Category Archives: Op-eds

Samuel Jackson

How should we regulate in-Vitro Gametogenesis?

By Samuel Jackson | Mon 14th October 2024 - 10:38 am

Generative artificial intelligences such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, once considered science fiction in the belief that creativity was the reserve of human consciousness, now threatens the livelihoods of professional creatives, and to undermine democracy through misinformation. Its recent advent means that it is largely unregulated.

This demonstrates why we should take advantage of any opportunities to openly debate and consider all the implications of technologies which we know are on the horizon but will not be commonplace for years. One such technology that this would apply to would be in vitro gametogenesis.

In vitro gametogenesis is an assisted reproduction technology which involves the creation of gametes by converting somatic cells – skin, blood or hair – into pluripotent stem cells. Proof of principle has been demonstrated in experiments in mice at Kyoto University as early as 2012. With work towards human application of IVG being pursued by academic institutions as well as private companies such as Conception, it may not be an issue of if but when. Given that, our party at least should consider all the possible consequences of this technology, and how it should be regulated.

Fundamentally, IVG would cure infertility, overcoming many of the limitations of current ARTs such as in vitro fertilisation that are tied to the fertility of one or both parents. If someone’s fertility has been impacted by illness, physical injury or medical intervention, IVG would offer couples the chance of the pursuit of happiness in starting a family.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 13th October 2024 - 10:25 am

France

As I sat down to write, French Prime Minister Michele Barnier was making last minute adjustments to his budget before presenting it to the National Assembly.

So, there may be a few unintentional omissions from this piece, but not too many because the problems of the French economy have been widely circulated in advance of the Barnier budget.

On Friday morning Barnier was widely expected to introduce an austerity budget of cuts and higher taxes totalling $66 billion – or two percent of the French GDP. Two-thirds will come in cuts in government spending and one third in tax increases.

The savings will come from a six-month delayed pension increase and $20 billion in cuts to government departments. The newly-appointed Barnier also wants to cut local government subsidies for businesses. To raise money, Barnier plans to introduce a temporary super tax on firms with more than a $1.1 billion turnover and households with earnings over $547,000.

The super tax is likely to have no problem in the French legislature. There is very little sympathy in France – or most everywhere else – for the rich. Pensioners are another problem. National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has already accused the government of “stealing from the elderly.” As for government cuts, the devil is in the detail and those details will only become clear in the coming weeks of debate.

It is clear, however, that something must be done to deal with the government deficit which is expected to exceed six percent of GDP in 2024.

President Emmanuel Macron had a reputation as a good money manager. And back in January 2020 he appeared to have the economy under control. Then the pandemic struck. Macron pledged to “protect” the French people “whatever it costs.” Government spending leapt to 59 percent of GDP – more than Germany or Spain or any other OECD country.

As the pandemic eased, Russia invaded Ukraine and the price of oil and grain rapidly rose along with almost every inflation marker. Macron’s economic plans went out the window.

But the parlous state of the French economy is not Barnier’s only problem. He is prime minister of a minority government with France’s left and right wing parties broadly united in their opposition. But not completely, Le Pen’s RN favours cuts in government but not cuts in pension payments.  The left joins them on behalf of pensioners but also opposes any cuts in government spending.

Barnier’s hope is to gain broad support from the Gaullist parties and then play off the left and right over specific aspects of France’s finances.

The budget has to be agreed by December. If Barnier fails to win the support of a majority of the National Assembly then he has the option of using emergency measures to push it through. But that is highly unpopular and could easily lead to the collapse of his government.

United States

Trump may have broken the law – again. This time the law in question is known as the Logan Act.

The Logan Act was passed in 1799 shortly after the creation of the United States. It makes it illegal for private individuals to conduct diplomacy or negotiations with foreign governments without authorisation from the federal government. Breaching it can cost a fine and three years in prison

The law makes sense. The Secretary of State – or any of his officials – don’t want their efforts being contradicted or undermined by an individual negotiating with a different agenda.

According to the latest book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward, Donald Trump spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin at least seven times since leaving the White House. Of course, they may have just been exchanging recipes or discussing when to send Putin the latest health care products. That, however, seems unlikely given wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

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Tom Arms

Observation of an Expat: Florida – The Submersible State

By Tom Arms | Sat 12th October 2024 - 9:22 am

Hurricanes are only part of Florida’s climate change problem.

That is not to in anyway minimise the dangers of extreme weather. Hurricane Helene is estimated to cost up to $47.5 billion and 227 lives. Milton, which struck only 22 days later has so far taken 11 lives and left three million people without power.

But more insidious is the impact rising sea levels are having on what has been nicknamed “The Sunshine State.”

One of the most significant consequences of global warming is melting polar ice caps. This is expected to raise sea levels globally by up to three feet by the end of this century. But tides and currents in the Gulf of Mexico mean that the sea levels around Florida could go up by six feet and four feet by the half century mark.

This means visitors to Miami’s popular South Beach would require snorkels at the very least. In fact Miami as a whole would be in danger as most of it is less than six feet above sea level.

It is not just the beaches that are in danger. The rising sea levels have caused salt water to flood fresh water aquifers. This has affected the state’s drinking water supplies and water needed for agriculture, which, after tourism, is Florida’s biggest industry. The everglades could easily become the saltglades with all the consequential damage to wildlife that such a name change implies.

Florida’s Governor Ron de Santis is a climate change sceptic. He does not believe that fossil fuels are responsible for global warming. But, to give him credit, he does accept the proof of his own eyes that rising sea levels are threatening his paradise state, and he is dealing with it.

Miami’s South Beach, for instance, has invested in a sea wall, pumping stations and elevated roads. The South Florida Water Management District has outlined a $2.5 billion plan to upgrade infrastructure including the installation of pumps and key floodgates. Miami has plans to spend $3.8 billion on storm water management systems.

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Samuel Jackson

We need election debates for a Parliamentary Democracy

By Samuel Jackson | Fri 11th October 2024 - 5:41 pm

In 2024, ‘the year of elections’, the UK’s general election saw the end of fourteen years of calamitous Conservative governance, while the ongoing US election campaigns have proved tumultuous, to put it mildly. Regardless of the changes to the Democratic ticket, the presidential and vice-presidential debates gave Americans the chance to know who they are voting for in that race. In the UK, however, such debates have made things less clear.

The 2010 general election saw the advent of televised debates. Originally proposed in 1964, they were opposed in the belief that presidential-style debates were alien to British political culture and would emphasise personalities over policies and were prevented from materialising earlier by disagreements over format and partisan impulses to deny favourable coverage to opposition figures. Now, they are part and parcel of general election campaigns.

When they debuted in 2010, the ITV, Sky and the BBC leaders’ debates between Brown, Cameron and Clegg were accompanied by Channel 4’s Ask the Chancellors debate on fiscal policy and a series of policy area debates on the BBC’s Daily Politics between the responsible minister and their shadow counterparts. The latter formats arguably ensured that issues remained a focus during the election.

