Live on Facebook, Luisa Porritt is launching her campaign for Mayor of London at 11am.
Click on Luisa’s Facebook page here to see the launch live.
In addition, here below is Luisa’s video to accompany her launch today:
In her speech at 11am, Lusia will launch the Liberal Democrat plan to Take London Forward.
Our Editor, Caron, was up with the lark this morning to appear on Good Morning Scotland, calling for a Commission to allow women to feel safe on the streets. Caron is the party’s Scottish spokesperson on equality.
Reflecting on the anger felt by women over the last week, Caron said that it is important to “channel that anger into something constructive”. The party is proposing a commission, to report back within a year, “aimed at preventing violence against women and girls in all its forms”. The hope is that all parties can get behind this – “to properly address the fact that women don’t feel safe on the streets – and often not in their homes”. Caron said:
Usually, if I can, I write something at the beginning of the day. Today, however, I didn’t, as I wanted to leave space for Caroline Pidgeon’s powerful piece on violence against women.
And, at the end of the day, having looked at the comments, I’m pretty depressed. A series of men either blaming a small minority, or changing the subject, or just being blind and deaf to the words of those who actually suffer from abuse and violence. Bluntly, it isn’t a small minority of men, unless they’re awfully active given the statistics indicating that most women have been victims. And let’s change the subject, why don’t we? Anything rather than face the fact that, because of the behaviour of some men (yes, I know, not all… nada, nada, nada), women and girls make decisions that restrict their freedom of action because of the risks that exist. We, as a society, need to address that and, sadly, because the overwhelming proportion of violence against women is at the hands of men, the attitudes of men have to change. Some of you whose comments suggest that your liberalism is more polite veneer than instinctive – acknowledging that some of you aren’t liberals anyway – make me more than uncomfortable. The word is embarrassed.
On Saturday, 13th March the Federal Conference Committee met to review the amendments, late motions, emergency motions, questions to reports and appeals for this weekend’s next Spring Conference which commences on Friday.
You can still register for conference. We also have a claimants’ rate, and provide support for those who require it through the Conference Access Fund. You can also donate to the Conference Access Fund as part of your registration.
This will be our second online Conference with our partners at Hopin. As always, we would like to thank the Conference Office and wider HQ team for their support and hard work in bringing together our online conference.
I was delighted to receive an email this week from a good friend of mine, Roger Casale, founder of the New Europeans and also a former Member of the UK Parliament.
Roger emailed to say that one of his colleagues, Peter Conradi, who is Sunday Times Europe’s Editor, was running a story this weekend about the reasons why so many Poles have already left the UK. I was really pleased that I had an opportunity to speak to Peter and that the article itself was published in yesterday’s paper. It was a fascinating conversation, which, probably for the first time, helped me to pause and reflect on the causes of the Polish nationals’ departure from the UK. This trend has already directly affected many of my fellow countrymen and countrywomen.
It is estimated that almost a million Poles lived in the UK before the Brexit vote. Some, mainly anecdotal evidence, suggests that around 200,000 members of the Polish community have now left the UK. It is a significant exodus of Poles, which, in my view, might continue in the future. So what are the reasons why people have left or are leaving?
Nearly 200 Lib Dem activists signed up to join the “How to win with UBI” online event on Tuesday 9th March, organised in partnership between Lib Dems for Basic Income, the Social Liberal Forum, the Compass-hosted Basic Income Conversation, and justLiberals.
This was the first of three events being co-hosted by this partnership of organisations to explore what is arguably our biggest new party policy for some time.
The second event is What Kind Of UBI?, on 29th March, and this will be followed by an exciting conversation with Michael Tubbs, the man who introduced a …
It was Private Eye, perhaps unsurprisingly, who nailed the Conservative U-turn on corporation tax rates. They note Boris Johnson’s quote at the Conservative leadership hustings on 5 July 2019 that;
Every time corporation tax rates have been cut in this country it has produced more revenue.
