Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney has criticised the “appalling” way the Government is trying to “sneak” through its new anti strike measures with the bare minimum of Parliamentary scrutiny. MPs will have two days to debate the measures.
Reported in the Standard, Sarah said:
It’s appalling for Conservative ministers to try and sneak this sweeping new law through with barely any scrutiny from MPs. It’s almost like they know their Bill would fall apart under even the lightest examination.
There will be many who will criticise Tory MP Chris Skidmore’s 340-page Mission Zero report. They’ll probably say it doesn’t reach far enough, is far too obsessed with business benefits, and doesn’t question the UK’s woefully inadequate 2050 Net Zero target.
Climate activists may be appalled that the report doesn’t call for radical overhaul of capitalist norms, whilst climate change objectors will also be aghast that the consequent work schedule will overshadow all other get-rich-quick opportunities. And, for extra discomfort, this report highlights how many great opportunities have been squandered on their watch. Both camps will be outraged in equal measure: a sure sign that this report is a small, practical, step in the right direction and probably the best we can hope for this side of a General Election or a national uprising.
The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.
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Only two principal by-elections occurred this week, a double whammy in Plymouth City Council. Huge congrats to Mike Gillbard and Colin Mackenzie for standing in Plympton Chaddlewood and Moor View – especially as we didn’t stand a candidate in Plymptom Chaddlewood last time! The Conservatives lost both seats; one to the Greens, another to Labour.
Over in Wells City Council, we had a Parish Council by-election where the Liberal Democrats took a seat from the Wells Independents with over half the vote share! Amazing news for Georgie Robbins and the Wells Liberal Democrats!
Little by little, the blue wall is crumbling. Full results below:
Georgie Robbins (Liberal Democrats): 436 (52.8%)
Wells Independents: 214 (25.9%)
Conservative Party Candidate: 176 (21.3%)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Independent
Green: 653 (44.9%, +1.6%)
Conservative: 425 (29.2%, -18.4%)
Independent: 182 (12.5%, +12.5%)
Labour: 147 (10.1%, +0.9%)
Liberal Democrat (Mike Gillbard): 33 (2.3%, +2.3%)
TUSC: 15 (1.0%, +1.0%)
Green GAIN from Conservative
Labour: 1415 (53.2%, +23.9)
Conservative: 877 (33.0%, -30.5)
Independent: 184 (6.9%, +6.9)
Green: 87 (3.3%, -1.1)
Liberal Democrat (Colin Alexander Mackenzie): 77 (2.9%, +0.6)
TUSC: 18 (0.7%, +0.2)
Labour GAIN from Conservative
South America is in a mess. The problems stretch from Patagonia to Cartagena and further north into Central America and Mexico.
Almost everywhere there is violence, political instability and economic problems.
The main spotlight has been shone on Brazil. The Portuguese-speaking nation is the economic giant of South America. Its GDP is four times the next largest Latin economy and the eighth largest in the world. Brazil has tremendous potential and political problems.
It is deeply divided after left-winger Luiz Inacio da Silva (aka Lula) narrowly defeated right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro in October elections.
Bolsonaro and his supporters has claimed the elections were rigged and demanded a re-run. Thousands of Bolsonaristas (as they are called) stormed government offices in the capital Brasilia including Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. 1,200 have been arrested.
But the real problem is not the validity of the elections but the deep divide between Brazil’s political left and right. Conservatives, which include the military, police, middle classes and growing Christian evangelical movement, view Lula as a crypto-communist set on destroying Brazilian democracy and taking their country down the path of Cuba or Venezuela. Bolsonaro’s opponents worry that he will return Brazil to a military dictatorship.
To the south, Argentina is suffering another bout of Peronism and a division at the top of the country’s political structure. President Alberto Fernandez and Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner simply don’t speak to each other. On top of that, Ms Kirchner has been convicted of fraud totalling $1 billion.
The resultant political vacuum and distractions at the top of the Argentine political tree, coupled with Peronism’s irresponsible spending has left the country with a crippling debt and 100 percent inflation rate. Thirty-seven percent of the country live below the poverty line.
