Category Archives: Op-eds

A pill that stops HIV in its tracks

By John Abrams | Tue 1st December 2015 - 10:33 am

If I told you there was a pill that you could take every day that stops HIV in its tracks for those whom are HIV negative what would you think? What if I told you that recently you’d have to move heaven and earth to access information? That there were only one or two sexual health clinics in the UK that would provide the information? Astonished I’d imagine.

Well there IS such a drug. It’s available quite legally for anyone for those that want it – the patented drug (Truvada) for £400 a month – or the generic (Tenvir-EM) for £40. And I’m using the latter!

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Tagged HIV and PrEP | 11 Comments

Implications of the European Union Referendum Bill

By Merlene Emerson | Tue 1st December 2015 - 8:51 am

We have all heard about the European Union Referendum Bill but I suspect most do not realise how close we are to it becoming law. Whether you are a Europhile or Europhobe, you may be interested to know that the Bill will be getting its 3rd reading in the Lords today (1 Dec), after which there will be no more opportunity for the introduction of any new amendments.

I have to confess that I live in a household of Europhiles. My husband spent the early part of his life between aged 2 and 11 living in France, then Netherlands, as his late father was the English Head of the AFCENT International School for families of NATO. My in-laws subsequently retired in France and my step mother-in-law still lives there. She will sadly be barred from voting in the EU Referendum even though it could affect her right to continue to live in France. Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years do not currently have the right to vote in any UK elections, let alone in the EU Referendum.

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Tagged eu referendum bill | 12 Comments

If we’re going to oppose action in Syria, we should do so for the right reasons.

By Austin Rathe | Mon 30th November 2015 - 8:45 pm

I joined the Liberal Democrats in 2002, like so many people politicised by the build up to an illegal and wholly unjustified war in Iraq.

That misguided military intervention has loomed large over every subsequent discourse on the Middle East and our engagement in it. It’s a particularly salient point of reference for us as Liberal Democrats, as those of us involved at the time will remember, opposing Iraq was not a popular position. We were called appeasers, and worse, by people who had swallowed whole the dodgy dossiers and their phantom 45-minute claims.

Almost everyone, except Blair himself, now acknowledges that the war was a huge and costly mistake, and in turn that the Liberal Democrats, led by Charles Kennedy, were right to oppose it. It was and still is a defining position for our party.

However, I fear that this one position, taken over thirteen years ago, has come to exert a disproportionate influence over our view of the world in 2015. I’ve read with interest the various pieces that have been written over the last few days regarding our potential intervention in Syria, and whether the Lib Dems should support it. There are strong arguments on both sides made by honest and principled people, however it is clear that some of the arguments made against military action don’t stand up to even the mildest scrutiny, and are based more on a sense that as Liberal Democrats we should be “against this sort of thing” rather than any understanding of how this situation may differ from the past.

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Tagged syria | 53 Comments

++LDV Members’ Survey on Syria – 67% oppose airstrikes now BUT…(and it’s a big but..)

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 30th November 2015 - 6:59 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think about whether Liberal Democrat MPs should support air strikes against Daesh in Syria. 975 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

We wanted to test feeling in the party about whether and in what circumstances members would back airstrikes in Syria. Over two thirds said that they would oppose them in current circumstances, with less than a quarter in favour. However, when we looked at a Syria where there was a real post war plan, or a more coherent army of ground forces to support, that changed radically, with most members who expressed a preference supporting using UK air power to defeat Daesh. Only 10.7% of people agreed that we should never back airstrikes, with 75% answering “no” to that question.

There is very strong backing for Tim Farron’s Five Tests, with two thirds of members saying that they were “about right.”

Here are the answers in full:

Do you think that Liberal Democrat MPs should vote to back UK airstrikes in Syria in the following circumstances:

Before a wider solution to the Syrian Civil War is in place (ie now)

Yes 24.31%

No 67.18%

Don’t know 8.51%

As part of an agreement with other states to end the war

Yes 56.51%

No 31.28%

Don’t know 12.21%

Only to support a wide coalition of ground troops

Yes 46.46%

No 35.28%

Don’t know 18.26%

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Also posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged featured, liberal democrat voice members' surveys, members' surveys, syria and tim farron | 25 Comments

ISIS: what is the real threat?

