Category Archives: Op-eds

Paul Walter

Did we spend 2019 expecting a 1980s-style realignment of politics?

By Paul Walter | Tue 21st January 2020 - 9:40 am

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At conference you have all sorts of conversation and all sorts of unusual things happen. I could tell a tale or two but I am reserving them for my (never to be written) memoirs.

In September 2018, excitement in the party was high. One almost needed a brown paper bag handy to breathe into, should things get overly hyperventilatory.

The gist of the excitement was:

We have to be more relevant! There are rich people going round with large truck loads of cash, looking for somewhere to dump it.

We’ve got to be in on the conversations to set up a new centre party, otherwise we will be sidelined and irrelevant.

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David Boyle

Could a Tickbox campaign drive Right and Left back together?

By David Boyle | Mon 20th January 2020 - 5:51 pm

What is tickbox? When I published a book with that title it was strange how obscure this was for some people – and how others knew immediately what I was talking about.

Here, for the sake of argument, are some dfefinitions:

tickbox (noun) The phenomenon where organisations are able to dodge the letter of what is demanded from them by a simple tick (as in A tickbox exercise).

To tickbox (verb) Ticking a box rather than taking personal or human responsibility.

Tickbox (noun) A system for taking automated decisions of the kind that used to be taken by bureaucrats, managers, officials or …

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Paul Walter

Javid is cutting the UK’s nose off to spite our faces

By Paul Walter | Mon 20th January 2020 - 1:00 pm

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Last week, the Chancellor Sajid Javid sat down in the Pickles sandwich bar, Westminster, for an interview with the Financial Times. You can read the interview in full here, but you may have to subscribe or join the FT’s trial membership scheme.

In it, he talked tough about the UK post-Brexit trading scenario. Hopefully, this is pre-negotiation chatter, but what he said was alarming nonetheless:

There will not be alignment, we will not be a ruletaker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union — and we will do this by the end of the year.

He said there would be no Treasury support for the big manufacturing sectors to adjust to the new trade rules. Rather peevishly he added that they had had since 2016 to prepare for the new scenario. Of course, they have not known what the Sam Hill they were needing to prepare for during those three years.

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David Warren

Labour, Starmer and Stalinism

By David Warren | Mon 20th January 2020 - 8:18 am

The Labour Party leadership election is underway, with Keir Starmer the current front runner. This particular election is the first where candidates require not just nominations from their fellow MPs but also constituency parties, trade union and other affiliated bodies. The nomination process has already demonstrated that Stalinist political practice is alive and well in the ‘people’s party’ with the UK’s largest union, Unison, backing Starmer without any consultation with its membership. Transport union TSSA have proudly announced that they will give their members a say but only offer a choice between two candidates, Sir Keir and Rebecca Long Bailey. …

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Thomas Hague

It’s Johnson’s responsibility – hold him to account!

By Thomas Hague | Sun 19th January 2020 - 4:30 pm

Today, for the first time since this debacle began all the way back in 2016 we find ourselves with an odd sense of certainty.

For better or (definitely) for worse, at the end of January the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be leaving the European Union under a majority Conservative and unionist Government, headed by Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (yes this is his actual full name to those who aren’t aware).

This may not be the certainty we ever wanted but there is an odd sense of relief in it; sort of like that feeling when you …

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Paul Walter

LibDems failed to shift enough Tory remainers – Electoral Calculus on 2017->2019 voter migration

By Paul Walter | Sun 19th January 2020 - 11:25 am

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Martin Baxter’s Electoral Calculus website has an excellent Infographic on Voter migration 2017 – 2019. Using human figures (voters) to represent one percentage point of the voters, he not only shows where 2017 voters and non-voters went in 2019, he also graphically shows 2016 EU referendum preferences.

His conclusion on the LibDems is interesting:

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Paul Walter

Kicked into the long grass – the Lib Dem leadership election

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 8:30 pm

Long Grass In Rainy Days
18.6 Should the post of Leader become vacant before the election of a new Leader, the Acting Leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons and the President of the Party shall jointly assume the responsibilities of Leader of the Party until the new Leader is elected.
Federal Liberal Democrat Constitution

This afternoon, the party announced the timetable for the election of a new leader of the party. This was agreed at the first meeting of the Federal Board chaired by our new President and current co-leader of the party, Mark Pack.

