Caron Lindsay

Vince: We stand with women who have experienced physical or sexual violence

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 25th November 2018 - 9:30 pm

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. From now until Human Rights Day on 10th December. there are 16 days of activism against gender based violence.

UN Women suggests 16 ways we an all help, from telling our stories to raising awareness to helping women affected by violence.

Over the next 16 feel free to share your experience or tell us what you are doing to help stop gender based violence. Send any posts to [email protected] in the usual way.

It was really good to see Vince make a statement in support of this today:

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #536

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 25th November 2018 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 536th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the five most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (18-24 November, 2018), together with a hand-picked seven you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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Caron Lindsay

Lembit Opik says he could stand for President of Estonia

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 25th November 2018 - 3:17 pm

This week, Lembit Opik has hinted that he could make a return to politics – in Estonia this time. He suggested that he might be interested in standing for President of that country.

From the BBC:

Mr Opik said he had been asked to consider being either a member of the Estonian parliament, or to consider running as president.

“One position is just to be a member of parliament, which I would not mind doing,” the 53-year-old said.

“There are 101 MPs and they do work in coalition, so it is not very partisan.

“The other position is president of Estonia. It is more than just a non-executive role – I could make quite a big splash.

“I have not got a campaign plan but I have said I would be interested. It’s not an appointed job, I would have to stand for it.”

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The Voice

Ian Kearns: Why Liberal values are the answer this country needs

By The Voice | Sun 25th November 2018 - 1:30 pm

Ian Kearns joined the Liberal Democrats from Labour in the Summer. He gave a barnstorming speech to the rally at Federal Conference in Brighton. 

This Autumn, he has spoken at both the Yorkshire and London Regional Conferences. The speech below was the keynote speech at the Yorkshire and the Humber conference three weeks ago and Ian delivered a version of it at a fringe event at the London conference yesterday. 

The most powerful section of his speech is on what we stand for:

I’m here today because this is the party that is ready to fight the politics of division and hate, and I intend to be part of that fight.

I’m here because I know we won’t beat the extremists of left and right by mimicking their message or by defending the status quo, but only by radically extending the liberal commitment to equality of opportunity to the millions of people in our country currently denied it.

I’m here because I won’t stand idly by and watch the disaster of Brexit unfold.

We know the Leave campaign lied to the country; we know they’ve failed to deliver; and now the people must have a vote on the truth!

I’m here because our forebears didn’t see off the fascists in the last century so we could sit back and watch fascism rise again in this.

I’m here to fight for a patriotism that celebrates the divides we bridge and our achievements as a people, not for one that drives a wedge between one community or nation and another.

And I’m here because I want to look my children in the eye and know they have a good chance of a life of happiness and fulfilment in a country at peace with itself.

A country where they will be judged not by the colour of their skin, their race, religion, gender or sexuality but by the content of their character.

A country of free men and women where we all have equal rights and equal opportunities because if these rights and opportunities are denied to anyone, then none of us are truly free and our country is not truly free.

A country where politics is conducted in a civil manner, because between anarchy on the one hand, and the settlement of our political differences through violence on the other, liberal democratic politics is all there is; and the only ones who benefit from cynicism about politics are those with a vested interest in maintaining the status-quo.

I’m here too because I want my children to grow up in a country that doesn’t fear the outside world, but equips its people to go out into it, experience it in all its wonder, and work with others to shape it to humanity’s common cause.

A country where we take power out of the hands of bureaucrats in Whitehall, and put it into the hands of the people, who know what their challenges are and have good ideas on how to meet them.

A country that doesn’t fear new technology but becomes a world leading centre for the productive and ethical use of it.

And a country that was once the birthplace of the industrial revolution, seized by the climate emergency and geared up both economically and diplomatically to meet it with a new age of green revolution.

It’s powerful and inspiring stuff. Here’s the speech in full.

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The Voice

Vince: Brexit deal is a disaster for the British people

By The Voice | Sun 25th November 2018 - 12:30 pm

The Brexit Deal is a disaster and the people should be given the chance to vote on it says Vince Cable.

Speaking as EU leaders endorsed it, Vince said:

This is a sad day for everyone involved; the deal the EU have endorsed remains a disaster for the British people.

