Paul Walter

“If Clitheroe is protesting it must be bad!!!” – Lib Dems join #StopTheCoup protests across the country

By Paul Walter | Sat 31st August 2019 - 4:00 pm

Here are a selection of photos from Lib Dems joining #StopTheCoup protests across the country today:

https://twitter.com/LibDemLou/status/1167808409263050752

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Paul Walter

Jo Swinson joins Judicial Review of prorogation launched by Gina Miller, with Sir John Major and Tom Watson

By Paul Walter | Sat 31st August 2019 - 9:40 am

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Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson has added her name to the legal challenge from Gina Miller aimed to prevent Boris Johnson from suspending Parliament. This follows yesterday’s High Court announcement that the case would be considered.

Jo Swinson said:

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Bernard Aris

How Continental Europeans view proroguing Parliament and abandoning EU inhabitants of the UK

By Bernard Aris | Fri 30th August 2019 - 3:09 pm

In my earlier June 17th LDV piece on the concept of proroguing Parliament I reminded readers that the last person on the continent trying to disband a sitting EU parliament was the fascist colonel Tejero who in February 1981 entered the plenary session of the Cortes to disband at gunpoint the Spanish parliament finishing Spain’s transition to a full constitutional democracy.

To give you a flavour of how proroguing is seen here, a small list of continental heads of government who disbanded parliament to get their way without hindrance:

Napoleon in 1799 fled Egypt to conduct a Paris military coup (with grenadiers intimidating parliamentarians in their session) on “18-19 Brumaire” (November) to make himself “First Consul” under a constitution without Civil Rights. Making his brother king of the Dutch vassal “Batavian Republic” in 1806, he eliminated the last vestiges of its parliament. And Napoleon’s nephew in 1851 did the same with the French parliament, eliciting the famous  Karl Marx pamphlet.

Mussolini grabbed power from a string of Liberal governments in 1922, and in combination with conservative politicians had a law adopted in 1923 by a divided parliament giving him an absolute majority after the 1924 elections. The Socialist MP Mateotti protesting over electoral fraud was immediately killed.

These examples give you a picture of how “positive” prorogation is seen on the continent.

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Imaduddin Ahmed

How British liberals should advocate for the human rights of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir

By Imaduddin Ahmed | Fri 30th August 2019 - 12:59 pm

This past month, the Government of India has escalated military presence in Jammu and Kashmir, already perhaps the densest in the world, enforced curfews, a media blackout, blocked all communications and arrested Kashmiri politicians without issuing warrants under a draconian law. Reports of torture of civilians are now coming through the BBC.

This comes accompanying the Government of India’s attempt to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status per the conditions of it joining India after India became independent.

Civilian casualties over the past 12 months were already at a decade high, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as of April 2019 who found in his 2018 report the Indian state to be guilty of ‘excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries’, and to be guilty of denying access to justice to Kashmiris. The report recommended measures to eliminate the impunity with which security forces were able to act and improve accountability for human rights violations of the state, as well as for the self-determination of Kashmiris in both Pakistan and Indian administered Kashmir. Instead of adopting its recommendations, the Government of India’s recent actions will worsen the situation.

Being committed to fair, free and open societies, British liberals will be itching to intervene. However, British involvement in the bilateral (but asymmetric) issue between Jammu and Kashmir and India could reek of colonialism.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Intelligence insulted

By Tom Arms | Fri 30th August 2019 - 10:37 am

I hate it when politicians insult my intelligence. When they speak and act in a manner which implies that the voting public are no more than gullible poll fodder it undermines their credibility and damages the democratic process.

Not that the current prime minister had much credibility to start with. Boris Johnson is infamous for his deceits, distortions, half-truths, vacillations and outright lies in pursuit of political ends which are clearly designed to serve only the interests of Boris Johnson.