On Tuesday we reported that Baroness Floella Benjamin had written to the Prime Minister to ask for an assurance that the Government will not renege on its pledge to implement the recommendations of Wendy Williams in her Lessons Learned Review of the Windrush Scandal.
Today, Floella sought the same commitment in a Lords question:
Today @FloellaBenjamin challenged the Conservative Government to honour their commitment to implement all the recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review.
Find out more: https://t.co/ZNz4DRS3SQ pic.twitter.com/zL31SBfuri
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) January 12, 2023
The reply was not exactly a robust commitment:
Yesterday, Wera Hobhouse asked the Prime Minister to ensure her bill aimed at tackling workplace sexual harassment has a safe passage through Parliament. The Government has already agreed to support it, but it needs to free up the parliamentary time for it to complete its stages before the end of the session in the Spring.
Watch her here:
Half of British women and a fifth of men have been sexually harassed at work or a place of study.@Wera_Hobhouse's Bill will bring about a culture change to protect workers from harassment and sexual harassment. #PMQs pic.twitter.com/oYnUhLszLw
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) January 11, 2023
In response, the Prime Minister’s words were warm but he didn’t actually give a specific commitment:
The Church of England has committed £100 million to a fund to “address past wrongs” over its investments in the slave trade in the 18th century. Of course, people will say it is too little, too late and will not reach those most affected, and I have some sympathy for that reaction. But it is nevertheless both a substantial commitment and a symbolic act which will hopefully encourage other public bodies to follow suit.
As an active member of the Church of England I applaud the stance of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Faced with demands for compensation he commissioned the “Church Commissioners Research into historic links to transatlantic chattel slavery“. (The Church Commissioners are the trustees responsible for the charitable funds of the Church of England.)
He has now set up an oversight group to manage the new fund “with significant membership from communities impacted by historic slavery”. However he does not use the term “reparations”, as the fund will not pay individuals; instead it will finance community projects in areas most affected by the slave trade.
Nothing can ever compensate for the greatest crime in western history, but that does not mean that nothing should be done.
Floella Benjamin is Chair of the UK government’s Windrush Commemoration Committee. She has written to Rishi Sunak over concerns that the government is planning to renege on pledges made after the Windrush scandal.
This is the letter I have sent to the Prime Minister with regard to rumours of the #Windrush Scandal recommendations being reneged on. I do hope it is not true @RishiSunak @LibDems @LibDemLords @ukhomeoffice #Windrush75 pic.twitter.com/Se1IDxFpXl
— Floella Benjamin (@FloellaBenjamin) January 9, 2023
Keir Starmer promises to do no more than tinker with Britain’s EU relationship during his ‘first’ term of government. By accepting the EU’s regulations on food safety and animal welfare, Labour will ease the worst problems facing Northern Irish trade. But Starmer’s stated intention of “making Brexit work” is no different in principle to that of Rishi Sunak’s. That leaves the field wide open for the Liberal Democrats.
Many Lib Dems would like the UK to rejoin the European Union as soon as possible. That will not happen. Leaving aside the necessity of surmounting a divisive referendum campaign, unless the UK accepts the goal of political, economic and monetary union it is not eligible for full EU membership. There is really no appetite in Brussels to make a special case for the UK as a prodigal member state. On the contrary: once bitten, twice shy. In any case, EU enlargement is stalled and will remain stalled unless and until its constitutional treaties are revised in a federal direction.
Of all the major ‘-isms’ that pervade our politics in the UK, democracy (or ‘democratism’ if you prefer) is perhaps the least written about. That may at last be about to change.
It is perhaps mostly taken for granted in UK political discourse that democracy is ‘A Good Thing’. Today, only the very brave would argue publicly that democracy is ‘A Bad Thing’ per se.
Defenders of UK-style democracy however have to gloss over aspects of the political system. These include the constitutional monarchy and the broader role of the Royal Prerogative, the unelected House of Lords, and tight executive control of parliament. They do rather mute the UK’s moral high ground when promoting democracy abroad.
For weeks now, our Health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper, has been energetically raising the issue of the crisis in the NHS on a daily basis. She has been calling for the Prime Minister to declare a major incident and to recall Parliament.