However, there were noticeable format changes in subsequent elections. The 2015 debates saw several new formats which emphasised the primacy of party leaders including a head-to-head programme between the two major party leaders, and the last Politics Daily debates between parties’ portfolio holders. From the 2017 election onwards, concerns regarding the propensity of presidentialism and personalities in debates have been vindicated. This trend likely arose due to parties who rely more on the popularity of their leaders than their policies manipulating broadcasters’ commitment to due impartiality to gain an advantage, or broadcasters succumbing to an impulse to entertain rather than educate.

We should seek to revive special policy area debates to make elections about issues and not personalities, and to re-emphasise the fact that we are a parliamentary – not presidential – democracy. However, we need to go further if we wish to remedy the latter problem.

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John Hills

Turning Britain yellow: Defining our political space

By John Hills | Fri 11th October 2024 - 12:38 pm

Whether by accident or design the Conservative Parliamentary Party have nominated two populists, both positioned towards the right wing of their party, as candidates to be their next leader.  In the 24 hours before the final stage of voting, it appeared James Cleverly had the momentum.  Perhaps as Conservative leader, Cleverly might have been able to reach moderate voters who abandoned the Conservatives in 2024, towards Tory gains in 2029.  We now know that for the foreseeable, the Conservatives will be occupying political space much to the right of that claimed by the party David Cameron led until 2016.

There should then be an opportunity for the Liberal Democrats to make even further gains on 2024, and to clearly aspire to become His Majesty’s Official Opposition.

Of the 27 seats in which the Liberal Democrats came second in 2024, 20 of these are Conservative seats, six are Labour, and one is Plaid Cymru.  Likewise of all 72 seats in which Liberal Democrats came first, the Conservatives came second in a whopping 64, the Scottish National Party in a further six, and the Labour Party in just two.

Taken together then, if the Liberal Democrats wish to hold on to 2024 gains and make further gains in 2029, we must maintain and build upon the connection we have with those voters – whom the Pimlico Journal recently called Yellow England –  who might in different circumstances have voted for a more moderate and credible incarnation of the Conservatives.

With respect to becoming the Opposition, the Conservatives currently stand at 121 seats, the Liberal Democrats 72.  So, all other things being equal, even if the Liberal Democrats were able to turn each of those second place seats yellow in 2029, the Conservatives would still form the Opposition.

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Christine Jardine MP

Developing our LGBT+ policy for the future

By Christine Jardine MP | Thu 10th October 2024 - 11:34 am

Christine Jardine, who is our Women and Equalities spokesperson, will be bringing a consultation paper to Spring Conference on LGBT+ policy. This post is on the Lib Dem website.

Social justice is at the heart of everything we believe in as Liberal  Democrats.

Not just social justice for some, but for everyone.

That is why we work so hard to ensure that we can deliver positive change for our often victimised and vulnerable LGBT+ community.

From Ed Davey moving the repeal of the abhorrent Section 28, to the tireless work of Liberal Democrat ministers like Lynne Featherstone in getting the Same Sex Marriage Act passed, our party has always been at the heart of many important steps towards equality.

But sadly there is still more to do.

Prejudice and discrimination are still far too often visited on the LGBT+ community.

Made worse by years of  a Conservative government intent on using vulnerable people as pawns in their culture wars. Not to mention the heartbreaking reality that LGBT+ people are more likely to suffer from poor health outcomes, homelessness, and difficulties accessing public services.

Liberal Democrats want to build a country where nobody’s life chances are limited because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. That is why I will be producing a spokesperson’s paper, in my capacity as Women and Equalities Spokesperson, to outline what steps we need to take to make this a reality.

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Jack Wilkin

Conservative hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands

By Jack Wilkin | Thu 10th October 2024 - 9:34 am

If you only read Conservative media you may mistakenly believe that the new Labour government was able to negotiate the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in just a few weeks. An agreement like this should have taken about two years to complete.

Well, it turns out the negotiations did take about two years. Hang on. Does this mean that David Lammy and the fictitious Deep State went behind the Conservative government’s backs and negotiated on behalf of the UK? No. It was the Conservative government that began the negotiations, worked with Mauritius on the deal and finalised the negotiations. It was Lammy and Starmer’s job to sign off on the legal paperwork (and take all the blame in right-wing “news” outlets).

In a statement to parliament, Lammy told MPs: “It’s critical for our national security. Without security of tenure, there will be no base. The deal benefits us, the UK, the US and Mauritius.” Lammy is correct. The agreement with Mauritius was a good one from the British perspective as it would improve relations with African nations and makes it clear that the new government respects international law more than the previous one (which wouldn’t be difficult) while still maintaining a military base in a strategic area.

However, Conservatives are not happy with the agreement their party negotiated.  The Tory leadership contenders have already started using it to score cheap political points: Tom Tugendhat calls it a “shameful retreat” (even though the UK isn’t retreating, we have the military base for another 99 years) and James Cleverly claimed ministers who negotiated the deal were “weak, weak, weak” – despite the negotiations beginning on his watch. It is pretty funny that Cleverly basically just called himself weak during a leadership contest. In 2022, Cleverly wrote a ministerial statement in which he stated that he felt the British resistance to handing over the Chagos Islands was hampering the UK’s ability to build alliances in the region. The fact that Cleverly is attacking his own deal is the height of political hypocrisy.

Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell, took things further claiming that Cleverly and Cameron would not have agreed to the deal that both men negotiated .

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Jack Nicholls

Could the Lib Dems really deflate the Reform bubble?

By Jack Nicholls | Wed 9th October 2024 - 11:55 am

The joy of our election success was shaded by the sizeable Reform UK vote share, and it needs to be taken seriously. Even if by the 2029 election Reform have become a busted flush, it is likely they will have gained numerous council seats along the way and, as a minimum, hold the balance of power in multiple councils. They may well have beachheads in Holyrood, Cardiff and, via the TUV, Stormont. It is not inconceivable that they gain a Police Commissioner or Mayoralty on hardline law and order platforms with a substantial xenophobic sheen. That prospect scares me, and I want a plan for dealing with it that involves us.

Reform voters are not necessarily the same as Reform members. If you exclude active supporters, all parties’ voters are a mix of habitualists, tactical and/or contextual vote lenders, and people who like their local candidate/representative irrespective of party. There are for us Lib Dem voters, people who vote Lib Dem as a rule, sometimes or this time, and plenty who are voting person over party or against someone else. 

Anecdotally, Reform voters appear to come in four broad varieties, with points of internal crossover. The first group are motivated by fears about immigration and culture, and perceived threats to their sense of identity. The second are Brexit-inclined market deregulators who want fiscal credibility and don’t believe the Tories can provide it anymore. The third are economically quite social democratic, with a nationalist glaze, but are unconvinced by Labour (especially now). The fourth are independent-minded localists who want a decent local representative, for whom party comes lower down the list of priorities.

