Caron Lindsay

Jo Swinson’s message for Black History Month

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 1st October 2019 - 10:15 pm

Today sees the start of Black History Month.

Over on the Black History month website, Jo Swinson celebrates the achievements of black women, whose achievements, she ways, are often massively diminished.

The contributions of black Britons are rich and varied, yet for too long we have ignored the legacy of black pioneers and accepted a narrative that confines the history of black people to that of slaves and colonial subjects. This is not good enough.

Worse still, when we do celebrate black Britons, the contributions of black women are massively diminished. Yet, despite having to contend with both racial and gender oppression black women continue to drive social, political and cultural change. This year let us celebrate the women of the past, such as Olive Morris, a feminist who dedicated her life to equality and activism. The women of the present, like Olivette Otele, who in 2018 became the UK’s first black female history professor. And let us empower the next generation of activists and trailblazers and do all we can to ensure that their achievements will never be absent from the history books.

The Liberal Democrats will never be silent or indifferent in the face of discrimination. It is our goal to fight for a country where every person, regardless of their background, is able to live freely and fulfil their potential without fear of hate or prejudice. That’s the world we strive for and that’s the world we must work every day to make possible.

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Sam Gyimah

Sam Gyimah MP writes… Distorting reality is no way to run a country

By Sam Gyimah | Tue 1st October 2019 - 1:52 pm


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Steve Jobs, the legendary founder of Apple was often described as using a ‘reality distortion field’ to convince himself and others to believe almost anything. Employing the techniques of bravado, hyperbole and sheer persistence, he could make an impossible task seem possible.

Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s Chief strategist – a known fan of tech titans such as Steve Jobs and Elon Musk – seems to want to employ these techniques in pursuit of Brexit at any price and to crush the hopes of Remainers.

The Government’s multi-million pound advertising campaign telling us all to ‘Get Ready For Brexit’ on October the 31st is designed to subliminally suggest to the voters that this is the only option open to us. Everything we know points towards the fact that there is no orderly way to leave the EU by that date. Despite this, the Government’s social media, radio and TV adverts are running every day, as if in total denial of reality.

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Hilton Marlton

Narcissm – Democracy’s Nemesis?

By Hilton Marlton | Tue 1st October 2019 - 12:55 pm

Jacinda Ardern’s empathic response to the bombing of a mosque in New Zealand in March this year made international headlines. The press went into a frenzy over her sensitive and visibly moved reactions to those affected by the tragedy.

It’s really telling of our age, that Ardern herself became the subject of the news when she was doing what any decent leader should be doing. We elect politicians to represent us, so surely the ability to sympathise and to imagine who we, the electorate are, what our needs, aspirations and vulnerabilities are, is a basic requirement of the job?

Why are we putting up with Johnson and Trump when we could have Ardern? We are living through an epidemic of manipulation on a global scale and there is a pattern to how we got to this point. It didn’t happen over night.

While some of my Brexit-weary friends are turning to G&T, baking or prayer, my pick me up has been Ramani Durvasala. Durvasala has been studying Trump’s seemingly erratic behaviour and is finding that it follows a set pattern. Each time Trump gets away with something outrageous, he goes one step further and the next unthinkable thing happens. Liberals are in a permanent state of shock and disbelief.

Trump, like his friends Johnston and Farage are narcissists. We hear the word bandied about quite a lot at the moment and while each of us has some degree of narcissism, at their most extreme, sociopathic narcissist have key behaviours in common. They:-

• lack empathy and compassion.
• are manipulative and will distort the truth to suit themselves
• think the law and rules are for others, not them
• are highly critical of others but don’t take criticism well themselves • are entitled and often pompous
• are quick to anger, rage and outbursts
• are superficial and shallow

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Paul Walter

Where we are – Lib Dem morning briefing

By Paul Walter | Tue 1st October 2019 - 11:24 am

The Lib Dem press office has provided an excellent summary of where we are this morning, together with the agenda for Parliament today:

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John Grout

Four remarkable years of Lib Dem Newbies

By John Grout | Tue 1st October 2019 - 8:55 am

One thing that the last few years in politics have taught me – among others – is that, surprisingly, computers can’t count.  Or at least, Facebook’s computers can’t reliably tell you how many people are in a group, once it gets above a certain size.

