Liberal Democrat Voice

LibLink: Norman Lamb Don’t let science suffer as the collateral damage in Brexit negotiations

By NewsHound | Thu 6th September 2018 - 1:57 pm

Norman Lamb has written for Politics Home about the dangers to science from Brexit. He’s holding a debate today on the issue:

In today’s House of Commons debate, I want to get answers from the Science Minister on whether an accord on science and innovation is going to be struck, and whether the groundwork can be laid so that we can keep vital science collaboration afloat in a no-deal scenario. I also want to hear about whether he is making progress to strike a deal on participation in Horizon Europe—the 100 billion euro programme that will replace Horizon 2020. The Minister

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged brexit, norman lamb and science | Leave a comment

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Ed Davey: Brexit threatens our safety

By The Voice | Thu 6th September 2018 - 12:25 pm

The report, titled ”Negotiating Brexit: policing and criminal justice’, says the failure to secure a new agreement on policing and criminal justice after Brexit will make it harder to extradite dangerous criminals from the UK and reduce the number of people brought back to Britain to face justice.

The report highlights 3 main dangers even if Theresa May’s current position is accepted by the EU:

Extraditing dangerous criminals from the UK would be slower and morebureaucratic. Currently the UK extradites more than 1,000 people a year to the rest of the EU, using the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Reverting to the previous, politicised, system of extradition would reduce that number.

New barriers would reduce the number of people brought back to the UK to facejustice. Every year, around 100 people are extradited from the rest of the EU to the UK. Without a deal, it will be harder for the UK to bring people who are suspected ofcommitting crimes here, and who have fled to the EU, back to face trial.

Law enforcement agencies would find it harder to get crucial information for investigations, as UK authorities will lose access to huge EU-wide databases. These include the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which stores information on missing and wanted individuals and objects.

Ed Davey said:

The Institute for Government is absolutely right to raise the alarm about Brexit’s effect on crime and policing.

The Liberal Democrats have long been warning that losing the European Arrest Warrant, information-sharing arrangements and leadership of Europol will make it harder to keep people safe and bring criminals to justice.

Posted in News | Tagged brexit, crime, ed davey and police | 4 Comments

Have you seen the new-look party website?

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 6th September 2018 - 10:55 am

The Lib Dems website has had a bit of a makeover to update it with he new “Demand Better” strapline. I was quite surprised by these clever cookies…

The for Caron bit changes to all sorts of things – for schools, for the world, than climate change, for Scotland, for Wales, from the economy.

A revamped policy section sets out what “better” actually looks like.

Go and have a look around and share with all your friends. And see if you can spot yourself …

Posted in News | Tagged demand better and website | 15 Comments

Wera Hobhouse hails progress of bill to stop “vile” upskirting

By The Voice | Thu 6th September 2018 - 9:21 am

Last night the bill aimed at stoping upskirting passed its final Commons stage and now goes to the Lords. Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, who initiated the legislation back in February. It then looked like it was going to fall after Christchurch MP Christopher Chope objected to it. The Government then took it on board so that it would be debated and become law.

Wera said:

I want this Bill to stop the vile practice of ‘upskirting’. It should be a successful tool for prosecution, but it should also act as a deterrent. Zero tolerance, no loopholes.

This Bill has not only highlighted and sought to rectify a gap in the law, but resulted in further parliamentary debate. Debate on serious issues around non-consensual distribution of pornographic images and the production of deep fakes enabled by new technology.

I look forward to working hard on these issues. Liberal Democrats continue to campaign to make sure the law protects victims of all sexually motivated malicious behaviour in this country.

In the Commons she praised the way people had worked together across party to get the legislation through:

From the very beginning of its journey, the upskirting Bill has been the result of brave individuals —particularly women—speaking out. They chose to speak out about a vile crime that was going not only unpunished but largely unnoticed. They courageously spoke out about their experiences, to try to draw attention to the gap in the law. The Bill is the result of their hard work, and each and every individual who helped this campaign to materialise into the legislation before us should feel proud.

