Category Archives: Op-eds

Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Baking cookies

By Mary Reid | Sat 28th March 2020 - 4:59 pm

I don’t really bake. I love cooking meals but I haven’t made a cake or pastry for years. I have had a lifetime battle with my weight so I find it easier to avoid temptation by just not baking.

These days, like everyone else, I am trying to be very careful with the food in my cupboard, fridge and freezer, and I have time on my hands so I can try new recipes. Nothing is being wasted; oldish vegetables are being turned into soup rather than being thrown out. Sometimes my meals are like the invention challenge on MasterChef  – now what can I do with some pak choi, pineapple and parmesan cheese?

So when I found half a bag of flour, some muscovado sugar and half a jar of peanut butter in the cupboard I wondered what I could make with them that didn’t involve eggs (which I am keeping for omelettes). So I present to you peanut butter cookies. I sort of followed a recipe, adding in quite a lot of butter, and they actually taste good. I need to ration them out a bit so most of them have gone into the freezer for now.

Talking about food, I spotted this post on the BBC: Food wholesalers offer online orders to sell stock. Food wholesalers supply restaurants and pubs, but are now turning to home sales during the closures.

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John Marriott

When politics really does take a back seat

By John Marriott | Sat 28th March 2020 - 1:00 pm

Professor David Runciman, writing in the Guardian this week, may be right about a layer of politics being stripped away in this current crisis and, as he describes it, there being “a trade off between personal liberty and collective choice”. Speaking to his nation on the Edison phonograph at the start of World War One, Kaiser Wilhelm II ended his address with the words; “I recognise no parties any more, only Germans”.

Whether we like it or not, what we are now in the middle of is a war; but, as Mr Spock might have said to Captain James Kirk; “not as we know it”. Wilhelm was the head, despite the trappings of democracy, of a basically autocratic regime, which sought to shore up its power by enlisting patriotism, and it worked for a while as it did also in Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey.

I know that there are many people, who suspect the motives of many of those advocating obedience rather than debate; but these are extraordinary times for mankind. As Dr Liam Fox, not someone whose views I generally share, wrote last weekend, we, who have only been around as a species some 200,000 years, are facing an ‘enemy’ that has survived for millions.

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Helen Belcher

Our vision for the future must be sound

By Helen Belcher | Sat 28th March 2020 - 8:58 am

Extraordinary times can have extraordinary outcomes. And these are extraordinary times. Civil liberties are restricted, the global economy is shutdown, and emerging communications technology is proving its worth. It’s very easy to assume that the world will change.

People point to the outcomes from other extraordinary times, such as the post World War II Labour Government which built upon the liberal foundations of social care. Folk say, “surely now people see the need for change”.

There is surely much to change – from the need to ensure effective scrutiny of Government can continue, requiring significant reform of parliamentary procedures, through proper valuation of those we now class as key workers, to the need for financial and medical security for all.

The challenges our society is having to work through in very short order are immense. The potential repercussions on the way we used to do things are also huge. For example, how many people are now finding that technology is making routine use of their office questionable?

But people have short memories, and the next General Election is scheduled to be many years away. The current Government doesn’t seem that minded to change very much. The clue is in the name of the governing party.

The saying “oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them” almost always holds true. In 1945, the election most pointed to by left-leaning advocates of change, Churchill’s Conservatives were seen to have no viable plan for the post-war world, while Attlee’s Labour held out a positive vision for the future, rooting it in the horrors of the immediate past and explaining the clear benefits in a way which resonated.

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John Grout

Accountability in the age of Covid

By John Grout | Fri 27th March 2020 - 7:09 pm

 

So now we know: no new leader for at least another fourteen months. This comes on the back of the cancellation of the Spring Conference, and talk of the cancellation of this Autumn’s conference as well.

Cancelled along with the Spring Conference, of course – and up for re-cancellation if Autumn is indeed cancelled as well – were the party’s sorely-needed consultative sessions on our values, on the 2019 general election, and on our 2019 manifesto, as well as the regular opportunities to hold party bodies and office-holders to account. The decision to cancel the Spring Conference, and any similar decision to cancel Autumn (as currently feels likely) means that we will not have a meaningful forum to discuss, debate and scrutinise the party’s general election performance until long after that election has receded over the horizon behind us.

