NewsHound

North Shropshire: Helen Morgan talks to Midlands Politics (video)

By NewsHound | Sun 19th December 2021 - 2:28 pm

This morning Helen spoke to BBC Midlands politics.

Posted in News | Tagged and | Leave a comment
Advert
Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey: The Conservatives can be beaten anywhere

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 19th December 2021 - 2:03 pm

You have to hand it to Ed Davey. The poor man has had Covid since Monday but he hasn’t let it stop him contributing to and celebrating our historic by-election victory in North Shropshire.

He might have been stuck indoors but he maraphoned like a trooper.

Perhaps the only benefit of his self isolation is that he is unlikely now to get a Council Tax Bill from Shropsire Council given how much time he has spent there in the past month.

Covid is not much fun, even when you are fully vaccinated and boostered as Ed is, but he has stepped up to …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

Boris: “One wheel on my wagon and I’m still rolling along”

By Paul Walter | Sun 19th December 2021 - 11:00 am

Embed from Getty Images

Note: To balance out the motifs presented in the song mentioned here, you may like to visit the websites of The Native American Rights Fund and/or Native Americans in Philantrophy

Following up on Andy’s great post this morning, readers of a certain age will recall a song called “Three wheels on my wagon” by the New Christy Minstrels. You can listen to it via YouTube below. It’s a cracker.

The singer, in the persona of an American “pioneer”, describes “singing a happy song” as a wheel comes off his wagon, while he is chased by a band of arrow-firing “Cherokees” who are intent on killing the singer and his fellow wagon passengers.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Jonathan Adcock

After 271 days, the Dutch have a government

By Jonathan Adcock | Sun 19th December 2021 - 9:30 am

It has been nine long months since the last general election in the Netherlands, and this week, the Dutch finally got a new government. Once again, the two liberal parties are working together.

Mark Rutte, of the classical liberal VVD party, is Prime Minister for a fourth time after four parties finally agreed a deal on Monday (13th) night. The other parties in the coalition are the social liberal D66, the Christian Democrats, and the centre-right Christian Unity. This is the same make-up of the government from 2017-2021.

The news of the new coalition agreement was met with muted cheers – even from the leaders of the parties themselves. Rutte described it as a ‘good deal’, with Sigrid Kaag of the D66 saying, ‘it is a fine and balanced agreement’. Christian Unity leader, Gert Jan Segers said, ‘I am just glad we are done. It’s taken a long time’.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 2 Comments

Boris Johnson is sinking into pig manure. Has he had his day?

By Andy Boddington | Sun 19th December 2021 - 8:32 am

Is Johnson about to book the removal vans and move out of Downing Street? His stint as prime minister over? Yes please. Bring the vans in and bring the tenure of this increasingly hapless “leader” to an end.

At first thought, keeping Boris Johnson is good for us Lib Dems. His incompetence helped deliver the stunning North Shropshire result and get us our 13th MP. But his incompetence is now damaging our country. After Partygate, Peppagate, backbench rebellions and today, the resignation of Lord Frost, he increased looks as though he is up to his neck in Peppa poo.

As Oscar Wilde didn’t say: “To lose one by-election Mr Johnson, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” And there is that sense about Boris Johnson. Carelessness. The sense of not having a grip on the public mood and on the mood within his own party.

Is it time for him to walk the plank?

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 33 Comments
Advert
Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Christmas Traditions

By Tom Arms | Sat 18th December 2021 - 10:20 am

Tis the season. Eggnog, mulled wine, presents, Christmas trees, yule logs, Christmas cards, Midnight Mass, food, food and more food… The list goes on and on. The Holiday Season is one tradition after another.

In fact, you could call it the Tradition Season just as easily as the Christmas or Holiday Season. But when and where did the traditions start? Well, they came from all over the Western world and some of the Eastern. Some have deeply religious roots. Others tell a political story. Some are strictly secular money making operations.

There was a time when Christmas was banned. And then there is the controversy about the actual birthday. The Bible does not actually give a date for the birth of Jesus, but Biblical historians believe that references to shepherds sitting outdoors at night on hills indicates that it was in the spring.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 5 Comments
Michal Siewniak

International Migrants Day

By Michal Siewniak | Sat 18th December 2021 - 9:58 am

In no particular order, I am proud to call myself:

  • Immigrant
  • Migrant
  • Polish
  • European national
  • Global citizen
  • Citizen of the world
  • Resident of Welwyn Garden City

Each year, on the 18th December, we celebrate the International Migrants Day. A day like many others. However, it is a day which gives us an opportunity to recognise our contribution, reflect on our achievements and celebrate our uniqueness.