What has been agreed is vague at best and is essentially an agreement to have an agreement. There is still no majority in Parliament for it, and “No Brexit” remains the only real alternative.

Nobody voted to make themselves poorer and damage the UK’s standing in the world. It is time the Prime Minister granted a People’s Vote, with the option to remain in the EU.

At the London Regional Conference yesterday, he said t was important to get “no deal” off the table as we campaign for “no Brexit.”

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Caron Lindsay

Dear Theresa, If your deal is so great, why not let the people vote on it?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 25th November 2018 - 11:14 am

As I write, the European Union has just agreed the Brexit Deal. I’m a bit sad that it’s all happening on what would have been Charles Kennedy’s 59th birthday. He’d have had something to say about all of this.

Ahead of the meeting, Theresa May wrote to the nation telling us why we should all back her Brexit deal. Unfortunately, her letter is all spin and no substance. She paints a picture of a happy, reconciled nation moving forward after Brexit. She uses this phrase “works for everyone” a few times. She might as well have promised a unicorn on every street corner. Jeremy Corbyn’s Magic Money Tree was more real than the benefits open to us after Brexit. May’s own foreign secretary, on Andrew Marr this morning, couldn’t say that we’d be better off after Brexit. He only went as far as the deal “mitigates most of the negative impact.” If that is the best we can do, why bother. Why not just forget the whole thing?

The biggest problem with her deal is that we actually have no idea what we will end up with further down the road. Most of the big decisions – on future trade, on Northern Ireland, take place after we have left. Imagine getting married without having some common ground on whether you are going to have children, what sort of life you are going to live, where you are going to live?  That would be a recipe for disaster. So is this deal.

Anyone who remembers the last time that lot left office will remember that public services were on their knees and the gap between rich and poor was enormous. Their cuts to public services, particularly in the last three and a half years that they’ve been on their own, and their cruel slashing of social security give the lie to any desire to make a country that works for everyone. We really can’t trust them with our future. Most egregiously, she spins us a line on the NHS:

Instead, we will be able to spend British taxpayers’ money on our own priorities, like the extra £394 million per week that we are investing in our long-term plan for the NHS.

I’ll leave it to Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MP for Totnes, a GP herself,  to debunk that one.

What annoys me most is the bit about how wonderful it is to end free movement. That will have a massive impact on areas like NHS and social care. We are going to end up having real staffing problems in the NHS. The  Royal College of GPs backed a People’s Vote the other day, citing concerns about patient safety:

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Mark Paine

Why I joined the Liberal Democrats

By Mark Paine | Sun 25th November 2018 - 8:51 am

I first joined Labour back in the mid Eighties whilst I was still at school. As a working class West Midlander with an interest in politics and left wing beliefs growing up in the Thatcher Years, Labour seemed the obvious choice. For years I was incredibly proud to carry the same membership card that my family had carried for generations; I campaigned, I delivered leaflets, I attended meetings. Then something happened. The party that I had joined and supported for decades seemed to transform overnight into a far-left, doctrinaire personality cult where questioning the leadership in any way was a Thought Crime. I watched as the mood became steadily more toxic, policy became evermore reminiscent of a 1970s student union and the antisemitism and misogyny of some of the members, particularly amongst those attracted by Jeremy Corbyn became more apparent.  As the psychodrama of Corbyn’s Labour got worse, I stopped feeling proud to be a party member and I found it increasingly difficult to advocate voting for the Labour Party. Increasingly, I questioned whether I could vote Labour myself, let alone campaign for them. Then came the day that I had to finally follow my conscience and leave Labour. For the first time since my teens and like so many others in recent years, I was politically homeless. 

For some time, I looked for a new way to remain politically engaged, particularly to fight to keep the UK in the EU. I kept coming back to the Liberal Democrats. Surely I could not possibly join THEM – they had been in coalition with the hated Tories and they had no policies apart from electoral reform. Expecting to find it Tory-lite, I read the 2017 Manifesto and to my surprise found myself agreeing with large parts of it. Then I read about Liberalism in general and the history of the Liberal Party and found even more that I liked. As a teacher, I had already seen the positive influence of the Liberal Democrats in areas such as the introduction of Pupil Premium and free school meals for infants. A worrying thought hit me; I liked these policies and I really liked the values and guiding philosophy – was I really a Liberal Democrat and had I been in the wrong party for years? The answer was obvious. 

