Jo Swinson’s vision for 21st Century Liberalism

Jo Swinson’s keynote speech to Scottish Conference yesterday tackled many current issues from climate change to the challenges faced by developments in automation and technology which threaten 1 in 3 jobs.

She was clear that it was the Liberal Democrats who could lead in developing the answers to these complex challenges;

Most importantly though, as Liberal Democrats we need to bring people together to create these answers to our shared challenges.

“We must not leave room for the populists to sow their seeds of division. This means getting out of what can, at times, be our own echo chambers and starting to bridge the divides in our communities. Our proud liberal tradition of community politics and grassroots campaigning means we know how to do this.

“We have the wind in our sails.  Growing Council groups, strong by-election campaigns, more MPs at Westminster. People are listening again, open to our message.

“British politics needs this radical thinking, this consensus-building, this reaching out across party and ideological divides.

“British politics needs the Liberal Democrats.”

Here is the whole thing:

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WATCH: Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Conference

Here is Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Conference.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, here are a few highlights:

On Lib Dem values:

We stand with the weak against the strong, and will use the power of government to tackle the social and economic injustices that limit freedom.

We say power is safer when it is shared and will trust communities and individuals with the power to control their own lives.

We are trustees of our world, and our society, and must pass on a sustainable legacy which will benefit future generations.

Hammering the Tories:

Well, we know that the Scottish Conservatives are the Baked Alaska of politics.

Apparently warm, fluffy and attractive on the outside.

But when you cut it open you find an ice cold heart.

That went down well in the room, but the slight flaw in the logic is that Baked Alaska is delicious.

There was a strong section on tax, described as “pickpocketing” by the Tories:

Is it theft to invest in building the best education system in the world?

Is it pickpocketing to provide the social care for those in need?

Is it a crime to want to create a fairer society?

I tell you that this is no time for narrow, selfish Conservatives.

For care, for education, for a fairer society this is the time for Liberal Democrats to stand up and be counted for the greater good.

Alex Salmond’s decision to do a show on Russian propaganda channel Russia Today came in for some serious and not so serious commentary:

Good afternoon conference.

Or dobryj dyen to Mr Salmond.

Actually, conference, I don’t want to joke about it.

Russia is undermining western democracy.

They undermined the campaign of President Macron.

Attacked Chancellor  Merkel.

We first heard about them when we found out they had undermined Hillary Clinton.

When we met here a year ago people were grief-stricken that the first woman to run for President was defeated in the way that she was.

So it is a disgrace that Alex Salmond has decided to supplement his First Minister’s pension by legitimising a Russian organisation whose mission is to undermine western democracy. It’s a disgrace.

He really went after the Brexiteers on immigration:

Boris Johnson should explain why world class university research is on the wane because researchers have moved to other parts of the world.

Nigel Farage should tell shoppers why they can’t get home grown fruit, fish and veg in our shops because we don’t have enough people to grow them.

Theresa May should tell you why you can’t have a carer for your elderly mother, or why you have to wait weeks to see your GP because they have all gone back to Europe.

And Jeremy Corbyn should come and tell you why public services are being cut because we have fewer workers paying tax to fund these vital services.

When all of this happens, you can point to every leader who backed Brexit in the full knowledge of the price of Brexit but didn’t have the courage to stand up and be counted.

And he showed the right kind of humility and willingness to listen on sexual harassment:

Some people ask women – “why did you not mention anything before?”

Let me put this as politely as I can: communication requires listening as well as talking.

Maybe they haven’t been listening.

So instead of all the excuses let’s all make sure we are listening now.

This is not nothing.

This is not the fault of women.

This is our opportunity to listen.

Listen to the decades of frustration and anger.

Listen.

And if we listen, we will change.

Enjoy the whole thing:

The text is below:

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Why gender neutral school uniform policies matter

One of the highlights of Scottish Liberal Democrat conference yesterday was a motion calling for:

The requirement that schools provide inclusive, non- prescriptive, gender neutral school uniform policies.

The government to provide support and advice to schools adapting or changing their policies to make them more inclusive.

