Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds will be the candidate in a by-election in the seat of Brecon and Radnosrhire after the recall petition for former Conservative MP Chris Davies received almost double the required number of signatures. The by-election date has not yet been announced but it may well be before the end of July.
Thousands of residents across Brecon and Radnorshire have taken the chance to demand better than a Westminster politics that fails to take their concerns seriously.
In an increasingly interdependent world UK public policy should acknowledge international mobility and diversity as a permanent social trend
Many people who’ve lived in Britain all their lives dream of winning the National Lottery and being able to move away to some sun-kissed paradise overseas. Brits routinely holiday abroad and migration, whether short-term or long-term, is common.
Most of us, however, continue to live in a country where we can enjoy beautiful countryside and coastline, historic buildings, a varied arts and culture scene, and a tradition of volunteering and community support groups. The population of the UK is generally tolerant and easy-going, happy to share these good things with people from other countries. That said, the media keeps telling us that since Brexit there has been growing xenophobia and resentment towards foreign nationals in Britain.
Yet in spite of social and political reserve in some quarters towards foreigners, many people do want to come and live here. The Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (MSQR) of the Office of National Statistics (ONS) notes that in the year ending June 2017 immigration to the UK was 572,000 (down 80,000 since June 2016) and emigration was 342,000 (up 26,000). To quote the report: “overall, more people are still coming to live in the UK than are leaving and therefore net migration is adding to the UK population.”
So, what really attracts them to the UK?
In their recent study, Buying into Myths: Free Movement of People and Immigration 2016, Eiko Thielemann and Daniel Schade have suggested that migration flows between EU countries including Britain have been largely the result of high levels of unemployment in southern Europe and poor labour market conditions in Eastern European countries. Unemployment rates in the UK have been low compared to such countries. And when you don’t have work, one obvious option is to move somewhere else to look for a job.
Vasileva first came to Britain from her native Bulgaria in June 2008 She’s now forty-something-years-old, is raising a family, and has lived in York for almost ten years. She has a permanent job as an office manager with an international training company. Vasileva says she enjoys the cosmopolitan feel of this country, the chance to share meals and conversation with people from all over the world. She loves the sense of community and support, and “people realising the value of these things.”
Something that native monolingual Brits find incredibly hard to understand is that many people come to study, live and work here simply because they know that the best way to learn a language is to come to the country where it is spoken. There is a global hunger for learning English, and with this there is often a natural curiosity to learn about the culture that lies behind the language. Take Céline, for instance. She’s a 32-year-old French teacher who has also lived in the north of England for just under ten years. “I love speaking English every day, and sharing my passion for languages with my students and the children in school.” She loves the kindness she has experienced here as well as the British sense of humour.
The SNP Government announced yesterday that it was kicking the can down the road on gender recognition act reforms.
While acknowledging the need for reform, Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told the Scottish Parliament:
I am a feminist, and I am deeply—and rightly—proud that this Government has taken such clear and concerted action to protect women’s rights and to promote gender equality. I have stated before, as has the First Minister, that I do not feel a conflict between my support for women’s rights and my support for trans rights. However, I know and I understand that many people do. It is important that we listen to and address those concerns.
This is a very disappointing decision not least because the government is pandering to scaremongering and misinformation. Trans people are suffering every day from abuse and discrimination. Ministers should look at evidence not media hyperbole.
Every day in the media, we see yet another attack on trans people and the organisations that support them. And every time these have been scrutinised – such as when the charity Mermaids was subjected to a review for funding which they eventually got – they have been found to be completely without foundation.
SNP plans for a second consultation on reform of the Gender Recognition Act may well lead to no legislation being passed in the current parliament. The can is being kicked. #GRAreform pic.twitter.com/vQLHaGCao0
— Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) June 20, 2019
All GRA Reform does is make it easier for trans people to change their birth certificate. Scotland’s feminist organisations are all in favour of reform. Last year at Conference, Lib Dem Voice hosted a meeting at which Emma Ritch from Engender and James Morton from the Scottish Transgender Alliance explained how their organisations in Scotland had worked together for equal rights for all.
