Liberal Democrat Voice

23 July 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Thu 23rd July 2020 - 7:30 am

Lack of economic planning for a pandemic highlights Government failures

Responding to a Public Accounts Committee report published today that finds an “astonishing” failure on the part of the Government to prepare for the economic impact of a pandemic, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

Everyone agrees that COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge, but the Government’s failure to ensure there was a contingency plan at the ready has left thousands of families with no help whatsoever, and thousands of businesses making redundancies or closing down.

Considering that pandemics are one of the key risks any Government plans for, if

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Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged economic policy and ed davey | 5 Comments

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22 July 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 22nd July 2020 - 10:30 pm

Mental health and education gap of homeschooling must be addressed
All Hong Kongers must be given right to live in the UK
£2.9 billion aid cut shows Government abandoning world stage

Mental health and education gap of homeschooling must be addressed

Responding to ONS statistics published today on the impact of homeschooling during the coronavirus pandemic, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran said:

Coronavirus has clearly impacted every aspect of life, including the wellbeing of parents and children, and the quality of education the majority of children receive. We must ensure no one is left behind.

If it wasn’t for years of cuts to our schools and government failing to consult adequately with teachers and school leaders, it wouldn’t be this way. Ministers must now increase the necessary provision of laptops and introduce a Summer Learning Fund that supports the most disadvantaged children.

Moreover, the Government must address the mental health impact of the pandemic by signposting the appropriate support services to every household, and properly funding the charities that provide those services.

Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged Alistair Carmichael, coronavirus, homeschooling, hong kong, international development, layla moran and wendy chamberlain | Leave a comment

100% face masks in English shops on Friday? They’re having a laugh…..

By Paul Walter | Wed 22nd July 2020 - 3:00 pm

Embed from Getty Images
We’re sailing breezily towards Friday when, suddenly, everybody is meant to be wearing face masks in shops.

It’s not going to happen.

I see hardly any face masks being worn out at the moment.

To expect a sudden pivot on Friday is just ridiculous.

The police aren’t going to enforce the rule to any significant extent.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Covid-19 and face masks | 130 Comments

An opinion piece

By Tahir Maher | Wed 22nd July 2020 - 12:00 pm

Both the Tories and Labour have a dominant elected represented presence across the UK on many different bodies. Because of their current dominance, people almost expect that they should be represented. Such prevalence has allowed some poor performance, by these parties, to be masked/accepted as the public find it difficult to see beyond, what has become, their own basic political norms.

The Lib Dems message is not being heard. We live in a liberal country that has liberal values, a liberal outlook on life and politics, and there is one real party that represents those values – the Liberal Democrats. We can’t get aligned with these dominate traits that the voters live by. You do have to ask the question why?

I am not going to go off on some socio-political anthropologically discussion, simply as I am not qualified to do so. But I do want to look at why we are not being heard or are more relevant across the country.

There are many reasons – not enough reach in the ethnic minority’s communities – yes OK, we have rightly supported more women candidates in the party for internal and external positions (although I would say where we have replaced white middle-class men, in most cases, with white middle-class women and not women who are care workers, single mothers, from working-class families etc.), we don’t have any traction in urban housing estates and so on.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged councillors and Local government | 48 Comments

21 July 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 21st July 2020 - 10:30 pm

Pay rises without cash mean more cuts to schools and the police – Davey
Government must be clear higher debt won’t mean cuts to vital public services
Delyn MP must end ‘saga of scandals’
PM must announce a full investigation into potential Russian interference of our democracy
Braverman must apologise for endorsing Cummings

Pay rises without cash mean more cuts to schools and the police – Davey

Responding to reports that nearly 900,000 public sector workers will receive a pay rise out of existing departmental budgets, Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said:

Accepting the independent review body’s pay recommendations was the very least the Chancellor could do. Yet, as overall budgets remain unchanged, the reality is our schools, police and wider public services will struggle to meet this award without significant cuts elsewhere in their budgets, including redundancies.

And utterly failing to recognise the outstanding effort of social care staff during the COVID-19 crisis is simply not acceptable. Councils and the wider care sector must be properly funded.

Since the early days of this pandemic, Liberal Democrats have been the first to argue for a better deal for NHS and care staff, yet Ministers seem to think that warm words and hand claps are sufficient. Boris Johnson should be ashamed for neglecting NHS and care staff again.

Government must be clear higher debt won’t mean cuts to vital public services

Responding to ONS statistics showing that Government borrowing for June was £35.5 billion – around five times more than the same month last year – Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

In an unprecedented economic challenge like the coronavirus pandemic people must come before the numbers. Any Chancellor should go beyond normal borrowing to help protect peoples’ health and livelihoods.

What the Government must now make clear is that, after Covid, higher debt will not and must not mean cuts to vital public services or less investment for our crumbling infrastructure – especially in the parts of the UK that need it most.

