Our first update from the LDV Fantasy Football League. Congratulations to Jon Featonby, our Manager of the Month for August.
His Obi One Kenobi Nil scored an impressive 200 points, just edging out former MP Adrian Sanders’ Riviera Magpies (197) and Jamie Lawson’s Gegen Style (189).
Here’s the first full league table:
Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has been writing for Times Red Box about the exam cheating scandal and why it matters.
These are not victimless crimes. I feel especially sorry for those students whose grades were nullified. They were only doing what their teacher said and their future has now been compromised. The teachers involved should feel ashamed. There is also a wider societal impact. More people than expected gaining high grades can ultimately lead to grade inflation and then a re-banding of passes, making it harder for other pupils to gain a good result.
But there is a broader question of unfairness here. Pupils from state schools are already massively pushing up hill on that famous playing field (assuming, of course, their playing field has not been sold off to balance the books by a cash-strapped education authority).
Layla has some suggestions for action:
One of the best things about Lib Dem Conference is the Leader’s question and answer session. Members attending will be able to question Vince on anything they like. That will not have quite the same novelty value given that he’s just done about 14 of these around the country over the last month or so, but, still, it’s a good opportunity for the leader to have a bit of interaction with party members.
There is a catch, though. You have to submit your questions in advance – by this coming Monday (4th September) at 1pm. If it’s picked, you will get a follow-up that he won’t know about.
It’s not just Vince you can question. A hugely important part of accountability in this party is being able to scrutinise the party committees. If you want to put down a question to any of the Federal Committees or the Parliamentary parties, it has to be done by the same deadline. You will also get a follow-up and your question will be published in Conference Extra.
And don’t forget that if you want to amend any motions, you need to find a local party, or 10 members, or an SAO like Lib Dem Women or Young Liberals to support it and get it in by the same time.
I can’t quite imagine Clifton Terrace without Linda
What will we do without Linda?
An utter legend
Variants of the above have been said so many times in Scotland in recent weeks, ever since it was announced that our much-loved Party Manager Linda Wilson was leaving us.
For the last 8 and a half years, Linda has been the heart and soul of our headquarters in Edinburgh, running the party with incredible efficiency, with a tremendous capacity to sort stuff out.
She’s run our conferences so that they are enjoyable for media, members and exhibitors alike.
Everyone who has anything to do with Conference or HQ has something nice to say about her.
Apart from her ability to Get Stuff Done, she has a wicked sense of humour and has constantly made us laugh with her pithy observations about life and the universe. She has no reservations about telling people exactly what she thinks when they deserve to hear it.
Last week a study highlighted that almost a million EU workers could leave the UK after Brexit simply because they “feel less welcome and valued” in the country and in their jobs.
The impact that is going to have on our health service and the wider economy is severe.
Today, it emerged that the Government is going to spend £100 million recruiting GPs from abroad .
More than half of the Government’s 5000 targeted increase in the number of GPs are going to be recruited in this way. Other health workers will also be sought.
As well as the £100 million, each GP who comes from abroad will cost taxpayers £1000 per year because of the Immigration Skills Charge. Surely the sensible thing to do would be to exempt the NHS when we need these people so badly. In fact, why have it at all? It seems to me like a silly nonsense to convince the Daily Mail that we’re doing something about immigration.
Norman Lamb said that the whole thing was absurd.
Vince Cable has published his message of solidarity with Britain’s Muslim community as they prepare to mark Eid-al-Adha.
It’s not been the best day for the British Government. Theresa May had to accept that Japan’s immediate priority was its trade deal with the EU, which should not be surprising given that it gives access to half a billion people compared to our 60 million.
In the joint press conference held by Japanese Prime Minister Abe and Theresa May, Mr Abe stopped short of committing to a rapid new trade deal after Brexit, saying only that the two leaders would discuss the issue.
Instead, the Japanese Prime Minister stressed the need for a smooth and orderly Brexit that minimises disruption for Japanese investors in the UK.
Alistair Carmichael said:
Theresa May went to Japan seeking a new trade deal, she’s now had to admit the biggest priority will be completing the one the EU is already negotiating.
