Edwin Black

The Brexit Myth

By Edwin Black | Wed 8th May 2019 - 8:30 am

The recent success of the Liberal Democrats at the 2019 Local Elections is something which, undoubtedly, has brought a great amount of joy to all of us who have weathered this five year storm. However, a narrative has already taken shape, one that threatens future momentum and growth – that this is attributable only to Brexit and Brexit related issues. This is a reading that is surface level. A little thought and a cursory digging dispels this myth.

First of all, we must look at who benefited most from the Conservative and Labour defeat. Of course, at a gain of 704 we have come first, with independents taking second, Greens third, and Residents Associations taking fourth, with smaller parties making up the rest. This break down is important. Surely, if this was an affect only of a Brexit backlash then RA’s would not have done as well? Indeed, the SDP came second in the wards they ran in, and independents fly under a myriad of different banners. Even the Brexit supporting Liberal Party gained a councillor in Liverpool and regained prominence on Pickering Town Council. The question, then, is this – what do these groups have in common? The trend seems to be one of a yearning for community, with each grouping possessing a strong communitarian streak. The Liberal Democrats were the forerunners of community politics, independent candidates tend toward community issues, and RA’s are based in this kind of thought. The SDP also describe themselves as “nation state communitarians”.

The second important indicator is the local election results in Northern Ireland, with the performance of the non-sectarian Alliance and Green parties. Though the DUP and Sinn Fein still retained the majority of councillors, both experienced a drop in seat share. The UUP experienced a drop that was more akin to the Tories, with Alliance being the main beneficiary. That non-sectarian parties are finally expanding their influence on the local level, even if the hegemony has not been broken, is indicative of the same trend seen in England – people are looking for community-centric alternatives who act in the interests of all who are living in the immediate area.

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Mark Valladares

7 May 2019 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 7th May 2019 - 11:00 pm

Rise in school exclusions is the symptom of broken schools system

Responding to today’s publication of Edward Timpson’s report into school exclusions, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:

Exclusion, whether temporary or permanent, should always be a last resort. And it should never be done under the radar.

But this report does nothing to address the reasons why headteachers consider excluding the pupils they find difficult. Off-rolling pupils is not the cause of our problems. It’s the symptom. The result of the perverse incentive to secure a better Ofsted grade or climb up the league tables.

This problem can’t be dealt with

…

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The Voice

Vince Cable’s message for a peaceful Ramadan

By The Voice | Tue 7th May 2019 - 12:19 pm

Over on the Lib Dem website, Vince Cable has wished Muslims a peaceful Ramadan:

Across the country, British Muslim communities will be taking time aside to engage in acts of charity, prayer and self-reflection.

The contributions of British Muslims to Britain are ever-growing; adding to the richness and diversity of our nation. However, we are witnessing a worldwide resurgence of exclusionary, right-wing nationalism that has led to acts of terror against the Muslim community. We demand better.

The attack in Christchurch earlier this year was a reminder that we must do all we can challenge those who seek to erase or limit religious freedoms. As a party we have adopted the APPG on British Muslim’s definition of Islamophobia: we all have a shared duty to challenge hate and intolerance.

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Chris Perry

Setting the young against the old is a smokescreen to protect the mega rich

By Chris Perry | Tue 7th May 2019 - 10:43 am

Setting the young against the old is a smoke screen to protect the mega richThe House of Lords Committee report on “Intergenerational Fairness and Provision” recommends a redistribution of benefits from older people to younger people. Surely it is not an inter-generational issue; but one of confronting the widening income inequality and increasing poverty in our society?

At just 29% of national average earnings Britain has one of the lowest state pensions in the developed world, with much of Europe paying in excess of 90%, and there are 1.9m older people living in poverty many of whom were forced into retirement, pre 2011, and condemned to spending the rest of their lives in poverty.

According to Philip Alston, special rapporteur on extreme poverty to the UN, Government Ministers are in a “state of denial” about poverty. Quoting figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, he said that more than 1.5 million people were destitute at some point in 2017, meaning they lived on less than £70 a week or went without essentials such as housing, food, clothing or heating. A fifth of the population, amounting to 14 million people, are living in poverty, Prof Alston said.