Nominations will open on May 11th, which is the Monday after the elections on May 7th. Nominations will close on May 28th with ballots opening on June 18th and closing on July 15th, after which the new leader will be announced.

I’m not privy to the Federal Board discussions but it does not take a mind-reader to, at least, pick out some of the themes behind this decision.

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Paul Walter

Should we be prouder and more vocal about our membership of the Council of Europe?

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 4:00 pm


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Should we celebrate Europe Day every May 5th?

An LDV reader, John Probert (who has the rare distinction of being a remaining former councillor on Middlesex County Council) has made a suggestion along these lines.

After January 31st we will still be members of the Council of Europe, who celebrate Europe Day on May 5th (EU members celebrate it on May 9th).

Such a celebration would publicise the fact that we remain members of the Council of Europe, which was first suggested under such a name by Churchill in a wartime broadcast on 21st March 1943.

Its Statute says:

The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress.

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David Becket

We let the remainers down – now we need to focus on a Green New Deal

By David Becket | Sat 18th January 2020 - 12:45 pm


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The Liberal Democrats let the EU Remainers down, right from the 2016 Referendum.

On Nick Clegg’s recommendation the architect of our disastrous 2015 election campaign was appointed as chief of strategy for the remain campaign. The result was entirely predictable.

The party then spent four years in the wilderness. A steady, but uninspiring, leadership from Vince and hard work from our local government activists saw the party slowly improve its position.

In the 2019 Euro Elections the Remainers put their faith in the Lib Dems, only to be let down again at the General Election. This time a combination of a terrible campaign, inexperienced and badly advised leadership, fear of Corbyn and First Past the Post ensured that faith in the Lib Dems was once again misplaced. Not all our fault, but with a good campaign and steady leadership we should have made 50 seats, and the picture today would have been different.

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Warwick Danks

We need to shift from a class identity debate to a consensus around our core values

By Warwick Danks | Fri 17th January 2020 - 5:06 pm


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With the dust still settling from the December 2019 General Election, it is necessarily a time for the Liberal Democrats to regroup, refocus and plan for the coming years.

One question which I hear being asked is how the Party can appeal to working-class voters, as part of a strategy to make it more inclusive, representative and, of course, electable. However I believe we need to first take a step back and ask whether the underlying assumption here is valid in 21st Century Britain and, moreover, is it liberal?

With our political rivals in opposition currently locked in heated internal argument as to which of their potential leaders is authentically working-class, it is worth exploring just what that means. Is one born working-class, or indeed middle-class, or does one somehow acquire the designation and accompanying self-identity during one’s lifetime?

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Mark Valladares

Is being bullied by Donald Trump the future for British foreign policy?

By Mark Valladares | Fri 17th January 2020 - 3:36 pm

The news, as broken by the Washington Post, that the Trump Administration threatened to levy a 25% tariff on British car exports to the US unless Britain warned Iran of violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal in which Iran would accept strict rules and oversight of its nuclear activity in exchange for being allowed back into the international community, should concern us all.

Of course, it wasn’t just Britain – the French and Germans were threatened too.

But the difference between us and them is that the French and Germans are part of a bigger group, and …

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat – Capitalism—New Lease of Life?

By Tom Arms | Fri 17th January 2020 - 11:06 am

The resounding defeat of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has revived the cries for “Responsible Capitalism.”

Corbyn is a not so thinly-disguised old style socialist. He and his supporters believe that the only route to a fair society is through socialism based on public ownership. The problem is that historical experience says otherwise. There have been successful mixed economies, but every attempt at full-blown socialism has ended in political, economic and social disaster.

In every instance they have hit the brick wall of human nature and its hand maiden the survival instinct. Humans are greedy. That greed has dragged us out of damp caves into centrally-heated bungalows. Conversely, the same greed has ignited wars, destroyed the environment and created social inequalities.

The bastion of world capitalism—the United States—is a shining example of these inherent contradictions. Its national entrepreneurial success has created the wealthiest country in the world. But that wealth is not equitably shared. Two-thirds of America’s wealth is owned by five percent of the population. Forty percent of Americans earn less than $15 an hour; five percent earn the minimum wage or less and 28 million Americans do not have medical insurance.

