Chris Ward

ALDC by-election report, 21st August

By Chris Ward | Fri 22nd August 2025 - 5:24 pm

It has been a bumper package of by-elections this week, with eight polls for nine seats, including the replacement of a double-hatted councillor.

In Hinchley Wood, Claygate & Oxshott, Councillor Andy Burton and the team pulled off a great victory on Surrey County Council, which sees the end of Conservative control of the county. Congratulations!

Surrey County Council, Hinchley Wood, Claygate & Oxshott
Liberal Democrats (Andy Burton): 1,656 (38.1%, -6.2)
Conservative: 1,346 (31.0%, -16.0)
Independent: 659 (15.2%, new)
Reform UK: 551 (12.7%, +8.3)
Green Party: 101 (2.3%, new)
Labour: 31 (0.7%, -3.6)

Liberal Democrats GAIN from Conservative

Turnout: 34%

In East Hampshire, congratulations are also due to Councillor Lizzie Marshall and the team for this solid hold, with an increase in vote share!

East Hampshire District Council, Alton Amery
Liberal Democrats (Lizzie Marshall): 407 (54.9%, +1.6)
Reform UK: 189 (25.5%, new)
Conservative: 145 (19.6%, -9.9)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

Turnout: 36.45%

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The Voice

Conference Countdown: Policy motions: Backing youth work to build communities

By The Voice | Fri 22nd August 2025 - 9:22 am

We are taking a gentle meander through the agenda for Federal Conference which takes place in Bournemouth from 20-23 September.  We’ll give you the highlights of policy motions, reports and papers. Under the spotlight here is a motion proposed by Munira Wilson MP, to be summed up by Josh Babarinde MP on the importance of engaging, high quality youth work. This is open for amendment until 8 September at 1pm. You can read all the motions in the agenda here. 

The motion sets out the impact of the cuts in youth work in recent years and explains the value of youth work in helping young people to live the lives they want to live.

Youth work can be a key tool in helping every young person to achieve their potential.

High–quality youth work can act as a preventative service, helping young people to avoid negative outcomes like involvement in crime or anti–social behaviour, or being Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

Youth work provision can lead to improved mental and physical health, strengthened life skills, and a heightened sense of belonging for young people that supports social cohesion.

The motion also emphasises the importance of including young people in building these programs.

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Mark Valladares

21 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 21st August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Rising numbers in asylum hotels: Govt must speed up processing to get backlog down
  • Scottish NHS still relies on almost 600 buildings which are more than 70 years old

Rising numbers in asylum hotels: Govt must speed up processing to get backlog down

Responding to this morning’s immigration figures showing a rise over the past year in the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said:

The asylum backlog has been far too large for far too long.

The Conservatives trashed our immigration system and let numbers spiral. Now this Labour government is failing to get a grip on the crisis.

The Government urgently needs to stop dangerous Channel crossings and speed up asylum processing to bring down the backlog and end hotel use once and for all.

Scottish NHS still relies on almost 600 buildings which are more than 70 years old

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that making sure the NHS has the facilities it needs to thrive must be a top priority, after new research by his party revealed that almost 600 NHS buildings are more than 70 years old.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request to all of Scotland’s health boards found that:

  • There are 597 NHS buildings over 70 years old across Scotland.
  • 121 of these are located in NHS Glasgow, where there are also 210 buildings up to 50 years old.
  • 104 buildings are more than 70 years in old in NHS Lothian. This figure is 97 in NHS Grampian and 93 in NHS Tayside.
  • In NHS Ayrshire and Arran 30 buildings are more than 80 years old – predating the founding of the NHS.
  • Across Scotland, there are also at least 18 buildings which are both more than 70 years old and require high risk repairs.
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Caron Lindsay

Former Lib Dem MP Annette Brooke dies

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 21st August 2025 - 7:36 pm

I know that you will all be sad to know that former Mid Dorset and Poole MP Annette Brooke passed away yesterday.

Ed Davey paid tribute to her on Twitter.

“My heart is full of sadness today, as we have lost a dear friend and wonderful former colleague, Annette Brooke.

“Annette dedicated her life to public service, always fighting for the people who needed her voice.

“She served her local community with great dedication as a councillor and later Mayor.

“Annette made history, not only by being the first woman to be elected as an MP in a general election in Dorset, through her tireless campaigning, she also went on to become the longest-serving female MP for the Liberal Democrats.

“The countless people she helped over her wonderful life of public service will miss her deeply.

“My thoughts and prayers are with her wonderful family, friends, and the Dorset community.”

Her husband Mike and daughters Caroline and Eleanor were quoted in the Bournemouth Echo:

Her husband, Mike Brooke, said: “She was very accessible to everyone.

“She cared for everyone, and she was determined to do the best for others.

“She wasn’t proud.

“In fact, I think her humility was recognised by many, many people.”

Her family said Dame Annette was “supportive, determined, caring”, put “everyone in the community before herself” and was always “prepared” to campaign for her constituents.

Her daughter, Caroline Blunden, said: “As a mother, she wanted the very best for us.

“She encouraged us to follow our passions.”

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The Voice

Debated Podcast with Vince Cable

By The Voice | Thu 21st August 2025 - 4:09 pm

Debated Podcast is, according to its host Will Barber-Taylor,

… a light hearted British political podcast aimed at speaking to and engaging people about a variety of fascinating topics. Over 200 episodes have been produced and the podcast acts as a non partisan and non politically aligned outlet to discuss some of the key issues of the day around the world but mainly focussed on the UK political scene.