On the morning of the 8th  May, 2015, I was absolutely devastated.  Not only had my party been all but wiped out, but Liberalism had been written off and my non-Lib Dem friends, while supportive of me, struggled to hide their belief that the drubbing was deserved.

And then something odd happened: thousands of new members flocked to the party, inspired by our principles and Nick Clegg’s remarkable resignation speech.  As Sal Brinton, our redoubtable (and now outgoing) President wrote, Libby, our popular bird-of-liberty logo, had become a phoenix.

One of those new members, joining a grieving and shell-shocked Lib Dems, started a Facebook group for newcomers to orient themselves, meet other members, and get involved in rebuilding our shattered party.  These ‘Newbies’ were a few-hundred strong, and started attending pints and meetings with Lib Dems who were surprised and delighted to welcome them. The group grew and required moderating, and soon, I and a few others were recruited by other volunteers, to help Admin the group and keep it ticking.

At the time, I think we all expected Lib Dem Newbies to last a couple of years and then peter out – the membership would fall back, our volunteer Admins would move on.  Members now established in the party (or leaving it, having decided it wasn’t for them) would drift away, and the group would slip quietly into obscurity. These things have a shelf life, after all.

…British politics has a funny way of subverting expectations.  Successive surges – particularly after the second shattering defeat of the Referendum – have seen us welcome thousands, and four years on, we are on the cusp of welcoming our eight-thousandth member.  We ask new applicants what inspired them to join, and where they are – and if, as is sadly often the case, they are yet to make contact with their local party, we’re so big now that someone else in the group is usually in their area with the right contact.

Since 2015, we’ve welcomed, linked-up, informed, and encouraged our new and returning members, and longer-serving ones too.  I’ve welcomed at least two “Newbies” who joined under Jo Grimond and felt reinvigorated by our energy, proving that Newbie-ness is about mindset, not joining date.  We’ve also helped Newbies get elected to everything from parish councils, to principal authorities, to Westminster, and now the European Parliament.

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The Voice

WATCH: Jo Swinson say that a vote of no confidence would play into Boris Johnson’s hands

By The Voice | Mon 30th September 2019 - 8:01 pm

Opposition parties met today to talk strategy for the next stage of the Brexit Drama.

Over the weekend we had seen talk of a potential vote of no confidence this week.

Matthew D’Ancona explained yesterday on Twitter why this would be a mistake.

Jo Swinson has always been clear we can’t risk an election until we are certain that the threat of no deal on 31st October has been gone and it appears that she won the day.

Lib Dem MPs held a photocall outside the Commons and this is what Jo had to say:

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The Voice

Tower Hamlets Candidates Ready to Fight Snap Election

By The Voice | Mon 30th September 2019 - 3:12 pm

Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats have selected two new Parliamentary Candidates: Josh Babarinde for Bethnal Green & Bow, and Andrew Cregan for Poplar & Limehouse in preparation for a snap General Election.

Josh Babarinde is the founder of Cracked It, a social enterprise based in the borough that supports young ex-offenders away from crime and towards employment. In 2019, the Evening Standard named Cracked It the Social Enterprise of the Year.

Josh said:

Tower Hamlets has among the greatest crime and anti-social behaviour challenges in London. My frontline experience working to tackle knife crime locally

…

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Ben Rich

Radix and the Liberal ecosystem

By Ben Rich | Mon 30th September 2019 - 12:34 pm

One of the huge successes of Blairism was creating an ecosystem of thinkers around new Labour who set the tone for political debate throughout the 90s and beyond. Left of centre think tanks had a symbiotic relationship with the party and the centre left media, who could be relied upon to be sympathetic. When Blair eventually took power the party recruited many policy advisers and senior staff from this ecosystem: Campbell and Mandelson, Patricia Hewitt from the IPPR and Geoff Mulgan from Demos, who became the Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit.