Liberal Democrats stand firm that we must grow our way out of this crisis with a Green Recovery Plan that will invest billions to transform our economy, fight climate change and create millions of good-quality jobs.

Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged Alistair Carmichael, daisy cooper, dominic cummings, ed davey, government borrowing, jane dodds, public sector pay, russia report, sexual harassment and suella braverman | 9 Comments

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We don’t talk – really talk – enough about race

By Sarah Cheung Johnson | Tue 21st July 2020 - 2:02 pm

We don’t talk enough about race. Properly talk, that is.

It’s become obvious, as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has come to the fore with the murder of George Floyd in the United States, that, whilst many of us who consider ourselves liberals have a desire to be anti-racist and create a society where your skin colour does not determine your life chances, we lack the language and the understanding of how to achieve this.

We excel, instead, in talking around the edges of it: about statues, colonial history and political history.

If you agree, I would heartily recommend the book: “Me and White Supremacy” by Layla F Saad – as an essential read, whether you are white or not. It has given me a language, terms and understanding of issues around race and discussing race that have long troubled me, that I have had no easy way to express.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged chinese liberal democrats, institutional racism, race equality and racism | 21 Comments

Neo-liberalism is deceitfully plundering society

By Steve Trevethan | Tue 21st July 2020 - 9:30 am

We face interactive networks of problems. Some were and are easily perceived, some not. All need analysis and addressing.

The U.K. is amongst the worst performing nations in the protection of its citizens against the current plague.

A chronic cause is under-investment in national health infrastructures.

An immediate cause is serial governmental ineptitude.

A foundation cause is the power of the theory of Neo-liberalism, with its policies of social programme cuts, the transfer of wealth to the wealthiest, the reduction of the costs to “Big Business” and its associates, the opening up of public infrastructures for profitable exploitation etc.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Covid-19 and neo-liberalism | 81 Comments

21 July 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Tue 21st July 2020 - 7:30 am

Liberal Democrats: Government must step up and tackle misinformation

Responding to the DCMS Select Committee Report ‘Misinformation in the COVID-19 Infodemic’, Liberal Democrat DCMS spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

The pandemic has brought home how fundamental it is that we stamp out dangerous misinformation on social media, and how important it is that the public can trust information online. This report is clear that the Government must do more to tackle misinformation and the Liberal Democrats strongly support its calls for greater transparency.

To tackle the invisible algorithms that drive people to extreme content, platforms must not only have the ability to act

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Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged daisy cooper and misinformation | 1 Comment

20 July 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 20th July 2020 - 10:45 pm

Test and trace privacy fiasco yet another blunder by Ministers
Government’s school funding plan shows no understanding of challenges facing schools
Government must set up lifeboat system to ensure safe passage for Hong Kongers
Government silencing those who get in the way of their own political interests
Tories’ plan to “take back control” proves to be empty words when it comes to trade

Test and trace privacy fiasco yet another blunder by Ministers

Responding to reports that privacy campaigners have accused the Government’s test and trace programme of breaking data protection laws, Liberal Democrat Health, Wellbeing and Social Care spokesperson Munira Wilson said:

The fact that the Government have potentially broken the law is just another example of Ministers’ disastrous handling of test and trace. For the Department of Health to admit there was no consideration on the impact this would have on our privacy shows that this Government is simply walking into blunder after blunder, failing to get a grip on this crisis.

Of course mass testing, contact tracing and isolation at the community level for those who test positive, is the only safe way out of lockdown, but protecting individuals’ privacy remains of the utmost importance.

The Liberal Democrats have been clear that as long as there is absolute transparency when it comes to what information is collected, how long it is stored for, and who has access to this data, the Government can mitigate the concerns people have.

Ministers must get a grip of test and trace system if they are to keep people safe from coronavirus. They must do everything they can to not only protect people’s data and keep the public’s trust, but ensure we get an effective app up and running as soon as possible.

Government’s school funding plan shows no understanding of challenges facing schools

Responding to the publication of the Government’s funding allocations for schools in 2021-22, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran said:

The Conservatives’ spending plans show no understanding of the challenges facing schools in September. They have asked schools to open as normal when our Test and Trace system is faulty. Teachers must try to reverse the harm to children’s learning, development and mental health, when many disadvantaged children have disappeared off schools’ radars entirely during lockdown.

In the face of this crisis, spending plans announced last year are utterly unfit for purpose. All the Government has added is a catch-up premium worth just £80 per pupil per year, and a tutoring fund. It’s simply not enough to pay for the small group teaching that Ministers say our children need.

The pandemic requires us to invest in education at all levels on an unprecedented scale. That’s why Liberal Democrats have launched a five-point plan to re-open schools safely, provide laptops to those who need them and close the disadvantage gap, so that we can give every child a great start in life.

Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged Alistair Carmichael, data protection, dominic cummings, hong kong, layla moran, munira wilson, sarah olney, school funding, test and trace and trade deals | Leave a comment

Liberator quizzes the leadership candidates

By Liberator Collective | Mon 20th July 2020 - 9:15 am

Liberator sends a questionnaire to each candidate during party leadership elections which seeks to move beyond questions like ‘is land value taxation a Good Thing’ to get them thinking about what the party is for, where it should be going and how to get it there.

Both say they agree with the Thornhill report’s main recommendations and both want a greener economy. Both also indicate they would never work with the Conservatives at least not while they are led by Boris Johnson.

There are though some notable differences between the contenders which may help members make up their minds, see their answers …

Posted in News | Tagged leadership election 2020 and liberator magazine | 1 Comment

18-19 July 2020 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 19th July 2020 - 11:55 pm

PM must come before MPs after IfG Brexit warning
PM riding roughshod over our rights by restricting judicial review
Liberal Democrats bid to block corporate lawsuits watering down protections post-Brexit
Chinese treatment of Uyghurs amounts to genocide, Liberal Democrat warns

PM must come before MPs after IfG Brexit warning

Responding to a report by the Institute for Government which warns coronavirus has left UK firms unprepared for a no-deal Brexit, Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:

Boris Johnson is arrogantly setting the country down a path that threatens jobs and livelihoods, and this report confirms it. People deserve better.

Now is not the time to be playing politics. Our focus must be preventing a no-deal Brexit and ensuring business has all the help it needs to protect jobs.

The Prime Minister must come before MPs before the summer recess to answer how he will address the calls for preparation support, sector specific investment and more.

PM riding roughshod over our rights by restricting judicial review

Responding to reports that the Government is planning to restrict judicial review, following a Court of Appeal decision against the Home Secretary, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

Threatening to weaken the courts because of a judgment you disagree with is the act of dictators and despots, not democrats.

With these plans, Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are trying to enable the Government to run roughshod over people’s rights and allow Ministers to break the law with impunity.

Liberal Democrats will always defend individuals’ abilities to challenge the Government and uphold their rights. We will not stand by and allow Johnson and Cummings to undermine the rule of law, which is so fundamental to our society.

Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged Alistair Carmichael, brexit, daisy cooper, independent judiciary, international trade, judicial review, sarah olney, trade disputes and Uyghurs | Leave a comment

UPDATED: Watch Ed and Layla at hustings

By The Voice | Sun 19th July 2020 - 3:45 pm

This post will be regularly updated with links to recordings of Ed and Layla at the many hustings events that are taking place.

I’ll update it and re-post it whenever there is something new to add.

First up, the very first formal hustings, with the Social Liberal Forum on Saturday 11th July.

The most recent hustings took place on 1st August – the Norfolk County

Also this week, the Yorkshire and the Humber event

And a themed hustings – the Green Agenda, from Wednesday 29th July

The first of the party’s big set piece hustings, on jobs and the economy took place on Wednesday 15th July:

More events under the cut. First South Central from 11 July

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged ed davey, featured, layla moran and leadership election 2020 | 10 Comments

Get your nominations for party awards in by July 31st

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 19th July 2020 - 10:55 am

July 31st is not just my birthday, it’s the deadline for nominations for the party awards.

This is your chance to nominate a party member who has excelled in their service to the party or local government. The process of nomination is easy – you just fill in an online form.

If you have someone you think deserves to be honoured in this way, imagine the delight on their faces when they receive their award at Conference. It will be a bit different this year, but I do hope that something will be arranged to bring the winners together in person when it is safe to do so.

Here’s our report of the 2013 winners’ ceremony so you can get some idea of the sorts of achievements that we’re looking for.

Here are the details of the various awards

The President’s Award

is open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment.

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

is open to any Party Member never elected to public office.

For both of these awards, the panel will be looking for outstanding commitment and service to the Party. Local, regional and state parties should be seeking to nominate people who deserve recognition for their hard work, long service, and demonstrable dedication to the party, at whatever level. These are expected to be special awards to be awarded from the Party for whom public recognition is overdue.

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

is given to recognise and celebrate the efforts of people working for our elected representatives in their local areas – from local party employees, to political assistants to council groups, to people working in MPs’ constituency offices.

The winner of this award will care about their local area and be committed to the success of Liberal Democrats within it. Turning local political priorities into electoral success, and priorities for elected officials is a key part of the work of successful local Party figures – as is linking with the national party.

The Dadabhai Naoroji Award

is presented annually to the local Party that has done most to promote BAME participants to elected office as Councillors, Assembly Members, Members of Parliament or Members of European Parliament.