Christine Burns, who was at the forefront of campaigning for the law to be changed to protect transgender people from discrimination back in the 80s and 90s, highlighted the dangers of the Scottish Government’s approach:
https://twitter.com/christineburns/status/1141778511612522498
Women are women. And trying to draw divisions between cis and trans over who gets women’s rights is exactly the divide and conquer tactics used by the people who want to diminish *all* women’s rights and all human rights.
The Liberal Democrat result in the European Elections has shown that the #BollocksToBrexit message has finally got through. But my twitter feed in the last couple of days makes me think that our position on civil liberties is also very relevant to the chaos around Brexit and all that this stirs up for people.
Recently there was an article in the Telegraph about secret talks between some Tory donors and Nigel Farage with a view to a pact to avoid Tory Brexiteer and Brexit Party candidates standing against each other.
My twitter feed had a string of comments from people alarmed at this. The sharpest I saw was from @bulshdetector on 16 June:
This is the Von Papen blueprint, replayed on a British podium: Conservatives acting as Kingmaker for Farage, in the (mistaken) conviction that they can control him. That's how Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 without a majority. Guys, time to board the dinghies of
the Titanic.— Ky Fegte 🇪🇺🇺🇦#FBPE #IFTYS (@bulshdetector) June 16, 2019
This is a different time and the parallels between now and then shouldn’t be drawn too closely, but the anxiety is real and should be engaged with.
Christina Wieland’s majesterial book The fascist state of mind and the manufacturing of masculinity gives a perceptive account of how people’s real anxieties left them prey to strong-sounding leaders in Germany and Italy in the 1930s. Earlier this year, the Hansard Society’s 2019 Audit of Political Engagement showed 54% of Britons in favour of a “strong leader who would break the rules”. It’s tempting to read the show of machismo in the Tory leadership contest as a competition to take up that role — in eliminating Rory Stewart they removed the voice calling this out.
What a fantastic result to wake up to! Honestly, I tried to stay awake, but I just couldn’t.
Lib Dem GAIN from Labour for @JeniferGouldCH and @MertonLibDems
Fantastic result!!
— ALDC (@ALDC) June 20, 2019
We got 8% last time!
Cannon Hill (Merton) result:
LDEM: 35.0% (+24.3)
LAB: 28.9% (-13.9)
CON: 28.6% (-14.2)
GRN: 5.2% (+5.2)
UKIP: 2.2% (-1.4)Liberal Democrat GAIN from Labour.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 20, 2019
Let’s hear it for the amazing Merton Machine and Cllr Jennifer Gould. Super Six now becomes Magnificent Seven!
https://twitter.com/Eloise_58/status/1141858509774082049
And we had another amazing step forward in Furzedown ward in Wandsworth – up 18% for goodness sake.
Furzedown (Wandsworth) result:
LAB: 49.0% (-14.7)
LDEM: 24.0% (+18.7)
CON: 18.4% (-3.0)
GRN: 8.6% (-1.0)Labour HOLD.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 20, 2019
Nice work from Jon Irwin and his team.
And another super increase in vote share from Julie Burridge in the Isle of Wight.
Whippingham and Osborne (Isle of Wight) result:
CON: 35.1% (+9.3)
LDEM: 19.8% (+14.6)
IND: 18.4% (+18.4)
LAB: 15.6% (+3.5)
IIN: 6.6% (+6.6)
UKIP: 4.5% (+4.5)IIN: Independent Island Network.
Conservative GAIN from Independent.
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 20, 2019
Thanks to Frank Little in Wales for flying the Lib Dem flag and giving people the chance to vote for us.
One of the reasons there is a lot of solidarity among women in politics is that we all have to put up with a lot of the same crap.
We have to deal with people thinking that they have the right to say things to us about our appearance, our behaviour and our beliefs than they would ever dare to say to another man.
So when I saw Conservative MP Antoinette Sandbach tweet a horrible message (which she has since deleted) she’d had from a male Tory MP, my first thought was sympathy for her.
https://twitter.com/Sandbach/status/1141797475554136064
At the tail end of the coalition, I actually felt I was going to completely go under at one point with all the abuse I was getting. And the worst was from fellow Lib Dems telling me what a disgrace I was. The pro-coalition people didn’t think I was loyal enough to Nick Clegg. The anti-coalition people thought I was too slavishly loyal to Nick Clegg. And I got it at full pelt from both sides.