The decision to postpone the leadership election again, this time for an unprecedented fourteen months, is a remarkable departure from the letter of the constitution, Article 18.2 of which only allows for a maximum extension of one year, and no article of which allows the Federal Board to vary this provision. Perversely, this means that our acting leader will not only remain in position for over a year, but will be acting leader for three times as long as the woman who beat him in the last leadership election. More concerningly, it means that we will not have a permanent leader in place for the huge round of local, regional and devolved elections scheduled for 2021.

Any one of these things – the catastrophic performance in the 2019 general election; the shocking loss of a popular newly-elected party leader in a general election; the decision to cancel Federal Conference at next-to-no notice; the decision to postpone a leadership election beyond the period set out in the Federal Constitution, leaving us vulnerable in the largest round of non-Westminster elections in a political generation; potentially, the decision to cancel a second Federal Conference on the trot – should rightly merit a great deal of introspection, and robust and extended scrutiny from party members.

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Going for a virtual walk in the woods

By Mary Reid | Fri 27th March 2020 - 5:00 pm

Ten days ago, when the world was a different place, I wrote about going for a walk on Box Hill. We were in voluntary self-isolation but without any symptoms, and it seemed safe to go for a drive and then a walk, well away from other people.

That was, in fact, the last time either of us left the house, apart from one hospital appointment. Days before lockdown was imposed on us all, we had decided to stay safe within our own boundaries.

Our son has been FaceTiming us each day, and yesterday he did so while he was out for his daily exercise with our two grandsons. They live in a village with some beautiful scenery within walking distance, and the two boys were keen to explore the woods with us in virtual tow. We loved it.

That was a simple way to share the countryside with people who are stuck at home, so do think about whether you can do the same for family or friends. Of course, it doesn’t have to be out in the country – anywhere other than inside a building would be a welcome change, even a walk around your garden if you have one. And if you can’t manage FaceTime or similar then take some photos and share them.

Virtual walks are mood boosting, but don’t do much for our fitness. I have never really enjoyed doing sports, or going to the gym, although I have tried. But I am concerned about keeping fit and active, so a couple of years ago I bought a Fitbit, simply to keep track of my step-rate. I have to admit that I don’t always reach the magical 10,000 and when I do the vibration on my wrist makes me jump. But at least it has kept me conscious of the fact that I needed to move and, crucially, encouraged me to go out for a walk every day.

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Nigel Jones

Poverty and Education: do schools need more support?

By Nigel Jones | Fri 27th March 2020 - 3:04 pm

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On 24th March 2020, the Education Endowment Foundation said the attainment gap for children from the poorest homes will widen while they are not in school. So here is a short version of the speech I was to make at a fringe conference meeting.

It has long been known that early years care and education is extremely important for people’s education for life. So why is spending per pupil on this down at the bottom?  The expansion of free childcare with inadequate funding for staff, reduces the quality of provision. Our Spring 2018 conference paper identified that.

This January an Education Policy Institute (EPI) report “Early Years Workforce Development” agreed that this is affecting the disadvantaged. There are staff in early years work with great knowledge and skill, but Early Education, an organisation representing them, is very critical of government, saying that the proposal to introduce baseline testing of children when they enter the Reception Class is fundamentally flawed. The Education Endowment Foundation expressed doubts that new government Early Learning Goals will better prepare children for schooling.

It is Lib-Dem policy to triple the pupil premium for that age group and radically change the testing regime.

The gap in progress from disadvantaged backgrounds widens with age. The EPI annual report in July 2019 says that young people aged 16 to 19 from poor homes are disproportionately on lower level, lower quality courses. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) in April last year (Family Matters and NEETS) says these young people are 50% more likely to be not in Education, Employment or Training. In September last, we passed a motion stating that a young person’s premium at 16+ be introduced.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an expat: The political vacuum

By Tom Arms | Fri 27th March 2020 - 1:05 pm

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The coronavirus pandemic is a global problem. It requires cooperation at the local, regional, national and international level. Political point scoring, unilateralism and nationalism have no place in defeating Covid-19. Pandemics are no respecters of bank balances, social position and especially not borders.