We cannot reasonably expect to appeal to the convinced end of group 1. We are pluralist multicultural inclusive internationalists and thus the natural enemy. That doesn’t mean not engaging with and challenging them, even when it results in a doorstep disagreement and a lost vote, but it’s not fertile ground. We can however be the party that brings over some of the other three camps. We are the party of the ongoing conversation between freedom to and freedom from. We regulate or deregulate, intervene or keep out, actively empower or support people to empower themselves, based on what creates more meaningful, useable, tangible freedom.

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Forging a path to end Modern Slavery: A clarion call for stronger UK legislation

By A K | Wed 9th October 2024 - 8:29 am

In a society where millions are still enslaved through compulsory work, the United Kingdom finds itself at a pivotal moment. The current laws, although with good intentions, are not effective enough in tackling the issue of state-enforced forced labour and its goods entering British markets (ILO, 2022). The UK needs to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen its legislation, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but to demonstrate Britain’s strong dedication to justice and ethical labour standards worldwide. 

The Modern Slavery Act 2015, which was revolutionary at the time, is now showing its constraints in addressing state-backed forced labour on a systemic level (UK Government, 2015). This gap can be seen in situations such as Uyghur forced labour in China and North Korean workers sent overseas in harsh conditions (Human Rights Watch, 2023). These situations highlight the immediate requirement for laws that can efficiently tackle complicated forced labour cases involving the state and stop contaminated goods from being sold in UK markets.

The UK should introduce a wide range of reforms that align with principles of freedom, fairness, democracy, society, human rights, global cooperation, and environmental protection, to enhance laws against forced labour. These changes should involve strict regulations on imports believed to be produced using forced labour and increased due diligence obligations for companies to carefully examine their supply chains (LeBaron and Rühmkorf, 2019). There is already growing recognition of this issue, as demonstrated by a recent press release from the Liberal Democrats Hong Kong, which calls for consumers to stop buying products like Xinjiang cotton due to its connection to forced labour (https://www.libdemshk.org.uk/news/article/consumers-action-lets-remember-stop-buying-xinjiang-cotton )  

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Nicholas Chan

UK’s International Development needs funds and a long-term vision to meet its stated objectives

By Nicholas Chan | Sun 6th October 2024 - 1:58 pm

The UK’s International Development is not meeting its own set of objectives on national security because of the lack of funds and vision. The Guardian reported that the international development budget will be 0.36% of gross national income (GNI).

For a clearer perspective, I would re-write the title to: UK International Development Fund will Reach All Times Lows in Failure to Protect International Order

We should stop calling it ‘Foreign Aid’. The UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) has laid out a strategy since 2015 to tackle global challenges in the national interest and calls for creating prosperity together with developing countries. “Foreign Aid” has shifted to providing funds and working with international partners for developments in education, health and infrastructure for the past decade. The aim is to enable developing countries to become resilient networks in prosperity, secured supply chain, civil liberties and global values. Only then dependence on the patronage of China can be avoided, and patronage from China will only pull nations further into autocracy.

The finer details are more discomfiting. In 2024, the largest recipient of the UK’s ODA is Ukraine. Indeed, Ukraine must be defended. Also, many Ukrainians are displaced and require humanitarian aid. However, the budget should be attributed outside of the remits of the International Development budget or as a special injection of funds. Our support for Ukraine should not come at the expense of International Development in the Global South.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 6th October 2024 - 10:25 am

China

The Chinese leadership is worried. Their country’s long history is peppered with instances of the “Mandate of Heaven” falling from the rulers’ shoulders because of economic problems.

On top of that there is the obvious fact that autocracies run the risk of violent dissent because the non-violent avenues of protest are banned.

Paramount Leader Xi Jinping has warned of “potential dangers” and added that the Chinese Communist Party must be “well-prepared” to “overcome grave challenges.” In Xi-speak this means a crackdown on dissent accompanied with measures to help the middle classes  and criticism of wealthy people who flaunt their riches.

In this week alone. The party has authorised cash hand-outs, tried to shake up the ailing property market and held a surprise meeting to kick start the economy. But three years of economic slowdown and Covid lockdown have taken a toll and economists believe that it is unlikely that China will hit the relatively modest (for China) target of 5 percent growth in the economy.

The Chinese young people have been particularly hard hit. Unemployment among the 16 to 24 year olds hit 21.3 percent in 2023. In January this year the government stopped issuing figures which implies that the youth jobless statistics have soared even higher. Also impacted has been the promotion prospects for those fortunate enough to be in employment.

For decades the Chinese have been admired – and feared—for their extraordinary work ethic. The changes in the economy, however, have created a shift in attitudes towards work. According to a recent survey by American online pollsters, in 2013, 63 percent of recent graduates said hard work paid. Ten years later the figure had dropped to 28.3 percent.

The survey by N. Aliskey, S, Rozelle and M. Whyte also revealed a fear for the future. In 2014, 76.5 percent of those polled were optimistic about the future and said that the economy and their lives had improved over the past five years. In 2023 the figure was 38.8 percent.

According to the think tank Freedom House, in the second quarter of 2024 there has been an 18 percent rise in protests and three-quarters of these were based on economic grievances. From June 2022, Freedom House has logged 6,400 incidents of dissent, and their research does not include Xinjiang or Tibet where dissent is the strongest.

United States

J.D Vance won the vice-presidential debate. That was the general consensus. That consensus is not good news for J.D. Vance. Donald Trump does not like the spotlight being shifted away from him.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Middle East Consequences

By Tom Arms | Sat 5th October 2024 - 10:23 am

The Gaza War has escalated to become the Middle East war and Israel is winning – for now.

But the problem is that the Israeli government’s strategy is based entirely on total military victory over Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and their backer Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – pushed by his ultra-orthodox allies – has left no room for political compromise or any consideration of the wider consequences.

At the UN General Assembly this week, the Israeli Prime Minister declared: “There is no place” In the Middle East that Israel’s “long arm cannot reach.” He then left the chamber to make a phone call ordering the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He and a large slice of Hezbollah’s senior command structure were dead within the hour.

Shortly afterwards, Israel launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Iran could be restrained no longer. They were being humiliated. Tehran launched the largest ever missile attack on Tel Aviv. Thanks to Israel’s iron dome and American and British jets, only a handful of the missiles broke through. Netanyahu responded by pronouncing: “Iran made a big mistake…and it will pay for it.”

How will Israel make Iran pay for their attack? What will be America’s response? How about Russia, China and the Arab states? What are the likely consequences of what appears to be the start of a Middle East war?

First of all, we should examine the role of Hezbollah in the context of the wider relationships of the Middle East. Hezbollah is, first and foremost a creature of Iran. Its primary purpose is to act as a deterrent defensive shield against a threatened Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Its estimated 45,000-strong military force and 100,000-plus missiles were thought to be enough to keep Israel off balance and occupied but not nearly enough to invade the Jewish state and defeat it in a proper war.