The political centre ground – including …

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George Lee

From Hong Kong shanty town to Liberal Democrat PPC

By George Lee | Mon 30th September 2019 - 10:30 am

I was pleased to be adopted recently as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Westminster North. My journey to this point has been a long one. Through a career in business, the police, another party and all the way from Hong Kong, I have been emboldened to join the fight to demand better for our communities and country than this Tory-Labour mess.

I was born in a Hong Kong shanty-town pig shed. Aged 5 I worked in a toy factory before coming to the UK at 10, unable to speak English. Living and working …

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Mark Valladares

Party President, internal elections update

By Mark Valladares | Mon 30th September 2019 - 8:24 am

Today is the deadline for nominations for the Party Presidential contest, for the various Federal committees and for the ALDE Party Council delegation so, if you haven’t got your forms and artwork in, time is running out (the deadline is 5 p.m., just to save you looking it up).

As far as we know, there remain six candidates for the Party Presidency, and you can click on each name to see their initial statement.

And, for a view on what the Party Presidency entails, here are my thoughts from …

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Mark Valladares

30 September 2019 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 30th September 2019 - 7:16 am

It’s been very quiet over the past few days, but I tend to put that down to the convention not to distract from other political conferences. However, our Press team are still working away…

Lib Dems: ‘School Cuts’ data shows funding still an emergency

Responding to the relaunch of the National Education Union’s ‘School Cuts’ website, which reveals that more than 15,000 schools will have less money per pupil in real terms in 2020 than they did in 2015, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary Layla Moran said:

The Conservatives continue to fail our children. This data removes the wool that Boris Johnson

…

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The Voice

Reigate Liberal Democrats select John Vincent to be their PPC

By The Voice | Sun 29th September 2019 - 9:12 pm

Reigate Liberal Democrats have selected John Vincent, an aviation safety expert, as their candidate in the next general election.

Mr Vincent beat four other candidates in a vote of local party members at a hustings held on Friday evening at Reigate College.

Speaking after his success, John Vincent said:

I’m thrilled to be selected for Reigate. People here deserve so much better than the current set-up. We need to move from despair to hope. We need to build a better future for everyone in our community.

On the national political situation Mr Vincent said:

We are

…

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The Voice

Doctor who tackled Jacob Rees-Mogg on no deal to fight Javid as Liberal Democrat

By The Voice | Sun 29th September 2019 - 1:22 pm

Earlier this Summer, Dr David Nicholl tackled Jacob Rees-Mogg on LBC on preparations for a no deal Brexit, particularly on shortages of medicines. He asked Rees-Mogg what mortality rate he would be ok with in the event of no deal.

Rees-Mogg later compared him to the disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield whose flawed claims about the MMR are still causing problems with vaccine uptake today.

At the time the BMA described this comparison as “utterly disgraceful and totally irresponsible.”

Over the weekend it has been announced that Dr Nicholl will stand for the Liberal Democrats in Bromsgrove, against Chancellor Sajid Javid.

From The Guardian:

He faces an almost impossible task to unseat Javid.The chancellor took 62% of the vote in Bromsgrove in the 2017 election, up 8% on 2015. The Lib Dems came a poor third with fewer than 2,500 votes, a share of just 4.6%.

But Nicholl is confident he will pick up disenfranchised Tories.

“Things are completely different to 2017. I think when you have a prime minister who is prepared to mislead the Queen, you will have many people who vote Tory, not people in the Tory party, in Bromsgrove, who will be utterly appalled with what is going on and will be looking for a new home,” he said.

Nicholl joined the Lib Dems earlier this summer. He left the Labour party after Owen Smith, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, was sacked, considering it a decision with damaging consequences for the region.

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The Voice

Jo Swinson’s message for Rosh Hashanah

By The Voice | Sun 29th September 2019 - 11:38 am

Here is Jo Swinson’s message for the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah, emphasising that the Liberal Democrats stand with those facing hatred and discrimination.

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Chris Bowers

We must avoid being the sole obstacle to stopping a No-Deal Brexit

By Chris Bowers | Sun 29th September 2019 - 9:34 am

Boris Johnson has boxed himself into a corner – but he may not be the only one.