The International Migrants Day is a day when we can be truly proud of our own heritage, culture, upbringing, religious or ethnic background. Our faith affiliation, colour of our skin or country of our origin are only part of our story. It is our personal experiences and journey through life, which can help us to become better human beings, and which make us who we are.

We all “move around” for a number of different reasons; to better our lives, seek opportunities to work or study, or flee war of prosecution. We enhance our communities. We enrich our neighbourhoods. Life is at times challenging, hard and demanding. However, it has also plenty of happy and fulfilling moments. I believe that migration is strongly embedded in our DNA. Let’s not forget that we all have layers of identify and being a migrant is only one of them.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

North Shropshire: It wasn’t too good to be true after all!

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 17th December 2021 - 8:16 pm

A few minutes ago, I had that very satisfying feeling of adding Helen Morgan to my Twitter lists of Lib Dem MPs and Lib Dem Parliamentarians. A wee thing, but an immensely satisfying moment.

I am not at my best at the moment. It turns out that I’m not as good as I used to be at this staying up till 4:40 am then doing a day’s work malarkey. But I can’t stop smiling. This has been a very good day.

And that bursting of the Boris bubble made me smile. I enjoyed it much more than the Blue Wall bashing from June.

Exactly 6 months ago, hundreds of Lib Dems were wandering around Chesham and Amersham on a Summer’s evening trying to turn people out to vote. I was taking part in the phone knock-up. In a few hours’ time, we would welcome Sarah Green as our 12th MP. Even in our moment of glory after that, if you had told us that within 6 months, we’d be welcoming Helen Morgan as our 13th after winning North Shropshire, we’d have laughed.

When Owen Paterson announced his resignation on 4th November, the party had some decisions to take about how to approach this by-election. Within two days, we had leafletted half the constituency with a very clear message setting out that we were the challengers. Establishing yourself in that position is key. We knew that the local party was totally up for a fight and that was a key part of the decision to start looking for kitchen sinks.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 15 Comments

Ed Davey on historic North Shropshire win and Keir Starmer pact

By Andy Boddington | Fri 17th December 2021 - 10:36 am

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey spoke to BBC reporter Justin Webb earlier this morning. He said he was proud of our party and our campaigners. We have brought hope to the whole nation by proving the Conservatives can be beaten anywhere. Brexit was not an issue in the by-election. Voters were more concerned about ambulances and GPs.

Ed is cool on a pact with Keir Starmer for the next general election but confident that we can make more inroads into the Blue Wall.

Here is the transcript.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 35 Comments

Helen Morgan acceptance speech: “ Johnson you are no leader”

By Andy Boddington | Fri 17th December 2021 - 6:00 am

What a victory! Nearly six thousand majority. There are huge implications for the government and Boris Johnson. We’ll cover those in later articles.

In her speech, she told the prime minister, Helen said:

Our country is crying out for leadership. Mr Johnson, you are no leader.

She told the voters in North Shropshire:

Your amazing efforts have delivered a gift of hope to our country, just in time for Christmas… I promise I will work for you and only you. I will always put local people and our communities first.

Helen said the NHS in Shropshire is teetering on the brink. The rural economy is in a precarious state.

Below, we report Helen’s acceptance speech in full. Here is the recording.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 8 Comments

++++Helen Morgan wins North Shropshire!!!

By Andy Boddington | Fri 17th December 2021 - 4:36 am

March the brass bands. Beat the drums. Sound the trombones. Honk the horns. Dance through the streets. Silence the soothsayers, those that thought this by-election couldn’t be won.

We won this by-election and won it well. Turning a 22,949 “unassailable” vote for the Tories into a stonking win for us. A Tory majority of votes transformed into a stunning vote for the Lib Dems. A swing to us of 34%, giving us a majority of 5,925.

Helen Morgan won this by-election. The team supporting her won it. The hundreds of Lib Dem activists from around the country won it. Our national team won it. Ed Davey won it. Our MPs won it. Now they are 13 strong.

This was not just a bloody nose for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives. It was a bloody good win for the Lib Dems.