In contrast the pay of Chief Executives at businesses on the FTSE 100 index surged 11% on a median basis during 2017 while average earnings failed to keep pace with inflation, rising just 1.7% with inflation at 2.8%. Many of these Chief Executives have multi-million pound incomes. 

A consequence of this widening inequality is that there are now 3.9 million children living in poverty in the UK – an increase of 200,000 in just one year. The Government has focused on making work pay, but two in three children who are in poverty have a parent who is in work. Children brought up in poverty are less likely to do well at school, more likely to have health problems and have a shorter life expectancy.  

In 1997 Gordon Brown abolished the tax relief pension funds earned on dividends from stock market investment which sent many pension funds from surplus to deficit within a decade and led to the demise of many final salary pensions. In 1971 the index linking of public sector pensions changed from earnings to RPI and then in 2011 from RPI to CPI and more recently from final to average salary. Over the last ten years pensions index linked to CPI have increased by 26.6% when had they still been increased by RPI they would have gone up by 32.4%. Average earnings have gone up by 41.7%. 

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Katharine Pindar

Time to celebrate success – but what next beyond stopping Brexit?

By Katharine Pindar | Tue 7th May 2019 - 8:55 am

It was a weekend for rejoicing, for most of us. Even if on Friday you were in a nerve-jangling contest which eventually you, unlike luckier colleagues, just missed out on (as happened by just one vote to an unfortunate North Devonian), or even if you were stuck for seven hours as we were in West Cumbria waiting for the single result we had interest in (eventually wearily won) – even so, every hour that passed we all had the glad spectacle on our smart phones of that orange bar rising on the BBC News round-up, and that blue bar sinking in defeat.

There was delight as the numbers of successful Liberal Democrats rose steadily and new councils fell to us. There was wonder at outstanding triumphs – how did they do THAT in Chelmsford or Cotswold? And there was also for me admiration at seeing in the detailed lists how often just one, or at most two, Liberal Democrats had succeeded. We know how many hours of patient hard work those new councillors had to put in to achieve those small, significant glories.

And the work goes on. Our new councillors have so much to do just shoring up the threatened local services, fighting vested interests, standing up for local communities, always seeking to Demand Better for the ordinary people we serve.

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The Voice

Your last chance to register to vote in the European elections

By The Voice | Tue 7th May 2019 - 7:55 am

At 23:59 tonight, it will be too late to register for the European elections.

So if you know anyone who isn’t registered, you might like to direct them here. And if they are an EU citizen, they will have to fill in this form and deliver it personally to their local electoral registration office by close of business today.

This is such a crucial election and the future of our country depends on it. It is our chance to send a message to the Government that this deeply flawed Brexit process must be stopped.

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Paul Walter

After last week’s success, thinking of absent friends…

By Paul Walter | Mon 6th May 2019 - 3:00 pm

Richard Gadsden tweeted last Friday:


That’s a sentiment most of us can agree with.

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Paul Holmes

Paul Holmes writes…Fighting Labour in Chesterfield

By Paul Holmes | Mon 6th May 2019 - 11:55 am

The new LD Council Group in Chesterfield minus Kelly Thornton who has gone on a well deserved holiday. Centre front are Cllr Paul Holmes former MPa nd Cllr Emily Coy Parliamentary Candidate.

In 2015 Chesterfield Lib Dems returned only 9 Cllrs, our lowest number since the 1980s. On Thursday we elected 17, missed one more by one vote (after 3 recounts) and another by 53 votes. 

The historian in me points at past precedent. In 1995 we elected 10 Cllrs, in 1999 it was 19 and in 2003 it was 37. There was also the minor side issue of electing the MP in 2001. So, we are now looking forward to the 2023 Council elections with considerable anticipation – and have already started the planning!

Our excellent gains of seats and Council control across England are a source of great joy. At a personal level I am particularly pleased at the Hinckley and Bosworth result where my old friends Stuart Bray and Michael Mullaney masterminded and drove another fantastic campaign as they always do. Then there is Southport where my friend and former Parliamentary colleague John Pugh and his colleagues did well.

However, my greatest delight is in those areas where we made progress against Labour. For half a century we have won most of our Councillors and MPs from the Conservatives in generally more affluent areas. Winning against Labour has always been much harder and less usual. When we won the Chesterfield Parliamentary seat in 2001 it was, I think, only the second time since WW2 that we had won a seat direct from Labour (without a prior by election success) in a General Election. 

