Category Archives: Op-eds

Charles Lawley

Boris’ Israel visit proves he is unsuitable to represent us on the world stage

By Charles Lawley | Mon 16th November 2015 - 11:04 am

 

Many can be forgiven for finding Boris Johnson’s manner affable and quite comical. However, his conduct during his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories this week has been no laughing matter. A frontrunner to be our next Prime Minister has clumsily bounced around the region making an offensive remark here and reciting anti-Palestinian propaganda there.

The Mayor of London said:

I cannot think of anything more foolish than to say that you want to have any kind of divestment or sanctions or boycott against a country that, when all is said and done is the only democracy in the region. is the only place that has, in my view, a pluralist, open society…

…The supporters of this so-called boycott are really just a bunch of corduroy-jacketed academics from lefty, not that there’s anything wrong with wearing a corduroy jacket I hasten to say, but they are by and large lefty academics who have no real standing in the matter and I think are highly unlikely to be influential on Britain. And this is a very, very small minority in our country who are calling for this.

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Adam Coe

I became a Lib Dem member this weekend – Why?

By Adam Coe | Mon 16th November 2015 - 9:23 am

 

Social media is awash with similar responses to this weekend’s tragedy:

“At an awful, heartbreaking time like this, while we pray for Paris, it is important that we ”

Fair enough. Shock focuses the mind, and compassion demands action.

Unfortunately, we live in times where liberalism is no longer so mainstream.

What we may have shrugged off before as mild, parochial xenophobia, is turning nasty. Mr Cameron will accept less Syrian refugees in five years than Germany accepted in a week. Those of us who sympathise with all victims of IS, find this totally unacceptable.

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Caron Lindsay

What Twitter tells us about Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th November 2015 - 12:45 pm

The Welsh Liberal Democrats met in Swansea for their Autumn Conference yesterday. Here are some of the highlights from Twitter.

Like the Scottish Kickstart which also took place yesterday, the event opened with a minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris atrocities.

Sal Brinton also mentioned the events in Paris in her speech:

Was some awkward squad rebellion going on?

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Caron Lindsay

Last chance to submit your thoughts to the Governance Review – deadline is noon tomorrow

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th November 2015 - 9:47 am

The deadline for submissions to the party’s Governance Review is noon tomorrow. If you have strong opinions on how the party is run, you need to get them in by then. The Federal Executive will be discussing them at an away day on 5th December and proposals will then be drawn up for consultation at Spring Conference and regional and state conferences. Here’s what I wrote in September about why it’s important to contribute:

I often think that if any executive body wanted to do some real power grabs, it would circulate them in a document entitled “Governance review” in the hope that nobody would actually read them and work out what they meant.

Actually, you don’t get away with that in this party where we have been known to have quite a bit of an obsession with constitutional geekery and process. I often feel that we get too tied up in the wording of tiny parts of the constitution and not enough in its practical application and the culture we need to foster to make the party work well. In a party that values openness, transparency and accessibility for government, we don’t have nearly enough of them in the way we run our party.

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Caron Lindsay

Who runs the World?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th November 2015 - 11:58 am

I had an absolutely brilliant day on Thursday at the first ever national Scottish Conference organised by the Women 50/50 Campaign and Engender entitled Who runs the World.

Women from all over the country gathered in Edinburgh’s MacDonald Hotel to discuss politics, the media, getting involved in councils and public appointments and ensuring that all areas of our public and political life had at least 50% women running them. There was a keynote speech from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who said that the Women 50/50 campaign was one of the most significant campaigns in Scotland today.

I’m going to write in more detail about some of the sessions later but here are some of the highlights.

How sexism stops women fulfilling their ambitions

There were two panel sessions during the day. The first, in the morning, discussed participation in and portrayal of women in the media. One of the journalists on the panel, Gina Davidson, told us how she had wanted to the crime reporting job on the paper she was working for. She was turned down for that and given health. Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon had come into Parliament desperate to get on the Audit Committee. Her request was denied by the leadership and she ended up with health, a subject that she knew nothing about. Having said that, she has developed quite an affinity with it – she intends to spend her retirement volunteering for a mental health project. Even so, women are often directed into areas traditionally seen as theirs.

Working across parties

It’s great when women from all parties get together. We find out that we share a lot of the same frustrations and come across the same behaviours across politics. There was some talk on whether there should be a formal Women’s Caucus at Holyrood, something that the MSPs there thought could be useful. There are already examples of cross party working. Labour leader Kezia Dugdale talked about having a quiet word with then Employment Minister Angela Constance (also on the panel) after she’d noticed that all the photos on the construction page of Skills Development Scotland showed men wearing hard hats. Angela went and got it changed.