  • Lib Dems: 17,957
  • Conservatives: 12,032
  • Labour: 3,686
  • Green: 1,738
  • Reform: 1,127

We must now ensure that Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire are just the beginning. We have taken some hard knocks as a party in recent years. But now we have picked ourselves up and dusted ourselves off. We have shown that we again can be winners. Winning here. Winning everywhere.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 35 Comments
Mary Reid

“Is Boris Johnson honest?”

By Mary Reid | Thu 16th December 2021 - 9:12 am

That was the question asked by journalist Michael Crick yesterday. And the person he asked was the Conservative candidate in the North Shropshire by-election.

Unfortunately we have to link to the Daily Mail so you can see his answer(s), but it is worth watching the whole of this gem of a video.

To everyone helping today’s efforts – have a great day!  And good luck to Helen Morgan.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 12 Comments
NewsHound

Davey: North Shropshire now a “coin toss” between Lib Dems and Conservatives

By NewsHound | Wed 15th December 2021 - 10:00 pm

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has said the crucial North Shropshire by-election tomorrow (Thursday 16 December) is now a “coin toss” between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

The once ultra-safe Conservative seat is now under serious threat, amid local anger about ambulance waiting times, farmers being let down and rural communities feeling taken for granted by Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats knocked on over 23,000 doors last weekend with over 1,000 volunteers on the ground during the final week. On eve of the poll today, Liberal Democrat candidate Helen Morgan was joined on the campaign trail by five of the party’s MPs.

Even a close second for the party would deal a major further blow to Boris Johnson’s authority in what should be one of the safest Conservative seats in the country.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 10 Comments
Caron Lindsay

How will you help Helen win North Shropshire tomorrow?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 15th December 2021 - 9:43 pm

I’ve not long finished hosting the eve of poll Maraphone for Helen Morgan in North Shropshire. It was a busy night – breakout rooms and everything. And it took Eastbourne PPC Josh Babarinde a whole hour to find anyone who would admit to voting Conservative tomorrow.

And what was absolutely amazing was that Ed Davey came along and joined us for a while. The indefatigable campaigner wasn’t going to let a wee tussle with Omicron get him down. He has been to North Shropshire so often they will probably send him a Council Tax bill and he is clearly gutted that he can’t be there tomorrow. But to come and hit the phones despite feeling poorly is above and beyond the call of duty.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Mohsin Khan

We must oppose illiberal powers to strip British people of citizenship

By Mohsin Khan | Wed 15th December 2021 - 1:42 pm

Our illiberal Government is trying to strengthen its ability to deprive people of British citizenship. We must take action to worsen a two-tier system of citizenship for those who have been born British citizens.

How did this mess begin?

Originally, the Home Secretary could only deprive naturalised citizens of citizenship, and not if it would make someone stateless. This power wasn’t used until 2002. Then, Labour expanded the power to cover British-born citizens. We were the only major party to oppose. In 2006, Labour expanded the power once again, and again we were the only major party to oppose.

Unfortunately, the Coalition widened the power’s illiberality. In 2014, it expanded the deprivation powers to foreign-born British citizens without dual nationality, allowing them to be made stateless if the Government believed they could obtain citizenship elsewhere.

Under Javid, the Government used this power on a British-born citizen without dual citizenship, on the assumption that they could theoretically become a citizen of another country. The use of these powers also increased. Between 2006-2012, the power was used 21 times – but 104 times in 2017.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 6 Comments

Johnson’s nightmare Plan B debate – Lib Dem speeches (videos)

By Andy Boddington | Wed 15th December 2021 - 8:12 am

I used to look forward to a visit to the ice cream after school. “99”, I would cry out. Now 99 has a new meaning. It is the number of Conservative that rebelled against the prime minister on his Plan B yesterday evening. That vote has weakened his authority in his party, by which I mean the political party. A threat to his leadership now looks credible.

The North Shropshire by-election is tomorrow. It is neck and neck between Helen Morgan standing for us Lib Dems and Neil Shastri-Hurst for the Conservatives. If the Conservatives lose the seat, then surely Boris Johnson is finished.

During the debate, Layla Moran said that there is new evidence that Omicron affects children more than Delta has done. She asked: “Where is the plan for children?” She also called for more ventilation in public spaces and schools.