So, the less glamorous progress against Labour on Thursday was what I especially noticed – in Liverpool, Sheffield, Derby, Barnsley, Sunderland and Bassetlaw for example. I have asked ALDC and as far as they could tell me Chesterfield, with 7 gains from Labour and 1 from UKIP, had the highest number of gains from Labour in England. This is a source of particular satisfaction to me.

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Caron Lindsay

ICYMI: Labour’s Barry Gardiner telling Tories Labour were trying to bail them out on Brexit

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 6th May 2019 - 11:34 am

Coming to  a Lib Dem risograph near you very soon, I would imagine.

Seriously, Labour’s shadow international trade minister told Tory James Cleverly ON LIVE TV that “We are in there trying to bail you guys out” on Brexit.

You could not make it up. No wonder reports from the talks earlier this week made them sound like a love in. And here is the moment where he actually says it:

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Mary Reid

Looking good in Northern Ireland

By Mary Reid | Sun 5th May 2019 - 1:52 pm

The counting in the Northern Ireland local elections was finally concluded late last night. And the good news is that, matching Lib Dem successes in England, the Alliance Party increased their seats by 21, far more than any other party.

Alliance is our sister party in Northern Ireland. There is a small Lib Dem branch there as well, but they didn’t put up any candidates, and Lib Dem members are allowed to have dual membership.

Councillors are elected through Single Transferable Vote every four years, and there are five major parties, plus a handful of smaller ones.  As a result no council has a party with an overall majority.

Alliance increased its share of seats on the following councils:

  • Antrim and Newtownabbey
  • Ards and North Down
  • Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
  • Belfast City
  • Causeway Coast and Glens
  • Derry City and Strabane
  • Fermanagh and Omagh
  • Lisburn and Castlereagh City
  • Mid and East Antrim
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Isabelle Parasram

Isabelle Parasram writes…Shall we talk about race equality?

By Isabelle Parasram | Sun 5th May 2019 - 9:55 am

When is it a good time to talk about race equality? 

In political organisations, as with many others, that time can often be ‘tomorrow’…

With the number of fires that any organisation has to fight every day – more so with political parties – diversity issues are often last on the agenda. 

But they can’t be the last on our agenda. 

As a barrister, I was recently asked, during an interview, to name the biggest legal issues likely to impact large organisations. 

My answer surprised the interviewer. 

It wasn’t breaches of data, financial misconduct or cyber crime. 

It was: ‘…diversity and sexual impropriety…’. 

The latter is, perhaps, down to my role as Special Investigation Counsel and similar work that I carry out elsewhere. 

The former is because I believe diversity to be one of the foundational markers of a successful organisation. 

But it seems that it will always be an issue that will remain on the back burner unless it becomes a fire to fight. 

Thankfully, that is already the case with many corporate institutions who have either embraced diversity because of the enormous benefits it brings or, disappointingly, have had to do so just to meet targets. 

Either way, it has made a difference.

The reality is this. 

Take a look at how we are perceived externally (quotes taken from The Operation Black Vote BaME Local Political Representation Audit, 2019):

‘Our findings raise some fundamental questions in general about belonging, having a voice, and how political parties are failing to understand their role to ensure inclusive representative democracy. Specifically both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are both in a really poor place when it comes to their BAME councillor representation. The percentage breakdown of BAME councillors presently is: Labour 84%, Conservatives 11%, Liberal Democrats 3% and 2% other affiliations.

BAME Councillors are disproportionately affiliated with the Labour Party at 84.2%, followed by the Conservative Party at 10.9%, the Liberal Democrats at 3.1%, and 1.8% are affiliated with other parties or independents.’

I have no doubt that almost everyone in the Lib Dems sees race equality as a key issue. Perhaps some even see it as a top priority. 

This is certainly the view of Lord Alderdice, who, in his 2018 Report entitled Race, Ethnic Minorities and the Culture of the Liberal Democrats stated: 

‘… if there is to be positive change, the approach to race and ethnic minorities has to become a top priority.’

What I doubt is that we know quite what to do about it. 

I’ve spoken to local Party Chairs who have said they don’t want to get it wrong, they don’t know where to start, they don’t want to appoint a Diversity Officer out of tokenism, they don’t have the resources…

All of these comments come from people who, at their core, want to do so good a job that they aren’t actually doing it. This isn’t because they don’t care or they don’t want to care. It’s because they are hesitant to make a start and then fail at something that – broadly speaking – they really want to do well.