A year or so later, I wrote about the experience, and this seems to be a good time to reprise that here:
The internet is a pretty torrid place at the best of times. Some users delight in throwing rage, bile and abuse around the place. If you are a woman the abuse can be particularly graphic, sexualised and incredibly unpleasant.
In a feature for Radio 5 live, 3 politicians, including our former minister Jo Swinson, talk about their experiences of online abuse and how it affected them. Also taking part are my SNP MP Hannah Bardell and Labour’s Diane Abbott, who gets a whole load of racist bile thrown in just for good measure.
This is fairly routine for any woman who commits the “offence” of going on the internet in possession of an opinion. I’ve come in for it myself and it does wear you down. There was a time a couple of years ago where it really started to affect me badly and reduced me to tears on several occasions. The European elections disaster and the independence referendum combined to create what seemed to be a never-ending spiral of abuse. The most hurtful came from commenters on this site, members of the party, some of whom I actually know in real life, who said some pretty unpleasant personal stuff, but they were just part of it. It felt that wherever I turned, there was nastiness.
Ed is on Question Time tonight at 10:35 pm along with the ultra Brexity Weatherspoons owner Tim Martin.More on that tomorrow.
On tonight’s panel we’ve got @margot_james_mp, @LauraPidcockMP, @KwasiKwarteng, @EdwardJDavey and Tim Martin. Join us in Tottenham from 10:35pm on @BBCOne and @bbc5live #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/fW4RhXYg0a
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 20, 2019
Earlier, he had a right go at the Home Office for tweeting about Pride when it treats LGBT+ people so disgracefully.
Appalling hypocrisy from @UKHomeOffice tweeting about #RefugeeWeek with a Pride logo, while it still treats LGBT+ refugees with disbelief and sends them back to face persecution https://t.co/csb3ZyFQJz
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 20, 2019
And a message for Clean Air Day..
Today is #CleanAirDay. Stop air pollution & our health improves – so why have Tories been so weak on this?
Things may soon get EVEN WORSE- Johnson tried to undermine EU air quality regulations as Mayor. #BrexitBoris as PM would harm our healthhttps://t.co/vaZBytOWTV
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 20, 2019
And I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling that he’s not a fan of Boris. This is a very long thread but you really should read the whole thing.
Let’s talk about Boris
One of most disreputable, toxic, selfish politicians I’ve ever met. As Tories choose between British Trump & ex-Health Sec who’s mission was to destroy health service, let's remember why #Johnson is #UnfitForOffice
[Many threads]
https://t.co/YUpip29kwr— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 20, 2019
Both candidates had the chance to have an email sent out by Lib Dem HQ. Here’s Ed’s:
We had gone to bed before Jo last night so we missed her interview on Peston:
I will do anything possible to stop Brexit says @joswinson and would only do a deal with a party who wanted to do the same #Peston pic.twitter.com/rmNNU5G9IN
— Peston (@itvpeston) June 19, 2019
.@joswinson says her party’s recent success has been down to its consistency, whereas Jeremy Corbyn has been ‘missing in action’. #Peston pic.twitter.com/sYCLsieehO
— Peston (@itvpeston) June 19, 2019
And a few hours later she was on Sky:
Shortly on @SkyNews to discuss modernising workplaces to work better for parents pic.twitter.com/8fHNsKUwec
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 20, 2019
Then a message for World Refugee Day
With 70m people forcibly displaced around the world in 2018, #WorldRefugeeDay is a reminder of the vital role the UK must play in supporting people who have been forced to flee violence, persecution, & natural disasters. We can & must do betterhttps://t.co/iX8pJLnwzJ
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 20, 2019
Both candidates have had their second emails sent out through the party. Jo’s comes from one of our new MEPs, Antony Hook:
Today the Campaign Against the Arms Trade won its legal challenge to the Conservative Government’s decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia.
Jo Swinson called on the Government to suspend arms sales immediately.
Saudi Arabia is an enemy of British values, including human rights and the rule of law. Their repeated violation and disregard for human rights should have ruled them out as an arms trading partner long ago.
Instead the Conservative government have continued to export arms and equipment to this brutal regime. The situation is inexcusable and cannot continue.