Unfortunately, the leaders of the Western democracies are failing to rise to the occasion, and the result could very likely be long term damage to our political system.

Ever since World War Two, the world has looked to the United States for leadership in times of crisis. Not this time. Nearly four years’ experience of Donald Trump’s isolationist unilateralism has taught us that he is congenitally incapable of forging the international consensus that is called for. Trump’s arsenal of political tactics is limited to attack, mockery and denigration. He has no strategy and the concepts of compromise and cooperation are totally absent at the personal, national and international level.

So far Trump has managed to damage the prospect of essential bipartisanship by referring to coronavirus as the Democrats’ “new hoax”. In any national crisis it is essential to have the media on board as the vital channel of communication. The president has denounced them as peddlers of fake news and “sensationalism.” European allies were estranged by Trump’s unilateral decision to close American borders to their citizens.

But perhaps worst of all, has been the president’s treatment of China. By repeatedly referring to Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” he has alienated the one government whose experience of the pandemic could prove invaluable in stopping it.

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Paul Walter

In a liberal society, should police be using roadblocks and drones to enforce the virus lockdown?

By Paul Walter | Fri 27th March 2020 - 11:00 am

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The Guardian reports that the police are using roadblocks and drones to enforce the virus lockdown:

Derbyshire police tweeted drone footage taken near Curbar Edge, in the Peak District, and said they had checked the numberplates of vehicles in the car park and found that some cars were registered to addresses in Sheffield, a 30-minute drive away.

…In North Yorkshire, police said they would set up checkpoints to determine if drivers’ journeys were essential. The move was being introduced to ensure motorists are complying with government restrictions, North Yorkshire police said.

Officers will be stopping vehicles and asking motorists where they are going, why they are going there, and reminding them of the message to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives,” the force said in a statement. The checkpoints will be unannounced and could be anywhere across the county.

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Lorenzo Cherin

Let me be very clear!

By Lorenzo Cherin | Thu 26th March 2020 - 7:03 pm

Too often politicians, of any political type, come to an interview with their usual hype and the phrase “Let me be very clear,” only to then confuse or speak vaguely!

I am not a politician. But I am political. I have a tendency to reflect, rather than hector. I usually persuade, rather than command. To some, on any thread, in any context of debate, particularly online and in writing, what they seem to want to some real degree is one sided, strong opinion to agree with or disagree with. Even if that is then what is presented, the same types, reacting, want it expressed with little subtlety, no humour or irony. Of a recent article of mine, one reaction was, “this has no clear message!” Thinking aloud is not meant to. It was what I was doing. It was the intention of that piece. It was thus, in cause and effect, clear.

Let me be very clear. Not reflective. Nor thinking aloud. I am angry. No. I am sad. I am angry and sad, not because I, my wife and others are having to stay at home as the full extent of our apparent sacrifice. I and many are angry that it was not possible for that to be voluntary because of people and their irresponsibility. I am sad because people are so into business, as usual, and yes I mean that in every sense, personal, and political, societal, and economic, that it was considered, so anathema to them, that it is no sacrifice to avoid pubs, clubs, bars, markets, when the only reason is to help others in doing it. And the government assured us there would be compensation.

Well, many of us have no sympathy with the naysayers, individuals or companies. Not with any of them. Those unknown or known to us as famous, or infamous. Tim Martin, who thinks his pubs essential, or Mike Ashley, who forces people to stack the shelves of his sports goods shops calling them key workers; shame he didn’t think them this when he treated them so disgracefully all the years prior to their new found apparent status! Construction companies not told strongly enough to do so are at least better than these two examples, in closing down non essential contracts.

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Shopping online

By Mary Reid | Thu 26th March 2020 - 5:00 pm

Enjoying yesterday’s sunshine

To shop or not to shop?

Should we be buying non-essential items at the moment? On the one hand, continuing our shopping habits (but online of course) helps to save jobs and keep our economy floating. On the other hand, should we be asking people to work outside the home to create, pick and deliver goods to the nation? What is the ethical position on this?