This award is designed to encourage local parties to work towards the goal of increasing their ethnic diversity to more accurately reflect the areas they represent, and to recognise those that already make a great effort to involve different communities in their work

The Penhaligon Award

is named for former MP David Penhaligon and is presented to the local party anywhere in the world which demonstrates the most impressive increase in membership and exemplary activities to deliver and involve members and supporters. It recognises the hard work done to build a Party which is attractive and effective at a local level, and that without people on the ground, we would not be able to ‘Stick it on a piece of paper and stuff it through a letterbox’.

The Patsy Calton Award

Liberal Democrat Women honour exceptional women through the Patsy Calton Award, that was launched shortly after her sad passing. Awardees may be Liberal Democrat councillors, party members or Parliamentarians, who have achieved more for their constituents, the underprivileged in society, perhaps even taken on government and changed things for the better. More information about the award and Lib Dem Women can be found here.

The Bertha Bowness Fischer Award

seeks to honour a newer (less than two years) member of the Party who has shown outstanding energy and/or ingenuity in supporting their new-found political home.

It seeks to welcome those people who may well be the future of the Party, no matter their background. It is named for a trailblazer for women in not just liberal, but all politics, and recognises the contributions of new friends from outside of politics and from other parties alike.

For this award only members who joined within the last two years (from July 23rd 2020) are eligible. Nominations may be for work done for any part of the Liberal Democrats.

How do I nominate someone?

Posted in News | Tagged party awards 2020 | Leave a comment

Why Scottish Liberal Democrats oppose a second Indyref

By Fred Mackintosh | Sun 19th July 2020 - 8:55 am

Last Sunday, Lib Dem Voice published my article on how the Scottish Liberal Democrats should promote polices that use the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament create a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland. Some commented that since Brexit has happened Liberal Democrats in Scotland should pivot to support for independence, or at least put the question back to the people of Scotland. I thought it might help to set out some of reasons why Scottish Liberal Democrats oppose a second referendum and want to keep Scotland in a reformed and federal United Kingdom.

The preamble to our constitution commits us to promoting promote a democratic federal framework for the United Kingdom. Independence is not the same as Home Rule in a Federal UK and it should come as no surprise when we say that. We should also learn from David Cameron what can happen if you support a referendum about something you oppose.

Over the past three decades the Scottish Party has successfully helped deliver devolution and home rule for Scotland within the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has substantial powers. Those powers should be used to address the problems our country faces now.

Politics is about choosing what to spend time, money and effort on. Choosing to talk about the constitution means that other issues will inevitably be neglected. In March 2017 the head of the Civil Service in Scotland warned Scottish Ministers that preparing for another independence referendum would see de-prioritisation of domestic policies. This is a real issue in SNP run Scotland. Standards have slipped. Scottish schools have declined in international rankings, college places have been slashed and the Scottish Government has failed to meet its own targets for the provision of nursery places. Another referendum and potentially the creation of a new state will suck attention and money from almost every other problem we face. Whether you’re a parent with a child at school, a patient waiting for surgery or a homeless person in desperate need of a roof over your head, you don’t have the luxury of years of more constitutional wrangling.

But what about Brexit? We know the arguments against Brexit. Separating from our largest trading partner will harm our economy for years to come, reduce opportunities for young people, for science, research and development and make it harder to tackle Climate Change. The debates about the Northern Ireland backstop have highlighted the problems a new land border between the EU and a non-EU member state. The real financial cost of Brexit is much larger than any ‘savings’ from ending EU budget contributions.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged federalism, Scotland and scottish independence | 26 Comments

The Independent View: The con(s) of student fees and the increase in debt since 2002

By Roger D'Ornellas | Sat 18th July 2020 - 11:01 am

In 1998, Tony Blair introduced University Student fees with the assertion that the “poor” should not have to contribute (through taxation) to University Student fees for graduates who would likely become “wealthy” as a result of University education.

There are about 42 million people in the UK of working age ( 16 to 1 day short of 65 ). About 20% do not wish to work (inactive), about 4% are unemployed, about 20% do not earn enough to pay income tax, which leaves 56% who do pay income tax. Split that 56% into an upper half and a lower half. From this table (Income tax for % groups), the upper half pays approx 90% of income tax, the lower half 10%. The government receives taxes other than from Income (e.g. NI, Indirect taxes such as VAT, Corporation tax) – almost all 42 million people of working age will pay some of these taxes. Assume, therefore, that the “upper half” of income tax payers pays 75% of the total tax and the “lower half” pays 25% (for the purposes of this post ignore the rest).

Education spending in 2014 (i.e. it is after 1998, so university students are already paying some portion of their fees) was approx £84.7 billion, consisting of £10.4 on Universities, £37 on secondary schools, £26.1 on primary, £5.2 on under 5’s and £6 on “other” (all billion). The “lower half” would pay 0.25 x 84.7 = £21.1 billion of the £84.7.