By Nick Coates | Mon 30th November 2015 - 4:07 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

There are three threats arising from the conflagration in Syria and the surrounding region.

Firstly there is the indirect threat of ISIS’ operations in the Middle East and other parts of North Africa. Indirect because they are not about to invade Europe. The implications of its activities are the local destabilisation and destruction and the translocal movement of vast numbers of refugees. Aerial bombardments are having limited effect and, even if eventually effective, will result in a political vacuum which will be filled – as many commentators have already outlined – with ISIS mark 2 or further instability as the other warring factions compete for territory and power.

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Tagged ISIS and syria | 11 Comments

Syrian conflict: Assad and the mirage of a diplomatic solution

By Jonathan Brown | Mon 30th November 2015 - 3:05 pm

Such is the scale of our political failure concerning the Syrian conflict that the only options left open to us are terrible ones. Though I think much of the opposition to the air strikes is mistaken, it is with a heavy heart that I speak out in opposition to air strikes on ISIS in Syria too.

ISIS will clearly only be defeated militarily, and I’m happy that the UK should be part of that. Air strikes were almost certainly essential in enabling the Kurds in Syria and Iraq to survive ISIS’ sudden onslaught in August 2014.

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Tagged syria and tim farron | 22 Comments

Campaigning with C.A.R.

By Martin Veart | Mon 30th November 2015 - 2:07 pm

The North and East Liberal Democrat AGM was held last Friday. We had a good turnout, enjoyed the wine and mince pies (thank you!) and had a really interesting and brilliant talk from Baron Jeremy Purvis of Tweed.

Jeremy posed some real issues for us Liberal Democrats in terms of identity. After all, in a liberal society where everybody claims to be small ‘l’ liberal, what is the use of a liberal party? Especially in a system where everybody from both left and right have to converge upon the centre ground in order to gain power. The SNP and Conservative “love-in” has changed things though. Each present themselves as the only alternative to the other This situation led to the SNP almost sweeping the board in Scotland (50% vote share) and to the Tory majority government on 37% of the vote. There is nothing as useful in politics as having a good enemy. This viewpoint, however, leads only to insularity, acrimony and bitterness.

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Also posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged campaigning and jeremy purvis | Leave a comment

Would air strikes against Syria be legal?

By Toby Fenwick | Mon 30th November 2015 - 1:09 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

This week, it is likely that the Commons will be asked to approve RAF strike missions against ISIL/Daesh targets inside Syria. LDV readers will be familiar with Tim Farron’s five tests but here I’m going to focus only on the first: would such strikes be legal?

(NB. If it is, each target would be subject to the normal targeting rules of proportionality – ie, the use of force must be proportionate to the military advantage to be gained, and discrimination, – ie, that you may only attack military and not civilian targets.)

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Tagged syria and tim farron | 27 Comments

Osborne’s democracy cuts shows true Tory colours

By A Liberal in Leeds | Mon 30th November 2015 - 10:51 am

View image | gettyimages.com

This week the Chancellor unveiled a petty attack on our democracy.

There were just three good parts to the Spending Review. First, there was the long-overdue boost to mental health funding as championed by Norman Lamb. Then there was the welcome U-turn over tax credits, and finally the absence of significant police cuts.

However, there were swathes of ideological, unnecessary cuts: cuts to the pupil premium in real terms, cuts to green energy which will harm our environment and our economy, cuts to universal credit orders for councils to sell off much-needed property to stay afloat financially and a whole lot more.

Hidden beneath this bad news though was something a lot more sinister. Osborne proposed a seventeen percent cut to opposition party funding because – wait for it – opposition parties have done nothing to cut the deficit so they should take the hit! Has the Chancellor forgotten the last five years? Even if the Chancellor somehow thinks opposition parties routinely voted against every bill proposing spending reductions, we Lib Dems spent five years sacrificing our party for the good of the country.

