Liam Yip

ALDC by-election report, 28th August

By Liam Yip | Fri 29th August 2025 - 3:51 pm

This week, only one by-election had a Liberal Democrat candidate. The other saw the Conservatives attempting to defend their seat.

In London, Councillor Janet Grauberg and the team secured an impressive victory on Camden Council, with an impressive 15% increase in vote share. Congratulations to everyone involved in the local team!

Camden LBC, West Hampstead
Liberal Democrats (Janet Grauberg): 1,176 (54.4%, +15.4)
Labour: 458 (21.2%, -23.4)
Conservative: 222 (10.3%, -6.3)
Reform UK: 155 (7.2%, new)
Green Party: 152 (7.0%, new)

Liberal Democrats GAIN from Labour

Turnout: 26.44%

Here are the results of the by-election in Nottinghamshire, where there was no Liberal Democrat candidate.

Broxtowe BC, Nuthall East and Strelley
Conservative: 405 (28.6%, -16.5)
Reform UK: 400 (28.3%, new)
Broxtowe Alliance: 275 (19.4%, new)
Labour: 244 (17.2%, -20.1)
Green Party: 70 (4.9%, -6.7)
Independent: 21 (1.5%, new)

Conservative HOLD

Turnout: 35.22%

Thank you to all of our candidates, agents, and campaign teams. A full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.

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Ed Fordham

Vivien Jean Berry (1941-2025)

By Ed Fordham | Fri 29th August 2025 - 1:30 pm

And so to Spalding for the funeral of Vivien Berry, friend, mentor, supporter, and fellow Liberal Democrat… where I learnt the importance of standing, the handling of losing and the difficulties of being a lone Liberal voice…

Vivien and Dick Berry, and their home 33 Halmergate was the location of my first schooling in Party politics. They welcomed me in, made me feel comfortable and made sure I was heard and given space to speak.

Over the years I went back, as my political career developed, I kept them informed and they loved hearing about my working with Paddy Ashdown, becoming a councillor in Stoke on Trent, the campaigns of North London, Hampstead and Kilburn, and more recently in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

And that occasion when I returned to see them both after winning my seat on Stoke-on-City Council – and Dick gave me a pair of cufflinks from his grandfather (I think) and I wore them today with pride.

Vivien herself had stood several times for Spalding East ward but it was not to be… but more significantly she was the agent in 1987 for the huge ambitious campaign for Becky Bryan (later Tinsley) for Stamford and Spalding.

As Liberal politics didn’t flourish enough to elect Vivien (or Becky) she threw herself into the fabric of the town: The Civic Society received a huge amount of her energy and she was able to shape and affect change in the town through its work and role in planning matters.   More recently the Spalding Community Choir received her attention and support and wow did they recognise that today with their rendition of Hallelujah.

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Anna Sabine MP

Anna Sabine MP writes: The risk worth taking: Authentic politics

By Anna Sabine MP | Fri 29th August 2025 - 11:55 am

I came of “political age” in 1997: a politics-mad 17 year old, I won my sixth form’s mock election (for the Lib Dems obviously) and marvelled at the idea I was now living under a Government which wasn’t Conservative. That year, Labour swept to power on a wave of optimism. But very quickly, politics became about message discipline, media management, and “lines to take.” Ministers stuck rigidly to scripts, ducked difficult questions, and avoided risk at all costs. At first it looked professional; soon it looked fake. That culture of spin eroded public trust and, I believe, has left politics diminished.

Politics is so often thought of as a battle of ideas – manifestos, policies, the detail of legislation. But we know most people don’t follow politics in that way. Voters don’t usually sit down with policy papers; they judge us on how we make them feel, whether what we say rings true, and whether we sound like people they can actually trust. More than ever, politics is less about the issues themselves and more about how we communicate.

That’s why figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, however vile their ideas, have managed to cut through. They project a bluntness that their supporters interpret as honesty. It seems authentic – unscripted, unpolished, and real. People believe they are hearing what these politicians actually think, rather than a line from an adviser’s grid.

We’ve also seen a very different kind of authenticity in Ed Davey’s leadership. His willingness to speak openly about his life as a carer – the challenges and sacrifices of looking after his disabled son – has struck a chord. It hasn’t been about clever soundbites but about showing humanity. That kind of authenticity builds a connection with voters that I see played out whenever I meet constituents – “Ah yes, Ed Davey, I like what he says about care” is usually the kind of positive comment that’s made about him.

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Caron Lindsay

Joint Young Liberals and Lib Dem Friends of Palestine statement on Gaza

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 29th August 2025 - 10:25 am

The Young Liberals and Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine released this statement following a debate on Gaza at the Young Liberals’ Conference last week.

Young Liberals set new a party precedent by calling out “Genocidal” Israeli activity in Gaza, and urge the UK government to take urgent steps to promote a just and lasting resolution.

Cambridge, 22nd August 2025 – At their Summer Conference 2025, the Young Liberals overwhelmingly passed a motion calling on the UK government to take urgent and concrete steps to confront Israel’s genocide in Gaza, end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, and support a just, secure and liberal future for both states. 