The Government advice to consumers has not be clear, so I posed it as a question to my Facebook friends. And I learned that businesses have been told “Online retail is still open and encouraged.” But it took me quite a bit of searching to find the primary source of that quote, which is bizarrely in an article headed Further businesses and premises to close: guidance (23rd March).

In full it says:

Takeaway and delivery services may remain open and operational in line with guidance on Friday 20 March. Online retail is still open and encouraged and postal and delivery service will run as normal.

It’s a pity that hasn’t been conveyed clearly to us, the consumers.

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Paul Walter

Going ever-so-slightly “stir crazy”?

By Paul Walter | Thu 26th March 2020 - 3:24 pm


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We’re very fortunate to have modern communications technology in the current crisis.

Here’s a few ideas of things you could try to break up your days at home. Please use the comments to share any of your own ideas.

Yesterday, I did some very energetic exercises with Joe Wicks, the body coach. He is doing a 9am session aimed at children not at school, but it also suits adults and he is at pains to reassure people not to over do things and simplify the exercises if they are too strenuous.

Before yesterday, I had only ever seen Joe Wicks in photos on the front of his many books.

I have to say it was a pleasant surprise to hear his cheerful broad Essex accent and his very motivating chatter!

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Christine Jardine MP

Christine Jardine MP writes…Our party’s priority needs to be supporting communities, not a leadership election

By Christine Jardine MP | Thu 26th March 2020 - 12:53 pm

I think that it is fair to say that this Spring is not what any of us expected.

By now we all planned to have come away from York conference in full campaign mode for the local elections and once that was finished there was the not insignificant matter of the leadership election.

The first two have already been victims of the Coronavirus guidelines and social distancing.

But what about the third element of that triumvirate? The leadership election.

I am afraid that I think that should also be postponed.

As the pandemic tightens its grip, and we are seeing both increased public concern and an escalating death-toll I think it would be completely inappropriate to prioritise ourselves.

This for me, however, is not about whether or not we have hustings, whether the candidaes will be able to campaign effectively or whether it will be possible for staff to run the process remotely.

No I am thinking about all those people, including many members, whose lives are going to be turned upside down over the next three months.

How many will be on reduced income , or perhaps none at all?

I am trying to avoid mentioning it, but bluntly what sort of national death toll will we be coming to terms with?

Frankly those are the things I want all of our elected representatives to be focussing on.

Getting the information and action the country needs.

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Paul Walter

Can volunteering be safe currently?

By Paul Walter | Thu 26th March 2020 - 11:23 am


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The homeless and the needy have been victims of the current crisis. Many rely on volunteers to feed them and provide warm clothing, tents etc.

But volunteers are often over 70 years old or constrained by safety measures related to the Coronavirus.

For about eight years, I have worked voluntarily at a local drop-in centre for the homeless and needy. Our normal service involves 20-45 people thronged into a small hall, cheek by jowl. So, we had to stop that. Fortunately we are continuing our service by giving out bags of ready-to-eat food. But we’re having to get the clients to queue outside two metres apart, place the bags on a table by the door and retire, liberally wash hands and disinfect surfaces.

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Writing it down

By Mary Reid | Wed 25th March 2020 - 5:00 pm

City Hall, London

I am really enjoying writing this diary. It takes me back to the time when I was blogging every day as a councillor. I have been worried that it might be seen as self-indulgent, but friends have urged me to continue, so I will.

There are many benefits of writing about my life, especially during this time. It helps me to process what has been happening to me and to the world around me. I am determined to remain cheerful, and the very act of looking for good things to write about each day lifts my mood.

Keeping a diary would be just as beneficial even if it wasn’t being published and shared so widely. And although I naturally turn to writing as a way of expressing myself, I could just as well have kept a video diary or created a podcast.

So why not try it yourself? You can post on Facebook to share with friends, or you can email out your thoughts to friends and family on a regular basis, or you can set up a YouTube channel or share on Instagram. If you prefer, you can simply keep a private diary and not share it with anyone else. Some people recommend handwriting a diary as it slows things down and gives you time to think.

Just take time to reflect on and process each day.

