As we start to get this virus properly under control we should start getting our freedoms back. Vaccine passports – essentially Covid ID cards – take us in the other direction.
Yesterday evening, Ed tweeted:
I am writing from the heart following a battering few years trying to protect biodiversity landscapes from new developments and to get sustainable transport written into housing and supermarket schemes.
On biodiversity, all we have got from developments in my expanding rural town is tokenism. Replacement trees within manicured landscapes. Not the untidy scrubby bits of landscape that are or will become biodiversity rich.
On sustainable transport, the car remains king. There are no plans for bus routes to serve four major housing developments. The out of town supermarket, with the backing of councillors and planners, doesn’t even have a bus stop.
The planning system is working against our national and international ambitions to enrich biodiversity and tackle the climate emergency.
This week saw the first leaders’ debate of the Scottish election campaign and Willie absolutely smashed it. Here’s his opening statement:
"After the year that we've endured, I want to spend every second of the next Parliament focusing on putting the recovery first."
Watch my whole opening statement in last nights debate. 👇 pic.twitter.com/e2PZKQlk71— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) March 31, 2021
And can we afford to tackle climate change?
"Can we afford to tackle climate change? We can't afford not to."
📺 Watch my whole answer on this question from the #BBCLeadersDebate 👇 pic.twitter.com/a3JiHjUkW9
— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) April 1, 2021
No campaign is complete without some great Willie photos. Here’s one with a well behaved animal:
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie handles a six-week-old badger during a visit to the SSPCA National Wildlife Rescue Centre, during campaigning for the Scottish Parliamentary election.
📷Jane Barlow – see more at https://t.co/jR0m7riAHz#ScottishElections pic.twitter.com/bvaHP78cea
— Alamy Editorial (@Alamy_Editorial) April 3, 2021
Daphne, the star of the first photo opp in the giant deckchair, was back to show Willie finer points of Connect 4.
Here is Ed Davey’s just-released Easter message!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful Easter.
Whilst celebrations will be muted again this year, there is light at the end of the tunnel. #Easter2021 pic.twitter.com/l1glhckry0
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) April 4, 2021
Andy Hagon will stand for the Liberal Democrats in the forthcoming Hartlepool by-election.
Andy, a teacher who stood in the seat in 2017 and 2019, said that he was honoured to be standing for Hartlepool again:
Georgia’s Republicans may have shot themselves in the foot. The White-dominated local party dominates the state legislature and were shocked by Trump’s loss of George and the Senate victory of two Black Democrats. Something had to be done. So they passed legislation to vote by post; gives the legislation greater control over the conduct of elections; bans the provision of food and water to those standing in long queues to cast their ballots; reduces the number of drop-off ballot boxes and demands strict ID requirements for all voters. All of these are aimed at making it harder for African-American voters who vote overwhelming for liberal Democrats. But have they gone too far? The measures are clearly designed to reduce the Black vote. Could it instead galvanise it? The 2020 elections were a record turnout—67.7 percent of registered voters cast their ballots, the highest figure in more than 100 years. The reason was – still is—divided and politicised like never before. The liberal Democrats hated Trump and the conservative Republicans responded in equal measure in their feelings with Joe Biden and co. Attempts to restrict the Democratic vote could very well have the effect of encouraging Democratic activists to try harder at the mid-term elections in 2022 and the presidential vote in 2024. We proved in 2020 that we could break the Republican lock, the activists can argue. We have them on the run. Sort out your ideas and bring thermos flasks and sandwiches to the voting queues.
The US State Department regularly produces country reports for Congress. This is because Congress decides whether a state should be given Most Favoured Nation trading status, have sanctions slapped on them, or something in between. The country report makes recommendation and Congress usually follows them. This week—in response to Beijing’s Hong Kong crackdown– the State Department advised Congress finish the job started by Donald Trump and end Hong Kong’s preferential trading status. Not good news for Hong Kong and China. For a start the Hong Kong dollar is tied to the US dollar. That is likely to end. Hong Kong also has its own visa arrangements with the US (and other countries) which makes it easier for Chinese to travel to and from America for study and business. That is expected to cease. Tariffs on Hong Kong goods will go up, especially those re-exported from Mainland China. Controls on technology exports to China will be extended to Hong Kong. University contacts will be reduced. However, there will be a beneficiary. Singapore has for decades offered itself as an alternative Far Eastern base. It is looking even more attractive.