The prime minister has got himself into a situation where, it appears, he either has to break his promise to take us out of the EU on 31 October or break the law in terms of ignoring – or circumventing – the Benn Act that stops a no-deal Brexit. But circumventing may be an option for him; certainly the political commentators are far from confident that the Benn Act is watertight, and that at least one loophole exists.

Hence all the discussion about a vote of no confidence this week, as this may be the only way to guarantee that we avoid a No-Deal Brexit. But have our MPs perhaps also boxed themselves into a corner with their commitment to doing anything to avoiding a No-Deal Brexit yet at the same time committing not to prop up a Corbyn-led government, even a short-term one?

If the SNP and Labour are willing to support a motion of no confidence this week, it’s pretty certain the Plaid MPs and Caroline Lucas will follow suit. That would just leave the Liberal Democrats plus a handful of Independents – enoughto make the difference between success and failure.

There is a way out of this for Jo Swinson. It is for her to take the following position:

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Catherine Finnecy

Catherine Finnecy – why I’m running to be Party President

By Catherine Finnecy | Sat 28th September 2019 - 5:00 pm

Whilst the parliamentary party is rightly focuses on finding a way through this crisis there is also serious work to be done internally if we are to capitalise on our growing army of members.

I worry that lean times in recent years have hindered policy development. In some important areas I feel that whilst solid decisions are taken, some of our policies could be much more cutting edge, ambitious and better reflect our collective expertise.

We must find a way for associations to be better consulted and for working groups to be more diverse, inclusive, and meritocratic. Good social policy …

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Caron Lindsay

New seats for our new MPs

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 28th September 2019 - 4:40 pm

This afternoon it’s been announced that Phillip Lee will be taking on John Redwood for the Liberal Democrats at the General Election. He will move from his current seat in Bracknell to Wokingham, which is considered winnable for the party.

According to the Wokingham Paper:

THE Liberal Democrats have announced that their candidate for Wokingham will be one of its newest MPs, Dr Phillip Lee. It sets up a Leave v Remain contest against the incumbent, Sir John Redwood.

Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats deputy leader, announced the news to a packed meeting of Wokingham party members held at the Hilton St Anne’s Manor hotel in London Road.

The seat is one that polling by ComRes suggests could switch to the Lib Dems.

A projection suggests that the party would have a 37% vote share, compared to 33% for the Conservatives and 14% for Labour.

However, it also lists the Brexit party as 9% – the party is unlikely to field a candidate in Wokingham constituency as Sir John Redwood is a committed Leaver.

This move will be more controversial than Chuka Umunna moving to Cities of London and Westminster or Luciana Berger moving to Finchley and Golders Green. Both of these moves were widely welcomed in the party.

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Mark Argent

Avoiding Boris Johnson’s “People v Politicians” trap

By Mark Argent | Sat 28th September 2019 - 8:55 am

News of Dominic Cummings describing the present Brexit chaos as “a walk in the park” nails the idea that what’s been going on recently is an inept Prime Minister making a mess. 

Boris Johnson has been talking of a “People v Politicians” election soon. He could do well, especially if he gets to dictate the timetable.

Horror at his conduct is causing a surge of support for the Liberal Democrats, and there is the temptation to support an election because it will almost certainly produce many more Liberal Democrat MPs, but the real risk is that they will be opposing a deeply dangerous Johnson-majority government.

On the other side, what’s going on now can be spun as pro-Remain MPs and pro-Remain civil servants conspiring with pro-Remain judges to subvert “the will of the people”.

Comments I’ve seen on twitter include: “I am hoping that Boris, Cummings and JRM are just using prorogation as distraction for the main event” and “I agree with everything Boris said” (in his Commons statement] after Parliament resumed sitting). 

The polls show support for Johnson and for the Conservative party at a level that is a million miles from what I’d expect of a Prime Minister who’s just lost a major Supreme Court case — but isn’t crazy in the light of Tory facebook adverts attacking “opposition leaders for wanting ‘to ignore our Brexit vote’”,  The Sun, The Express and The Daily Mail attacking the Supreme Court judges and the Daily Mail  saying “More than half of British voters want an election NOW as they blast ‘Establishment plot’ to block Brexit”. 