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David Warren

The making of a Liberal

By David Warren | Wed 25th March 2020 - 3:30 pm

A recent conversation amongst colleagues from the Social Liberal Reform regarding the need to reaffirm the history of Liberalism and what we are all about got me thinking about my journey. It is undoubtedly an interesting one! Growing up in a family that voted for the old Liberal Party I took a different route as a young man, first becoming mainstream Labour than a supporter of its left-wing and simultaneously a committed trade union activist. When I lived in Newbury in the early 1980s, the Liberals were viewed by us socialists as people who had usurped the Labour vote which prior to 1974 had been high enough to be the primary challenger to the Tories. In 1987 when I ran as a council candidate, I was pleased to be facing just a Conservative, no Alliance competitor to muddy the waters I thought. When the merger occurred, I was surprised at how what I then viewed as a collection of the middle of the road moderates could fall out so badly. Then came Blair and New Labour. Prior to 2005, I met the two Lib Dem candidates for the Reading seats Denise Ganes and John Howson; their pitch was more radical than that of the party I still belonged to.

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Michael Meadowcroft

The uneven path of British Liberalism – from Jo Grimond to Brexit by Tudor Jones

By Michael Meadowcroft | Wed 25th March 2020 - 9:20 am

Tudor Jones has updated his 2011 publication setting out and analysing Liberal thinking so that now his purview runs from 1956 to 2016. Everything in the review of the earlier volume applies to his extended work. There is no better single-volume reference work on sixty years of Liberal thought, and Tudor Jones’ analysis of the numerous and diverse publications during that period is both rigorous and reliable. 

The additional chapters in this new volume cover the years leading into the Coalition of 2010 and the disastrous electoral consequences of that Coalition. Tudor Jones deals with the policy issues raised by the Orange Book and its answering volume Reinventing the State. He points out that the reputation the Orange Book acquired for expounding a Liberal economic doctrine was exaggerated and was more tone than detail. He traces the development of a shift from the Ashdown ending of equidistance between Conservative and Labour, and his effort to achieve an arrangement with Tony Blair, with an almost imperceptible move towards being more friendly towards conservatism, a trend, he says, that was not unacceptable to Nick Clegg.

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Clearing out

By Mary Reid | Tue 24th March 2020 - 5:00 pm

After yesterday’s orchids here is a picture of rubbish

This lockdown will have come as a real shock to some people, even though many saw it coming. When we decided to go into self-isolation we had two or three days to prepare ourselves, not only in terms of getting in food and other necessities, but also psychologically. Moreover, it was something we chose to do, rather than being forced on us. Today many, many people will suddenly, and perhaps unexpectedly, find themselves isolated and frightened.

For some families this period will be fraught. Younger children had been shielded from the rising sense of panic, but are now having to come to terms with it. They are angry, bewildered, scared, missing their friends and full of excess energy. Parents may feel worried because they are unable to meet their children’s educational needs.

But for most of us it’s not all that bad, if you can put aside the constant anxiety.

Here are some of the blessings…

Friends and members of your wider family, some of whom you have not heard from for a while, will contact you. If they don’t, then contact them yourself. My brother lives in Canada and we are now on a weekly Skype, whereas before we tended to email. My cousin phoned me yesterday from Australia. It has brought us all closer together.

You can now get on with all those projects that you had been putting aside until you had the time. That could mean culling old documents (I found bank statements from 1998), clearing out cupboards, sorting out wardrobes, having a good go at the garden, writing your memoirs, starting an art or craft project, reading those books you had always intended to read, even putting books into alphabetical order.

You can be creative with your cooking. Some ingredients may be unavailable but this is a good chance to try some new techniques or be inventive with what you have got. My son told me that he had made pizzas with naan bread, and it worked very well!

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Paul Walter

+++Open thread – Boris Johnson’s speech to the nation at 8:30pm

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd March 2020 - 8:12 pm

Boris Johnson is speaking to the nation at 8:30pm. Some expect him to announce a “lockdown”.

Please comment below as the speech unfolds….

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Trying to sleep

By Mary Reid | Mon 23rd March 2020 - 5:02 pm

Just a photo to cheer you up. Orchid Festival, Kew Gardens 2019

 

You can find previous Isolation diaries here.

