Category Archives: Op-eds

The Liberal Democrats must lead the way on global women’s rights

By Janey Little and David Chalmers | Thu 28th August 2025 - 12:50 pm

Last week, The Guardian reported that the UK Government is considering scrapping the commitment to spending 80% of foreign aid on programmes that have gender equality as at least one component.

This is the latest of a series of Government decisions to leave the most marginalised women around the world at even greater risk. Cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) have disproportionately affected programmes focusing on women and girls, but Starmer has decided to slash ODA to 0.3%. In the Comprehensive Spending Review, women and girls were not included in the priority list for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for the first time.

Meanwhile, misogyny is on the rise, violence against women is epidemic, and social, political, and economic inequality persist. Nearly a quarter of countries reported a backlash to women’s rights in 2024. Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by a partner or family member. Trump’s America continues to threaten the livelihoods of women globally, with the dismantling of USAID depriving women and girls of essential healthcare.

The UK should be a world leader in defending women’s rights and rejecting growing misogyny and international backlash to gender equality. That’s why we’re bringing a policy motion to Autumn Conference titled Defending Women’s Rights Across the Globe.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Judy Abel

We need better political decision-making and accountability 

By Judy Abel | Thu 28th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Government has no money of its own, yet successive governments have spent taxpayers’ money on failed projects with impunity – and immunity!

When considering one of the recent less than helpful policy choices foisted on us by Labour, putting up National Insurance on employers’ contributions – which has in practice stopped many companies from taking on new employees despite Labour pinning everything on growth! – it got me thinking about how poor policy decision-making often is at the top. Presented with the key facts, almost anyone could have told Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves (and they did) that this NI hike on employers was a poor idea, yet the decision was made by top politicians earning six-figure salaries!

Let’s think about some of the other poor and costly policy decisions of recent years. It’s actually hard to know where to start!

Most Lib Dems would struggle to approve of any of the measures enacted by the Thatcher Government, but selling off council housing, a deeply ideological move, was perhaps one of their most reckless ideas. The lost pool of social housing was never replaced so, decades later, we have many less well-off families permanently locked out of affordable housing and, tragically, more homeless people than ever on our streets.

And what about the Iraq War? There never were any weapons of mass destruction and Tony Blair only really agreed to stand shoulder to shoulder with President Bush on the War because of the questionable ‘special relationship’. Think what this cost the UK in terms of lost lives and billions wasted on military combat. The 2016 Chilcot Enquiry concluded, “The consequences of the invasion and of the conflict within Iraq which followed are still being felt in Iraq and the wider Middle East, as well as in the UK”. Yet somehow only the Lib Dems could see in advance that this War was deeply wrong.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 38 Comments
Callum Robertson

Three ways to highlight Lib Dem local government beyond Conference

By Callum Robertson | Wed 27th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Nick da Costa’s recent article on local government inclusion at conference made for pleasant reading. However, our work to champion our local government work, has to exist beyond conference.

It is important because winning a greater number of councillors in any given area is crucial to winning more parliamentary seats. Crucially it goes beyond that. Every single councillor elected means that a greater number of people across our country get a hard-working local councillor standing up for them and their community and when we win control of councils, we can deliver life changing opportunities to local areas.

Inclusion of local government work within our comms grid to members.

Our emails are good at explaining what we are doing in parliament. However, as the third party in parliament we can only have so much impact.

So where can we communicate that we have had a direct impact on people’s lives? 

Through highlighting our local government work and the impact it can have on people’s lives to members, we could both increase the respect that local government has in the party but also increase the number of people who actually want to be local councillors.

Promote the work of our councils in the media.

I am a great believer that you can learn from your opponents, and whilst we share basically nothing in common with Reform, they have managed to make their councils and councillors newsworthy. Albeit often for the wrong reasons.

We should be shouting about the achievements of our councils and councillors. Whilst our Liberal Democrat-led councils are delivering for residents every day, our opposition councillors are also punching above their weight.

For example, Cllr Tom Astell, who is an opposition councillor in Hull and East Yorkshire managed to win some fantastic coverage for his work holding the Reform Mayor to account for his flexible interpretation of public finance regulations. Another example is councillor Michael Mullaney in Leicestershire who has hit out over reform chaos.

Champion getting more metro-Mayors and London Assembly Members elected.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Michal Siewniak

Let’s talk about the flag

By Michal Siewniak | Tue 26th August 2025 - 6:00 pm

“Interesting” developments in the UK over the summer. I suppose (?), it is good to see people marching, demonstrating, and more importantly exercising their right to express their views and opinions.

Personally, I have no problem with the UK or English flags being flown or waved. I understand that any flag is often seen as a national symbol and it will strongly resonate with many residents. The flag itself reminds people of their heritage, customs and traditions. During my recent trip to Croatia, I have noticed countless flags being flown across towns, cities and neighbourhoods. The Croatian flag is strongly embedded in people’s national pride and identity, also due to the complex history of countries in that part of Europe.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 24 Comments
Lord William Wallace

William Wallace writes: What are we campaigning FOR?

By Lord William Wallace | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:57 am

The Liberal Party I joined in 1960 was far better at thinking than campaigning.  The party leader, Jo Grimond, published several books, with radical proposals ranging from co-ownership to joining the ‘Common Market’ and cancelling the independent deterrent.  There were multiple policy groups, several academically-led bodies like the ‘Unservile State Group’ that published their own lengthy analyses, and a Liberal Summer School.  We weren’t much good at campaigning, but we prided ourselves on being ‘the party of ideas’.