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Caron Lindsay

So why shouldn’t MPs breastfeed in the House of Commons?

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 13th November 2015 - 10:55 am

There was a very sensible debate on the family friendliness or otherwise of the House of Commons earlier this week. The press seems to have latched on (sorry) to the issue of whether women MPs should be allowed to breastfeed their babies in the Commons chamber itself, although the debate was much more wide ranging – and we’ll have more about those other aspects later.

The debate was brought by Jess Phillips ,the MP for Birmingham Yardley who recently took such a battering on Twitter for daring to suggest that Parliament might have more important priorities than have a special debate for International Men’s Day. The irony of her being the only woman on the Committee that decides Commons business was not lost on many people.

At any debate on these issues, you get the odd Tory turning up whose only purpose seems to be to make themselves look ridiculous and to basically troll the proceedings. On this occasion it was Sir Simon Burns, the MP for Chelmsford. Early in the proceedings he suggested that the House of Commons did not have an overwhelming majority of white men when asked by fellow Conservative Maria Miller:

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Stephen Tall

Liberal jottings: Stephen Tall’s weekly notebook

By Stephen Tall | Fri 13th November 2015 - 8:43 am

Status Quo’s winning record

Painful though it might be for liberals to admit the fact, Britain is a fundamentally conservative country. Opposition is more often expressed with a tut or a sceptically-arched eyebrow than a revolution. And then things generally revert to how they were before. Which is why, though I’m more careful these days about predicting what will happen next in British politics, I remain sure ‘remain’ will win the EU referendum.

A few years ago, after our AV knock-back, I looked back at the history of referendums in this country (starting with the first ever UK plebiscite, the 1973 Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum). Doing so, I formulated what I’m going to call Tall’s Law in the hope it catches on (though Tall’s Rule of Thumb would be more accurate): “the public will vote for the status quo when asked in a referendum except when the change proposed in a referendum is backed by a coalition of most/all the major parties”. Come the EU referendum, we will see the Conservatives and Labour (to one degree or another) as well as the Lib Dems united in favour of Britain’s continuing EU membership. Sure, take nothing for granted — but a defeat for ‘remain’ would be an unprecedented occurrence. And precedent is a very British custom, for better and worse.

Burnham down

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Peter Ramrayka

London Region elections: Peter Ramrayka’s pitch for Chair

By Peter Ramrayka | Thu 12th November 2015 - 8:15 pm

Peter Ramrayka for London Regional Chair for Continuity and Expertise – Grounded and Rounded

1. The ASKS of the Region
As we start the fight back The priorities of the Region must include: Looking at different ways to maximize campaigning; identifying fundraising streams to support our activities; working on maximizing the involvement of new members and in the process developing a distinctive London voice; supporting local parties and energetically working on diversity in all forms so that we truly reflect London’s demographics. A significant additional feature for the Regional Executive is to have a balance between old and new members- the former providing continuity and “institutional knowledge”, especially for the more prominent positions and the latter infusing the group with new ideas and challenges. The Chair’s position should be someone who has recent and direct experience of the key challenges of the Region, the ability to hit the ground running mindful of the imminence of the GLA elections, the ability to work well with and support the candidates on the GLA list, in particular the top three and some of the traditional chair’s skill of leadership, time commitment, communications and judgment.

How do I fit into those asks? – Meeting the Person Spec

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Paul Walter

There’s more than one reason why defence chiefs shouldn’t criticise politicians

By Paul Walter | Thu 12th November 2015 - 5:55 pm
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How the Liberal Democrats can become the official opposition by 2035

By Ian Thomas | Thu 12th November 2015 - 1:26 pm

The Agenda 2020 essays that I have read through on Lib Dem Voice have really been superb and it’s great to see ideas about our principles and philosophy articulated in such a concise way. If we are going to rebuild our party and move forward to become stronger than we have been in a century then we need to have open, frank, even explosive, debates on what we must do to become one of leading political parties in the country again. Armed with the drive and enthusiasm of old and new members alike we can really do something amazing, hence my bold – but not unrealistic – title, using the goals below.

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Stuart Bonar

The EU already gives us more than anti-Europeans are promising

By Stuart Bonar | Thu 12th November 2015 - 11:00 am

Inside the EU we have better access to the European marketplace than we could ever have outside. And the clout of such a massive bloc means we strike better trade deals now than we ever could on our own.