His latest porky is the claim that proroguing parliament has nothing to do with the Brexit debate.  That is so obviously false. It is right up there with the NHS bus, floods of Turkish immigrants, dismissal of the Irish border as “not a problem”, having our cake and eating it too, and the assertion that the German car industry will be on its hands and knees grovelling for a deal.

The Johnson government claims that using the tactic of an early Queen’s Speech to prorogue parliament in the middle of the run-up to the No Deal deadline of 31 October is perfectly normal.  It will, says Johnson, have no impact on parliament’s ability to debate Brexit. “Nothing to do with Brexit,” says Michael Gove. “A bit boring actually,” claims Jacob Rees-Mogg.

More accurate was the comment from Father of the House Ken Clark: “I don’t know how they keep a straight face.”

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Caron Lindsay

Beatrice Wishart wins Shetland by-election for the Lib Dems

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 30th August 2019 - 4:27 am

Great news from Shetland tonight as the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ Beatrice Wishart won the Scottish Parliament by-election with 48% of the vote.

The result in full is:

Beatrice Wishart (Scottish Lib Dems)5,659 (47.86%, -19.52%)
Tom Wills (SNP) 3,822 (32.32%, +9.27%)
Ryan Thomson (Independent) 1,286 (10.88%)
Brydon Goodlad (Scottish Conservative) 425 (3.59%, -0.07%)
Debra Nicolson (Green) 189 (1.60%)
Johan Adamson (Scottish Labour) 152 (1.29%, -4.61%)
Michael Stout (Independent) 134 (1.13%)
Ian Scott (Independent) 66 (0.56%)
Stuart Martin (UKIP) 60 (0.51%)
Peter Tait (Independent) 31 (0.26%)
14.40% swing Lib Dem to SNP
Electorate 17,810 – Turnout 11,824 (66.39%, up by 4.31%)

Willie Rennie was delighted:

And Scottish Lib Dem Women’s Girls Supporting Girls initiative helped too, with visits from Jo Swinson and Christine Jardine.

 

A by-election in your safest seat is a scary thing, particularly when your party has caused it when previous incumbent Tavish Scott left politics to go and work for Scottish Rugby. He had a huge personal vote and had always by his own admission fought as himself rather than as a Lib Dem.

The SNP threw the entire kitchen at this because they knew that if we lost the seat, we would lose our status a a group in the Scottish Parliament. SNP MPs from the central belt had been pounding the streets of Shetland. They put a lot of fire power our way but we still got almost half the vote even with a strong challenge from Independent Ryan Thompson who was the biggest gainer.

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John King

It’s 1914 again …

By John King | Thu 29th August 2019 - 6:33 pm

… and I think I’m a conchie.

Brexiteers are fond of invoking the spirit of the Second World War for their all consuming mission. They assemble a war cabinet, Boris Johnson dons the mantle of Winston Churchill and strikes a pose as heroic saviour of the nation. No doubt a spitfire flypast is planned for November 1st.

Yet if we insist on military comparisons, in truth the atmosphere resembles more the run up to World War One. In the summer of 1914, as the Guardian columnist Rafael Behr puts it, “martial drums grew louder, pacifist voices grew fainter, a fog of fatalism descended. The nature of the question shifted from averting possible cataclysm to managing one that seemed inevitable”.

Although in theory our exit can be stopped, the armoured tank that is Brexit now has a lot of momentum and it is unclear how exactly to disable it. Though we assume all routes are still open, many may have already closed off. Historians, contemplating the build up to the Great War, are similarly uncertain when the point of no return occurred.

It was famously said that Europe was plunged into the First World War by the inexorable operation of train timetables. In other words, at a critical moment the carefully laid mobilisation plans could not be deactivated. Today, mobilisation is already proceeding apace and our diplomats in Europe have been ordered to take the train home. Parliament is set to be suspended, blue passports are being printed, celebratory coins are being struck, before long Brexit will be a fait accompli even before it has happened.