 

As it stands, if Johnson ignores (or finds a way round) the Benn Act to crash us our of the EU on 31 October, the top news stories will be that Brexit has happened, outrage from most MPs, and (doubtless) the start of another court case. Those can all be spun as anger from “the establishment”. That’s an effective way to bury the stories about queues of lorries at Dover and problems on the Irish border.  Those who were alarmed earlier in the year by the stories of the military being ready in case of rioting if Brexit happens will not have been re-assured by Johnson tweeting a photo of himself surrounded by senior military on 19 September.

Expelling 21 respected MPs gave Johnson a way to be seen to make a stand against the “remainer Establishment”. If he ends up in the courts again, he can, again, be painted as making a “heroic stand”. His supporters like this.

The Leave campaign did a brilliant job of preying on people’s fears. They never presented a coherent image of how we would leave the EU. They dangled impossible hopes that are still there because they have not yet collided with reality.

David Cameron wasn’t the only person to assume a Leave victory was unthinkable. An “unthinkable” Johnson victory only needs the pedalling of more impossible hopes — especially if “they” or “the establishment” can be blamed when they are shown to be impossible.

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Christine Jardine MP

Christine Jardine: why I’m running to be Party President

By Christine Jardine MP | Fri 27th September 2019 - 5:00 pm

Ok. I know I said that I wasn’t going to do it.

And as recently as conference I was adamant that I was not going to change my mind.

But I have.

The first thing of course that I have to say is that I am sorry for the delay and to explain that it was a family thing.

It’s well known that my husband died during the General Election in circumstances which were difficult, particularly for my daughter and the people close to me.

I’m sure you all appreciate that without her support I would have found it impossible to put the time, energy and commitment into this that the members deserve.

And those are three things that this role will need. In spades.

At a time when we have become the rallying point for the vast numbers of people in this country looking for an open, diverse, forward looking party, we need a President who has the status and authority to speak to that image publicly.

Just as importantly they will have to commit the time to listening to what the members have to say, and then ensure it is heard. Personal contact and availability will be key.

But members also need the right support and encouragement. The Alderdice report challenged us to create a culture that is inclusive. That is more important now than ever.

We cannot allow any possibility of retreating to what was comfortable and easy for some members and excluded others.

The President will have to lead, with all the committees and SAOs, on reaching out to those new members and build relationships which will sustain the next generation of activists, councillors and parliamentarians.

As a member of Federal Board, an MP and previously a member of the executive of the Scottish party, I know how hard Sal has worked and exactly what it takes to be a strong president.

I have no illusions about what it entails.

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Merlene Emerson

Out of the haze

By Merlene Emerson | Fri 27th September 2019 - 2:53 pm

You may have seen images in the news of Indonesia with blood red skies and mired in choking smoke, looking more like Mars than on earth.

Runaway forest fires in Indonesia has been a recurring problem, and the cause of the “haze” in Singapore and Malaysia, depending on which way the wind blows. The fires can rage on for days and weeks in the carbon-rich peat forests, and has so far affected an estimated 69 million people in the region. We can’t even begin to count the cost to the wildlife.

Each day in Singapore we look …

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Mark Valladares

Party Presidential election update – Prue Bray and Richard Kemp withdraw

By Mark Valladares | Fri 27th September 2019 - 12:45 pm

Liberal Democrat Voice has been advised by Prue Bray and Richard Kemp that they are withdrawing from the contest to succeed Sal Brinton as Party President. Prue writes;

This is confirmation that, with regret, I am withdrawing from the election for Party President, despite having been successfully nominated. Unfortunately, the amount of work I am having to do as English Candidates Chair to prepare for the coming General Election simply does not allow enough time for me to simultaneously commit to campaign to become Party President.