Daisy Cooper told MPs that the removal of restrictions on mask wearing in July was more a political move than health management. She said the UK Health Security Agency had warned that “stringent national measures” will need to be imposed by 18 December.

Wera Hobhouse supported mask wearing and warned sceptics of restrictions that our civil liberties do not include the liberty to harm others. She asked what was being done to ensure the housebound received their boosters.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 33 Comments
NewsHound

Javid snubs meeting with West Midlands ambulance trust – highlighting Tory neglect of North Shropshire NHS services

By NewsHound | Tue 14th December 2021 - 9:30 am

Embed from Getty Images

The Health Secretary Sajid Javid has ignored requests for a meeting with his local ambulance trust in the West Midlands, despite warnings that record delays are posing a “catastrophic risk” to patients in the region.

Board documents from the trust reveal that the Health Secretary was invited to a meeting over four months ago but has still not replied. It comes despite the local trust warning that record handover delays at the region’s hospitals are putting patients at risk of severe harm or even death, as it moved its risk rating to the highest possible level for the first time ever. The trust recently apologised to one 95-year old woman who was left waiting for 11 hours on the floor of her home for an ambulance with a suspected broken leg.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 7 Comments
Paul Walter

+++Physical conference returns to your actual Brighton next autumn

By Paul Walter | Tue 14th December 2021 - 8:02 am

The chair of the party’s conference committee, Nick de Costa, has made this announcement:

I can announce that the dates for autumn 2022 conference will be: 17-20 September 2022 at the Brighton Centre.

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | Tagged | 4 Comments
Mark Valladares

ALDE Party Council – the view from the cheap seats…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th December 2021 - 7:43 pm

Billed as the first meaningful opportunity for European liberals to meet in person since the pandemic started, approximately one hundred delegates and senior figures gathered at the Westin Excelsior hotel in Rome to scrutinise the work of the Bureau and to make decisions about the running and finances of the ALDE parry, along with half as many again online. The British delegation was split fifty-fifty, with five delegates in Rome, and five scattered around England and Wales, including me.

The event started with a speech from Sandro Gozi, the Secretary General of the …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ed Davey talks about prospects in North Shropshire

By Andy Boddington | Mon 13th December 2021 - 2:54 pm

Interviewed by Joanne Gallagher, BBC Radio Shropshire’s political reporter earlier yesterday in Wem at the heart of the North Shropshire constituency, Ed Davey said:

It’s a two horse race. I think everyone knows that now.

It’s really exciting. It’s really close. Too close to call. The Lib Dem campaign has been really positive. Helen Morgan has gone down really well. She is a local candidate and that matters to a lot of people. She is taking up issues that people are really caring about. Ambulances. Access to GPs. I think people are thinking at long last someone is going to listen to them. Someone is going to represent them. They do feel that the Conservatives have taken them for granted for so long.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 6 Comments
The Voice

Daisy Cooper: PM ‘moving the goalposts’ on booster jabs

By The Voice | Mon 13th December 2021 - 1:47 pm

Responding to the Department of Health rowing back on the Prime Minister’s promise for everyone to ‘get their booster before the New Year’, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Boris Johnson’s panicked announcement has once again caused chaos and confusion. Last night he promised people they could get a booster before the New Year, now ministers are moving the goalposts and saying people will only be offered one by then.

Their failure to prepare properly now means that NHS websites have crashed, lateral flow tests are running out, and everyone working to get people vaccinated have been left scrambling to

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Michal Siewniak

Channel crossings and the Borders and Nationality Bill

By Michal Siewniak | Mon 13th December 2021 - 12:05 pm

In recent weeks, the UK government has been quite “busy” dealing with a number of national scandals. It is possible that many of us might have forgotten that at the moment, MPs are debating the Borders and Nationality Bill, which has previously received a lot of media and political attention.

In the last few days, I found a very interesting report produced by the Refugee Council. The latest official statistics show that in the year ending June 2021, 37,235 people applied for asylum in the UK, 4% decrease on the previous year. What has changed significantly is the method of traveling; from freight transit to Channel boat crossing.

So, what are the key findings of the report?