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Kevin Bennett

Paddy & President Jed Bartlet can’t both be wrong – Education should be our flagship

By Kevin Bennett | Thu 16th January 2020 - 11:10 am

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Pretty much everyone has a view on why we had a bad election and, more importantly, what we should do next. I’m a member of Barnsley local party and here are my two cents…

Johnson’s Tories look like they have weathered the storm and are in for a few stable years as a version of Trumps Republicans, appealing to the English rustbelt and the odd white supremacist.

They may be untouchable for a while.

We have just experienced our third bad (so very bad) election in a row.

However Labour, by its standards, has had a shocker. They have not won an election now in 14 years.

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David Warren

We need to seriously address the issues of work

By David Warren | Wed 15th January 2020 - 4:00 pm

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Back in 1980 I entered the world of full-time employment as a sixteen year-old school leaver. Relatively secure jobs, with pensions and other benefits (in my case luncheon vouchers), were the norm. Thirteen million people were in trade unions.

But the Thatcher revolution was just beginning. It involved targeting those unions which the self-styled Iron Lady said had become too powerful. As a clerical assistant in the Civil Service, I ended up being involved in one of the initial battles when the government refused to implement the recommendations of an independent pay review body. We went on strike and lost. Others followed, notably the printers and miners, who also lost.

The industrial landscape was being redrawn and times they were changing. After my stint in the Civil Service, I spent 25 years in Royal Mail, where I lived through a heavily unionised workforce grudgingly accepting erosion of pay and hard-won working conditions. For those in non-union workplaces it was usually worse, particularly where jobs were privatised.

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Antony Hook

Antony Hook MEP writes… Co-operation to win in 2024? It comes down to four questions

By Antony Hook | Wed 15th January 2020 - 12:30 pm


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The 2019 General Election was the sixth since I joined the party as a student in 1998 and its result was by far the most frustrating. The consequences of the 2019 election will be more considerable and long-lasting for our country than any I saw before.

How this happened, and what needs to change to do better next time, will be subject of a General Election Review, which I expect will be rigorous and take an objective, honest view based on evidence.

If I quote a football manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, do not think I am trivialising. Sir Alex understands more about successful leadership (including managing resources and dealing with the press and a support base) than many people in politics. One of his maxims was “defeat does not matter, what matters is how you come back from defeat.”

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A J Hodges

Confessions of an amateur activist

By A J Hodges | Wed 15th January 2020 - 11:00 am


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I confess. I came late to the Party, almost three years late after post 2016 referendum ruminations on what life might be like on this small island, stranded at sea from our nearest European neighbours, reliant on our back gardens and allotments for a staple diet of root vegetables and tuber crops. We were taking back control of our borders, our people, our values, hell, even our bangers. As our nostalgia for the post-war period grew, so did our ability to stomach xenophobia in all its ugly guises, holding our metaphorical noses at the whiff of French saucisson or its bigger, brasher Bratwurst cousin.

Well, bollocks to that. Like nearly half of the electorate who voted Remain, we too felt stranded. We had a fight on our hands to stop Brexit and stand up for progressive pro-European liberalism. I joined the Liberal Democrats in early 2019 and took part in a couple of marches, the first time I had taken to the streets since my student days in the late 80s protesting against Maggie and the Poll Tax.

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Are we fiddling while Australia burns?

By Catherine Wilson | Wed 15th January 2020 - 9:30 am


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The good news for Australia is that temperatures have fallen and rain is forecast.

I was born and brought up in Australia, so can imagine all too vividly what it is like to live through the horror of out of control bushfires. I’ve seen one from a distance, and even though I was safe it was frightening. Having to flee to the nearest beach in order to save yourself from burning to death is terrible to contemplate.

Although bushfires have always been part of the Australian experience, the number and intensity of the fires has increased. In the 1950s and 60s we had bush fires, but no ‘bush fire season’, as there is now.

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Peter Jeffries

Our MP voted against helping child refugees – and I’m angry

By Peter Jeffries | Mon 13th January 2020 - 12:27 pm

Our MP’s work on behalf of their constituents – or at least they are supposed to. That’s supposed to be an important principle of our democracy. But in recent days Cheltenham’s MP, Alex Chalk has voted and supported the government in NOT providing help to unaccompanied refugee children. I’m saddened, disappointed and upset, let me explain why.

Cheltenham has bucket-loads of kindness, empathy and compassion. This I’m sure is replicated across the country, and throughout our history this has been highlighted time and again in how we all have responded to natural disasters or humanitarian crisis.