Richard has sent us a statement as well;

I have announced that I am no

…

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Nigel Jones

The speeches that got away: Investing in further education and learning throughout life 

By Nigel Jones | Fri 27th September 2019 - 11:55 am

The Education motion at conference stated  “The UK faces a serious skills deficit”. 

That is an understatement. Take for example what happens when young people fail GCSE Maths and English and move on to sixth form or college. 

When I taught at a general FE College, I remember a group of 17year old girls, who aspired to be nurses. I had to spend time, for example, teaching them quadratic equations when they really needed much more time improving their understanding and application of decimals, percentages, and ratio relevant to their career. 

Force-feeding young people to resit GCSE Maths and English which they have just failed and hated is bad education. Statistically, results show it does not work. On average 25% pass; in Maths this year only 20% passed and can we claim that even these have sufficiently improved, with a pass mark around 20 out of 100, so was it relevant to their career? 

This approach can even be dangerous; on more than one occasion in my lifetime a baby has died because the decimal point in a drug prescription was in the wrong place. 

Our party motion makes clear that young people need to develop their Maths and English in a free course that is suited to their needs.  Functional skills qualifications have this year been improved, so there is no excuse. Colleges at the moment are constrained by strict funding rules. We will give colleges the freedom and resources to judge the best way to improve basic skills for everyone at age 16+. 

In this country skills and ‘vocational’ learning have  not been given the attention they need for decades. Note these points. 

First, the department for Education Skills Index, shows since 2012 the contribution of skills to the nation’s productivity declined by 27%. Second, we have now the lowest on record of adults pursuing any form of education. Third, the new T-level courses due to start in September 2020 look like being under-resourced.  Fourth, the new apprenticeships while welcome are failing at the lower levels; companies who pay the levy have reduced their other training provision. 

So, with all these recent failures to deal with the skills deficit, what does Boris Johnson do ?  He removes the post of Skills Minister. 

This follows a period when Michael Gove distorted the whole Education curriculum by his obsession with academic learning and theoretical testing. Under the veneer of improved exam results, many feel the harmful consequences of that and those at the lower end are not catching up.

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The Voice

Lib Dems surge ahead in by-elections

By The Voice | Fri 27th September 2019 - 10:25 am

There were some good results in last night’s by-elections  with double figure increases for the Liberal Democrats.

And in Rochford

And in Crawley, a 6.3% rise in vote share from a standing start.

That was up from just 164 votes in a much bigger turnout in 2017.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Globalism

By Tom Arms | Fri 27th September 2019 - 8:55 am

Lost this week in the blizzard of a British constitutional crisis and an American impeachment inquiry was President Donald Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly.

Compared to past addresses to the United Nations this one was subdued. His language was relatively temperate, measured and verged on statesmanlike.  It was a good speech—and all the more chilling for it.

If Donald Trump has a political philosophy other than his own person advancement it is what he terms patriotism– and others  fear as nationalism–versus internationalism and globalism. This is clear from his red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps, flurry of tariffs and immigration policy

Trump told the annual autumn meeting of heads of government and state in New York: “The future does not belong to globalism. The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations.”

In his 35 minute speech he went on to applaud Brexit, Boris Johnson, attack China’s trade policies and socialism;  call for the complete isolation of Iran and Venezuela,  increased spending by NATO allies,  the reorganisation of the World Trade Organisation and refused support for any international organisation that supported abortions.  He finished up all of the above with the insistence that all actions had to be made within the context of competing national political structures.

The reason for Trump’s Darwinian approach is clear: America’s is the world’s only economic and military super power. According to the latest IMF figures, the US produces nearly a quarter (24.4 percent) of the world’s GDP.  Its national  gold reserves  ( in excess of 8000 metric tonnes) are greater than the next three largest gold reserves combined.

Trump extols the virtues of the nation state because doing so works to the advantage of America. The only way that smaller countries can compete against American power  is by organising themselves into trading blocs or pursuing a level playing field policed by international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation.  Trump does not believe in win/win or that a rising tide floats all ships. He a win/lose businessman letting loose torpedoes across the trading seas.