With the NHS in crisis, this afternoon Rishi Sunak should be setting out all the things he could do to help – I made @LibDems suggestions to @BBCNews today. It looks like he'll keep closing his eyes, covering his ears & hoping the #NHSCrisis goes away – but it won't. pic.twitter.com/TQnEOcfF5j
— Daisy Cooper MP 🔶 (@libdemdaisy) January 4, 2023
Here is today’s tweet.
The PM can’t even accept the basic truth that the NHS is in crisis. #NHSCrisis https://t.co/yivmHR063a
— Daisy Cooper MP 🔶 (@libdemdaisy) January 8, 2023
In a press release she has outlined the Liberal Democrat’s Winter Plan for Ambulances.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that Laura Kuenssberg should have questioned the editor of The Sun, Victoria Newton, over the paper’s publication of a horribly misogynistic column about the Duchess of Sussex.
But what really annoys me is that Laura Kuenssberg had the editor of the Sun sitting right there in front of her on her show this morning and she didn’t challenge her on why she had allowed such a piece of violent misogyny to be published. And nor did any of the other panellists. No wonder the right wing press get away with so much when they know that they will not come under any scrutiny.
Instead, Kuenssberg chose to ask the editor of The Sun whether Harry’s claims about the collusion between the royals and the media were true. She took the obvious denial at face value but didn’t take it any further. It was a valid question, but she should have followed up with something on this article.
Harry and Meghan says that the racist and misogynist attacks on Meghan in the British press, and the failure of the Royal Family to protect her, led to them basically fleeing the country. Clarkson’s article, published by one media outlet unscrutinised by others, makes their point for them.
Since then, the Sun has removed the article and apologised.
At the time, I complained to the BBC in a bit of a triumph of hope over experience. I have complained many times over the years (usually about under-representation of Lib Dems) without getting a satisfactory outcome.
However, this week, I was surprised that their reply acknowledged the omission:
One great thing about being a member of the Liberal Democrats is that you can submit motions to be considered for debate at our two Conferences.
Scottish Spring Conference takes place in Dundee from 10-11 March and Federal Spring Conference is in York the weekend after. Both motions deadlines are this coming Wednesday, 11th January.
For Scottish Conference, all the info you need on how to submit motions is here. You need 10 members, or a party body, or local party to support you.
For Federal Conference, the motion submission form is here.
Christmas is always a good time to catch up with the family. I am Polish, however my wife comes originally from Croatia, a truly spectacularly beautiful country in the southern part of Europe. I had a chance to live in Croatia for a number of years between March 2001 and November 2004, when I was studying and conducting research for my Master’s Degree.
On 1st January 2023, Croatia joined the Eurozone and the Schengen Area. During the Festive Season, at least on a couple of occasions, this was one of the main topics of our conversations; would my friends and family members be worried about some of these changes? How will they affect their lives and/ or their standard of living?
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in particular have suffered a lot in recent years. The war in the former Yugoslavia has left many people dead, misplaced and hugely traumatised. The Dayton Agreement, which was signed in 1995, put an end to the three-and-a-half-year-long Bosnian War. However, many people have criticized the agreement, which created a weak democratic structure and which has not resolved several complex issues such as borders, cultural, social and faith heritage as well as the political inheritance of the diverse post-Balkan nations.
Whilst Croatia and Slovenia, some will argue, have moved on, other countries are still trying to find a clear pathway to economic stability. Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004 and Croatia in 2013. Croatia in particular has become a traveling destination for many tourists from Europe. It is worth saying that this relatively small country with 3.8m people has a stunning coast, which attracts many visitors each year. Moreover, in 2019, just before the pandemic, tourism revenue contributed 21% of Croatia’s GDP.
So what do these most recent changes mean in practice? Many experts hope and argue that this significant milestone will strengthen Croatian economy, in particular its tourism industry. Others worry that the residents of Croatia, due to the currency change, will lose its “spending power” and to some extent, its monetary sovereignty.