But even as a defensive shield, Hezbollah has been weakening in recent years. Lebanon’s multiplying political and economic problems have been largely blamed at the party’s insistence of working as a state within a state while at the same time attempting to control the legitimate Lebanese political apparatus. Hezbollah is unpopular with the Lebanese people.

Then there are the missile attacks it has launched on northern Israel since 8 October. It may have started with 100,000 rockets and drones, but military analysts believe that at least half of Hezbollah’s arsenal has been either fired or destroyed by Israeli counterattacks.

Finally, there is Israel’s infiltration of Hezbollah’s communications system and the assassination of key figures. The destruction of pagers and walkie talkies indicates that Mossad has the ability to tell where almost every Hezbollah fighter is at any given time and the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) has the ability to destroy them with sophisticated guided missiles.

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Katharine Pindar

Our challenge is needed now on the cost of living crisis

By Katharine Pindar | Fri 4th October 2024 - 2:51 pm

Our election pledge was clear: after commitment to the NHS and social care and protecting the environment, ‘We will help people with the cost of living.’

We knew that was what most people wanted, after we had knocked on 2,741,251 doors (thanks, HQ!) in the General Election campaign, and national focus groups and polls had confirmed it.

A Labour Party study into How Labour Won, reported in The Guardian, found that people voting Labour in this campaign  had the same priorities. But what is the new Labour Government doing to help with the cost of living?

Taking the Winter Fuel Allowance away from millions of pensioners was a poor start. Justifying that by referring to the expected increase in the Triple Lock payments next April? The point seems lost on this Government, that pensioners have to try to live through the coldest months of this winter before April, now missing the extra hundreds of pounds that had helped with heating costs in past winters.

Our MPs moved a motion against the cut in the Commons. And now is surely the time for our Leader to challenge Keir Starmer at PMQs on the continuing crisis of the cost of living. The cost of gas and electricity went up on October 1st. The price of oil may rise with the continuing Middle East conflicts. Yet the help with household energy bills which was even managed by the late Conservative Government is not being offered now.

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Mary Reid

We must rebuild Music Education

By Mary Reid | Fri 4th October 2024 - 11:44 am

This post is based on the speech I gave at Conference on the music industry. (Motion F36)

I have spoken at conference on many issues – from funerals, to IT to empowering communities – but it is rare for us to have a chance to talk about the Creative Arts. As a society we do take artists, and what they produce, for granted.

Music, drama and images are so much embedded in our lives that we often forget that there is a huge industry behind them, supporting individuals whose creativity needs to be nurtured, and often from an early age.

Most of us experience and enjoy a wide range of musical genres, through our headphones, as background music to films, and live at gigs held in arenas, concert halls, clubs and pubs.  And we all DO music as well – we sing at sports events, we do karaoke (some better than others), we dance, we hum theme tunes, we clap along and tap our feet, we sing hymns (well some of us do). Music is part of who we are.

I have a particular reason for wanting to write about music – my only direct involvement has been as an enthusiastic member of a choral society, but in my, only slightly extended, family eight members work professionally (or have worked) in the music industry. They include seven performers, two music producers, two songwriters, five instrumental teachers, two music publishers and one event organiser. Now you may have spotted that adds up to more than eight, which underlines my first point – music is a precarious industry and most professionals are free-lance, so many of them double up their roles.

However, I particularly want to focus on music education.

Michael Gove and the Tories have seriously damaged education with their emphasis, not on the whole child’s development, but on the economic benefits to society of STEM subjects. Now I am a Computer Scientist, so I don’t disparage STEM – but that’s not all there is to life.

Music education breeds the musicians of the future, and crucially it also breeds the audiences of the future. But more than that, learning music develops all children academically. It has huge cognitive benefits which transfer right across the curriculum.

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Mary Reid

Oddities

By Mary Reid | Thu 3rd October 2024 - 8:06 pm

We do get some surprising offers here on Lib Dem Voice. Of course, we all get spam in our personal mailboxes, but as a media giant we also get people offering to pay for posts on LDV. This is all about Search Engine Optimisation – in other words gaming Google to get their organisation high in the search lists.

We never fall for these proposals, but we do have some fun with them behind the scenes.

Here is a typical request:

Hello,

Hope  you are doing well

I’m looking for guest posts with “Home/ Business / Office Furniture / Lifestyle” related Sites and blogs.

I recently came across your blog and found it very interesting.

The article that I have is related to your website and will be appreciated by your readers.

I guarantee you that the article will be 100% unique, top quality and Copyscape protected and will not be shared with any other site.

Please let me know if this sounds good to you so that we can send the article to you for review.

Hope to have a positive response.

Over the last few months people have offered us posts on the following topics:

  • The Extra Neutral Alcohol Market. I had to look that up; apparently it refers to uses of ethanol. The correspondent said “We think it would be a great fit for your site, providing valuable insights for your audience.” Do you agree?
  • Dungeons and Dragons. The writer told us that “Your site is a treasure trove for D&D enthusiasts!”
  • Smart irrigation systems for homeowners
  • Home Improvements and Home Renovation, Eco-Friendly lifestyle, Home Appliances Technology, and Greener Future.
  • How to Find the Best Family Lawyer for Your Legal Needs
  • Essay writing
  • Investment ideas and growing your business online.
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Mo Waqas

Israel’s dilemma: War and ideology

By Mo Waqas | Wed 2nd October 2024 - 7:30 am

While attending a business conference at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, I received the news that Israel had demolished a six-tower complex.Among these towers, the infamous Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, was reportedly taking refuge in a bunker situated 80 feet underground. The Israeli military employed F-15 jets equipped with bunker-buster bombs to execute this strike, effectively targeting the underground stronghold. My immediate reaction was one of concern, fearing for the region’s stability and the safety of its people. In that moment, I couldn’t help but sense that this conflict might become Israel’s “Dirty War” (La Sale Guerre). Unlike the approach of Charles de Gaulle, Netanyahu seemed to have found his “Ho Chi Minh” in Nasrallah; however, the question remains – how many “Ho Chi Minhs” does Hezbollah harbor?

This episode has shed light on the reality that the “Axis of Resistance” comprises ragtag militias united by a single factor: ideology. Israel’s current strategy relies heavily on “shock and awe,” yet history suggests that such tactics rarely yield long-term success, even in Gaza, which remains tightly controlled by Israel. Despite being surrounded, Hamas continues to operate. It’s important to clarify that I’m not glorifying these groups but rather examining the unfolding situation to understand Israel’s potential trajectory. From my perspective, the outlook is worrying.