This court ruling is monumental.
Today is World Refugee Day – when we celebrate the amazing contributions that refugees make to the social, cultural and economic life of our country, and raise awareness of the 29 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world.
Every minute, 30 people are forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of war, violence or persecution.
This is the biggest refugee crisis in history. The number of refugees has doubled in the last fifteen years. More than half of them are children. Over 6 million refugees are from Syria.
The UK has a long and proud record of providing asylum to seekers of sanctuary – from Jews escaping Nazi Germany to Sri Lankans, Somalians and Syrians fleeing civil war.
But now, the Conservatives seem determined to make our asylum system as cruel and unwelcoming as possible.
The clearest example is the inexplicable ban on asylum seekers working while their claims are processed. Thousands of people are left waiting for months for a decision, dependent on a government handout of £37.75 a week.
Allowing asylum seekers to work is a no-brainer. It’s good for them, good for businesses and good for taxpayers. That’s why the Liberal Democrats have tabled legislation to give asylum seekers the right to work if they’ve been waiting for more than three months.
The Government must also stop locking up asylum seekers – including victims of torture – in detention centres with no idea when they’ll be released. It’s inhumane, unnecessary and expensive.
The Liberal Democrats believe detention should be an absolute last resort, and we are supporting cross-party efforts to impose a 28-day time limit on detention.
Beyond these clear issues, though, is a pernicious culture at the Home Office that means asylum seekers are treated appallingly. It has a shockingly poor record on getting decisions right, with 44% of appeals upheld by a judge.
Officials treat even the most vulnerable people with callous suspicion. This is particularly bad for LGBT+ asylum seekers, who are often asked to prove their sexuality in humiliating ways. Some are asked explicit questions about sex lives, while others are forced to produce screenshots of their conversations on dating sites, or statements from former partners.
According to last night’s Newsnight, and Heather Stewart in the Guardian, Jeremy Corbyn told a very fractious shadow cabinet meeting that he was reading Harold Wilson’s memoirs as inspiration. Shadow ministers saw that as a signal that Corbyn, like Wilson, “is not ready to become a cheerleader” for EU membership.
According to those memoirs, published in 1986, end in 1964, the year he became PM and started grappling with the possibility of EEC accession which he asked for after vastly improving his government majority in 1966).
In their book “Post-War Britain, 1945-1992” (Penguin Books, 1993), professors Sked & Cook tell us that Wilson as shadow Foreign Affairs spokesman was “unenthusiastic” about the EEC and was “characteristically (..) content to follow rather than to lead”. Wilson wrote in 1962 that “a dying government doesn’t have the right (..) to take a divided nation into” the EEC.”
Andrew Marr (“A History of Modern Britain”; Pan/Macmillan, 2009, p. 295) writes about Wilsons opinion on the EEC in 1965: “the strongest view” he had about joining the EEC “was that he didn’t have a view”. And Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Wilson ) and Marr say Wilson never had a holiday on the continent; whereas his Tory successor Ted Heath had oodles of continental travels and ditto political conversations from the 1930’s onward (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Heath ; and Marr, p. 295, 327). And Marr writes that Wilsons contribution to the 1975 EEC referendum was mumbling “vaguely in support, rather than actively making the European case” (p. 348).
You can see many similarities with Corbyn; the only difference is he never wrote that the dying May/Johnson government doesn’t have the right to push the divided UK out of the EU.
So we cannot possibly, ever expect any strong Remain endorsement from Wilsonite Corbyn.
On the other side we have Farage’s raging Brexit Party, and a field of four Tory leadership candidates with unicornish ideas of blackmailing, cajoling the EU (with threats of No Deal and no Severance payments) into a “good deal”. The only voice of reason and realism about that, Rory Stewart, stayed in as long as he was useful to push Raab out, and then was left dangling.
Dear Rory,
As the only person standing for the leadership of the Tory Party (“Conservative” must now surely be considered an oxymoron) who recognises how much damage Brexit will cause our country, I was saddened to see you knocked out of the contest yesterday.
I will not go as far as saying I would vote for you; fundamentally I only vote for people who will stop Brexit and address the real problems in this country through root and branch reform of our own broken political system. However, I did very much respect your open and honest approach with Brexit supporters and the clear way in which you explained the fundamental problems that are yet to be addressed by this failing government.