The motion highlights the immense suffering caused by Israel’s military assault on Gaza and deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid to the Strip. It notes the International Court of Justice’s January 2024 ruling that there are plausible grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, condemns its refusal to comply with the binding measures ordered by the Court, and affirms that it is now right to plainly describe Israel’s actions as genocidal. The motion has fired a starting gun on a new conversation within the party regarding the use of the term genocide, only weeks before the national Annual Conference takes places in Bournemouth.

The motion warns that the failure to justly resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict has eroded democracy and civil society on both sides, leaving Palestinians and Israeli civilians trapped in cycles of violence and insecurity, and affirms that only a negotiated political settlement can deliver a just and lasting peace that respects the right to dignity, freedom and security for both peoples. 

The Young Liberals urged the UK Government to uphold international law and end its complicity by:

  • suspending all military and security cooperation with Israel;
  • banning all trade with illegal settlements;
  • prosecuting British citizens credibly accused of committing war crimes in Gaza; and
  • launching a public inquiry into UK involvement in the conflict.

The motion further calls for:

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Mo Waqas

Rebuilding the NHS with common sense

By Mo Waqas | Fri 29th August 2025 - 8:55 am

When I think about the state of healthcare in this country, I sometimes describe myself as both a dreamer and a realist. I’m a dreamer because I can imagine an NHS that works again, one that feels close to the founding vision of 1948. But I’m also a realist because I know that change won’t come from wishful thinking it will come from practical, common-sense decisions about where we spend money, how we organise services, and who we put first.

Right now, the NHS is struggling not just because of limited funding, but because we don’t use the money we do have in the smartest way. Too much of it is leaking out through privatisation and outsourcing, where contracts are awarded to private companies that often provide poor value and fragmented services. We are patching problems rather than preventing them. And in the process, we are losing sight of the community-based healthcare that once made the NHS the envy of the world.

Take A&E departments as the clearest example. They are overstretched, overcrowded, and overwhelmed. People turn up there with issues that could be treated elsewhere not because they want to wait eight hours on a plastic chair, but because it feels like the only option left. If we properly invested in 24-hour walk-in clinics and community health centres, staffed by trained nurses and doctors, we could take the pressure off hospitals. A&E should be for genuine emergencies, not because a GP appointment is impossible to book or the local clinic has been closed.

This isn’t about reinventing the wheel. Other countries have shown what works. Look at the Netherlands: they have made preventative care central to their system. Around 70% of Dutch adults regularly take part in routine health check-ups. That means issues like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are caught early, treated early, and often prevented from spiralling into life-threatening emergencies. It’s cheaper for the system, and it’s far better for the patient.

We could apply that lesson here. When I was diagnosed with diabetes at 19, I was lucky it was picked up early. If it had been left later, there’s every chance it would have been misdiagnosed as something else, or discovered only when complications had already set in. That’s the story of too many people in Britain today. We end up firefighting late-stage illness when we could have saved lives and money with early intervention.

Another example comes from Australia, where they handle something as simple but crucial as healthcare wages with more foresight than we do. Every three years, they renegotiate pay in line with inflation. That way, nurses and healthcare staff don’t fall behind, and the system avoids endless cycles of strikes. Here in the UK, we lurch from one dispute to another, with exhausted staff having to fight tooth and nail just to stop their pay slipping backwards. It’s demoralising, and it drives people out of the profession. If we had a model like Australia’s, we’d have a more stable workforce and patients wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire of political stubbornness.

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Mark Valladares

28 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 11:20 pm
  • Lib Dems call on Farage to intervene after Nottinghamshire Reform council bans local journalists reporting
  • Davey calls on Blair to give evidence in Parliament following White House Gaza meeting
  • Adult mental health waits stretching to more than 1,000 days
  • Rennie comments on report showing bill for flood schemes is spiralling

Lib Dems call on Farage to intervene after Nottinghamshire Reform council bans local journalists reporting

The Liberal Democrats have written to Nigel Farage to demand he intervenes after Reform’s Nottinghamshire County Council Leader blocked his councillors from speaking to local journalists from Nottinghamshire Live and the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson Max Wilkinson has written to Farage demanding he step in and urge Reform’s council leader Mick Barton to reverse the “dangerous and chilling” decision.

Max Wilkinson said the move risks contravening local government’s code of conduct, which calls on elected officials to “submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure … accountability”, and prohibits information being withheld from the public “unless there are clear and lawful reasons for doing so”.

Max Wilkinson MP, Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson, said:

Reform’s move to block local journalists from reporting on their work is straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook. It’s a cornerstone of our democracy that politicians of all stripes are held to account — but for some reason Farage’s cronies think they can make themselves exempt.

This move sets a dangerous and chilling precedent for if Reform were to win power nationally and goes against our deeply rooted British values of freedom of the press. We must stand up to Reform’s assault on those principles.

Nigel Farage pretends to champion free speech: I’m calling on him to take some responsibility for once in his political career and demand that Nottinghamshire County Council Leader Mick Barton reverses this decision.

Davey calls on Blair to give evidence in Parliament following White House Gaza meeting

Responding to Tony Blair’s meeting at the White House with the Trump administration discussing the war in Gaza, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Tony Blair needs to come before Parliament to give evidence about his discussions with the Trump administration about the ongoing war and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

If he has special insight into Trump’s intentions, it’s only right that Parliament and the Government are made privy to this.

Trump has a unique power to help end this war, get the hostages out, and get the desperately needed aid in to relieve the horrendous human suffering in Gaza. We must leverage all the information and resources at our disposal to make him do the right thing.