A bite-sized start to by-elections in 2023, with just two taking place. In Uttlesford, Essex, the Conservatives took victory over localist Residents for Uttlesford, beating them 375 to 238. Lorraine Flawn of the Lib Dems achieved 88 votes, where no Lib Dem stood last time! Excellent news, and congrats to Lorraine and the Uttlesford Lib Dems.
Over in Cannock Chase, Labour edged the Conservatives by the cursed 52-48 margin, a testament to the binary systems of British politics. Labour and the Conservatives were helped – or were they hindered? – by a lack of third parties, with Greens, Independents and the Lib Dems choosing not to field candidates. Once a Lib Dem stronghold, we know not how we would have fared in disrupting the two-party system. Full results below:
Conservative: 375 (46.0%, +16.7%)
Residents for Uttlesford: 238 (29.2%, -27.2%)
Labour: 115 (14.1%, +2.0%)
Liberal Democrat (Lorraine Flawn): 88 (10.8%, +10.%)
Conservative GAIN from Residents for Uttlesford
Labour: 422 (52.3%, +17.0%)
Conservative: 385 (47.7%, -0.3%)
No IND (-9.9%) or GRN (-6.8%) as previous.
No Lib Dem candidate.
Labour GAIN from Conservative
One of the contestants in the new series of The Apprentice, Gregory Ebbs, is a Lib Dem councillor on Whitchurch Town Council in Shropshire.
According to his profile on the BBC he “owns an online antiques business and has previously worked as a professional cannon-firer”. I’d love to know more about his time spent in Malta firing cannons. What we do know is that he is a dab hand with aphorisms.
um, what he said 👀#TheApprentice #iPlayer pic.twitter.com/zmnrBFHwF9
— The Apprentice (@bbcapprentice) January 5, 2023
In the first episode last night, which took the contestants to Antigua, Greg was praised by both Lord Sugar and Karren Brady. So good luck to him for the rest of the series!
On 4th January, Rishi Sunak announced plans to enforce the study of mathematics until students turned 18. This would be a major departure from current education policy of free subject choice for post-16 students in England.
This was immediately met with criticism from a range of groups, from education professionals who argue that the teacher shortage of maths professionals is just too great to cope with the additional demand, to people who had a bad experience in school with maths. The former problem is one I have substantial sympathy for, the latter is not a credible argument.
If we go beyond the headline and the immediate hyperbolic reaction, the proposal makes sense. Numeric illiteracy rates are costing the United Kingdom around £20 billion a year, or 1.3% of GDP according to research by the National Audit Office.
The Prime Minister’s proposal is an attempt to address the knowledge gap large parts of our population have. In this sense it is an exceptionally good idea. We must also combat the policy on what it is. Rishi Sunak has not proposed making students take an additional A Level in Mathematics. Nor has he proposed that it takes the same weighting as any other qualification 16-19 year olds are taking.
You probably missed the Conservative Way Forward paper published on December 10th which argued that cutting the money allocated to equality, diversity and inclusivity staff and training in the public sector could save enough ‘wasteful’ spending to allow for tax cuts. You’re more likely to have noticed when the Daily Mail splashed the story across its front page the following week. You may also have seen this week’s coverage of the Taxpayers Alliance report that prisons have spent £11m over the past two years on equality, diversity and inclusivity staff and training, presented as another ‘gross’ waste of government spending.
The constant trickle of ‘studies’ like this has a clear purpose. They tell voters that waste in the public sector comes from politically motivated spending on ‘unnecessary’ projects. They distract from the money ministers spend on outsourcing to consultancies and private contractors, who overcharge for their products and services (and contribute to right-wing think tanks and the Conservative Party in return). And they justify continuing calls for tax cuts, rather than addressing the long-term need to increase public spending in response to Britain’s economic, educational and demographic challenges, and to the need to move towards a more sustainable economy and society.
Listening to Rishi Sunak speak today, you wouldn’t think that the country is in the grip of economic turmoil and crisis in the NHS. You don’t have to go far to read of NHS trusts and boards calling major incidents, or London Ambulance saying they will only wait 45 minutes before leaving patients in hospital corridors. Everywhere there are accounts of traumatised, stressed nurses, doctors and patients in A and E departments up and down the country.