Sadly your Party appears to have chosen to “believe in the bin” and are duly committing themselves to the trashcan of history.
However, although I admire the honesty of your campaign, I also think you have been naïve. Although, you have recognised and communicated the problems of ‘no deal’ Brexit, the only solution you were able to offer was to ratify May’s Withdrawal Agreement.
Like many others, I don’t see the DUP, Labour, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Lib Dems, Greens or ERG suddenly shifting position because of a People’s Assembly. However, even if you managed to get the deal through Parliament and avert ‘no deal’ in October, I believe this would only be a very short-lived stay of execution. Any such agreement would become the new rallying point of the Faragists and we would just face another battle to try to save a weaker agreement in which we are already relegated to being a rule-taker.
Fundamentally, I believe this is an attempt to appease the unappeasable. Such efforts actually only serve to undermine our work to crystallise support for a People’s Vote and rally opposition against the media-dominant isolationist agenda.
The novelty of Chuka Umunna as a new Lib Dem MP hasn’t quite worn off yet. For the second day running our new Treasury Spokesperon tackled the Government, this time on measures to deal with late business payments, trying to nail their jelly to the wall.
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. She talked about the challenges facing small businesses. Brexit, of course, will cause huge disruption to small businesses’ supply chains given the added bureaucracy and tariffs.
Jo’s day started by tackling the Secretary of State for Scotland about the impact of Brexit and the prospect of No Deal on her constituency:
Brexit is already having an impact on East Dunbartonshire’s major employers. Aviva has announced that there will be job losses in the coming years, and a major engineering firm—an award-winning exporter—has told me about the negative impact Brexit is having on its business. Knowing what he does about the devastating impact on Scotland, how can the Secretary of State possibly countenance the no-deal or hard Brexit being offered by his colleagues in his party’s leadership election?
She was, with Ed, on the Jeremy Vine Show. Listen here from around 42:56.
On coalition, she said that we made the right decision to go in and we got a lot of things right but if we take the credit for successes we need to be honest about where we got it wrong – like the Bedroom Tax.
She attacked David Cameron for framing our relationship with the EU as a transactional relationship about benefits for Polish plumbers rather than a strategic necessity for our country.
She talked about a more pluralist politics where you work together with people in other parties.
And she was challenged on local Lib Dems fighting onshore wind farms which we are supposed to be in favour of.
She talked about targeting support for people who are impacted by particular policies.
Later, she did a Facebook Q & A of her own:
An interview with the Press Association was reported in the Belfast Telegraph:
It’s Wednesday, it’s eve of poll, and there’s a by-election in Merton
Canvassing for the amazing @JeniferGouldCH in Cannon Hill by-election in Merton – polling day tomorrow!
Labour vote softer than ever – fantastic doorstep response!
email [email protected] if you can help tomorrow
Come on #MertonMachine @LibDems pic.twitter.com/Yr6d9auJ9t
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 19, 2019
Earlier, Ed and Jo were on the Jeremy Vine Show talking about the coalition. He said he was proud of our record in the coalition, that we put country before party and did so many good things, quadrupling nuclear power, raising the state pension and taking many people out of income tax. He highlighted Norman Lamb’s work on mental health.
He talked about the compromises we had to make go give the country stable government. He contrasted with this “appalling” government. Apart from Brexit, he said that austerity has got worse under the Tories.
He highlighted recent gains to say that Lib Dems are on the up.
Issue 396 of Liberator will soon be on its way to subscribers and the free sample article for this issue is Ed Davey and Jo Swinson giving their answers to Liberator’s questionnaire to Lib Dem leadership candidates.
The topics here are intended to get both to think about what the party is for and what it should do now that it has unexpectedly and suddenly recovered its political standing from the post-coalition doldrums.
Here’s what we asked the two candidates. For their answers see: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk
Also in this issue:
IN – OUT – PENDING – Whoever becomes the next Liberal Democrat leader, they can look forward to an overflowing in-tray. Sarah Green takes a look inside
WHAT THE BBC WON’T TELL YOU – Liberals saw a renaissance in the European Parliament elections, despite the media emphasis on the populist right, says David Grace
This week is Learning Disability Week. The theme is sport and inclusion.