Young Liberals in the 1960s also loved debating policy, but after the setbacks of the 1964 and 1966 elections were critical of the amateurish approach to campaigning.  Community politics proved itself from local successes, and rising generations of Liberal campaigners learned how to win, one ward and one seat after another, through pounding the pavements and taking up local issues.  Several decades later, the 2024 election showed what we can achieve through targeted campaigning.  But facing an electorate that is more and more sceptical of all politicians, we risk being seen as nice, friendly but hard to define in political terms.  The Labour government is now being criticised for having no overall message to underpin its policies.  We are in danger of attracting similar criticism.

So we need to spend more time thinking, making political discussion and informed proposals complement continued campaigning.  Party policy-making runs through an unavoidable cycle between elections: immediate exhaustion after each election, with new MPs, Councillors and members finding their feet and defining their roles; sufficient experience and time in the second and third years to try out new ideas and shape them into attractive and practical policies; greater caution about floating new ideas as the next election approaches, as party strategists boil down policy packages into messages and manifesto and guard against hostile publicity exploiting any half-prepared idea that is floated.  

We need to be particularly attentive during this political cycle for two reasons: first, that the most likely outcome of the 2028-9 election is that no party wins an overall majority (unless, horror of horrors, Reform sweeps in), and that we find ourselves as a potential partner in whatever government is formed; second, that the economic and international situation which that new government faces will be at least as grim as it is today.  Many Liberal Democrats will groan at the suggestion that we might once again go into government, particularly if we were not the senior partner.  But we could not refuse to negotiate if the outcome is unclear, and if – for example – we find ourselves with 100 MPs or more in a 3-party negotiation (an entirely possible scenario) we will be in a much stronger position than in 2010, provided we have prepared carefully and have agreed priorities.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 18 Comments
Prue Bray

Prue Bray writes: Why I’m standing to be party President

By Prue Bray | Mon 25th August 2025 - 7:00 pm

In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature (like this one) plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign.

Prue Bray sitting at desk with bundle of Focus leaflets

In my 30 years in the Lib Dems, there have been times of celebration and times when it felt as though I was one of a small band carrying the candle of Liberalism through the darkness.  Our recent success is wonderful, but now we find ourselves in a place where everything we believe in is under threat from populism and nationalism.  There is a lot at stake, and we need to be ready to fight for Liberalism harder than we have ever fought before.  We are the cavalry: no-one is going to fight this battle for us.  This is why I intend to stand to be the next party president.

My aim as president would be to enable the party to use its limited resources as effectively as possible, so that we can campaign successfully and maximise the influence of Liberalism to counter nationalism and populism.  I also want to make sure that we put the party on as sustainable a footing as possible, so that we can have confidence we can continue that campaigning for the long term.

I would not be seeking to change the structures of the party.  I think it is more productive to work on getting as many people as possible from all parts of the party to collaborate together and pool their talents and ideas, and to remove any unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of progress.  That is about culture, not structure.  

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 16 Comments
Duncan Brack

The survival of the Liberal Party, 1931–1960

By Duncan Brack | Mon 25th August 2025 - 11:55 am

At the lowest point in its history, during the early and mid 1950s, the Liberal Party almost ceased to exist. Its decline from one of the great governing parties of the nineteenth century was rapid; the last solely Liberal government came to an end in 1915, the last Liberal Prime Minister left office in 1922, and thereafter Liberals only participated in government during the National emergency coalitions of the 1930s and 1940s (until 2010). The party was reduced to contesting only just over 100 seats in the 1951 and 1955 elections, and fell to a mere five MPs in 1957. Yet at the same time, Liberal ideas, propounded by John Maynard Keynes, Ernest Simon and William Beveridge, among others, helped lay the foundations of post-war British governments’ economic, welfare and housing policies.

How the Liberal Party survived at all, to enjoy successive waves of revival from the 1960s onwards, is still something of a mystery. Was it due to the Conservatives’ desire to recruit Liberal voters into the broadest possible anti-socialist coalition? Was it thanks to the stubborn refusal of Liberal activists in the few remaining areas of core strength to give up the struggle? Was it simply because the party seemed too insignificant for the others to go to the trouble of wiping it out? 

The summer issue of the Journal of Liberal History is a special themed edition, looking at this question, the survival of the Liberal Party in its darkest hours. Contents include:

Continue reading »
Tagged | 21 Comments
Arthur Wu

Sharpening the Liberal edge: How European exchange can strengthen our democracy

By Arthur Wu | Mon 25th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Participants in Studio Europe group photoAs a long-standing campaigner within the Liberal Democrats and someone who has represented the Young Liberals internationally, I’ve often said that liberalism is not just about policy. It’s about practice. That principle was reaffirmed at Studio Europe 2025, a gathering of young Liberal leaders from across the continent. It offered a valuable opportunity to reflect, collaborate, and sharpen the political tools we need to defend and renew democracy.

For our Party, the program also highlighted something more profound: that meaningful European exchange is not just a cultural or diplomatic nicety. It is essential to rebuild the liberal centre ground and inspire a new generation of democratic leaders.

Among the sessions, two stood out in particular: one on coalition negotiation, and the other on political integrity. These are issues we in the UK are familiar with. While we’ve excelled at campaign innovation and digital messaging, our internal development programmes often overlook the strategic demands of political leadership, particularly what it means to govern without losing sight of our values.

The coalition negotiation workshop was especially timely. Having worked at both local and international levels of liberal organising, I’ve long understood the tension between compromise and principle. The session helped formalise that understanding: how to identify red lines, assess risk, and build alliances that accommodate ideological difference without losing your core identity.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 5 Comments
Nick da Costa

Making sure local government has a real voice at Conference

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

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

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

For this year’s Conference:

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

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

Looking ahead to future Conferences:

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

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

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

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

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 4 Comments
David Chalmers

Reflections on Ukraine’s Independence Day

By David Chalmers | Sun 24th August 2025 - 8:54 am

People gather in Mykolav to support caputred soldiers

Today, the Ukrainians celebrate their Independence Day.  How fitting that it comes just over a week after that  meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin and the subsequent meeting at the White House between Trump and European Leaders – where the independence of this heroic nation was the main topic for discussion. 