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Tagged autumn review 2015, short money and spending review 2015 | 21 Comments

The case for Syrian air-strikes: not overwhelming, but strong enough

By Nick T | Sun 29th November 2015 - 2:34 pm

In the early hours of 21 August 2013, rockets began to land in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. The civilian population of Syria had now become used to this, since Bashar al-Assad had decided over 2 years earlier that in response to a peaceful uprising against his totalitarian rule he would prosecute the most brutal military campaign by a ruler against his people that this century has seen. But this attack was different: the rockets were filled with sarin, a highly toxic nerve agent.

When the images of the hundreds of people killed and thousands injured began to circulate, there was international outrage of a level not so far seen in the Syrian Civil War. Momentum gathered for a military response. Obama’s red line had been crossed. Enough was enough.

Only it wasn’t. Obama dithered. Miliband played politics. Assad survived to kill another day.

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Tagged 2015 paris terrorist attacks, bashar al-assad, featured, islamic state and syria | 69 Comments

Liberal Democrats should campaign against benefits “rape clause”

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 29th November 2015 - 11:43 am

George Osborne’s decision not to impose the cuts to tax credits may be welcome but in many cases is only putting off the agony. As research from the Resolution Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows, working families with children still stand to lose more than £1300 a year, more than £100 every month. Nick Clegg spelled this out when he was in Oldham campaigning for Jane Brophy this week:

He’s just delaying it by smuggling the cuts into Universal Credit. I think we played an important role and a leading role in firstly, identifying the problem and then opposing it unambiguously.

I wasn’t (surprised at the decision). But they’re doing half a beastly thing instead of a beastly thing.

Actually, it’s more of a beastly thing than that. The cap on the childcare element at 2 children remains and, with it, an issue which was first highlighted by SNP MP Alison Thewliss back in July. There is a rather sinister devil in the detail which has not been removed by the Autumn Statement, the so-called “rape clause.”

This says:

the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC will develop protections for women who have a third child as a result of rape or other exceptional circumstances

Someone sitting in an office in Whitehall has actually thought this, written it down and others have presumably thought it was practical enough to include. I actually despair.

So, how exactly is a woman supposed to prove that she has been raped, given that conviction rates are so low? Alison Thewliss has repeatedly questioned the Chancellor on how exactly this will be implemented, most recently after the Autumn Statement on Wednesday. Osborne replied:

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Tagged alison thewliss, featured, rape clause and tax credits | 22 Comments

Caroline Pidgeon writes… Action, not rhetoric, on knife crime

By Caroline Pidgeon | Sat 28th November 2015 - 6:56 pm

When it comes to knife crime there appears to be two default settings that most Westminster politicians adopt.

The first is to turn a blind eye to the issue for large periods of time.

For example in London during the six week General Election period, 26^th March to 8^th May, there were 789 victims of serious youth violence, 1,231 victims of knife crime and 441 victims of knife crime with injury. That’s 40 a day.

Yet despite these figures the issue was almost entirely ignored. Few politicians campaigned on the issue or wanted to talk about it.

The second position for Westminster politicians is to suddenly take a very short term interest, but to be totally obsessed with the idea that ‘fixed term’ sentences are the only solution.

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Tagged Caroline Pidgeon, knife crime and london | 7 Comments

The reality of living with, leaving and surviving domestic abuse

By Betty | Sat 28th November 2015 - 8:55 am

View image | gettyimages.com

I’ve written this in response to Tim Farron’s article regarding domestic violence:

This is a subject very close to my heart, as I have been through this and come out of the other end. The problems started in 2008 when my now ex-husband lost his mother. He subsequently took this out on me, both verbally and physically. As a result I lost all confidence; I lost my career, my self-esteem and I was totally alone. Had I told anyone we still would have been alienated; we needed help as a family, not judgement from those around us.

Anyway, eventually I left. Not because it got worse, but because I could not forgive him for what he had done. Because I was perceived as not being in any immediate danger I found myself homeless. That’s ok. I understand that there are people who needed more immediate shelter. I had no access to funds. He had all the money. I had nowhere to go. I sofa-surfed; homeless. Living out of a holdall at the tolerance of others.