A recent episode was based on a discussion with Vince Cable about his new book Eclipsing the West: China, India and the forging of a new world and is worth listening to. You can hear it here.

Will Barber-Taylor has served as both a town councillor in North Yorkshire and as the Deputy Director of the Centre Think Tank Foundation.

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The Voice

Conference Countdown: Federal Policy Committee Report

By The Voice | Thu 21st August 2025 - 9:21 am

Federal Committees report to each Conference. It’s an important way for members to hold them to account. Conference votes on whether to accept or reject each report. You can read the reports here.  Members can also ask questions which need to be submitted here by 1pm on 8th September.  We’ll be looking at what they say. 

Our next stop on our meander through the agenda is the Federal Policy Committee report written by vice chairs Jeremy Hargreaves, Lucy Nethsingha and Helen Morgan MP.

They set out what the Committee has been doing during the past year including the policy review chaired by the Young Liberals’  and Women Lib Dems’ Eleanor Kelly, which will be voted on separately at Conference. Other policy papers to be debated at the Conference are on climate change and opportunity and skills.

Two working groups set up by FPC earlier this year, on mental health and town centres and high streets have consultation sessions at this Conference.

They also report on recruitment for further working groups on Defending Democracy and Primary Healthcare, international security and re-invigorating the economy.

FPC has also been reviewing how it operates, particularly with relation to diversity:

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The Voice

Welsh Liberal Democrats announce candidates for two Senedd constituencies

By The Voice | Thu 21st August 2025 - 7:30 am

Mike Hamilton will head the Party’s list for the Casnewydd Islwyn (Newport and Islwyn) constituency at the 2026 Senedd election following a party selection process in the constituency.

Casnewydd Islwyn is one of the new constituencies for the 2026 Welsh Parliament elections, covering the Westminster constituencies of Newport East and Newport West and Islwyn.

Dr Mike Hamilton is a former Merchant Navy Engineer and archaeologist, who is well known in Newport for his community campaigning. He is a former Deputy Leader of Newport Council. Speaking following his selection, Dr Hamilton thanked local Party members for backing him, and said:

Wales needs change after 26 years of mismanagement. We need proper strategic management of the Welsh economy, not endless money wasting on vanity projects. We need to fix the fundamental problems with the Welsh NHS, where Welsh patients wait much longer than English patients for key operations, despite equivalent per-patient spending. And we need to ensure that Wales shows moral leadership on Gaza, where war crimes and human rights abuses have been met with a supine response by the UK Labour Government.

Mike Hamilton will be joined on the Party list for the constituency by John Miller.

Meanwhile, Kevin Wilkins will head the Party’s list for the Sir Fynwy Torfaen constituency at the 2026 Senedd election following a party selection process in the constituency.

Sir Fynwy Torfaen is one of the new constituencies for the 2026 Welsh Parliament elections, covering the Westminster constituencies of Monmouthshire and Torfaen.

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Mark Valladares

20 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 20th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Liberal Democrats: Rail passengers must not be priced off trains
  • “Taken for a ride” – Liberal Democrats urge rail fare freeze as inflation bites
  • Headphone dodgers: Govt should take a leaf out Irish Rail’s book and back Lib Dem calls for fines
  • Carmichael voices concern over abolition of UK Space Agency

Liberal Democrats: Rail passengers must not be priced off trains

The Liberal Democrats have demanded an urgent rail fare freeze ahead of inflation figures which are expected to determine the amount rail fares rise next year.

Almost half of all fares in England are directly controlled by the Government. Millions of commuters and families risk being priced off the railway if ministers allow another steep increase, based on the latest inflation figures.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, Paul Kohler MP, said:

Rail passengers are already paying sky-high prices for overcrowded trains and unreliable services. Hiking fares yet again would be a betrayal of passengers who are simply trying to get to work, travel to school or visit family and friends.

Families and hardworking commuters are being hit with the cost of living crisis month after month, and now face being ripped off on the railways too. Pricing people off the trains will only drive more cars onto our congested roads, increase pollution and damage our economy.

The Liberal Democrats are urging Ministers to freeze rail fares and get more people onto the trains. Raising fares is a false economy that will only drive down passengers and revenue in the long run.

“Taken for a ride” – Liberal Democrats urge rail fare freeze as inflation bites

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Paul Kohler MP has warned the Government that passengers are being “taken for a ride”, as the latest inflation stats suggest rail fares are set to rise.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for rail fares to be frozen to avoid another hit to the cost of living and encourage more people on to trains.

New figures released today (20 August) show that regulated rail fares are set to rise 3.8% in 2026-27 if they follow inflation. That means some commuters could face rises of above £2,000 since 2020, Liberal Democrat research shows. This follows increases of 4.6% in 2025-26, 4.9% in 2024-2025, and 5.9% in 2023-2024.

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Caron Lindsay

Review: Iain Dale talks to Michael Heseltine, Jacqui Smith and Tessa Dunlop in Edinburgh

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th August 2025 - 1:25 pm

Caron, Tessa Dunlop and Iain Dale at Edinburgh Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival is in full swing. Broadcaster Iain Dale’s run of All Talk shows was limited to just four days this year because, apparently, the Oasis concerts last  week had booked out all the hotels. These interview shows are always worth going to and often make the headlines.

I was absolutely gutted to miss the first shows with Rachel Reeves and Jess Phillips as I had committed many months ago to look after my nephews.

However I managed to go to both shows the following day. The first was a double header  with his current podcast partner historian Tessa Dunlop (who looks very like Taylor Swift in this photo according to my son) and his former partner in hilarity Jacqui Smith. Their For the Many podcast came to an end last year after 500 episodes when Jacqui was ennobled and appointed a Minister in the Department for Education. Iain now hosts a twice weekly podcast with Tessa called “Where Politics meets History” which I love because Tessa is very good at calling out Iain’s BS and I love both politics and history.