For years anti-Europeans have churned out stories about Brussels banning schoolchildren from eating yoghurt and the Queen from appearing on our passports. More recently they latched onto immigration, with Brexiteers offering up conflicting numbers of how many millions of foreigners are on their way.

With the referendum approaching however the time has come for them to stop complaining and start explaining. What assurances can they give, for instance, to people in Swindon who earn a living building cars for Honda? How secure are their jobs going to be if trade barriers go back up?

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London Lib Dems to debate private hire regulations – how they should get it right

By A Liberal Reform Board Member | Wed 11th November 2015 - 10:25 am

Upon moving to London my first ‘culture-shock’ moment – so much as an Aussie can have them – was discovering that many black cabs only take cash payment. In 2015 it is hard to imagine another industry where a regulator must step in to ensure more than half of all operators provide a facility as basic as card payment.

This matters, as this weekend our London conference will debate a motion on Transport for London’s (TfL) recently released proposals to regulate the private hire car market. While many of the proposals are sound, several will sabotage successful business models and reduce competition, further breeding the kind of apathy to consumer preferences that sees many black cab drivers refuse card payment.

There are three proposals Liberal Democrats should be most concerned with. The first, a mandatory waiting period between requesting a private hire vehicle and pick-up, is hard to square with any consumer interest rationale. TfL is proposing a mandatory 5 minute wait, about 1.5 minutes more than the average time it takes for an Uber driver to arrive. Apparently this would reduce the risk of a customer getting into the wrong vehicle, a problem TfL provides no evidence to suggest actually exists. Even if it does, it appears not to have been weighed against the risk of extending the time in which people may have to wait alone on a street corner late at night. 

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Lord Tony Greaves calls for action to register young people and ex-pats for the referendum

By Elliot Margison | Wed 11th November 2015 - 9:03 am

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Tony Greaves used the committee stage of the European Union Referendum Bill to press the government to sort out the voting system for people living in other European countries who may be at risk of losing their chance to vote in the Referendum which is due before the end of 2017 and perhaps as early as June next year – together with some in the UK itself.

Sounds simple enough, although in this year’s general election the system had a shortfall of several million UK citizens living abroad who were eligible to vote but could not physically do so due to administrative problems in getting registered, being correctly identified and actually receiving the postal ballot paper itself.

Out of more than two million UK nationals living in EU countries, only 100,000 were able to successfully vote in this year’s general election. Lord Greaves said:

If only 100,000 were able to be on the register for the general election, clearly, the system up to now has not worked – even though the figure was increased by three times. Three times not many is still not many.

He moved an amendment to the Bill to make sure that the Electoral Commission makes special efforts to get votes on the register once the date is known – both British citizens living in the EU and those who will be missed off the register when the new system of individual registration starts a year early (something the Liberal Democrats in the Lords tried to stop and failed by just 11 votes the previous week).

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Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron writes… Liberal Democrats can and must oppose a snoopers’ charter

By Tim Farron MP | Tue 10th November 2015 - 12:00 pm

snowdenLast week, Theresa May finally published the Investigatory Powers Bill. It isn’t surprising it has taken her so long to come back with a new Bill after we blocked her first attempt in 2012. At the time, I said the Liberal Democrats can and must oppose a Snoopers’ Charter. The 2012 bill was a disproportionate invasion of all our privacy, forcing internet service providers to keep a record of all your texts, emails and every website you visited.

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John Whitehouse

HS2: Who cares about an old pear tree standing in its way?

By John Whitehouse | Mon 9th November 2015 - 5:17 pm

cubbington pearIt was announced on the BBC Countryfile programme on Sunday evening that a 250-year old pear tree in Cubbington, Warwickshire had been voted as England’s Tree of the Year 2015 in a public vote organised by the Woodland Trust. The ancient tree will have to be destroyed in order to build the HS2 line between London and Birmingham.

Who cares, supporters of HS2 may cry? Isn’t it the ultimate bit of nimbyism to raise a fuss about an old tree standing in the way of progress?

The reason why the planned destruction of the Cubbington pear tree is important is that it exemplifies everything that is wrong about the way in which HS2 has been designed and is being rolled out. The design speed of 400 kph, which is quite unnecessary for a small crowded island such as ours, has determined a route which allows minimal deviation from a straight line, either horizontally or vertically. Just like the Roman roads two millennia ago, HS2 has to go straight through things rather than round them.