I am sure that many Lib Dems will have  joined in the celebrations this weekend – a reflection of the strong friendships that  have been formed with the Ukrainians living in the UK. As liberals we  recognised early on that the Ukrainians were fighting our war against the forces seeking to destroy the very basis of  our liberal democracies – forces also determined to undermine our liberal values.  That bond is  also reflected in the strong relationship that the Liberal Democrats have formed in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE and Liberal International with  our Ukrainian sister parties  – President Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party and the opposition party Golos, led by our dear friend Kira Rudik.   Many personal friendships have developed, with Kira a well known face and frequent visitor to our party Conferences and Yevheniia Kravchuk,  the Vice President of ALDE,  attending last year’s Autumn Conference in Brighton.  The Lib Dems have stood steadfastly behind our Ukrainian partners during this time of war, but also in helping  to rebuild their country and society when they at last enjoy peace.

But not peace at any cost.  The Ukrainians have fought and lost too many of their people –  soldiers on the battlefield and civilians in  the attacks on their homes – to just give it all up,  as if those that have given their lives were worth nothing.   

I was invited to visit Ukraine at  the end of May to attend the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa, and I was in the country when Ukraine carried out one its most daring acts of the war – Operation Spiders Web – involving  multiple drone attacks from within side Russia on its military airfields, which saw a third of its bomber fleet destroyed.  A truly historic day for Ukraine.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Call to end “racist weaponisation” of violence against women and girls

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd August 2025 - 12:30 pm

The End Violence against Women and Girls coalition has called for an end to the “racist weaponisation” of violence against women and girls to further an anti migrant agenda:

Over recent weeks, people claiming to care about the “safety of women and children” have left families, women and children living in temporary asylum accommodation afraid to leave their front door. They follow in the footsteps of the rioters who used the appalling murder of three young girls as an excuse to bring violence to our streets; with targeted attacks against migrant, minoritised and Muslim communities. That two out of five of those arrested for that disorder themselves had police histories of domestic abuse illustrates not only the pervasiveness of gender-based violence but the disingenuous nature of many of those who claim to have the interests of women and children at heart. Meanwhile, members of Parliament freely share false statistics about the nationality of perpetrators. Government ministers have even endorsed some of this summer’s demonstrators as having ‘legitimate’ concerns, which risks normalising and enabling the spreading of racist narratives by the far-right.

Not only do these falsehoods fail to keep women safe, they serve as a racist distraction that actively impedes the urgent work of addressing gender-based violence. Myths and misconceptions about sexual violence act as a barrier to justice for survivors. Spreading an inaccurate picture of VAWG in the UK allows the people – overwhelmingly men, from all walks of life – who harm women and girls to hide behind racial stereotypes and scapegoating. Meanwhile, hostile immigration policies propped up by this misinformation put many of the most marginalised women and survivors in the UK – racialised, migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women – at even greater risk of harm, destitution, homelessness, exploitation and criminalisation.

We have seen this sort of thing happen before when the right, many of whom have never lifted a finger to do anything for women’s rights in their lives, use women’s safety to demonise and target trans people. Of course that sort of behaviour was never going to stop there.

Andrea Simon the Director of the End Violence against Women coalition said:

The far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda. These attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls’ autonomy, rights and freedoms. What’s more, they ignore the reality that most violence against women and girls is perpetrated by someone known to them.

The fight to end gender-based violence and uphold migrant rights are connected, as they rely on a world in which everyone’s human rights are respected. Political leaders must change course and play a positive role in working to build a better world for all.

On the same theme, Glamour magazine has interviews with three women from places where there have been riots and protests allegedly aimed at protecting women. All three reject the premise of these demonstrations. Theresa, from Wath-on-Dearne says:

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Michael Taylor

Conference countdown: A confusing state of affairs

By Michael Taylor | Sat 23rd August 2025 - 10:12 am

The party seems to be getting into a strange situation about the European Union, and it seems confused as well.

On the one hand it is calling for a special customs union with the EU, when there’s a perfectly good one already available – one we were in for over 40 years – and on the other it’s castigating Labour for not having the courage to join the Single Market and the Customs Union, but not, apparently, seeking for the UK to join them.

Serious observers of the state of the British Economy vis-à-vis the EU know that the only way to start to make up the serious decline caused by Brexit is to join the Single Market and the Customs Union, so that the many barriers that now exist to trade with the EU can be eliminated and trade can flow uninterrupted to and from the EU, our biggest and nearest trading partner.

Indeed, this contradiction can be clearly seen in the resolution F31 up for debate on the Monday of Conference. In lines 30-34 it bemoans the lack of ambition by the government’s refusal to consider joining the Single Market and the Customs Union and in lines 66-69 urges the creation of a new bespoke Customs Union with the EU to cut red tape and spur economic growth.

It seems to me that there is a singular lack of ambition by the writers of the motion. Instead of calling for the UK to negotiate entry to the Customs Union and the Single Market, it calls for something much weaker instead.

I am very puzzled by this. Opinion polls are now showing a clear majority in favour, not of Single Market and Customs Union, but fully rejoining the EU.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 34 Comments
The Voice

Conference Countdown: Policy motions: Backing youth work to build communities

By The Voice | Fri 22nd August 2025 - 9:22 am

We are taking a gentle meander through the agenda for Federal Conference which takes place in Bournemouth from 20-23 September.  We’ll give you the highlights of policy motions, reports and papers. Under the spotlight here is a motion proposed by Munira Wilson MP, to be summed up by Josh Babarinde MP on the importance of engaging, high quality youth work. This is open for amendment until 8 September at 1pm. You can read all the motions in the agenda here. 