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David Warren

Men of honour

By David Warren | Thu 29th August 2019 - 4:24 pm

There comes a time when even the best of us decide in is time to exit stage left. We saw that this week with both Norman Lamb and Vince Cable announcing that they will be standing down from parliament at the next General Election. I am sure many will agree with me when I say they will be sorely missed.

It was my pleasure to meet Norman at a Lib Dem conference during his time as a Health Minister. In fact he might have thought I was stalking him given the fact that I attended and spoke at  four fringe meetings dealing with the issue of social care! He has been a consistent voice for reform of that system at the same campaigning on issues including mental health and drugs reform. He is clearly hugely popular in North Norfolk evidenced by his surviving the electoral wipeout in 2015.

Vince is also saying goodbye to parliament and although I have never met him in person I feel I know him from reading his excellent autobiography Free Radical. Like me he came to this party from Labour and what an impact he has made. Everyone remembers his brilliant from ‘Stalin to Mr Bean’ remark in the commons during the Brown premiership but there is also his prediction of the financial crash, a successful period as Business Secretary and most recently taking on the leadership at a very tough time for us. He is departing on a high following excellent electoral successes. He even found time to champion the need for reform of the law on assisted dying.

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Mary Reid

Let’s talk about something else … diversity in film and theatre

By Mary Reid | Thu 29th August 2019 - 12:16 pm

I did enjoy the film Yesterday, not least because the songs of the Beatles have threaded through my life.

But I was struck by one thing – the fact that the lead actor was BAME even though the part did not call for it. That is still quite rare in film these days. Danny Boyle has said that he chose Himesh Patel because he could both act and sing, and his voice had soul. “I wouldn’t have cast him if I had found someone better”.

I go to the theatre a lot and these days it is so refreshing to see colour blind casting, as well as casting that ignores gender, sexual orientation, age or disability. Of course, the key difference between film and stage is the latter’s appeal to the audience’s imagination.

In a theatre the actors invite the audience to conspire together to imagine that a minimal set is a desert, a country house, a ship at sea or a street in New York. The prologue to Henry V captures the essence of theatre: “And let us … on your imaginary forces work”. Similarly we all suspend our disbelief and go along with the idea that an actor is really a king, a social worker, a prostitute or a politician.

On the other hand, most movies aim for verisimilitude, so scenes are filmed in realistic settings and the actor is transformed with make-up, prosthetics or CGI to match the character’s appearance. It is noteworthy that, because Yesterday was a film and not a stage play, Boyle cast, as the parents, the wonderful Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal – two actors who look as though they could have produced Himesh Patel. In contrast, on the stage any ethnicity might have been encountered.

However, there is a dark history of institutional prejudice within the theatre.

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David Becket

We need a flexible Conference

By David Becket | Thu 29th August 2019 - 9:38 am

With the terrible twins Johnson and Cummings in charge, this country is in the most dangerous situation since the start of World War Two. They are planning a right wing coup, with neither of them elected by the British public. Johnson was elected by a handful of elderly right-wingers in the Tory Party and Johnson elected Cummings, who is contemptuous of our democratic process

The news changes every day, and the likelihood is that we are approaching a democratic and economic disaster.

Lib Dems now have a higher profile than for some years, and we can expect more interest in our Conference than in the past.

The public will want to know:

  • What are our solutions to the major issues this country faces?
  • What is our response if we are forced into a No Deal Brexit?

We need to achieve maximum publicity for our response to this crisis.

We therefore need to clear the decks at conference in order to address these issues in the light of the then current circumstances.

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Paul Walter

Please sign the petition against proroguing Parliament

By Paul Walter | Wed 28th August 2019 - 6:32 pm

Earlier today, I signed the petition against proroguing parliament and about 150,000 people had also signed it. I’ve just looked and now 604,612 people have signed – and it’s going up all the time! (P.S As I published this post it had gone up to 622,453)

Please do sign the petition here – it just takes a few seconds.

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The Voice

Vince Cable to stand down as an MP at the next election

By The Voice | Wed 28th August 2019 - 4:30 pm

The BBC reports:

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable is to step down as an MP at the next general election.