Posted in News | Tagged upskirting and wera hobhouse | 5 Comments

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Payday Loans

By Tahir Maher | Wed 5th September 2018 - 7:35 am

I feel quite pleased that Wonga went into liquidation. I am sad for their employees (as we all have families to support) but I am sure the directors will walk away with their egos bruised and millions from ill-gotten gains. Companies like Wonga are effectively no more than legalised loan sharks.

Looking at a quick comparison between payday loans for short-term loans the APR varies from 500 per cent to just under 1600 per cent a year. A survey by the Royal Society for Public Health ranked payday loans as having the most detrimental effect on mental health well-being. There are nightmare stories of people who have up to 8 payday loans to service their debts. On average people hold three payday loans at a time. Agencies that support and assist people with payday loans relates to loans that are over 100 million pounds for well over one hundred thousand people. Those in poverty already pay a poverty premium (the poverty premium is calculated to cost a low-income family on average £490 a year) therefore reducing costs from any spend is crucial for them as it allows more cash in their pockets. Increased inflation and low wage increases hurt low-paid families disproportionately and they are the ones most likely to use payday loans.

We can learn from the US here; fifteen states have banned payday loans. Although, in the UK, we have capped loans I for one would be in favour of a similar ban. However, we need to tackle payday loans, excessive credit card rates and charges from unauthorised bank overdrafts (I remember that at one time a large high street bank was changing equivalent to 4,500 per cent APR for an unauthorised increase to an overdraft). Limiting the harm payday loans can do is now even more important because of increased wealth inequality and a shrinking welfare state.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged payday loans | 26 Comments

Publishing pay ratios won’t solve the problem

By Collingwood | Tue 4th September 2018 - 9:32 am

With the recent BBC article releasing the data which shows Chief Executive pay rose by 11% last year to around £4 million, the calls began once more to force these large companies to produce pay ratios.

This reporting requirement would look something similar to the Gender Pay Gap reporting requirements, however, the sympathy I have for the Gender Pay Gap requirements would not extend to this.

By introducing the requirement to report the ratio between executive pay and the lowest paid worker in the company, you are not solving any issues, and I’ll explain why.

Posted in Op-eds | 17 Comments

Tom Brake reveals staff exodus from Brexit Department

By The Voice | Mon 3rd September 2018 - 6:55 pm

Tom Brake got some good coverage in the Independent today – the digital equivalent of a front page splash.

He revealed that 357 members of staff at the Government’s Brexit Department, equivalent to around half of the current staff detail, have left since July 2016

He observed that the new figures revealed the “deep instability right at the heart of the Conservative Government’s failing Brexit operation.”

Figures uncovered by our intrepid Lib Dem Freedom of Information team reveal that as of June 2018 that 357 staff have left the department in the last two years which is pretty incredible given that they only employ at maximum 665 people.

Why does this matter? Well, when you are trying to pull together the most complex piece of work attempted by a government in living memory, surely you want to have some consistency in the people doing it.

Posted in News | Tagged dexeu, independent and tom brake | 6 Comments

Assisted Dying: Making Policy Matter

By Carrie Hynds | Mon 3rd September 2018 - 4:35 pm

The Liberal Democrats have a great policy on assisted dying, detailed in the Medically Assisted Dying motion moved by Chris Davies MEP in 2012. Yet it is buried in the depths of Conference papers past on our party website (see page 20, Conference Report Brighton 2012) and in the last general election manifesto there was only a bland half-line to show we support extending end-of-life choices at all.

As Davies’ motion notes, good assisted dying models already exist in several European countries, and having control over one’s own life is at the heart of liberalism. So why let this …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged euthanasia | 11 Comments

Why a second referendum is now not only right but necessary

By Christian de Vartavan | Mon 3rd September 2018 - 1:25 pm

These last months’ debate on Brexit have established one fact: a portion of the people who have voted leave have done it for the wrong reasons. This is a fact, not an interpretation or an opinion, and it is on facts that decisions must be taken.