Israel stands as the sole democracy in the region, sharing values and interests with the United Kingdom, making it a close ally. Yet, since this conflict began, Israel appears to be playing into Tehran’s hands. The fact is, neither Iran nor its allies in the “Axis of Resistance” possess the military strength to take on Israel head-to-head. Still, to borrow a quote from Ho Chi Minh: “The tiger may not stand still and allow the elephant to crush him. But the tiger will leap upon the elephant, and then jump back into the jungle; and as the elephant pursues him, the tiger will attack again and again until the elephant bleeds to death.” This analogy accurately depicts Iran’s strategy: bleeding Israel economically and militarily through indirect means.

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Samuel Jackson

Why we should condemn the US Electoral College

By Samuel Jackson | Tue 1st October 2024 - 11:29 am

We are five weeks away from Election Day in the US, and things have certainly been eventful in the presidential race, to put it mildly.

This election may be American democracy’s greatest test. With revenge in mind, and with a guide to converting the federal bureaucracy into a conservative vehicle and removing many checks on presidential power vis-a-vis Project 2025, a second Trump presidency would be dramatically worse than his first and may well signal the end of American democracy. Even in defeat, his refusal to accept the results in a tight race will likely instigate political violence as it did on 6 January 2021, but across multiple states. Since the United States is one of the greatest military and economic powers on Earth, as well as an ally and proudly democratic country, such outcomes would be deleterious to the rest of the free world.

The Electoral College is the key to Donald Trump’s success in 2024. Despite Kamala Harris’s nationwide three-point lead, this may be insufficient to overcome its distortive effects. However, Trump may not even need to win states’ popular votes to win the Electoral College. Learning from 2020, pro-Trump Republican strategists have endeavoured to put in place election officials who will refuse any state-level result other than a Trump win to enable the appointment of Republican electors by Republican-controlled legislatures.

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Ben Wood

The LibDems, Left or Right: A Reply to Buddy Anderson

By Ben Wood | Mon 30th September 2024 - 2:15 pm

In his recent article, Buddy Anderson argues that the Liberal Democrats are not going to replace the Conservatives if our party moves further to the economic left. Of course, it is worth questioning the premise. Do we really want to replace the Conservatives? Nevertheless, if we take up the notion for the sake of argument, what would it actually mean? Buddy is of course right that just because an Orange Book Liberalism didn’t thrill electors after 2010 doesn’t mean it could never work. Quite so. However, the theory of Tory displacement Buddy favours, assumes a straightforward link between Conservative voters and market-led liberalism. The latter position has a number of strands, but they might be neatly divided into the following policy preferences:

  • Keep state spending at or below 35% of GDP
  • Keep taxes as low as possible
  • Reduce the liabilities on the public balance sheet by contracting-out public services
  • Remove regulatory barriers to economic growth

It is often supposed that Conservative voters display a close identification with all these positions. They point to Thatcher’s three election wins, as undeniable proof of the proposition. However, in reality, the traditional Conservative base (from say 1979 to 2019) was a complex coalition of overlapping interests, which coalesced around the notion of ‘popular Capitalism’. Inside the Thatcher tent financers jostled with small business owners, farmers jockeyed with moral conservatives, ruthless ad men jostled with blue-rinse WI fundraisers. Thatcher’s genius was her ability to neutralise dissent in her coalition by conceding limited collectivism (in the case of institutions like the NHS and the Royal Mail), offering something to cultural Conservatives e.g. Victorian values, while enthusing the economic Right by privatising public assets.

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Freddie Jewitt

All the homes we will ever need – a permanent fix for the housing crisis

By Freddie Jewitt | Sun 29th September 2024 - 8:27 am

I have a proposal on how to permanently solve the UK’s housing crisis, forever. 

This proposition rests on two arguments:

  1. Unlike all of history, our population is not going to continue to grow. The ONS forecasts that the population of the UK will peak in the early 2040’s at 71m. 
  2. It follows that the number of homes needed will similarly peak.

For maximum economic benefits and happiness, we want these homes to be built where people want to live and work. This is predominantly in the south east, where planning permission is constrained by the Green belt. 

My proposal is that we build on the Green belt. 

The old fear: it’s a slippery slope – grant planning permission for an inch and they will concrete over miles, until all the beauty is gone. 

However, if we accept that peak housing is within our sight, we can slough off this fear, like a hermit crab, and confidently scuttle into our final and forever shell. 

But how much of the Green belt would need to be built on? Worst case: assuming 100% of the homes are wanted in the southeast, ignoring the 100k’s of new homes already in the pipeline, assuming people continue in wanting to live in ever smaller households (2.3 by 2040) and that we decide we want roomier houses and gardens than the legislation currently allows (15 per hectare vs 30). We would need 2,200,000 homes. Rounding up the worse case, that would require building on 10% of the Green belt. Worst case.

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The Lib Dems must welcome Flat Earthers

By Lib Dem Flat Earth Society | Sat 28th September 2024 - 10:30 am

One would be forgiven for thinking that a liberal party should be a bastion of free speech, open to people from all political backgrounds. Sadly, this is not the case; it is plainly obvious that Flat Earther Lib Dems are being silenced.

We, the Lib Dem Flat Earth Society, are a group of  Liberal Democrat members seeking to promote free speech, evidence-based policy, skepticism and respectful debate surrounding the shape of Planet Earth.

We are firm believers in free speech. As all true liberals know, free speech means that Flat Earther members’ concerns must be listened to, that our motions must be accepted at conference (regardless of the overwhelming wishes of our round-earth cultist membership), and that our elected Lib Dem representatives must take seriously everything we say. These inalienable rights are being denied to us.

Our cause is not ‘offensive’, ‘discriminatory’ or ‘completely insane’ as our round-earth cultist opponents claim. The Lib Dem Flat Earth Society merely seeks to question the current ideology-driven (un)scientific ‘consensus’ around the shape of the earth. And what are these lines of questioning met with? Rage, ridicule and outright censorship. 

This is not the way a so-called ‘liberal’ party should treat people with serious and valid concerns about the shape of the planet. The preamble of our party’s constitution declares that we seek to build a society in which “no-one is enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity”; yet our members are expected time and time again to conform with nonsensical ideological claims about the shape of the Earth.

Our question is simple: is it really so outlandish to believe that shady, powerful figures in the British ‘space’ industry have sought to mislead ordinary people like me and you? Do you side with the wealthy, unspecified figures who censor anyone who dares question whether the earth is a sphere (why, then, do we not fall off?), or do you side with us ordinary men and women who simply seek to promote healthy debate on the topic? Many of these anti-disc diehards even deny the evidence that we can plainly see with our very own eyes: that the sky is a glass dome and the stars are painted onto it.

Why is the horizon always at eye level? Why can I not see the curvature of the earth, even when I am flying to Flat Earth conventions funded by ordinary, concerned citizens? Why is my OS map flat? If the earth is “rotating”, as the round-earth conspiracy theorists would have you believe, then why can’t I feel it moving? 