Caron and Jacqui Smith at Edinburgh fringeIt was a very funny hour. I am sure it can’t be legal to look as fresh as Jacqui did considering she had had 3 overnight flights after a ministerial trip to Japan and Malaysia last week.

If you had told 2009 me that I would really like Jacqui, who was then the Home Secretary and responsible for all manner of Labour authoritarianism designed to enrage liberals, I wouldn’t have believed you. However, she and Iain’s hilarious and irreverent  podcast banter brightened my life through some very dark times and for that I will always be grateful. It was good to see that several of the For the Many superfans had travelled to see the team reunited.

It didn’t take long to get to toilet humour – a discussion of Japanese toilets. Jacqui and Tessa did as I’d hoped and ganged up on Iain quite a bit and he,unusually, didn’t say that much. I felt that Tessa might have gone slightly hard on Jacqui over the Government’s record, as this was more a fun thing rather than the Today programme, but as she said afterwards, she had a Government minister in front of her and wanted to hold her to account.

A very big penny dropped for me not long into it. Tessa talked about staying with her little brother in Dunbar. It couldn’t be Duncan Dunlop, the top of the list Lib Dem candidate for the South of Scotland region in next year’s Scottish elections, could it? And indeed it was.

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The Voice

Chancellor needs to take bolder action on inflation – Daisy Cooper

By The Voice | Wed 20th August 2025 - 11:58 am

July’s inflation figure of 3.8% is a sign that the Chancellor needs to take stronger action says Lib Dem Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper. And she has an idea up her sleeve about how to do that:

Rising inflation is grim news for families, pensioners and businesses still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

After the Conservative Government oversaw the biggest fall in living standards on record, people desperately need things to change. But, so far, Labour has failed to offer a vision for the economy or a strategy to bring down the cost of living.

The Chancellor needs to take far bolder action, starting with the Liberal Democrat plan to halve energy bills by 2035.

Details of that plan to halve energy bills can be found here:

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NewsHound

Alistair Carmichael LibLink: Palestine Action ban reveals Labour’s dangerously authoritarian instincts

By NewsHound | Wed 20th August 2025 - 10:28 am

Alistair Carmichael has criticised the Labour Government for its proscription of Palestine Action. In a recent column for the Scotsman he talked about why he was never able to join the Labour Party:

For all the similarities between Liberal Democrats and Labour, the differences matter too.

Labour has centralising instincts that will always be anathema to liberals who champion community empowerment. Then there is the freedom thing.

Scratch any Labour government and you will find a deep authoritarian streak. It is increasingly apparent that this is every bit as true of Yvette Cooper’s Home Office as it was of those headed by David Blunkett, John Reid and Jack Straw.

He sums up the differences between us and Labour pretty neatly:

For liberals, protecting freedoms of speech, assembly and protest is a given. It runs to the heart of how we see the relationship between the citizen and the state. For Labour, these freedoms are rarely more than ‘nice to have’ when circumstances allow.

He said very much out loud that the Labour decision to proscribe Palestine Action was a mistake:

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The Voice

Conference Countdown: Federal Conference Committee report

By The Voice | Wed 20th August 2025 - 8:51 am

Federal Committees report to each Conference. It’s an important way for members to hold them to account. Conference votes on whether to accept or reject each report. You can read the reports here.  Members can also ask questions which need to be submitted here by 1pm on 8th September.  We’ll be looking at what they say. Our meander through the agenda starts with the Federal Conference Committee report written by chair Nick Da Costa. Here are the highlights: 

I am delighted that we are returning to Bournemouth for Autumn Conference 2025, once again at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC). It’s a venue we know and love and the team here have been tremendously supportive in helping us deliver what promises to be one of our biggest Conferences yet.
Since Spring Conference in Harrogate, the Liberal Democrats have gone from strength to strength. In the May local elections, we gained an impressive 163 Councillors and won control of three Councils. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped achieve those fantastic results!

If this is your first Conference, welcome! And if you’ve been coming for years – welcome back!

FCC Helpdesk & Training
As always, the FCC is here to help you get the most out of Conference. Whether you have questions about the agenda, submitting motions, or speaking in debates – come and find us.

The FCC Helpdesk will be open at the following times:
● Saturday: 10:30 – 11:30 & 13:00 – 14:00
● Sunday: 10:30 – 11:30
● Monday: 10:30 – 11:30

We are also running two training sessions on Saturday:
● How to Survive Conference: 09:30 – 10:45
● How to Write a Motion: 11:00 – 12:15

Everyone is welcome whether you’re a seasoned Conference-goer or attending for the first time.

Agenda & Selections

As ever, time in the auditorium is limited and FCC had to make some difficult choices in selecting motions for debate. We’re grateful to everyone who took the time to submit motions and proposals.

This year, we selected three Federal Policy Committee (FPC) papers for debate: climate change, opportunities and skills, and Leading the Way: Policy Review Paper. We also selected several motions on international affairs including a motion on resetting the UK’s relationship with the EU and defending women’s rights across the globe. Healthcare is another strong theme of this
Conference, and we’ve included motions on emergency care reform, supporting hospice care, and justice for victims of the contaminated blood scandal. In addition, there is a wide range of motions covering topics such as education, housing, policing, and transport amongst others.

We have also reserved a slot for a topic debate, plus slots for emergency motions enabling us to respond to fast-moving developments and critical issues as they arise.