Adult mental health waits stretching to more than 1,000 days

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that the SNP have no plan to fix the crisis in mental health after new research by his party revealed shocking waits for psychological therapies across many of Scotland’s health boards, including a patient waiting more than seven years to start treatment.

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Natalie Bird writes: Why I’m standing for Party President

By Natalie Bird | Thu 28th August 2025 - 4:50 pm

In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature (like this one) plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign.

Should I receive the nominations, I intend to stand for Party President.

A Truly National Party

I am a Northerner, and it matters deeply to me that our party speaks to—and for—the whole of the UK, not just privileged parts of the South. Too many communities have endured decades of chronic underfunding, leaving structural problems that demand structural solutions.

One of the clearest ways we can drive prosperity is through transport. A railway system that is reliable, punctual, and affordable should be the backbone of opportunity across the country. Transport must be a tool for growth and connection—not a barrier.

Protecting Women’s Rights

I have spent years challenging the party’s internal culture, including taking legal action over discrimination. I won my case for sex discrimination, yet the leadership failed to communicate that outcome clearly to members. Meanwhile, some of those responsible for the problems I raised remain in place, with some even seeking promotion.

We face serious governance issues. We have lost our ability to hold ourselves accountable. Justice must not be a privilege reserved for the wealthy. That is why I will push for expanded access to legal aid, ensuring that ordinary people can seek justice without fear of financial ruin.

Protecting Women’s Rights

Women fought hard for the right to vote, to be heard, and to have single-sex spaces. These rights must never be eroded—by our party or by anyone else. The Supreme Court’s ruling on this issue must be respected and implemented by all councils.

I am also deeply concerned that the party has remained silent on the Cass Review. We still have policy dating back to 2015 promoting puberty blockers for children—despite clear evidence that this is not a safe or appropriate stance. Continuing to endorse unevidenced medical treatment is indefensible. Conference has repeatedly failed to update outdated or unscientific policies. That must change.

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Nick Baird

Labour is playing into Farage’s hands in the immigration debate

By Nick Baird | Thu 28th August 2025 - 2:57 pm

Tuesday brought the announcement of Reform UK’s plans for immigration and asylum, plans which were then relentlessly platformed by the BBC and other media outlets in an exercise that felt like a day-long party political broadcast for the UK’s seventh largest party.

Even cursory examination revealed the plans to be as impractical and they were immoral, but it’s all too clear that Nigel Farage is setting the agenda on the immigration debate, and Labour’s initial response by Party Chair Ellie Reeves criticised the plans for their “lack of detail” rather than their lack of humanity. Fortunately the Liberal Democrat response from Ed Davey, Daisy Cooper and others was considerably more robust, if much less reported on.

But there is a fundamental dishonesty at the root of Reform’s policy, and it’s one that Labour is too scared to challenge. That dishonesty is encapsulated in the statement from Farage that “the only way to stop small boats crossing the English Channel is by detaining and deporting absolutely anyone who comes via that route”.

That’s simply not true. The only way to stop the boats is in fact to fulfil the Lib Dem manifesto commitment to create the currently non-existent legal routes to claim asylum, which really would remove the incentive to risk small boat crossings and destroy the people-smuggler’s business model.

Labour could do that, as could the Tories before, so why don’t they?

Currently you can normally only claim asylum once already in the UK, yet you can’t apply for a UK visa for the purpose of claiming asylum, and without a visa you can’t legally board a flight to the UK and pay an airline instead of a smuggling gang for your journey. This creates a Catch-22 that prevents legal asylum claims. Effectively it is unwritten UK policy to choke off the number of asylum claims by making it extremely difficult to make an application, requiring a high-risk journey to the UK courtesy of a criminal gang, something Labour is no more willing to admit than the Tories before them.

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The Liberal Democrats must lead the way on global women’s rights

By Janey Little and David Chalmers | Thu 28th August 2025 - 12:50 pm

Last week, The Guardian reported that the UK Government is considering scrapping the commitment to spending 80% of foreign aid on programmes that have gender equality as at least one component.

This is the latest of a series of Government decisions to leave the most marginalised women around the world at even greater risk. Cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) have disproportionately affected programmes focusing on women and girls, but Starmer has decided to slash ODA to 0.3%. In the Comprehensive Spending Review, women and girls were not included in the priority list for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for the first time.

Meanwhile, misogyny is on the rise, violence against women is epidemic, and social, political, and economic inequality persist. Nearly a quarter of countries reported a backlash to women’s rights in 2024. Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by a partner or family member. Trump’s America continues to threaten the livelihoods of women globally, with the dismantling of USAID depriving women and girls of essential healthcare.

The UK should be a world leader in defending women’s rights and rejecting growing misogyny and international backlash to gender equality. That’s why we’re bringing a policy motion to Autumn Conference titled Defending Women’s Rights Across the Globe.

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Judy Abel

We need better political decision-making and accountability 

By Judy Abel | Thu 28th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Government has no money of its own, yet successive governments have spent taxpayers’ money on failed projects with impunity – and immunity!

When considering one of the recent less than helpful policy choices foisted on us by Labour, putting up National Insurance on employers’ contributions – which has in practice stopped many companies from taking on new employees despite Labour pinning everything on growth! – it got me thinking about how poor policy decision-making often is at the top. Presented with the key facts, almost anyone could have told Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves (and they did) that this NI hike on employers was a poor idea, yet the decision was made by top politicians earning six-figure salaries!