I have been taking some flack on social media after the publication of the conclusions of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services’ inspection of the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil at Clapham Common. Ed Davey had called for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to resign over the policing of the event, but the headlines from the HMICFRS report exonerated the police.
The scenes we all saw of the police using force against those at the Clapham Common vigil were entirely foreseeable, preventable and unnecessary.
Derek Chauvin, three other police officers, the rest of American policemen, law enforcement generally, the legal system, racism and racial justice are on trial in a Minneapolis courtroom.
First, the sketchy facts of the case. African-American George Floyd was arrested after allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Officer George Chauvin held him to the ground by pressing his knee against his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. By the time the ambulance arrived, George Floyd was dead.
Chauvin is charged with manslaughter, second degree murder and third degree murder. He faces the possibility of 40 years in prison.
George Floyd’s last words—“I can’t breathe”—sparked the worst race riots in American society and spilled over into 69 countries around the world. “Black Lives Matter” became the chant of an estimated 26 million protesters across the US. Ninety-three percent were classified as peaceful. But the ones that weren’t caused an estimated $2 billion in damage.
The Black Lives Matter riots were were seen by African-Americans as the culmination of centuries of brutal, legalised racism by American law enforcement. It started with slavery and extended through the Jim Crow era of indiscriminate lynchings and continued past the civil rights era.
African-Americans have fought back. The 4 April 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr by Earl Ray sparked off what was dubbed the “Holy Week Riots” In 110 American cities. In 1992 four Los Angeles policemen were acquitted over using “excessive force” in the beating of African-American Rodney King. The riots that followed left 2,383 arrested, 12,000 injured and 63 dead as well as causing $1billion worth of damage.
We were so near to taking the Conwy seat from the Tories. Only 995 votes separated us. So grateful to those who poured into the constituency to give us their support. Chris Rennard was the mastermind and I remember him organising my sharing a farm trailer with Paddy Ashdown whilst Ann brandished a Vote Rog poster.
David Penhaligon spoke and conducted the financial appeal at a crowded Conwy Town Hall dinner and that was just a week or so before his tragic death. Would our record as a party have been any different if David hadn’t skidded on that black ice ?
Arriving in the House of Lords I was delighted to be welcomed by David Alton, even though he was on the Crossbenches – I’d been there for his Liverpool by-election victory which was such a boost to Liberal fortunes. It’ll be interesting to see what happens there in this May’s Council elections.
David was a regular visitor to the Conwy constituency. Not many people know the Rachub Community Centre where the TV cameras filmed David speaking in front of a broken down hatch whilst Mrs Thatcher and Neil Kinnock addressed the TV World from elaborate and expensive backgrounds.
2021 marks four years since the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower that claimed 72 lives. It shouldn’t take a horror of that scale, or any scale, to prompt change, but yet political divides still seem to be preventing meaningful action taking place. As well as this grim anniversary, 2021 marks the beginning of long overdue regulatory reform, where we expect to see some of the biggest changes to building safety laws for over 40 years.
Since the last time I wrote about the ongoing work led by the LGA, Lib Dem councillors, Lords and Parliamentarians to fight for tenant and leasehold rights, the Government has finally announced a series of steps it is taking to address the cladding crisis.
The trouble is that, not only is this action coming far later than necessary, I don’t think it goes anywhere near far enough.
The £3.5 billion package unveiled by Robert Jenrick fails to address the problems faced by residents living in unsellable flats in unsafe blocks. The fund is restricted to buildings over 17.7m in height, meaning around 88,000 buildings between 11m and 18m require remediation work but have no recourse to funding.