Many people of that portion realise that they did not understand Brexit or were simply misled. Many of these, we now know, would vote remain. In fact polls, such as YouGov’s across a significant 10.000 people, show that currently Britain would vote remain 53 to 47, as expressed directly in these terms : …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit and peoples vote | 59 Comments

A challenge for Labour on the development of jobs and businesses in Britain

By Katharine Pindar | Mon 3rd September 2018 - 10:53 am

What can the Liberal Democrats offer Labour voters who don’t like the way their great party is heading under Jeremy Corbyn? What, particularly, has our party to offer the working people of this country who have seen their standard of living drop under the Government’s austerity programme and can’t expect better if Brexit happens?

As the party that supports neither unbridled capitalism nor full-blooded socialism, we allow markets to operate as freely as possible, but intervene to ensure they are well-regulated and competitive, and to offer individual citizens greater powers and rights. “We want to build a new economy that really …

Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged business, policy development and white paper | 37 Comments

Party membership – let’s get real

By Richard Kemp | Mon 3rd September 2018 - 8:20 am

All the political parties seem to be having trouble with membership issues at present for different reasons.

Both the Labour and Conservative Parties have problems with factionalism and racism which Liberal Democrats do not. We have little factionalism and are happily united behind Vince, but membership is not big enough and not active enough. However, membership nationally is way over twice what is what in 2012 and in Liverpool is at its highest since the Party was formed more than twenty-five years ago.

Our problem is that not enough of the members are really active. In Liverpool, we have made massive progress …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged grassroots activism and party membership | 33 Comments

Welcome to my day: 3 September 2018 – dancing for loose change?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 3rd September 2018 - 7:50 am

I’m not one to criticise Theresa May’s dancing. You don’t want to see me on a dance floor, if truth be told. And, regardless of her prospects in “Strictly Come Dancing”, she was trying.

And on that thought, welcome to another week, with the schools going back and, indeed, Parliament. The behaviour is likely to be rather more dignified in schools though, with the weekend papers featuring supposed coup preparations against both Corbyn and May. We Liberal Democrats have Vince’s speech to look forward to at the end of the week, when he may, or may not, be talking about his …

Posted in News | Tagged africa, brexit and theresa may | Leave a comment

WATCH: Vince: Theresa May is rattled by People’s Vote movement

By The Voice | Sun 2nd September 2018 - 4:30 pm

It’s a gorgeous day in Cambridge today, which is a good thing given that there is a local council by-election a week on Thursday.

Candidate Sarah Brown had Vince Cable along with her this afternoon:

Here’s @vincecable out and about with by election candidate & LGBT+ Lib Dems member @PublicGoat in Cambridge today. pic.twitter.com/289hwOWOAV

— LGBT+ Lib Dems (@LGBTLD) September 2, 2018

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit, cambridge, peoples vote, sarah brown and vince cable | Leave a comment

WATCH: Jane Dodds on why Welsh Lib Dems are campaigning for a #peoplesvote on Brexit deal

By The Voice | Sun 2nd September 2018 - 2:55 pm

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have been out and about at the Llanfair Caerinion Show with their Brexitometer and their campaign for a People’s Vote on the deal.

Leader Jane Dodds explains why this is so important for Wales

Today at the Llanfair Caereinion Show I have been speaking to people about #Brexit and reiterating the @WelshLibDems call a #FinalSay on the #brexitdeal via a #PeoplesVote. An #ExitFromBrexit must be on the cards, especially if we face a #nodealbrexit or a #HardBrexit. #FBPE pic.twitter.com/QRIAxsOVxu

— Jane Dodds (@DoddsJane) September 1, 2018

Their Brexitometer tells an interesting story given that Wales voted so emphatically to leave in June 2016. The tide is certainly turning.

Posted in News | Tagged brexit, jane dodds and Wales | 3 Comments

Have you downloaded the Conference App yet?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd September 2018 - 1:30 pm

One of the most useful things you can possibly use to help you prepare for a hectic Conference is the Lib Dem Conference app.

It will help you make sense of the numerous choices available. Its timeline session lists everything you could possibly want to do in the auditorium, on the fringe or in the training rooms. It sets out the Conference timetable and allows you to add things to your schedule. You can view it in one list of everything going on or filter it by auditorium, fringe and training.