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Mark Valladares

24 November 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sat 24th November 2018 - 10:02 pm

So much for the Conservative and Unionist Party, I guess…

  • PM’s immigration plans a disaster for economy and public services
  • PM puts Gibraltar in jeopardy

PM’s immigration plans a disaster for economy and public services

Responding to the announcement of the plans to issue low-skilled migrants with 11-month visas, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperon, Ed Davey said:

Theresa May’s plans would be disastrous for our economy and public services. Not only would these restricted visas put off skilled workers from working in the UK, but they simply won’t be able to fill gaps in sectors such as the NHS, social care and construction due to

…

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Caron Lindsay

What to buy the Lib Dem Feminist for Christmas

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 24th November 2018 - 1:17 pm

So your inbox will no doubt have been overflowing with Black Friday deals that aren’t that great these past few days.

And this coming Monday is apparently when we all buy our pressies online.

Good to see the Lib Dems get into that.

An email from Jo Swinson dropped into my inbox this morning:

97 years ago, Margaret Wintringham took her seat in the House of Commons as the MP for Louth in Lincolnshire.

She was the third woman ever to be elected as an MP, the second ever to take her seat, and the first British woman to become an MP.

She was the Liberal’s first woman MP

In Parliament, she campaigned to extend the Representation of the People Act 1918 to all women over 21, as it was for men. She campaigned for equal pay for equal work and for girls as well as boys to receive state scholarships.

Our women leaders in the Liberals and the Liberal Democrats have been revolutionaries. And this year, the 100 year anniversary of (some) women getting the vote, we want to celebrate the last 100 years of amazing Lib Dem women in the party.

Want to be part of the celebrations? We’ve designed this t-shirt to proudly celebrate our Lib Dem feminist heroines.

Well, of course I bought the t-shirt. It has some of my favourite people on it, from Cambridge’s  excellent Sarah Brown to Christine Jardine who is fighting for State Pension equality for women and co-sponsoring the bill which aims to give Northern Irish women access to abortion, to our energetic and fabulous President Sal Brinton to my first political hero Shirley Williams to Lynne Featherstone who fought for same sex marriage, to first Liberal woman MP Margaret Wintringham to Wales’ progressive Education Secretary Kirsty Williams. 

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Jonathan Fryer

London gears up for 2020

By Jonathan Fryer | Sat 24th November 2018 - 8:55 am

London may be the smallest English region geographically, but in LibDem terms it is top of the league, with around 20,000 members, many of whom joined following the 2016 EU Referendum and subsequent general election. Small wonder, then, that Brexit will figure large at the London LibDems’ regional conference tomorrow .

Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton & Wallington and the Party’s national Brexit spokesperson, will be leading a session on the impact of Brexit on the city, chaired by former MEP Baroness Ludford. And in one of a number of fringe meetings, sponsored by the Alliance of European Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), Arthur Griffin, Vice President of our Irish sister party, Fianna Faíl, will give a presentation on Winning That First Preference Vote.

LibDem Leader, Sir Vince Cable (MP for Twickenham) will provide the opening keynote address in the impressive surroundings of Canary Wharf, whose CEO, Sir George Iacobescu, will give a welcoming speech, alongside one of the party’s newest recruits, Tower Hamlets Councillor Rabina Khan.

Tower Hamlets is something of a success story in increasing diversity within the Party and given the fact that one in three Londoners were not even born in the UK, diversity is a key preoccupation of London Liberal Democrats. This is splendidly reflected in the team that has just been selected by the membership to fight the 2020 London Mayoral and GLA elections.

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Mark Valladares

23 November 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 23rd November 2018 - 10:30 pm

Today’s releases are brought to you from ALDC’s Kickstart event, taking place this weekend in the heart of Staffordshire. There are three hundred Liberal Democrat campaigners and activists here, learning the skills required to run effective, and hopefully, successful campaigns in the months and years ahead.