Let’s think about some of the other poor and costly policy decisions of recent years. It’s actually hard to know where to start!

Most Lib Dems would struggle to approve of any of the measures enacted by the Thatcher Government, but selling off council housing, a deeply ideological move, was perhaps one of their most reckless ideas. The lost pool of social housing was never replaced so, decades later, we have many less well-off families permanently locked out of affordable housing and, tragically, more homeless people than ever on our streets.

And what about the Iraq War? There never were any weapons of mass destruction and Tony Blair only really agreed to stand shoulder to shoulder with President Bush on the War because of the questionable ‘special relationship’. Think what this cost the UK in terms of lost lives and billions wasted on military combat. The 2016 Chilcot Enquiry concluded, “The consequences of the invasion and of the conflict within Iraq which followed are still being felt in Iraq and the wider Middle East, as well as in the UK”. Yet somehow only the Lib Dems could see in advance that this War was deeply wrong.

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Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish and Welsh press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum
  • Cole-Hamilton: Scotland deserves better than Farage
  • Nigel Farage accused of plan to ‘rip up Welsh countryside’ with fracking
  • Scot Lib Dems comment on Simpson defection
  • Reconviction rate increases among prisoners

Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum

Speaking ahead of the Scottish Drugs Forum on Wednesday 27th August, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has called on the SNP government to take strong action on the growing number of drug deaths caused by synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than heroin.

In …

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Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Energy price cap: Government must cancel rise and take up plan to halve bills
  • Mounjaro supply chaos: Lib Dems call for CMA investigation
  • Farage u-turn shows he “has taken as much time reading his own plan as he does his constituents’ emails”
  • Thames Water fines: Govt should stop “wheeling and dealing” and finally put customers first
  • Ed Davey to boycott Trump state banquet in push to end Gaza’s humanitarian disaster

Energy price cap: Government must cancel rise and take up plan to halve bills

Responding to Ofgem announcing that the energy price cap will rise by 2%, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The last thing struggling

…

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The Voice

Ed Davey to boycott Trump State visit banquet over Gaza

By The Voice | Wed 27th August 2025 - 7:37 pm

Ed Davey has announced that he will boycott the State Banquet to be held during Donald Trump’s State Visit because of Trump’s complicity in the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. He explains why in this video:

He said:

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Jack Nicholls

We are the party of human rights, and we need to sound like it

By Jack Nicholls | Wed 27th August 2025 - 11:55 am

When Ming Campbell ran for the leadership, his best line was that Britain did not need a third conservative party. The situation now is so much worse; we have three hard authoritarian parties engaged in virility contests for who can be more horrible to and about very vulnerable people. I would like us to be much more emphatically full-fat liberal in the things we do and say, particularly in relation to migration.

I want to see our spokespeople saying that immigrants make us a stronger, better country, are net contributors to both the exchequer and our wider social life, and that in a liberal, plural society, and we are just about still a liberal society, the presence of another culture  does not have to threaten yours.

I want them to bang the drum for human rights, both in law and spirit. I want them to say proudly and firmly that people have a right to seek asylum, and that this right comes from the same laws and conventions that protect everyone who was born here. I want them to say that to claim asylum you have to physically show up, and that is harder to do by conventional routes since the Tory government shut a lot of them down.

I want them to say that if we leave the ECHR, which I fear Starmer and Cooper are now privately toying with, everybody in this country will be less safe. I want them to cite Tony Benn – a good civil libertarian, whatever our other differences with him – saying that how a government treats refugees is instructive of how it would treat the rest of us if it could get away with it.

I want them to bang on about how swapping human rights for a British Bill of Rights means your statutory standing and privileges are based on your citizenship, which, however rarely it might happen, can be revoked. Ask Sajid Javid, he did it. 

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The Voice

Nominations for party President are open

By The Voice | Wed 27th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Yesterday party members should have received an email from Civica Election Services titled The Liberal Democrats Internal Federal Elections 2025 – Nominations Process. 

This is the starting gun for the Federal Party’s internal elections this year when all the Federal Committees will be up for election alongside the Party President and Vice President.

The email tells you what you need to do to put yourself forward as a candidate and nominate others.

At this stage nominations are only open for President and Vice President.

At the time of writing there are two publicly declared candidates for President, both of whom have written launch pieces for Liberal Democrat Voice, Josh Babarinde and Prue Bray.

Liberal Democrat Voice has also been advised that Natalie Bird has declared herself to be a candidate, although as yet we are not aware that there has been a public campaign launch.

There are two declared candidates for Vice President, Kamran Hussain and Victoria Collins.

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Callum Robertson

Three ways to highlight Lib Dem local government beyond Conference

By Callum Robertson | Wed 27th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Nick da Costa’s recent article on local government inclusion at conference made for pleasant reading. However, our work to champion our local government work, has to exist beyond conference.

It is important because winning a greater number of councillors in any given area is crucial to winning more parliamentary seats. Crucially it goes beyond that. Every single councillor elected means that a greater number of people across our country get a hard-working local councillor standing up for them and their community and when we win control of councils, we can deliver life changing opportunities to local areas.

Inclusion of local government work within our comms grid to members.