The fact that recent fires in Barking, Crewe, Worcester Park and Bolton all occurred in buildings below 18m shows the risk of this approach.
There will be Government funding for the removal of cladding for buildings of between 11 and 18 storeys, but crucially this is in the form of what the department has termed a “long-term, low-interest, Government-backed financing arrangement”. In other words, leaseholders will have to foot the eventual bill, with the Government pledging that no leaseholder will ever have to pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of the cladding.
During the pandemic local Councils have been permitted to hold formal meetings online, and this has enabled them to carry on Council business through lockdowns and other restrictions. The Government has now announced that this ruling will be withdrawn after 7th May and Councils will have to meet in person after that date.
This is quite bizarre in the short term because meetings are not permitted under current Covid rules. According to the roadmap, from 17th May groups of 30 will be allowed to meet outdoors, but only 6 indoors. The earliest date at which meetings could be held indoors would be 21st June. In stark contrast, Parliament will continue to allow remote attendance until 21st June.
But it is also worrying in the long term, since the current practice has made it possible for councillors and members of the public to attend meetings even when they could not physically attend easily for reasons of health or disability.
Some 90 Lib Dem Council Leaders and Opposition Leaders have signed an open letter to Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and to Luke Hall MP, Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government. Here is the text of their letter:
The Liberal Democrats lost a much-loved colleague, mentor and campaigner on February 8th.
David Penwarden was a member of the Party for about 70 years, his first role being President of the 1000-strong Oxford University Liberal Party. He took pride in making it the largest political society at the University, a feat he attributed to holding meetings at the women’s colleges rather than the men’s colleges where the other parties operated!
He first stood as a Liberal candidate in the 1955 General Election in a, not unsurprisingly, unsuccessful campaign in West Ham North where he used beer-mats with the message ‘Vote Penwarden for peace, progress, prosperity’. He did get elected later, however, as a Liberal councillor for the County Borough of West Ham.
In 1961 he moved with his wife and young children to Berkshire where he was elected to Reading Borough Council. In 1963 he stood unsuccessfully in a by-election for the Deptford constituency.
In 1966 the family moved to Harpenden and David stood in the South Bedfordshire constituency in both the 1974 general elections. David was the Chair of the Liberal Party’s Candidates Committee in 1978-80. He stood for Hemel Hempstead in the 1979 general election.
Someone asked me the other day what I thought our position should be on vaccine passports.
I said that if we supported them, then it would be something that would make me question my membership of the party.
Ed Davey has missed his chance to get rid of me with a blistering article in today’s Telegraph:
Liberal Democrats have always been the civil liberties party in British politics. Covid ID cards are illiberal, unworkable and even Michael Gove knows it 👇 https://t.co/9fOaxOHFWx
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) March 31, 2021
He said that they would be “illiberal, unworkable and utterly ineffective in keeping people safe from Covid.”
Lib Dems in Torquay have alerted us to the fact that a number of cruise ships have been anchored off shore since the first lockdown. Apparently long-term docking fees at the usual cruise ports are unaffordable for many cruise lines, and in any case there are simply not enough berths available worldwide for all the ships.
Some careful research and negotiation have resulted in the proposal that is being considered seriously by the Federal Conference Committee – that Autumn Conference this year should be held in one of those underused ships. The resources are perfect on the ship which offers a large theatre that could serve as an auditorium, several other function rooms for fringe meetings, and plenty of bars. What is more, accommodation and restaurants are on site and will be included in the registration fee. If the weather is fine then members will be able to use the swimming pool.
To counter the perception that Autumn Conferences are always based on the South Coast the ship will spend the four days cruising around the British Isles, stopping to pick up Alistair Carmichael in Orkney.
The cruise ship option comes with some particular opportunities and challenges for a “hybrid” conference, with some members able to connect remotely via the Hopin platform. Data connectivity is straightforward enough but movement of the ship on the water may cause incoming and outgoing speeches to speed up and slow down due to the Doppler effect.
There will be some additional benefits on offer on the ship. The casino will be open 24 hours a day, but only to those who did not sign the petition against FOBTs. The midnight chocolate buffet will be available every night at the specific request of Mark Pack.
