Lib Dem party president Tim Farron — who resigned from the Lib Dem front-bench in 2008 to vote in favour of a referendum on the Libson Treaty — explained today why he thinks it would be “completely mad” to hold a referendum while the UK is tryng to get out of the biggest recession in living memory. You can watch the 2-minute video here:
Subscribe
-
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
-
Like us on Facebook
-
Subscribe to our feed
-
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Most Read
Search
Op-eds
-
Leading the Fight for Local Government: Why you should vote in the LGA elections (Kieron Franks)
-
Reeves’ Spending Review lacks vision (Andrew Chandler)
-
Make Wales great again? Reactions to Nigel Farage’s vision for Wales (Jack Meredith)
-
What are Liberal Democrats looking for from the spending review? (Caron Lindsay)
-
The Lib Dems must be the party that listens to what local people need and reflects that in the next Senedd elections (Jack Meredith)

-
Standing too many candidates costs Reform at the ballot box
-
The Joy of Six 1371
-
Lord Bonkers' Diary: We feed them sausages and plum bread
-
Friends of Blackness Summer Fair tomorrow! #dundeewestend
-
Is Labour's comprehensive spending review starting to unravel?
-
Saltwell sandwiches
-
Council by-election results scorecard 2025-2026
-
Canvassing in Whickham
-
The life and death of Walnut Tree Viaduct in South Wales
-
Flying the flag
Recent Comments
Nonconformistradical
@Jenny Barnes "you go back to the last time they were sold, whenever that was, and increase by house price inflation since then." As far as I know not all p...Jenny Barnes
"Some properties may not be sold for several tens of years – how do you propose to rate those for tax purposes until they are sold?" you go back to the last...Nonconformistradical
"If yearly revaluations are too onerous, rerate on sale and increase yearly by inflation until next sold." Some properties may not be sold for several tens o...Ben C
Just revaluing & updating council tax bands doesn't seem particularly revolutionary. Why not push for a proportional property tax (or, yes, an LVT) and d...nigel hunter
Nothing wrong with having a trade or going to Uni. Port Talbot IS producing steel and will develop further with the electric arc system.I would think nobody wa...
5 Comments
The only reason its mad not to have a referendum is simple the politicians know there gravy train will end that’s why labour wont have one too. You lot changed the terms in which we granted entry in the 70s so much its led to the mess Europe is in So I say let the people decide IN or OUT
“It would be “completely mad to have a referendum now” on EU”
I quite agree, what the EU will become has not yet been determined, nor too the appropriate balance of competences discovered from the whitehall review.
Those who say we don’t know which way the EU is going lol you must be blind its clear as day the Political class’s want a Federal Europe in United States of Europe no matter how they dress it up. We are going to be sold down the line just as we have since joining a trading union supposedly
Tim is absolutely correct, our approach should be collegiate rather than prima donna. Every EU country wants to re-negotiate some things, and every EU country has the freedom to leave, but that is not a reason to threaten to do so.
On the referendum, I like that we are quite properly agreeing with Cameron – have one when something big is to change. No reason there for business to worry, every EU country might do it.
Perhaps more important though, what is the electorate saying? Quite a few might actually be attracted to the Euro if we were to lead in that direction.
Richard, sadly quite a few are talking as Terry above. Clearly(in my view) confused and ill-informed, but he has a right to his opinion. The fact that a worryingly large number of people hold these views is the result of years of non-information from our anti-EU press, and downright lies from some anti-Europeans. Tim is absolutely right, the country needs Leadership, and needs to be told the facts, not be left in a vacuum for the sceptics to fill in the blanks with their nonsense.. When we, eventually, get around to changing our Leader Tim is the man we need.