Once again the promises of the Brexiteers have been dashed on the rocks of reality.
It’s a sign of the Prime Minister’s weakness that rather than going abroad to fight for British jobs, she’s been forced to desperately fight for her own.
The chances of the UK getting a trade deal with Japan before Brexit are about as slim as the odds of Theresa May staying on to fight the next election.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the Brexit negotiations aren’t going well for our Brexiteers. At a joint press conference, Michel Barnier, the EU’s negotiator, warned there has been “no decisive progress” on key issues and there were issues of “trust” between the two sides.
Tom Brake said:
The government is stuck in a Brexit quagmire of its own making, and risks taking the country down with it.
Five months on since Article 50 was triggered, progress in these talks has been almost non-existent.
Former North Devon Lib Dem MP Nick Harvey has been appointed as the Liberal Democrats’ interim Chief Executive following the departure of Tim Gordon earlier this month.
Nick has wide-ranging experience in PR, human resources, management and delivering change.
He comes from a City background, having been an account director at Dewe Rogerson, and worked at Profile PR and Westminster Consortium. He will take up his new role next week on the back of recent experience at Global Partners, where he was an adviser on Egypt and Jordan. He has also been seeking to widen access to the law as chair of Lawthority, while also chairing the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (a role he will step back from while serving as interim chief executive).
He was a campaigning and dedicated constituency MP for North Devon for 22 years. During this time (1992-2015) he served on the House of Commons Commission where he drove through reforms to modernise how parliament works. He was chair of campaigns for the Liberal Democrats in the late 1990s, including for the breakthrough 1997 election.
Nick said on his appointment:
I am greatly looking forward to supporting Vince Cable as our new Leader, and hope that working closely together we can further revive Lib Dem fortunes. The party has shown great resilience. Now we have a real opportunity to begin the process of moving forwards again.
British politics has never been in greater need of the Liberal Democrats. There is a major gap which only we can fill, not least on Brexit. This could have a dramatic impact on people’s jobs, the health and care system they depend on, and the schools and colleges which enable everyone to succeed in life.
We must boldly promote our liberal values, at home but also with partners abroad – not fighting them, but working to find international solutions to global security and environmental challenges.
The party has many talented, experienced and innovative people, as well as legions of new members. Together we can get things going again.
Vince Cable said:
Big Ben has been silenced. At some point in the next 6 years, MPs and Lords must leave the Palace of Westminster too, with renovation needed in the face of ‘impending crisis’. A lot has been written about where parliament might go temporarily, with some even suggesting a few years out of London. But we need to be more ambitious than a mere temporary move of parliamentarians.
We should permanently move both parliament and ‘Whitehall’ to Manchester. Undoubtedly, political parties, think tanks, charities, much of the printed and broadcast press, quangos, embassies and lobbyists would eventually follow, as well as other corporate offices: with further knock-on effects through the spending power of these 10s or even 100s of thousands of jobs.
Politicians talk a lot about ‘rebalancing’ the UK but this is one way – perhaps the only way – in which the state can actually do it at the stroke of a pen. For those currently working in or around parliament and central government – including journalists (and myself) – it would be painfully disruptive. But for most voters in the South East an easing of population pressure should be welcome. As Jeremy Cliffe at The Economist writes:
Moving government out of London would free up housing, transport and office capacity that the current capital badly needs. … Meanwhile that city would of course remain Britain’s economic centre and gateway to the world; a Barcelona to Manchester’s Madrid; a Glasgow to Manchester’s Edinburgh; a New York to Manchester’s Washington. The city on the Thames is surely dynamic enough to absorb the change without breaking a sweat.
Vince Cable has said that Theresa May’s visit to Japan has descended into farce before it has even begun. This was after the government briefed that a post-Brexit Britain would seek a trade deal with Japan based on the existing EU-Japan deal.
He put a reality check on the government’s spin:
Theresa May’s trip to Japan to gain a trade deal was already of questionable value because there can be no fresh agreements with other countries until we leave the EU.
But this staggering statement by the government just adds a whole new level of absurdity to their negotiating strategy. It is now saying that the best trade deal we can possibly hope for with Japan post-Brexit is the trade deal we already have as a member of the EU.