Awareness of the detrimental effect that discriminatory school uniforms have on girls, and to a heightened extent, on transgender and non-binary pupils.

Adequate training for school staff on how to review and improve their school uniform policies.

It was submitted by Jess Insall, a 15 year old who only joined the party in June this year. She gave an amazing speech proposing the motion. At Spring Conference there is an award for the best speech of Conference. Sadly, we don’t award it in Autumn. However, I can reproduce the speech in its entirety here.

It was one of those speeches that, when the red light came on, you wanted to continue. In fact, Jess kind of ignored it and so did the session chair.

Deputy Leader Jo Swinson also spoke in the debate and talked about her campaign when she was at school to have trousers permitted for girls. She mentioned a story about girls, forced to wear dresses, being stopped from doing cartwheels because it wasn’t lady-like.

If a uniform stops you doing cartwheels, then it’s the wrong uniform.

Jess’s motion passed by a huge margin. Here is her speech:

Our society is moving in the right direction. As a feminist, I am proud that gender equality is becoming a realistic goal for the future. As an LGBTQ+ rights activist I am proud that transgender and non binary people are finally starting to get the rights and recognition they are so long overdue. And as a Scottish Liberal Democrat, I am proud that the fair, free, and open Scotland we believe in is continuing to stand up to hatred and bigotry.

We are winning the battles, but the war is not yet over.

Our schools are being left behind, and there is one problem that causes so much harm, but is so simple to fix.

Uniforms.

Is it really acceptable that we dictate the way our children dress based on only their gender, or in many cases, the gender that society forces them to conform to?

Girls are faced with discomfort, discrimination, and complete disregard for their physical and mental health.

Boys are desensitised, forced to conform to strict stereotypes, and often discouraged from being themselves, or expressing their feelings.

Non binary pupils are completely disregarded, disrespected, and denied recognition and basic human decency.

This must change.

As a feminist, I am angry about the harm that sexist uniforms are doing to young girls. I’m not telling anyone to take away their skirts. I’m telling you all that pupils should have the freedom to dress appropriately for their personal identity, regardless of their gender. Instead of saying “girls wear this, boys wear that” schools can simply say “pupils may wear either this, or that”.

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We will remember them

Three years ago, 888,246 ceramic poppies were placed around the Tower of London. You can read my account of my visit to see them here. 

I found the whole thing incredibly moving and actually distressing in places. I think seeing each individual poppy and realising it meant a life, like my son’s, really hit home.

I can only imagine what it must have been like as the family back home, waiting to hear news of your loved one and hoping that the next knock at the door brought a handwritten letter from them and not a telegram.

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Vince Cable’s message for Remembrance Sunday

Vince Cable’s message for Remembrance Sunday is below:

It is an honour to have been invited to the National Remembrance Day event at the Cenotaph.

It is almost a century since the end of World War I. My grandfather was captured in a First World War battle, and maltreated in a prison camp. As with many survivors, he suffered from permanently damaged health.

Nearly every family in this country has a relation who was killed, injured or suffered in a major war.

Today we honour their sacrifice

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On leaving the “best job in politics”

It is with a heavy heart that after nearly a decade working for the party in one form or another, I am finally moving on. I started as a press officer a few months into Nick Clegg’s leadership and since last summer I have had the privilege of serving as the party’s Director of Communications. In that time I have managed to clock up three General Elections, three referendums, three party leaders, four chief executives, 18 spring and autumn conferences, nine TV debate ‘spin rooms’, two crucial by-election victories, one Glee Club (I walked out and vowed never to return), one Daily Mail hatchet job, and snuck references to Milton Keynes (#cityofdreams) into two party leaders’ conference speeches. I even met my wife Thais at a Lib Dem conference.