Eventually I scraped the money together for a deposit on a flat. I could rent a bedsit, which I am still renting. I was still contributing to the marital home and had little access to any money (my £1000 savings was barely cutting it, all my cash was tied up in the home). I spoke of the prospect of selling but he was never “ready” to sell. Then, after a year of polite negotiations, he told me I wasn’t entitled to half our flat (bearing in mind I wasn’t planning on looking at his savings and assets, just the home) and he told me to get a solicitor.

At this point my take-home earnings were about £1000 per month. Out of this came my rent (£550 per month), bills and council tax. I was also trying to pay off my credit card debt which I had accumulated as a result of needing to set up a home again (I was allowed 2 pieces of furniture and my clothes from the marital home). This left me with £200 disposable income; not including food. I had no car and never went out. I guessed my life was miserable enough for legal aid. I guessed wrong.

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Tagged #idevaw #16days, domestic abuse and legal aid | 5 Comments

Stephen Tall’s Diary: liberal jottings on the week’s big events

By Stephen Tall | Fri 27th November 2015 - 9:20 am

Spending Revue Reviewed

‘You make your own luck,’ goes the saying. In which case, and only in this respect, George Osborne truly has started a “march of the makers” because he’s one hell of a lucky Chancellor. Had the independent Office for Budget Responsibility not lavished on him a £27 billion fiscal (and notional) windfall, this week’s Autumn Statement would have been far more wintry. As it was, he was able to play out the role of Santa, albeit a very Tory version: snatching away fewer of the kids’ presents in order to re-gift them to their grandparents. For this was a spending review which confirmed this Government stands shoulder-to-shoulder with pensioners (who vote, in droves) while shrugging its shoulders at the plight of the younger, working poor (who often don’t vote, and if they do probably vote Labour anyway).

Yes, the tax credit cuts were jettisoned for now — take a bow all those who’ve campaigned against them because it took concerted action to persuade the House of Lords and a few Tory MPs with a social conscience to stand up to this government — but, really, they’ve just been deferred. Once universal credit has been implemented (assuming that Godot-like day ever arises) the Resolution Foundation calculates eligible working families with children will be £1,300 a year worse off (even taking into account the so-called ‘national living wage’ and planned increases in the tax-threshold). Which might sound bad, but that average actually conceals far worse news for some. For instance, a single mum working part-time on the minimum wage will receive £2,800 a year less by 2020 under the Tories’ plans, while a working couple on the minimum wage with three kids will lose out to the tune of £3,060. Meanwhile the pensions ‘triple lock’ (of which Lib Dems have often boasted) will guarantee that pensioner benefits grow to more than half of all welfare spending.

Gone are the days when the Lib Dems could require a distributional analysis to ensure the pain of cuts was shared around to ensure that, as far as possible, Britain was all in it together. It’s George’s Show now. It’s just a shame some of his luck won’t rub off on those “hard-working families” he’s soon going to clobber.

Rational actors

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Tagged featured and stephen tall diary | 12 Comments

Brian Paddick writes… Chairman Mao might have backed Labour’s ID card plans, but Lib Dems won’t

By Brian Paddick | Thu 26th November 2015 - 6:43 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

In the House of Lords today, Labour tried to resurrect the National Identity Card scheme with some support from the Conservative benches. The Government Home Office minister countered that it was too expensive and ineffective in that those we would most want to carry an ID card are the least likely to carry them.

Liberal Democrats object to the compulsory carrying of identity cards on principle, as an infringement of the liberty and the right to privacy of those lawfully going about their business but there are other reasons why a national identity scheme should remain dead and buried.

Not one of the tragic deaths or horrific injuries inflicted by terrorists in recent times in the UK could have been prevented had a national identity card scheme been in place. The identities of the bombers and would-be bombers of the London transport system in 2005 were quickly established. The identities of the murderers of Lee Rigby were never an issue.

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Tagged brian paddock, civil liberties, featured, id cards and john reid | 6 Comments

‘Iraq 2’. Why the Lib Dem’s Syria conflict position in parliament is militarily and politically unwise

By Paul Reynolds | Thu 26th November 2015 - 10:01 am

On Tuesday, Tim Farron expressed the party’s position on the coming ‘Syria conflict’ vote in parliament in a letter to PM David Cameron.