The motion sets out the impact of the cuts in youth work in recent years and explains the value of youth work in helping young people to live the lives they want to live.

Youth work can be a key tool in helping every young person to achieve their potential.

High–quality youth work can act as a preventative service, helping young people to avoid negative outcomes like involvement in crime or anti–social behaviour, or being Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

Youth work provision can lead to improved mental and physical health, strengthened life skills, and a heightened sense of belonging for young people that supports social cohesion.

The motion also emphasises the importance of including young people in building these programs.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Review: Iain Dale talks to Michael Heseltine, Jacqui Smith and Tessa Dunlop in Edinburgh

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th August 2025 - 1:25 pm

Caron, Tessa Dunlop and Iain Dale at Edinburgh Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival is in full swing. Broadcaster Iain Dale’s run of All Talk shows was limited to just four days this year because, apparently, the Oasis concerts last  week had booked out all the hotels. These interview shows are always worth going to and often make the headlines.

I was absolutely gutted to miss the first shows with Rachel Reeves and Jess Phillips as I had committed many months ago to look after my nephews.

However I managed to go to both shows the following day. The first was a double header  with his current podcast partner historian Tessa Dunlop (who looks very like Taylor Swift in this photo according to my son) and his former partner in hilarity Jacqui Smith. Their For the Many podcast came to an end last year after 500 episodes when Jacqui was ennobled and appointed a Minister in the Department for Education. Iain now hosts a twice weekly podcast with Tessa called “Where Politics meets History” which I love because Tessa is very good at calling out Iain’s BS and I love both politics and history.

Caron and Jacqui Smith at Edinburgh fringeIt was a very funny hour. I am sure it can’t be legal to look as fresh as Jacqui did considering she had had 3 overnight flights after a ministerial trip to Japan and Malaysia last week.

If you had told 2009 me that I would really like Jacqui, who was then the Home Secretary and responsible for all manner of Labour authoritarianism designed to enrage liberals, I wouldn’t have believed you. However, she and Iain’s hilarious and irreverent  podcast banter brightened my life through some very dark times and for that I will always be grateful. It was good to see that several of the For the Many superfans had travelled to see the team reunited.

It didn’t take long to get to toilet humour – a discussion of Japanese toilets. Jacqui and Tessa did as I’d hoped and ganged up on Iain quite a bit and he,unusually, didn’t say that much. I felt that Tessa might have gone slightly hard on Jacqui over the Government’s record, as this was more a fun thing rather than the Today programme, but as she said afterwards, she had a Government minister in front of her and wanted to hold her to account.

A very big penny dropped for me not long into it. Tessa talked about staying with her little brother in Dunbar. It couldn’t be Duncan Dunlop, the top of the list Lib Dem candidate for the South of Scotland region in next year’s Scottish elections, could it? And indeed it was.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Conference Countdown: Federal Conference Committee report

By The Voice | Wed 20th August 2025 - 8:51 am

Federal Committees report to each Conference. It’s an important way for members to hold them to account. Conference votes on whether to accept or reject each report. You can read the reports here.  Members can also ask questions which need to be submitted here by 1pm on 8th September.  We’ll be looking at what they say. Our meander through the agenda starts with the Federal Conference Committee report written by chair Nick Da Costa. Here are the highlights: 

I am delighted that we are returning to Bournemouth for Autumn Conference 2025, once again at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC). It’s a venue we know and love and the team here have been tremendously supportive in helping us deliver what promises to be one of our biggest Conferences yet.
Since Spring Conference in Harrogate, the Liberal Democrats have gone from strength to strength. In the May local elections, we gained an impressive 163 Councillors and won control of three Councils. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped achieve those fantastic results!

If this is your first Conference, welcome! And if you’ve been coming for years – welcome back!

FCC Helpdesk & Training
As always, the FCC is here to help you get the most out of Conference. Whether you have questions about the agenda, submitting motions, or speaking in debates – come and find us.

The FCC Helpdesk will be open at the following times:
● Saturday: 10:30 – 11:30 & 13:00 – 14:00
● Sunday: 10:30 – 11:30
● Monday: 10:30 – 11:30

We are also running two training sessions on Saturday:
● How to Survive Conference: 09:30 – 10:45
● How to Write a Motion: 11:00 – 12:15

Everyone is welcome whether you’re a seasoned Conference-goer or attending for the first time.

Agenda & Selections

As ever, time in the auditorium is limited and FCC had to make some difficult choices in selecting motions for debate. We’re grateful to everyone who took the time to submit motions and proposals.

This year, we selected three Federal Policy Committee (FPC) papers for debate: climate change, opportunities and skills, and Leading the Way: Policy Review Paper. We also selected several motions on international affairs including a motion on resetting the UK’s relationship with the EU and defending women’s rights across the globe. Healthcare is another strong theme of this
Conference, and we’ve included motions on emergency care reform, supporting hospice care, and justice for victims of the contaminated blood scandal. In addition, there is a wide range of motions covering topics such as education, housing, policing, and transport amongst others.

We have also reserved a slot for a topic debate, plus slots for emergency motions enabling us to respond to fast-moving developments and critical issues as they arise.

He also invites anyone thinking of standing for FCC in this year’s internal elections to have a chat at Bournemouth.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Centre Think Tank

Rebuilding the centre ground

By Centre Think Tank | Tue 19th August 2025 - 12:03 pm

We are Centre Think Tank, a non-profit foundation and the UK’s leading centrist, cross-party think tank.

Our model of centrism looks primarily to the Nordic countries, which have successfully combined high-quality public services with strong economies. We support pragmatic, evidence-based policies that encourage moderate, balanced, and constructive changes to improve and reform existing systems. We are also one of the most transparent UK think tanks, releasing all of our funding sources and expenditure.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged , and | 11 Comments
George Cunningham

UK/Europe Must Now Learn To Say “No”: Starmer must address the nation

By George Cunningham | Mon 18th August 2025 - 10:38 am

The time has come for the liberal world to say “no” to President Trump.