I haven’t been sleeping too well recently. I don’t suffer from classical insomnia, but I have been waking up very early and then finding I’m unable to go back to sleep. So I have been taking a nap in the afternoon, but it would be so much easier if I could get a good night’s sleep. I can’t really complain, and I’m having a much easier time of it than many others, but clearly the general anxiety is getting to me.

Mark Blackburn, who is my fellow admin on the Lib Dems in self-isolation Facebook group, has given this advice on the use of social media:

One, maybe stay away from Twitter and use FB more. Twitter tends to exaggerate and sensationalise, and can be pretty scary. Anything useful there appears somewhere else soon anyway. FB you still need to be a bit selective about, avoiding some of the generic stuff, but obviously groups like this and similar local-based ones can be very useful and supportive!

Two, maybe avoid social media, and for that matter all news media, in the evenings. Nothing’s going to change significantly before the next morning anyway. Watch some trash TV or read a good book so your head’s not in a bad place before you go to bed.

I don’t use Twitter much but the second piece of advice struck home. So I am now trying to avoid the news from 7pm each evening. Let’s see if that helps.

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Lorenzo Cherin

We should be for – the rule of law!

By Lorenzo Cherin | Mon 23rd March 2020 - 2:34 pm

Liberal self identity, or libertarian self indulgence? Personal autonomy vs political authority? Subjective rather than objective? The individual not society? Where is the balance in pitting things, one against the other, and where is the harmony in the lack of balance?

The Covid-19 crisis, has led us to where the fears, concerns, obsessions, priorities, of years, are questioned, or should be, in weeks. No ideology fairs well in this, from left to right. My own view is, the centre ground so many decry, has never had a try. We have had extremes, in tandem. Moderate societies, that have had fewer disruptions, …

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Paul Walter

If Jacinda Ardern can do it, why can’t Johnson?

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd March 2020 - 12:20 pm


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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a complete lockdown of her country from Wednesday. Only essential services people will be allowed outside their homes.

New Zealand currently has 102 reported cases of Covid-19, with zero deaths from the disease.

The UK currently has 5,683 cases with 281 deaths. (Figures from John Hopkins University).

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Paul Walter

Remembering the three day week

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd March 2020 - 10:30 am


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Recently, a youngster asked me if I remembered anything like the current crisis in the past.

I had trouble remembering anything like it. The 1967 Foot and Mouth outbreak? The 1963 big freeze?

I can only just remember 1963 and the image of a car in 12 feet of snow by our local golf club.

Of course, my mother lived through the war and is still going strong.

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Keeping faith

By Mary Reid | Sun 22nd March 2020 - 5:00 pm

You can find previous Isolation diaries here.

On a normal Sunday I would go to church, so today is another rather strange one for me. However this is a strangeness that I share with millions of others, not just those in isolation.

My vicar has been recording short services each morning and uploading them to the church’s Facebook page. I have then been embedding them in the church website so people can follow them at any time of day, whether or not they are on Facebook. Today he did a special service for Mothering Sunday.

So this morning I had a choice between listening to Sunday Worship on Radio 4 led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, watching the service from my own church on Facebook, and viewing the BBC1 service televised from St David’s Cathedral (which is a bit of a special place for me). In the end I dropped into all three.

My church has also set up a team ready to help those in self-isolation and other vulnerable people in the community. In fact, as I was writing this a friendly church member contacted us to ask if there was anything we need.

I’m sure that synagogues, mosques, temples, gurdwaras and other places of worship across the country are doing very similar things – moving their services online and reaching out to support, not just their members, but also their wider communities. It would be good to hear about their initiatives.

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Hina Bokhari

What do Lib Dems do in a crisis? – we care for others

By Hina Bokhari | Sun 22nd March 2020 - 2:03 pm

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I won’t lie. I’ve been anxious at how quickly Covid-19 pandemic has progressed.

I’m about to start homeschooling my children, and despite being a qualified teacher, it’s daunting. But this is also a time my children will see my actions and behaviour and be formed by them. So I only feel right that I should focus my free time on the elderly and most vulnerable who will be be self-isolating over the coming weeks and months.