The spending on secondary, primary and under 5’s = 37 + 26.1 + 5.2 = £68.1billion. If it is assumed that all of that £21.1 billion goes into secondary, primary and under 5’s, that covers only 31% of that spending but everyone uses that part of the education service. So the “lower half”, say, is half the users but covers only 31% of the spending even without the university and “other” spending. I won’t try to argue what percentage is fair for the “lower half” to pay but on this basis, the “upper half” is paying 69% plus all the university and other spending. I am not aware of Tony Blair ever justifying his assertion for introducing university student fees.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged tony blair and tuition fees | 32 Comments

What is in a name?

By Mark Hofman | Sat 18th July 2020 - 9:01 am

Lib Dem run Watford Borough Council this week voted unanimously to pass a motion in favour of reviewing our town’s street names with links to slave and colonial history.

The Black Lives Matter Campaign and others have rightly highlighted the harm slavery, indentured labour and exploitation inflicted on individuals and whole societies during the cruel period of slavery – the legacy of which continues to this day.

It is important to remember that sickness and destitution were rife amongst slaves, there was a significant need for acclimatisation for immigrants to any slave colony, however, many slave owners failed to do this and as a result thousands of slaves died within weeks of arrival.

Others eventually succumbed to the poor working conditions on plantations and within other slave roles. Slaves were literally worked to death.

As part of the slave trade whole families were imported from Hindu, Muslim, African and European cultures, living together in barracks in often squalid conditions with minimal privacy.

Many slaves committed suicide, with trade unions and strikes made illegal by the governments of the West Indies.

Even indentured slaves had to seek permission to leave their plantations, corporal punishments were enforced for crimes including insulting the plantation owner.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged history, human rights, Local government, slavery and watford borough council | 14 Comments

17 July 2020 – today’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Fri 17th July 2020 - 10:30 pm

PM change to guidance is reckless and flies in the face of experts

Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement on the change to guidance on using public transport and going to workplaces in England, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

While we all want life to get back to normal as soon as possible, people remain rightly worried about coronavirus. The Prime Minister’s plan to change current guidance for working at home and public transport use is utterly reckless and flies in the face of experts, including the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

With Government testing and tracing plans in an

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Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged coronavirus restrictions and ed davey | 2 Comments

A liberal lion not alone – in support of Maajid Nawaz

By Lorenzo Cherin | Fri 17th July 2020 - 7:15 pm

Embed from Getty Images

The Liberal Democrats are not a bitter and twisted lot. The, or we, are not a lot at all. There are not as many as two larger groupings, but we avoid groupthink and would think of ourselves as a lot of individuals, together. Or not always together. Liberals, by nature, are good soloists as well as sociable choristers! Perhaps I am preaching to the choir, I think many surely must know what I mean. When a Liberal Democrat steps back a bit, goes his or her own way, this party do not say, as others seem to, ” good riddance to bad rubbish!” We are far too keen on recycling for this approach!

Very recently a Liberal Democrat withdrew from our party. He had not been active as a member since taking up more independent broadcasting, but he had been a Parliamentary candidate, in the worst election for this party, 2015. His reasons for not currently wanting to continue his membership are, it seems, to work cross party, on serious issues that are above party. He appears to be wanting to be more assertive on things he is vociferous about, and to maintain a distance as well as not bring the party into controversy, if he needs to criticise politicians. But whether in or out of the Liberal Democrats, he is one of the strongest proponents of liberalism. His parting comments were, that his departure is not a divorce and that he will always love the Liberal Democrats and send liberals our way.

Maajid Nawaz has been on a quite epic journey. It is one that we should both relate to and be impressed with. He made the journey from Essex to Egypt, from Islamism to liberalism, from liberalism to the Liberal Democrats, from the Liberal Democrats to where he is today.

He is on a hunger strike. He is doing it to demand action on behalf of and for the plight of the Uyghur people in China. He wants citizens of the UK to sign a petition to get a debate in Parliament to consider sanctions against the powerful in China. His is specifically a struggle against a government, for a people, not against the people of China. As one who is a prominent voice within the BAME community of the UK, he is very clear to express it as what it is and what it is not.This is an issue about humanity, as I explain on this site, recently, that is important.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged maajid nawaz and Uyghur people | 20 Comments

Is Britain overplaying its hand with its proposal to deploy a new aircraft carrier in the Far East?

By Paul Fisher | Fri 17th July 2020 - 5:48 pm

Military chiefs plan to send HMS Queen Elizabeth to the region after it enters service next year, and is expected to conduct exercises with allies in the region where China lays claim to the disputed South China Sea.

“How many countries take seriously the UK’s military strength right now? Britain needs a realistic view of itself instead of biting off more than it can chew,” wrote Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, in the Global Times, a party-run newspaper.

He said that the purpose of the deployment made little strategic difference to Beijing and was designed instead as a political sop to the US. He added that China’s advances meant that it could no longer be bullied militarily as it was in the Opium Wars of the 19th century, during which Hong Kong was ceded to Britain.