Whenever and wherever …

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James Belchamber

Instilling a fear of failure will return us to pointlessness

By James Belchamber | Mon 13th January 2020 - 9:30 am

Apple-LISA-Macintosh-XL
The Apple Lisa – a famous failure

I’ve worked in the computer industry for almost the whole of my adult life.

My first experience fixing one was at 11, maybe 12 years old. My childminder’s husband had a computer I was allowed to play on so long as I asked whenever I wanted to change the program (so I didn’t break it) but, of course, I did. And then, it stopped working. At that moment I knew I either had to fix it, or tell her husband what I did.

I fixed that computer bloody quickly. In hindsight, it was an obvious problem – but also, one I didn’t make again. But I’ve made a lot of mistakes since – indeed, you could say that the entire repertoire of my knowledge and experience is grounded in failure, learning from failure, and building that in to success.

In the computer industry we have a saying – “fail fast”. It’s probably also a saying in other circles, but it embodies a culture that all successful companies strive for – enabling people to take risks, try new things. Put simply, they’re empowered to fail.

Whole companies – start-ups – are empowered to fail. It’s expected; an investor will pick some “sure things”, some that are a little risky, and a few “moon shots” – companies financed to try something they will probably inevitably fail at, but if they do succeed they could disrupt and reconfigure an entire sector of the economy. And one of them will, inevitably, succeed.

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Paul Walter

Will we ever move forward if failure is seen to be richly rewarded?

By Paul Walter | Sun 12th January 2020 - 9:44 am


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I worked in the computer industry for my career.

I count myself lucky that I survived in a job that long.

But you have to be careful in industry.

I should imagine if a business manager spread a budget of £20 million over five times the area it should have been spread, with the result of modest failure rather than modest success, then she/he would be consigned to a dusty office with “special projects” written on the door for the rest of their career.

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Jo Hayes

It must be the right people who fall on their swords

By Jo Hayes | Sat 11th January 2020 - 9:55 am

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In October 1805 Napoleon was in what is now the Czech Republic and desperate to engage the armies of Austria and Russia, which had converged, before they became too strong to overcome. The Russian commander-in-chief, Kutuzov, also realised that Napoleon needed to do battle, so he counselled retreat. But the Austrians and Tsar Alexander, buoyed by what they believed was reliable reconnaissance information, overruled Kutuzov, who was demoted. Napoleon, by various stratagems, lured the Austrians into a battle on terrain of his choosing, near Austerlitz.

You can see where this is going.

French reinforcements, of whom the Austrians were unaware, arrived unexpectedly. Napoleon won one of his greatest victories, and an awful lot of people got killed. The Holy Roman Empire effectively came to an end a year later.

This is what happens when the top command makes the wrong decision.

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Garth Shephard

Opinion from an activist: What is happening now is just not good enough

By Garth Shephard | Fri 10th January 2020 - 3:20 pm

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Billy Joel once wrote:

You’re not the only one who’s made mistakes
But they’re the only thing that you can truly call your own

This implies two things. Firstly, that you recognise a mistake when it happens. Secondly, you learn how not to make the same mistake again.

The Liberal Democrat leadership shows little realisation of step one and no recognition that step two might be helpful.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat – New Year, Bad Start

By Tom Arms | Fri 10th January 2020 - 1:12 pm

2020 was never going to be a good year. A veritable armoury of Damocles swords hangs over us – Brexit, Ukraine, impeachment, tariffs, the cohesion of the Western Alliance, US presidential elections and, of course, that perennial headache, the Middle East.

Donald Trump’s killing of General Qassem Soleimani almost completely severed the threat suspending the Middle Eastern sword. Frantic efforts are being made to retreat from disaster. Hopefully they will be successful, but serious damage has already been done and governments around the world are reassessing their positions in light of the New Year developments.

At the heart of the issue is …

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David Warren

Is it time for co-leaders?

By David Warren | Fri 10th January 2020 - 11:42 am

We are all reeling from what was a very disappointing set of General Election results.

Personally I was hoping for at least 15 per cent of the national vote share and a substantial increase in the number of MPs, but it wasn’t to be. On a night of losses I was particularly sad to see Tom Brake defeated. I had the pleasure of meeting Tom back in 2016 and I know he was an excellent constituency MP.