Unfortunately, it can’t choose for you which of the four things you might want to do at any one time to go to.

It is really worth going through this stuff well ahead of Conference because you seriously won’t have time to do it when you get there.

It will also have details of all the Conference papers so you can see the motions and amendments and reports at a glance. All the Conference Daily sheets will be added as they are produced.

Posted in News | Tagged autumn conference 2018 | 1 Comment

Last chance to submit amendments and questions for Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd September 2018 - 11:55 am

If you want to submit an amendment to a Conference motion or to ask a question of the party committees, you only have until 1pm tomorrow to do it.

Submitting a question is easy – you just fill in the online form here. Believe me, the worst thing is trying to fit it into 25 words.

Putting in an amendment is a bit more complicated as you have to get the signatures of at least 10 members or submit on behalf of a local, state or regional party or an SAO like the Young Liberals or the Lib Dem Campaign for Racial Equality.

Posted in News | Tagged autumn conference 2018 and deadlines | 1 Comment

What are you doing today to challenge bigotry?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd September 2018 - 10:25 am

I’m back from a wonderful, blissful and restorative two weeks in my favourite place. Thanks to the team who have worked so hard to keep the site running while I’ve been away.

I’m catching up on all the things I’ve missed while I’ve been reading utter trash and walking up and down the wonderful Rosemarkie Beach with the dog. This story from the Dundee Courier caught my eye.

Lib Dem Councillor Ben Lawrie described a vicious racist verbal assault on his girlfriend, Scottish Environment Spokesperson Mariam Mahmood:

“Mariam told me about incidents of racism that she’s faced growing up – how after 9/11 people threw bricks through her house window in what they must have thought was some sort of revenge attack,” he said.

“I witnessed it for myself earlier this year when the two of us were walking through Dundee and a young woman approached us and screamed the n-word in Mariam’s face.

“It broke my heart. I was even more shocked than her because, sadly, she’s used to it by now.”

Mariam said: “I’ve grown up with this throughout my life when people would use racial slurs almost as ammo against you but Ben had never witnessed it so the bus station incident was shocking for him.

“This girl was standing with a group of friends and just walked over and screamed it right in my face.

“Her friends didn’t look that impressed – but none of them called her out. It’s very disheartening.

“While I thought I was ok at the time, when we got back to the flat I was really quite upset.

“I have a little sister who is just ten years old and I don’t want her to have to endure this sort of thing.”

Ben added: “We can use this experience to shine a light on this sort of thing and in my comments to the committee I was trying to emphasise that if we are to teach our young people to respect one another, we have to start by leading by example.”

I don’t know one single person of colour who doesn’t have to put up with this sort of crap. And when people in the public eye – I’m looking at you, Boris Johnson – make ill-advised comments, the people who carry out this abuse on the street feel legitimised and emboldened.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged bigotry, mariam mahmood and racism | 7 Comments

Why we need a residential Landowners’ Levy

By Tony Vickers | Sun 2nd September 2018 - 8:55 am

There are two motions for debate at Brighton that I particularly welcome, as founder member of ALTER and campaigner on Land Value Taxation (LVT) for 20+ years. There’s the one on Commercial Landowners Levy (F26), which is based on an excellent paper by four esteemed experts in our Party. Then there’s F34 “Promoting a Fairer Distribution of Wealth”.

Having read both motions, I was unhappy that F34 failed to match the combination of thorough research and analysis in F26 and also falls short on radical policy proposals to address the main cause of wealth inequality: the so-called Land Question. As a …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged autumn conference 2018, land value taxation, lvt and taxation | 20 Comments

Vince: I’m not stepping down (but…)

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 1st September 2018 - 7:34 pm

Vince was on the Today programme this morning mainly to talk about the revelations that HMRC advise against giving honours to tax avoiding celebrities – something that he thought was right in principle.

However, he was also asked about his ideas for reforming the party and, specifically, how much longer he would be leader.

I’m not stepping down. I’m making a speech next week putting forward some reforms to the way the party functions.

So far, so good.

But then he was asked a direct question about whether he would be fighting the next election.