Perhaps Rishi Sunak wasn’t listening, or perhaps he thinks that the Laffer curve is a bit old hat, but the proposed increase in corporation tax effectively reverses most of the Coalition Government’s cuts in tax rates – George Osborne inherited a basic rate of 28% and a small profits rate of 21%. If the Laffer curve …
The tragic murder of Sarah Everard has shocked the nation. Over the last week the national conversation has been consumed by the horror of the events and an outpouring of grief for a young woman who was simply walking home. But Sarah’s murder has also led to a national reflection on what this means more widely for us as a society.
In the last 10 years 1,425 women have been murdered in the UK, that’s roughly one every three days. I believe Sarah’s death could prove to be a seminal moment in our country as we look to challenge the plague …
Having called for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick’s resignation last night, Ed Davey and London mayoral candidate Luisa Porritt have written to both the Home Secretary Priti Patel and London Mayor Sadiq Khan to remind them of their accountability for last night’s events, too.
Dick, Khan and Patel have been showcasing their best buck-passing all day, but the truth is that they all have responsibility for the horrific events of last night.
Ed and Luisa have reminded them of that in no uncertain terms.
Here are their letters:
Dear Home Secretary,
I am writing to ask you to clarify what conversations you had with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner with regards to policing of the vigil on Clapham Common in memory of Sarah Everard on Saturday evening, ahead of Saturday evening.
The heavy-handed tactics used by the police – against women who were holding a peaceful vigil – were disgraceful and disproportionate.
It is clear that the Metropolitan Police got it seriously wrong, and I urge you to join the Liberal Democrats’ calls for Cressida Dick to resign. But responsibility for this also lies with you as Home Secretary.
Given the current circumstances, the high profile nature of the vigil and the significance of the issue at stake, the potential for things to go wrong was obvious. The Met’s refusal to facilitate a Covid-safe vigil and its decision to threaten the organisers with fines only increased that risk.
So can you please tell me what conversations you had with the Met Commissioner ahead of and/or during the vigil, and what if any advice you gave her?
If you did not speak to her beforehand, why not? Given the risks, surely it was your duty as Home Secretary to provide advice and reassurance?
Asking the Commissioner for reports and explanations after things have gone wrong is simply not good enough. The public and our police officers want the Home Secretary to be held to account as well.
I look forward to your response at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Ed Davey
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Luisa Porritt
Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London
—
Dear Sadiq Khan,
Following the launch of The Alliance Of Her on 8 March, a new research report published by the ALDE Party in collaboration with the European Liberal Forum and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation highlights the experiences of European liberal women in politics.
In Europe, women’s political representation has increased significantly in the last decade. Currently, the region accounts for the highest number of women in elected office worldwide. However, while some progress has been made, achieving gender equality seems to be going forward at a snail’s pace. Men continue to outnumber women in elected positions and those measures which perhaps have made a difference when it comes to parity, have done little to improve how women are valued as political leaders and actors.
In other words, while we celebrate the increase in number of women elected to political office in Europe, women are still more likely to be undermined in every stage of their political journey as compared to their male counterparts.
Some four and half years ago I wrote to Liberal Democrat Voice about the abuse of the honours system. I wanted Tim Farron to take a moral lead, abjure hierarchical honours and not nominate anyone for more than a BEM. My article The political honours system is sick, possibly fatally was published and drew a little interest but quickly dropped off the radar.
The time has come to revive the issue. Earlier this week the Times published a report that civil servants are actually coaching companies like Serco on the most effective way to obtain honours such as MBEs for their staff. What kind of an honours list this will produce later in the year does, to my mind, not bear thinking about.
Is this who we should really be honouring in this horrendous year? Surely the only appropriate use of the system is to devote it entirely to the front line workers and volunteers who have kept the country safe and maintained as much normality for the rest of us as possible. NHS staff, care home workers, the emergency services, teachers, shop workers, local authority and public transport employees and volunteers should be the people honoured in 2021. While there are perhaps groups I have missed off my list, no politicians, chief executives, senior civil servants, senior managers or contractors who will already be rewarded through their pay packets, should receive honours.