These are all difficult questions that round-earthist bullies like Mark Pack and Ed Davey flat-out (see what I did there) refuse to answer. Luckily for us, bastions of liberalism such as The Daily Express and The Telegraph are willing to support us by studiously documenting every time a Flat Earther has been personally slighted by the party.

Many of our flat earther colleagues will know all too well the nasty authoritarianism used to silence dissenting voices. Flat Earther candidates being deselected; party higher-ups speaking out against us at conference; our very own MPs spreading round-earthist conspiracy theories at the behest of shady Globe-ist organisations and wealthy vested interests (globe salesmen, Big Science, Google Earth, the Illuminati, NASA, lizardmen from outer space). The round-earth radicals screeching at us on X would not exist were it not for these shady organisations.

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Peter Ladanyi

HMRC is broken

By Peter Ladanyi | Fri 27th September 2024 - 6:37 pm

One of my concerns about the Liberal Democrats is that we resemble myself as student. We are rather better at spending money than working out where its coming from. Although we made some sensible tax proposals in our manifesto, we still ended relying upon the need to reduce tax avoidance and evasion and ‘resource HMRC accordingly’.

I have few problems with this position. Not least is the fact that every opposition party in my lifetime has argued it. Our record in coalition on avoidance was excellent; we forced through the General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) which Labour had resisted. My perception is that this has reduced avoidance – certainly a lot of the tax boutiques that devised the more outrageous schemes have seen their businesses decline.

My real problem is that it is not just the complex stuff like arguing GAAR cases that HMRC has problems with and needs resourcing, but the basics. I currently work as a tax advisor dealing with the complexities of voluntary sector VAT, but previously worked in HMRC and its predecessor both in a local office and then for VAT Policy. I am still very much in contact with staff at all levels in HMRC. Unfortunately in a 40 year career I have never known HMRC in such a mess and as incapable of dealing with even the basics. I mainly cover VAT as its my area, but direct tax colleagues make similar points.

With VAT there are huge service failings. The public enquiry line takes hours to get through. I have clients waiting over a year for answers on basic VAT registration queries and as for complex questions such as approval for special VAT recovery methods, you can be talking 4 years – or never. In some cases the HMRC response to service delivery problems has been dramatic. New VAT registration forms causing a spike in calls to the registration helpline – answer: shut the helpline. In direct tax you should get your self assessment return in early but resource constraints mean the helpline only opens nearer the filing deadline. Is it really surprising that taxpayers make mistakes or take a lackadaisical approach to their tax compliance when they receive a service like this?

But the problem is not just administrative failure. There has been a reduction in the standard of technical knowledge at both an outfield and policy level.  Many officers do not understand the basics of the tax. This is clearly evidenced from some of the bizarre arguments that have got as far as the VAT Tribunal before being summarily dismissed. These are arguments that theoretically have gone through local reviews and HMRC Solicitors Office before reaching the Court.

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Mark Pack

Mark Pack’s September Report: Constructive opposition… and winning more elections

By Mark Pack | Fri 27th September 2024 - 10:23 am

What a conference!

Perhaps my favourite moment at our Brighton conference was having dinner with a member who had rung her partner to say how great the conference rally was. She had told him about how our MPs had stood to applaud the audience, thanking us all for our efforts to get them elected. ‘Were all our MPs there?’, he asked. ‘I don’t know. There are too many MPs now to be able to count them all!’ she replied.

Too many to count, more than enough for us to be rightfully on a high – and not as many as we should aim to have in future.

So there was plenty to celebrate at our Brighton Conference, as well as the party collectively turning our minds to how we build on that success.

As The Guardian editorial praising our conference concluded:

Running through his speech was Sir Ed’s idea of a “Liberal Britain”. This is a country where the banks and the wealthy are taxed to pay to fix the NHS, racism is abhorred, not weaponised, the EU single market rejoined and a cordon sanitaire erected around a Donald Trump presidency. The Lib Dem leader is gambling that this is territory that will become politically significant in the coming years and which other parties might struggle to seize. Given the election results, few may be willing to bet against Sir Ed.

Before we get to thinking more about our future, many thanks to all our staff, volunteers and suppliers involved in putting on such a successful event.

Where next?

As I said when moving the Federal Board report in Brighton, it was quite the contrast with the first one I moved as your President. Back then we had 11 MPs, now we have 72. But also we have gained more than 800 council seats since then, and now have a Lib Dem majority on more councils than before we went into coalition in 2010.

We have also taken important steps forward on our ethnic diversity – a key priority for the party, both at local level – where the list of Lib Dem council leaders is no longer an all-white list – and in Parliament – with a record number of MPs from an ethnic minority background.

Much progress, then, but more still to do.

At the heart of that is supporting our new MPs in firmly embedding themselves in their seats, and helping our whole Parliamentary Party show to the voters that the issues they campaigned on are now issues that they are acting on in office.

We also need to be starting to line up our next wave of Parliamentary gains as well as extending our run of gains in local elections. We made net gains in every round of local elections in the last Parliament, and we should aim to do so again, along with making gains in the devolved elections coming up in Scotland, Wales and London.

All that should be built on learning the lessons of what worked, and what was not so successful, this time. Hence the General Election Review which I reported on last time and which ran a very useful consultation session in Brighton.

There is now an online survey for everyone to send in their own views too: www.libdems.org.uk/ge-review

Constructive opposition

As Ed Davey said in his closing conference speech:

Back when I was first elected in 1997, Paddy Ashdown adapted the Serenity Prayer for a better, more constructive approach to opposition. Paddy’s Serenity Prayer went like this: “May we have the power to oppose what we must oppose. Courage to support what we must support. And the wisdom to know the difference.”

Conference, wouldn’t we all have loved Paddy to be here today for this moment? And I want to make Paddy’s same invocation for us today. For that is the power, the courage and the wisdom we will need in the years ahead.

Because it will fall to us to be the responsible opposition that any government needs. An essential role in our democracy. And a role that today’s Conservative Party simply cannot fulfil. They showed themselves to be totally unfit to govern our country – and the British people rightly booted them out. And the Conservatives are already showing that they are unfit for opposition too.

Our fabulous colleagues

One of my best tasks as your President is to present the awards at each of our Federal Conferences. It was such a pleasure to be able to publicly thank and praise our team of winners:

Belinda Eyre-Brook Award – Lucy Lennon

Lucy Lennon was recognised for her impressive local campaign efforts in Hull. In her first role after graduating from university, Lucy has been instrumental in helping us make strides against Labour in northern England, particularly by retaining control of the local council.

Over the past two years, Lucy has served as the local organiser, managing two local elections and two by-elections. During the General Election, she took on the task of running three Westminster constituencies and acted as agent for all of them.

In addition to her exceptional people skills, Lucy has mastered various technologies, including Fleet, Connect, Lighthouse, and Typeform.

She has even managed with aplomb the tough task of having our Director of Campaigns, Dave McCobb, as one of her candidates!