According to a Mencap survey of 18-35-year-olds, one-third spend less than an hour outside of their homes on a Saturday. Many feel isolated, excluded and lonely. Can you imagine only getting out for an hour and being at home the rest of the day? 49% of the survey respondents want to get out more but can’t.
We have 1.4 million people with learning disability in the UK. They are often marginalised and misunderstood. A lot of work still needs to be done to break down the stigma around learning disability.
Enabling those with learning disability to join in leisure activities such as sport has many benefits. It improves mental and physical health, helps build self-worth and confidence and improves communication and social skills. Additionally, including people with learning disability in leisure provision breaks down barriers and improves social attitudes towards learning disability. Misconceptions around learning disability exist because many people have not met or interacted with someone with a learning disability.
Positive direct contact with people with a learning disability is an effective way of improving attitudes towards them. We found that an inclusive sports programme helped to challenge negative views of people with a learning disability, and created bonds between the participants with and without a learning disability.
As some regular readers will know, I chair the board of the Fragile X Society. Fragile X is the leading genetic cause of learning disability. The Society works to raise awareness of Fragile X and its range of effects on intellectual ability. I have learned a lot, and continue to grow as a person, through my interaction with those with Fragile X.
Building an inclusive society is about having relationships with people who are not like us. It is about being willing to explore and wonder at the gifts every one of us brings to our communities. One lady with Fragile X has the most fantastic sense of humour. She doesn’t get maths, but she can be hilarious, loves the theatre and shopping. Another man loves to talk, go out for meals and kick a football around. Getting to know the person and seeing beyond the disability is key. It enriches all of our lives.
Mencap is running a new survey for adults with learning disability. Here is a link if you or someone you know would like to take part.
Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake has joined a cross-party group of MPs in taking crowdfunded legal action against the Metropolitan Police in regards to electoral offences committed during the June 2016 EU referendum.
Following revelations by whistleblowers, the Electoral Commission found three individuals and three campaign groups had committed electoral offences for which the highest fines permitted by statute were imposed.
In line with its Enforcement Policy, the Electoral Commission referred the matter to the Metropolitan Police Service. In September of last year, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it had received over 2,000 documents and a full explanation from the Electoral Commission on the offences that had been committed.
The Metropolitan Police have been in possession of this information for over 11 months. To date, no decision has been reached as to whether any of these individuals and organisations should be charged.
Tom Brake MP said:
The public are entitled to know without delay the extent of any criminal law-breaking that took place in the run-up, during and after the EU Referendum campaign. Foot-dragging is not an option for the police when investigating claimsrelating to the integrity of our democracy.
The Electoral Commission report can be found here. The group of MPs include Ben Bradshaw MP, Tom Brake MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Baroness Jenny Jones of Mouslecoomb, and ex-MP Fiona Mactaggart.
The group has instructed Bindmans LLP and have a legal team, led by Saimo Chahal QC (Hon). The legal team has drafted a letter before claim, which they are today sending to the Metropolitan Police challenging their delay in investigation and seeking an explanation as to their failure to reach a charging decision.
The crowdfunding page can be found here.
Britain is still a world power with significant international obligations and a major player on the European scene – irrespective of whether she considers herself part of it or not. A clarification of how “European” Great Britain considers itself would be paramount for future relations with her neighbours. The British are often confused as to whether they are geographically part of Europe or not.
A possible way out could be found when one looks at the scenario in post-war Germany in 1948/49. Germany in its bid for world power status had been decisively defeated, its territory reduced, divided and destroyed. The three Western Allies decided to combine the three military zones and create West Germany in the face of Russian non-cooperation. That led to the Berlin blockade of 1948/49.
A parliamentary commission was set up consisting of law professors and newly elected regional representatives such as Konrad Adenauer. They met in Bavaria and wrote the “Grundgesetz” (basic law) in nine months! The situation in the country could not have been more dire, with millions of the dispossessed, refugees and returning prisoners of war! Their work also had to be approved by the House of Commons, the US Congress and the L’Assemblée Nationale in Paris. The need to establish a new democratic system of government was overwhelming!