Europe’s leaders are heading for Washington today to support President Zelensky and Ukraine’s sovereign integrity in the face of Trump’s impatience that he cannot bring about a peace that will pave the way for him securing a big business deal with Putin – and his much coveted Nobel Peace Prize. 

Until now, at every turn, UK and European leaders have (sometimes embarrassingly) been acting, as if Trump and his acolytes can be both flattered and persuaded to act rationally according to our liberal worldview. However, Trump is acting rationally according to his own worldview, not ours. And he views Russia under Putin as having the potential to be his foremost business partner in the world. For Trump, Ukraine is just a nuisance that is getting in his way.

No credence can be given to Trump enacting further “economically severe, yes … very severe” sanctions against Russia as this would weaken what MAGA can eventually gain from Russia economically.

Trump was convinced by Putin at their summit in Alaska that we should dispense with a ceasefire in Ukraine and go directly to a peace agreement. It no doubt appeals to him because he thinks he can get a speedier solution that way. Yet it pushes the war to continue without respite while peace negotiations take place, with the danger it may lead to the collapse of Ukrainian morale on the frontline, achieving the very territorial concessions Putin is trying to gain. 

Putin knows very well that a major Ukrainian concession such as ceding the whole of Donbas will cause great discontent in Ukraine and further destabilise the current Ukrainian government. A peace agreement will lead to elections in Ukraine. Trump wants Zelensky out while Russia will try to push its supporters into power, using the same influence tactics that have been successful in former Soviet Union republics such as Georgia and are being used in Moldova. Putin may not need to fight any more to gain all of Ukraine later.

We do not yet know the details of the “game-changing” security guarantees announced by Trump’s business partner Witkoff to end the war in Ukraine.  They are suspect because they have already been so readily accepted by Putin, not least because Trump has reiterated that he will block Ukraine entering NATO. Recent history has shown written guarantees are worthless in Ukraine’s case, whether they are enshrined in legislation or not. 

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 17 Comments
James Gant

The Liberal Democrats must become the party of civil liberties

By James Gant | Mon 18th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Last week, some 474 people were arrested at a London protest for expressing support for the newly-proscribed Palestine Action; per the Terrorism Act 2000, this can carry a sentence of up to fourteen years in jail. Footage circulating online makes for galling viewing: among those arrested on suspicion of terror offences were retired nurses, a blind gentleman in a wheelchair, and former Guantanamo Bay inmate Moazzam Begg.

What is happening? How did we get here? And most importantly, what is to be done?

The erosion of protest rights

The erosion of the right to protest has not come overnight. The previous Conservative government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 Act gave police sweeping new powers to impose conditions on protests. Any disruption that causes “serious annoyance” is liable to be shut down; it introduced the statutory offence of public nuisance; and the sentence for blocking a highway was increased from a fine to 6 months in prison. This trajectory accelerated with the Public Order Act 2023, which introduced new offences such as “locking on”, and even criminalised being merely equipped to “lock on”. It also handed police the power to stop-and-search anyone at a protest without the need for suspicion of wrongdoing, criminalised ‘interference with key national infrastructure’ (any A or B road) and introduced the Serious Disruption Prevention Order, a civil order that prevents repeat offenders from exercising their right to protest altogether.

A glimmer of hope came in the form of a legal challenge to Suella Braverman’s attempt to unilaterally change the definition of what constitutes ‘serious disruption’. The High Court found this unlawful. But far from reversing course, the current government elected to take up Braverman’s case, though it ultimately lost in the Court of Appeal. It has pressed forward with the Crime and Policing Bill, which criminalises concealing ones’ identity at a protest, and creates an offence to climb on a specified war memorial or monument of national significance. And now, with the proscription of Palestine Action, it has deployed a national security tool directly against a non-violent protest movement.

What can be done?

It is time for the Liberal Democrats to reclaim the mantle of ‘the party of civil liberties’. Across the political spectrum, “tough on crime” rhetoric is in abundant supply. We will never win the race to the bottom on authoritarian posturing. Instead, we should offer a clear alternative rooted in the defence of this country’s proudest-held principles: individual freedoms, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Five things in particular should be pursued.

The first and most urgent reform is to campaign for repealing the sections of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 surveyed above. We should also campaign to remove overzealous clauses of the Crime and Policing Bill (currently in Committee).

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 16 Comments
Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 17th August 2025 - 8:30 am

Where are the Democrats?

The question has been repeatedly asked as Donald Trump has flooded the political landscape with Executive Orders. Well, the answer became apparent this week: they are alive and well and living in California.

Gavin Newsom, the Governor of the Great Bear State, has donned the mantle of leader of the anti-Trump brigade.

To do that he has adopted many of the same techniques of Trump himself. Michelle Obama once said: “When they hit low we hit high.” That has not worked, says Newsom. He is hitting lower and lower and lower.

Trump has called on the acolyte Republican state of Texas to gerrymander their congressional districts to give him five more seats in the House of Representatives. Newsom has threatened to gerrymander California to counter the Texas Republicans unless the redistricting plans in Texas and elsewhere are dropped.

The California governor has taken to social media to troll Donald Trump. He uses the same shoutie capital letters and boastful, self-congratulatory rhetoric as the president. He explains: “We need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done…. We have to meet fire with fire and wake up to the assault on institutions, knowledge and history.”

Trump is fighting back. When Newsom called a press conference to announce his redistricting plans, Trump sent armed ICE agents to stand in the crowd.

A US Grand Jury is involved now.