The most memorable moment for me came a few minutes after the first ITV Leader’s Debate in April 2010. I was in the spin room at the Manchester Hilton when all the journalists in my eye line started rushing to the back of the room. I turned to see that Peter Mandelson had wafted in, with a swarm of cameras, Dictaphones and shorthand notebooks forming around him within seconds. I edged a little closer, in time to hear the opening words of his no doubt carefully crafted response: “Nick Clegg won”. The full sentence was “Nick Clegg won on style but Gordon Brown won on substance”, but when the Dark Lord of Spin acknowledges in any form at all that your guy won, you know you have stepped through the looking glass.

That night changed the course of our party’s fortunes, but it also changed my life. I had joined the press office of a party that hadn’t been in national government for decades, with no expectation that would be changing any time soon. A few short years later I would be working in 10 Downing Street. And five years on from that fateful night in Manchester, I would be sat at two in the morning in the smoky front room of Nick Clegg’s flat in south west Sheffield, as the scale of our 2015 collapse began to become apparent, helping him to write a resignation speech. 

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Rennie: Stand up for immigration to save our universities, health service and farms

Willie Rennie puts immigration front and centre of his Leader’s speech to Scottish Conference today. He will will set out positive examples that immigration brings to local communities and call out hard line Brexiteers who risk tanking the economy in their obsessive pursuit of a damaging Brexit. He will say:

The Conservatives are about to betray Leave voters or trash the economy. This is the real political car crash that is heading our way.

If immigration is not cut with Brexit then Leavers will feel betrayed because that is what they voted for. If the Conservatives keep that promise, and immigration is cut, it will damage our economy and public services, and even more will feel betrayed because they were not told this would happen.

Whilst leaders bicker about transition periods and single markets and common external tariffs the elephant in the room is immigration. In the Brexit vote people were promised fewer foreigners in our country. Yet people were not told the price of that policy.  And it is big.

The price is a shortage of workers to get food from British farm into the shops.

The price is a shortage of carers, nurses and GPs.

The price is billions of pounds of lost taxes from these jobs.
They are already going home and Brexit has not even happened yet.

Some say that too much immigration is a threat to our way of life. But the truth is that not enough immigration is the real threat to our way of life. It’s not the workers from Poland, Romania or Bulgaria who we should fear. We should fear all those political leaders who are blindly backing Brexit. These are the people we should be sending home.

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ALDC’s by-election report – 9 November 2017

Fareham BC, Stubbington – Lib Dem gain from UKIP
LD Jim Forest 1185
Con 769
UKIP 117
Lab 76
A massive congratulations to Jim Forest and the team in Fareham for a smashing gain, capitalising on UKIP’s continuedly rapid electoral decline. Having a popular local candidate always helps of course and this will be Jim’s third term in Stubbington. His campaign was largely based off his excellent record as a local champion and protecting the standards of the local area from Tory cuts.
Camden LB, Gospel Oak – Labour hold
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Backlash against Trump in US elections


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Here’s a few stories about the encouraging elections in the USA last Tuesday.

Politico summarised the news:

This one was for Donald Trump. Exit polls revealed an unmistakable anti-Trump backlash Tuesday, as Democrats won resounding victories in governors races in Virginia and New Jersey. Majorities of voters in both states disapproved of the job Trump is doing as president, with significant numbers of voters in each state saying Trump was a reason for their vote. And far more of those voters said they made their choice to oppose Trump than to support him.

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Sal Brinton writes…How the party is addressing members’ concerns over harassment complaints

The Federal Board of the Liberal Democrats has met to discuss the concerns expressed by members of the party over the last few days. We considered what action should be taken to address these concerns, and also to let members know about changes that are in progress already.

I want to start by thanking everybody who has spoken up about harassment and sexual assault over the last few days. I know, from personal experience in the media when I was younger, that it is insidious, pervasive and demeaning and the effects never really leave you. Vince Cable and I remain very clear that there is no place for harassment and sexual assault inside the Liberal Democrats and we must have a zero tolerance approach to it.

That is why the serious allegations made by some members relating to rape and assaults in a case that is currently under investigation are very serious. Because the case is under way at the moment, the party cannot comment. However, we can look at some of the concerns raised by the complainants about where the process may have failed. That is urgent, and the Board recognises this.