The brief was fulfilled and approved by all three occupying powers. The foundation of the Socialist German Democratic Republic in the Russian zone followed a few months later. The commission’s clear goals were the following: the need to prevent another dictatorship, the desire to incorporate the best aspects of British and American democracy, and to pay homage to Germany’s own democratic traditions going back to the revolution of 1848.
It has become evident that our unwritten constitution is no longer able to serve the interests of the people. A written constitution with a true devolved structure and a supreme court, which makes sure that rules are kept and constitutional conflicts avoided, are necessary! The exercise of codifying the responsibilities and decision-making powers at different levels of government (local, national and international) would reduce the confusion and conflict substantially.
Vagrancy report shows why we need to scrap the Act
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran will today urge the Government to repeal the Vagrancy Act at the launch of Crisis’ report into the case for repealing.
The MP for Oxford West and Abingdon held a debate in the House of Commons in January on her campaign to repeal the Vagrancy Act, which criminalises rough sleeping in England and Wales. Ms Moran also introduced a Bill to repeal it in February 2018.
The report says that the Act “does not tackle the problems people have, and there is evidence that it can also push …
Chuka Umunna is no stranger to holding the government to account. He spent four years opposing the Business Secretary, one Vincent Cable. The effect of that seems to have been the formation of a close friendship.
Today he asked his first question as a Lib Dem on a touchstone liberal issue – the benefits of immigration and the awfulness of the Tory Government’s policies:
The King’s Fund says that the earnings threshold in the Government’s immigration proposals, which was mentioned earlier, will definitely impact on the ability to retain and attract NHS staff. The proposals for a transition period during which many social care workers would only be allowed to come here for a limited time with no entitlement to bring dependants will, again, negatively impact on the ability to retain staff. When will this Government realise that immigration is good for our public services and good for our country, and that badly thought out policy in this area that impacts on the retention of NHS staff is wrong and nonsensical?
It’s nice to see him down as a Lib Dem in Hansard, too.
Cable: Looks like Boris will lie down and let Heathrow expansion happen
Responding to the publication of Heathrow’s plan for a third runway which will include diverting rivers, moving roads and rerouting the M25 through a tunnel under the new runway, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Twickenham MP Vince Cable said:
Expanding Heathrow is the wrong decision for the country and for South West London, where air pollution, air traffic noise, and congestion are already a blight. Heathrow’s plan all but confirms this.
The economics of Heathrow expansion also look questionable at best while it will do nothing for regional economies. Above
…
It’s been a very busy day for Ed Davey too.
From tackling transphobia on Mumsnet
Well, can't really argue with this from @EdwardJDavey – I expect the denizens of Mumsnet will, though. pic.twitter.com/dmz5frQRsc
— 🤘 🏳️🌈 𝔍𝔢𝔫𝔫𝔦𝔢 ℜ𝔦𝔤𝔤 🦇🔸️ (@miss_s_b) June 18, 2019
And answering the Radical Association’s questions:
Liberal Democrats believe the market is our servant not our master. We want a mixed economy, and a diverse set of ownership models. We want to make sure markets don’t mistreat workers or the planet. Decarbonising capitalism is a profoundly radical approach to reforming the City, banks, stock exchanges, pension funds and debt markets – and is entirely in line with an approach of “responsible capitalism” promoted by Vince Cable, with new stronger regulations for better Environmental, Social and Governance policies for business. The reforms I introduced as Energy and Climate Change Secretary to reform the electricity market and to promote energy efficiency showed what can be achieved, by smart government intervention – as we saw renewable energy boom and I brought in minimum energy efficiency regulations for the rented sector.
I certainly don’t see the traditional shareholder corporate model as the only one. When I was a junior minister in BIS I worked closely with Co-op UK to push collective purchasing by consumers and then introduced this to the energy market through collective switching. I insisted that there should be a significant employee ownership of Royal Mail and am only sorry that after I left BIS the Tories scaled back the ambitious scale of employee ownership which we had. I introduced legislation which will allow a future government to mutualise the Post Office. At DECC I pushed for and published the UK’s first ever community energy strategy for renewables to provide a challenge to incumbent energy operators and after leaving government chaired a community energy company, helping many communities get into solar and even wind power. So I am passionately committed to delivering much wider forms of ownership than the traditional forms of corporate ownership.
