The Voice

Willie Rennie pays tribute to long-standing Lib Dem Cllr Ellen Morton

By The Voice | Sun 11th October 2020 - 2:47 pm

Sad news this week from Helensburgh. Ellen Morton, a councillor since 1999, has passed away.

From the Helensburgh Advertiser:

She was first elected to Argyll and Bute Council as a Scottish Liberal Democrat in 1999, representing the Helensburgh North ward.

From 2007, following the introduction of a new system of local government elections across Scotland, she became one of three councillors representing the Helensburgh and Lomond South area, taking in the Colgrain, Craigendoran and Churchill areas of Helensburgh as well as villages and hamlets including Cardross, Ardoch, Arden and Muirlands.

In her 21 years as a councillor she served in a variety of roles, including chair of the authority’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee and depute to long-serving council leader Dick Walsh, as well as chair of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park planning authority and chair of the Northern Roads Collaboration.

She is survived by her husband Gordon, children Catriona, Aileen, Andrew and Fiona, and grandchildren Kate, Logan, Emily and Elliot.

Willie Rennie highlighted her humour and leadership:

Ellen Morton was a lady that you crossed at your peril.

She was quick, bright and, occasionally, sharp tongued and she was kind, caring and such a hard worker.

Her twenty one years on the council were colourful because she had firm beliefs and was a fierce defender of her constituents.

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The Voice

Party Awards: Gregan Crawford, the Data Dynamo

By The Voice | Sun 11th October 2020 - 12:30 pm

One of the highlights of Party Conference is the annual presentation to those people who have gone above and beyond. The Harriet Smith Award was established to recognise those who had never held elected office. This year, it was won by Edinburgh’s Gregan Crawford. Watch the whole party awards session here and read the submission in support of Gregan under the cut.

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Mark Iliffe

Building the Lib Dem North American Branch

By Mark Iliffe | Sun 11th October 2020 - 10:39 am

Seventy-five years ago, the United States of America changed the world with two acts that define our current global order. Through dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, America simultaneously brought World War Two to an end and took on the mantle of the pre-eminent global superpower. As the nominal “leader of the free world”, America cultivated science and the arts at an unprecedented scale while taking on the role as the global beacon of liberal, internationalist principles. However, as James Croft has superbly illustrates in his upcoming article, being a “Liberal” in America has become a smear. But, it doesn’t have to be this way and wasn’t this way until recently.

For UK citizens working and living abroad, we have a unique perspective of the memories of the United Kingdom and the current experiences of our countries of residence. In a time where we are physically isolated due to Covid-19, we can also connect over our shared values and principles. In this environment, a group of likeminded, internationalist liberal activists has formed in the North American region – the North American Branch of Liberal Democrats Overseas.

The Branch has formed to action our liberal principles, be a forum for liberal discussion in the region and work to raise the profile of international liberalism. As a Branch of Liberal Democrats Overseas, we are the local ‘home’ for British liberals of all stripes, living in America, Canada and the Caribbean.

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: The West Wing is coming back (briefly)

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 11th October 2020 - 9:23 am

I am a massive fan of The West Wing. There are several episodes (The Midterms, for example) where I am almost word perfect. So you can imagine how excited I am that it’s very briefly returning in an HBO Max special on Thursday. It’s being done for When we all vote, an organisation chaired by Michelle Obama to:

increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting, harnessing grassroots energy, and through strategic partnerships to reach every American.

The cast will reunite to perform the 2002 episode Hartsfield’s Landing. It’s the one where Josh and Donna try to make sure that there as many Bartlet votes as possible in a small village in New Hampshire that votes at midnight. I love it.

The trailer, published this week, gave me goosebumps. If you haven’t seen it, enjoy.

I’ve heard that a lot of fans have this week been rewatching the episodes at the end of Season 4 which involve the invocation of the 25th Amendment for reasons that I can’t imagine.

It comes at a time when Democrat House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed legislation on the subject of the 25th Amendment, looking in more detail about when a President is unfit for office.

From the Guardian

The office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced a Friday press conference about the bill after she expressed concern that Trump, who is under treatment for coronavirus at the White House, is suffering a “disassociation from reality”.

The president has unleashed a barrage of erratic and self-contradictory tweets and declarations in recent days that have left staff scrambling and raised concerns over his stability.

In a zig-zagging interview on the Fox Business channel on Thursday, his first since being hospitalised, Trump, 74, boasted: “I’m back, because I am a perfect physical specimen and I’m extremely young. And so I’m lucky in that way.”

If Aaron Sorkin had put forward scripts for the West Wing which outlined what is going on now, he would have been laughed out of the tv studio.

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Caron Lindsay

Reflections on World Mental Health Day

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 10th October 2020 - 3:43 pm

Back in 2007, when Nick Clegg made mental health the focus of his first major speech as Lib Dem Leader, it was pretty groundbreaking. And we walked the walk as well as talked the talk. Arguably the most successful part of our time in coalition was Norman Lamb’s work as mental health minister. Not only did he do so much to talk about mental ill health and so challenge the stigma, but he improved mental health services for people.

