Tom Arms

How to help Ukraine

By Tom Arms | Mon 28th February 2022 - 11:53 am

I am frustrated. I want to be on the Kyiv front line reporting the heroic defense of the city. I can’t. I am old and decrepit. But I – and whomever is reading this — can help in other ways. We can send money. We collect money. We can send clothes and supplies to refugees. We can support agencies helping to defend Ukraine and OUR democratic values. We can write to our MPs, Congressmen, Senators, community leaders and social media influencers expressing our opinions and calling on them to both prepare and act.

So to start with here is a selection of organisations helping Ukraine. There are others which you may already be aware of or have yet to be created. Please tell me of any by emailing me at [email protected]. I will endeavour to dispatch regular updates.

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged | 4 Comments
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Michal Siewniak

In solidarity with Ukraine in Welwyn Garden City

By Michal Siewniak | Mon 28th February 2022 - 9:28 am

Gathered together in support of the people of UkraineIs there anything tangible that I can do to help those in need, I often ask myself? Being well informed, being on top of the news agenda is not nearly enough.

Sometimes, the most spontaneous ideas can make a real a difference. A simple gathering, organised “overnight” can simply bring together a few people to show that even if we live far away, we care, we are sad, angry, devastated and that we want to show our solidarity with our Ukrainian friends. This is how …

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 28 February 2022 – “It’s now or never…”

By Mark Valladares | Mon 28th February 2022 - 7:20 am

It is slightly hard to believe that, a week ago, the idea of war between two nations on the European continent was hard to credit, despite Russian provocation. And here we are, with an almost entirely united Europe doing everything it can short of actually fighting. That might not be so far away, given all the evidence that we are confronted by someone who thinks that, if he keeps pushing, we’ll crack. So far, it seems as though Vladimir Putin is wrong about that.

We’ve also learned that, in an age of instant reportage where anyone with a smartphone can be their own journalist, it’s hard to control the narrative in the way that authoritarians always need to do, especially in a developed country with widespread mobile phone coverage. And cyber-war can be fought by both sides and, more difficult to counter, by anonymous individuals from bedrooms in the suburbs of distant cities.

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Posted in Europe / International | Tagged | 2 Comments
The Voice

What’s on in our Parliaments this week?

By The Voice | Sun 27th February 2022 - 7:30 pm

For the first time in a few weeks. Westminster, Holyrood and the Senedd are sitting. The rapidly changing situation in Ukraine is bound to dominate things. We can expect Lib Dems to call for the UK to take in more people fleeing the fighting and for stronger sanctions on Russia.

Westminster

The Commons week kicks off with questions to the Home Office ministerial team. If Kevin Foster is still a minister, he can expect a torrid time over his disgraceful suggestion that Ukrainians, while fleeing Russian troops can jump on Google, find themselves a job fruit picking here and come over for six months, leaving their family behind.

Later in the day, Lib Dem MPs will put up a robust opposition to the final stages of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

This week, there will be an opposition day on Wednesday and a general debate on Welsh affairs on Thursday, fitting in the week of St David’s Day.

In the Lords, our Kate Parminter has a question on ensuring that eating disorders are taught in medical schools on Tuesday as Eating Disorders Awareness Week gets under way and Shas Sheehan has one on the implications of global warning for the UK on Thursday.

Don Foster has a debate on Tuesday on the link between gambling related advertising and gambling related harm.

You can see the full timetable here.

Holyrood

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The Voice

Lib Dems stand in solidarity with Ukraine and call for UK to do more for refugees

By The Voice | Sun 27th February 2022 - 6:18 pm

The Russian Consulate in Edinburgh, like many places around the UK,  has seen peaceful demonstrations every day since the Russians invaded Ukraine.

Today was the biggest so far, with Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and Christine Jardine MP.

Yesterday, Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper attended a similar event in St Albans

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Carmichael on Ukraine refugees and Russian oil tankers in Orkney

By Andy Boddington | Sun 27th February 2022 - 2:29 pm

A steady stream of media releases is emerging from the Lib Dems as the Ukraine crisis deepens. As Newshound reports two of the most recent statements, Reuters reports that Vladimir Putin has ordered his military command “to put nuclear deterrence forces on high alert after aggressive statements by NATO countries”. While we nervously wait for confirmation of that, Alistair Carmichael has written to Boris Johnson urging him to deny Russian-owned vessels access to UK ports and attacked Kevin Foster’s comments on Ukrainian refugees saying: “We should stand with all Ukrainians, not only those prepared to pick kale and cabbage.”