He also invites anyone thinking of standing for FCC in this year’s internal elections to have a chat at Bournemouth.

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Mark Valladares

19 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 19th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey: commit British typhoon jets to strengthen Zelensky’s hand
  • Poorly thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off
  • Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening
  • Scotland’s LED road signs break down 1,419 times

Davey: commit British typhoon jets to strengthen Zelensky’s hand

Following the conclusion of yesterday’s talks between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said:

Trump’s plan to hand Ukrainian territory to Putin would not bring peace. It would be the greatest reward for aggression in living memory, and only lead to more Russian aggression in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe.

Ahead of Zelensky’s trilateral with Putin, the UK and European leaders need to step up. For Starmer that means making a commitment to providing British typhoons to the Ukrainian air force, seizing the frozen Russian assets and showing Putin that we will continue to back Ukraine.

Poorly thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off

Responding to County Councils warning that Government proposals will place an unfair burden on rural taxpayers, Liberal Democrat Housing, Communities and Local Government Spokesperson Vikki Slade MP said:

Councils across the country are already teetering on the edge after years of Conservatives’ neglect of local funding and services – from bus services cuts in rural areas to the rising costs of social care. These ill thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off.

To truly help local authorities, the Government should urgently look at supporting councils who receive the least grant funding and those that face additional pressure on services in rural and coastal areas, to help them with spiralling costs.

Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today urged the Scottish Government to adopt his party’s plans for a national lung cancer screening programme, as new figures showed that a rise in the number of deaths from cancer in Scotland.

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Centre Think Tank

Rebuilding the centre ground

By Centre Think Tank | Tue 19th August 2025 - 12:03 pm

We are Centre Think Tank, a non-profit foundation and the UK’s leading centrist, cross-party think tank.

Our model of centrism looks primarily to the Nordic countries, which have successfully combined high-quality public services with strong economies. We support pragmatic, evidence-based policies that encourage moderate, balanced, and constructive changes to improve and reform existing systems. We are also one of the most transparent UK think tanks, releasing all of our funding sources and expenditure.

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Caron Lindsay

“A price we cannot allow Ukraine to pay” – Ed Davey calls out the BS from last night’s White House talks

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 19th August 2025 - 8:23 am

Not going to lie, I don’t often punch the air and squeal during Ed Davey interviews, but he has just been fabulous on BBC Breakfast.

I watched the scenes from the White House last night with a growing sense of anxiety that Trump’s appeasement of Putin was being presented as a good thing and a positive step forward. While it was great to see Zelensky go mob-handed with his European supporters, this did not hide the unfairness and injustice in what was being asked of him and his country: that he should give up vast swathes of territory to an aggressor who had helped himself to it, committing atrocities along the way.

I wanted someone to call out the BS. And along comes Ed on BBC Breakfast and says almost exactly my thoughts.

He said that the idea of Ukraine giving up so much land was “À price we cannot allow Ukraine to pay,” adding “If you appease an aggressor we know from history that this ends in a bad way.”

On the proposed trilateral meeting with Trump and Zelensky, he said:

“it should worry us. They are essentially asking Zelensky to sit down with a war criminal who has invaded Ukraine and continues to kill innocent Ukrainians.”

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Mark Valladares

18 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 18th August 2025 - 11:00 pm

To quote Granny Weatherwax, I aten’t dead, merely returned from some family time. And so, to pick up where I left off…

  • Uber ambulance: 2.7 million did not take an ambulance to A&E last year – up 340,000 on 2019
  • Jardine welcomes children’s evacuation

Uber ambulance: 2.7 million did not take an ambulance to A&E last year – up 340,000 on 2019

There were at least 2.7 million attendances at A&E where someone did not use an ambulance to get there, with over a quarter-of-a-million in need of very urgent medical attention opting not to use one, Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) have revealed.

It has led to the party saying that there is an “Uber ambulance crisis” and that the Government should create a new £50 million-a-year emergency fund to allow ambulance trusts to reverse closures of community ambulance stations, as well as launching a campaign to retain, recruit and train paramedics and other ambulance staff.

The FOIs found that the number of A&E attendances from not arriving in an ambulance had risen by 14% since 2019, from 2.36 million to 2.7 million. Only 30 of the 144 NHS Trusts responded with full data so these figures are likely to be far higher in reality.

The data also revealed the severity of injury of those attending, which is broken down into five codes. Code 1 is those in need of immediate medical attention including those in need of immediate resuscitation. There were 10,600 Code 1 incidents last year, up by 1,600 on 2023’s figure of 9,000. Code 2 represents those in need of very urgent medical attention. Across 2024 there were 256,000 attendances of this type with a massive spike of 55% on 2019’s figure of 165,000.

The Trust that saw the largest rise in non-ambulance A&E attendances was Sandwell and West Birmingham, where there was a 320% rise since 2019 with the figures jumping from 3,900 to 16,500 last year. Mid and South Essex has the highest number of attendances through not arriving in an ambulance with 322,000 last year, up on 2019’s figure of 263,000.

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Do not trade Hong Kongers’ safety for political expediency

By Christopher | Mon 18th August 2025 - 11:55 am

The Labour government is proposing a controversial amendment to the UK’s extradition law concerning Hong Kong. This development, in my view, poses a significant threat to human rights and democratic values for those who have sought sanctuary here.

To truly grasp the gravity of what is being proposed, allow me to briefly explain how the UK has historically categorised territories for extradition. We had three main classifications:

* Territory 1: This category encompassed European Union (EU) countries. The UK implicitly trusted these nations to uphold similar judicial standards and human rights, meaning extradition requests typically bypassed significant UK judicial scrutiny.

