per million of population.

Badly.

We are second in the world for the rate of deaths, after Belgium.

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Tagged coronavirus and Covid-19 | 68 Comments

End of Triple Lock in sight? Why half a million pensioners are not concerned!

By Colin Bloodworth | Mon 13th July 2020 - 3:42 pm

In 2011 the coalition government introduced a formula that would ensure that state pensions would henceforth be automatically protected against the vagaries of inflation. They introduced a so-called triple lock which would guarantee that the state pension would be increased every year by the highest of the following:

Average earnings
Price inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index
2.5%

Successive governments have honoured this formula (which produced an increase of 3.9% for pensioners in April this year) and the conservative manifesto in 2019 promised it would be maintained for the following five years.

But then came the coronavirus!

This has heaped a heavy financial toll …

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Tagged international, overseas citizens, pensions and triple lock | 11 Comments

Cummings’ little knowledge is a dangerous thing and must be challenged

By Sam Martin | Mon 13th July 2020 - 9:40 am

The government’s narrow base of evidence for its radical agenda combined with ongoing attacks on humanities and the social sciences is a worrying trend. Liberal Democrats can and should oppose it. Much as I was dismayed by the Conservative election win last year I naively thought that having someone like Cummings, interested in ideas and sceptical of sacred cows, might at least create a space for some creative policy thinking. I was even intrigued by the scattergun ‘weirdos and misfits’ job advert. I was wrong.

Cummings’ relationship to knowledge is far from benign. A Twitter take I saw suggests the …

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Tagged dominic cummings | 12 Comments

SNP divisions on Brexit make independence less likely

By Nathan Sutherland | Sun 12th July 2020 - 12:55 pm

It feels as though from the minute that Scotland voted No to independence in 2014 the SNP have been seeking “IndyRef2”.

The independence debate in Scotland isn’t just whether you want to be part of the UK anymore, it is whether Scotland will re-join the EU if they become independent.

Although revoking article 50 was a part of SNP’s 2019 General election manifesto, their party isn’t united on the Brexit front. In fact over a third of SNP voters voted for Brexit. I suppose they are staying true to the party’s isolationism.

The reason I’m mentioning this is it now makes the independence debate more difficult for those on the Yes side due to the fact that some want Scotland to re-join the EU if they became independent and some would rather Scotland become separated from both the UK and the EU.

Whether Scotland would be allowed to re-join the EU is a debatable issue in itself and even if Scotland were to re-join, it wouldn’t be the same relationship as the UK had with the EU prior to Brexit.

The SNP will cause controversy either way they choose to go but are most likely going to re-join the EU(if they can), as over half of their party voted to remain.

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Tagged brexit and scottish independence | 18 Comments

Scottish Liberal Democrats trial new virtual conference – 3 top tips from me

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 12th July 2020 - 10:55 am

I spent most of yesterday glued to various screens. I went to Social Liberal Forum’s leadership hustings in the morning and in the afternoon, we had the Scottish Lib Dems’ virtual special conference. Thanks to Paul McGarry for the screenshots.

Here, Willie Rennie and Alistair Carmichael are interviewed by Environment spokesperson Rebecca Bell, watched by convener Sheila Ritchie:

Chair Jenni Lang watches while LGBT+ Exec member Fraser Graham speaks on the diversity motion:

And here are John Ferry and Katy Gordon putting Layla and Ed through their paces:

We had a couple of items of actual business – a motion on diversity for the elections next year and the report on a reference back from a policy motion, which couldn’t wait any longer. We haven’t had a proper Conference since Spring last year. The election did away with our Autumn Conference last year and the pandemic scuppered Spring Conference in May.

We were the pioneers for the Lib Dems in using the platform Hopin, which the party has acquired for the Federal Conference due to take place from 25-28 September.

Massive thanks are due to Paul McGarry, the Scottish Conference Convener, Megan Wiseman and Paul Moat from Scottish HQ who set everything up. Federal Conference will have people to do that professionally, but they did a great job. Though there were a few testing problems with the tech, they got them sorted and we got all the business done.

The chairs and aides were based in Scottish HQ, all appropriately socially distanced bar the two from the same household.

The agenda provided two debates and two keynote events so there was a good mix. We had one procedural motion, a suspension of standing orders, and an amendment for each motion.

We used a separate voting system called mi-voice, but I think that for Federal Conference we’ll be voting in Hopin. That was a bit glitchy, but we got there.

As we were all attending from our homes, there was bound to be some background noise at some point. Usually it’s my dogs causing various sorts of mayhem, but on this occasion, it was the gorgeous Thor and Bella who did what every self-respecting dog does when a delivery driver turns up at their house. They didn’t realise that their mum, Cllr Fiona Dryburgh, was making her debut conference speech.