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NewsHound

Welsh Lib Dems call for UK to follow Ireland and let in Ukrainian refugees

By NewsHound | Sun 27th February 2022 - 1:55 pm

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Conservative Government to axe the Nationality and Borders Bill amid the ongoing Russian Invasion of Ukraine. In a letter to Home Secretary Minister Priti Patel, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds has urged her to drop the “cruel” bill stating that the events over the last few days demonstrates its “cruel consequences”.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have also called on the Government to follow the lead of Ireland and waive visa requirements for all Ukrainians and open a resettlement scheme immediately.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms World Review: The global impact of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

By Tom Arms | Sun 27th February 2022 - 11:55 am

Russia’s attack has started a worldwide rearrangement of the political order. Old alliances need to be reinforced. Some will be reconsidered. New Alliances, treaties and trade deals will be made as governments decide where their vital interests lie—with the autocratic but advancing Russia or the the democratic but defensive America and Europe or in the narrowing neutral land somewhere in between. Washington and Moscow will declare: You are with us or against us. We are not entering Cold War Two. We are entering a significantly new warmed up war.

The World Economy

One of the first causes of concern is the economy. Governments cannot fight cold or hot wars without cash. The world economy as a whole has already been severely weakened by the pandemic. World stock markets—the source of equity finance– dislike instability and uncertainty. Ukraine has created both, and the markets around the world have plummeted. Energy prices have also climbed as Russia is the world’s largest supplier of natural gas and second largest producer of oil. Nearly half of continental Europe’s energy originates in Russia. Germany—the EU’s economic engine—is especially dependent on Russian fossil fuels. But Russia is also a large exporter of gold, nickel, and the other rare but important mineral element palladium. The black earth of Ukraine is Europe’s bread basket. World bread prices will rise. Governments will need to borrow more money which will drive up interest rates and inflation. There will be more investment by Russia, NATO and others in troop numbers, missile deployments, cyber warfare, space, and intelligence gathering. This means there will be less money for social welfare, civilian infrastructure projects and any other vote-winning projects. More resources to defend Europe means less to protect other regions from Jihadism or to fund foreign aid programmes. These are the sacrifices of which politicians speak.

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Tom Brake

Tom Brake writes: The route to Proportional Representation

By Tom Brake | Sun 27th February 2022 - 9:55 am

Proportional Representation is in the Liberal Democrats’ DNA.

It might not always, or indeed ever (the party’s historians will correct me if I am wrong) have featured on the front page of the Lib Dem manifesto.  But it has always been a main plank of the party’s package of modernising democratic reforms.

If this were ever in doubt, Alistair Carmichael MP, the party’s Spokesperson for Home Affairs, Political & Constitutional Reform nailed the party’s colours to the PR mast by adding a new clause to the Elections Bill on the 17th January.  He was supported by MPs from 3 other political parties.

Its purpose: to abolish First Past The Post for UK general elections and require the Government to take all reasonable steps to introduce proportional representation.  In his speech, Alistair made the case for PR declaring, ‘we must have a system that gets rid of safe seats so that everybody’s vote, no matter where they live, is of equal value.’

Unfortunately, House of Commons’ support for PR wasn’t tested.  The FPTP system guarantees that voters who support parties like the Lib Dems never secure fair representation in Parliament. This in turn deprives Lib Dem MPs of the parliamentary numbers that would require the Speaker to grant them frequent voting opportunities.  So, no vote was granted or held on the PR amendment.

In contrast, at the last Labour conference, a vote was held on the subject of PR.

This followed a concerted and well-organised campaign by Labour for a New Democracy (L4ND) with around 150 constituency labour parties submitting PR motions.

The PR motion debated at their conference had the overwhelming support of local party delegates.  80% supported the call for reform.  However, the motion was narrowly defeated after block votes cast by a number of the trade unions.

The campaign continues, with a renewed focus on the trade union movement.  L4ND is confident of securing sufficient union support to win any future vote at the Labour conference on PR.

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George Cunningham

Lib Dems Abroad about to join the party’s campaigning mainstream

By George Cunningham | Sun 27th February 2022 - 7:55 am

This week, I was pleased to join forces with our Lib Dem Peers at the second reading of the Elections Bill at the House of Lords.