With three separate criminal referrals, the Department of Justice has launched a full-scale investigation into claims that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CIA Director John Brennan, orchestrated an intelligence assessment that claims the Russians meddled in and backed Trump in the 2016 elections.

It is true that Obama ordered the CIA to investigate claims that Trump was backed by the Russians. They found no proof of collusion but they did report that Russia tried to influence the elections in Trump’s favour. This assessment was published shortly before Trump took office and Trump claimed that it undermined his first four year administration.

The first referral came from Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence. She claimed to have unearthed a congressional report that claimed the Russians did not support Trump and that Democrats orchestrated a false assessment. Gabbard says that this means the initial report was nothing short of “treason.”  Gabbard failed to mention that the report was written by Trump-supporting Republicans congressmen.

Referral number two was from CIA Director John Ratcliffe who stumbled across classified documents that said the report was “rushed” at the behest of Obama and others. Ratcliffe again says this proves “treason.” Ratcliffe failed to say that the report says it would have reached the same conclusion no matter how much time it took to investigate.

Finally, FBI Director Kash Patel said he uncovered a “treasonous” email from Hillary Clinton calling for a false assessment of Russian involvement. The email was old news and had already been dismissed as “fake” news.

The irony is that Obama cannot be prosecuted no matter what a Trump-convened Grand Jury decides. Thanks to the Trump-controlled Supreme Court, a sitting president cannot be held accountable in law for any act committed while president.

When it comes to law and order…

Continue reading »
Tagged | 3 Comments
Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Russia and Ukraine – the history

By Tom Arms | Sat 16th August 2025 - 8:30 am

“Ukraine is not a real country,” claims Vladimir Putin. “It is,” he has repeatedly stated, “an artificial creation” that is historically and culturally part of Russia.

If you go back far enough—the 9th century—he has a point. Kyiv was the cradle of what became the Russian Orthodox Church which for centuries defined Russian nationalism.

But since the mid-13th century, borders, allegiances and political alignments have been constantly shifting.

It started with the Mongol invasion which led to the heirs of Genghis Khan ruling the Principality of Moscow until the 15th century. Most of Ukraine became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which lasted until a Cossack rebellion in 1648.

The 1648 rebellion established the Cossack Hetmanate which lasted a little over a century and is viewed as the foundational state by Ukrainians. The Hetmanate rejected the feudal system of Poland and the authoritarianism of Russia. The leadership was not hereditary, but was elected by a warrior class on the basis of merit.

Initially the Hetmanate’s main enemy was Poland. It was the era of religious wars and the Cossacks were Orthodox Christians. So they turned to their co-religionists in Moscow for protection. Big mistake. Russia gradually increased their control over Ukraine and in 1764 Catherine the Great simply abolished the Hetmanate and imposed direct imperial rule.

From that point on Ukraine’s history was a story of Russian domination with the occasional burst of independence. The biggest came with the collapse of the Tsar in 1917. The problem, however, was that the Ukrainians themselves were divided. The Bolsheviks quickly crushed the half dozen independent Ukrainian states that sprang up.

Ukraine then became a nominally independent country within the Soviet Union. In reality it was part and parcel part of the USSR and it suffered more than any other part of the Soviet Union under Soviet rule. Two million-plus Ukrainians were arrested and deported to either Siberia or Kazakhstan. Up to 7 million died in the Holodomyr famine of 1932-33 caused by Stalin’s forced collectivisation. The Ukrainian language, culture and customs were suppressed and an estimated one million ethnic Russians were moved into Ukraine in an attempt to dilute the Ukrainian identity.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 20 Comments
The Voice

Palestine Action arrests: Lib Dems call on terrorism tsar to review law

By The Voice | Fri 15th August 2025 - 8:43 pm

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart has written to the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC to ask him to review the legislation that led to the arrest of more than 500 people for expressing support for proscribed organisation Palestine Action.

To cover all her bases, she has also written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to ask her to order an independent investigation by Jonathan Hall.

She said:

Acts of terrorism, antisemitic hate and violence, and violent disorder should all be punished to the fullest extent of the law and are totally unacceptable. It is right that the police already have the powers to make clear to organisations and individuals that we, as a society, will not stand for it and the consequences will be serious.

In the case of arresting hundreds of peaceful protesters not engaging in these actions, in a country that prides itself on democratic debate, these measures appear disproportionate. The Conservatives clamped down on the right to protest peacefully and this Labour government now risks doing the same.

We must protect the pillars of our democracy and where there is a chance they have been put at risk, we must look again. That is why I am urging the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to take up this review and if it is found the Government’s actions are indeed chilling freedom of speech then they must change course and address this in legislation.

Here is her letter to Jonathan Hall in full:

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 6 Comments
Will Lawson

Reclaiming the Liberal record on social justice

By Will Lawson | Fri 15th August 2025 - 8:55 am

David Lloyd George – the great Liberal Chancellor and Prime Minister of the early 20th Century – is often credited as the ‘founder of the welfare state’. This is entirely fair: he and the Liberal Reformers created the state pension, a scheme for national insurance against sickness and unemployment, and new legal protections for workers. Meanwhile, his controversial People’s Budget established the foundational principle that the wealthiest must fund public services, beginning a constitutional showdown which saw the House of Commons triumph over the conservative House of Lords. 

However, the prevalent view that Lloyd George was simply a ‘first-step’ on the inexorable path to Attlee’s post-war government undermines the profound, independent significance of his liberal reforms. This was not just Labour-lite: the Liberal Reformers had a distinct philosophy, and their policies presented a real alternative both to socialist nationalisation and conservative inaction.

Liberal Democrats should reclaim the record of past Liberal governments on social justice – and challenge the narrative which paints Labour as the sole progenitor of public services.