* Territory 2: This included non-EU countries that had signed European human rights conventions, and notably, former British Commonwealth territories, which previously included Hong Kong. In these cases, the UK government and its courts retained greater power to review extradition applications, particularly concerning human rights considerations.

* Case-by-case Category: This third and most scrutinised category applied to countries like North Korea and mainland China, which were not deemed to meet Western judicial standards or provide adequate human rights safeguards. Extradition to these nations was handled on an individual basis, undergoing rigorous scrutiny by UK courts.

The pivotal moment came in 2020. Following Beijing’s draconian imposition of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, the UK, alongside other allied nations such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, made a principled decision: it collectively suspended its extradition agreement with Hong Kong. This suspension effectively removed Hong Kong from “Territory 2”. As a result, the current status quo means that the UK rejects all extradition requests from Hong Kong, regardless of the alleged crime. This represents the greatest possible protection for Hong Kongers residing in the UK, safeguarding them from potential politically motivated cross-border suppression.

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George Cunningham

UK/Europe Must Now Learn To Say “No”: Starmer must address the nation

By George Cunningham | Mon 18th August 2025 - 10:38 am

The time has come for the liberal world to say “no” to President Trump.

Europe’s leaders are heading for Washington today to support President Zelensky and Ukraine’s sovereign integrity in the face of Trump’s impatience that he cannot bring about a peace that will pave the way for him securing a big business deal with Putin – and his much coveted Nobel Peace Prize. 

Until now, at every turn, UK and European leaders have (sometimes embarrassingly) been acting, as if Trump and his acolytes can be both flattered and persuaded to act rationally according to our liberal worldview. However, Trump is acting rationally according to his own worldview, not ours. And he views Russia under Putin as having the potential to be his foremost business partner in the world. For Trump, Ukraine is just a nuisance that is getting in his way.

No credence can be given to Trump enacting further “economically severe, yes … very severe” sanctions against Russia as this would weaken what MAGA can eventually gain from Russia economically.

Trump was convinced by Putin at their summit in Alaska that we should dispense with a ceasefire in Ukraine and go directly to a peace agreement. It no doubt appeals to him because he thinks he can get a speedier solution that way. Yet it pushes the war to continue without respite while peace negotiations take place, with the danger it may lead to the collapse of Ukrainian morale on the frontline, achieving the very territorial concessions Putin is trying to gain. 

Putin knows very well that a major Ukrainian concession such as ceding the whole of Donbas will cause great discontent in Ukraine and further destabilise the current Ukrainian government. A peace agreement will lead to elections in Ukraine. Trump wants Zelensky out while Russia will try to push its supporters into power, using the same influence tactics that have been successful in former Soviet Union republics such as Georgia and are being used in Moldova. Putin may not need to fight any more to gain all of Ukraine later.

We do not yet know the details of the “game-changing” security guarantees announced by Trump’s business partner Witkoff to end the war in Ukraine.  They are suspect because they have already been so readily accepted by Putin, not least because Trump has reiterated that he will block Ukraine entering NATO. Recent history has shown written guarantees are worthless in Ukraine’s case, whether they are enshrined in legislation or not. 

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James Gant

The Liberal Democrats must become the party of civil liberties

By James Gant | Mon 18th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Last week, some 474 people were arrested at a London protest for expressing support for the newly-proscribed Palestine Action; per the Terrorism Act 2000, this can carry a sentence of up to fourteen years in jail. Footage circulating online makes for galling viewing: among those arrested on suspicion of terror offences were retired nurses, a blind gentleman in a wheelchair, and former Guantanamo Bay inmate Moazzam Begg.

What is happening? How did we get here? And most importantly, what is to be done?

The erosion of protest rights

The erosion of the right to protest has not come overnight. The previous Conservative government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 Act gave police sweeping new powers to impose conditions on protests. Any disruption that causes “serious annoyance” is liable to be shut down; it introduced the statutory offence of public nuisance; and the sentence for blocking a highway was increased from a fine to 6 months in prison. This trajectory accelerated with the Public Order Act 2023, which introduced new offences such as “locking on”, and even criminalised being merely equipped to “lock on”. It also handed police the power to stop-and-search anyone at a protest without the need for suspicion of wrongdoing, criminalised ‘interference with key national infrastructure’ (any A or B road) and introduced the Serious Disruption Prevention Order, a civil order that prevents repeat offenders from exercising their right to protest altogether.

A glimmer of hope came in the form of a legal challenge to Suella Braverman’s attempt to unilaterally change the definition of what constitutes ‘serious disruption’. The High Court found this unlawful. But far from reversing course, the current government elected to take up Braverman’s case, though it ultimately lost in the Court of Appeal. It has pressed forward with the Crime and Policing Bill, which criminalises concealing ones’ identity at a protest, and creates an offence to climb on a specified war memorial or monument of national significance. And now, with the proscription of Palestine Action, it has deployed a national security tool directly against a non-violent protest movement.

What can be done?

It is time for the Liberal Democrats to reclaim the mantle of ‘the party of civil liberties’. Across the political spectrum, “tough on crime” rhetoric is in abundant supply. We will never win the race to the bottom on authoritarian posturing. Instead, we should offer a clear alternative rooted in the defence of this country’s proudest-held principles: individual freedoms, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Five things in particular should be pursued.

The first and most urgent reform is to campaign for repealing the sections of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 surveyed above. We should also campaign to remove overzealous clauses of the Crime and Policing Bill (currently in Committee).

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 17th August 2025 - 8:30 am

Where are the Democrats?