I often wished Scotland had a Norman Lamb. It took years for the SNP Government to update its mental health strategy and even now young people have to wait for such a long time to be seen. The pandemic has made that even worse. I know a young person who was seriously self-harming who had to wait for over a year for an appointment with a consultant. The impact that can have on education is seismic. If you have to wait a year to be seen and then another year at least before you actually start to feel like you can function, that is a third of your secondary education gone, just like that.

Over the past year and a half, my mental health has ricocheted between terrible and just about getting through the day with a smile on my face. The election campaign and its aftermath broke me and I ended up having two months off work at the beginning of the is year because I had reached the end of my ability to cope. In reality, I’d had nothing in the tank for a good while but kept ploughing on regardless, relying on adrenaline to get me through. That heaps on its own special kind of exhaustion. Sure, you can do your job and get through the day but it is so incredibly tiring until  eventually you just can’t.

What helped me earlier this year was my GP taking one look at me and sending me off to a community wellbeing hub where I had someone help me untangle all the stress, classes to help understand what was going on, a stress management course which took up my Wednesday evenings for a couple of months and, for the first time in my life, I went to a Yoga class. Believe me, I am terrible at Yoga, but it is very good at calming me down.

I’ve always thought that peer support is an essential part of recovery from anything, whether it’s breastfeeding problems or Cancer or stress. Meeting other people going through the same thing and listening to their experiences and what had helped them was invaluable.

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The Voice

Lib Dems and lockdown heroes honoured

By The Voice | Sat 10th October 2020 - 7:00 am

The Queen’s Birthday Honours were postponed this year so they could include people who had served the community during lockdown. I’m sure a number of those will be Liberal Democrat members, so please let us know and we will update this post.

Congratulations to Councillor Susan Prochak, Deputy Leader of Rother District Council, who has been awarded an MBE for services to the community in Robertsbridge Parish, East Sussex.

We will add more names to this list if you let us know of other Lib Dems who have been honoured. Contact us on [email protected].

UPDATE from Caron

Two more Lib Dems I’ve spotted. Firstly a very well deserved OBE for Racial Diversity Campaign Vice Chair Josh Babarinde

And for John Loughton, whose Scran Academy operation provided thousands of meals to people who were isolating in Edinbugh, a BEM.

I’m not sure whether he is still a Lib Dem member, but he is a fantastic and inspiring man. I went to an event last year where he was motivating young people and encouraging them to make themselves heard to politicians and he truly is a force of nature.

 

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Mark Valladares

8-9 October 2020 – yesterday and today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 9th October 2020 - 10:30 pm
  • Liberal Democrats: Government must grant EU citizens proof of settled status
  • Slow economic growth reinforces need for furlough extension
  • Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group at risk of collapse shows need for furlough extension
  • Liberal Democrats: Sunak’s offer does not go far enough

Liberal Democrats: Government must grant EU citizens proof of settled status

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to grant EU citizens the automatic right to stay in the UK, with the physical proof they need, as new Home Office figures reveal thousands are being refused and 1.8 million have not been granted the right to stay permanently.

The latest EU Settlement Scheme statistics, which were published this morning, revealed 16,600 people have been refused Settled Status – including 5,700 in September alone. They also revealed that 1.6 million have only been granted temporary ‘Pre-Settled Status’ and 180,000 are still waiting for a decision.

On Monday, the House of Lords passed a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Government’s Immigration Bill which would require the Government to provide EU citizens with physical proof of their Settled Status. The party is urging Conservative MPs not to overturn that amendment when the Bill returns to the Commons.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:

EU citizens in the UK – our families and friends – have been living under a cloud of uncertainty for far too long. They must have the right to stay.

Boris Johnson and the Conservatives promised to automatically guarantee the rights of EU citizens to stay, but they have broken that promise, as they have with so many others.

This Government’s botched scheme is anything but automatic and, without physical proof of their rights, EU citizens will be at the mercy of the Conservatives’ Hostile Environment.

To prevent a new Windrush-style scandal, Liberal Democrats are fighting for EU citizens to be given the automatic right to stay in the UK, with the physical proof they need.

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Geoff Crocker

Passing the buck on Coronavirus

By Geoff Crocker | Fri 9th October 2020 - 7:31 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Opposition parties are right to challenge government mismanagement of the coronavirus epidemic. Competence is crucial to saving lives, maintaining wider public health, and not unnecessarily constraining personal liberty. So far, the UK government has got it spectacularly wrong on all these counts.

The twin major government failures in managing the pandemic have been

  1. Insufficient PPE in March. As a result, many thousands of people died. Care homes have since achieved zero infection with full PPE.
  2. Insufficient tests in September. As a result, thousands of uninfected people are now subject to 14 days avoidable quarantine, losing their liberty and their work.

Germany shows how to do it far better, limiting mortality to 115 deaths per million population compared to the UK rate of 627. People arriving in Germany from UK and EU take a test and are not quarantined if negative. All very sensible and effective.