The likes of Liam Fox were promising a new dawn of improved trade deals but this clearly shows that even the government now recognises that the best possible deal we can get with one of the world’s largest economies is the deal negotiated by the EU.
With the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference approaching (16-19 September), and less than a week away from the deadline for amendments (4 September), this is my highly partisan tirade on the agenda, here to provoke you into sending your views, either to us at Liberal Democrat Voice or to the good people at the Federal Conference Committee.
The first party conference after a General Election is an opportunity for the party to reflect on the results, good and bad. While it is good to move forward, many of us expected more progress in the face of such a gulf in the centre. It is as if Corbyn and May fed off each other’s weakness, and we did not have the strength to stand out as an alternative.
Our conference, as usual, will make policy to demonstrate our values and soft virtues, to the neglect of other qualities: the toughness required to govern in coalition while under siege from all sides, and the fierce dedication to our communities that we show in local government.
I think it is always important to remember those people who built strong foundations for the party during the exceptionally lean times of the 50s and 60s – and look to what we can learn from them right now.
This weekend, Facebook reminded me that it was 5 years since Donald Gorrie died. A councillor for quarter of a century, then MP and MSP, he built the foundations for our strength in Edinburgh West today.
At the time, I wrote this on my own blog:
Sadly, I never knew him that well, although, of course, I admired from afar his work on issues like sectarianism, alcohol, third party right of appeal in planning decisions and showing how STV would work in the Scottish Parliament.
He was a good role model of how to behave when you’re in a coalition you’re not really happy with. He was never destructive, but he spoke up when he wasn’t happy and spent his time developing ideas. He had that winning combination of the sharpest of minds, the most liberal of hearts and the most determined of mindsets.
There are many other tributes to him in that post as well.
I put some of them into a Storify thingy.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 486th 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 (20-26 August, 2017), 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:
As prices go up in a Brexit-induced inflationary spiral, spare a thought for the poorest in our society. People who are having to rely on state benefits don’t get any cushioning thanks to George Osborne’s benefit freeze. As prices go up, benefits, already at a meagre level, stay the same making it even harder for people to survive.
So, you’d think that Jeremy Corbyn’s lefty Labour Party would be all about ending the freeze. Well, that’s what they briefed reporters on Friday morning ahead of a Corbyn visit to Cambridge. Remember that until 2015, Cambridge was represented by a Liberal Democrat who voted against many of the most contentious elements of the Coalitions social security reforms.
Anyway, Jezza rolls up and, weirdly, gives a much more timid message than his advisers had briefed. From Politics Home:
Party officials briefed journalists that Mr Corbyn would make the promise during a visit to Coatbridge in Lanarkshire yesterday.
A trail of his speech quoted the Labour leader saying: “We will lift the freeze on social security, using part of the billions we set aside for reform in our costed manifesto, by recycling social security savings made by introducing a real Living Wage of £10 an hour, and by building the affordable homes we need.”
But when he came to make the address, Mr Corbyn only said: “We are confident that we will be able to end the benefits freeze.”
A Labour source told The Times: “In his campaign speeches… not everything is said, but the intention was to say that. It’s in line with our policy.”
A party spokesman said: “We are confident that we will be able to end the benefits freeze.”
It’s the sort of caution that strikes resignation and frustration into the heart of anyone that actually wants to sort stuff out.
Just as a matter of interest, what is the Liberal Democrats’ policy on this? Pretty unequivocal, from the 2017 manifesto
The Observer headlines Keir Starmer’s announcement that Labour might be prepared to back a longer transitional arrangement to keep us in the single market for longer as a “dramatic shift.”
That editor must have lead a really sheltered life if they think that reversing the tank a few metres back from the cliff edge in the middle of a storm is actually going to help that much.
The claim that Labour is now the party of soft Brexit is laughable. Soft Brexit means staying in the single market and the customs union in a Norway style arrangement. Labour’s position is the same as some Tory hard Brexiteers who support a two year transitional period before leaving the single market and customs union altogether.
Labour’s so-called shift is nothing but a baby step and it’s not even in the right direction. Any transitional period will come to an end and we will end up out of the single market and suddenly much poorer.