Early in 2017 the Federal Board asked Lord Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions, to carry out a review of our current disciplinary processes for two reasons. Firstly, following the Morrissey Review the party constantly reviews its processes, but the Board was also  concerned to hear that some cases appeared to take too long, and that some processes were inconsistent. Ken was asked to think radically about a new process that would be seen as independent, fair, faster and accountable. The snap General Election halted the evidence he was taking, but the report is now nearing conclusion and will be presented to the Board in December, published to the party in January and then changes presented formally to Spring Conference.

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LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League: manager of the month for October

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Our third update from the LDV Fantasy Football League. Congratulations to Elliott Mears, our Manager of the Month for October.

His team, Hart Broken Bilic, scored an impressive 183 points, just edging out Graham Bates’ Viennafoxes and Ross Pepper’s The Pepperpots, each with 182.

It’s an international break this week, so you have til 18 November to select your teams to start closing (or, in Sam Kay’s case – see below – extending) the gap.

Here’s the first full league table:

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Vince: Only Lib Dems offer strategy for growth and prosperity

Earlier, we brought you a flavour of Vince’s big pre-Budget speech.  Here is the speech in full:

As Leader of the Liberal Democrats, it is one of my responsibilities to give a serious Lib Dem analysis of the economics around the Budget, and to present an alternative.

I have recently been returned to Parliament from exile.

One of my regrets, however, is that the previous competition between the parties on economic competence no longer exists.

The likes of Gordon Brown, George Osborne, Ed Balls and Oliver Letwin were all serious players and thinkers even if I often disagreed with them.

Now, the economy – pivotal still to people’s lives – has been relegated to the margins of political debate.

The June election produced minimal discussion of economic policy.

The Conservatives didn’t produce any economic numbers in their manifesto.

Labour did, but as the IFS caustically pointed out at the time, there was a strong element of fantasy.

My Party did much better than our rivals at the hands of the IFS and serious commentators at the FT and The Economist but few noticed. And, now, economic debate is drowned out by the politics of Brexit and an unstable government.

Yet this is an unusually important and difficult budget.

The Chancellor has foresworn the use of a second budget, traditionally used to correct the mistakes in the first.

And the potential for a massive, if unquantifiable, economic shock from an unsatisfactory deal – or, even, ‘no deal’ is palpable.

Brexit hangs over the forecasts.

The environment of radical uncertainty is already spooking business investment and depressing growth, including the growth in government revenue.

I want, then, to set out some analysis of where we are and some ideas for where the Liberal Democrats think Britain could and should go.

Our focus is on freeing up capital spending to build the homes and infrastructure the country needs, on reviving the NHS with a targeted injection of cash, and on giving a leg up to young people with a learning account as they begin their working lives.

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Your data, your choice – the ALDES fringe meeting in Bournemouth

Government, business and our personal lives are increasingly driven by our personal data. Credit card transactions, location data, and health records have the potential to improve products, provide insight for policymaking, and detect security threats. But they also challenge our notions of privacy, intimacy and autonomy. How can results from privacy research be translated into policy?

The session was chaired by Richard Gomer, a researcher in Meaningful Consent. The panellists brought expertise from the areas of publishing, computer science, artificial intelligent and security

  • Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye (Data Scientist and privacy researcher at Imperial College London)
  • Luc Moreau (Professor of Computer Science at King’s College London)
  • Yogesh Patel (Chief Scientist at Callsign)
  • Leonie Mueck (Division Editor at PLOS ONE.)