Our emails are good at explaining what we are doing in parliament. However, as the third party in parliament we can only have so much impact.

So where can we communicate that we have had a direct impact on people’s lives? 

Through highlighting our local government work and the impact it can have on people’s lives to members, we could both increase the respect that local government has in the party but also increase the number of people who actually want to be local councillors.

Promote the work of our councils in the media.

I am a great believer that you can learn from your opponents, and whilst we share basically nothing in common with Reform, they have managed to make their councils and councillors newsworthy. Albeit often for the wrong reasons.

We should be shouting about the achievements of our councils and councillors. Whilst our Liberal Democrat-led councils are delivering for residents every day, our opposition councillors are also punching above their weight.

For example, Cllr Tom Astell, who is an opposition councillor in Hull and East Yorkshire managed to win some fantastic coverage for his work holding the Reform Mayor to account for his flexible interpretation of public finance regulations. Another example is councillor Michael Mullaney in Leicestershire who has hit out over reform chaos.

Champion getting more metro-Mayors and London Assembly Members elected.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Fewer WTE GPs now than in 2019
  • Cole-Hamilton comments on record NHS waiting lists, social care delays and worsening A&E waits
  • Chamberlain: Crime statistics “deeply troubling”
  • SNP oversees worsening outcomes for looked-after children
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to record low birth rate

Fewer WTE GPs now than in 2019

Commenting on the publication of GP workforce numbers, where despite an uptick there are still fewer whole time equivalent GPs now than there were in 2019, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

The Scottish Government is absolutely miles away from delivering the 800 extra GPs it promised by 2027.

General practice is overwhelmed. People are ringing their surgeries hundreds of times to try and get an appointment. GPs tell me that they can rack up nearly 100 separate contacts with patients in a single day.

Scottish Liberal Democrats would draw on the wider skills that exist in mental health, physiotherapy, pharmacy and more. By adding specialists to local teams we can lessen the load on GPs and get you fast access to the best care.

Scottish Liberal Democrats also secured more money for GPs in this year’s budget. This money can start unpicking years of damage caused by the SNP, but what the NHS really needs is a change of government.

Cole-Hamilton comments on record NHS waiting lists, social care delays and worsening A&E waits

Responding to official statistics showing a record 879,215 patients are now on outpatient, inpatient or diagnostic waiting lists, including thousands waiting for years, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP commented:

Hundreds of thousands of people are waiting in pain and uncertainty. People can’t get on in life and it’s impacting the economy.

Waiting lists in Scotland are now far worse than those in England, the rollout of national treatment centres has stalled, and repeated SNP promises to speed up treatment have fallen flat.

Since June 2024, the number of people waiting over two years for outpatient appointments has more than trebled. Some waits are even longer still.

After almost two decades in charge, the SNP have proved to be bad for your health. Scotland deserves better.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are bursting with fresh ideas to get our NHS back on its feet and get everyone the care they need in good time. At next May’s election, everyone can vote for those plans by backing my party on the peach regional ballot paper.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights
  • Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed
  • Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax
  • Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”
  • Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights

Responding to Reform’s press conference this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don’t have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools.

Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave. Doing so would only make it harder for each of us as individuals to hold the government to account and stop it trampling on our freedoms.

On Zia Yusuf’s comments regarding paying the Taliban to take back Afghan migrants, Daisy Cooper added:

Reform’s Taliban tribute plan would send British taxpayers’ cash to fund their oppressive regime, fuelling the persecution of Afghan women and children and betraying our brave Armed Forces who sacrificed so much fighting the Taliban. Clearly British values mean nothing to Farage and his band of plastic patriots.

Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed

Responding to the news that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde MP said:

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Michal Siewniak

Let’s talk about the flag

By Michal Siewniak | Tue 26th August 2025 - 6:00 pm

“Interesting” developments in the UK over the summer. I suppose (?), it is good to see people marching, demonstrating, and more importantly exercising their right to express their views and opinions.

Personally, I have no problem with the UK or English flags being flown or waved. I understand that any flag is often seen as a national symbol and it will strongly resonate with many residents. The flag itself reminds people of their heritage, customs and traditions. During my recent trip to Croatia, I have noticed countless flags being flown across towns, cities and neighbourhoods. The Croatian flag is strongly embedded in people’s national pride and identity, also due to the complex history of countries in that part of Europe.

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Mark Pack

Mark Pack writes…Conference is nearly here

By Mark Pack | Tue 26th August 2025 - 4:10 pm

Our Bournemouth Conference (20-23 September) is nearly here. It may be only our second Autumn Federal Conference since the start of Keir Starmer’s time in 10 Downing Street, but already politics has moved on hugely. With the dramatic failure of Labour to fail to get to grips with government, the rise of Reform and Kemi Badenoch being… well, Kemi Badenoch, there are new and important political opportunities for the Liberal Democrats.

We see that week in, week out in council by-elections where it is only the Liberal Democrats who can consistently take on and beat Reform. Even in former Labour seats where we start a long-way behind, it is so often us who surge in support, making the contest a Reform versus Liberal Democrat one.

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Lord William Wallace

William Wallace writes: What are we campaigning FOR?