Her dedication and hard work made her a deserving recipient of this year’s award.

Dadabhai Naoroji Award – West Hertfordshire Local Party and Dacorum Council group

The overlapping West Hertfordshire Local Party and Dacorum Council group has achieved remarkable electoral success by engaging with all areas of their local community. They have assembled a diverse team of councillors and candidates, representing a range of ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities.

Their hard work has demonstrated that minority communities not only want to join the Liberal Democrats but are also eager to further serve their local areas.

This dedication culminated in the election of the first Liberal Democrat MP of East and South East Asian descent.

The efforts of the group and Local Party show that focusing on improving our ethnic diversity is not something just for large urban areas.

The award was collected by Councillor Simy Dhyani and Victoria Collins MP.

Harriet Smith Award – Rosemary McCrum

Rosemary has been the cornerstone of her Local Party for decades. She has guided them through challenging times, taken on nearly every activist role imaginable, filled in when needed, and often juggled multiple responsibilities at once. Rosemary provided the foundation upon which their success has been built.

Her dedication and commitment were crucial in keeping the Local Party running and played a key role in their achievements this year, including an overwhelming victory in the local elections and the election of the area’s first Liberal Democrat MP.

The Woking party triumphed electorally this year, and nominating Rosemary for this award was a small way of recognising the immense contribution of this modest individual in helping them get there.

Patsy Calton Award – Julia Cambridge

Since 2017, Julia has served as Vice-Chair of the Campaign for Gender Balance (CGB), working tirelessly to support, mentor, and encourage female candidates across the party. She has been a steadfast advocate for selecting women in winnable seats, and many of the newly elected female MPs can attest to the impact Julia has had in helping them overcome traditional barriers to selection and election.

In addition to her efforts, Julia has been a dedicated councillor and Mayor for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, playing a crucial role in the campaign team that successfully retained the Richmond Park seat in the General Election.

This year, the Liberal Democrats reached a record high in female MPs, with women making up 44% of the Parliamentary party. This achievement highlights the importance of Julia’s work in supporting women candidates to compete on equal footing with their male counterparts over the past few years.

Donna Harris, Chair of Liberal Democrat Women, the official party body which presents this award, came on stage to hand it to Julia.

Penhaligon Award – North Cotswolds and Tewkesbury local party

In April 2019, the Tewkesbury Liberal Democrats had just two councillors, both of whom were stepping down in the upcoming local elections. However, during the 2019 Local Elections, the team made a strong push, resulting in the election of eight councillors. Later that year, they displaced Labour to become the main opposition to the Conservatives in the General Election.

Their success continued in both County and Local Elections, and by May 2023, the Lib Dems had elected 16 councillors, ousting the Conservative administration and appointing a Lib Dem Leader, Deputy Leader, and Mayor.

With the 2024 constituency boundary changes, Tewkesbury joined forces with neighbouring colleagues to form the new North Cotswolds and Tewkesbury Local Party.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of local activists and volunteers, many of whom are now elected representatives, the North Cotswolds and Tewkesbury Liberal Democrats have seen rapid and steady growth – and this momentum is set to continue.

The award was collected on behalf of this impressive team by Babs Farmer.

President’s Award – Paula Yates

Paula has dedicated over four decades of service to the Party. Since joining the Liberal Party in Carmarthenshire in 1982, she has held numerous roles, including local councillor, Council Leader, Parliamentary Candidate, and President of the Welsh Party. She continues her commitment as a member of the Welsh Party Board.

Throughout her career, Paula has faced these responsibilities – and the challenges they bring – with determination, energy, and an unwavering sense of humour. One of her greatest strengths is her ability to treat members with understanding and respect. Her quiet words of wisdom so often head off problems and I have been very grateful for her support in the time we were Federal Board colleagues.

Paula’s immense contributions over the years make her a truly deserving recipient of the President’s Award.

And next time…

We are incredibly fortunate to have such devoted members, and their commitment continues to inspire us all. If you know someone who you feel deserves an award, look out for the nomination process on the website in January for our Spring Conference awards.

Our love and condolences

Tragically, during our Conference, Robin Bradburn, leader of the Lib Dem group in Milton Keynes, passed away. A minute’s silence was held in the main hall in his honour.

Robin was a renowned public servant who campaigned tirelessly in his area. He will be remembered by all those who knew him as a thoughtful, caring and compassionate man.

I am sure I speak for everyone in sending our love and condolences to his family and friends.

New Federal Appeals Panel member

Conference confirmed the appointment of Rebecca Williams to fill a casual vacancy. Thank you Rebecca for putting your name forward and to everyone else who applied.

Missing conference already?

Our Spring 2025 Federal Conference will be in Harrogate, on 21-23 March. More details, including accommodation booking link, at the bottom of our conference page here.

 

Do you have questions on any of this report, or other Lib Dem matters? Then please drop me a line on [email protected]. Do also get in touch if you would like to invite me to do a Zoom call with your local party or party body.

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Buddy Anderson

If we want to “finish the job” on the Tories, we shouldn’t move to the left

By Buddy Anderson | Thu 26th September 2024 - 10:25 am

According to The Economist,

“If the Liberal Democrats want to replace the Conservatives, they must move further right on the economy”.

This was instantly backed unsurprisingly by the Liberal Reform group, the last of the so-called Orange Bookers, a dominant force during the Clegg years. Every time these guys support or share anything, it usually causes outrage from the grassroots, who have historically been more progressive than the politicians. As someone from the right of the party, I’m always perplexed at how much anger Liberal Reform generate. I very happily accept most Lib Dems’ identity as centre-left, but parties that reach the greatest heights of politics are broad churches. Those, like myself, who often dare support these ideals are often scoffed at for having short memories, and forgetting what happened in 2015. But have we?

Under Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems secured over 6.8m votes in 2010, the highest number of votes the party has ever received to this day. Most political commentators blame what happened in 2015 on broken promises, notably tuition fees, rather than ideology (which hadn’t really changed that much in those 5 years). In fact the majority of the Lib Dem seats were lost to the then centre-right Conservative party. The Lib Dems did adopt a more centre-left stance at the next GE in 2017 and the number of votes they received went down further. I don’t think anybody wants me to attempt to unpack 2019. Now with this in mind, I am fairly sure that I am not suffering acute memory loss at the sprightly age of 35. However, my interpretation of events is clearly at odds with the ever-progressive grassroots of the party.

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Paul Reynolds

Fixing Britain ?

By Paul Reynolds | Wed 25th September 2024 - 8:26 am

There has been a flurry of books published recently, on the subject of ‘broken Britain’.