For us at Lib Dems Abroad, the Elections Bill is a gamechanger that will bring us into the campaigning mainstream of the party.

A huge 8% of all Brits are living outside the UK. The likely abolition of the 15-year rule will allow all Brits abroad of voting age the right to register and vote at the next UK General Election.

Our members, led by the three “local” party chairs – Lib Dems in Europe (Tom McAdam), France (Jenny Shorten) and Overseas (Mark Iliffe) – and myself, will fly the flag for the party by organising an extensive voter registration campaign for British citizens across the world once the law is implemented and the government’s own campaign has started.

Brits living abroad will need to be included in the party’s manifesto for the first time (previous Lib Dem manifestos had already supported the abolition of the 15-year rule and overseas constituencies).

Then, of course, Lib Dems Abroad will work in partnership with UK local parties to coordinate the party’s campaign for the overseas vote at the next UK General Election in 2-3 years’ time, groundwork for which will start shortly.

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NewsHound

Davey: Use ‘oligarch tax’ to insulate the UK from Putin’s gas price spike

By NewsHound | Sat 26th February 2022 - 4:08 pm

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called for an ‘oligarch tax’ to offset increased gas prices at a time when households are already facing a cost of living crisis.

The Liberal Democrats said this would ensure that Putin’s cronies and Russian energy companies foot the bill for any gas price spike following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The oligarch tax would comprise of two elements:

  • Freezing and beginning the process of seizing the assets of Putin’s cronies who have money and property in the UK, using Unexplained Wealth Orders.
  • A windfall tax on oil and gas superprofits, including those of Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, whose trading arm is based in London. Gazprom recently announced a £179m dividend. This can then be used to reduce UK dependency on Russian gas.
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Tom Arms

Observations of an expat: Putin’s disastrous time machine

By Tom Arms | Sat 26th February 2022 - 10:13 am

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown the world back in time to a world order based on the dangerous dictum: might is right.

We have been pushed through the looking glass into a new world where laws and treaties are irrelevant and life and death decisions are made on the basis of blatant lies and where the morally bankrupt prevail.

Overshadowing this frightening reality is that Vladimir Putin has his finger on the button that controls the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.

Facing this disaster scenario is an unprepared West. For years it has over-focused on the economic challenge of China while downplaying the more immediate threat of an increasingly bitter, autocratic, militaristic, nationalistic, messianic and possibly unhinged Vladimir Putin.

War with Russia was unthinkable. It defied common sense as the rest of the world understood it. Surely the threat of massive sanctions would force Russian business to control Putin. No, the Russian president sits at the apex of an unprincipled kleptocracy and has skilfully tied Russian business interests to his own extreme views.

Successive US administrations have not helped. George W. Bush unilaterally scrapped the ABM Treaty and turned a blind eye when Putin attacked Georgia. Obama over-pivoted towards Asia while his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed reset buttons with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

But worst of all was Donald Trump a self-confessed admirer of strongmen in general and Putin in particular. He pushed recognition of the Russian annexation of Crimea. As Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border this week Trump and his ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Putin as a “genius.”

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Paul Heilbron

ALDC by-election report – 24 February 2022

By Paul Heilbron | Fri 25th February 2022 - 7:55 pm

A testing week on the by-election front for the Liberal Democrats after a flurry of successful weeks to begin 2022. With eight vacancies to fight (one of which was on Wednesday) we stood in four, one of which we saw the chequered flag. The high of a fantastic gain on Maldon TC was certainly marred by only standing a candidate on 50% of available ballots this week. Let’s delve into the detail.

We kick off proceedings over at Maldon where both the Town and District council were holding by-elections. We can take great pride from both elections but with a gain from the Conservatives on the Town side of things this is certainly candidate, or should I say councillor, John Driver that steals the show this week. With a staggering 65% of the vote share, we now have another Town councillor added to the roster. Congratulations to John and the whole team for such a fantastic result.

Although the same victorious story doesn’t project from the district council result we can be thrilled with the efforts of Colin Baldy and his team. Although the Conservatives held onto the seat, a 12% vote share returned from a standing start is not to be sniffed at. The groundwork has truly been laid for the next time around. Keep up the good work.

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Nick da Costa

Update on Conference deadlines: Emergency Motions on Ukraine

By Nick da Costa | Fri 25th February 2022 - 4:57 pm

I am certain that many of you have been following the terribly upsetting news in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion.