  • Tories must take back control of smart meters
  • Women must have equal heart attack care to men
  • Davey to PM: Come clean on European Convention on Human Rights
  • PM must back People’s Vote on Brexit
  • Government must not be complacent on Hedges case

Tories must take back control of smart meters

Responding to the NAO Report on rolling out smart meters, …

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Paul Walter

Paddy’s blistering tweet about Jacob Rees-Mogg and the ERG

By Paul Walter | Fri 23rd November 2018 - 3:00 pm

It’s not often we feature a single tweet but this classic blast of high octane Paddy deserves its own post!:

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The Voice

Lib Dem Emma Walker tells Sky News about #Askhertostand event in Parliament

By The Voice | Fri 23rd November 2018 - 1:30 pm

This Wednesday marked 100 years since the passing of the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 2018 which made it possible for women over the age of 21 to stand for Parliament.

A century on, women make up only just over 200 of 650 MPs. That’s why MPs were asked to invite a woman from their constituency to an Ask her to stand event to mark the anniversary.

Christine Jardine asked Emma Walker who, just over a year ago, wasn’t even a member of the Party. She’s made a massive impact in Scotland this year, getting involved in campaigning and member recruitment – and she opened the Autumn Conference in September.

Emma talked to Sky News about what had motivated her to get involved:

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Caron Lindsay

How you could make Lib Dem policy

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 23rd November 2018 - 11:55 am

Have you got a burning idea that could make a positive difference to people’s lives?

If so, then why not write it down, get some supporters and submit it as a motion to Liberal Democrat Spring Conference.

The lovely people at the Federal Conference Committee will even give you drafting advice.

The motion deadline for Spring Conference isn’t till 9th January, so why am I telling you this?

Well, FCC, lovely as they are, don’t give drafting advice over Christmas. Everyone deserves a break, after all. So you have to ask for that by 19th December. That’s less than a month away, and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll procrastinate for ages before actually writing anything down.

All you need to know can be found here.

If you have never written a motion for Conference before, have a look here

There are years’ worth of examples.

Basically the first part of your motion outlines the problem, then you say what we believe, the underlying principles that we’ll use to develop our solution and finally, a section calling for various actions to sort it all out.

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Caron Lindsay

Vince tells PM: Brexit Deal is “pathetically weak”

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 23rd November 2018 - 10:25 am

Vince Cable questioned the Prime Minister yesterday when she made her statement on the political declaration of the EU withdrawal agreement. He highlighted one particularly worrying aspect of it:

This is essentially an agreement to have an agreement, and it is full of worryingly vague aspirations. How, for example, can the Prime Minister justify paragraph 24, which relates to medicines, chemicals and aviation safety, where we currently have strong agreed co-operative standards? She has managed to negotiate an agreement to

“explore the possibility of cooperation”.

That is pathetically weak, and it will cause great anxiety to millions of people who depend on high standards of safety.

Ultimately, this deal is a massive kicking of big issues into some very long grass. Nothing will be decided before we leave the EU. This makes it more important than ever that we stop Brexit.

May’s response just emphasised how uncertain this all is:

In relation to these negotiations, we are not able to put legal texts together until we have left the European Union and are no longer a member of the European Union—that, of course, is what we will be able to do when we leave on 29 March 2019.

Brexit is a leap into the fog. We owe future generations better than this.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Fear factor

By Tom Arms | Fri 23rd November 2018 - 8:55 am

JTheresa May is a frightened woman.

She is not frightened by the pile of Conservative MPs’ letters demanding her departure. They are still a long way from the 48 required. And even if it reaches the magic number, the bookies are betting on Mrs May retaining the leadership in any consequent vote.

Even if she loses, Theresa May can take solace from Enoch Powell’s truism that all political careers end in failure and that her successor will be faced with the same brick wall of insoluble Brexit problems as she was.

Neither is Mrs May worried about Spain’s latest sabre rattling over Gibraltar. She is confident that Brussels can pull Madrid into line with a sidebar letter or a slight tweaking of the Brexit agreement.

The unravelling of the prime minister’s de facto coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party is a concern. But it was never more than an inconvenient marriage of convenience based on a foundation of contradictions.  Northern Ireland voted to remain. The majority want the benefits of Europe which include good relations with Dublin and peace on their island. The DUP exists for one purpose only:  the perpetuation of the Protestant Ascendancy in Northern Ireland. This puts it in complete opposition to the majority Northern Irish vote in the Brexit referendum.