Top Tips

From yesterday’s experience, I’d say that there were three top tips for attendees to the Federal event in the Autumn.

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Tagged featured, hopin and scottish conference | 5 Comments

Building Scotland back better

By Fred Mackintosh | Sun 12th July 2020 - 8:55 am

The next Scottish Parliament election on 6 May 2021 will be a major test for the Scottish Liberal Democrats. With some recent polls suggesting increased support for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom the stakes could not be higher.

We opposed Brexit and oppose Scotland leaving the United Kingdom. Another independence referendum would be a massive distraction from sorting out the problems Scotland faces.

We must continue to make the passionate, emotional and economical case for a reformed United Kingdom. People want to vote for success, for hope of a better future and for people who aspire to make a difference. We need to show how using the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament will enable Scotland to be built back better.

The Scottish Party is about to consult members about the shape of our 2021 manifesto. It is worth setting out a handful of ideas that could, if the Scottish Government devoted its whole attention to them, make Scotland a fairer, greener and more prosperous place to live and do so by giving more power to local communities.

In 2017 the First Minister declared that education was her “top priority”, but Scottish schools have declined in international rankings and the Scottish Government has failed to meet its own targets for the provision of nursery places. The damage done to our education system will reduce the opportunities available to our children and hold our country back.

The Liberal Democrats long campaigned for a penny on Income Tax for education. We should actually make Education the top priority for government once again. Education is our way to a high-wage, high-skill economy where inequality becomes largely a thing of the past. It is a scandal that most of Scotland’s secondary schools only allow children to take six subjects at Nat5 level (the equivalent of GSCE in England). That must change.

We could give more power to schools and colleges, local school clusters and councils to come up with new ideas that meet local needs and help raise attainment. In an environment where the UK Government is talking of increased public spending, we could use Barnet consequentials to increase school budgets, recruit more teachers and support staff and make the Pupil Equity Fund (the Scottish equivalent of the Pupil Premium) permanent and more effective. Scotland used to legitimately claim to have one of the best education systems in the world. We need to recover that reputation.

The pandemic has shown how our society pushes stress and risk onto the shoulders of those who find it harder to bear. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for reform of mental health provision, so it is treated with the same urgency as physical health. We should make that change. Holyrood must also make a massive investment in new affordable and social housing to end homelessness and ensure that everyone lives in the home they need. We should simplify and speed up the programme to insulate every home in Scotland, cut carbon emissions and end fuel poverty.

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Tagged featured, holyrood elections 2021, Scotland and scottish parliament elections 2021 | 15 Comments

Who gains from Rishi Sunak’s Summer Economic Statement?

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Sat 11th July 2020 - 11:30 am

It is easy to criticise Rishi Sunak’s Summer Economic Statement for not doing enough. The Chancellor had a difficult task to assess what size of economic stimulus would be effective.

His main aim was apparently to create jobs for those who had lost them or will be losing them soon. But the Statement.is very disappointing because it doesn’t deal with the realities of the situation for lots of businesses. Social distancing is very likely still to be in place after October, so it just will not be possible for many businesses to provide their services to as many customers as before lockdown.

He should have included a new coronavirus staff retention scheme (turnover based). It should have provided a proportion (say 80%) of the difference between the takings of a business in a month compared to the relevant month in 2019, for businesses that can demonstrate that because of social distancing they can’t deal with the same number of customers.

Rishi Sunak reported that £4.6 billion of consumer debt has been paid off and households have increased their bank deposits by £25.6 billion. This means there is the potential for more than £30 billion (about 1.5% of last year’s GDP) to be spent into the economy when households have confidence restored.

With an economy valued at £2000 billion I believe the maximum economic growth per year with which the UK can normally cope is about £60 billion. Therefore an economic stimulus of £30 billion at this stage is about right.

Instead of allocating up to £9.4 billion for his Job Retention Bonus scheme, I think Rishi Sunak should have used the amount to increase all working-age benefits such as Universal Credit, Family Tax Credit, Jobseekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance by £20 a week, the same value as his temporary increase of Universal Credit and Family Tax Credit in March. This would have targeted the money to the poorest in society who are most likely to spend it and to the areas where more of these people live. Giving employers £1000 per worker retained is not going to do much to encourage them to retain the most marginal workers, and will do very little if anything to increase demand in the economy.

A lot of the £5.6 billion for infrastructure projects is not new money and includes maintenance projects. £900 million is for shovel-ready projects in England in 2020-21 and 2021-22. But some of this, maybe the majority, will not be spent until the next financial year. We must hope that most of the £5.6 billion will go into the areas worst affected by job losses.

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Tagged coronavirus, economy and summer economic statement | 125 Comments

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