Sir Vince has represented Twickenham since 1997 and served as business secretary in the coalition government.

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The Voice

+++Jo Swinson requests a meeting with the Queen to discuss the constitutional crisis

By The Voice | Wed 28th August 2019 - 3:26 pm

Today the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, has written to Her Majesty the Queen to ask for a meeting following the reports that the Government is expected to suspend Parliament from mid-September.

Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson said:

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Michael Berwick-Gooding

A Fairer Share for All – a missed opportunity

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Wed 28th August 2019 - 1:30 pm

At our Conference next month we will be discussing the policy motion and paper A Fairer Share For All.

What I particularly like is the policy to have “a £50 billion capital Rebalancing Fund to address the historic investment disparities between our regions and nations”. (I proposed a motion on poverty last year and it included a Rebalancing Fund but it was rejected by Federal Conference Committee.) 

The policy paper is not radical enough. It does not call for the end of relative poverty in any timescale. Also it does not include all of our existing policies as set out in our 2017 manifesto, such as reversing the cuts to Employment and Support Allowance for those in the Work Related Activity Group; 

It is unclear about what it wants to increase the benefit levels by. Existing policy is to increase benefits by the CPI rate of inflation each year, but the policy paper only states we would consider this “if more needs to be done” (2.2.15 and 2.2.16). Other policies in this category are restoring the benefit level to its 2015 real value and increasing it by the increase in median earnings if higher than the CPI rate of inflation (2.2.16). 

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Simon McGrath

Members must decide!

By Simon McGrath | Wed 28th August 2019 - 12:00 pm

Election pacts and participation in an Emergency Government need to be agreed by members.  

As a No Deal Brexit and a possible General Election get nearer there has been much talk of how we Remainers can stop it. The focus at the moment is on legislation to stop it but there are two other areas said to be under discussion: 

  • An emergency government to hold a referendum followed by a General Election 
  • A ‘Remain alliance‘ so that in key seats Remain parties don’t stand against each other (though  Alastair Carmichael has been reported as saying we would not stand down for the SNP).  

I believe that it is really important that we don’t abandon one of the fundamental principles of our Party – the primacy of members in taking key decisions  

If we participate in an emergency  Government then our Constitution is very clear about what needs to happen. Section 23 says that support for a government which contains other political parties applies

where the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons (‘the Commons Party’) enters into negotiations with one or more other political parties with a view to the formation of a government supported by the party and such party or parties; 

There are various provisions about consultations  etc but the key point is that  any agreement would have to be approved by  a 2/3rd vote at either a regular or special Conference.  

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The Voice

+++Jo Swinson: PM is trying to remove the voice of the people

By The Voice | Wed 28th August 2019 - 10:31 am

Responding to the reports that the Government is expected to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament from mid-September, Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson said:

Shutting down Parliament would be an act of cowardice from Boris Johnson. He knows the people would not choose a No Deal and that elected representatives wouldn’t allow it. He is trying to stifle their voices.

By suspending Parliament to force through a No Deal, Boris Johnson and the Government would remove the voice of the people at the most important time. It is a dangerous and unacceptable course of action which the Liberal Democrats will strongly oppose.

…

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Kirsten Johnson

Is the Green Paper on Social Care happening or not?

By Kirsten Johnson | Wed 28th August 2019 - 8:48 am

I spent some time yesterday in a long meeting with a local resident. He had cared for his mum for many years and sadly she died. The circumstances leading up to her death and the nursing home care she received tell a grim tale. My local resident called for an investigation and has written numerous letters demanding social care reform. He has written to MPs, Prime Ministers, Parliamentary Health Ombudsmen and the CQC. His activism and call for changes to the system has gone on for fourteen years.

I tell that story to highlight the recent Government announcement that the Social Care Green Paper, which was originally to be published in the summer of 2017, might not be produced after all. There is the suggestion that Boris Johnson’s government might publish a white paper instead.