I’ve been asked if it’s obligatory to appoint a Local Party Diversity Officer as per my recent email to Local Party Chairs. No, it isn’t. 

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Caron Lindsay

The Lib Dem Lowdown: A guide for new members – Local elections 2019 special

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th May 2019 - 7:29 pm

Welcome to the 1300 people who have joined the Liberal Democrats in the last day or so since our local election gains surpassed all our expectations.

It’s actually been really heartwarming to wake up every morning for the last few weeks and see a whole rush of “I just joined the Lib Dems” posts on Twitter.

Every so often I roll out this post, which is basically a rehash of an article that I first wrote in May 2015 when many joined the party in the wake of the General Election result. I thought it might be useful to tell you a little bit about how our party works and give you a bit of an idea of the opportunities open to you. If you are not yet a member, if you like what you read, sign up here.

What do we believe?

Before we get into the nitty gritty of organisation, the best statement of who we are and what we’re about can be found in the Preamble to our Constitution which underlines how we believe in freedom, opportunity, diversity,  decentralisation and internationalism. Here’s a snippet:

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.

We look forward to a world in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace and in which their different cultures will be able to develop freely. We believe that each generation is responsible for the fate of our planet and, by safeguarding the balance of nature and the environment, for the long term continuity of life in all its forms. Upholding these values of individual and social justice, we reject allprejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality.

We have a fierce respect for individuality, with no expectation that fellow Liberal Democrats will agree with us on every issue. We expect our views to be challenged and feel free to challenge others without rancour. We can have a robust debate and head to the pub afterwards, the very best of friends.

Obviously, our priority at the moment is to stop Brexit, but there is so much more to us than that. That bit about no-one being enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity shapes everything that we do.

Your rights as a member

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Paul Walter

Thank you everyone – a great idea

By Paul Walter | Sat 4th May 2019 - 5:08 pm

I like this. A handy line in makeshift poster adjustment from a Liberal Democrat who now finds that they are on three councils…

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Paul Walter

Labour’s mess – now even Baldrick has run out of cunning plans…

By Paul Walter | Sat 4th May 2019 - 2:49 pm

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Mary Reid

Where did we gain seats?

By Mary Reid | Sat 4th May 2019 - 1:05 pm

The elves at LDV have been busy digging into the results to bring you a full list of all the Councils in England where Lib Dems made gains. Please let us know if they have made any errors.

So here they are. We have highlighted the ones where we are now in control.

  • Arun (where we are the largest party under NOC)
  • Barnsley
  • Basingstoke & Deane
  • Bassetlaw
  • Bath & North East Somerset
  • Bedford (where we are the largest party under NOC, and we retained the elected Mayor)
  • Blaby
  • Blackburn with Darwen
  • Bolsover
  • Bolton
  • Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole
  • Bracknell Forest
  • Brentwood
  • Broadland

…

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Caron Lindsay

From the Vault: The Thatcher years: My shame

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th May 2019 - 10:55 am

It’s 40 years today since Margaret Thatcher walked into Downing Street as Prime Minister.

There was an 11 year old girl in Inverness who was really excited by this – especially by the notion that a woman could become Prime Minister was a very powerful one.

Ten years ago, for the 30th anniversary, I wrote this post describing my shame. I suppose, in my defence, I have spent most of my time since fighting the forces of small state, selfish conservatism.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but thirty years ago tonight, I, a fairly innocent 11 year old, went to bed and prayed for Mrs Thatcher to win the 1979 election.

I really didn’t understand much about politics then – the geekery and obsession didn’t take hold until about a year and a half later, when I had had enough time to rue my earlier enthusiasm. I did know that I wasn’t keen on Labour – there seemed to be nothing but strikes, and my dad hadn’t had a properly stable job for a good couple of years. My parents and Grandma were all enthusiastic Tories and it seemed that life would get better with a new Government.