This is going to be a testing time for our nation. But I don’t feel we should be in the Blitz spirit – this is a completely different threat. This a start of a revolution – a chance for humanity to show its strength against an invisible enemy and fight for the services we take for granted: the NHS, the teachers, the care workers – the so called “low skilled workers”! This episode could change the way we educate, socialise and communicate. But most importantly how we care for each other, particularly our most vulnerable.

During these times, we need to pay extra attention to the elderly. Many will need assistance with obtaining groceries, medication and other essentials. Some will receive fewer visits from family and friends; increasing the risk of a harmful incident, such as a fall, not being noticed until too late. Reduced social contact will also have massive psychological implications, in the form of loneliness.

The rise in loneliness and social isolation over the last few years, particularly amongst the elderly, has been well documented. It is one of the reasons I championed a “happy to chat bench” in Cheam – to encourage people to reach out and build the relationships which are so vital to sustaining healthy lives. The imminent period of isolation is likely to lead to the issue being exacerbated. The happy to chat bench might not be coronavirus friendly, but let’s all do our bit to think of creative ways to combat this issue. You may have seen Ed Davey’s important announcement that the Lib Dem party is mobilising members to set up a taskforce to help people deal with self-isolation. Please visit www.libdems.org.uk/coronavirus to see how you can help.

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Michael Berwick-Gooding

What we should now be calling for

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Sun 22nd March 2020 - 12:16 pm

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On Friday afternoon Rishi Sunak announced that the government would pay up to 80% of wages up to £2500 a month. That is £30,000 a year. He hopes that HMRC will be able to pay all the grants applied for by the end of April. Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans will be available from Monday. Hopefully this will mean that every employer will be able to get the money they need to pay their workers up to £576.92 a week.

He has restored the value of the Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of local rents: the reduced rate from 2011. (It had been the 50th percentile before this.)

However, he is not doing enough for those having to claim benefits. He is only increasing some benefits by £1000 a year (£19.23 a week). A single person’s Universal Credit is increasing from £73.34 a week to £92.57 a week and from 6th April it will be £93.82 a week. Statutory Sick Pay is currently £94.25 a week rising to £95.85 from 6th April.

While the help for those who are still being employed is adequate, it is inadequate for those who are going to have to rely on benefits. The party must call for more to be done for these people.

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Ross Stalker

Why it’s vital for public health that the Lib Dem leadership election goes ahead

By Ross Stalker | Sun 22nd March 2020 - 9:50 am

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Following the absolutely correct decision to cancel the Liberal Democrat Federal, Scottish and Welsh Conferences, some have been calling for the Liberal Democrat Leadership Election – the timeline of which was already decided by Federal Board some time ago – to be indefinitely delayed.

While I understand the sentiment, I think it sends completely the wrong message – irresponsibly so.

We have a responsibility to our communities, all of us, to be undertaking social distancing as much as possible right now. The UK government’s scientific advisors now say that the social distancing measures currently in place will have to continue for, at least, most of the year. Ultimately, until we have a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, there is the possibility of social distancing measures being recommended or imposed at any time for the good of public health.

To delay our leadership election would send the message that we believe that daily life is going to return to relative normality in the near future.

The evidence shows that this is simply not the case. We have a responsibility as leaders to portray the reality of the situation we’re facing.
If people believe that our society’s response to COVID-19 is a binary between cancelling events or business as usual – and between self-isolation and no change in individual behaviour at all – they are not going to engage with the social distancing measures that are vital to slowing the spread of the virus. ‘Flattening the curve’ is vital to ensuring that our NHS can continue functioning and that thousands of people who would otherwise survive the virus do not die from lack of resources.

We have an opportunity, with our leadership election, to demonstrate how it’s possible for some things to proceed in an environment of social distancing.

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Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Keeping in touch

By Mary Reid | Sat 21st March 2020 - 5:10 pm

You can find previous Isolation diaries here.

A friend of mine dropped an envelope through my door a couple of days ago. Inside was a bar of chocolate and a postcard with a photo of a place we loved visiting in Ireland. She wished us well and offered to do any shopping we needed. Of course, I phoned her to thank her and we had a very pleasant chat about this and that. It was a simple act of kindness which meant a lot.

My neighbours text and phone from time to time as well to see if we are OK. We haven’t had to call on any outside help so far, but it is so reassuring to know that there are people we can contact if we need anything.