I think it is all about a General Election – get the white policy paper out with strong proposals so that it looks like the Conservatives are taking action.

However, will it be the right action? The idea of a Green Paper is to bring together experts and have a proper consultation on proposals. One of the things my local resident is calling for is a high-level round-table, cross-party discussion on the best ways forward for social care. There are various views and proposals which should be given careful consideration. I personally like the idea of revisiting the Dilnot Report and capping personal contributions to social care; but I also think basic care should be covered in England as it is in Scotland.

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Paul Walter

Jo Swinson joins 120+ MPs in signing Church House Declaration to defy Johnson attempts to close Parliament

By Paul Walter | Tue 27th August 2019 - 4:31 pm

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From The Guardian’s Ben Quinn:

Boris Johnson was described as a threat to the very nature of British democracy at a cross party meeting of MPs who signed a pledge to an alternative parliament in the event of the prime minister shutting down parliament to make a no deal Brexit happen.

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News Meerkat

More from Jo Swinson on this morning’s cross party talks

By News Meerkat | Tue 27th August 2019 - 4:12 pm

Speaking after this morning’s meeting of opposition leaders to discuss stopping a no-deal Brexit, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said:

“This was a positive meeting with a clear objective to stop the nightmare that is no-deal Brexit, which the Government have admitted will lead to medicine and food shortages.

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Paul Walter

Norman Lamb to stand down as an MP at next election

By Paul Walter | Tue 27th August 2019 - 3:15 pm

Norman Lamb has told the Eastern Daily Press that he will not stand for election again:

Sir Norman Lamb, who was elected under the Liberal Democrats for North Norfolk 18 and a half years ago, said Brexit had stalled so much of parliament’s business he no longer felt other issues got the time they deserved.

Sir Norman, 61, spoke exclusively to this newspaper to announce he would not be standing at the next election – which he expected before the end of the year – but also to launch his next endeavour to help improve mental health care in the county.

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Paul Walter

Jo Swinson says cross-party talks were “very positive”

By Paul Walter | Tue 27th August 2019 - 1:46 pm

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The Guardian reports:

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson has told the BBC’s World at One programme that the meeting in Jeremy Corbyn’s office with other leaders trying to stop no-deal Brexit was “very positive”. Swinson confirmed that the leaders did not discuss who would lead a caretaker government if the prime minister lost a vote of no confidence
She told the show:

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Paul Walter

+++Cross party opposition talks end in agreement on the priority of legislation to prevent no deal

By Paul Walter | Tue 27th August 2019 - 1:27 pm

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Labour politicians in place in the room where the cross-party talks were held this morning

The following joint statement has been issued by the Labour Party, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and the Independent Group for Change following this morning’s meeting of their leaders:

The leaders of the opposition parties held a productive and detailed meeting on stopping a disastrous No Deal exit from the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn outlined the legal advice he has received from Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti which calls Boris Johnson’s plans to suspend parliament to force through a No Deal “the gravest abuse of power and attack upon UK Constitutional principle in living memory”.

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Munira Wilson

Tackling the scourge of holiday hunger

By Munira Wilson | Tue 27th August 2019 - 12:40 pm

As we near the end of the school holidays, I have been thinking a lot this summer about holiday hunger – an estimated three million children in the United Kingdom are at risk of going hungry during the school holidays.

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Catherine Royce

July meeting of Liberal International in London

By Catherine Royce | Tue 27th August 2019 - 11:10 am

You might have been so be-dazzled by the London Pride parade back in July that you missed the 202nd Liberal International Executive Committee meeting which took place on the same day at the National Liberal Club (and which incidentally gave perfect grandstand viewing of the parade in the streets below) .

I’ve only recently started going to these international political meetings (since I retired and now have the time!) but the dynamic is quite different from UK political meetings and very energising. There are many younger participants and many, many more women to offset the usual pale, older males, and where else could I sit next to the Foreign Minister of Somalia? -and very interesting he was too.