A People’s Budget

Introducing his ‘People’s Budget’ to the House of Commons, Lloyd George addressed the House:

There are hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children in this country now enduring hardships for which the sternest judge would not hold them responsible …

Is it fair, is it just, is it humane, is it honourable, is it safe to subject such a multitude of our poor fellow countrymen and countrywomen to continued endurance of these miseries?…

This is a War Budget. It is for raising money to wage implacable warfare against poverty and squalidness.

In so committing himself to the cause of social justice, Lloyd George reinvented liberalism for a 20th Century politics, characterised by escalating dissatisfaction with rampant, abject poverty. Cloaking himself in the rhetoric of redistribution, the Chancellor grasps the bellicose mood of the age and marshals it not against some European foe, but against the ‘5 giants’ later identified by William Beveridge: want, squalor, ignorance, idleness, and disease. 

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 44 Comments
Caron Lindsay

It’s Jennie vs Toffee in Westminster Dog of the Year

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th August 2025 - 9:44 am

My favourite Westminster event of the year happens in September when the Dogs Trust and Kennel Club run their Dog of the Year competition.

Steve announced Jennie’s candidacy on Twitter:

This year there are two Lib Dem entrants, Steve Darling’s gorgeous guide dog Jennie and Will Forser’s beautiful and spirited dachshund Toffee.

I’m delighted to share that my guide dog Jennie is taking part in Westminster Dog of the Year 2025, held on Thursday 11 September at Victoria Tower Gardens. Organised by the Dogs Trust and The Kennel Club, this brilliant event celebrates the special bond between MPs and their canine companions. Jennie has quickly become a cherished presence in Parliament and beyond — and now we’re hoping she can be crowned Top Dog with a little help from Torbay! We’re calling on our community to support us in the Sir David Amess Pawblic Vote, honouring a passionate advocate for dog welfare. Jennie’s calm, caring nature and her role as my guide dog have made her a symbol of accessibility and compassion in politics.

On the event page, Will makes his pitch for Toffee:

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 1 Comment

Palestine Action – a lawyer writes

By Neil Hickman | Wed 13th August 2025 - 2:30 pm

Chambers’ Dictionary defines terrorism as “an organized system of violence and intimidation, especially for political ends, and the state of fear and submission caused by this”. The Terrorism Act 2000 has a rather wider definition. Section 1 includes action designed to influence the government, and includes serious damage to property.

That means that Yvette Cooper was almost certainly within her powers in asking Parliament to proscribe Palestine Action; but the actions of that group are not within the everyday understanding of the concept of terrorism. When I learned of the events at Brize Norton, my reaction was not “I am terrified” but “Whatever was the RAF playing at, that a group of peaceniks could hop over the perimeter fence, walk up to several million pounds’ worth of warplane, and trash it?”

And while proscribing the organisation was probably lawful, it doesn’t seem to have been remotely sensible. Proscription has led to some entirely predictable over-reach, exemplified by Jon Farley’s arrest for holding up a copy of a Private Eye cartoon, and Roger Cauthery being refused admission to the Royal Albert Hall for wearing a small lapel pin bearing the Palestinian flag. And it has also led to an entirely predictable embarrassment for the Metropolitan Police as hundreds of eminently respectable people very publicly hold up placards proclaiming “I OPPOSE GENOCIDE…” The dilemma is that either you arrest all these people and look ridiculous, or you don’t and acknowledge that the law is a meaningless nonsense.

The Terrorism Act 2000 was another in a long line of badly thought out pieces of legislation seeking to address terrorist threats. The first of them, of course, was the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974, the first achievement of which was the framing of the Guildford Four. The 2000 Act hasn’t caused too much difficulty up to now because it has generally been applied with good sense. What appears to have been an angry reaction to what was admittedly a serious and reprehensible piece of criminality did not involve good sense.

Interviewing Jonathan Porritt on Newsnight, Victoria Derbyshire rather sententiously suggested that you can’t pick and choose what laws to obey. It’s understandable that history, and the BBC, appears to have forgotten the post-war saga of identity cards. These were introduced as an emergency measure at the outbreak of World War 2. The post-war Labour Government “omitted” to repeal the relevant legislation, and the practice grew up of the Police routinely demanding the production of identity cards whenever they stopped someone. One Harry Willcock, an unrepentant Liberal member of the Awkward Squad, was stopped for speeding and refused “on principle” to produce his identity card. On his appeal from the inevitable conviction before the Magistrates, Lord Goddard, no wet liberal (and indeed, in my book, possibly one of the worst Chief Justices of all time) said:

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 13 Comments
Simon McGrath

Pupil Premium: A Liberal Democrat success that needs a 2025 reboot

By Simon McGrath | Wed 13th August 2025 - 8:55 am

When the Liberal Democrats entered the Coalition Government in 2010 the introduction of a Pupil Premium was a key  part of  our agreement with the Conservatives.

It was a simple idea – give schools extra funding for each disadvantaged child they teach, and require that money to be spent in ways that improve those pupils’  life chances. It was a direct investment in fairness – helping to close the stubborn attainment gap between children from low-income families and their peers.

But a new report from the Centre for Social Justice  shows that while  £27 bn has been spent on the Pupil Premium it is not achieving as much as we would like – or was expected.   

The gap in attainment at the end of primary school remains at 21 percentage points – barely changed in eight years. At GCSE level, the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is now wider than at any point in the past decade. Only 45.6% of disadvantaged pupils secure a pass in both English and maths, compared to 73.7% of all others.

Even more worrying, six in ten schools saw worse results for disadvantaged pupils in 2023/24 than before the pandemic – while many improved outcomes for their better-off pupils. The Covid years hit vulnerable children hardest, but the recovery has not been even.

The Liberal Democrat vision behind the Pupil Premium was never just about more money. It was about targeted investment, accountability, and evidence-based spending. Yet the CSJ’s research shows that the system has drifted away from that vision. Schools often use the funds to plug general budget holes, and there is no consistent national tracking of how the money is spent or whether it works.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 11 Comments
David Morrison

Should Palestine Action be a Proscribed Organisation?