The Federal Conference Committee has agreed that due to the ongoing and evolving situation in Ukraine that we would allow a later deadline for an emergency motion on the topic of Ukraine. The deadline for this will be Thursday, 10 March at 13:00.

The motion will then be announced on Friday morning before the commencement of Conference. Any motions submitted already on Ukraine can either be carried forward to the new deadline, alternatively those who have already submitted emergency motions on Ukraine may want to consider withdrawing their motions and submitting updated motions for the new deadline. 

You will be able to submit a motion via: https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions

This will allow members time to prepare and submit motions that may take into consideration the changing situation over the next days in the lead-up to Spring Conference.  The emergency motion will be debated in the Sunday morning Emergency Motion slot and the Federal Conference Committee will provide further information on this closer to the date.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate reaching out.

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Dick Newby

Lord Newby on the Ukraine crisis

By Dick Newby | Fri 25th February 2022 - 2:48 pm

Speaking in the House of Lords this morning, Lib Dem peer Lord Newby said the invasion is a failure of the West to recognise that Putin was pursuing an aggressive forward foreign policy which was aimed not just at those territories which he wishes to control but also at the values of democracy and rule of law which the territories embodied.

He said we must recognise we are not a global military power. That our most important security and economic relationships are with Europe and that we need to strengthen global structures and programmes which promote our values. We should set an example in the way our leaders conduct themselves. What part will the government play in the resettlement of refugees? What protection will we offer to the Baltic States? We must also make sure that Ukraine does not become the model for future tragedies in the future.

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Mary Reid

Jamie Stone calls for cancellation of Russian Grand Prix

By Mary Reid | Fri 25th February 2022 - 12:48 pm

UEFA have moved the Champions League final from Russia to Paris. It was due to be played in St Petersburg on 28th May.

Jamie Stone said:

Moving the Champions League final out of St Petersburg is the right thing to do. Putin and his cronies cannot strongarm their neighbours, invade a sovereign nation, and expect to sportswash their actions.

Where football has led, other sports must follow. Formula One must cancel the Russian Grand Prix with immediate effect.

He has written to Stefano Domenicali, the CEO of F1, calling on him to do just that. The text of his letter is:

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NewsHound

UK must lead humanitarian response to stop Putin destabilising Europe

By NewsHound | Fri 25th February 2022 - 10:42 am

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the UK to lead a coordinated humanitarian response to Putin’s war in Ukraine, with safe passage and support for Ukrainian refugees fleeing violence and persecution at the hands of Russian forces.

The party’s MPs have written to the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary, urging them to work with humanitarian agencies and Ukraine’s neighbours to provide accommodation and support to the people now fleeing Russian troops, who are now advancing on the capital of Kyiv.

It comes in the wake of the news that visa applications from those Ukrainian nationals without close British relatives and who are stuck in the country are suspended, meaning no legal route exists for them to enter the UK and claim asylum.

The letter calls for “an ambitious commitment to resettle Ukrainian refugees in the UK”, and urges the Government to withdraw its Nationality and Borders Bill – currently going through Parliament – because it would criminalise Ukrainians and other refugees who come to the UK seeking asylum. This is a sentiment shared by a number of leading charities such as Amnesty International and Save The Children in a letter to The Times today.

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NewsHound

Absence of Gazprom and Rosneft from sanctions list is “elephant in the room”

By NewsHound | Thu 24th February 2022 - 10:00 pm

Responding to the additional sanctions on Russian companies and individuals announced today by Boris Johnson, Liberal Democrat Leader and former Energy Secretary Ed Davey said:

The absence of Gazprom and Rosneft, part-owned by BP, in today’s sanctions list is the elephant in the room. The UK must do everything we can to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Russia’s state-owned oil and gas giants stand to profit from this war and soaring prices. We must start treating Putin’s Russia like the rogue state it is and immediately cut off UK investment in these firms.

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NewsHound

Davey: Parliament must sit this weekend to support Ukraine

By NewsHound | Thu 24th February 2022 - 6:39 pm

Commenting following Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Ukraine, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

At this dark moment we must renew our commitments of international cooperation and stand with our allies against this horrendous invasion.

For too long we in the West have been complacent about the threat which Putin poses to our allies and to the fundamental values which underpin our way of life. No more.