It set out five conditions for Lib Dem support for an escalation of British involvement in Syria. It will no doubt be taken by the UK government as conditions for Lib Dem support for a general major escalation.

The first ‘condition’ was that military action against Islamic State in Syria should follow international law. The letter expressed acceptance of UN Resolution 2249. This UN resolution however does not authorise actions against IS, nor does it provide a legal basis for the use of force generally against IS in Syria or in Iraq. It only supports states in doing what they are already doing under existing international laws, specifically on IS-held territory. As such this supports existing Russian and Iranian military involvement as much as existing Western involvement.

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Tagged islamic state, russia and syria | 28 Comments

Tim Farron’s response to the Autumn Statement

By The Voice | Wed 25th November 2015 - 5:29 pm

Tim Farron writes:

This was a deeply political budget from a deeply political Chancellor. It looks good in the theatrics of the Commons, with Labour divided, weak and inept, but the budget will unravel.

It will unravel in schools next year when they see funding slashed; it will unravel when local councils have to cut services and increase taxes just to get by; and it will unravel when projects can’t be built because of the skills shortage caused by the attack on further education.

The brighter outlook has given Osborne room for manoeuvre, yet he continues an ideological crusade to slash spending and

…

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Tagged autumn statement 2015, spending review 2015 and tim farron | 13 Comments

Dutch economists & ex-ministers: Brexit so disastrous that Dutch government should campaign against it

By Bernard Aris | Wed 25th November 2015 - 4:03 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte discusses the UK’s negotiations over EU membership with David Cameron

Two prominent economists who also were Dutch ministers and still are influential “public thinkers” about macro-economic, budgetary and fiscal affairs, have come out in their weekly column for a strong Dutch government involvement in the campaign against Brexit.

Willem Vermeend, the minister and author of the last big reform of the Dutch tax system, and
the British-educated economist Professor Rick van der Ploeg

write in their Sunday column (15^th November 2015) in the biggest Dutch newspaper The Telegraaf, that the OECD may predict a sunny future for the Netherlands, but that uncertainties like the slump of China and others Emerging Economies (see: The Economist) can scupper those rosy predictions.

But a second danger looms on the horizon: a Brexit can also harm the economic and political interests of the Netherlands. Vermeend and Van der Ploeg point out that with a Brexit

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Tagged brexit and eu | 13 Comments

We should be highly sceptical of air strikes against Syria

By Geoffrey Payne | Wed 25th November 2015 - 11:12 am

View image | gettyimages.com

There is a famous saying by Albert Einstein I am sure you are all familiar; “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

And now we contemplate another military intervention in the Middle East…

Of course the experience of Iraq shows the consequences of getting it wrong. But Afghanistan was also a failed policy. And under our watch in government, Libya too. Yet whilst much has been said about Iraq, little has been said about Libya. Perhaps we have not come to terms of what we did there, and the hellhole that Libya has become?

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Tagged syria | 39 Comments

York welcomes refugees

By Keith Aspden | Wed 25th November 2015 - 10:01 am

From left to right: Lib Dem Cllrs Ashley Mason, Andrew Waller, Keith Aspden, Stephen Fenton, and Keith Orrell from City of York Council.

In the late 1990s, York offered a place of safety to 90 Kosovan Albanians as they fled conflict in their homeland. They were living in overcrowded camps in neighbouring Macedonia, and our country heard their cries. Today, thousands of Syrians face a similar plight and once again cities like York are preparing to help.

Initially, David Cameron was very slow to react to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. In contrast, Tim Farron was quick to grasp both the seriousness of the situation and the need for swift action. Cameron’s reticence also contradicted strongly with the view of many residents I spoke to in York, including those who I joined on a ‘Refugees Welcome’ march back in September.

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Tagged refugees, refugees welcome and york | 4 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes: We need a holistic approach to eliminate domestic violence once and for all

By Tim Farron MP | Wed 25th November 2015 - 8:43 am

Today is the Comprehensive Spending Review and all eyes will be on The Chancellor. However, it is also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marking an issue that affects all of us in the UK and across the globe.