Mrs May can deal with the above. Or if she can’t the results of failure would not be so catastrophic that her legacy would be tarnished beyond repair.

Theresa May is frightened of two other outcomes: No deal or a second referendum. Unfortunately for her, it is looking increasingly likely that the final choice will be between those two options.

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Mark Valladares

22 November 2018 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 11:50 pm

And, as promised, the rest of today’s bounty…

  • Davey: Serious failings revealed in ISC report must be put right
  • Majestic plc preparing for last of the summer wine
  • Cable: PM’s plan is ‘pathetically weak’
  • CBI leaders highlight Brexit concerns

Davey: Serious failings revealed in ISC report must be put right

Responding to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on the 2017 terror attacks, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:

We are all immensely grateful for the work our police and security services do responding to terror attacks and stopping others from being carried out.

This report reveals a number of serious failings that must be put

…

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Mark Valladares

22 November 2018 – today’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 11:40 pm

Our Press Team have been incredibly busy today, so much so that I’m going to have to deal with this in two parts, both of which are going to be larger than usual. So, without further ado…

  • Lib Dems: Levels of homelessness an ‘absolute disgrace’ (see article here)
  • Tory paralysis failing domestic abuse victims
  • Health Sec knows UK in critical condition
  • PM’s deal goes from fudge to farce
  • Tory bucket list for pupils ‘an insult’
  • Lamb: Tories must not neglect young people with mental illness

    • (see article here)

  • Davey: Reducing climate-changing gases demands real leadership

Tory paralysis failing domestic abuse victims

Responding to official statistics published …

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The Voice

Lib Dem Press: Tories must not neglect young people with mental illness

By The Voice | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 5:00 pm

Responding to an official report published today revealing one in eight children and young people aged between 5 and 19 surveyed in England in 2017 had a mental disorder, former Liberal Democrat Health Minister Norman Lamb said:

“These troubling figures reveal the true extent of mental health problems among children. The Conservative Government has a stark choice: either invest in services and give our children the best possible chance in life, or be responsible for the neglect of an entire generation of young people.

“Mental illness can blight the lives and futures of children without the right interventions, but today’s report by the Children’s Commissioner is a brutal reminder of how vulnerable young people too often hit a brick wall when trying to access support.

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Baroness Cathy Bakewell

The Ivory Bill passes the Lords

By Baroness Cathy Bakewell | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 1:21 pm

On Tuesday 13th November the Government’s Ivory Bill had its third reading in the Lords and passed through to receive Royal Assent. This was a landmark piece of legislation to go some way towards protecting elephants, especially the African elephant, who are poached for their ivory. Currently approximately 20,000 elephants a year are still being slaughtered for their ivory. This unsustainable rate equates to one every 25 minutes. We have now reached the stage where more elephants are being killed by poachers, than live elephant calves are being born every year.

The aim of the Bill was to take most of the value out of trading in ivory and so make ivory objects worthless. All import and export of ivory, whether raw or in objects, is banned with four exceptions: –

  • Pre-1918 items of outstanding artistic value and pre-1918 portrait miniatures with a surface area of less than 320 square centimetres;
  • Pre-1975 musical instruments where the ivory is less than 20% of the total volume of the instrument;
  • Pre-1947 items with low ivory content with less than 10% ivory of the total volume; and
  • Acquisitions between qualifying museums

All items which qualify as exceptions must now be registered and have a licensed certificate which accompanies that item throughout its future ownership. There are heavy fines and the possibility of imprisonment for anyone found to be illegally trading in ivory.

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Martin Roche

South East Liberal Democrats back dynamic ideas for “People’s Advocate” in planning issues and bigger role for chambers of commerce in local economic development

By Martin Roche | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 12:14 pm

Liberal Democrats from across the south east of England gathered in Canterbury on 17thNovember for their annual regional conference. Held at the city’s Spires Academy, the conference heard from MPs Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne), Ed Davey (Kingston) and Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) as well as Baroness Judith Jolly and the Leader of the Opposition on Kent County Council, Cllr Rob Bird. 