  • 70% of the total people number of people arriving to the UK via small boats, from January 2020 to May 2020, 12,195 people in total, came only from 5 countries of origin: Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Vietnam
  • Iranian nationals accounted for 26% of all arrivals
  • On average, 98% of people who arrive after crossing the channel in a small boat make a claim for asylum
  • Over 91% of the total small boat arrivals (11,123 people) came from just ten countries of origin including Afghanistan, the 7th highest nationality of all small boat arrivals.
Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Christian de Vartavan

The title of Mr Putin’s article is a misnomer

By Christian de Vartavan | Mon 13th December 2021 - 9:32 am

Ukraine matters to Russia, and Russia – or Putin if you will as both are currently inseparable – means it.

This is in substance the message carried by the deployment of about 100.000 soldiers along the Ukrainian border. To make his message clearer Mr. Putin not only deployed some of its best trained units or nuclear, biological, and chemical reconnaissance vehicles but also its latest and very dangerous Iskander ballistic missile launchers – as Janes reports.

The alleged ‘historico-philosophical’ basis for this deployment is to be found in the long article entitled ‘On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians’ signed by President Putin himself. It is freely available in English on the Kremlin’s website and, having read it from top to bottom, I found it fascinating at multiple levels.

For a start because Mr. Putin, to justify Russian-Ukrainian ties, goes back to the princes of the Rurik dynasty. The latters named after the legendary Rurik, chief of the Rus, who reigned in 862 and whose current titled heirs includes one of my very good friends who was until a few months ago the Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Latvia, Republic of Estonia and Republic of Lithuania. I wonder what, now back to Switzerland, he would make of this paragraph of the article:

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 13 December 2021 – hey, I just met you and this is crazy…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th December 2021 - 7:55 am

Gosh, is it Monday already? Apparently so, although the weekend seems to have passed me by. Here in Creeting St Peter, the Christmas social calendar has fallen foul of people’s not entirely unreasonable preference that Christmas isn’t put at risk, with Saturday’s coffee morning cancelled and Friday’s pub night likewise.

Once again, you get a definite sense that the Government is several steps behind public opinion but then, given that they’re currently struggling with the definition of a party, or truth for that matter, and with Liz Truss evidently on manoeuvres for a potential leadership contest, it would be impressive if they could metaphorically walk and chew gum at the same time.

On this day in 1577, Sir Francis Drake set out to circumnavigate the globe, making himself wealthy in the process and rather upsetting the Spanish. This day in 1864 saw Paraguay declare war on Brazil, setting off the War of the Triple Alliance. With Paraguay eventually facing off against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, it didn’t end well, with estimates suggesting that Paraguay lost up to 70% of its population through battle casualties, disease and starvation. And, on a more optimistic note, 13 December 1920 saw the establishment of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Continue reading »
Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

North Shropshire: Dogs, knees and a bouncy Davey – video

By Andy Boddington | Sun 12th December 2021 - 4:37 pm

It’s been a great few weeks in North Shropshire, albeit a bit on the chilly side with some bad storms. Hundreds of supporters have turned out to support Helen Morgan in her campaign to storm a “true blue” bastion. This huge effort has turned the tide and the bookies are giving the Lib Dems better odds than the Tories.

There are just three days campaigning to go, plus polling day. We’ll be publishing the result on LDV just as soon as it is announced in the early hours of Friday morning. And through the day and weekend, we will be publishing commentary on the result.

We are clear favourites with the bookies even though the Tories are trying to fight back with a belated push. If you can get to North Shropshire or pick up the phone, please pitch in to help Helen Morgan win on Thursday. Day-to-day details are on the campaign Facebook page.

Volunteer to take part. Donate to the campaign.

Below, we publish a video highlighting just a selection of the images from the campaign.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and YouTube | Tagged and | 6 Comments
The Voice

Daisy Cooper: Boris Johnson needs to go

By The Voice | Sun 12th December 2021 - 12:30 pm

The constant drip feed of stories of Government Covid rule breaking continues, most recently with the picture of Boris Johnson taking part in a quiz as the Daily Mirror reports:

After this latest revelation, Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said that the Prime Minister was undermining the ongoing fight against Covid and needs to go.

She said:

This slew of rule-breaking revelations leaves Boris Johnson with nowhere left to hide.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 55 Comments
Brian Paddick

Brian Paddick: Police Bill is most authoritarian, illiberal Bill I have seen

By Brian Paddick | Sun 12th December 2021 - 10:29 am

The Police Bill is not just about curtailing the right to protest.  The new legislation allows the Home Secretary to force local authorities and other public bodies to hand over sensitive, personal information to the police, even against the informed judgement of professionals on the ground.  Liberal Democrats in the Lords will vote against this further extension of centralised power over local decision-making.