Glee Club will take place in a real theatre with the ship’s resident dancers and acrobats providing much needed relief. We understand that negotiations to secure ‘The Cruise’ star Jane Macdonald to do a turn are going well.
Today is the annual Trans Day of Visibility, a day for celebrating the achievements of trans people.
LGBT+LIb Dems looked at 7 trans politicians from the UK and across the world. If you were at Spring Conference you will have seen Charley Hasted make some incredibly powerful speeches, on issues like NHS pay, describing the horrors they and their colleagues went through as ambulance call handlers.
They also spoke about their life as a carer, describing how they had not been able to do anything with their sibling for 23 years as one of them has to look after their mum.
They showed why they are needed in elected office:
Today is #TransDayOfVisibility. I'm proud to be the first openly Non-Binary person to run for the Greater London Authority.
It's vital trans people are able take our place in public life- Politics, Journalism, the Civil Service nowhere should be closed off to us.
— Charley Hasted (they/them) (@CharleyHasted) March 31, 2021
Luisa Porritt, our London mayoral candidate, tweeted her support.
Happy #TransDayOfVisibility to everyone in the trans community!
I will always be a strong ally and will do everything I can to make sure your rights are respected and protected in London. 🏳️⚧️ pic.twitter.com/WgbwpqO7Vy
— Luisa Porritt (@LuisaPorritt) March 31, 2021
As did Alex Cole-Hamilton
You are seen and we stand with you. #TransDayOfVisibility https://t.co/7msduxAwuw
— Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP🔶🇺🇦 (@agcolehamilton) March 31, 2021
Christine Jardine encouraged us to show support:
Today is important. its Trans Day of Visibility. Show your support #TransDayOfVisibility
— Christine Jardine 🔶 (@cajardineMP) March 31, 2021
Last week, Jamie Stone took an anti trans group to task:
Let me make this very clear @ALLIANCELGB following your email to me today.
I am a trans rights activist. My party is categorically a supporter #LGBTQI rights.
I will not be effectively lobbied into denying people their basic human rights.#TransRightsAreHumanRights END OF. pic.twitter.com/fz3vipSQlu
— Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) March 25, 2021
Today he tweeted:
With ever increasingly dangerous journeys, and increasingly restrictive measures against refugees to prevent them accessing asylum, the Liberal Democrats have taken the lead in adopting a radical new proposal: humanitarian visas for refugees to travel safely and legally to find the safety they deserve in the UK.
‘Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries freedom from persecution’, says Article 14 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. There is no such thing as an illegal asylum-seeker: only asylum seekers lacking legal routes to safety. But how can you get safely and legally to other countries? Well, if you are British, your passport gives you visa-free access on arrival to 132 countries, and nearly all others will grant you a visa on application. But if you are Afghani, Iraqi, Iranian, or Syrian there is no such possibility.
In the year to March 2020, 35,000 people applied for asylum in the UK: virtually all of them had to enter irregularly – smuggled in lorries, crossing the channel in small boats, or using forged documentation. Ask yourself: why would a Darfuri escaping war-torn Sudan have to forge their passport to get on a plane from Khartoum to London? Why would an Eritrean in Calais pay thousands of pounds to traffickers, risking their lives by travelling in unseaworthy boats to reunite with their family in the UK, rather than board a Eurostar for £50? The answer is clear: if either of them attempted to use their national documents, they will be denied boarding.
Less than 1 percent of the world’s refugees are resettled. Most refugees are forced to risk their life and limb on perilous journeys, enduring extensive human rights violations on the way, to claim their human right to asylum. Many of those who made it to Calais have gone to dangerous lengths to reach adequate safety, running from Turkish border guards with a shoot to kill policy, walking the channel tunnel for 30 miles avoiding the speeding trains, suffering abuse and violence from police and border officials, cramming onto small unsafe dinghies to cross the channel, and losing their loved ones on the way, all to try and find safety.