The question has been repeatedly asked as Donald Trump has flooded the political landscape with Executive Orders. Well, the answer became apparent this week: they are alive and well and living in California.

Gavin Newsom, the Governor of the Great Bear State, has donned the mantle of leader of the anti-Trump brigade.

To do that he has adopted many of the same techniques of Trump himself. Michelle Obama once said: “When they hit low we hit high.” That has not worked, says Newsom. He is hitting lower and lower and lower.

Trump has called on the acolyte Republican state of Texas to gerrymander their congressional districts to give him five more seats in the House of Representatives. Newsom has threatened to gerrymander California to counter the Texas Republicans unless the redistricting plans in Texas and elsewhere are dropped.

The California governor has taken to social media to troll Donald Trump. He uses the same shoutie capital letters and boastful, self-congratulatory rhetoric as the president. He explains: “We need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done…. We have to meet fire with fire and wake up to the assault on institutions, knowledge and history.”

Trump is fighting back. When Newsom called a press conference to announce his redistricting plans, Trump sent armed ICE agents to stand in the crowd.

A US Grand Jury is involved now.

With three separate criminal referrals, the Department of Justice has launched a full-scale investigation into claims that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CIA Director John Brennan, orchestrated an intelligence assessment that claims the Russians meddled in and backed Trump in the 2016 elections.

It is true that Obama ordered the CIA to investigate claims that Trump was backed by the Russians. They found no proof of collusion but they did report that Russia tried to influence the elections in Trump’s favour. This assessment was published shortly before Trump took office and Trump claimed that it undermined his first four year administration.

The first referral came from Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence. She claimed to have unearthed a congressional report that claimed the Russians did not support Trump and that Democrats orchestrated a false assessment. Gabbard says that this means the initial report was nothing short of “treason.”  Gabbard failed to mention that the report was written by Trump-supporting Republicans congressmen.

Referral number two was from CIA Director John Ratcliffe who stumbled across classified documents that said the report was “rushed” at the behest of Obama and others. Ratcliffe again says this proves “treason.” Ratcliffe failed to say that the report says it would have reached the same conclusion no matter how much time it took to investigate.

Finally, FBI Director Kash Patel said he uncovered a “treasonous” email from Hillary Clinton calling for a false assessment of Russian involvement. The email was old news and had already been dismissed as “fake” news.

The irony is that Obama cannot be prosecuted no matter what a Trump-convened Grand Jury decides. Thanks to the Trump-controlled Supreme Court, a sitting president cannot be held accountable in law for any act committed while president.

When it comes to law and order…

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Russia and Ukraine – the history

By Tom Arms | Sat 16th August 2025 - 8:30 am

“Ukraine is not a real country,” claims Vladimir Putin. “It is,” he has repeatedly stated, “an artificial creation” that is historically and culturally part of Russia.

If you go back far enough—the 9th century—he has a point. Kyiv was the cradle of what became the Russian Orthodox Church which for centuries defined Russian nationalism.

But since the mid-13th century, borders, allegiances and political alignments have been constantly shifting.

It started with the Mongol invasion which led to the heirs of Genghis Khan ruling the Principality of Moscow until the 15th century. Most of Ukraine became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which lasted until a Cossack rebellion in 1648.

The 1648 rebellion established the Cossack Hetmanate which lasted a little over a century and is viewed as the foundational state by Ukrainians. The Hetmanate rejected the feudal system of Poland and the authoritarianism of Russia. The leadership was not hereditary, but was elected by a warrior class on the basis of merit.

Initially the Hetmanate’s main enemy was Poland. It was the era of religious wars and the Cossacks were Orthodox Christians. So they turned to their co-religionists in Moscow for protection. Big mistake. Russia gradually increased their control over Ukraine and in 1764 Catherine the Great simply abolished the Hetmanate and imposed direct imperial rule.

From that point on Ukraine’s history was a story of Russian domination with the occasional burst of independence. The biggest came with the collapse of the Tsar in 1917. The problem, however, was that the Ukrainians themselves were divided. The Bolsheviks quickly crushed the half dozen independent Ukrainian states that sprang up.

Ukraine then became a nominally independent country within the Soviet Union. In reality it was part and parcel part of the USSR and it suffered more than any other part of the Soviet Union under Soviet rule. Two million-plus Ukrainians were arrested and deported to either Siberia or Kazakhstan. Up to 7 million died in the Holodomyr famine of 1932-33 caused by Stalin’s forced collectivisation. The Ukrainian language, culture and customs were suppressed and an estimated one million ethnic Russians were moved into Ukraine in an attempt to dilute the Ukrainian identity.

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The Voice

Palestine Action arrests: Lib Dems call on terrorism tsar to review law

By The Voice | Fri 15th August 2025 - 8:43 pm

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart has written to the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC to ask him to review the legislation that led to the arrest of more than 500 people for expressing support for proscribed organisation Palestine Action.

To cover all her bases, she has also written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to ask her to order an independent investigation by Jonathan Hall.

She said:

Acts of terrorism, antisemitic hate and violence, and violent disorder should all be punished to the fullest extent of the law and are totally unacceptable. It is right that the police already have the powers to make clear to organisations and individuals that we, as a society, will not stand for it and the consequences will be serious.

In the case of arresting hundreds of peaceful protesters not engaging in these actions, in a country that prides itself on democratic debate, these measures appear disproportionate. The Conservatives clamped down on the right to protest peacefully and this Labour government now risks doing the same.

We must protect the pillars of our democracy and where there is a chance they have been put at risk, we must look again. That is why I am urging the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to take up this review and if it is found the Government’s actions are indeed chilling freedom of speech then they must change course and address this in legislation.