We must stand with the people of Ukraine and provide them with humanitarian and military aid, while unleashing the severest of sanctions against Putin and his cronies.

The era of Russian interference in this country

…

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Michal Siewniak

In solidarity with Ukraine

By Michal Siewniak | Thu 24th February 2022 - 5:32 pm

Sometimes, particularly if you live far away from the country of your origins, it might seem that there is very little that we can practically do to support those in need.

However, sometimes it is equally important to:

* Simply be

* Show solidarity with our fellow human beings

* Demonstrate that local and global unity might bring some hope

* Support members of our community; often our friends, neighbours or work colleagues, who feel angry, confused or devastated

Join me in solidarity with Ukraine on Saturday (26th February) at 4pm. We are meeting around the fountain in Welwyn Garden City town centre.

Do come along, if you can.

I am not Ukrainian but I stand with Ukraine today.

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George Cunningham

Lib Dems Abroad about to join the party’s campaigning mainstream

By George Cunningham | Thu 24th February 2022 - 4:18 pm

Yesterday, I was pleased to join forces with our Lib Dem Peers at the second reading of the Elections Bill at the House of Lords.

For us at Lib Dems Abroad, the Elections Bill is a gamechanger that will bring us into the campaigning mainstream of the party.

A huge 8% of all Brits are living outside the UK. The likely abolition of the 15-year rule will allow all Brits abroad of voting age the right to register and vote at the next UK General Election.

Our members, led by the three “local” party chairs – Lib Dems in Europe (Tom McAdam), France (Jenny Shorten) and Overseas (Mark Iliffe) – and myself, will fly the flag for the party by organising an extensive voter registration campaign for British citizens across the world once the law is implemented and the government’s own campaign has started.

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The Voice

Ukraine: Live thread on the political reaction

By The Voice | Thu 24th February 2022 - 5:19 am

You know things are bad when you wake in the early hours and hear the announcement on the BBC World Service that it is to broadcast rolling news from 4am. There is almost no space for other news items other than the situation in Ukraine.

As in the early days of any war, reports are partial, sometimes confused, sometimes contradictory and sometimes downright lies. This is war in Europe and the full impact of the conflict cannot yet be predicted.

We will be adding reactions from Lib Dems to the conflict throughout the day.

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Lord William Wallace

Are policy motions at Conference too long?

By Lord William Wallace | Wed 23rd February 2022 - 3:05 pm

All active Liberal Democrats know that the messages you write on a leaflet have to be clear and short.  So why when we come to party conferences do we insist on debating motions which are astonishingly long and complex?  I challenge most attendees at party conferences on whether they have read through the full texts of all the motions.

I have just ploughed through 1,000 words of a motion for Spring Conference on an issue I care strongly about – having already read the much longer and more detailed policy paper to which it relates.  What we want from conference motions is the equivalent of an executive summary – the headlines of our detailed policies, brief and clear enough to be put on the back of our leaflets, ideally: 3-400 words at most.   But the established style of LibDem policy motions is far longer and more intricate.

The crush of business in the Lords has made me acutely aware of the need for brevity and focus in making speeches.  A generation ago peers (and MPs) were permitted to luxuriate through lengthy speeches of 20-30 minutes; in Victorian times Parliament would listen to speeches of an hour or more.  Now we have ‘advisory timings’ of 3-6 minutes in many debates, with 10-12 minutes for front-bench speeches.  I’ve therefore had to learn to count the number of words in a draft carefully, to prioritise points and to cut out things I would like to add but are only of secondary importance. At around 130 words spoken a minute, 1,000 words takes between seven and eight minutes to deliver in a speech – twice as long as the conference chairs are likely to offer someone from the floor.

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Mary Reid

Layla Moran welcomes scrapping the Vagrancy Act

By Mary Reid | Wed 23rd February 2022 - 1:08 pm

Layla Moran has been campaigning for years against the archaic Vagrancy Act, which criminalises rough sleepers. Yesterday the Government announced that the Act will be repealed.

She has written about it in the Big Issue under the heading: Scrapping the Vagrancy Act is just the start – now we must end rough sleeping for good.

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Peter Wrigley

Something is wrong

By Peter Wrigley | Wed 23rd February 2022 - 10:53 am

I was born in 1937 so lived through the War, though I don’t remember much about it. I suppose I had a deprived childhood in material terms (sweet ration only 2oz a week; second-hand toys, if any; Fair-isle pullover darned at the elbows, short pants patched): but so did everybody else so it didn’t really matter.   I had a loving family and I was never really hungry.