Here in the UK domestic violence continues to be a horrific, often hidden scar on our society. Websites such as Counting Dead Women are a terrible reminder of the human cost of violence against women. Figures show that one in four women will suffer domestic abuse in their lifetime and two women are killed by partners each week. It is incomprehensible to me that more isn’t being done to eliminate this abhorrent crime.

We need to make sure that women feel they can speak out and get the help they need so they aren’t left trapped in their own homes. Women’s Aid have said that on average a woman will have suffered 35 separate incidents of domestic violence before going to the police. We need to ask ourselves why.

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Tagged featured, international day for the elimination of violence against women and tim farron | 8 Comments

Lib Dem Christian Forum membership doubles in 2015

By William Dyer | Tue 24th November 2015 - 7:30 pm

It is not just the national party that has had a membership boost over the last year. Liberal Democrat Christian Forum has doubled its membership in 2015. We too (like the party) had the majority the of membership boost in the 3 months after May. However are membership has been growing steadily throughout 2015.

LDCF does many events throughout the year, both on this own (such as prayers in parliament and fringes at conference) and with other organisations, such as charities and Christians in Politics. It was great to see so many LDCF members at the Show Up Weekend (6th – 8th Nov), which were certainly representing, with over 100 Christians involved in politics (whether that be as a member, as an activist or working in politics) in Sunningdale, Surrey. We were hit with great talks, great company and a breaking down of political tribes.

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Tagged liberal democrat christian forum | 6 Comments

Jenny Randerson writes… The final decision on Heathrow is imminent and Lib Dems are standing firm

By Jenny Randerson | Tue 24th November 2015 - 5:56 pm

It feels as if we have been waiting for a decision on airport expansion for a very long time. And in fact we have been – it was 2012 when the Airports Commission was set up and asked to come up with a recommendation for how the UK can best meet its international connectivity needs. But we finally have the long awaited “Davies Report”, and it is now up to the Government to make the final decision.

They are facing a major political dilemma. The report has a very clear conclusion: Heathrow is the airport it wants to see expanded. But …

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Tagged heathrow airport | 9 Comments

Farron’s five tests to secure Lib Dem support for UK action in Syria

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 24th November 2015 - 4:34 pm

Falling on David Cameron’s desk this afternoon is a letter signed by all current and living former leaders of the Liberal Democrats in which they outline the five key tests the Government must pass in order to secure the party’s support for airstrkes in Syria.

Here is the letter in full:

In advance of your statement outlining your plan for military intervention against ISIL in Syria, we are writing to outline the criteria against which we will judge our response to your proposals.

As you will know our party has maintained a consistent position that airstrikes alone will not defeat ISIL in Syria. Deployment of lethal force should never be used simply as a gesture. It has to have effect, and to have effect it has to be part of a wider strategy, especially on the diplomatic front.

We are encouraged by the fact that the Government has at last decided to explain the details of that strategy and look forward to hearing what this is.

The five conditions below give the UK the best chance at having an effective strategy to counter ISIL and make serious progress in ending the Syrian civil war. We call on you to embed them into your plans before they are brought to the House of Commons on Thursday.

These conditions are:

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Also posted in News | Tagged airstrikes, daesh, featured, isil, syria and tim farron | 26 Comments

Oops! The £92.5bn black hole in Leave.eu’s sums

By Stuart Bonar | Tue 24th November 2015 - 1:42 pm

Anti-Europeans struggle when it comes to numbers. UKIP can’t decide whether it’s thousands, tens of millions or hundreds of millions of foreign nationals who are descending on Britain. Business for Britain’s boast that Brexit would make each of us £1.06 per day better off falls apart even under the mildest of scrutiny. And only last week Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames highlighted the £14bn black hole in Vote Leave’s back-of-an-envelope calculations.

But the clumsiness of Business for Britain and Vote Leave is as nothing compared to Leave.eu. If we pull out of Europe, Leave.eu’s chief executive Liz Bilney told Sky News, “we will be better off by £1,000 per person.” She then clarified exactly what she meant: “That’s real money in people’s pockets that they’d be getting back”.

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6 Comments

Zoe O’Connell’s Federal Conference Committee report

By Zoe O’Connell | Tue 24th November 2015 - 10:25 am

Federal Conference Committee met at Liberal Democrat HQ on Saturday 14th November for a meeting that had, despite press reports suggesting it was called purely to discuss special conference, been in the diary for some time.