By David Morrison | Tue 12th August 2025 - 3:14 pm

Over 500 people were arrested in London last weekend for allegedly showing support for Palestine Action, an organisation proscribed under terrorist legislation. About half of those arrested are reported to be over 65 years of age and many of the arrests were for carrying signs, with words such as “Stop the Genocide – Support Palestine Action”.

Palestine Action was banned as it was responsible for causing costly criminal damage to military aircraft. The Home Secretary has sought to defend the ban by saying Palestine Action is “not a non-violent organisation” and that further information will come out which will justify the ban.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 25 Comments
Jack Meredith

The importance of acknowledging mental health, three year on

By Jack Meredith | Mon 11th August 2025 - 11:55 am

“In November 2020, I had a breakdown.”

 This was how my op-ed, “The importance of acknowledging mental health,” began. I discussed my mental breakdown and how I couldn’t face the world, and wished that the ground would swallow me up so I wouldn’t have to face another day.

It’s been three years since the piece, and now is a good time to reflect on what’s happened since.

My Sertraline intake has increased and stabilised at 100mg a day. I experimented, with my doctor’s consent, to find the dosage …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 2 Comments
Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 10th August 2025 - 8:30 am

Tariff Time

At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday American tariffs took effect in 90 countries. The tariffs were the highest in a century.

They start at 15 percent and rise to 35 percent for Canada and 50 percent for Brazil and India. Brazil is the victim of Trump’s anger over the decision to prosecute his friend Jair Bolsonaro for attempting to overthrow the government. India has been hit with a 25 percent punitive secondary tariff for importing Russian oil.

The Trump Administration is still talking to Mexico and China. Currently the tariff on Chinese goods is 30 percent. Deals have been struck with the UK, EU, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

So far this year, tariffs are estimated to have contributed $152 billion to the US Treasury. Trump has said this is only the start. He is threatening more and higher tariffs on pharmaceuticals and computer equipment and chips.

So far, the impact on the US economy has been nominal. But this is because American businesses stockpiled foreign goods before the tariffs took effect and consumers have been paying pre-tariff prices.

This will soon start to change, although the latest rise will not work its way through the pipeline until early October. However, businesses have been warning the administration that they cannot keep prices down much longer, and in fact, they are signs of inflation for items such as appliances, clothing and furnishings. The full impact will be ready in time for Christmas.

The Yale Budget Lab reckons that once all the tariffs have worked their way through the pipeline, the cost to the average American household will be $2,500 and half a percentage point will be shaved off the US economic growth figure.

Gaza

Netanyahu this week said he wants a permanent military occupation of Gaza. The US supports this. A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth millions. Click here to see a video of what Netanyahu will be occupying.

Trump to Moscow?

Trump is set to fly to Moscow. The exact date is unknown, but can be as early as the coming week.

After talks with Vladimir Putin, the US president will fly to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. Putin has refused a trilateral Ukraine-Russia-US summit.

The announcement of Trump’s travel plans came after a three-hour Kremlin meeting on Wednesday between Putin and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. No firm details have emerged from that meeting but Russian sources say that Putin “has conveyed certain signals.”

The most likely signals he could have sent would have been concessions on his territorial demands. In a June memorandum, the Russian leader clear set out his demands for peace: Russian sovereignty over the Ukraine regions of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kerson as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine, Ukrainian neutrality, no formal military involvement and new elections.

From the Ukrainian point of view this would mean total surrender and a return to the status of Russian puppet state.

According to Russian sources, the key to Putin’s demands is control of Ukraine. How he achieves that goal is open to negotiation. It could be through NATO guarantees, territorial control or combination of the two. The latter seems the most likely.

El Salvador

Continue reading »
Tagged | 14 Comments
Richard Dickson

One Hundred Days’ of ‘Change’ in Warwickshire 

By Richard Dickson | Sat 9th August 2025 - 11:51 am

Today it is 100 days since voters across Warwickshire voted – at least according to Cllr George Finch and the local Reform UK leadership – for change. 

If voters thought this change would involve a better way of governing the county, after years of Conservative complacency and mess, they’ve been badly let down. 

In the 100 days since 1st May the 14 Liberal Democrat County Councillors (previously there were just 5) have been hard at work for residents and with local partner organisations on a range of important issues.

This is despite an ongoing policy vacuum from the Council’s Reform UK leadership. 

Liberal Democrats in Warwickshire have been promoting active travel schemes and use of public transport, buses and trains so that residents, workers and visitors can get about in Warwickshire more easily, more affordably and more sustainably. They have also supported proposals for the Council to commit to a “Close to Home” principle, that works to ensure that children in care are placed as near as possible to their family, school, and community.

Liberal Democrat Councillors have – in vain – sought policy answers from the Council’s Reform UK leadership to questions about progress with the battery giga factory site at Coventry airport and the long-delayed and massively over-budget £57 million A46 Stoneleigh Junction ‘Bridge to Nowhere’.  

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 6 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Steve Trevethan
    Might we have a definition of government debt? Might we have a definition of democracy?...
  • David Raw
    @ Tristan Ward. Given your views on carers, I would strongly advise you to remain healthy and not to grow old....
  • Katrin Harding
    Thanks for grasping this issue! On the consultation sessions- I’d love to join one but the timings are impossible as a parent of young children. I’m happy t...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Kira, The words you quoted were from Peter Davies'. Not me. I wouldn't agree with raising VAT on energy to 15% right now. I'd leave it as is. The point ...
  • Peter Martin
    “‘why can’t social care and NHS spending be treated as ‘investment’’. Of course, that wont wash”. I'd agree if were talking about re...