“It should know its limitations before attempting to strong-arm China, which is no longer a weak military country to be bullied as it was during the Opium War.”The South China Sea, which Beijing claims as its own, is rich in resources and vital to international shipping. China has reclaimed atolls and militarised several islands in recent years despite competing competing claims to sovereignty by at least six Asian governments to parts of the territory.

Posted in News | 7 Comments

Observations of an expat: The Thucydides Trap

By Tom Arms | Fri 17th July 2020 - 3:02 pm

Huawei, Hong Kong, Uighurs, the South China Sea, Chinese economic and military growth, “Kung Flu”, economic crisis, cyber-attacks, intellectual property theft, trade wars, sanctions, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping … are all combining to raise the spectre that the world is marching eyes wide open into the Thucydides Trap.

What, you may ask is the Thucydides Trap? It is a political/military term coined by American academic Graham Allison in 2012 to warn against the inevitability of war between China and America.

It was based on the work of the Greek historian Thucydides who explained that the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was the result of a growing power (Athens) rising to challenge the supremacy of the established power (Sparta) to such an extent that the only possible resolution was war.

The scenario has been used to explain the causes of several conflicts throughout history including World War One (Germany challenging Britain) and World War Two in Asia (Japan challenging the US).

Not all of the contests have resulted in an exchange of blows. The Soviet challenge was successfully contained at the Cold War stage. This was partly because of the nuclear-based Mexican stand-off and partly because the Soviet system failed to develop an economic model that challenged American supremacy.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged china, hong kong, huawei and usa | 5 Comments

Layla Moran, cutting through the media

By Mark Henderson | Fri 17th July 2020 - 12:30 pm

Lib Dem Voice invites each candidate for the leadership to submit one post in support of their campaign per week. This is the post from Layla Moran’s team for this week.

While we’re all caught up in the policy nuances of our summer leadership debate there is something to me that seems to have been overlooked – a leader’s ability to make the Liberal Democrats part of the national conversation in the media. This for me is one of the main reasons I’m backing Layla to be our next leader.

Layla has the media nouse to make the Liberal Democrat’s voice heard in the national conversation. Throughout this campaign, she has secured front-page stories across the spectrum, from traditionally Labour-supporting newspapers like the Mirror to staunch Tory backing papers like the Telegraph where she helped expose historic slavery links to some of the UK’s top firms leading to them donating to BAME community groups and charities.

She even led a campaign with the Daily Express on an incredible (and in the end successful) campaign to force the Government to introduce a Coronavirus Compensation Scheme for bereaved families. This shows how working with the media isn’t just about raising the party’s visibility, it can change policy and change lives.

Since I joined this party in 2015, I’ve never seen a Liberal Democrat MP so good at making us a relevant part of the national conversation. Layla is a refreshing voice in the media, in many cases providing the only clear opposition to this shambolic Tory Government. Just in the past few weeks, she made the front page of The i newspaper on opposing the Conservative’s heartless choice to reinstate car parking charges for NHS staff.

Posted in Leadership Election | Tagged featured, layla moran and leadership election 2020 | 26 Comments

Liberal Democrats – the Interdependence Party

By Adrian May | Fri 17th July 2020 - 10:22 am

Embed from Getty Images

One of the things I like about our Party is our willingness to bounce ideas off one another.

On a Zoom meeting of our local party Exec this evening, once the formal business was out-the-way, we socialised over an optional drink. This was no epic drinking session of lore in the making, to be sung-about to our as-yet unspawned grandchildren, but a glass was nonetheless raised.

The frustrations of campaigning in Scotland, where the national dialogue is no longer Left vs Right, but Unionism vs Nationalism, came to the fore. In this common parlance, Liberalism doesn’t get much of a look-in. You might as well try to talk to people in the street about Confucianism.

Ask people why they voted SNP in their local council election, and they’ll go glassy-eyed and start bandying around words such as ‘Independence’ and ‘Freedom’, meanwhile their bins go unemptied. Even on a national scale, failings in Education and Health get brushed aside for this snake-oil cure for all ills, this panacea that is Independence. How exactly this constitutional change is supposed to improve their lives… well, let’s just say the detail starts to get a bit thin.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Scotland and snp | 6 Comments

16 July 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 16th July 2020 - 11:10 pm

We need a proper Green Recovery Plan to protect jobs
People deserve better than this Government’s NHS Test and Trace system
Government must not use commission as an excuse to stall on tackling racism
Government’s half-baked merger plan is threat to international aid

We need a proper Green Recovery Plan to protect jobs

Responding to ONS unemployment figures showing that the number of workers on payrolls has fallen by 649,000 between March and June, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

Every single person losing their job reminds us that coronavirus is a tragedy that cuts across every aspect of people’s lives. Managing this health and economic crisis demands the best possible leadership at the top of our country.