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John Marriott

Working together to stay in the EU

By John Marriott | Mon 9th November 2015 - 2:43 pm

 

I was personally impressed by the article in last Wednesday’s Guardian by Labour’s Pat McFadden MP, which challenged the Brexiters to spell out just what life would be like for us if we chose to leave the European Union. Coupled with the recent sensible remarks from his party colleague, everyone’s favourite ex-postie, Alan Johnson MP, and the furious back tracking of Messrs Cameron and Osbourne, it gives me hope that all like minded people WILL bury their differences and show a united front against forces both political and popular that seem to think that we can throw our weight around as we did a hundred years or more ago.

As someone who has concerns about the current Lib Dem tactics on the upcoming EU referendum, which seem to be operating in a bubble, with no reference to political reality, the chances of politicians from most, if not quite all, parties sharing both physical and media platforms in the run up to the vote, whenever it takes place, makes a great deal of sense.

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Central Bank Independence

By Michael Cooke | Mon 9th November 2015 - 1:06 pm

 

Support for multilevel governance seems a prerequisite for any Lib Dem. Devolution from the centre to the periphery, from Westminster to Holyrood and the Welsh Assembly is one example. There has also been devolution upwards to the supranational institutions such as the EU Statesman are no longer the preserve of government; governance is now very much a fixed concept.

However, there has been devolution or delegation to other institutions besides devolved bodies and the EU. The Bank of England’s independence is an interesting point in case. If LDV readers do support Central Bank Independence as a theoretical concept in the abstract, then its internal consistency should also have an external consistency when applied to the specific case of the Bank of England.

At this point, I would really like to start a debate on the following:

What should the size and scope of the Bank of England’s remit be?

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Keith Legg

A postcard from Egypt

By Keith Legg | Mon 9th November 2015 - 11:23 am

 

Whilst I write this, I sit in a classroom near central Cairo along with a group of 25 mostly Egyptian students. As part of a Model United Nations conference, they are discussing terrorism in Central and Western Africa. They do so not in their native Arabic, but in English – and across the corridor, there is a similar discussion being conducted in French. They have researched the countries they are representating, they are speaking confidently and knowledgeably about the topic, and they show more respect for each other in their debating skills than many of their adult counterparts. Their ages range from 12 to 18.

Many people here are finding the UK’s decision on Sharm el-Sheikh airport a difficult one to follow. They understand the need to protect the UK’s citizens, but are confused by a need to protect their own. Egypt’s economy depends on tourism to a massive extent – from sun seekers in Sharm and Hurghada, to historical voyages to Luxor, Aswan and Cairo itself. The country also has a young population, with an average age of 25, and youth unemployment as high as 1 in 3.

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Sheila Thomson

Scottish Party elections: Sheila Thomson: My pitch for Convener

By Sheila Thomson | Sun 8th November 2015 - 6:00 pm

I am seeking election as Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats because I believe Scotland needs a strong Liberal Democrat party at all levels of representation from our individual communities, local authorities and Scottish, Westminster and European parliaments. To achieve this we need to ensure our party here in Scotland has a strong team supporting our members and the communities we live and work in, including the Scottish Executive, political leadership and staff team.

I have been a life-time supporter of liberalism, and I have a track record of over twenty years of party activism, working at all levels within the Scottish Party. I joined the Liberal Democrats because they were and remain the only truly liberal party, where we believe in allowing individuals to make their own choices, whilst ensuring that there is a safety net to help those who cannot manage without support.

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Willie Wilson

Scottish Party elections: Willie Wilson: My pitch for Convener

By Willie Wilson | Sun 8th November 2015 - 5:00 pm

It is a privilege to have been nominated for the post of Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. We find ourselves at a difficult time for the Party. Our electoral base, both at Holyrood and Westminster has been eroded and at Local Government significantly reduced since the last Local Government Elections. I have no illusions that the challenges we face are enormous, however, they need to be tacked with hard work, determination, co-ordination and targeting. This will help us tackle effectively the financial, electoral and organisational challenges we face. The Leadership of the Party needs to be a spearhead in this process. I consider that I have got the necessary experience, knowledge and skills to tackle the post of Convener.

The work will not be easy and will require a huge amount of effort from Office Bearers, MSPs, our MP, Local Councillors and activists throughout the country. I have now been a Party Member since 1966 and a Councillor since 1980. I currently am Chairman of the Association of Scottish Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners, Vice-Chairman of the Conference Committee, Chair of the Mid-Scotland and Fife Region and Secretary to our local party in Perth and Kinross. I also play an active role as a Returning Officer for the Party. Clearly, if I were to win the election for Convener, this workload would be reviewed!