It is all very grim.
Sunak’s five priorities would fail the SMART objective test on any work training day.
He could claim he had done them without alleviating much suffering. I mean what does “NHS waiting lists will fall” actually mean for someone who has been told that they can have an appointment for their hernia in mid 2024? What does “the economy will grow” mean? A tiny decimal point which makes no measurable difference? Reduce national debt – to what, how and what will that mean for public services? And a piece of red meat for the xenophobic right about getting rid of asylum seekers. The one specific pledge, to halve inflation, seems to be going to happen anyway according to the Bank of England forecasts.
It’s all very cynical.
Ed Davey was unimpressed, saying:
If you thought that 2023 might be a less wild political year, you would have been proved wrong just 3 days in – at least on the other side of the Atlantic.
The first act of any new session of Congress is for the House of Representatives to elect a new Speaker. Usually this is straightforward, with the leader of the party which holds the majority getting the job. Not this time. For the first time in a century, Republican Kevin McCarthy failed to achieve the required 218 votes. Which is a bit of a worry for him, seeing as he …
Rishi Sunak is setting out plans to force everyone in England to study Maths until they are 18.
The BBC quotes the PM:
In a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before,” he will say.
And letting our children out into the world without those skills, is letting our children down.
Just half of 16 to 19-year-olds study maths, according to Mr Sunak – but this figure includes pupils doing science courses and those who are already doing compulsory GCSE resits in college.
Apparently no new qualifications are planned, and students will not be forced to do the A Level, so this seems at the moment to be more soundbite than policy. It’s designed to appeal to older Conservative voters who think that education has gone to the dogs since they stopped making you recite your times tables every morning.
I was thrilled to be able to ditch Maths for my final year at school, but I had to do the Scottish Higher in 5th year (when I was 17). I managed to scrape a B for my Higher, but it was pure hell. While I was always good at arithmetic, I really struggled with Calculus and anything other fairly basic Trigonometry and Geometry. Forcing me to take Maths for an extra year, when I was going to be studying languages and social sciences would have been completely counter-productive.
I am all for encouraging numeracy and analytical skills, especially in girls, but it seems to me that a one size fits all policy wouldn’t work. For some people, forcing them to study Maths all the way through school might be at the expense of a qualification that enhances their career and life chances.
As liberals we often dislike the word ban, but at times bans are needed. I along with many others in the party feel it’s time that gambling adverts in football were banned.
Football has a gambling problem. A game shown on TV can reference gambling firms 800 times with stadium advertising, shirt advertising and tv advertising. There is simply no way of escaping gambling related promotions.
In the UK, gambling related harm costs the UK economy around £1.7 billion and it is believed that 450,000 people are considered problem gamblers. The craziest stat in this …
In an article for Politics Home, Lib Dem spokesperson for climate change Wera Hobhouse argued that 2023 must be the year that the UK finally commits to a timescale for phasing down fossil fuels for good.
This year we witnessed the consequences of climate change first hand. The British summer saw temperatures of over 40 degrees and Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine left us exposed to volatile international markets, unveiling the true cost of our dependence on fossil fuels.
Evidence shows the phasing down of fossil fuel production being vital to preventing temperatures rises above 1.5 degrees. But the United Kingdom is the second largest producer of oil and gas in Europe and is actively encouraging greater North Sea extraction.
Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:
“This move shows the shocking reality of the NHS crisis and is yet further proof that a major incident must now be declared across London.
The LibDems have received widespread media coverage, including in the Guardian and Times, after highlighting that people are turning to DIY medicine because they can’t get a GP appointment.
The Guardian report says:
Almost one in four people have bought medicine online or at a pharmacy to treat their illness after failing to see a GP face to face, according to a UK survey underlining the rise of do-it-yourself treatment.
Many congratulations to James Kempton, who has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list.
James was the first out LGBTQ+ Leader of Islington Council (2006-09) and Islington’s first LGBTQ+ LibDem councillor. He is an education and leadership consultant. The Islington Humap site says about him:
Over the New Year, Lib Dem MPs have been attacking the government’s record on our crisis ridden NHS. Government ministers are conspicuous by their absence and have not yet responded, leaving any comment to civil servants.