Not only government ministers, but also their medical and scientific advisors, share responsibility for this UK failure. Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty gave a presentation (text here), on the current level of threat. But this fell short of being the ‘best science’ by lack of any peer review, scrutiny, or questions.

Vallance claimed that the increase in infection is not due to greater testing, but to increased positive test outcomes (quote ‘Could that increase be due to increased testing? The answer is no.’). He’s wrong. The current huge increase in infections must be partly due to increased testing. Vallance should have attributed increased infections between these two causes.

Having long dismissed international Covid comparisons because they show the UK in a very bad light, Vallance then presented current infection data from France and Spain, whilst ignoring the German outcome which requires their scientific explanation. This matters, because it determines best policy recommendations.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an expat: Trump, Covid and me

By Tom Arms | Fri 9th October 2020 - 5:44 pm

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Donald Trump and I have something in common. We are both on steroids. And I can tell you from personal experience, that heavy doses of steroids can affect you mentally – and physically.

It can make you angry and a shade irrational. Just ask my wife. In fact she says I should delete the word “shade”. In my case it affects my feet and hands as well; swelling the feet and making the hands shake.

The reason for these changes is that steroids dramatically and rapidly push up your sugar levels. It is a bit like suddenly swallowing a kilo of the white stuff in one 10 second sitting. You become hyper. I have also become a steroid diabetic. As President Trump weighs about 20 kilos more than me, it is possible that he has suffered the same or similar fate.

In my case, I have to take steroids for a chronic cancer called Multiple Myeloma. The bad news is that the nature of the cancer, the steroids and a bewildering cocktail of other drugs, means that I will be boring you with this column for many years to come. Steroids affect your behaviour and your quality of life. But they save lives. They don’t end them.

Your body also adjusts to the initial onslaught of steroids and the chemicals that accompany them. In my case it took about four months and a reduction in steroid intake. I have no idea how long it will take Trump to physically and mentally acclimatise. But, I can assure you that a weekend at Walter Reed Hospital – no matter how good the doctors are – is insufficient.

Of course, Donald Trump’s behaviour was erratic in the extreme long before he swallowed his first dose of dexamethasone. He stands apart as a person who refuses to accept that the laws of nature and man apply to him. Facts, historical records and evidence of our own senses are an irrelevancy as far as Donald J. Trump is concerned.

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Paula Widdowson

Improving York’s air quality and rebuilding a greener and more sustainable city

By Paula Widdowson | Fri 9th October 2020 - 3:45 pm

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At this year’s Air Quality Day York is proudly leading the way nationally by working to implement ambitious plans across the city to improve York’s air quality and move towards becoming carbon zero by 2030.

Earlier in April new research had revealed that York’s air quality had seen significant improvements during lockdown. This follows a positive long-term trend that has seen carbon emissions decrease by 37% over the last 13 years. Whilst similar reductions in air pollution have taken place across the country, here in York we aim to capture, retain and speed up this trend to aid in the administration’s ambitious plan to become zero carbon by 2030.

We have an ambitious electric vehicle programme for the city, and we are now leading the way nationally with the introduction of the largest zero emission Park & Ride fleet in the country. The 21 new vehicles will see us save 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. This work builds on the £1.6 million investment already made to deliver York’s Clean Air Zone, the first voluntary Clean Air Zone in the UK, as well as our ambition to become the first fully electric bus city.

Whilst York will by no means be the only council aiming to enable a green recovery locally, the crisis has focused our minds on setting in place longer term plans, which would ensure that locally we can rebuild a more sustainable and greener city. This has seen our broader city recovery plans commit to investing in the creation of the next generation of green jobs and the development of the necessary skills to fit the future economy. As a city with two excellent research universities and the most skilled population in the North, we are aiming to take full advantage of our capabilities in bioeconomy and low carbon technologies, which put our city in a unique position to deliver the workforce and facilities to truly build back greener and better.

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Mark Valladares

7 October 2020 – today’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Wed 7th October 2020 - 10:30 pm

Liberal Democrats: PM’s speech no more than a pipe dream

Responding to Boris Johnson’s speech to Conservative Party Conference, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

The Prime Minister’s speech utterly failed to deliver a credible plan to beat Coronavirus. With the Government’s tracing system in meltdown, a quarter of the UK in lockdown and millions set to face unemployment, this speech was nothing more than a pipe dream.

People and business need not only reassurance from the Prime Minister, but concrete measures to help them face the next six months of this pandemic. They got neither.

Even when talking of recovery,

…

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Tahir Maher

Tom Brake, former Member of Parliament, appointed as Director of Unlock Democracy

By Tahir Maher | Wed 7th October 2020 - 12:00 pm

PRESS RELEASE:

Unlock Democracy is pleased to announce Tom Brake as their new Director. Tom was until recently the MP for Carshalton and Wallington.

Tom brings a wealth of campaigning experience to the role from his years in Parliament. In Westminster he was active in pushing for democratic reform, including extending Freedom of Information (FOI) laws to private companies like Serco and Capita when they undertake work for the public sector, defending UK elections from foreign interference, and for votes at 16.