I was very pleased to hear from Simon Barrow from the website Ekklesia, which has always struck me as a very progressive-thinking website, with its “roots in Christians social thought” but “vital” partnerships with people of other convictions (both non-religious and religious).
Liberal Democrats are right at the forefront of campaigning for a Basic Income – an idea that Christine Jardine called “our generation’s NHS”, and potentially the foundation of a new, post-COVID social contract.
The problems in social care during the pandemic was more than just a lack of PPE to care homes. Firstly, many more people receive care in their homes than in care homes, and secondly, the chronic shortage of funds for both adult and children’s social care is an increasing problem.
Overall, we should have intensive care beds in hospitals for 25,000 people to accommodate normal winter pressures. In pandemic circumstances, I’m not sure of the number, but I do know that, in the last year, people were repeatedly not taken to hospital despite the fact that they were very sick. A substantial number of the 126,000 people who died, died at home with little or no medical intervention.
There are sometimes not enough beds in care homes either and, while this has generally been left to the private sector, it a good idea to have some recuperation beds which are under the control of the NHS or local councils.
In this week’s review, our regular correspondent Tom Arms looks at yet more mass shootings in America and the struggle for stronger gun control. He turns his attention to events in Israel and the failed Sino-American summit in Alaska. Europe has been at times teetering on the edge of vaccine wars and it is the 50th anniversary of the seventh fastest growing economy in the world, Bangladesh.
It’s been a good start to the Scottish Liberal Democrats election campaign with our first photo opportunity getting on the front pages of the two main Scottish broadsheets:
Not a bad start to the photo-op campaign! Thanks to our incredible staff team. Absolutely loving this campaign already. 🔶🐥🔶 pic.twitter.com/JUwqMsaWci
— Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP🔶🇺🇦 (@agcolehamilton) March 26, 2021
Willie was out and about early for his morning run today. He posted it on Twitter at 6:30 when it was still dark due to the clocks going forward:
The moon’s out, not the sun, but it’s another education day for the Liberal Democrats #PutRecoveryFirst #MorningWalk pic.twitter.com/Xb68eDtbWN
— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) March 28, 2021
He had to be up so early because he Willie had a great first interview of the campaign on the Sunday Show. He always sounds so joyful and optimistic and got across our main talking points while avoiding the usual traps. He contrasted the SNP and Conservatives constant arguing over independence, which would continue into the next Parliament with our approach to get our health and education services.
Here are the highlights:
Here is Ed Davey’s message for Passover, published last night. Our best wishes to all celebrating today.
At sundown tonight, Jewish communities in the UK and around the world will mark the beginning of Passover, the eight-day festival commemorating the liberation of the Israelites after 400 years of slavery in ancient Egypt.
The story of the Exodus has inspired generations; it’s a story of hope and triumph. It shows us what’s possible when we hold tight to faith in the midst of darkness and uncertainty. This is a message that’s relevant, even today.
Usually, Passover is a large celebratory affair, marked by generations of families gathering around the Seder table to share a festive meal. However, this year celebrations will be smaller. Many will look around the table and think of loved ones who cannot be there and some traditions may even be modified in an attempt to adapt to these unprecedented times.
Am I the only one who find programmes like Escape to the Country unsettling? The clue is in the word “escape”. That idea of rural life being idyllic compared to the nightmare of living in cities. Before anyone gets worked up, I don’t think cities are a nightmare. A buzz of life 24 hours seven days a week. Almost everything available whenever you need it. Walkable neighbourhoods.
But cities and large towns are too busy for me. All those people you don’t know rushing past not saying hello. I don’t think rural areas are a nightmare. Far from it. But people seem who escape to the country sometimes have unrealistic expectations of rural life. That could increase pressure on services and we are already seeing in rural counties like mine which has soaring adult social care costs driven by an ageing population. We will not get to grip with the gritty reality of rural life if it is portrayed is an idyll where everyone with a stash of money in the bank should live.
Here are Willie Rennie’s videos from his last two morning runs, posted at a more civilised hour.