Today’s Times, Guardian the Independent and other media report that people are resorting to DIY medical treatments after failing to get face-to-face appointments with GPs. Some go to A&E instead. But up to 500 people a week are dying due to A&E delays according to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Several NHS trusts have declared critical incidents. Ambulance staff in some trusts have been urged to conserve oxygen supplies due to a surge in demand.
The British Medical Association said:
The current situation in the NHS is intolerable and unsustainable, both for our patients and the hardworking staff desperately trying to keep up with incredibly high levels of demand.
The BMA has repeatedly invited the government to sit down and talk about the pressures on our health service, but their silence is deafening. It is disingenuous for the prime minister to talk about ‘backing the NHS’ in his new year message, when his own health secretary is failing to discuss how this crisis can be fixed.”
Daisy Cooper, Lib Dem health spokesperson said:
This is a life or death situation for huge numbers of patients. The NHS is collapsing in front of our eyes whilst the Prime Minister and Health Secretary are nowhere to be seen. This is a national crisis and the country will never forgive the Government if they refuse to recall Parliament whilst hundreds of people die in parked ambulances or hospital corridors.
Nobody should lose a loved one because the Government was asleep on the job.
“We must be the great arsenal of democracy.
For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself.”
US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) 29th December 1940
When FDR broadcast those words to his countrymen, the UK was experiencing the height of the Blitz. The Luftwaffe had changed its strategy and was starting to target industrial cities around the UK. My home city of Bristol was yet to experience its worst bout of bombing in less than a week from when FDR gave his speech. In the days and months to come many UK cities experienced scenes that have now become all too familiar in Ukraine.
In an end of year interview with the Economist, General Valery Zaluzhny, head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was forthright. As it stands now Ukraine can stand its ground. However, he warned that without an especially large infusion of munitions Ukraine will not be able to repeat the extraordinary success of their August Southern Counter Offensive. He admitted that he feared that this munitions supply is beyond the current capacity of Western allies to supply.
None of this is true but some of it could become true, though hopefully not.
After three prime ministers and 49 secretaries of state in 2022 — and more ministers than Old Bodders can count – the Conservative Party applies to the Guinness Book of Records for the most changes in political leadership in a year. Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi tells the media: “At least we will have achieved something last year.”
Railway unions announce they will renounce strikes and work overtime to deliver record performance if train companies run well maintained trains to timetable. The train operators refuse saying they are not going to break with a long standing tradition.
The Health Secretary Steve Barclay, the fourth since the beginning of 2022, announces that rural areas will get better treatment services and ambulance response times will be reduced. BBC R4 offers Barclay a late night comedy slot but ITV poaches him for I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Brenda from Bristol tells the Today programme she’s also a celebrity and asks could someone get her out of hospital and into care.
Matt Hancock is confirmed as a contestant on ITV’s Love Island.
Not to be outdone by commercial rivals, the BBC announces a series of Celebrity Castaway. Sue Braverman and Priti Patel are invited to take part but must arrive on the island in rubber dinghies.
Keir Starmer, pressed to raise his profile, announces he is to join the next series of Big Brother saying: “If it’s good enough for George Galloway…”
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What can we really do to influence the situation in the West Bank? (Alan Juriansz)
Welcome to Lib Dem Friends of Gaelic Language and Culture (Caron Lindsay)
Going for four in a row in Scotland (Grant Toghill)
Lib Dems call for action on smart spectacles – some constructive feedback (Caron Lindsay)
AI has moved from future threat to present reality (Sean Worrell)
In which I agree with Kemi Badenoch
Sarah Olney: I would like to be next Lib Dem London Mayor candidate
Lisa Smart calls for police to investigate Reform's James Orr
That Channel 4 News report on Reform UK and illicit funding in full
Charles Masterman and Charles Dickens on 19th-century poverty
The Joy of Six 1571
Same old, same old from Farage
Jason Connor 
Matthew Harris 
Jana 
Graham Jeffs 
Adam 