Part of the truly illiberal Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that is not getting much publicity is a new duty on public bodies to give information to the police, so the cops can try to arrest their way out of the problem of serious violence.  What we actually need is a truly multi-agency, public health approach, where enforcement is only one part of the solution.  For example, when I went to Scotland I met a young father, whose partner committed suicide, who realised their son would grow-up without either of his parents if he did not turn away from violence, and with support, he has done just that.

Of course, if anyone has information that will help reduce or prevent serious violence, they have a duty to share it, and this Bill establishes a statutory duty on public bodies to share that information with each other, including the police sharing their information with others.  To the extent that the Bill removes barriers to allow the sharing of information, we support it.  In the wake of the horrific case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, the importance of information sharing is vital, although the changes in this Bill would not have affected that case.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment
Tom Arms

World Review: Begin Doctrine, Merkel exit, Macron boost and Biden democracy

By Tom Arms | Sun 12th December 2021 - 8:22 am

It is called the Begin Doctrine. The main tenets are that Israel is the only country in the Middle East region allowed to have nuclear weapons and that it reserves the right to prevent by any means the possession of nuclear weapons by any other country in the region. The Begin Doctrine (named after Menahem Begin who introduced it) was used to justify its attack on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981. It is now being pulled out of the diplomatic cupboard and dusted off in preparation for a possible assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities. At the same time another final effort is being made In Vienna to revive the Iran Nuclear Accord that was torpedoed by Donald Trump. If it succeeds the Israelis may enforce the Begin Doctrine because they simply don’t trust the Iranians. If it fails the Israelis may enforce the Begin Doctrine because they don’t trust the Iranians. But there is a problem. Iran is not Iraq in 1981. It has a string of enrichment facilities spread throughout the country.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 3 Comments

Omicron: Daisy Cooper says emergency plan needed within 72 hours

By Andy Boddington | Sat 11th December 2021 - 5:47 pm

There is a lot to be learnt about Omicron. We know it is spreading fast. Faster than the dominant variant Delta. We don’t yet know its health impacts, the risks of those with one, two or three doses of vaccine getting Covid-19. We don’t yet know the health impacts of Omicron, the extent it will increase hospitalisation, lead to long term health consequences and deaths.

It is very early days on Omicron. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine study that triggered today’s media statement by Daisy Cooper has yet to be peer reviewed. But if there is a single lesson from this epidemic, is that earlier planning and earlier action can improve health outcomes and save lives. That is why she is calling for Boris Johnson’s government to set out its emergency plans to Parliament in the next 72 hours.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
Paul Heilbron

ALDC by-election report 9 December 2021

By Paul Heilbron | Sat 11th December 2021 - 12:05 pm

The onset of the parliamentary recess is upon us. A hiatus in the by-election schedule is just around the corner. 2021 is drawing to a conclusion. Therefore, it wouldn’t be naïve to think that the Lib Dems had wound up the victories for 2021. Nevertheless, this week’s local by-elections proved that not only do Liberal Democrats canvass all year but we also win all year round.

Central to our continued success is the fantastic work all our councillors, candidates and ardent supporters carry out without exception week in week out.

Rotherham provided a tectonic shift in the political landscape with a huge gain for the Liberal Democrats. We were propelled into second place in Torridge. Whilst Labour achieved gains from the Conservatives at Aughton & Swallownest and Old Bracknell.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Nonconformistradical
    @Chloe “How did they get to France in the first place ? They’ve past numerous free countries” What do you mean by a ‘free country’ please? There...
  • John Armah
    This article is to be welcomed. A fair and honest policy on immigration regular or otherwise needs to start with some honesty. Reform/Restore and some parts of ...
  • Nigel Jones
    I think this is an important article, the key point being the kind of message we give people about immigration. Too many people think mistakenly our policy is t...
  • Neil Sandison
    "Clear Liberal Objective" Is that not in the preamble of our constitution ? Is that not the bedrock of The Liberal Democrats as a social liberal party ? We ha...
  • William Wallace
    sarah; rebalancing our economy is a positive sum game both for london and the rest of the country. the south-east is short of water and electricity, and short ...