Some look at the big picture of why ‘nothing seems to work’, like  ‘Great Britain?’ by Torsten Bell,  and ‘Failed State’ by Sam Freedman (featured at a Liberal Reform fringe at Conference). Others address more specific problems, like ‘Bad Buying’ by Peter Smith or ‘Fixing Broken Britain’ by Alun Drake. There are some scandal-specific books too which draw broader conclusions, like ‘The Great Post Office Scandal’ by Nick Wallis, ‘Death in the Blood’ by Caroline Wheeler, and ‘The Rise & Fall of DfID’ by Mark Lowcock & Ranil Dissanayake.

It is not just specific sectors like health, economics , transport, housing/planning, and education where astonishing dysfunction has been exposed. There has also been much emphasis on institutional problems; the turbid executive function, extreme centralisation, opaque administration, systematised ‘corruption’, absent civil servant competences, catastrophic procurement practices, a permissive approach to monopoly … and much more.

Most concerning perhaps at a time of severe financial constraints is the breathtaking neglect of value-for-money in governmental spending which all these books highlight; where lobbying and ‘generating the big juicy contract’ seem to dominate administrative behaviour too often.

Will Parliament enthusiastically set about addressing the problems set out in these books? Judging by the policy clumsiness of the Labour government, and the cynical anti-immigrant obsessions of the Conservative Party and Reform, this seems depressingly unlikely.

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David Brunnen

General confession of collective culpability

By David Brunnen | Tue 24th September 2024 - 3:00 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Speaking with authority and gravitas will no longer suffice.

All that remains, in this post-Elizabethan era, are dwindling fragments of respect.

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Paul Walter

Postcard from Bologna – ‘the most liberal city in Italy’

By Paul Walter | Tue 24th September 2024 - 1:00 pm

Like most Italian cities, Bologna has its fair share of churches, including the exceptional “Seven Churches” Basilica of Santo Stefano (above). All the churches, as is the Italian way, are chock-full of fine art.

But the reason for my postcard is to highlight the fact that Bologna is regarded as “the most liberal city in Italy”. It hosts the oldest university in the world, it has been at the Italian forefront of human rights campaigning across the decades and it even has its buildings painted red, it is said, to reflect its socialist leanings. It reputedly has the best public transport and health systems in Italy.

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Darryl Smalley

It’s time to march into the council estates

By Darryl Smalley | Mon 23rd September 2024 - 2:22 pm

I’ve long been one with a penchant for fighting Labour.

I grew up on Lincoln’s famed Tower Estate. Growing up I was surrounded by real poverty, and the consequences of that poverty. I remember the fire engine arriving to extinguish a car that had been set alight just a few doors down. Our neighbours (who’s children I played with) disappeared one day – they’d been operating a cannabis farm from their council house and got caught (my bedroom wall had been occasionally warm to touch…).

Our Labour district council had long withdrawn from the estate. Crime was high, deprivation everywhere, …

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John Medway

Can we do all that we want to do?

By John Medway | Mon 23rd September 2024 - 10:10 am

At the beginning of the General Election campaign, I wondered whether the protagonists would engage with the big global issues that face us. I’ve been reminded of this by Anatol Lieven’s recent article in the Guardian, “I’ve studied geopolitics all my life: climate breakdown is a bigger threat than China and Russia”.

He opens with a good account of the scale of the problem of global warming. The crux of his argument is near the end:

At present, the mainstream left in Europe and North America appears to believe that it is possible to reshape economies to limit carbon emissions and to increase spending on health and social welfare and to radically increase military spending to confront Russia in Ukraine and elsewhere.

It isn’t possible. The money simply isn’t there. The result of pursuing all three goals simultaneously would be to fail at all of them; as demonstrated by the latest political developments in France and Germany, where a populist backlash is undermining support for Ukraine and climate action.

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 23 September – so much for the first hundred days…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 23rd September 2024 - 7:30 am

What a difference a week makes. From the almost unbridled joy of a Liberal Democrat Conference where we celebrated a huge infusion of new MPs and a sense that, after more than a decade of pain and struggle to be seen as relevant, we’re bystanders at a Labour Conference where, rather than celebrated a glorious victory, there’s a sense of defensiveness already.

Caron has already covered the rather bizarre mess that Keir Starmer has gotten into over the £100,000 worth of gifts that he has received and declared in recent years. And I entirely understand that there is a perceived political advantage to getting the bad news out of the way early – most keen observers of the last year of the Sunak administration will have already concluded that the sheer scale of unfunded commitments they made would make the task of an incoming administration a difficult one.

But instead of one hundred days of action, it all gives an impression of a leadership rather spinning their wheels even if they are, in reality, possibly doing quite a lot. The media won’t help that – their unfriendliness towards a Labour government can be taken as read. We’ll see if they can do something about changing the narrative over the next couple of days…

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Caron Lindsay

The most annoying thing Keir Starmer has done this week

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 22nd September 2024 - 10:13 am

Keir Starmer and Labour had earned the right to a bit celebration in Liverpool this week. Having turned Labour around from an utter mess to a party with the size of majority nobody should ever have, their Conference in Liverpool could have been an even bigger celebration than our display of sunshine and unbridled joy in Brighton last week.

However, the mood in Liverpool becomes gloomier with each headline.

And while some of the headlines are definitely the right wing press making trouble, others are signs of serious trouble within the Government.

Let’s take the fuss about the clothes first. Starmer,  his Deputy Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves tried to stem the damage from reports that they had taken thousands of pounds for work clothing from wealthy donors by announcing that they would no longer do so.

I find it difficult to muster up anything other than mild irritation about this. It absolutely does not look great to people who are struggling to pay the rent every month and there is an argument that this should have been blindingly obvious to those who benefitted from these generous donations. When you are taking a vital help with energy bills from poor pensioners and not doing anything about social care, you need to really think about how out of touch you can look if you are seen to be throwing yours or someone else’s money around. And they should maybe have seen that it would have been lumped together with everything we’ve heard about Tories in a recent years in a file marked “sleazy politicians.”

There is no equivalence between the profligate, venal, corrupt behaviour of the Tories, doing things like handing out billions of public money to their mates and the stories we have seen about Labour. Many people, on whose votes they rely, won’t necessarily look at the detail and see the massive difference in scale. They may well be propelled into the arms of populists as a result. And given that some of those populists earn an almost six figure sum for a few hours’ work a month on the media, there is an irony there.

As far as the clothing is concerned, maybe that is a bit on us as well. It is perfectly possible to look smart by picking up a dress and jacket, or suit from some well known High Street stores, but we all have unconscious biases about how people look that have been fed by the media for years. We also know that those biases apply much more to women than they do to men.

When it comes to Keir Starmer’s box at Arsenal, I can see his point of view on this. If he were to stay in the stands, the security would undoubtedly cost a fortune and we’d all be complaining about that. You can see why he thinks that having a box is less disruptive and solves that problem. Going to the football is something that he has long done with his son, who is not going to be a boy forever and I can’t find it in my heart to grudge him that.  In isolation, I don’t think anyone would have really bothered about this. The trouble is it’s being lumped in with all the other stuff.

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