Tom leads the organisation at a time when the UK’s democracy and political institutions are under strain from: the pressure of responding to Covid-19, which has seen the Government given civil liberties-threatening emergency powers; an attempt by Government to shut down Parliament; and ID checks which will stop some younger people and people from disadvantaged backgrounds voting.

Speaking on behalf of Unlock Democracy’s governing Council, Chair Jessica Metheringham, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Tom to Unlock Democracy. At this critical time for democracy, our challenge is to bring together people from different backgrounds and perspectives. Together we can counter the threats to our democracy and build a better foundation for our political system. Tom brings experience and enthusiasm and I am looking forward to working with him.”

Tom Brake added:

“It is a great honour to be appointed Director of an organisation with a strong campaign pedigree and an experienced and committed team.

“The risks are genuine. The freedoms people cherish in their day-to-day lives depend on a strong and vibrant democracy.  Unlock Democracy’s mission is to deliver a written constitution, drafted following an open and engaging public process. This is the best guarantee that the freedoms we enjoy now will continue to be exercised by our children and grandchildren.”

Unlock Democracy is a pressure group that campaigns for a vibrant, inclusive democracy that puts power in the hands of the people, underpinned by a written constitution created through a participative process.

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Alastair Gordon

Assisted Dying

By Alastair Gordon | Wed 7th October 2020 - 9:15 am

The Party has a proud record of taking the lead in Parliament on socially liberal issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, and we should be doing the same on assisted dying. It is now eight years since Conference passed a motion in favour of this, but I have seen no sign of any follow-up action. Ed Davey, our new Leader, has made great play with the need to listen to the public and act on their concerns. Well, assisted dying is a case in point. The public’s support for changing the law to permit assisted dying has been rising steadily, and in the last five years, polls have shown it at over 80%. Let’s listen to that.

It is not just that the public is massively supportive. The main opposition has also been crumbling. The medical profession is coming round, with Paul Cosford, the former medical director of Public Health England, is the latest to show support, and on the religious front two former Archbishops, George Carey and Desmond Tutu, are among those who have spoken out in favour. The recent book ‘Last Rights’ has described in detail the kind of deaths that people have to face in the absence of law change – over 6,000 people a year are dying in pain and without dignity. How long are we going to go on condemning people to suffer unnecessarily like this? Palliative care has made great advances but cannot help in every case. I have been assisting the campaign personally for nearly ten years, spurred on by my wife’s Parkinson’s disease.

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Mark Valladares

6 October 2020 – today’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Tue 6th October 2020 - 10:30 pm

Prime Minister “not ambitious enough” when it comes to renewables

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an investment of £150 billion over the next three years to drive a green economic recovery. The call comes as the Prime Minister is set to unveil plans to invest just £160 million in wind turbines in a speech at the Conservative Party Conference.

Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

People across the UK are worried about the planet and for their children’s futures. We need a Government that leads from the front when it comes to tackling the climate emergency. But just a

…

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Meera Chadha

Six things I learnt from Lib Dem Virtual Conference

By Meera Chadha | Tue 6th October 2020 - 5:22 pm

1. Multitasking is a benefit and a hindrance

It was hugely enabling to be able to attend lively, stimulating debates and hear from the great and the good on how we can make Britain better for everyone, whilst in my slippers and nursing my baby. It meant that my other half didn’t have to manage our toddler on his own for a weekend and we could still enjoy our family meals and bedtimes together. The downside was that we still had family meals and bedtimes: my ability to get fully immersed in conference life, meeting people, attending sessions, ruminating on what had been discussed was diminished because in between or even during sessions, I was trying to soothe a crying child or distract a toddler from a tantrum. It felt great to be able to juggle family and political life, but it is a juggle – and there were definitely moments where I felt I was doing neither justice.

My learning: I should treat virtual conference like real conference, and ensure I book out time and space to get engaged rather than seeing it as an opportunity to do it all.

2. Virtual sessions enable the speakers to speak and the audience to listen

How many times at a conference or event does the room get dominated by the loudest voice or someone who pretends they have a question when what they really just want is a mic? The video nature of sessions during online conference enabled us to hear from the panel, and for the chat to highlight the biggest talking points that should be put to the panel, rather than the Chair somewhat rolling the dice based on who put their hands up. The best sessions were ones where there was someone monitoring the chat and able to feed back to the Chair on what common or contentious discussion points were, and then where the Chair made best use of the people and time to field this. I would love to see real life Chairs able to be so strong in managing the room and conversation to keep things on point.

3. Video should bring down the barriers for people to speak rather than put people off.

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Martin Bennett

Jo was right about Boris

By Martin Bennett | Tue 6th October 2020 - 2:25 pm

It is self-evident we have a calamitous Prime Minister; we spelt out the warning ourselves.  Johnson presides over a cabinet of mediocre yes-men not selected for ability, but for their Brexit purity and for their low risk in upstaging Johnson with an unexpected whiff of competency.  The Tory conference is a time to take stock. Even amongst Conservative members there are signs of queasiness: in a recent ConservativeHome sounding of party members, only Gavin Williamson outflanks Johnson for dissatisfaction.