And on rebuilding the party:
The inspiring thing is how a relatively small number of people can make a massive impact. Whether that was in past Lynne Featherstone in Hornsey and Wood Green to more recently Hannah Kitching in Barnsley and Adam Carter in Rotherham, big breakthroughs can be made. Often stronger nearby parties have helped in providing advice and support such as the Sheffield party in Rotherham but we can perhaps make this rather more structured.
And we also need to recognise that strong national messages appealing to people who share our values can have a massive impact. Who would have thought that in the European elections that we we would win boroughs such as Wandsworth and Westminster where we have no Councillors currently? As Leader my role will be to ensure that we put those supportive structures in place and that we have those clear national messages.
To be honest, there’s also the issue of raising money for the party. We have failed to hit fundraising targets in recent years – so we need to do much better. I believe I can go to businesses and individuals interested in our European ideas and our decarbonisation ideas, and get them to back us – and if we can raise significant extra funding, we can support less well-off areas, and support the rebuilding of the party in different parts of the country.
And talking to Liberal Reform:
A busy day for Jo today.
Backing Stella Creasy on parental leave for MPs.
Fearless and formidable as ever, @stellacreasy!
I don't fancy IPSA's chances defending their outdated position against your campaigning force. Let's get this changed!
(and congratulations! 💕) https://t.co/Eg96Fk00CI
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 17, 2019
And appearing on Channel 4 News to talk about how important it was to do this in 2019.
Realising who Boris is really scared of…
Worried, Boris? https://t.co/lXrFX7tqU9
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 17, 2019
Tackling the health secretary on protecting our NHS data in future post Brexit talks
"There are fears NHS medical data could be on the table in part of a desperate, post-Brexit trade deal with the US."
The Lib Dems' Jo Swinson asks Health Secretary Matt Hancock for guarantees that "private companies will not be profiteering from NHS assets". pic.twitter.com/TkCYp6LX8j
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 18, 2019
And talking to the Times (£) about possible Remain pacts:
Applications for the 2019 edition of the Future Women MPs’ Weekend are now open. The training will be held in Milton Keynes on 20-21 July 2019.
The Future Women MPs’ Weekend is an intensive course, specifically designed to equip aspiring female MPs with the knowledge and skills they need to kickstart their political career.
We’ve witnessed incredible election results in the last few weeks in both local and European elections, but we need to get more liberal women elected across the country. So, if you’ve even thought about becoming a candidate or know someone who should, please encourage them to apply.
With Boris Johnson ahead with a convincing lead, there is little hope of any other opponent garnering sufficient support among the Party membership to beat him. Matt Hancock is guilty of questionable practice by withdrawing from the race and then backing Johnson in the hope of getting the post of Chancellor. Such egotism is in no way uncommon.
Yet, this isn’t the only thing that these results show. These results, and subsequent polling afterwards, suggest that the Liberal Democrats are overwhelmingly the party representing the views of young people too. Currently a student studying for her A-Levels, I know the party truly stands for the values and principles that I believe in.
Sorry, folks, but is anyone else getting pretty fed up with People’s Votes, Brexit and Leadership Hustings in LDV? Of course these things are important; but there really IS more to life! Even if all that gets sorted out in the next few months/years (fat chance of that, most of you will probably say) we are still left with a democracy which, while currently in A & E, might soon be heading for intensive care unless we wake up. I know that this kind of esoteric musing appeals to the political anorak rather than a hardworking citizen trying to keep …
You’ve seen a few comments on Ed’s Day and Jo’s Day. Now see the whole online hustings which took place tonight.
500 questions were submitted in advance of the event, chaired by party President Sal Brinton. It was the first of its type for a UK political party.
Funnily enough, the big thing in Jo’s day was the online hustings too.
Here are some of her highlights.
https://twitter.com/TheoLong1999/status/1140690296877002753
https://twitter.com/A_C_McGregor/status/1140701234908844034
Needs we need to be more aware, have more support and do this at all level. We must be much more aware of our privilege – talks of how she's never experiences racial hatred or stop and search and how privileged that makes her. #LibDemLeadership
— Duncan Moore (@DuncanMSussex) June 17, 2019
Earlier in the day, Jo had been questioning the Government about the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf.
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