Yes, if there is one in the near future.

…

Posted in News | Tagged hmrc, leadership, party reform, tax and vince cable | 16 Comments

Ed Davey: ‘We were wrong to go along with the Tories on immigration’

By Newsmoggie | Fri 31st August 2018 - 9:25 am

The Guardian reports:

The Liberal Democrats were wrong to agree harsh immigration measures such as minimum income thresholds for families, one of the party’s former cabinet ministers has admitted, as the party sets out reforms to “detoxify” the debate.

Ed Davey, the party’s home affairs spokesman who was energy secretary during part of the 2010-2015 coalition, said imposing a minimum income level for British citizens to bring spouses or family from non-EU countries had been devastating for many people and had split up families.

Posted in News | Tagged coalition government, ed davey and immigration | 17 Comments

The immigration motion still needs improvement

By Lib Dem Immigrants | Fri 31st August 2018 - 8:01 am

It has not been easy to come up with a response to the party’s immigration motion and paper.

There is much in the paper that we are very happy with; but there are also areas where we feel distinctly let down. We’re grateful to the Working Group for their positive attitude in communicating with us and doing what they could to improve the policy.

After a lot of soul-searching and discussion, we have come up with four amendments that we feel the motion needs in order to demonstrate the liberal values we share.

1. Means-testing of families

The situation now: A UK resident …

Posted in Conference and News | Tagged lib dem immigrants and migration policy | 19 Comments

Proposed new party disciplinary procedures

By Alice Thomas | Thu 30th August 2018 - 5:00 pm

I love working with a party that is so committed to giving everyone in society a voice. At the moment, though, our disciplinary process doesn’t live up to those values. Far too often it lets down those making complaints, those complained about – and the whole party. That’s why I’m moving business motion F11: Reforming our Party’s Disciplinary Processes at federal conference in September, a motion I hope you will support.

This reform has been a long time coming: for many years now, experts (yes, we Lib Dems still think there is value in experts!) have been looking at our systems …

Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged disciplinary processes, macdonald review and morrissey report | 3 Comments

India’s demonetisation: a monumental cock-up

By Paul Walter | Thu 30th August 2018 - 2:40 pm

Imagine if Theresa came on live TV at three o’clock this afternoon to say that, from seven o’clock this evening, all five and ten pound notes will be banned and cease to have any value as free currency.

There would be mayhem.

Now imagine if such an action was taken in a country with a population twenty times that of the UK, with an economy that is almost entirely cash-based – with virtually no card or internet transactions.

Well that is what happened in India in 2016. I was there just a few days after the announcement. I wrote a “Postcard from India” for LDV, which said:

…we arrived just a couple days after a major monetary change by the government. To wrong-foot terrorists and criminals, there has been a monumentally huge exercise called “demonetisation”, going on across this, the second most populous nation in the world. All the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes have been withdrawn from circulation at two hours’ notice.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged india | 3 Comments

Part 2: Why the Liberals Democrats should be the natural political home for Arts and Culture in the UK

By Adam Bambrough | Thu 30th August 2018 - 1:30 pm

Part Two – How We Can Support The Arts And Culture Industry In The UK

The Arts and Culture industry is currently wrestling with a plethora of issues that we already hold high on our agenda.

Mental health still carries a stigma within the Arts, with performers and backstage workers, for example, knowing that were they to share their struggles with anxiety or depression, the chances of them being employed would be substantially reduced. Productions are run on a tight budget and timescale, and the risk of employing someone who may be in the eyes of a producer ‘potentially unreliable’ is much too high to take.

Sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace remain commonplace in many renowned creative buildings, where the rules of other industries seem not to apply, and young employees are treated as commodities, with management buoyed by the knowledge that the pool of people wanting to work in the industry far outweighs the number of jobs available.