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The Voice

So you want to be Liberal Democrat Party Treasurer…

By The Voice | Sun 8th November 2015 - 1:30 pm

…said very few people ever. However, there have been some bold and enterprising individuals who have taken the role on over the years, to whom we are extremely grateful.

The most recent incumbent was Lord Ian Wrigglesworth, who stepped down in September, so the party is seeking someone to fill this important role.

This isn’t about financial admin, book-keeping, financial strategy and telling people sternly that they can’t spend money we don’t have. That role is taken by the Chair of the Federal Finance and Administration Committee, currently Peter Dunphy. It’s mainly about fundraising – making sure the party has the money it needs to fight campaigns strongly.  The ad on the party website explains more:

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Caron Lindsay

Reprise: For Remembrance Sunday, some reflections on my visit to the Tower of London poppies

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 8th November 2015 - 10:45 am

It’s a year since I wrote the post below, but I wanted to repeat it this year partly because that brief hour at the Tower of London has stayed with me. The symbolism was compelling and should make us all think about the reality of war and what everyone affected by it goes through.

Poppies through BridgeLast Monday I was down in London for a meeting and had an hour spare to nip down to the Tower of London to see the poppy installation where 888,246 ceramic poppies have been laid out in an act of remembrance for all those who died in the First World War.

I found it incredibly moving. The atmosphere was one of humble quiet reflection. You know when you normally go to things, people can be pushing and shoving and trying to get the best view. Actually, here, everyone was respectful, giving each other space, despite the massive crowds.

I think what got me more than anything was seeing that this huge sea of red, made up of individual stems, symbolised one part of one side who lost their lives in the First World War.

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Dick Newby

Lord Dick Newby writes…How to get a Lib Dem peer to visit your local party

By Dick Newby | Sun 8th November 2015 - 8:55 am

Earlier this week, Liberal Democrat Peers completed 100 constituency visits undertaken since the General Election. Visits have included AGMs, new member meetings, Lib Dem Pints, and discussions on specific subject areas. Their aim has been to explain to members what we’re doing in Parliament and, more generally, how the Party can play a crucial role in shaping politics between now and 2020. For the Peers involved it’s an invaluable way of finding out what’s going on in the Party outside the confines of Westminster and we find it invigorating.

Between the summer and Christmas, we’ve set ourselves the tasks of attending all AGMs where we’re invited, to attend new member meetings and to participate, either via visits or telephone canvassing, in key local by-elections. In a few days’ time, I will be leading a team of Peers to Oldham West and Royton, and between now and 3 December several groups of my colleagues will also be visiting the seat.

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Caron Lindsay

Three reasons why you should go to Oldham West for your own good

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 7th November 2015 - 9:33 pm

Tim Farron went and opened Jane Brophy’s campaign HQ in Oldham West and Royton today and, as is the way with these things, was surrounded by lots of colourful diamonds:

I would strongly recommend that if you can get over to Oldham between now and the by-election on 3rd December, you do – for your own benefit as much as any help to the campaign. Yes, Jane Brophy is a fantastic candidate, a brilliant social liberal who really knows how to serve her community, and of course we want to support Tim Farron in the first by-election of his leadership, but there is a veritable cornucopia of good things that we can get for ourselves too. Here are just three.

Feel the Lib Dem Buzz

Once you’ve felt the vibe of a Lib Dem by-election hq, you will never want to miss another one. It’s great fun, you meet people from all over the country whom you wouldn’t necessarily meet at Conference and it’s actually good for the soul. My first by-election was Littleborough and Saddleworth (which is the neighbouring seat to what is now Oldham West) back in 1995. I met people there who are friends to this day. We only went to help for a day and then go on to have a bit of a touring holiday but we ended up staying for the whole week and went back for several weekends and the last week because we were having such a good time.

People have even met their partners at by-elections. I was particularly proud at playing “Cilla” during the Livingston by-election to a couple who celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary last week.

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Caron Lindsay

LDVideo: The first day in office of a Liberal Prime Minister

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 7th November 2015 - 1:51 pm

This is not the stuff of far flung fantasy. This actually happened, this week, in Canada, to a Liberal Party that’s fought its way back from devastating election defeats.

Here are two things that you should watch and take heart from.