The scenes on Clapham Common last night as the police broke up the vigil for Sarah Everard were a disgrace and undermine the fundamental principle of policing by consent. Leading Lib Dems have called on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign. It was not a protest. It was a statement of solidarity with a woman who had been abducted from the streets of London and murdered. It was a declaration that women should be safe on the streets. Lib Dem Voice editor Caron Lindsay told of her personal experiences yesterday.
The UK’s tradition of policing by consent is being replaced by policing by authority. Legislation now in parliament looks set to reinforce authority at the expense of the fundamental right of freedom to protest.
In this weekend’s world review, Tam Arms opines that Joe Biden’s economic stimulus package will boost the world economy. A new space race is underway much of it led by Russia and China, and of course Elon Musk. Tom also talks about the Covid-19 vaccine controversies, overstretched health services across the world and the countries that are luring us with holidays. A thinktank has downgraded India – once trumpeted as the world’s biggest democracy – to an “electoral autocracy”. Back to China again with Tom’s review of the annual National People’s Congress.
I have been a bit worried of late that the Lib Dems, at least in England, have been a bit bland and have been pulling the punches they should have landed.
Well, credit where it’s due. After the utterly disgraceful scenes on Clapham Common tonight, Alistair Carmichael, Luisa Porritt and Ed Davey have written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to tell her she should resign.
Here is their letter:
Dear Commissioner,
The scenes this evening of the policing of the Clapham Common vigil in memory of Sarah Everard are utterly disgraceful and shame the Metropolitan Police.
The vigil this evening was a peaceful one brought together in the most horrific of circumstances.
Across the country, countless women have told their own painful stories of harassment and abuse. Your officers should have been standing in solidarity with those on Clapham Common tonight not being ordered to disrupt this display of grief and peaceful protest.
This was a complete abject tactical and moral failure on the part of the Police.
We therefore call on you to consider your leadership of the service and whether you can continue to have the confidence of the millions of women in London that you have a duty to safeguard and protect.
Yours sincerely ,
Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Luisa Porritt, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London
Alistair Carmichael MP, Spokesperson for Home Affairs
I am going to be in so much trouble, because the National Maraphone is 3 and a half hours old and I haven’t made a single call – which is unusual for me. I’ll make it up in the week, I promise.
Like so many women, I’ve been profoundly upset by the events of this week. I think we all feel it because we all have a story to tell, something we were lucky to escape from in one piece. But these things cast a long shadow.
When we talk of being frightened if we are walking alone somewhere, we have good reason to be. When we talk about having our fingers through our keyring, just in case, we have good reason. When we talk about our constant vigilance, our constant scanning to work out potential escape routes, it’s because we’ve been followed by someone who has scared us.
I woke up this morning feeling that I needed to go back to the place where a man threatened me two years ago and make a video to tell that story. I still find it hard to be there and I’m very grateful to my niece for giving up her morning to come with me to film this.
What happened to me is on the minor end of the scale and I was lucky to get away, but virtually every woman I know will have had a similar experience.
I’m feeling frustrated, to be honest, that Reclaim these Streets vigils over the country have been cancelled after Police made clear to organisers that they could be hit with heavy fines. The events have now mostly been moved online and I’ll be taking part at 6pm tonight, on my doorstep with a candle to remember Sarah Everard and the other women killed by men and to assert the right of women and girls to go about their business in safety – and, crucially, without the fear that it is clear we all experience.
Now I’m about as Covid-cautious as you could possibly get. I’ve barely been out in a year. But I’m also a liberal and my instinctive reaction is that our right to protest is a fundamental civil liberties. In these times, you need to be responsible and protest in a Covid secure way, but the right to stand up and be counted for a cause you believe in is vital.
In recent days, several Liberal Democrats have been talking more about civil liberties.
