BBC’s Any Questions panel tonight is even less diverse than usual, but our Layla Moran will be there on the Isle of Wight to make the case for a People’s Vote on Brexit.
Layla has had a very busy recess week, talking about period poverty:
Ministers must take action on #PeriodPovery in England, especially girls skipping school. The @WelshLibDems Education Secretary @Kirsty_Williams announced £1m in March to tackle the problem in Wales, and Scotland has announced a scheme today. https://t.co/uhuoVHX7MS
— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) May 30, 2018
Making the case for a pay rise for teachers:
Cross-party support is growing for my campaign to get the government to provide new funding to make sure teachers get a decent pay rise without placing extra pressure on already stretched school budgets. pic.twitter.com/CCaBsutlWf
— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) May 30, 2018
Arguing for safe standing at football clubs
Today I'm calling on the Government to scrap the ban on safe standing areas in the Premier League and Championship. Clubs in League One that listen to fans & introduce safe standing should not be penalised by this ban if they then get promoted.https://t.co/SEu2rwSz3m
— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) May 31, 2018
And standing up for kids in care whose education is being disrupted:
Have been raising their plight in parliament but ministers are wilfully ignorant. So frustrating. These kids deserve so much better https://t.co/KwdgQJY8wp
— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) June 1, 2018
She’s also been helping constituents with flooding in her constituency:
I’m hearing news of a pumping station in Kidlington being broken and sewage is entering people’s homes. Working with Cllrs to get help ASAP. @thameswater #flooding
— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) May 31, 2018
You can listen on Radio 4 at 8pm tonight.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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16 Comments
Safe standing is an interesting idea, if niche. Good to see it being pushed.
No. So called safe standing is not an interesting idea nor is it good to see it being pushed. Layla was 6 when 95 people died at Hillsborough and wouldn’t remember the other stadium tragedies including Ibrox either, I imagine. The Taylor report was entirely correct in its recommendations in respect of seating. Dumbest idea since introducing a hard border in Ireland – is this some kind of retro “back to the 70’s” politics ? Depressing to see us on the wrong side of an argument again.
I’m not opposed to the idea of a deciding referendum. If it will settle the argument once and for all (I know that’s a tough ask!) then it could be worth it.
Things have moved on quite a bit since 2016. This is from a speech by Guy Verhofstadt.
“Every government crisis, in Italy and elsewhere, is turning into a crisis for the entire Eurozone. Why? Because our monetary union is unfinished. European unity and a reformed Union is the only way to face present and future challenges. “
https://www.facebook.com/GuyVerhofstadt/videos/10156792017875016/
He’s clearly saying that the EU has to become a USE -even though he doesn’t use that term. So that’s what we will be voting on whether to be a part of if we do have another referendum.
Chris,
The safe standing that is proposed is very different from the standing that existed at the time of Hillsborough and in moments of excitement the seating we have now is not very safe.
@Chris Cory
“So called safe standing is not an interesting idea nor is it good to see it being pushed. Layla was 6 when 95 people died at Hillsborough and wouldn’t remember the other stadium tragedies including Ibrox either, I imagine.”
96 actually including Tony Bland
I expect she’s quite capable of reading about Hillsborough, Ibrox and other disasters and will have done so…
It seems to me that the Hillsborough disaster, with its original cause being attributed to overcrowding and human incompetence in allowing far too many supporters to enter the pen at the Leppings Lane end of the ground involved an extremely UNsafe standing situation. The point being that had the stands not been allowed to become overcrowded in the first place the supporters there should have been safe.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/26/hillsborough-inquests-jury-says-96-victims-were-unlawfully-killed
Since you mention the Ibrox disaster which involved a Rangers-Celtic encounter – you might wish to note that Liverpool supporters seem to have found Celtic’s safe standing arrangements OK http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-43617990
Layla seems to be very active on quite a range of issues as well as her Education brief.. Next Leader perhaps?
@ Chris Cory,
The Hillsborough disaster, and other similar disasters previously, weren’t caused by football spectators standing up rather than sitting down to watch the game. The general problem was one of poor crowd control. The Hillsborough deaths were caused be a combination of letting too many spectators in, many of whom didn’t have tickets or even hadn’t paid to enter, being allowed in through the exit gates, and the fencing that prevented any escape on to the pitch in the event of an emergency.
If ever there was a stupid idea it was the introduction of perimeter fencing. Some four years previously 56 spectators were killed at Bradford City’s ground, Valley Parade, when a stand caught fire. Fortunately, perimeter fencing hadn’t been installed there. Otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable. Fences should have been removed at all grounds immediately afterwards before a single spectator watched another ball being kicked.
On standing I might add that coming from Sheffield I remember Hillsborough very well indeed and experienced the horrible Leppings Lane End as a Sheffield United fan myself.
I also remember very well the Bradford fire which was caused by unsafe seating..
The other huge contribution to Hillsborough was the prison camp attitude to hooligans which saw football fans surrounded by high fences. That does not happen now, with crowds being controlled by larger numbers of stewards.
Andrew McCaig 2nd Jun ’18 – 9:32am…..Chris,The safe standing that is proposed is very different from the standing that existed at the time of Hillsborough and in moments of excitement the seating we have now is not very safe………….
If you are referring to ‘rail seating’ then how long before fans discover that bty unlocking them you can get a better view by standing on them? After all, if the current seating layout for 40 allows 72 ‘standers’ then why not? What about children in standing areas? What about evacuation in an emergency; widening aisles to take an almost doubling of people would negate much of the extra space? The list goes on…
I’m with Chris Cory on this. It is driven purely by profit and, after Grenfell, we should be wary of any such reasoning, anywhere.
The nearest league team to here is Shrewsbury Town, who have installed a safe standing area for next season. Looking at the pictures in the paper it looks pretty safe to me. No chance of the crowd rushing forward.
@expats
“It is driven purely by profit”
Is it? I rather thought it was supporters who seem to be fleeced over the cost of seats who favoured safe standing..
Nonconformistradical 2nd Jun ’18 – 10:09am…@expats, “It is driven purely by profit”….Is it? I rather thought it was supporters who seem to be fleeced over the cost of seats who favoured safe standing..
If you really believe that significant reductions in ticket prices will result from this then I’ve this bridge in London that you may be interested in!
Layla would have been better pointing out that the official, ‘England World Cup shirt’ retails at £ 64.95 online – although that generous soul and kind employer Mike Ashley has it for £ 54.95……. The poor folk in Bangladesh who make it in sweat shops get paid 25p per hour.
Shameful….. Although I doubt if Alan Shearer ( £ 1.6 million from the BBC) or Linekar (over £ 2 million from BBC) are likely to mention it.
Layla might have been better advised to highlight the plight of the workers in Bangladesh being paid twenty five pence per hour to produce the official England World Cup shirt retailing at £ 64.95.
I have had a season ticket on the Yeovil Town F.C. home terrace for most of the last 2 decades without any problems. This last season we played Man U in the FA cup 4th round with full terraces. Atmosphere much better on terraces than seats, this is the main reason terraces still popular (it’s not about saving money). Never felt unsafe on footy terraces unlike when I have been to some rock concerts where thousands of people all decide to stand in the same place at the same time when favourite rock star goes on stage.
Great to see Layla speaking in favour of safe standing, fully agree