The Conservative Government’s shambolic handling of the pandemic has made the economic challenge we are facing far worse than it need have been. We need much better political leaders than Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings if we are going to help those losing their jobs.

With this sharp rise in job losses, the Chancellor must urgently look at additional support, otherwise there will be an unemployment tsunami in October.

And we need a real vision for creating new jobs and the jobs of the future. The Chancellor’s summer statement offered little more than a sticking plaster. The Liberal Democrats are instead calling for a major £150bn Green Recovery Plan that will create millions of good quality jobs, safeguarding the UK’s future.

Posted in News and Press releases | Tagged christine jardine, ed davey, green recovery plan, munira wilson, overseas aid, racism, test and trace and wendy chamberlain | 5 Comments

Report from Federal Conference Committee – motions to Conference

By Nick da Costa | Thu 16th July 2020 - 7:29 pm

The Federal Conference Committee met via Zoom call on Saturday, 11 July for the agenda selection for our first virtual conference. The meeting was a lengthy one, which was in part due to the large selection of varied motions we received, but also to give us breaks from staring at computer screens for a number of hours.

As you will be aware, this year we will not be heading to the sunny beaches of Brighton, but instead you will be able to take part in Conference from your own home via our third party provider, Hopin. You will be able to find more information about the virtual conference.

The FCC wants to pay its thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the Conference Office team and members who have worked so incredibly hard to make our first virtual conference happen. It is been a long and challenging process, as we wanted to make sure that we are able to replicate – as much as feasibly possible – the physical conference for our members. I also understand that Glee will also be happening virtually; although we will not all be crammed into one room at the conference hotel to enjoy it.

You will see from the timings of Conference that it is slightly different to the usual format, and we hope that this will give more people an opportunity to attend virtually.

A total of nine conference motions (plus two emergency slots, two later deadline motions on COVID and Europe.) In addition we have reserved time for two consultation sessions as requested by the Federal Board and the Federal Policy Committee.

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged federal conference committee report | 35 Comments

Isolation diary update: Thinking about the future

By Mary Reid | Thu 16th July 2020 - 5:00 pm

I am very pleased that the Government is finally going to enforce the use of masks in shops. Those of us who are shielding will be in lock down until the end of the month, but we will only emerge cautiously after that. Don’t forget that we are at high risk of dying from Covid-19 if we catch it.

People have been telling us that in the town centres social distancing is not being observed, masks are not being worn and many shoppers are flouting the rules about queuing and following routes. Don’t they realise that they are condemning some of us to permanent lock down?

Having got that off my chest I have been thinking about what needs to change from now on.

But first, this is what has changed, hopefully permanently:

Neighbourliness – WhatsApp groups for roads have sprung up; neighbours have got to know each other better and have been helping each other out.
Black Lives Matter – the timing of this in the middle of a pandemic has focused our attention. I have heard this said several times: “I am reading to educate myself on the issue”. There is a widespread new understanding of privilege and unconscious bias, as well as institutional/structural racism. And people who have responded with “All lives matter” have been gently corrected.
Online tools – we now all recognise the usefulness of Zoom and Microsoft teams and will no doubt continue to use them where they bring added value.
Value of care workers – we sort-of knew that they were important; now we really know.
How we all love the NHS – I found Danny Boyle’s tribute to the NHS at the 2012 Olympics a bit puzzling. I don’t now.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged isolation diary | 16 Comments

Centre interviews the Liberal Democrat leadership contenders (Part 1: Layla Moran)

By Torrin Wilkins | Thu 16th July 2020 - 3:02 pm

This week Centre sat down with Layla Moran to explore why she wants to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats. Below are my thoughts on the interview and some of the key takeaways. However, if you want the full interview, you can find it here.

In the first part of the discussion, Layla spoke about her upbringing, how she travelled around the world during her childhood and her love of physics.

We also spoke about her proposals for a Universal Basic Income. Layla supports a UBI of “£40-50 a week for an adult, maybe a bit more if there’s children” although programs such as housing benefits would remain in place. In the Compass model that would give adults a slightly higher £60 per week, this means raises in Income Tax and National Insurance to generate an extra £81 billion for the government. That’s a sizable sum of money when such an increase would almost double education spending from 2019-2020 levels. We need to decide if this is the best place to spend new revenue such as this.

I am also concerned as to whether this will be enough for people to live on, especially if it ends up around £40 a week. I spoke to an Asylum Seeker the other week who was struggling to live off £40 a week even with free accommodation. Therefore, I do worry whether £40-50 will be enough and whether this is really the best way to spend new tax revenue.