If you want a party that is willing to be honest about the very dangerous territory we are now in and which is prepared to offer people a way out of the mess, you have to go with the Liberal Democrats. Labour will not help. Some of them may want to go further, but Corbyn is holding them back.
Who speaks for the poor?Of all of the words spoken, written and broadcast in our public discourse this week, a fifty minute oration stands head and shoulders above the rest.
It was a speech made by the anchor of ITN’s Channel 4 News, Jon Snow; who I certainly believe is probably the best journalist active in the UK media today.
He was in Edinburgh to give the 2017 MacTaggart Lecture at the city’s annual Television Festival.
Mr Snow’s theme was that a media elite…just like elites in politics, the law and so on, but arguably more important due to just how influential the media is today…is disconnected from large swathes of those it broadcasts and publishes to, especially the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society.
His address, to a hall of media professionals, is the most powerful I’ve heard in years.
Time and again he spoke truth to power…even when that truth asked serious questions of him and his profession.
Clips from it, rightly, did the rounds on social media but the speech in its entirety deserves a wide viewing/reading.
It really is worth 50 minutes of your time:
For years the Tories told us overseas students were outstaying their welcome to the tune of 100,000. Thanks to border exit checks implemented at the insistence of the Liberal Democrats, those estimates have been proven to be not even on the same planet, let alone the same ball park. Only 4,600 students stayed after their studies were complete according to official Home Office figures.
Vince Cable said that the Tories should stop harping on about cracking down on foreign students.
This debacle happened on Theresa May’s watch at the Home Office. I spent five years in coalition battling her department’s bogus figures on this issue but she responded by erecting a wall of visa restrictions on an entirely false basis.
Cabinet Brexiteers fought a referendum campaign on a flawed prospectus, scapegoating foreign students who weren’t even here, and demonising EU citizens who are now leaving the country voluntarily.
No wonder the government has announced a review into the impact of foreign students because its economically disastrous policy was based on figures that were out by 96%.
As we argued repeatedly with Theresa May, overseas students bring huge economic benefits to universities and the broader economy. It makes no sense for students to be included in official immigration statistics.
Higher education is one of Britain’s most successful export industries, we must not let it be destroyed by the Conservatives’ short-sighted obsession with immigration targets based on spectacularly wrong data.
in just three weeks’ time, thousands of Liberal Democrats will descend on the wonderful seaside town of Bournemouth for four days of debating, networking, discussion, dancing and singing.
I thought it might be a good idea to give first-timers a bit of a flavour of what happens at Conference.
One of the main things we do at Conference is decide the party policy. Every party member who is registered for Conference is entitled to vote. This year we will be discussing topics ranging from Brexit to terrorism and civil liberties to climate change to small business to gun and knife crime.
Members will be asked to vote on motions which are published in the agenda. If you have a read of the motions and think that there is something that you would change about it, you can submit an amendment, with the support of a local, state or regional party, federal committee, SAO or 10 memebers. You have to do this by 1pm on 4th September.
A debate starts with a speech proposing the motion. The next speeches will be proposing any amendments to the motion. Then speakers for and against motion and amendments will be called to argue out the issues. Finally, at the end of the debate, someone will sum up for each amendment in turn. The last speaker will sum up for the motion as a whole. Those summing up will rebut the arguments made against their motion or amendment and highlight good points made in their favour.
There can be a few surprises. If you like a motion but can’t live with one particular clause, you can ask for a separate vote on that particular line.
Also, if you think that we need policy on something but the motions and the amendments miss the point in some way, you could ask for it to be referred back to some party body, most often the Federal Policy Committee, to have another look at. There is a special procedure for dealing with that request.
If you want more detail about how Conference works, you would be well advised to read the Standing Orders.
There’s nothing like actually sitting in a debate to get a flavour of how it works and thanks to the wonders of You Tube, you can do just that. Below is the recording of the Sunday morning session of last year’s Conference in Brighton. There are debates on combatting racism, a policy paper on the Liberal Democrat vision for 2020 (when we thought the next election would be, silly us) and European research. There is also a keynote speech from Alistair Carmichael and a question and answer session on education.