I quite liked the Liberal Party. The MP for Inverness, Russell Johnston, seemed to me to be a good man and the fact that a primary school child like me knew who he was was quite positive. He was also in favour of home rule for Scotland, which I always thought was a good thing. However, my staunch Catholic grandfather had told me time and time again, from the moment David Steel became Liberal leader, that he didn’t want babies to be born, so he had the same appeal for me as the Daleks. I literally would watch him on tv from behind a cushion. When I grew up and understood the issues involved, he became a lot less scary, but I actually thought he would pass a law forbidding people to have babies. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but in my defence, I had heard that in China you were only allowed to have one child, and I was only 11.

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Caron Lindsay

ICYMI: Complain to BBC about coverage of Lib Dem local election win

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th May 2019 - 9:21 am

There are two elements of the BBC’s coverage of the local elections that are simply ridiculous and need to be complained about.

The first is their oft expressed line that the message the voters were giving to the Conservative and Labour parties is that they wanted them to get on with Brexit.

So that would be why they voted in huge numbers for the party whose aim is to stop Brexit, then, is it?

The Liberal Democrats gained over 700 seats, a spectacular feat by any standards. We put in our best ever performance in terms of seat gain in a local election. The message is clear – a significant proportion of the electorate want this Brexit nonsense to be stopped.

The second

Seriously. The BBC’s flagship political programme has no guest from the Liberal Democrats on the weekend after we won a national election.

That has to be disgraceful by any standards.

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Caron Lindsay

The 666 moment passed

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 11:15 pm

There was a moment that I feared that we would end up gaining 666 councillors.

It happened.

Briefly.

But it quickly passed.

And the final total topped  700.

The Tories briefed the papers last weekend that they could lose 1000 seats. This, we all thought, was expectation management. We thought that our own 500 gains briefing to the press was about as good as it could get. And we were wildly pessimistic in the end.

I was thrilled to see my old mate and former Chesterfield Lib Dem MP Paul Holmes re-elected to the Council. And regular Lib Dem Voice contributor Ed Fordham elected as Councillor for Brockwell along with two ward colleagues.

Moor ward in that town has a history of close elections. I remember missing out on winning a seat from Labour in a by-election there in about 1994 by 17ish votes.

Look at how close we were to 9 gains there:

It’s a long time since we had a night like this.

But let’s just enjoy it as a stage on the journey. It’s not the end in itself. We need all Remainers to swing behind us on May 23rd to send a very clear message that Brexit can and must be stopped.

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Paul Walter

+++Final results – Lib Dems gain a stonking 703 councillors, 11 councils and 19% of the national vote, amid 1334 losses for the Tories and 82 losses for Labour

By Paul Walter | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 9:57 pm


Embed from Getty Images

Here are the final May 2nd council election results, now that all the results are in.

The Lib Dems are UP by a stonking 703 (net) seats, with 688 holds, 683 gains and 7 losses. We’ve gained control of 11 councils. We have become the largest party in a “no overall control” situation in 5 further councils.

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Paul Walter

++Lib Dems win Teignbridge

By Paul Walter | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 3:33 pm

The Lib Dems have just won Teignbridge District Council from no overall council.

We gained 10 seats, while the Tories lost 11 seats. An independent gained one seat.

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Paul Walter

++3pm update – Lib Dems win control of Mole Valley District council

By Paul Walter | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 3:10 pm



The news has just come in that the Liberal Democrats have won control of Mole Valley District Council. We gained 8 seats, while the Tories lost 9. There was one gain for an Independent.

So, the status is currently:

With 162 out of 248 councils declared:

The BBC say we are on 19% of the national vote with the Tories and Labour tied on 28%.

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Labour’s Barry Gardiner to Tories on Brexit “We are in there trying to bail you guys out”

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 9:45 am

Coming to  a Lib Dem risograph near you very soon, I would imagine.

Seriously, Labour’s shadow international trade minister told Tory James Cleverly ON LIVE TV that “We are in there trying to bail you guys out” on Brexit.

You could not make it up. No wonder reports from the talks earlier this week made them sound like a love in. And here is the moment where he actually says it:

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Caron Lindsay

What a brilliant night – “the best local elections for the Lib Dems in a generation”

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 8:09 am

Four years ago, I was utterly heartbroken at this time in the morning. Not only had we lost almost all our MPs, but we’d suffered heavy losses in the council election.

Today, after spending most of yesterday in a darkened room whimpering in pain, I wake to absolutely brilliant results. Already we are up (at the time of writing) 271 councillors and most of the results aren’t in yet.