Whilst I have concerns over the specifics, there were also some particularly good points Layla made when talking about UBI. Even for someone like me who is sceptical she sold the idea very well as if it were a form of people pulling together after COVID-19.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged layla moran and leadership 2020 | 12 Comments

The Arts and humanity’s cause

By Lorenzo Cherin | Thu 16th July 2020 - 12:08 pm

For many years, I have been at what is today referred to as the intersection, in this case, of culture and politics. As someone who has worked in different ways and continues to in the cultural area, I have always seen the connection. As one, also involved directly in politics, more so. I particularly want to convey this on this excellent political site, contributing so regularly as I do, and appreciating very much all those involved.

There is overlap, and rapport between, cultural politics and political culture. This is true of the theatrical stage and on the political stage. Some time ago I did something about the need to link these, in keeping with liberal values, and contribute more as a result. It is a project in development. It is The Arts and Humanity’s Cause. A website set up and given shape is now joined by a channel which it would be marvellous if people could subscribe to on YouTube.

There is much to do from now in a situation where, as a result of the pandemic, there is a significant effect on livelihoods as well as lives, a cultural politics that needs greater awareness, and a political culture that needs greatly to change.

I see the scope of the connections that can and should be further explored. I have just partnered with the Ustinov Prejudice Awareness Forum. This is a forum which I contribute to, and work regularly with, as a member and writer. This terrific project was started by Sir Peter Ustinov, who was amongst many things a Liberal all his life, to continue his legacy as a man of many parts in the arts and as a humanitarian. He set it up originally at Durham University, where he was Chancellor. It continues online as a part of the Ustinov Network, which is an international effort with Sir Peter’s son, artist Igor Ustinov, at the helm. As someone of immigrant origin, with different aspects to his multinational background and family, the Ustinov efforts feel poignant and personal – to understand and eradicate prejudice. Yet these are efforts we can all, here, relate to and take up ourselves.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged arts | 8 Comments

On cancel culture

By Matt Harwood | Thu 16th July 2020 - 9:53 am

Embed from Getty Images

A tenet of the liberal standpoint is freedom of speech and ideas – that debate with reasoned arguments is essential to progress and democratic participation. This seems to be a view that is being tested with what many call the “culture wars” of the moment, centred around racism (historic and current), as well as trans rights.

The charge is that activists on various sides look to deny people with opposing views the opportunity to express them. From pressuring institutions to cancel speakers, to hounding the opposition off Twitter, impassioned campaigners are trying to redraw the boundaries of what is acceptable and “up for debate”, and what is beyond discussion.

As liberals, where is that line drawn? And, further, is it OK for that line to be moved with the prevailing culture?

My gut reaction to debate being closed down is that it is unhealthy to do so when looking at the overall benefit to society. A free market of ideas is what helps us get to a better place, to make progress. But it’s only fair to test that – what would I feel uncomfortable about encouraging a debate about? Can I imagine allowing, as an extreme example, a pro/anti debate on paedophilia on a University campus?

To be honest, I can’t. To allow the suggestion that both sides would have a 50/50 split of credence would not seem reasonable. My criteria here isn’t the law (it should be perfectly acceptable to argue something should be legal), it’s the severity of disgust and opposition to the ‘motion’ I feel. Is this a good basis for trying to deny someone avenues to talk about their point of view?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberalism | 27 Comments

15 July 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 15th July 2020 - 10:30 pm

Liberal Democrats secure PM commitment to independent inquiry
Consequences of Government cuts for BBC is now clear as day
Failing Graying has undone PM, now ISC must publish Russia report
PM running scared of real scrutiny from Intelligence Committee

Liberal Democrats secure PM commitment to independent inquiry

Acting Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has today secured a commitment from the Prime Minister to an independent inquiry into the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis and called for the timetable to be set out immediately.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions today, Ed Davey warned that under Boris Johnson’s leadership the country has suffered “one of the worst death rates in the world and Europe’s worst death rate of health and care workers.”

Making reference to Boris Johnson’s support for an independent inquiry into the Iraq War, the Liberal Democrat Acting Leader again urged the Prime Minister to “commit in principle to a future independent inquiry”.

In response, the Prime Minister accepted his Government will “learn the lessons of this pandemic” and confirmed there will be in independent inquiry.

Ed Davey was the first party leader to call for an independent inquiry, back on the 21st of April, and the Liberal Democrats have consistently made the case since.

Speaking after the exchange, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

The Coronavirus crisis is taking an enormous toll on people and our country.

It is clear the Government has failed on so many fronts – failing to prepare properly for a pandemic, failing to protect care home residents and social care workers, and failing to properly communicate their plans and so much more.

With so many loved ones lost, people deserve to know what happened. After months of refusing the public that opportunity, I am pleased the Prime Minister has finally accepted Liberal Democrat demands for an independent inquiry.

The Prime Minister must now set out the timetable of this inquiry, and it must begin as soon as possible. The Government must be held to account to ensure that the same mistakes are never repeated.