If you watch nothing else, go to 1 hour 28 in and watch the wonderful Alex Wilcock eviscerate the Agenda 2020 policy paper with a typical establishment busting, radical analysis that we all need to hear. Enjoy.
So, net migration figures today will leave Brexiteers smug about getting rid of foreigners but what does a huge fall in the number of EU citizens coming here and a huge rise in those leaving mean for our economy. Vince Cable says it’s not good as businesses struggle to get the skilled workers that they need. With UK unemployment as low as it is, we aren’t going to be able to meet that need ourselves.
These figures show a deeply worrying Brexodus of EU citizens who have made the UK their home. This is largely a result of the failure of
…
There was a bit of drama at the office of Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton today when firefighters had to come to put out a small fire after a strip light exploded.
V grateful to the fantastic @fire_scot for attending a small fire in our office today after strip-light exploded during surgery. #heroes pic.twitter.com/CebjAxLIyo
— Alex Cole-Hamilton (@agcolehamilton) August 24, 2017
We assume he meant that he was holding a constituency surgery rather than actually performing surgery on the strip light.
Thankfully, everyone was fine and no damage was done.
Looking for a job? Fancy working for the Liberal Democrats? There are plenty opportunities at the moment, but you will need to act quickly, as some of them close tomorrow.
Over at W4MP, there are opportunities available from Edinburgh to York to London
Christine Jardine MP is looking for a Parliamentary Assistant to work in Edinburgh with some travel to London.
This is an exciting opportunity based in the constituency and will require some travel to London. The successful candidate will be someone who enjoys the challenges and flexibility of working in a small team, be organised and have a strong desire to help constituents.
In York, there are two jobs going with our ruling Council group.
Firstly, they want a political assistant to the Lib Dem Group:
The post holder will work closely with the Group Leader who is the Deputy Leader of the Council and members of the Group, including those who are Executive Members. The postholder will be expected to:
- identify current and forthcoming local, regional and national issues of political relevance;
- prepare press releases and liaise with the media;
- understand the role of social media in an age of modern communication;
- undertake specific research;
- provide written and oral briefings on emerging issues;
This is a politically restricted post governed by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Local Government Restrictions Regulations 1990.
An Executive Assistant to the Deputy Leader of the Council is also sought:
Due to the specialist nature of this role you will have a working knowledge and understanding of the Council’s responsibilities and of the role of the Deputy Leader and his Group within the Council. You will be a team player who is highly organised, works well under pressure and have at least two years’ relevant local government experience or of working in a similar role.
You will need to be confident, adaptable and flexible in your attitude and be able to work on your own initiative. You will have proven written and oral communication skills, and an excellent knowledge of IT packages. You will be a highly motivated individual capable of prioritising workloads and able to work to high standards.
If you think you could shape the future of the Liberal Democrats, you have just 24 hours left to apply for the two major jobs in Vince Cable’s team – chief of staff and Press Secretary. I suspect the two who recently lost these jobs in the White House need not bother applying.
Tim moved the Leader’s Office over to Lib Dem HQ but Vince is taking it back into Parliament. The challenge for these post holders will be to stay engaged with the party. You don’t need to be in LDHQ to keep abreast of the party – it’s more about attitude than physical location – but there has to be an acceptance that the party is important.
It doesn’t matter what the result of a Westminster election, the Liberal Democrats are usually under-represented. Our 23% in 2010 should have brought us 140 MPs. At this election, according to an Electoral Reform Society report, we could have had 29 or 39 MPs under a proportional system. Given that Labour and the Tories are doing generally all right out of the system at the moment, we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for reform.
If the election had been conducted under the Alternative Vote, which we campaigned for and squandered too much political capital on in the coalition negotiations in 2010, we’d have had even fewer MPs than with First Past the Post. Only 11 Liberal Democrats would have been elected.
The report is generally a depressing read, highlighting how divided we are as a nation. They highlighted the number of wasted votes and pointed out that this was not a good thing for legitimacy:
In the end, we have a system that recognises the geographical location of a voter and nothing else. It is where voters are – rather than their choices – that matters. This must change if we are to restore legitimacy to our political institutions.