It’s not surprising that Ed Davey described the results on BBC Breakfast as the best local elections for the Lib Dems in a generation.

Some more of the highlights:

We seem to have surprised the BBC’s political editor:

A result we knew was on the cards a few weeks ago as it was clear that the Tory vote was disappearing like snow off a dyke.

And here are the very happy councillors:

Jacob Rees-Mogg has a Lib Dem councillor now.

Yvette Cooper’s backyard now contains Liberal Democrat Councillor Tom Gordon stormed to victory from a standing start in his home ward after moving down from Newcastle.

Three times the vote of the Labour Party. 9 times the vote of the Conservatives and Greens. And all that in just a few months’ spirited and energetic campaigning.

His former colleagues in Newcastle were delighted.

And here is Councillor Gordon:

 

Chelmsford’s result was simply outstanding – from 5 councillors to 31 and the Conservatives falling from 52 seats to just 21.

I have never been more glad to be proved wrong as far as Hinckley and Bosworth were concerned. They thought they might pull off overall control, but I thought that was a tiny bit ambitious, even with their ace team which has been honed to perfection over the years by former Lib Dem MP for Chesterfield, Paul Holmes. But they did it. It’s a fantastic result for Michael Mullaney and the team there.

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The Voice

Election results status: “Conservatives ☹️…Labour ☹️ Lib Dems 😁” – open thread

By The Voice | Fri 3rd May 2019 - 6:18 am

**6:33 summary: The Lib Dems have gained control of eight councils (two from NOC) and held two. We’ve won 177 extra council seats – making a total of 384 including seats held. The Tories have lost 11 councils and 254 seats. Labour have lost 2 councils and 45 seats. We’ve gained control of:

FROM THE TORIES:

CHELMSFORD
SOMERSET WEST AND TAUNTON
HINCKLEY AND BOSWORTH
BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET
COTSWOLD
WINCHESTER

FROM NOC:

NORTH NORFOLK
NORTH DEVON

We’ve also held South Lakeland and Eastleigh.

Layla Moran has summarised this as “the best @LibDems local election results since 2003 – right in the aftermath of the Iraq war”. Ed Davey has described this news as “the best results in a generation”.**

7:07 ++The Lib Dems have won control of the Vale of the White Horse district council from the Tories after winning 20 out of 38 seats with several results still to come.

6:53 The Guardian Live results tracker has us on 259 gained seats and 253 held. They have the Tories with 377 lost seats and Labour with 63 lost seats.

6:44 The Press Association report:

The Conservatives have failed to take control of Torbay, after winning 15 seats of the 35 declared with just one result to come.

6:42: Our Bath and North East Somerset victory includes a win in ward where Jacob Rees-Mogg lives! Here’s a great quote from defeated former Conservative council leader Tim Warren, who lost to Lib Dem David Wood:

The guy who took my seat did a great campaign and when you are running a council you have to work full-time, and I didn’t have the time to match him.

The above title quote is from the BBC’s Nick Eardley.

Well done everyone for all your hard work! It’s great to see some really good news this morning. Look at this snapshot!:

The Guardian online front page is a treat:

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Caron Lindsay

Good luck, everybody!

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd May 2019 - 6:55 am

As this post goes live, indefatigable Liberal Democrats the length of England will have been up for hours delivering last minute leaflets in the local elections.

They have a tough day of more leafletting and knocking up (which is nowhere near as exciting as it sounds) ahead of them.

One of the best smells in the world is the breakfast roll cooking when you come in from your good morning leaflets.

But after that, there’s still a good 12 hours of work left.

And usually after the local elections, you can put your feet up for a week or so. Well, that didn’t happen in 2017 because some woman had a rush of blood to the head on a walking holiday in Wales and called a general election. It’s not going to happen now either because of the impending European elections.

The polling day operation is a crucial part of the campaign. Voters in local elections aren’t always inclined to go to the polls – the turnout is usually pretty small compared to a general election. Getting more of ours out than the opposition gets of theirs is crucial.

However tired you may feel, hold on to the idea of how brilliant it will feel if we win these elections. It will give us huge momentum going in to the Euros.

Keep going up until 10pm tonight. I’ll be on the phones for candidates across the country this evening.