I expect many of you will have come across #viralkindness. I run the weekly email newsletter that we send out to all our members, supporters and non-member volunteers in Kingston, so I started pushing out the ViralKindness pdf to everyone as soon as it popped up last weekend.

You do have to be a bit cautious about using it because some fraudsters have been abusing the community goodwill. But if you are still out and about then it would mean a lot to drop it through the door of elderly and vulnerable neighbours. I suggest adding a photo and some details about yourself so the person receiving it can recognise you and be more confident about responding.  Whatever you do – even if you are a councillor – do NOT do it in political mode (as some Labour activists have been doing). This is about friendship and community, not about chasing votes.

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Ian Hamilton

We need a plan that’s designed for everyone – please discuss

By Ian Hamilton | Sat 21st March 2020 - 3:34 pm

2020 is going to be a pretty rough year for all of us. Our front line NHS staff will have a particularly torrid time. Many of the financial losses incurred by individuals will not be covered and unemployment will become, sadly, quite common. So, is there anything extra we as individuals can do to improve the situation? How can we invest in our economy?

I am suggesting a form of Citizens Wealth Fund independent of national government and have laid out a possible format in this document.

Essentially any UK citizen or those with a right to live here could apply for an account that would hold their free share in the fund. You are only allowed one share, it cannot be sold or passed on and its life will end with yours. The free share would pay out an annual bonus which would be a portion of the previous year’s profits.

They could also invest in trade-able bonds which would pay a set interest rate plus a bonus. The bonus is also a share of the annual profits.

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Judy Abel

Has the Government been behind the curve in implementing coronavirus measures – and if so why?

By Judy Abel | Sat 21st March 2020 - 9:01 am

It appears that the UK Government has, at times, been slow-footed over dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, reacting to events rather than leading on them. The first example was when the FA decided to suspend professional football matches to halt the spread of COVID-19, ahead of the Government banning mass gatherings a few days later in a policy U-turn on 13 March.

Then there were calls by experts last weekend (14/15 March) for social distancing and homeworking to be implemented, as we watched on while the World Health Organization said social distancing was vital to halt the spread of the virus, but nothing was being implemented on the ground. Hundreds of scientists supported an open letter to the Government on 14 March pressing for ‘more restrictive measures’ to contain the coronavirus. Jeremy Hunt, the former Health and Social Care Secretary, had also expressed serious concerns about the Government’s strategy in a Newsnight interview just days before. Eventually, on 16 March, Public Health England set out guidance on social distancing and Boris Johnson announced that social distancing was now all-important and that people should work from home and stay away from bars and restaurants*, a move which was widely welcomed, although many thought he could have gone further.

That same turbulent weekend of 14/15 March, Government policy announcements were being pushed out to an inner circle journalists like Robert Peston. His Twitter feed on 14 March read: “Elderly to be quarantined at home or in care homes for four months, in ‘wartime-style’ mobilisation” (an idea later watered down). There was serious disquiet on social media about the Government announcing measures like this with little transparency and accountability, so on Monday 16 March daily No 10 press briefings were instituted with Boris Johnson flanked by the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer….but would this have happened without all the pressure?

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Guy Patching

Working from home and tenancy agreements

By Guy Patching | Fri 20th March 2020 - 6:56 pm

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In times such as these where we are dealing with rapidly emerging realities it can be easy to overlook strands of how society is made up. It can often take people directly involved with a particular issue to draw attention to potential problems, ideally before they arise.

One such problem involves private renting. Whilst the mess of UK housing policy is not an immediate triage problem there is a minor element of it that might be a ticking time bomb problem.

Many tenancy agreements come with clauses in the contract that prevent any business activity taking place within these private houses. Whilst at most times these are reasonable, not rigidly enforced, and signed quite casually by tenants they cause individuals potentially a deeply problematic dilemma.

One can easily imagine any number of office based workers in this country have signed such contracts, based on the assumption that they would never be compelled to break this aspect of their tenancy. Now, however, for the sake of their own health, their company’s reaction to Covid-19, or the greater public health many are working at home. None of these are areas where would want people to be punished for a breach of contract.

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