Questions to the panel

  1. What could mathematics offer to address the issues? The question was taken by Yves who said that in the context of Big Data statistical and analytical techniques are important to model behaviour and understand how sensitive information can be inferred from apparently innocuous data. Luc pointed to algorithmic accountability as a major challenge for data provenance modelling.
  2. How is anonymization done and how could it be undone? Leonie addressed the context of repositories of data under pinning research. Concern is considerable in the health domain but it is also an area where regulation is quite mature. De-identification itself is an obsolete technique and not a useful basis for any privacy policy. The publishing business would welcome formulation of and clarification on the rules and regulations. Yogesh emphasised the maturity of cryptography but recognised its limitations.
  3. What is the role of data governance and its complementarity with techniques such as differential privacy? It can be hard for organisations to know what their own policies should be, though. Techniques for de-anonymisation are still being developed, so a technique applied to data today could be insufficient in the future.
  4. What is the role of accountability and techniques such as Data Provenance tracking in providing greater accountability? The panel considered the role of trust, and the necessity of building services and technology that are trustworthy. Regulation has a role here and understanding exactly what would make an organisation trustworthy could do with some exploration.
  5. What are the challenges in privacy self-management? Regulatory regimes place much of the onus on the individual. The complexity and scale of digital services makes this challenging. There are alternative to explore here are AI decision support and regulatory approaches that recognise collective bargaining from data subjects.

Discussion and recommendations

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Observations of an ex pat: A media world

The world’s media is rapidly changing. And as it changes it plays a sad role in helping to divide society.

The irony is that the press in all its forms has never been freer, more competitive and offered a greater array of opinion and facts.

The number of traditional print platforms has markedly declined, and the ones that remain are only just staying in business with slashed circulation figures.

The print business, however is being rapidly replaced with news websites. As of the start of this year there were an estimated 100 million news websites worldwide. This compares to about 18,000 daily newspapers.

To understand the impact of these figures it is important to realise a basic truism about the vast majority of the media. It exists to make a profit. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule such as state-owned broadcasters or magazines and newspapers published by pressure groups.

The benefit of a profit-oriented media is that profits keep the press free. Without profits journalists quickly became mouthpieces for whomever is stumping up the cash to pay their bills. Alternatively, they become more outrageous in their news coverage in a desperate bid to maintain circulation figures. This is often as true of what is referred to the mainstream media, quality or broadsheet newspapers as it is of the tabloid scandal sheets. Desperate times induce desperate measures.

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Lib Dems GAIN another Council seat

Congratulations to Jim Forest and his team in Fareham for a fantastic result!

Elsewhere there were some strong showings.

A good foundation to build from in High Peak:

Leapfrogging the Tories in style in Camden:

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Vince: Exit from Brexit very much on the cards

Lord Kerr, who wrote Article 50, has said many times that it is revocable. We could get out of Brexit if we wanted. People are resigned to it because they don’t know that we could get out of it. So spread the news far and wide whenever you see it.

He’s reportedly making a speech tomorrow in which he emphasises that point. Vince Cable had this to say:

The author of article 50 revealing that the process can be revoked is a significant development.

There is no longer any refuge for brexiteers who argue that this whole process can’t be revoked.

The possibility of an

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The EU Parliament Takes A Principled Liberal Stance

Despite the claims of British politicians, which in turn are echoed by their diplomats, the UK is not “within touching distance” of agreement on citizens’ rights.  Following a reiteration of this claim by UK ambassador John Marshall, at a public meeting on Wednesday in Luxembourg, MEP Charles Goerens outlined the European Parliament’s position:

  • Any application for ‘settled status’ should be a simple, cost-free and automatic process, that can be made by families as a joint declaration.
  • Applications should not depend on complex conditionality and

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£18,000 Education Pot – a good idea?

The papers today have been full of Vince Cable’s proposal that all 16-year olds should have access to an £18,000 endowment for education.

Here is an extract from The Sun:

Teenagers should get £18,000 to spend on further education to re-balance inequality between the generations, Sir Vince Cable has said.

The Lib Dem leader today unveiled his plans for an “endowment fund” which would be used for young people to spend throughout their lives.

And from the Daily Telegraph:

A new wealth tax could extract some of the housing value owned by older Brits, which Cable wants to use to give all 18-year olds

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Make Britain Great Again! First, though, the sacrifices…

Deep in our human consciousness is a memory handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. It is that to propitiate our gods, whoever they may be, it’s necessary to sacrifice something valuable on their altars. This will persuade the god to look favourably on the giver and be good to him. Gods could shape Fate, so to make a sacrifice, part of an act of worship supervised by priests, was a necessary ritual.