Despite recent improvements, there remain great challenges with diversity, with the Arts still being dominated by white, middle class men, leaving women, who are further penalised should they have children, working class talent, those with disabilities, and minorities largely underrepresented.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged arts, culture, EBacc and music | 4 Comments

Demand Better: Liberal Democrat Priorities for a Better Britain

By Duncan Brack | Thu 30th August 2018 - 12:38 pm

For as long as I’ve been active in politics people have complained they don’t know what we stand for. We may have a reasonable profile for our position on Brexit, but the fact that we’re only the fourth party in terms of MPs makes it even more difficult than usual to gain media attention.

On top of that, the party has more than doubled in size over the last two and a half years, so we have a large number of new or newish members who aren’t as familiar as many of us with the details of party policy or our key priorities for action.

So over the last six months the Federal Policy Committee has worked to produce the paper Demand Better: Liberal Democrat Priorities for a Better Britain, which is available here and will be debated at our autumn conference at Brighton.

We’ve written the paper in close cooperation with the party’s campaigns and communications committees and staff, and we’re using the party’s new slogan as the paper’s title. Demand Better summarises the Liberal Democrat approach to politics in 2018 and highlights our key policy priorities. Should a general election take place in the next year or so, it will provide the core of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged education, health and social care, inequality, NHS, party policy, social mobility and taxation | 26 Comments

Why the Liberals Democrats should be the natural political home for Arts and Culture in the UK

By Adam Bambrough | Thu 30th August 2018 - 11:51 am

Part One – Why The Arts And Culture Industry Deserves Our Support

The Arts and Culture industry contributed £11.8bn to the UK economy in 2017, grew by 10% (five times faster than the wider economy), employed over 674,000 people, and returned £5 for every £1 of Government funding.

Creatives – certainly the ones I met in my fourteen years as an actor and director in film, TV and theatre – are predominantly liberal, progressive, and pro-EU. Now, more than ever, we should be their natural political home.

The Arts do immeasurable good. As well as contributing greatly towards the economy, they also help to rejuvenate towns and cities, provide us with a vehicle to understand, challenge and inspire the world we live in, enhance social cohesion, play a vital role in the development of life-skills such as confidence, self-identity and expression in individuals, and even act as a means of therapy, particularly successful amongst young children who have experienced great trauma.

Yet, no political party seems to fully appreciate or understand the true value of the Arts, leaving many creatives without a political home.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged arts, culture and department of culture media and sport | 2 Comments

The party proposes to abolish business rates: “Taxing Land, Not Investment”

By The Voice | Thu 30th August 2018 - 8:00 am

The party has just published a comprehensive blueprint for replacing the broken business rates system.

Ground-breaking research was led by Andrew Dixon, founder of the Lib Dem Business and Entrepreneurs Network (LDBEN), in response to mounting concerns about the negative impact of business rates on struggling high street businesses and the wider economy.

The report – “Taxing Land, Not Investment” – calls for the abolition of business rates and its replacement with a tax on land values, the Commercial Landowner Levy (CLL). The levy would remove buildings and machinery from calculations and tax only the land value of commercial sites, boosting investment and cutting taxes for businesses in nine out of ten English local authorities.

Andrew Dixon said,

By only taxing land and not the productive capital above it, this reform would remove a major disincentive to investment, boosting productivity and contributing to a necessary revival in UK industry. While separate action is needed to ensure online retailers pay their fair share of corporation tax, our proposals would offer a lifeline to struggling high streets.

I am delighted to support this initiative which I believe would boost business and enterprise across the UK, and I am grateful to members of the Liberal Democrats Business & Entrepreneurs Network for their valuable contributions to this important research.

Key recommendations of the report include:

Business rates should be abolished and replaced by a Commercial Landowner Levy based on the value of commercial land only
The levy should be paid by owners rather than tenants
Non-residential stamp duty should be scrapped to improve the efficiency of the commercial property market
Commercial land should be taxed regardless of whether the buildings above it are occupied; the tax should also apply to unused and derelict commercial land

The report also finds that:

Posted in News | Tagged business rates, land value taxation, small businesses and SMEs | 21 Comments

OPINION – Poverty in the UK

By Tahir Maher | Wed 29th August 2018 - 6:15 pm

Below are some troubling facts:

Over any ten-year period, there have only been two periods of worse wage growth (compared to the last ten years), and that was during the wars;
Currently, in the UK people persistently in poverty is equivalent to about 4.6 million;
The trussell trust has identified over 1 million people who are given three-day emergency food supplies;
The average FTSE chief executive earns 386 times more than a worker on the national living wage (UK living wage is £7.83 per hour);
More than 20 per cent of the UK’s working population earn a salary below the living wage;
The austerity program has reduced welfare spending, school building programs, spending in local government and increase VAT.