Many topics were discussed, as the November meeting is one of the few where members get to kick about ideas and discuss new developments rather than focusing on motion and amendment selection. Even after a relatively short time on the committee, these feel to me as if they are standing agenda items – many FCC members are keen to keep up work on better use of funds to improve conference accessibility and financial inclusion, investigate remote voting, use of new technology, timing of conferences and so on. FCC rarely decides anything concrete at this point, but members are often tasked to go and consult with other groups such as, for example, talking to DEG and LDDA about some aspect of accessibility or funding that has arisen.

I generally refrain from reporting discussions-in-progress on these topics, as I feel it right that groups representing members who have most to gain (or lose) from changes should get the first say. There are three areas that deserve special mention, however:

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Also posted in Conference | Tagged committee reports and federal conference committee | 8 Comments

We shouldn’t bomb Daesh in Syria even with a UN resolution

By Cara Jenkinson | Tue 24th November 2015 - 8:56 am

It looks like there could be a vote to bomb Syria within a couple of weeks. Whilst I too was horrified by what happened in Paris 10 days ago, I am not convinced that the UK should be joining this mission.

Most defence commentators agree that the purpose of an air campaign is to prepare for a ground campaign – air strikes alone are not enough to degrade Daesh. So who are the ground troops? The Kurdish soldiers will certainly take back some land currently occupied by IS but will stop at the borders of their desired future …

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Tagged daesh | 32 Comments

Banning the Lord’s prayer – how outrageous (if it were true)

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 23rd November 2015 - 10:52 pm

The tabloids do love a good moan about how Christians are persecuted in this country. It’s lost on them that representatives of the faith enjoy a privileged position in our Parliament and national life. So today’s stooshie about the Church of England’s ad, or, even more sensationally, “the Lord’s Prayer” being “banned” is an early Christmas Present for the tabloid editor.

Except nobody has banned anything as the subsequent prevalence of this short advert proves.. In fact, if the agency who runs the advertising for the three biggest cinema chains had accepted the ad, they would have been breaking their own policy, which is not to accept religious or political adverts. They were a bit burned last year when they received negative feedback after running independence referendum ads in Scottish cinemas and were understandably reluctant to repeat the exercise.

You have to hand it to the Church of England for playing this brilliantly. Without handing over a penny, everyone in the country now knows how to access their advert. It’s embedded into many news articles about the row, it’s on their website, it’s on You Tube, it is everywhere. They have managed to simultaneously complain about it being banned while ensuring that many more people have seen it than would have done over Mockingjay and popcorn.

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Tagged banning things, church of england and free speech | 40 Comments

Baroness Ros Scott writes…Up for the new challenge

By Baroness Ros Scott | Mon 23rd November 2015 - 11:58 am

Liberals from across Europe have been meeting in Budapest for the annual Congress of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe, including a sizeable delegation of Lib Dems led by Party President Sal Brinton.

ALDE has 55 member parties from across the continent, 49 members of the European Parliament, 5 European Commissioners and 7 Prime Ministers. There’s also a local government group in the shape of Committee of the Regions, and a network of Liberal Mayors.

A recent decision to trial an individual membership scheme has gone from strength to strength, with over 1,500 joining up already.

On Saturday, after a intense campaign, I was lucky enough, and honoured, to be elected as one of the new Vice-Presidents of ALDE, which means serving as a member of governing body, the Bureau.

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged ALDE, ALDE congress, europe, featured and international | 7 Comments

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Rosemary Runswick
@Peter The "Jenkinsite" title is a bit of a weird holdover from when we were simply a Jenkins appreciation group, but people have been loud and clear so far on ...
Jack Meredith
Fantastic to see you guys doing well, congratulations! I look forward to seeing you go from strength to strength ☺️...
Peter Martin
It's odd to see "ordoliberalism" mentioned with approval (as in the link given in the OP)- especially as the calls for government to adopt a more a Keynesian ap...
Peter Davies
Perhaps the answer to Michael's comment and those of the MPs and councillors William refered to is that you redisribute at a personal or household level. That m...