By Lord William Wallace | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:57 am

The Liberal Party I joined in 1960 was far better at thinking than campaigning.  The party leader, Jo Grimond, published several books, with radical proposals ranging from co-ownership to joining the ‘Common Market’ and cancelling the independent deterrent.  There were multiple policy groups, several academically-led bodies like the ‘Unservile State Group’ that published their own lengthy analyses, and a Liberal Summer School.  We weren’t much good at campaigning, but we prided ourselves on being ‘the party of ideas’.

Young Liberals in the 1960s also loved debating policy, but after the setbacks of the 1964 and 1966 elections were critical of the amateurish approach to campaigning.  Community politics proved itself from local successes, and rising generations of Liberal campaigners learned how to win, one ward and one seat after another, through pounding the pavements and taking up local issues.  Several decades later, the 2024 election showed what we can achieve through targeted campaigning.  But facing an electorate that is more and more sceptical of all politicians, we risk being seen as nice, friendly but hard to define in political terms.  The Labour government is now being criticised for having no overall message to underpin its policies.  We are in danger of attracting similar criticism.

So we need to spend more time thinking, making political discussion and informed proposals complement continued campaigning.  Party policy-making runs through an unavoidable cycle between elections: immediate exhaustion after each election, with new MPs, Councillors and members finding their feet and defining their roles; sufficient experience and time in the second and third years to try out new ideas and shape them into attractive and practical policies; greater caution about floating new ideas as the next election approaches, as party strategists boil down policy packages into messages and manifesto and guard against hostile publicity exploiting any half-prepared idea that is floated.  

We need to be particularly attentive during this political cycle for two reasons: first, that the most likely outcome of the 2028-9 election is that no party wins an overall majority (unless, horror of horrors, Reform sweeps in), and that we find ourselves as a potential partner in whatever government is formed; second, that the economic and international situation which that new government faces will be at least as grim as it is today.  Many Liberal Democrats will groan at the suggestion that we might once again go into government, particularly if we were not the senior partner.  But we could not refuse to negotiate if the outcome is unclear, and if – for example – we find ourselves with 100 MPs or more in a 3-party negotiation (an entirely possible scenario) we will be in a much stronger position than in 2010, provided we have prepared carefully and have agreed priorities.

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Prue Bray

Prue Bray writes: Why I’m standing to be party President

By Prue Bray | Mon 25th August 2025 - 7:00 pm

In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature (like this one) plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign.

Prue Bray sitting at desk with bundle of Focus leaflets

In my 30 years in the Lib Dems, there have been times of celebration and times when it felt as though I was one of a small band carrying the candle of Liberalism through the darkness.  Our recent success is wonderful, but now we find ourselves in a place where everything we believe in is under threat from populism and nationalism.  There is a lot at stake, and we need to be ready to fight for Liberalism harder than we have ever fought before.  We are the cavalry: no-one is going to fight this battle for us.  This is why I intend to stand to be the next party president.

My aim as president would be to enable the party to use its limited resources as effectively as possible, so that we can campaign successfully and maximise the influence of Liberalism to counter nationalism and populism.  I also want to make sure that we put the party on as sustainable a footing as possible, so that we can have confidence we can continue that campaigning for the long term.

I would not be seeking to change the structures of the party.  I think it is more productive to work on getting as many people as possible from all parts of the party to collaborate together and pool their talents and ideas, and to remove any unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of progress.  That is about culture, not structure.  

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Duncan Brack

The survival of the Liberal Party, 1931–1960

By Duncan Brack | Mon 25th August 2025 - 11:55 am

At the lowest point in its history, during the early and mid 1950s, the Liberal Party almost ceased to exist. Its decline from one of the great governing parties of the nineteenth century was rapid; the last solely Liberal government came to an end in 1915, the last Liberal Prime Minister left office in 1922, and thereafter Liberals only participated in government during the National emergency coalitions of the 1930s and 1940s (until 2010). The party was reduced to contesting only just over 100 seats in the 1951 and 1955 elections, and fell to a mere five MPs in 1957. Yet at the same time, Liberal ideas, propounded by John Maynard Keynes, Ernest Simon and William Beveridge, among others, helped lay the foundations of post-war British governments’ economic, welfare and housing policies.

How the Liberal Party survived at all, to enjoy successive waves of revival from the 1960s onwards, is still something of a mystery. Was it due to the Conservatives’ desire to recruit Liberal voters into the broadest possible anti-socialist coalition? Was it thanks to the stubborn refusal of Liberal activists in the few remaining areas of core strength to give up the struggle? Was it simply because the party seemed too insignificant for the others to go to the trouble of wiping it out? 

The summer issue of the Journal of Liberal History is a special themed edition, looking at this question, the survival of the Liberal Party in its darkest hours. Contents include:

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Arthur Wu

Sharpening the Liberal edge: How European exchange can strengthen our democracy

By Arthur Wu | Mon 25th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Participants in Studio Europe group photoAs a long-standing campaigner within the Liberal Democrats and someone who has represented the Young Liberals internationally, I’ve often said that liberalism is not just about policy. It’s about practice. That principle was reaffirmed at Studio Europe 2025, a gathering of young Liberal leaders from across the continent. It offered a valuable opportunity to reflect, collaborate, and sharpen the political tools we need to defend and renew democracy.

For our Party, the program also highlighted something more profound: that meaningful European exchange is not just a cultural or diplomatic nicety. It is essential to rebuild the liberal centre ground and inspire a new generation of democratic leaders.