Furthermore, there are many people trapped in the “gig economy” and are working very hard for little reward. As unemployment goes down in the UK, the actual wage earned is also falling. The usual justification for CEO’s earning so much is that only such entrepreneurs create wealth. I believe that they are many who can do and this is not as unique as it is stated (I can think of more examples where CEO’s have raided or destroyed a company that created a world-class enterprise). I do agree that CEO’s should be paid and paid well but for FTSE companies 386 times more than a worker on the national living wage is irresponsible.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged poverty | 21 Comments

Conference Message – Exit Brexit

By Tahir Maher | Wed 29th August 2018 - 4:00 pm

Its conference season and the one time in the year when the Lib Dems get reasonably good news coverage. Our conference is first, followed by Labour and then the Tories. We need to get our message across about Brexit and not lose or have our message diluted by Vince’s announcement that he may or may not step down or lose the message to a difficult policy debate such as the one on immigration.

The focus for this conference should be on Brexit and how can we stop the UK leaving the EU. Lord Kerr believes that we can still withdraw the Article 50 letter without consequences especially if both sides agree. The referendum was advisory, and therefore Parliament has the option to vote it down or reject Brexit. This is unlikely because the Tories on the right-wing of the party won’t allow this to happen plus they have the support of Democratic Unionist party and some Labour MP’s who support Brexit. The math is not there, especially if they fear a public outcry. Unfortunately, even as project lies unravels there are still many who still agree with the sentiment for leaving the EU no matter what the cost.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged brexit | 9 Comments

Op-eds

London’s football pitch crisis is freezing out disabled children. We must stop treating inclusion as a charity luxury (Jean-François Burford)
Is kindness what we stand for? (Josh Matthews)
Don’t take Democracy for granted (Lord William Wallace)
Britain’s gas gamble: Why Jackdaw is a bad bet for our energy future (Mark Hofman)
Vince Cable writes: The endless hunt for painless taxes (Vince Cable)

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Don’t take Democracy for granted

Vince Cable writes: The endless hunt for painless taxes

Jane Dodds to step down as Welsh Lib Dem Leader

Vince Cable writes: Drill, baby, drill…or not

LibLink: Norman Lamb Don’t let science suffer as the collateral damage in Brexit negotiations

Ed Davey: Brexit threatens our safety

Have you seen the new-look party website?

Wera Hobhouse hails progress of bill to stop “vile” upskirting

Payday Loans

Publishing pay ratios won’t solve the problem

Tom Brake reveals staff exodus from Brexit Department

Assisted Dying: Making Policy Matter

Why a second referendum is now not only right but necessary

A challenge for Labour on the development of jobs and businesses in Britain

Party membership – let’s get real

Welcome to my day: 3 September 2018 – dancing for loose change?

WATCH: Vince: Theresa May is rattled by People’s Vote movement

WATCH: Jane Dodds on why Welsh Lib Dems are campaigning for a #peoplesvote on Brexit deal

Have you downloaded the Conference App yet?

Last chance to submit amendments and questions for Conference

What are you doing today to challenge bigotry?

Why we need a residential Landowners’ Levy

Vince: I’m not stepping down (but…)

Ed Davey: ‘We were wrong to go along with the Tories on immigration’

The immigration motion still needs improvement

Proposed new party disciplinary procedures

India’s demonetisation: a monumental cock-up

Part 2: Why the Liberals Democrats should be the natural political home for Arts and Culture in the UK

Why the Liberals Democrats should be the natural political home for Arts and Culture in the UK

The party proposes to abolish business rates: “Taxing Land, Not Investment”

OPINION – Poverty in the UK

Conference Message – Exit Brexit

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