First of all, a 24 minute behind the scenes video filmed by CBC of Justin Trudeau’s first day in office. In parts it has the feel of an episode of The West Wing, but our absolute favourite moment is when he puts down the reporter for being disparaging about the Cabinet travelling on a bus, reminding him that this is how many Canadians get to work. Enjoy.

Secondly, his great response when asked why he’d produced a gender balanced Cabinet. “Because it’s 2015.” By half way through the second decade of the 21st century, you would expect equality and it’s great that he (and Nicola Sturgeon) have set such good examples while remembering that Nick Clegg couldn’t even put one woman in the UK Cabinet when he had the chance.

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Jennie Rigg

Making Liberal Democrat Policy – the Calderdale Solution

By Jennie Rigg | Sat 7th November 2015 - 12:22 pm

Flick through a Federal or Yorkshire Regional conference agenda these days and it’s likely that you’ll see Calderdale as the sponsor of several motions or amendments. This article shows how we’ve made that happen:

The short version for those who just want the how and not the why

  1. keep policy and admin totally separate,
  2. always involve people at every step of the way,
  3. have a definite aim to a definite deadline,
  4. have visible outcomes so people can see they are making a difference, and
  5. always make sure there is food/drink at every event.

The longer version: when I took over as chair of Calderdale one of my main frustrations was that most exec meetings went on for hours and hours and would get bogged down in policy arguments (as well as other off topic rambling discussions). It’s not that I don’t like policy arguments and rambling off topic discussions – I love them – it’s just that an exec meeting is not the time or place to be having them. Exec meetings should be about getting the boring admin stuff done and out of the way as quickly as possible.

When I mentioned this to him, Alisdair Calder McGregor recalled a solution that had been used in a couple of other local parties he’d been involved with, to greater or lesser effect: if you hive off policy to a policy working group then exec meetings go much better. So Calderdale’s policy working group was originally formed purely as a device to speed up exec meetingsWhat makes it so successful is a different story.

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Paul Walter

Gallipoli – bloody, pivotal point in history

By Paul Walter | Sat 7th November 2015 - 10:50 am

The photo montage above, from Getty Images, shows Suvla Bay during the campaigning in the First World War, alongside the present-day scene there

As we approach Remembrance Sunday, my thoughts this year are particularly focussed on the Gallipoli campaign. We’re at the one hundredth anniversary of that invasion attempt, which took place from April 25th 1915 to January 9th 1916.

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Anthony Durham

Latest Tory folly

By Anthony Durham | Fri 6th November 2015 - 8:04 pm

 

As a scientist and computer entrepreneur, I am constantly appalled by the blindness to evidence and logic displayed by right-wing politicians.  So I heartily endorse New Scientist’s editorial lamenting absurdities in the proposed Snooper’s Charter following hard on the heels of the Psychoactive Substances Bill:

This pattern of ill-conceived pledges followed by impractical legislation looks ominously as though it will be repeated in energy and education.  That suggests the government is either scientifically illiterate or can get its way by assuming its citizens are.

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Better the Centre-Right than the Hard-Left

By Michael Cooke | Fri 6th November 2015 - 10:33 am

 

Liberal Democrats, Conservative backbenchers and moderate Labour MPs are honourable Parliamentarians trying to resolve the Syrian situation. They understand that they cannot solve the situation overnight and with easy solutions. Contrast this fair-minded and well-intentioned approach with the black and white binary through which the hard-left narrates all foreign affairs.

American, Britain and Israel are the problem; all other states and non-state actors are either lesser evils or even victims, so their narrative goes. The anti-colonial hard left blame the west for every problem in present day Syria.

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Alistair Carmichael MP

Alistair Carmichael MP writes…Britain should not be rolling out the red carpet to President al-Sisi

By Alistair Carmichael MP | Thu 5th November 2015 - 5:48 pm

Today, in the House of Commons our Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Tom Brake, asked an Urgent Question highlighting the appalling human rights record of the Egyptian Government – led by President al-Sisi, who has arrived in the UK for a state visit. While David Cameron was rolling out the red carpet for a human rights abuser in Downing Street, in parliament it was yet again Liberal Democrats who stood up for his victims.

The Egyptian President heads a government with a poor and deteriorating human rights record. The imprisonment and torture of political prisoners and an increasing use of the death penalty are at the heart of its suppression of dissent. Since January 2014 438 people have been sentenced to death – shooting up a league table on which no civilised government should want to feature. 63% of these sentences were handed down for involvement in political protests.

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