Of course, the headline loss was our new leader Jo Swinson in Dunbartonshire. I can’t help thinking that the pressures of having to head up a national campaign was a factor in her defeat. Clearly she wasn’t able to spend as much time in her constituency given the need to travel the length and breadth of the country spreading the party’s message. That was something she did with distinction. I was particularly impressed by her performance in the Andrew Neil interview, where she matched him very well.

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John Death

Fifty Ps for Refugees

By John Death | Thu 9th January 2020 - 10:25 am

Remainers haven’t reacted well to the repeated Government announcements of a ‘special’ 50p coin to mark the withdrawal from the EU. So that puts a grin on the face of every Tory and Faragist. The most common response of vocal Remainers is to say that they will boycott the coin, which is not an easy strategy in a crowded shop and, I imagine, might result in people having to forego their change if they won’t accept legal tender (and lead to wry smiles from those trying to use Scottish notes in parts of England).

Another response is needed, my friends. …

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Billy Kelleher

Billy Kelleher MEP writes: Britain didn’t become more illiberal and less tolerant overnight

By Billy Kelleher | Wed 8th January 2020 - 9:44 am

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Brexit’s happening. There I said it. It is not what I, my party, or my island wants. I know it’s not what the Lib Dems want, but we are where we are.

The deal that Prime Minister Johnson agreed with the EU is not as good as Theresa May’s deal. While it is good for Northern Ireland, it may prove damaging for East-West trade between Ireland and Great Britain if a future relationship agreement isn’t agreed in time.

For the first time, the islands of Ireland and Great Britain are not on the same course – we are diverging. This brings with it huge challenges for all of us who live on either island.

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Paul Reynolds

Understanding the Johnson-Cummings government reforms

By Paul Reynolds | Tue 7th January 2020 - 1:28 pm

What should Lib Dems make of the ‘radical’ constitutional, political, judicial and administrative reforms apparently pre-planned by the Johnson government and key adviser Dominic Cummings?

I shall try and shed some light.

Statements from Downing St have included scathing criticisms of the UK civil service. The substance of these, as far as can be gleaned, include major changes to recruitment, departmental ‘tenure’ of civil servants, capital spending and the ability of ministers (not the public) to hold civil servants responsible for screw-ups, wastefulness or incompetence.

They criticise the alleged ‘blame avoidance merry-go-round ’ practice of keeping civil servants in post for …

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Christine Jardine MP

Christine Jardine considers… What next?

By Christine Jardine MP | Mon 6th January 2020 - 12:35 pm

Sometimes stepping back for a moment, and not thinking about an issue, can give you a whole new perspective on it.

This is, I believe, one of those moments for the party.

In the brief, frantic, space between the election result and Christmas it sometimes felt as if we were continuing to hurtle at the same uncontrollable pace which had propelled us into the election.

Before any work had been done to work out what had gone wrong there was, it seemed an almost reckless determination to launch ourselves into a new leadership contest.

Too soon, for me, in so …

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John King

Keeping the flame alive

By John King | Mon 6th January 2020 - 11:30 am

It was over two years ago that I wrote in these pages about the virtues of patience, if we desire to re-enter the EU. Roger Liddle, the Labour peer and former adviser to Tony Blair, had predicted the conservatives would inevitably triumph and our best bet would be to re-apply under article 49, once the fuss had died down and the country had woken up to reality.

He was, unfortunately, right, but as for rejoining the EU in the foreseeable future the prospects look very limited. The idea that Britons will suddenly wake up and come to their senses is mistaken; experience has shown that if the going gets rough, Leavers harden their resolve. Furthermore, an attempt to negotiate inferior membership terms from a weakened position is not likely to go down well with either the public or the media.

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John Pugh

Rolling the boulder back up the hill again….

By John Pugh | Sun 5th January 2020 - 10:00 am

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In ancient mythology Sisyphus is condemned to spend eternity in Hades rolling a huge stone up a hill only to see it roll down again and have to repeat the process. Judging by the reaction of many Lib Dems to the 2019 General Election, that seems a good metaphor for the predicament party members and activists feel themselves to be in.

The most common injunction is currently is to go back to basics, build up the local base, immerse ourselves in community politics,set out on the long march again.

Like Sisyphus we may find this necessary even obligatory- even if tinged with reluctance and a sense of sad futility. We can see it as a consequence of living in this vale of tears where FPTP rules and political power inevitably goes to those with most economic clout. Breaking the mould can seem impossible if you don’t control those forces that set the mould in the first place.

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