Among the sessions, two stood out in particular: one on coalition negotiation, and the other on political integrity. These are issues we in the UK are familiar with. While we’ve excelled at campaign innovation and digital messaging, our internal development programmes often overlook the strategic demands of political leadership, particularly what it means to govern without losing sight of our values.

The coalition negotiation workshop was especially timely. Having worked at both local and international levels of liberal organising, I’ve long understood the tension between compromise and principle. The session helped formalise that understanding: how to identify red lines, assess risk, and build alliances that accommodate ideological difference without losing your core identity.

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Nick da Costa

Making sure local government has a real voice at Conference

By Nick da Costa | Sun 24th August 2025 - 11:08 am

Following a letter from Joe Harris, Leader of the Lib Dem Group on the LGA, and Heather Kidd, chair of ALDC, to myself and Party President Mark Pack, we have had a very constructive series of discussions. We all agreed on the need to ensure the brilliant work of our local authority groups is properly recognised at Conference.

Some of the steps we discussed will require agreement also from others, but following the discussions this is the plan:

For this year’s Conference:

Rally: HQ have confirmed there will be a strong local government focus.

Conference Showcase: The programme includes the ReformWatch panel in the auditorium, led by local government voices.

Looking ahead to future Conferences:

Keynote Speaker: FCC would welcome a keynote speaker from local government; proposals (with supporting reasons) need to reach me/FCC Chair by late May for Autumn Conference.

Conference Directory: I’ve suggested an advertorial double-page feature where ALDC/LGA can highlight local government achievements.

Civic Opening: I’d like to reintroduce a full civic opening of Conference, led by the local authority or council group leader, rather than opening by the President. As our Bournemouth Conference has both a local Lib Dem council leader and a local Lib Dem MP, Mark has offered anyway to step aside this time to give more time to the council leader We will work also with the Media Team around coordinating local / regional media.

Auditorium Sessions: I’ve encouraged ALDC/LGA to pitch further auditorium sessions (panels, presentations, etc.). Not all can be guaranteed – but we need good options to consider.

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David Chalmers

Reflections on Ukraine’s Independence Day

By David Chalmers | Sun 24th August 2025 - 8:54 am

People gather in Mykolav to support caputred soldiers

Today, the Ukrainians celebrate their Independence Day.  How fitting that it comes just over a week after that  meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin and the subsequent meeting at the White House between Trump and European Leaders – where the independence of this heroic nation was the main topic for discussion. 

I am sure that many Lib Dems will have  joined in the celebrations this weekend – a reflection of the strong friendships that  have been formed with the Ukrainians living in the UK. As liberals we  recognised early on that the Ukrainians were fighting our war against the forces seeking to destroy the very basis of  our liberal democracies – forces also determined to undermine our liberal values.  That bond is  also reflected in the strong relationship that the Liberal Democrats have formed in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE and Liberal International with  our Ukrainian sister parties  – President Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party and the opposition party Golos, led by our dear friend Kira Rudik.   Many personal friendships have developed, with Kira a well known face and frequent visitor to our party Conferences and Yevheniia Kravchuk,  the Vice President of ALDE,  attending last year’s Autumn Conference in Brighton.  The Lib Dems have stood steadfastly behind our Ukrainian partners during this time of war, but also in helping  to rebuild their country and society when they at last enjoy peace.

But not peace at any cost.  The Ukrainians have fought and lost too many of their people –  soldiers on the battlefield and civilians in  the attacks on their homes – to just give it all up,  as if those that have given their lives were worth nothing.   

I was invited to visit Ukraine at  the end of May to attend the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa, and I was in the country when Ukraine carried out one its most daring acts of the war – Operation Spiders Web – involving  multiple drone attacks from within side Russia on its military airfields, which saw a third of its bomber fleet destroyed.  A truly historic day for Ukraine.

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s cornucopia – 23 August 2025

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd August 2025 - 2:30 pm

I thought I’d make up a list of things that took my fancy this week.

First up, if you know someone going to the Notting Hill carnival, Liberty has an excellent guide to your rights if you are zapped by facial recognition technology.

Former Love Island contestant Sharon Gaffka talks to Politics Home about how her experience of reality tv gave her a platform to campaign for women’s rights and highlight the discrimination women face.

I’m very chuffed with the Guardian for sticking by its journalism and the women who told their stories about their dealings with Noel Clarke, who lost his libel case against them yesterday. Editor Katharine Viner takes us through the events of the past couple of years.

 

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Caron Lindsay

Call to end “racist weaponisation” of violence against women and girls

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd August 2025 - 12:30 pm

The End Violence against Women and Girls coalition has called for an end to the “racist weaponisation” of violence against women and girls to further an anti migrant agenda:

Over recent weeks, people claiming to care about the “safety of women and children” have left families, women and children living in temporary asylum accommodation afraid to leave their front door. They follow in the footsteps of the rioters who used the appalling murder of three young girls as an excuse to bring violence to our streets; with targeted attacks against migrant, minoritised and Muslim communities. That two out of five of those arrested for that disorder themselves had police histories of domestic abuse illustrates not only the pervasiveness of gender-based violence but the disingenuous nature of many of those who claim to have the interests of women and children at heart. Meanwhile, members of Parliament freely share false statistics about the nationality of perpetrators. Government ministers have even endorsed some of this summer’s demonstrators as having ‘legitimate’ concerns, which risks normalising and enabling the spreading of racist narratives by the far-right.

