2 big stories

You can tell when the Conservatives are rattled. After the easy years of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader, Keir Starmer is clearly more of a worry, which might explain why Conservative MPs Nadine Dorries, Maria Caulfield and Lucy Allan decided to draw attention via Twitter to a very dubiously edited video purporting to represent his views on child grooming. It wasn’t actually true, indeed it might represent defamation, and disappeared, along with the account it came from. Maria Caulfield was obviously concerned about the possibilities, as her entire Twitter account has been deleted. Even Number 10 wasn’t impressed, so will there be public apologies, perhaps a contribution to charity? Let’s just say that free speech does not exclude the possibility of consequences.

A key cause of tension in the Middle East is the contest for influence between Iran and Saudi Arabia. And, whilst Iran is affected by sanctions, Saudi Arabia is now experienced relative economic hardship in the light of falling oil prices, as the Washington Post explains. Does this potentially impact on events in Yemen, or reduce their influence in the broader world?

2 social media posts

The ten year anniversary of the launch of the Coalition Government has been the cause of much reflection amongst Liberal Democrats, as evidenced by my colleague here at Liberal Democrat Voice, Caron Lindsay. Matthew Green, the former Liberal Democrat MP for Ludlow, has views on the economic record of the Coalition, and they’re worth a read.

I’m a simple soul, and I like cats, and so…

I enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this 😂https://t.co/G6C8fnoEIu

— StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) May 12, 2020

Enjoy!