On Friday, he talked about the campaign launched – and talked about how the Lib Dems are the alternative to the toxic battle between the SNP and the Conservatives.
Getting ready for our official campaign 🚀 #PutRecoveryFirst #MorningRun pic.twitter.com/Z3ZWHH4eos
— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) March 26, 2021
Today, it’s less blustery and he contrasts how the Lib Dems offer changing people’s lives for the better, investing in education and the NHS, tackling climate change and unemployment People will be alarmed at the prospect of the election and beyond.
About the only time the world’s land-based public thinks about seaborne traffic and the globalised trade it underpins is when they look above the parapets of their sand castles and spy a ship on the distant horizon.
Or, when something happens, such as a war or a vital sea artery is blocked and prices creep up and super market shelves start to empty.
The latter is happening.
Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has announced he will lead the pro-impendence Alba party, which was registered just four months ago. He told a press conference today: “We expect to field a minimum of four candidates in each regional list and we’re hoping to elect Alba MSPs from every area of Scotland.”
Scottish Lib Dem leaders responded: “There are no questions about Scotland’s future to which Alex Salmond is the answer.”
When I started my first job, I met with our finance officer. She was looking quite stressed, so I asked what was going on. She explained she was working out how much of our ‘bad debt’ to write off as an organisation. I was confused, naively.
Turns out, this is probably what most people know, but every year companies and organisations write off debt. They decide that even if someone owes them £50, they are likely never to get that money back – in short, it costs them more to chase the debt, than they’d ever make getting it back.
But then, some enterprising people worked out that there was a market there. Now, companies can get some of that back. So rather than writing it off completely, and getting nothing back, they can sell that debt to a debt market, for around £5 (on average, 10% of the debt value).
They come along in three’s: but none of us expected to put Jonathan Fryer, Tony Greaves and Derek Barrie in the same sentence in such a short period of time. Three liberals who now feature in our hearts, in our memories and in our stories. But if we do them justice they will feature in our actions, our principles and that will keep them alive in our hearts.
LDV has published obituaries for Tony Greaves and Derek Barrie. Jonathan Fryer is terminally ill and has sadly written his last Facebook post.
These were three very different people.
Local councils have been meeting online during the pandemic. After a few teething problems, the practice of meeting online has worked well. But yesterday the government declared councils must meet in public after 7 May. Many councillors think this is too early. A good many councils, including Ludlow Town Council and Shropshire Council, do not have suitable buildings to accommodate all their councillors, let alone members of the public, while social distancing remains in place.
Vaccination is under way but having kept myself safe for a year, I think this is too risky. Up to 74 councillors and at least 25 officers and public attend Shropshire’s unitary council in a chamber set out like a university lecture hall. My local town council meets in a cheek by jowl Guildhall that is socially cramped. The parish council I chair had 30 people at one online meeting recently. There is nowhere in the parish big enough for a meeting that size even in normal times.
This is retrograde move that will reduce the effectiveness of local democracy. Not for once, ministers are out of touch with reality.
The Home Office’ s proposals to change the Asylum law is disturbing. They don’t reflect an understanding of the hardship and difficulties that refugees face. Desperate people resort to desperate actions risking their lives to find a better life.
It is very difficult for these people to come directly to Britain. No visitor visa, no way of boarding a plane. It is unlikely those in conflict zones can obtain a visa anyway. They will have to cross borders and journey across countries to reach Britain.
The measures proposed to send them back are not based on any humanitarianism but a simple desire to keep foreigners out of Brexit Britain. Indeed, there is no legal basis for the EU to accept those that have crossed their territories and I doubt if the EU is in any hurry to make such an agreement. Britain in fact has a smaller number of people seeking asylum than other western European countries.
In these last few years, I have got to know some Pakistani Christian refugees who have fled to Bangkok. They faced a situation where Christians were being murdered and being driven out of their homes. The level of intolerance led to heavy discrimination making life extremely difficult. I knew of someone who tried to set up a Unitarian church. He faced death threats and eventually his employer told him he would not employ him any longer as he didn’t want the company to have any trouble.
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