In my post-war formative years my generation was proud of the leading role our country and armed forces had played in defeating fascism, and continued to play as one the “top nations” in founding the UN and establishing an international economic system designed to create a more peaceful and prosperous new world.

We believed our country had, through adventurous exploration and deeds of derring-do, built a worldwide empire which we were now preparing for self-government and independence based on the admired Westminster system as established by the Mother of Parliaments.  Justice, based on Magna Carta, was dispensed with the scales tipped in favour of the defendant. Our universities were internationally admired and, having given the indusial revolution and railways to the world, we continued to be at the forefront of innovation, having discovered penicillin and invented both television and the jet engine. The BBC was a source of impartial information and a vehicle for both light and serious culture and entertainment which was admired throughout the world.

What was not to like?

Yes, I know, that summary contains a lot of rose-coloured simplifications, not least the importance of the part we had played in the defeat of fascism compared with that of others, especially the USSR.  But that was the over-all story as we understood it.

Half a century later the story is different.

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NewsHound

Ed Davey on Ukraine: Freeze and seize assets of all Putin’s cronies in UK

By NewsHound | Tue 22nd February 2022 - 5:14 pm

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Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has today called on the government to freeze and begin seizing the assets of Putins’ cronies in the UK, as part of a tough package of measures responding to Russia sending troops into Ukraine.

It comes after Boris Johnson announced the government would be sanctioning just three Russian high net-worth individuals, falling way short of the number believed to be allied with Putin and holding assets in the UK.

Ed Davey has also backed a boycott of international sporting and cultural events hosted in Russia, starting with moving this year’s Champions League final from St Petersburg. The Liberal Democrats have written to the government asking them to prepare Wembley in the event of the final being moved.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

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NewsHound

“Unjust and unfair” to force people to pay £00s to visit loved ones – Ed

By NewsHound | Tue 22nd February 2022 - 1:20 pm

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Responding to the Prime Minister’s spokpesperson confirming that people visiting loved ones in care homes will no longer be able to access free Covid testing, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Yesterday, Boris Johnson simply could not admit that it is his policy to put a new tax on caring by forcing people to pay for covid tests before they visit vulnerable people.

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The Voice

You are invited to Shirley Williams’ Memorial Service

By The Voice | Tue 22nd February 2022 - 11:51 am

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You are invited to celebrate the life of
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams

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Rebuilding trade and cooperation with Europe

By Duncan Brack Layla Moran | Tue 22nd February 2022 - 10:21 am

Hardly a week goes by without some new evidence of the damage done by Brexit to the British economy. From rising food prices, to empty supermarket shelves, to shortages of HGV drivers and of staff in the healthcare, farming and hospitality sectors, to musicians being unable to perform abroad, to British firms, farmers and fishers facing such higher charges and bureaucracy that they give up exporting their products altogether, to scientists losing chances of collaborative projects, Brexit is affecting more and more parts of everyday life. The coronavirus pandemic has caused the biggest shock to the British economy since the war, but, as the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted, the impact of Brexit will be twice as large – and, unlike the pandemic, it will not stop.

The damage is not only to the economy. Brexit has removed British citizens’ opportunities to work, to be together with their loved ones, to study and retire anywhere in the EU. Britain now has less clout in international negotiations, whether on climate change or biodiversity or trade. The existence of the UK itself is now under threat, as Brexit has weakened the arguments for Scotland and Northern Ireland – which both voted to Remain – to stay part of the union. The slogan ‘take back control’ was a lie; in reality Britain now exercises less control over the forces that determine its future than it did inside the EU.

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The Voice

Living with Covid: Shambolic Govt taking NHS & Care services for granted

By The Voice | Mon 21st February 2022 - 6:56 pm

Responding to the Government’s plan on Living with Covid, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Conservatives have been planning to end free Covid testing for more than two months, yet still we have no clarity on what this means in reality.

Boris Johnson wasn’t even able to answer the simple question of whether any free testing plans would be kept in place for essential workers, such as NHS staff, or for those who are clinically vulnerable.

This so-called plan has been cobbled together on the back of a fag packet. People are being asked to exercise personal responsibility whilst

…

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