I’m glad to see that Munira Wilson, our MP for Twickenham and health spokesperson, has made some robust comments on the vigil bans:
Women and girls should be able to walk down our streets safely and without fear. I completely understand why people feel moved to attend vigils or protest about this. It is deeply disappointing that the Metropolitan Police have refused to help make it happen.“No one wants to see crowds of people at a time when social distancing is so important to save lives. But Reclaim These Streets is committed to organising Covid-safe vigils and the High Court made it clear that such an event can be lawful.“The Government has a duty to facilitate safe protests. The way the Government has curtailed protest rights and is trying to do so even after we emerge from the pandemic is deeply concerning. Liberal Democrats will always defend the right to protest.”
One of the things that struck me the most about the response surrounding the case of Sarah Everard was that on Twitter the phrase “not all men” has been trending alongside her name. It has become a common pattern that as soon as women talk about their experiences that they are met with some form of reply such as “but not all men are like this” and “men can be victims as well”.
While both statements are true, it ignores the fundamental point that abuse happens when someone in a position of power takes advantage of their own power at the expense of the victim. So, although there are male victims (which for the record whose cases should be taken very seriously) and while not every single man is a predator, there is an overwhelming pattern of men being perpetrators and women being victims. This is because in society, men still hold most of the power; whether that be in upper body strength (which on average overpowers a woman’s) or much more crucially in the societal privilege that men have held over women for centuries.
This leads to the fact that 97% of women between the ages of 18-24 (according to a study reported by the Guardian) have reported experiencing sexual harassment. Herein, my problem with the “not all men” sentiment lies. If not all men are predatory, then why have (virtually) all women experienced predatory behaviour? This is a conundrum.
Speaking from personal experience, I was fifteen and in school uniform when I was first felt up by a man sitting next to me on public transport and younger than that when I was first catcalled. Those were not the last times such incidents have happened and as a twenty-year old I have now lost count. These experiences are far from unique, they are (a relatively mild) reality of a woman’s experience. It is these accumulated experiences that make every woman consider their personal safety most times they leave their home. Sarah Everard would have made these same considerations.
When I first heard about Sarah, it felt like I had swallowed a very bitter pill. Immediately it was because of how heartbroken I was for Sarah and her loved ones, but the aftertaste was the reality that that could have been me (or any woman). I myself grew up in South London not far from where Sarah was, and have friends that live in that area. It is considered pretty safe. So, then she was walking in a pretty safe area on main roads, before 10pm, wearing bright colours, on the phone to her boyfriend. Yet Sarah Everard was still was not safe.
If women get taxis, they have creepy – and sometimes worse – encounters with taxi drivers. If women take a walk in broad daylight, they are assaulted. If women have the audacity to go to work, they are still assaulted. Despite everything we do, as women by default, our safety is always in question. That is without throwing in other factors such as class (which means that women have to face this behaviour in less safe areas and are more likely to work later hours) or race (which exposes them to the chance of hate crimes therefore increasing risk of attack).
Who said what when and to whom in the British Royal Family is dominating world headlines? Bullying, racism, misogyny, mental health…. They are all urgent and material topics, and it is important that the Queen – and by extension – the Royal Family reflect the concerns of the society at whose apex they stand.
But there is a wider constitutional issue at stake. And it is complicated by the role of the monarchy; the obtuseness of the unwritten British constitution; the British class system; and the problems of investing a part of the constitution in a physical person.
With local council elections less than eight weeks away in England, Lib Dems are getting the message out local government funding.
John Marriott, a former Liberal Democrat councillor in Lincolnshire, writes on the Guardian’s letter page:
“Local government funding has been… the victim of the totally inadequate council tax for decades, and an ever-reducing central grant…
Well, there is still all to play for – Labour Bristol has failed to be the first local authority to take a stand on advertising high carbon products like polluting SUV cars.
They have agreed to ban fast food advertising on council-owned advertising sites, like bus shelters, but they failed to follow up on the rest. They say they would need to go out for consultation on it and they fear ‘consultation fatigue’.
Kirsty Williams the Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Minister yesterday announced an additional £30 million to develop new Welsh-medium education.
The capital investment aims to help reach the longstanding target of 1 Million Welsh speakers by 2050, by supporting young learners to become Welsh speakers by the time they leave school.