Canterbury and Coastal Liberal Democrats proposed two motions. Both were endorsed by the conference by overwhelmingly majorities.  They will now be considered at national level.

The first idea proposed is in response to the widely held feeling in communities across the country that ordinary people don’t get a proper hearing on planning matters. 

In cities, towns and villages across the South East ordinary voters feel the cards are stacked against them. They see developers hiring expensive lawyers, planning consultants and PR firms that dominate the process and shut out objections. 

The Liberal Democrat idea is that communities will be able to able to apply for a match funded grant of up to £5,000 from their local council. With money from their own resources added to the council grant, a community will be able to hire a legal, planning or public relations expert, known as “A People’s Advocate,”  to guide them and help them shape their campaign. 

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Kirsten Johnson

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 9:33 am

Plymouth Rock

This is a revised version of last year’s post…

The North American holiday of Thanksgiving was born of tragedy. The Mayflower, filled with settlers from England, docked in Plymouth, Massachusetts in December 1620. Of the 102 passengers and around 30 crew on board, only five women of eighteen survived the winter, and around half the men and crew.

The following spring, the Wampanoag, a native people, taught the incomers which crops were endemic to the New World, and how to fertilise their crops with fish. This act of good will let to a plentiful harvest, and gave the Pilgrims hope that they might survive the next winter.

American Thanksgiving was set as the fourth Thursday in November by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 when he signed a joint resolution of Congress changing the national Thanksgiving Day from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.

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The Voice

Levels of homelessness a national disgrace

By The Voice | Thu 22nd November 2018 - 8:00 am

There is a new report out by Shelter, ‘Homelessness in Great Britain: the numbers behind the story’, which shows that homelessness is increasing across the country, with one in 52 people in London now homeless.

Large increases in homelessness have also affected areas such as the West Midlands and the north-west of the country.  While it is difficult to know true numbers, the estimated total of those homeless across Great Britain is believed to be 320,000.

Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse says,

It is an absolute disgrace that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people have been left without a roof over their head. The Conservative Government’s failure to look after these people is nothing short of a dereliction of duty.

It doesn’t need to be this way. Conservative Ministers need to recognise the urgent need to build more social homes. We have been calling for 50,000 social houses to be built every year, rising to 100,000 as soon as possible. The Government also need to ensure that housing benefits are sufficient for covering rent and bring the thousands of vacant properties across the country into use.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has been working on documenting the deaths of people experiencing street homelessness.  Their research has identified 400 people who died in the last year  while rough sleeping In England and Wales.

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Mark Valladares

21 November 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 21st November 2018 - 10:15 pm

Having completed another meeting of the Federal International Relations Committee, featuring an exploration of the distant reaches of Article 7 of the Federal Constitution of the Party, your editor’s mind turns to press releases…

  • Moran: Gov must recognise state of Palestine
  • Cable: Prokopchuk’s Interpol position is still ‘an insult to the victims of the Salisbury attack’
  • Sanctions needed to get Matthew Hedges home
  • Davey: PM must publish immigration white paper now
  • Lib Dems announce Siobhan Benita as London Mayoral candidate

    • (covered separately here)

  • Lib Dems lead fight to protect vulnerable people in care
  • Davey: Something going very wrong in energy market

Moran: Gov must recognise state of Palestine

Liberal …

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Caron Lindsay

The London List results are out

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st November 2018 - 7:59 pm

And we have Team London. Here are the Liberal Democrat candidates for the London Assembly List in 2020. It’s great to see such a diverse team. It’s no surprise that the brilliant Caroline Pidgeon topped the poll.

New Merton Councillor Hina Bokhari, who wrote about her first 100 days here, got to second place with an energetic campaign on the ground and on social media.

Lewisham’s Lucy Salek, who got such a good result in the by-election earlier this year, is in third.

Outgoing London Regional Chair Chris Maines is fourth and Federal Board Vice Chair Joyce Onstad is …

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The Voice

Siobhan Benita is the Lib Dem London Mayoral candidate

By The Voice | Wed 21st November 2018 - 7:03 pm

Siobhan Benita has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor. The election takes place in 2020 so she will be able to build on the high profile she built in 2012 when she ran as an Independent. Then, she ran a really impressive campaign and came within 8000 votes of our Brian Paddick.