I believe that this folk memory of necessary sacrifice to keep oneself safe has surfaced again in the unconscious of British people today, and affects …

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Integrating Physical and Mental Health

There is a new initiative from the King’s Fund on integrating physical and mental health care. They are setting up an “Integrating Physical and Mental Health Care Learning Network”.

The King’s Fund learning networks provide an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning, challenge and information-sharing. Network members have the opportunity to work through local issues with colleagues facing similar challenges. External speakers will share insights on relevant topics, and the group will also draw on expertise from staff at the Fund, as well as our latest research and publications.

This follows on from their 2016 …

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News from the Liberal Democrats International Office

The Liberal Democrats took an active part in the 199th Liberal International Executive Committee meeting in Johannesburg in October. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Better Governance: Liberal Answers to Twenty-first Century Challenges”.

Delegates adopted resolutions on freedom of belief, tackling the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya, and the rise of authoritarianism in Cambodia. The delegates elected a new Secretary General of LI, Gordon Mackay. He is a Member of the South African Assembly for Democratic Alliance.

Liberal Democrat Party President Sal Brinton held a number of meetings with key individuals at Liberal International, ALDE and …

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Notes From A New Councillor: Bus Services Motion Passes!

I wanted to post an update to the blog I wrote in August on the poor bus provision in Oxfordshire due to cuts in bus subsidies.

There are two parts to this story – the motion I moved on Tuesday to Full Council which passed unanimously – hooray! – and how I got the motion to its final form.

We’ll start with the second part, as that was the real journey for me as a new councillor.  I had originally submitted this motion for September full council, but we ran out of time …

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Swinson: No 10 must answer questions over Patel

I have to say, I’m not unhappy to see the back of Priti Patel from Government. I have never forgiven her for caving to pressure and withdrawing funding from an innovative and successful project which changed attitudes and behaviour, protecting girls from harassment and violence.  She can’t protect women and girls from violence, but she’s happy to talk about using our aid budget to help out an occupying army against government policy.

It’s quite astounding that Patel wasn’t sacked when the initial revelations about her behaviour came out at the weekend.

Jo Swinson said that there still questions for No 10 …

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LibLink: Sir Ed Davey: Chancellor must properly fund community policing

Ed Davey has written for Politics Home about the need for proper funding of community policing.

He outlined what has been happening in recent years:

We are seeing the police disappearing off our streets, clearing the way for criminals. After years of falling crime rates the latest statistics show a 13% increase recorded crime across England and Wales, and even steeper increases for violent offences including knife crime. That is why I am leading a debate in Parliament on the issue of police funding ahead of the Budget.

It also leads to the Met Police saying they aren’t going to investigate so-called “low …

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Willie Rennie’s speech as Nicola Sturgeon apologises to gay men for historic convictions

It was an emotional day in the Scottish Parliament yesterday. In the balcony, men openly wept as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivered a heartfelt apology to gay men for historic convictions as the Scottish Parliament prepared to pass legislation that would pardon them.

All the Scottish party leaders joined in to add to the apology. Here is Willie Rennie’s speech:

Can I start by thanking the First Minister for making her statement and her apology on behalf of the Scottish Government.

It is an important thing to do.

For many gay people the idea of a pardon carries with it connotations of forgiveness for a wrongdoing

The apology today from the First Minister makes it clear that it was the law, the enforcement of that  law and the attitude of those in authority, in our country’s past, who were wrong.

Today we are all adding to that apology by reflecting on the wasted potential and lost achievements of those men whose lives were limited or tragically cut short because of this injustice.

People were imprisoned and fined.

Their lives and families were in many cases ruined.

Men became outsiders from their families and their communities.

Our country is poorer for the limits we placed on those men’s freedom.

It is right that Parliament stands together to apologise for that.

It is easy today, to imagine that this is all ancient history.

Certainly when we see Alan Turing we see photographs in black and white.

But the estimates are that most prosecutions were in the 1980s.

Within easy memory.

With many of those arrested and prosecuted, and those who made the arrests and led the prosecutions still with us.