Here is her letter to Jonathan Hall in full:

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Liam Yip

ALDC’s By-Election Report 14 August 2025

By Liam Yip | Fri 15th August 2025 - 5:11 pm

In Cardiff, a close-fought election between the Greens and Labour emerged, with the Green Party ultimately being victorious. Thank you to Irfan Latif and the local team for flying the Liberal Democrat flag.

Cardiff Council, Grangetown
Green Party: 818 (24.0%, +5.5)
Labour: 774 (22.7%, -24.8)
Plaid Cymru: 639 (18.7%, +0.2)
Reform UK: 495 (14.5%, new)
Propel: 327 (9.6%, +0.1)
Independent: 156 (4.6%, -2.1)
Conservative: 139 …

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Will Lawson

Reclaiming the Liberal record on social justice

By Will Lawson | Fri 15th August 2025 - 8:55 am

David Lloyd George – the great Liberal Chancellor and Prime Minister of the early 20th Century – is often credited as the ‘founder of the welfare state’. This is entirely fair: he and the Liberal Reformers created the state pension, a scheme for national insurance against sickness and unemployment, and new legal protections for workers. Meanwhile, his controversial People’s Budget established the foundational principle that the wealthiest must fund public services, beginning a constitutional showdown which saw the House of Commons triumph over the conservative House of Lords. 

However, the prevalent view that Lloyd George was simply a ‘first-step’ on the inexorable path to Attlee’s post-war government undermines the profound, independent significance of his liberal reforms. This was not just Labour-lite: the Liberal Reformers had a distinct philosophy, and their policies presented a real alternative both to socialist nationalisation and conservative inaction.

Liberal Democrats should reclaim the record of past Liberal governments on social justice – and challenge the narrative which paints Labour as the sole progenitor of public services.

A People’s Budget

Introducing his ‘People’s Budget’ to the House of Commons, Lloyd George addressed the House:

There are hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children in this country now enduring hardships for which the sternest judge would not hold them responsible …

Is it fair, is it just, is it humane, is it honourable, is it safe to subject such a multitude of our poor fellow countrymen and countrywomen to continued endurance of these miseries?…

This is a War Budget. It is for raising money to wage implacable warfare against poverty and squalidness.

In so committing himself to the cause of social justice, Lloyd George reinvented liberalism for a 20th Century politics, characterised by escalating dissatisfaction with rampant, abject poverty. Cloaking himself in the rhetoric of redistribution, the Chancellor grasps the bellicose mood of the age and marshals it not against some European foe, but against the ‘5 giants’ later identified by William Beveridge: want, squalor, ignorance, idleness, and disease. 

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey: “perilous” Alaska summit could see two of “most unreliable Presidents imaginable” carve up Ukraine

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th August 2025 - 10:30 pm

I expect most of us will be holding our breath as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska tomorrow. Heavens above, Trump doesn’t even know his own territory, saying on Monday that he was “going to Russia”, so the thought that he could carve up anyone else’s is really scary.

Ed Davey has  described the summit as a “perilous moment.”

This is a perilous moment for Europe as two of the most unreliable Presidents imaginable seem to think they can carve up Ukraine amongst themselves without any word from the Ukrainian people.

Even at this late hour I hope Trump reverses his position and invites Zelensky to Alaska.

Whatever happens the UK must stand with our European allies and continue to make sure that democratic Ukraine is in charge of its own destiny.

He also remembers the 20,000 children abducted by Russia during the war on Ukraine:

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Caron Lindsay

It’s Jennie vs Toffee in Westminster Dog of the Year

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th August 2025 - 9:44 am

My favourite Westminster event of the year happens in September when the Dogs Trust and Kennel Club run their Dog of the Year competition.

Steve announced Jennie’s candidacy on Twitter:

This year there are two Lib Dem entrants, Steve Darling’s gorgeous guide dog Jennie and Will Forser’s beautiful and spirited dachshund Toffee.

I’m delighted to share that my guide dog Jennie is taking part in Westminster Dog of the Year 2025, held on Thursday 11 September at Victoria Tower Gardens. Organised by the Dogs Trust and The Kennel Club, this brilliant event celebrates the special bond between MPs and their canine companions. Jennie has quickly become a cherished presence in Parliament and beyond — and now we’re hoping she can be crowned Top Dog with a little help from Torbay! We’re calling on our community to support us in the Sir David Amess Pawblic Vote, honouring a passionate advocate for dog welfare. Jennie’s calm, caring nature and her role as my guide dog have made her a symbol of accessibility and compassion in politics.

On the event page, Will makes his pitch for Toffee:

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Palestine Action – a lawyer writes

By Neil Hickman | Wed 13th August 2025 - 2:30 pm

Chambers’ Dictionary defines terrorism as “an organized system of violence and intimidation, especially for political ends, and the state of fear and submission caused by this”. The Terrorism Act 2000 has a rather wider definition. Section 1 includes action designed to influence the government, and includes serious damage to property.

That means that Yvette Cooper was almost certainly within her powers in asking Parliament to proscribe Palestine Action; but the actions of that group are not within the everyday understanding of the concept of terrorism. When I learned of the events at Brize Norton, my reaction was not “I am terrified” but “Whatever was the RAF playing at, that a group of peaceniks could hop over the perimeter fence, walk up to several million pounds’ worth of warplane, and trash it?”