The US president supports Brexit because it will weaken the trading position of both the UK and EU. EU is the world’s largest trading bloc and this gives its members increased negotiating power in any trade deals. This is disadvantageous to the US. The break-up of the EU reduces the negotiating power of its constituent parts and enables to American trade negotiators to dictate terms to each of the separate 28 members as well as the EU’s trading partners. America wins. Everyone else loses.

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Mark Valladares

27 September 2019 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 27th September 2019 - 8:00 am
  • No-deal prep for health supplies shows Brexit must stop
  • Boris Johnson is the champion of the well-off, not the people – Davey

No-deal prep for health supplies shows Brexit must stop

Responding to the National Audit Office’s report on the Government’s preparations on health and social care supplies under a no deal Brexit, Liberal Democrats Health and Social Care Secretary, Sir Vince Cable MP, said:

This report reinforces what we already knew from the Yellowhammer documents. We know that a no-deal Brexit would have a devastating impact on the UK’s health and social care supplies.

The risk is very real that traders may not

…

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Mark Valladares

26 September 2019 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 26th September 2019 - 11:40 pm

I’d like to start by thanking TonyH for his comment. I’ve generally provided a list at the beginning of these pieces when there are three or more press releases, but he’s right to note that, given how pieces are prevented on our “front page”, it’s better if I do it if there’s more than one. So, I will going forward. We’ve only got one today though…

Lib Dems welcome NHS England’s Cross-Party Plans for Reform

The Liberal Democrats have today welcomed NHS England’s plans to reform the NHS and significantly curb the privatisation of NHS care.

The plans, agreed on a consensus …

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Jo Hayes

Jo Hayes: more on why I am a candidate to be Federal President

By Jo Hayes | Thu 26th September 2019 - 5:00 pm

I’m a Remainer and proud of it. I have fought tooth, nail and tweet against Brexit and will do to the end. I completely agree with Conference’s decision to revoke Article 50 if we win an election, just as I completely disagreed with Parliament invoking Article 50 without a plan, three years ago.

It’s interesting that those who say it’s undemocratic of us to tell the people what we’d do if we won a General Election are the same ones who doggedly defend our failing electoral system. I want an end to Brexit, I want electoral reform and I want …

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Antony Hook

Antony Hook: The Supreme Court ruling has opened the floodgates of major constitutional reform

By Antony Hook | Thu 26th September 2019 - 12:46 pm

Britain has always been a bastion or the rule of law, internationally respected as an exemplar of fairness, decency and parliamentary democracy.

Restoring a supposed supremacy of the British institutions was central to Boris Johnson’s campaign to wrench us out of Europe. The irony has been lost on few people that he has since tried to suppress Parliament and it has fallen to the courts to intervene.

I know something about Britain’s courts. Before being elected as an MEP, I had 16 years’ service as a barrister. In almost every case I have been involved in, the liberty of an individual has …

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Ruth Coleman-Taylor

Asking Jo to help restore the Conference crèche

By Ruth Coleman-Taylor | Thu 26th September 2019 - 10:16 am

I was lucky enough to get called during the Leader’s Q & A at Party Conference. I reminded Jo that we had had a Conference creche for most of the last four decades and that the Young Liberals had been prime movers in the original campaign for this. During that time, it has helped many parents and, in particular, young women to attend Conference and gain the benefits of learning, networking, helping make policy etc. But now there is no creche. Would she help to get it reinstated?

Jo looked hard at the FCC Chair, Geoff Payne, who promptly said …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Renew Europe sets criteria for Commissioner hearings

By The Voice | Thu 26th September 2019 - 8:20 am

Ahead of the hearings of the Commissioner Designates, the Renew Europe Group, of which Liberal Democrat MEPs are a part, has outlined a common approach to be followed in order to guarantee a fair, transparent and objective evaluation process.

The hearings are a vital process to ensure that the future College will be in the position to deliver on the commitment made by President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, before the Parliament and reflected in the mission letters given to each Commissioner.

Dacian Cioloș, President of Renew Europe Group, speaking in Strasbourg said:

We will analyse the future Commissioners on

…

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged and | Leave a comment
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