In the summer the BBC showed their dramatised documentary “Against The Law” which commemorated fifty years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

One of the testimonies was from Professor Roger Lockyer, who lived with his partner, later his husband, for more than fifty years. He described with great humour, but also great poignancy the struggle, the secrecy and the injustice of the law of this country over those fifty years and the decades before.

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Vince: Lib Dems want a fair deal for young people

Two weeks ahead of the Budget, tomorrow Vince gets his retaliation in first. Of course, as a former business secretary and the man who predicted the financial crash, he has a whole load of economic credibility. In comparison, when the Chancellor delivers his speech on 22 November, he’s going to look pretty amateurish compared to Vince.

He will outline the major challenges facing Phillip Hammond in  light of the expected downgrades in Britain’s projected future growth, the threat posed by Brexit to any attempt to fix our economy, and what needs to be done in the budget to begin to solve these problems. He will include the Liberal Democrat long-term vision for the economy. And I’ll be very surprised if the Paradise Papers didn’t get a mention.

He will emphasise the need for a Government with economic competence and how important it is to have a fair deal for young people.

I’m kind of hoping that the main speech is slightly less heavy than the extracts released tonight.  It will definitely be a credible, authoritative speech and not a wild oration, though.

 

The Liberal Democrat focus is on freeing up capital spending to build the homes and infrastructure the country needs; on reviving the NHS with a targeted injection of cash; and on giving a leg up to young people with an endowment in the form of a learning account as they begin their working lives.

To do all this, we need a Government which prioritises economic competence over political dogma.

A ‘no deal’ Brexit hangs over forecasts. An environment of radical uncertainty is already spooking business investment and depressing growth in government revenue.

Neither the ‘no deal’ Brexit extremism of the Conservative Party nor the ‘socialism in one country’ dreamed of by Labour will deliver a successful economy.

He will look at solving the inequality facing young people in more detail:

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An open letter to Liam Fox about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

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Dear Mr Fox/Liberal Democrat Voice

As a Cabinet Minister I am astonished that on the Today program you have claimed that we must be careful not to “over-react” about Boris Johnson’s comments over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. If your wife was stuck in jail on trumped up charges I don’t think you would be saying that.

Nazanin has already appeared in court since the careless comments of the Foreign Secretary.

Comments that are now being used against her. As a consequence she may face another five years in prison.

One of the primary duties of the Foreign Secretary is to help protect British citizens abroad. If Mr Johnson is unable to do that then he has failed in the basic part of his job description.

Posted in News | 9 Comments

We are not a party of the centre

There is a frequent claim on these pages and wider commentary: as a party of the centre or centre-left, with Labour and the Tories pulling away from the centre, the Lib Dems should be polling a good deal better than 5-7%. This failure to transform an advantageous position into wider support is ascribed to a lack of vision, distinctiveness, or messaging etc.

I consider this analysis is flawed, and that the ‘solutions’ that follow are unlikely to improve our situation. My contention is as the article title states – we are not a party of the ‘centre’.

Posted in News | 76 Comments

Addressing the mid-level skills gap and improving opportunities for low paid workers

It is widely recognised that the UK has a mid-level skills gap, which means employers can struggle to recruit for medium skilled occupations. At the same time, it can be hard for established workers (those over 25) to retrain or upskill if they aren’t supported by their employer or can’t self-fund.

In my day job at University College London working on a cross-disciplinary research programme addressing issues of justice and equality, I commissioned a researcher to prepare a report investigating this topic. Specifically, the report looks at the non-university skills gap many employers face and the routes to undertaking technical and vocational education for the over 25s in England.

The report “Routes to Opportunity – Addressing the non-university skills gap” reveals that while employers face a well-documented mid-level skills gap, established workers face barriers to upskilling and retraining to undertake medium skilled occupations.

To me it seems crazy that we’re failing to address the mid-level skills gap and failing to provide low paid workers with opportunities to upskill/retrain to improve their employment prospects and earning potential. Solving the latter will go some way to solving the former!

Posted in News | 14 Comments
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