And while proscribing the organisation was probably lawful, it doesn’t seem to have been remotely sensible. Proscription has led to some entirely predictable over-reach, exemplified by Jon Farley’s arrest for holding up a copy of a Private Eye cartoon, and Roger Cauthery being refused admission to the Royal Albert Hall for wearing a small lapel pin bearing the Palestinian flag. And it has also led to an entirely predictable embarrassment for the Metropolitan Police as hundreds of eminently respectable people very publicly hold up placards proclaiming “I OPPOSE GENOCIDE…” The dilemma is that either you arrest all these people and look ridiculous, or you don’t and acknowledge that the law is a meaningless nonsense.

The Terrorism Act 2000 was another in a long line of badly thought out pieces of legislation seeking to address terrorist threats. The first of them, of course, was the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974, the first achievement of which was the framing of the Guildford Four. The 2000 Act hasn’t caused too much difficulty up to now because it has generally been applied with good sense. What appears to have been an angry reaction to what was admittedly a serious and reprehensible piece of criminality did not involve good sense.

Interviewing Jonathan Porritt on Newsnight, Victoria Derbyshire rather sententiously suggested that you can’t pick and choose what laws to obey. It’s understandable that history, and the BBC, appears to have forgotten the post-war saga of identity cards. These were introduced as an emergency measure at the outbreak of World War 2. The post-war Labour Government “omitted” to repeal the relevant legislation, and the practice grew up of the Police routinely demanding the production of identity cards whenever they stopped someone. One Harry Willcock, an unrepentant Liberal member of the Awkward Squad, was stopped for speeding and refused “on principle” to produce his identity card. On his appeal from the inevitable conviction before the Magistrates, Lord Goddard, no wet liberal (and indeed, in my book, possibly one of the worst Chief Justices of all time) said:

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Samuel Jackson

AI Chatbots should not play a role in our parliamentary democracy

By Samuel Jackson | Wed 13th August 2025 - 11:55 am

Last week, Mark Sewards, Leeds South West and Morley’s freshman MP, announced that he had created an AI chatbot version of himself, complete with a facsimile of his voice and an uncanny avatar. While Sewards has become the first MP to take such a step, this is not the first time that Neural Voice, the tech company behind the chatbot, has dabbled in politics; in 2024, they fielded an AI version of their chairman Steve Endacott as an Independent candidate in the Brighton Pavillion.

The West Yorkshire Labour MP said that his chatbot will “help strengthen the connection between an MP’s office and the constituents we serve” by allowing people to ask for help with local issues or policy queries and providing access to that support “24/7, 365 days a year”. However, this will likely have the opposite effect.

Prof Victoria Honeyman, a British politics lecturer at the University of Leeds, gave a nuanced verdict on Sewards’ chatbot. She said that if used to “answer simple messages, then most people would be relatively comfortable as we have in lots of different areas of our lives nowadays”, thus granting Sewards more time to focus on complicated casework. However, she conceded that it “might cause more upset” and “ people’s confidence in their MP” if mistakes are made when contending with more complicated, potentially emotionally challenging cases.

With Sewards admitting that his new chatbot is a “prototype”, he acknowledges that adjustments may be needed. It would be unfortunate if such adjustments were necessary as a result of of serious mistakes made by the AI that will negatively affect inquiring constituents. For a real-life example of AI failing under such circumstances, last year a bereaved Air Canada passenger (flying to attend his grandmother’s funeral) was misdirected by the chatbot to purchase a full price ticket rather than a bereavement discount ticket; having been told by the chatbot that he would be reimbursed the difference, Air Canada refused it. While this was an embarrassment for a private company, a community’s champion at Westminster making such mistakes would be a dereliction of duty. 

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Simon McGrath

Pupil Premium: A Liberal Democrat success that needs a 2025 reboot

By Simon McGrath | Wed 13th August 2025 - 8:55 am

When the Liberal Democrats entered the Coalition Government in 2010 the introduction of a Pupil Premium was a key  part of  our agreement with the Conservatives.

It was a simple idea – give schools extra funding for each disadvantaged child they teach, and require that money to be spent in ways that improve those pupils’  life chances. It was a direct investment in fairness – helping to close the stubborn attainment gap between children from low-income families and their peers.

But a new report from the Centre for Social Justice  shows that while  £27 bn has been spent on the Pupil Premium it is not achieving as much as we would like – or was expected.   

The gap in attainment at the end of primary school remains at 21 percentage points – barely changed in eight years. At GCSE level, the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is now wider than at any point in the past decade. Only 45.6% of disadvantaged pupils secure a pass in both English and maths, compared to 73.7% of all others.

Even more worrying, six in ten schools saw worse results for disadvantaged pupils in 2023/24 than before the pandemic – while many improved outcomes for their better-off pupils. The Covid years hit vulnerable children hardest, but the recovery has not been even.

The Liberal Democrat vision behind the Pupil Premium was never just about more money. It was about targeted investment, accountability, and evidence-based spending. Yet the CSJ’s research shows that the system has drifted away from that vision. Schools often use the funds to plug general budget holes, and there is no consistent national tracking of how the money is spent or whether it works.

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David Morrison

Should Palestine Action be a Proscribed Organisation?

By David Morrison | Tue 12th August 2025 - 3:14 pm

Over 500 people were arrested in London last weekend for allegedly showing support for Palestine Action, an organisation proscribed under terrorist legislation. About half of those arrested are reported to be over 65 years of age and many of the arrests were for carrying signs, with words such as “Stop the Genocide – Support Palestine Action”.

Palestine Action was banned as it was responsible for causing costly criminal damage to military aircraft. The Home Secretary has sought to defend the ban by saying Palestine Action is “not a non-violent organisation” and that further information will come out which will justify the ban.

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