Less than 10 months ago Jo Swinson clearly upbraided Johnson for having ‘dragged the office of Prime Minister through the mud’. Johnson has not only continued to besmirch his office but, by disregarding the rule of law, has shredded the UK’s standing around the world.  The UK can no longer criticise breaches of international law without inviting an inevitable riposte.

‘Johnson is not fit to be Prime Minister’ Jo continued, ‘not just because he doesn’t care, not just because he lies but because also he is complicit in stoking division and fear and in our communities.  Johnson has no shame when it comes to the language he uses about race’.  She was spot on; for manifold reasons Johnson is unfit for his role. Shame seems a sentiment unknown to Johnson, moreover he is indolent, unable to master his brief, expecting the general public to know what is asked of them better than he does himself.

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Michael Berwick-Gooding

The case for a partial UBI

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Tue 6th October 2020 - 12:19 pm

My local party proposed an amendment to the Conference UBI motion setting a medium-term aspiration. We proposed that the UBI level together with existing working-age benefits should equal either the Social Metrics Commission or the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculations of what a sufficient income for a person is to meet their basic requirements. It was not selected for debate. The reason given was that the Federal Conference Committee thought that it could restrict the implementation options to be considered by the Federal Policy Committee! This seems to me to be an odd reason. I think Conference should have been given the opportunity to set out what level of UBI they are aiming for even if it is only an aspiration for the medium-term which would have given lots of wriggle room to FPC.

When considering a UBI we need to be aware of the gross costs of any proposal and not be misled by the idea that a scheme is affordable because we can make huge changes to the tax and national insurance system we have today.

The Social Metrics Commission state that a single person needs £157 to meet all of their basic needs excluding housing. The gross cost of setting a UBI at this rate would be just over £353 billion. If instead the working-age benefit level was increased to the poverty line of £157 for single people and £271 for a couple, this would cost in the region of £53 billion. A difference of £300 billion.

Some people suggest that a UBI can be paid for with a Land Value Tax. When we agreed to the replacing of business rates with a Commercial Landowner Levy, our name for this land tax, we set the rates at 59% in England and 67.5% in Wales of the ‘land rental value’. We stated that we would raise £25 billion a year from this tax. The maximum rate we could tax the rental income from land is 100% and this rate would only increase government income by less than £17 billion. A small fraction of the cost of a worthwhile UBI but a useful amount in paying for increasing the working-age benefits only.

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Judith Rogerson

No Rishi! The country does not share your values

By Judith Rogerson | Tue 6th October 2020 - 10:25 am

In his speech to the Tory Party conference, Rishi Sunak made a bold declaration: “We share the same values. The Conservative Party and the country.” For a start the 57% of voters who didn’t opt for the Conservatives last December will disagree. But his statement also raises a key question: what are the values that today’s Conservative Party stand for? Anyone who takes a moment to look at Johnson’s Conservatives can see that the party of statecraft, the rule of law and fiscal conservatism no longer exists.

The rest of Sunak’s speech was surprisingly brief and light on policy. One thing he did emphasise was his commitment to balancing the books. But that didn’t seem to matter when it came to getting Brexit done or when announcing huge infrastructure spending.

They say they are about law and order, but have just voted to allow themselves to break international law. And Priti Patel’s speech at the weekend advocating an escalation of the hostile environment towards those seeking asylum made clear the Conservatives aren’t a party that looks out for the most vulnerable in society.

Part of the problem for the Conservatives is their own internal ideological divisions. On the one hand they have a raft of MPs in solidly safe seats who keep their heads down in public and quietly do as they are told, willingly voting for the Government every time. Some of these types also come from Lib Dem facing not-so-safe seats where their bacon was saved by Nigel Farage standing down his Brexit Party troops. 

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Lord William Wallace

Lord William Wallace writes…Winning the argument on higher taxes

By Lord William Wallace | Tue 6th October 2020 - 8:55 am

We need to focus on how we handle issues of taxation.  Opinion polls now show, for the first time in decades, that more voters favour raising taxes than cutting them.  That does not mean, of course, that such a majority is in favour of themselves paying more tax; there’s a natural tendency to support increases that fall on others, above all on the richest.  

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it was evident that the UK’s tax base was too low.  An ageing population, low levels of public and private investment, salaries in the public sector kept lower than in the private, local government, schools, hospitals, prisons and police all strapped for funds, all indicated the need for higher public spending.    The massive public spending which the pandemic is requiring – and will continue to require for months to come – adds to the pressure for an overall increase in taxation.

This is an existential issue for the libertarian right, strongly entrenched in the Conservative Party and its associated think tanks.  The mantra of the Taxpayers Alliance, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), and others is that it’s impossible in the UK to raise more than 40% of GDP in tax, at most, and that for the economy to flourish public spending should be reduced to around 35%.   Their aim, of course, is to curb public spending by reducing public revenue.  Rishi Sunak has just promised to bring ‘the overwhelming might of the British state’ to bear on the pandemic and its economic legacy, in his speech to the virtual Conservative conference.  That’s anathema to his party’s right-wing.