Here’s her campaign video where she talks about what she wants to achieve in London:

Siobhan beat Lucy Salek, Dinesh Dhamija and Rob Blackie. It was really good to see on social media that they all had dinner together last night.

As a former senior civil servant, she has experience of making stuff work,in transport and the environment particularly so she has already proved her competence in two massive issues of concern to many Londoners.

She said:

I am delighted to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London.

I will show the Lib Dems can offer a fresh alternative to London’s tired two party politics.

Sadiq Khan isn’t delivering the right solutions to violent crime and only the Liberal Democrats can provide a genuinely public health approach.

The Tories have shown how out of touch they are with London’s values by selecting an illiberal, pro-Brexit candidate.

Only the Lib Dems have truly stood up for Londoners against Brexit and we will continue to be a strong, liberal voice for our city.

Vince welcomed the news:

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David Warren

Is It Time For Some Free Market Reforms In The Postal Sector

By David Warren | Wed 21st November 2018 - 3:00 pm

The Royal Mail was privatised back in 2013, in common with previous privatisations the model used was to move a monopoly type industry into the private sector at the same time leaving elements of that monopoly firmly in place.

Royal Mail was given an ongoing requirement to collect and deliver throughout the UK six days a week and regulated to ensure it did so.

In addition, competitors wishing to provide an alternative letter delivery service have to apply for a license.

The regulator also has powers to control prices and access to the Royal Mail network. In the years that have followed the …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | 12 Comments
Mark Goodrich

Amongst the villains of Brexit, the #RemainerNow stand out as heroes

By Mark Goodrich | Wed 21st November 2018 - 11:00 am

Amongst the chaos of last week, there were two events which stood out for me as changing the terms of the Brexit debate. The first was Theresa May’s statement outside Downing Street in which she acknowledged that one choice open to us if we rejected her deal, was “no Brexit at all”. The second was a clip from James O’Brien’s LBC show in which Bill rings up in tears because of his regret at his vote for leave in the Referendum. This has been very widely shared on social media, and it seems to have struck a real …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged | 22 Comments
Richard Kemp

My Solution for Party HQ Issues – Let ALDC run it

By Richard Kemp | Wed 21st November 2018 - 7:35 am

Over the past few days, there have been all sorts of stories leaking out of the Great George Street bunker about the appalling and depressing state of the finances of our Federal Party.

All of which begs the question, “Why are we in Great George Street at all?” I have no idea what the rent is or the rates are on that building, but I know that it is situated in one of the most expensive areas for real estate in the whole of the UK. I also know that London is the most expensive place for employers in the UK. As you might have guessed my solution to the Party’s finances is to move most of our HQ out of London.

Of, course, some elements of Party HQ need to remain within the Westminster Village. I am sure that we need to keep The President’s and Chief Executive’s office; the press office and research inside or close to the Whitehall bubble. However, for the rest, they could be run from anywhere. Conferences; membership; IT support; campaigns; compliance; finance etc. can be delivered for the Party from anywhere in the UK. Rents would be half (at most) of what is paid in the central London area. Employment would either be cheaper or in relative terms, we could pay our staff more.

This may seem treacherous thinking, but it is not new in our Party. Local Government and publications etc. used to be run from Party HQ, but they have been ‘farmed out’ for more than 25 years. If we are looking at other Parties Labour devolved a lot of their staff to the North East almost 20 years ago.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | 24 Comments
Mark Valladares

20 November 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 20th November 2018 - 11:55 pm

Another busy day, but I’m pleased to note that a bit more use is being made of our Spokespeople in the Lords. After all, there are rather more of them than in the Commons, and they’re a valuable asset when it comes to holding the Government to account…

  • Cable: Bank of England must conduct honest assessment of Brexit deal
  • Cable: Govt must block Interpol election of Alexander Prokopchuk
  • Tories to blame for missed NHS targets
  • Cable: Our priority is building the momentum for a People’s Vote
  • Vulnerable people put in homes not fit for human habitation
  • The licence fee is not the Government’s to spend

Cable: …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
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