Not only do these falsehoods fail to keep women safe, they serve as a racist distraction that actively impedes the urgent work of addressing gender-based violence. Myths and misconceptions about sexual violence act as a barrier to justice for survivors. Spreading an inaccurate picture of VAWG in the UK allows the people – overwhelmingly men, from all walks of life – who harm women and girls to hide behind racial stereotypes and scapegoating. Meanwhile, hostile immigration policies propped up by this misinformation put many of the most marginalised women and survivors in the UK – racialised, migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women – at even greater risk of harm, destitution, homelessness, exploitation and criminalisation.

We have seen this sort of thing happen before when the right, many of whom have never lifted a finger to do anything for women’s rights in their lives, use women’s safety to demonise and target trans people. Of course that sort of behaviour was never going to stop there.

Andrea Simon the Director of the End Violence against Women coalition said:

The far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda. These attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls’ autonomy, rights and freedoms. What’s more, they ignore the reality that most violence against women and girls is perpetrated by someone known to them.

The fight to end gender-based violence and uphold migrant rights are connected, as they rely on a world in which everyone’s human rights are respected. Political leaders must change course and play a positive role in working to build a better world for all.

On the same theme, Glamour magazine has interviews with three women from places where there have been riots and protests allegedly aimed at protecting women. All three reject the premise of these demonstrations. Theresa, from Wath-on-Dearne says:

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Michael Taylor

Conference countdown: A confusing state of affairs

By Michael Taylor | Sat 23rd August 2025 - 10:12 am

The party seems to be getting into a strange situation about the European Union, and it seems confused as well.

On the one hand it is calling for a special customs union with the EU, when there’s a perfectly good one already available – one we were in for over 40 years – and on the other it’s castigating Labour for not having the courage to join the Single Market and the Customs Union, but not, apparently, seeking for the UK to join them.

Serious observers of the state of the British Economy vis-à-vis the EU know that the only way to start to make up the serious decline caused by Brexit is to join the Single Market and the Customs Union, so that the many barriers that now exist to trade with the EU can be eliminated and trade can flow uninterrupted to and from the EU, our biggest and nearest trading partner.

Indeed, this contradiction can be clearly seen in the resolution F31 up for debate on the Monday of Conference. In lines 30-34 it bemoans the lack of ambition by the government’s refusal to consider joining the Single Market and the Customs Union and in lines 66-69 urges the creation of a new bespoke Customs Union with the EU to cut red tape and spur economic growth.

It seems to me that there is a singular lack of ambition by the writers of the motion. Instead of calling for the UK to negotiate entry to the Customs Union and the Single Market, it calls for something much weaker instead.

I am very puzzled by this. Opinion polls are now showing a clear majority in favour, not of Single Market and Customs Union, but fully rejoining the EU.

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Caron Lindsay

Vince at the Book Festival

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 22nd August 2025 - 7:07 pm

Vince Cable talks about his new book at Edinburgh Book FestivalI may not always agree with Vince Cable, but I always want to know what he thinks about international economics because he always has relevant, interesting and well-researched observations. So when he came to the Edinburgh Book Festival on Wednesday, I really wanted to be there to see him talk about his new book “Eclipsing the West: China, India and the forging of a new world.”

The last time I’d seen him in Edinburgh was when he appeared on Iain Dale’s All Talk on a miserable lunchtime in front of a fairly small audience. So I was delighted to see that there was a massive queue for his show, though I was not so delighted to be at the end of it. It was interesting that I didn’t spot very many Lib Dems among them, though I found out later that they had occupied the front couple of rows.

The Book Festival used to be located in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square, but has been in the new Edinburgh Futures Institute since last year. I loved the old venue and was sceptical about this one but the courtyard is lovely, the theatres much more comfortable and the toilets infinitely better than the old portable ones. It’s more challenging for me to get to but it is in the heart of the Festival. The Futures Institute is part of the University and is in the renovated old hospital building on Lauriston Place.  I and my family have this location app and the first time I was at the Book Festival I got a message from my sister asking if I was ok as she thought I had been murdered and dumped in a storage container as the Google Earth images the app uses are a bit out of date and show when it was a building site.

Anyway, back to Vince. He was interviewed by the BBC’s Douglas Fraser, but there wasn’t really much for him to do. It was more like a lecture as Vince took us through slides charting how China and India’s economies were growing at a rate that would have them well ahead of anywhere else within the next 75 years. He looked at what this meant for the world order and predicted that we are in for a bit of a turbulent time. The world needs someone to lead it and as the US steps back, and nobody is ready to assume the responsibilities it carries out, who is going to be in charge of keeping key international institutions and work going – critical things like dealing with climate change and international trade.

He made the point that both India and China had told Trump to take a running jump with his tariffs. China had been able to get its tariffs reduced because it had the minerals the US needed. It is maybe a lesson, though, for people who think that sucking up to him is a good idea.

He contrasted key differences in the way China and India were run and looked at the challenges for both of them. He said that while the Chinese leadership still cracked down on dissent, they were allowing more debate about certain issues. He cited the recent controversy over a young woman being expelled from a Chinese university because of her relationship with a foreign man. There has been some outrage on social media in China about this.

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