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Michael Taylor

Where will we get and use volunteers?

By Michael Taylor | Tue 27th August 2019 - 9:40 am

The next election, whenever it is, could see major gains by the party, or not.

What’s the difference between the two outcomes? In my view it is knocking on doors. In the Brecon and Radnor by-election, although we won, we did not knock on enough doors, but almost certainly delivered far too many leaflets. Yet every measure of how to win people over to our cause says that we will do it by talking person to person, either on the doorstep (best) or over the telephone.

In their book, Rules for Revolutionaries (recommended by Mark Pack), Becky Bond and Zack Exley talk about distributed organising, which explains how the Bernie Sanders Team used vast numbers of volunteers – 80% of whom had never been involved in politics – as the mainstay of their organisation, giving them equal roles with paid professionals, and built a volunteer organisation that could contact over 100,000 by email at one go and could run a voter registration operation in every state as well as GOTV.

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Paul Walter

Surely there is a way that Johnson can give us a treat on Halloween, rather than a trick?

By Paul Walter | Mon 26th August 2019 - 3:07 pm

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WARNING: This article contains high amounts of hysterical optimism (or at least non-pessimism)

Here are, to my mind, three significant things about Boris Johnson in the context of the current Brexit dilemma:

1. It is conceivable that he harbours ideas of having statues of himself built in future. When grappling with the choice of being a politician or a journalist, he allegedly once said:

They don’t put up statues to journalists

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Paul Walter

The staggering amount of steelwork used in the Great Western railway electrification

By Paul Walter | Mon 26th August 2019 - 1:30 pm


I’m grateful to Andy Hyde who left this comment on our recent HS2 article by Peter Wrigley:

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Paul Walter

Closing Parliament to force no deal would be an outrage

By Paul Walter | Mon 26th August 2019 - 12:00 pm

You may have seen reports that Boris Johnson is considering closing Parliament for six weeks in order to block MPs from extending Article 50 for a further period.

Our Shadow Brexit Secretary Tom Brake remarked on this yesterday:

If Boris Johnson can find a kooky or irregular way to shut Parliament out of the Brexit process it will be an outrage.

No deal will destroy our economy, it will have a dramatic impact on the cost of living and it will mean less access to medicines that keep people alive. Parliament must be able to challenge Ministers on the damage it will cause.

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Paul Walter

Jo proposes agenda for cross party “Stop No deal” talks led by Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday

By Paul Walter | Mon 26th August 2019 - 10:27 am

Today the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson has written to Jeremy Corbyn ahead of a meeting between opposition leaders in order to ensure that no option is off the table to stop No Deal.

Jo Swinson has proposed an agenda for the meeting requesting that it focuses on four critical points:

  • Strategy to take over the order paper to prevent No Deal
  • Plan to beat the government in a vote of no confidence
  • The steps that would need to be taken in forming an emergency government
  • Clarity on where all opposition parties stand on the matter of stopping Brexit altogether

Jo Swinson said:

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Miranda Roberts

Taking a lead from the family friendly Sheffield campaign HQ

By Miranda Roberts | Sun 25th August 2019 - 10:40 am

Politics and families don’t always go well together. Being active in politics, whether as a volunteer, team member or candidate often means spending time in the campaign headquarters. When you have a child with you, that often becomes a barrier that prevents you from taking part.

Here in Sheffield Hallam we have Laura Gordon as our PPC and she has a one year old little girl. That has prompted us to take a much more proactive approach to becoming a family friendly campaign HQ.

In the clerical room we have a playpen in the corner, with a playmat for newborns to lie on. In the canvass area, we have a little toddler sized table and chairs with a load of toys, books and colouring they can do. In the refreshment room we have a table for older kids to play Jenga or do colouring in too. We’ve put a changing mat in the ground floor bathroom and a high chair for feeding in the area between canvassing and clerical.

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