Special good luck to our regular contributor Ed Fordham who is seeking elected office for himself for a change in the Brockwell ward in Chesterfield, to the North Devon team led by our Kirsten Johnson, to April Preston in Manchester Withington and Tom Gordon in Wakefield’s Knottingley and Ferrybridge ward.

April has the support of Jo Swinson in this video recorded a couple of months ago.

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Paul Walter

First successful recall petition means there will be a parliamentary by-election in Peterborough

By Paul Walter | Wed 1st May 2019 - 8:20 pm

Official portrait of Fiona Onasanya crop 1
Former MP Fiona Onasanya

For the first time, a recall petition under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 has been successful. There will be a parliamentary by-election in Peterborough.

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The Voice

Cable calls for criminal investigation into Williamson’s conduct

By The Voice | Wed 1st May 2019 - 8:03 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Following the sacking of Gavin Williamson as Defence Secretary over the Huawei leak, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable has called for a thorough criminal investigation into breaches of the Official Secrets Act. He said:

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Ruth Bright

Corbyn and Hobson’s Choice

By Ruth Bright | Wed 1st May 2019 - 5:05 pm

Read the book – it’s Hobson’s choice.

Has the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition actually read J A Hobson’s “Imperialism”? That is the question posed by today’s Times.

J A Hobson (not to be confused with J R Hartley) “Imperialism: A Study” 1902. As I remember it was a green book with a black spine or was it a black book with a green spine? I think our copy went in the book cull of 2017 when we moved house. It probably went to Oxfam – going the same way as “Green Eggs and Ham” and the “Very Hungry Caterpillar”. Books from a different era outgrown by our family.

To be fair, I read a lot of Lenin as a student as my course on Russian History required. But pre cursors to Lenin, like Hobson, that was going a bit too far so poor old Hobson, was, I’m sorry to say, earnestly bought but never read.

Also when I was a student there was a seemingly very sincere post grad who went around giving his socialist pamphlets to all those who would stop and listen for a few moments. Having given up and taken one it was only sometime later that I noticed that after a few pages of hackneyed guff about the “commanding heights” of the economy the pamphlet blamed all the world’s ills on China and the “yellow peril”.

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Posted in Op-eds | 11 Comments
Kirsten Johnson

Social Mobility stagnates, with those from poorer backgrounds having life-long disadvantage

By Kirsten Johnson | Wed 1st May 2019 - 12:30 pm

The report out yesterday from the Social Mobility Commission deserves a closer look. It says that inequality is entrenched from birth.

Lib Dems have argued for years about equality of opportunity – that some are born into families which provide many more opportunities and better life outcomes, a great many others are born into families stuck in a cycle of poverty, low pay and diminished life chances.

When I read Sir Anthony Atkinson’s book several years ago, Inequality, these points were made and the revered economist gave ideas as to how he thought they could be tackled.

But year in, year out, the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. The State of the Nation Report 2019 says that “urgent action needs to be taken to help close the privilege gap.”

Being born privileged means you are likely to remain priviledged, whilst being born disavantaged means you may have to overcome barriers to improve you and your children’s social mobility.

Their report says social mobility has stagnated over the last four years and something needs to be done about it. As this is a Government commission, I hope the Government is listening and does take immediate action. Austerity has gone on long enough and the effect is not only immediate but long-term.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , and | 19 Comments
David Warren

In the court of the Brexit king….

By David Warren | Wed 1st May 2019 - 9:00 am

The nationwide rallies of Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party are well underway. In forming the party as a top down organisation Farage has succeeded in his long quoted desire to lead a party free from the internal democracy. At the rallies Farage appointee  Richard Tice acts as the warm up act for the main event. Tice is articulate and borderline smooth. If he hadn’t made his name in business we could have seen him in a Conservative cabinet or even Hollywood. Clearly a key player in this new political formation.

The entry of ‘The Nigel’ into the arena is the main event, marching to the stage in his trademark suit and tie accompanied by loud rock music he milks the applause. His delivery is vintage Farage in an almost pantomime style he denounces his opponents inviting boos from the audience, but for all the razzmatazz and the claims to be anti establishment the Brexit Party is quite clearly on the Conservative right . Claims that their candidates include people with proven negotiating skills can’t disguise the fact that they all come from the business community, trade unionists from the other side of the table are notable by their absence.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 42 Comments
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