This announcement follows hot on the heels of the new Welsh Curriculum approved by Senedd members this week which will be introduced after an extensive consultation and is the first complete reform of the curriculum in a generation.
Wendy Chamberlain, Lib Dem MP for North East Fife, spoke today in Parliament’s International Women’s Day debate. She called for action to address domestic abuse and misogyny and reflected on her own experiences as a police officer dealing with sexual offences. Here is an extract:
Here is her speech in full:
It was the person who commented on Facebook that really gave me pause for thought: “I get that you may be working abroad,” he wrote, “but this might be a bad image to project upon people who are severely pissed off and stuck in what was once a great country.”
I was on a business trip to Australia. Anyone who knows what I do professionally (I’m a tennis commentator) would not only have known it was a business trip and not a jolly, but my commentary could be heard across the UK. I had recorded a county elections campaign video from my hotel quarantine room in Melbourne contrasting Australia’s approach to Covid with Britain’s, yet instead of people hearing my comparison, some heard ‘Australia’, saw me in a polo shirt, and thought ‘jolly’. I wouldn’t call 14 days in hotel quarantine jolly.
I understand that people are irritated when they’re locked down in a cold snap and they see someone in a polo shirt pontificating from somewhere’s summer. But this form of shooting the messenger (or shooting the messenger’s location) means people don’t see the blindingly obvious message – that they are being taken for a ride by our government.
The biggest comparison I drew between Australia and Britain (or perhaps it should be between Victoria and England) was the contrasting sense of cause and effect. Australia has taken the necessary measures to eradicate the virus, and is largely back to normal now, while Britain’s lockdown is based on hoping for the best with poor enforcement, and we’re a long way from normality. But this week’s figures on track and trace in England highlight an even bigger contrast.
Yesterday the Welsh Liberal Democrats published a party broadcast featuring their Leader, Jane Dodds. Enjoy!
When I joined the Liberal Party in the 1980s, I was optimistic that the UK would replace its unrepresentative voting system in the not too distant future. Fast forward to 2021 and we remain stuck with First Past the Post and, at first glance, little reason for optimism.
The current set-up has never been ideal for the UK or indeed any modern democratic society. First Past the Post results in governments elected by a minority of voters, with policies supported by a minority of the electorate being imposed on the majority. This leaves far too many people feeling excluded and unrepresented. With a distorted link between voters and MPs, how can the UK call itself a representative democracy>
The answer, as we know, is Proportional Representation (PR). Replacing First Past the Post with a fair alternative will make our democracy truly representative. Pluralism is a key tenet of democracy. As a liberal and a democrat, I recognise the need for a voting system that allows multi-party politics to show itself rather than be hidden by the illusion of First Past the Post. Proportional Representation provides a framework for multi-party politics to flourish and voters to be represented.
We have all heard the tiresome arguments against PR, all the more worn-out considering that the UK is now the only democracy in Europe to use the outdated First Past the Post system for its main elections. The myth that reform would end the constituency link is nonsensical, considering the range of systems that can preserve and even strengthen it by improving voter choice both at the ballot box and in between elections. Those resistant to change also argue that a switch to PR would be a risky, unnecessary experiment. Considering that Proportional Representation is used in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is well established across Europe, this doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
All major opposition parties apart from Labour support Proportional Representation for UK-wide elections and groups like Make Votes Matter are pushing the debate in the right direction. The establishment of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Electoral Reform is the latest boost in the campaign, ensuring a strong coordinated voice in parliament to champion the need for change.
A year ago Boris Johnson promised that his government would undertake the most fundamental review of the UK’s international priorities since the end of the Cold War. He promised that this would be the biggest review of our foreign, defence and development policy since the end of the Cold War, designed to maximise our influence and integrate all the strands of our international efforts.