The Institute of Economic Affairs has just published a new briefing paper which addresses the COVID-19 debt burden, the UK’s problem of low productivity, and recommends – deregulation and tax cuts, rather than increased investment in education and training for our workforce and in public infrastructure.  I thought the Laffer Curve had been discredited long ago; but the IEA depends on the illusion that cutting taxes increases growth to resolve the contradiction between cutting revenue, promising a balanced budget and raising public spending.

So what should we be saying in this right-wing dominated debate?  Starmer’s Labour is likely to be as cautious about sticking its neck out on this as on Brexit and other issues. Pledging an extra penny on income tax signals our willingness to raise revenue to underwrite higher public spending; behind that our economic team can prepare detailed proposals on other taxes, allowances and charges to support our next manifesto.  Green taxes, capital taxes (including on houses) must also be part of the mix.  If we were still in the EU, we would be coordinating our approach to the high-tech tax-avoiding companies, as well.

The IEA argument that a higher level of tax is unsustainable rests on their claim that tax avoidance blocks further revenue.  So we should go for the City of London’s tax avoidance industry, and call for the government to ‘take back control’ of the offshore network of UK dependencies and territories which facilitates its operation.  Germany and the Netherlands support successful mixed economies with levels of public revenue and expenditure several percentage points higher than the UK; so also does Canada, among English-speaking countries.  Many of the Conservative Party’s biggest donors are non-doms or offshore billionaires: we should highlight the close links between leading Conservatives and these major tax avoiders.

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Mark Valladares

5 October 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 5th October 2020 - 11:15 pm
  • Chancellor’s speech will have disappointed millions in need
  • Lords defeat Government on Immigration Bill

Chancellor’s speech will have disappointed millions in need

The Liberal Democrats have claimed the Chancellor’s speech at the Conservative Party’s virtual conference will have “disappointed millions who were hoping to hear how he plans to help them through this crisis.”

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

The Chancellor’s speech will have disappointed millions who were hoping to hear how he plans to help them through this crisis.

Instead of an extension to furlough, measures to help the millions excluded from help or a boost to universal credit, we were instead given

…

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Bablin Molik

My experiences of being a woman Councillor of colour

By Bablin Molik | Mon 5th October 2020 - 4:43 pm

I am very proud to say that I was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor in 2017 to serve the residents of Cyncoed and Lakeside at Cardiff County Council. Cardiff, capital city of Wales, is very cosmopolitan, a city that celebrates its diversity, but still fails to represent its population in the make-up of the council chamber and the workforce within the council.

I had stood in local elections before in a different area and did notice the ballot papers that came in with crosses next to my ward colleague names and not mine and still this time same occurred on some ballot papers, but luckily I secured just enough votes to become the third and last candidate to be elected. When you see such ballots, many questions and answers come to your mind, why did they not vote me? They don’t know me personally so is it my name, the origin of the name, my faith or the colour of my skin that they considered more than anything I had to offer?

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged and | 11 Comments
Paul Walter

Firms overlook the importance of nurturing young staff in the office at their peril

By Paul Walter | Mon 5th October 2020 - 2:00 pm

It was encouraging to read this report from the Guardian. A survey has shown that COVID-19 has changed attitudes to home working for the long term.

This is very good news. A healthy element of home working is good for the mental health of workers, saves on carbon emissions and reduces transport snafus.

But I am glad that the Guardian report has put the emphasis on a blended approach. That is, a mixture of home and office working.

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Posted in Op-eds | 19 Comments
NewsHound

Over 100 East Midlands Councillors sign letter calling for halt to Unitary Council plans

By NewsHound | Mon 5th October 2020 - 11:57 am

Over 100 Liberal Democrat councillors from across the East Midlands have signed a letter to the Secretary of State for Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP, calling for a halt to controversial Government plans to abolish Borough and District Councils across the region and replace them with larger Unitary authorities.

The letter, signed by 118 Councillors, was jointly authored by Lib Dem Hinckley and Bosworth Borough and Leicestershire County Councillor Michael Mullaney and Leader of Chesterfield Lib Dem Councillors Paul Holmes.

Michael Mullaney said;

Abolishing Borough and District Councils and creating huge unitary authorities would be disruptive at anytime. But to be considering this

…

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Posted in Local government and News | Tagged | 7 Comments
Mark Valladares

3-4 October 2020 – the weekend’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 5th October 2020 - 10:32 am

Prime Minister full of bluster but offered little in the way of answers

Responding to the Prime Minister’s warning of a ‘tough’ Christmas and beyond on The Andrew Marr Show, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper said:

The Prime Minister’s admission will leave people rightly worried about their loved ones. Sadly, as has become all too common with this Prime Minister, there was a lot of bluster but little in the way of answers.

It is now all the more important for the Government to take responsibility for its failures and deliver a comprehensive strategy to test, trace and isolate every

…

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Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

How you could help improve party diversity and member engagement or represent the LIb Dems internationally?

By The Voice | Mon 5th October 2020 - 8:55 am

There are a few opportunities to get involved in the running of the party at a national level. Nominations close this Friday at noon, so act quickly. All of these roles require nomination by two members of the Federal Board and you can find them here. 

Federal People Development Committee

The first is for a member of the Federal People Development Committee. From the ad on the Party website (which also tells you how to apply):

The Federal People Development Committee brings together three key functions of the party: training, diversity engagement, and membership recruitment, retention and activation. Since the completion of the 2019 General Election Review, it also has an important role to play in delivering the reforms it has called for.

The FPDC meets regularly (at least once a quarter) throughout the year during the evenings (typically 18:00-20:00) for about two hours. Since the start of Covid-19, all meetings have been by video call and continued remote participation will be possible even once all Covid-19 related restrictions are removed. Reasonable expenses incurred will be repaid in line with the Party’s expenses policy.

Applicants will be expected to be able to demonstrate experience working in diversity, training or membership development, and a commitment to the Party’s values in these areas. A proven record of communicating with members, particularly through social media would be highly advantageous. It is desirable that applicants have a proven track-record of delivering successful programmes in any of the three areas listed above and that they understand the oversight and scrutiny elements of a non-executive role.

The election is caused by the resignation of the previous chair and all elected members of FPDC are entitled to stand for Chair.

Vice Chair of the Racial Diversity Campaign

The second is for a Vice Chair of the Racial Diversity Campaign whose aim is to “support outstanding Lib Dem BAME members to seek and win public office.”

Here’s the ad in full:

The Racial Diversity Campaign (RDC) is the vehicle within the party which finds, trains and supports BaME candidates through to their selection and beyond to successful election.

Its principal aims are to increase the number of ethnic minority MPs, MSPs, MEPs, Assembly Members, elected Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners and. It would also work alongside ALDC to increase the number of ethnic minority Councillors and Council Leaders.

The Vice-Chairs of the RDC will be experienced in training and mentoring and have a deep knowledge of the party’s processes for candidates, from assessment through to fighting a campaign. The RDC is currently seeking to appoint a Vice-Chair to fill a casual vacancy.

More information about the RDC is available on its website.

The successful candidate will be elected to serve until 31 December 2022. The Liberal Democrats are committed to diversity and inclusion and we welcome applications from candidates from all walks of life.

Applicants for the roles of Chair or Vice Chair must be nominated by two members of the Federal Board, membership of which can be found here:

www.libdems.org.uk/federal_board.
For questions and further details, and to submit an application, please contact: [email protected]
Please apply by email attaching:

● Copies of emails (or equivalent) proving your nomination by two current members of the Federal Board.
● A manifesto of up to 200 words (additional words will be removed by the Returning Officer)

The Party will conduct due diligence on applicants and we encourage you to provide any materials you feel may be relevant. Optionally, you may also also attach a copy of your most recent CV.

Applicants are encouraged to inform us if any reasonable adjustments are needed to be made during any part of the recruitment process.

This advert will close at noon on Friday 9th October. All applicants will be presented to Federal Board and an election will be held, in line with standard internal procedures, in early October.

Two members of the Liberal International Executive

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Helena Bongard

Why we need to decriminalise abortion and give women agency to make their own decisions

By Helena Bongard | Sun 4th October 2020 - 1:00 pm

Abortion has been high on the social agenda in recent months.

The Coronavirus pandemic necessitated a change in practice. So regulation around home abortions were adapted and the pills needed for early medical abortions (before 10 weeks) were allowed to be taken at home.

Unsurprisingly, this thoughtful kindness to allow women to go through this devastating experience privately, at home, sparked a huge debate on both sides.

Advocates of the decision looking to make a permanent change to the draconian 1967 Abortion Act and other, most notably, Christian Concern, claiming the decision goes against the purposes of the Act and beyond its remit.

Fortunately, after taking the case not just to the High Court but also to the Court of Appeal, Christian Concern lost.

Unfortunately, this is isn’t a rare occurrence. It’s happening across the globe.

Six US states- Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas- have already categorised abortions as non-essential medical procedures, effectively using the pandemic to crack down on female reproductive rights.

This temporary change in the UK guidelines marks a significant shift towards the liberalisation of female sexuality.

But as usual there’s a catch- it follows a phone or video consultation and an approval by not one, but two medical professionals.

What is the need for this approval? Isn’t abortion legal in the UK? Can’t a woman make that decision without the approval of two, doctors, most likely men?

Well, actually no she can’t, and I found out the hard way.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Hobbes and Hattie compete to be Westminster’s top cat

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 4th October 2020 - 9:00 am

We’ve just got through the leadership election and now two of our other MPs are facing off against each other.

Well, their cats are.

Wendy Chamberlain’s Hobbes and Jamie Stone’s Hattie are taking part in Purr Minister 2020, run by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Lib Dems have been successful before. Annette Brooke’s Billy won in 2015.

Wendy and Jamie have both taken to Twitter to drum up votes for their gorgeous cats.