Next Tuesday, March 16th, the first part of this ‘Integrated Review of Foreign and Security Policy’ will be published – several months later than planned. Changes in those responsible haven’t helped: David Frost was made national security adviser, then threatened to resign, then became instead the Cabinet minister for (mis)handling relations with the EU. Dominic Raab was distracted by the messy business of putting the FCO and the Department for International Development (DfID) together. The Prime Minister as usual wasn’t thinking things through. We expect a smoothly-written essay on ‘Global Britain’, without much detail on what that means in practice. The implications for defence manpower and resources will appear in a separate paper two weeks later.
Johnson has rhapsodised on ‘Global Britain’, without ever explaining what exactly that implied. Freed from the constraints of the EU, he saw Britain recovering its ‘buccaneering spirit’; he seems unaware that the buccaneers were licensed pirates. He’s been ecstatic about sending a carrier task force past Singapore to the South China Sea, though he never explained what the strategy behind that would be. Tory think-tanks have produced reports on ‘the tilt to the Indo-Pacific’, which others have labelled ‘the tilt away from Europe’.
MP calls on Govt to address maternal mental health
Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, has today held a Westminster Hall debate on the mental health of mothers during the perinatal period, with a specific focus on the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated systemic problems for vulnerable women.
Sarah Olney MP commented:
“The sheer volume of responses we’ve had in just a matter of days signals just how significant an issue this is, and how critical it is we act quickly.
“Even before the pandemic took hold of public resources, this was a service that was chronically underfunded
…
Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform have a new President – Wendy Chamberlain, our MP for North East Fife.
Since entering Parliament in 2019, Wendy has made her mark as an articulate, vivid advocate of electoral reform. Through most of 2020, as our Political and Constitutional Reform front bench spokesperson, she led the campaign both inside and outside Parliament. Last June, she initiated an adjournment debate on the need for reform. In August, she urged party members to join a Make Votes Matter (MVM) nationwide ‘virtual’ Action Day, which saw hundreds of Liberal Democrats get involved.
A strong believer in linking reform to improving peoples’ everyday lives, also last June, Wendy spoke alongside Klina Jordan of MVM at a Green Liberal Democrats’ conference session on Electoral Reform and the Environment. In September, she led LDER’s virtual fringe meeting, along with the Electoral Reform Society, Make Votes Matter and Unite to Reform.
Our Parliamentary Chief Whip and Work and Pensions spokesperson, Wendy, has maintained her commitment to electoral reform. In February, she became a Vice-Chair of the newly-formed All-Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Reform. (Alistair Carmichael, Wera Hobhouse and Lord Paul Tyler are also APPG members). Wendy is also a member of the APPG on Deliberative Democracy.
Wendy said:
In an era of increasing identity politics, the place has increasing importance to many. With Covid-19, however, the straining of centralised decision making at Westminster, and better recognition of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, could mean electoral reform’s time has come. It’s increasingly clear that the fundamental change required to ensure the future of the UK and a representative democracy starts with electoral reform.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a great revealer. It has exposed the sections of our society that work well – the kindness in our communities, the brave and vital roles of our key workers, and the life-saving potential of scientific technologies – while also revealing the elements that need fixing. As the world begins a process of renewal and reform, climate change and ecological renewal must be at the centre of that positive change.
The climate and nature crisis is the most pressing problem facing the world. The question of how we can continue to sustain life on earth is existential. It would be easy to think that the pandemic has solved this quandary: as normal life ground to a halt, global emissions reduced by almost 8% in the first half of 2020 alone. But as the world begins to reopen, there is still much work to be done.
English nationalists made us vote blind on Brexit. Our eyes are now well and truly open. The SNP ask us to vote blind on independence in May. They offer no plan. They can’t. For the foreseeable future, leaving the Union would be a disaster for the Scottish people.
Scottish Government figures for 2019/20 expenditure and revenue show a deficit of 8.6%, about average for the last five years. Our expenditure per head at £1,633 was about 12% more than the UK, and we paid £380 or 2.5% less tax, including oil and gas. The rest of the UK envy our free university education, prescriptions and home care. UK subsidies by the Barnett formula underwrite our jobs, health, pensions, education, social security and other public services. According to the 2018 SNP Commission, an independent Scotland would need 5 to 10 years of austerity to replace them.
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