And Hobbes posed a slight dilemma for Scottish Lib Dem Women

His manifesto is:

I’m named for the cartoon character and not the philosopher, but the social contract is purrly on my

…

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Willie Rennie calls for recall process to be used for Margaret Ferrier if she doesn’t resign

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 3rd October 2020 - 3:30 pm

What on earth was Margaret Ferrier thinking when, having had a test for Covid-19, she left home and got on a train to London, potentially putting at risk everyone on the train, everyone on whatever method of public transport she used to get from Euston to Westminster, everyone she encountered at Westminster, including Commons and parliamentary staff?

And if that wasn’t bad enough, what on earth was she thinking when she left her London base and got on a train home to Glasgow when she knew she had the virus and was actually putting everyone she met at risk from contracting a potentially deadly disease?

I feel furious because it’s despicably reckless behaviour like this that is basically keeping me at home at the moment. Because my husband and I are at high risk from this disease, we are keeping our interactions with other people to a minimum. We know we are going to have to do that many months to come. We might feel better about going out to shops and restaurants if we knew that everyone was taking social distancing and mask-wearing seriously, but we just don’t have the confidence that they are. And when we see things like Margaret Ferrier wandering the length of the country while knowingly infected with Covid, it is a reminder of why we are having to make our world smaller.

I do know that it is easier for us than for many others. All of us can do everything we need to do from home and we do all generally like each other and get on well. I am struggling a bit, though, with not being able to see my friends in person as much as I am used to doing. It’s great to catch up online, but it can never replace actually being with people.

Nicola Sturgeon was understandably livid about Ferrier’s actions and took to Twitter to say that she should resign as an MP. They have thrown her out of the SNP group but they can’t force her to resign as an MP. She certainly will come under pressure to do so from both within  the party and beyond.

However, there is one way she can be forced to resign. The recall process. This was introduced in 2015 by the Liberal Democrats in coalition government. It provides a mechanism for forcing a by-election where an MP has been found guilty of some wrongdoing, either in court or by being found in breach of parliamentary standards. It’s a two stage process which is triggered in these circumstances:

  • If they are convicted in the UK of an offence and sentenced or ordered to be imprisoned or detained and all appeals have been exhausted (and the sentence does not lead to automatic disqualification from being an MP);

  • If they are suspended from the House following report and recommended sanction from the Committee on Standards for a specified period (at least 10 sitting days, or at least 14 days if sitting days are not specified).;

  • If they are convicted of an offence under section 10 of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (making false or misleading Parliamentary allowances claims)

A petition can then be activated and operated by the Returning Officer for the seat. If 10% of the electorate sign it, a by-election, in which the MP can stand, is held. You can find out more in this Commons Library briefing.

The process has been used three times, resulting in two by-elections. The most recent, in Brecon and Radnorshire last year, was won by Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds. Unfortunately she lost the seat just over four months later in the General Election.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 12 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Munira Wilson gets another PMQ – and calls for removal of “draconian” Coronavirus law

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 3rd October 2020 - 1:46 pm

Some MPs never get to ask the Prime Minister a question at the most hotly contested parliamentary event of any week.

Munira Wilson has been an MP for just 9 months, and has had two opportunities in the path month to ask a question at PMQs.

This week she asked him to work cross-party to get a consensus on the laws and powers around Coronavirus, calling the current measures “draconian.”

His response was as dismissive as you would expect:

We are making sure that everybody in our society gets all the protections they need. I am aware of the easements in the Care Act 2014 that the hon. Lady refers to. It was necessary to put them in temporarily, and we now need to make sure we give everybody the protection that they need. That is what this Government will do.

And here’s a reminder of Munira’s debut at PMQs last month when she took Boris Johnson to task over his government legislating to break international law.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Lib Dem Councillor Julia Ogiehor “devastated” at acquittal of men accused of racially harassing her on tube

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 3rd October 2020 - 11:15 am

Last year we reported on Haringey Liberal Democrat Councillor Julia Ogiehor’s description of being racially abused while she was travelling on the London Underground.

At the time, she said:

“One of them called me uneducated, and looked like I didn’t go to university,” Ogiehor said. “I had my hands up saying I do not want to speak to you any more, then one of the guys tried to pull my hands down and demanded I get out of his sight.

“I recoiled and said please do not touch me, as he kept saying I had no common sense and that I was uneducated at the top of his voice. I was the only black person in the carriage and he seemed to expect everyone would be on their side. They seemed to be a little taken aback when that was not the case.”

She added: “They had such a sense of entitlement and sounded offended that I refused to go into my heritage and did indeed come from London.”

And Julie talked about the importance of showing solidarity when you see others under attack:

The fact I was helped is what gave me the courage to defend myself,” she said. “Hate crime is under-reported, so please speak up. They are the minority, and we need to stand up to bigotry.

Yesterday, Julia wrote on Twitter that she was devastated after the two men responsible had been acquitted of racially aggravated harassment.

She said that she felt that justice had not been on her side “How could it be when nobody on the jury looked anything like me?” She added that she had no regrets about reporting the incident and would continue to report racism every time.

The Ham and High reported on the court hearing:

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 5 Comments
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