It says that First Past the Post has had its 3rd strike after failing to deliver decisive results in the last 3 elections. I beg to differ with that one. At least in 2010, we had a Government which had the support of more than half of the electorate for the two parties. Those of us who have been around for longer can attest to the fact that it has always been unfair. In my first election a quarter of the votes for the Alliance resulted in just 23 seats.
Almost exactly two years ago, Jeremy Corbyn took a whole load of pain for daring to suggest that women-only train carriages might be part of the solution to combating sexual assaults on public transport.
At the time, I looked at what he actually said and decided against castigating him – although I was and remain convinced that it is a terrible idea.
First of all, it’s pretty good to see a male politician think that the issue of sexual assault on public transport is an important one that we should do something about. Where were the other politicians, including Liberal Democrats, when the statistics showing showing an increase in reported sexual assaults came out last week?
I also gave him credit for at least saying that he needed to consult women to come up with a firm view.
Labour MP Chris Williamson has not been quite as sensitive. He’s waded into the debate, following figures which show a doubling of sexual assaults on public transport.
He told Politics Home that
I really don’t see how it helps to segregate women rather than concentrate on changing the behaviour of the men who assault them. Apart from anything else, the sort of low-life who attacks women in this way would be likely to assume that any woman not travelling in a women-only carriage was simply asking for their attention.
A solution which discourages women from sharing the same space as men is not in my view desirable.
I also think that those of us who use public transport should look out for our fellow travellers. We tend to bury ourselves in our now thoughts and resolutely avoid any sort of interaction with the world around us. Keep an eye out for women who look uncomfortable and intervene to help them. If you see someone being groped on a crowded carriage, get up and offer them your seat or your space and report the perpetrator. These people need to be convicted.
If you think this is somehow exaggerated, have a read of Louise Jones’ post for Bea magazine published back in 2013. It’s a harrowing account of horrendous behaviour.
During this year’s General Election campaign one of my friends, who doesn’t always vote Liberal Democrat, was enthusiastically considering voting for us. Then our cannabis policy was announced in the press. For her this cast a shadow over her voting intentions and she had grave doubts that she would now vote Liberal Democrat. She had run an urban centre in the UK for homeless men for 7 years. Around 50-80 men visited this centre each day. A common pattern, with a proportion of the men, was to arrive at the centre because of family breakup and unemployment but in a general state that they could be helped to turn their lives round. Then they would adopt the habit of taking cannabis regularly and over time become permanently mentally ill and no longer be in a state to access help. This is so tragic and so sad.
I’m personally in favour of legalising and regulating cannabis use. The aspects of doing this that particularly interest me are, those who choose to use cannabis for recreational and/or medical purposes are no longer criminalised and users can ensure being supplied with cannabis without impurities which is better for their health. With regard to the present position of criminalisation there is maximum sentence of 5 years in prison for use of cannabis and a maximum of 14 years in prison for trafficking. However in recent years the cautions for initial possession and people charged have fallen. From 2010 to 2015 by 48% and 33% respectively. This has resulted in the number of people imprisoned for this offence being relatively low compared to the general prison population for example in 2015, there were 1,363 imprisoned for offences to do with cannabis – about 1 to 1.5 % of the total prison population. These people are probably mostly cannabis traffickers. These figures all indicate that cannabis users are no longer a priority for the police no doubt influenced by recent cuts. There are of course other benefits of legalising and regulating cannabis. It is thought that annually about I billion pounds could be raised in tax revenue in addition to the savings on criminal justice costs and regulation should create extensive employment through production, distribution and selling.
I attended my first Cabinet Meeting recently as Oxfordshire County Councillor. OCC is led by a coalition of Conservatives and Independents. The question I put was:
Many villages in Wheatley Division are suffering because of the cut in bus subsidies. Elderly and vulnerable people are isolated; younger people cannot get to college and apprenticeships; those who relied on buses for work are now using cars and increasing the traffic on our already congested roads. Does the member agree with me that saving up to £4 million pounds from cutting bus subsidy was a false economy, and will she work with me to find room in our forthcoming budget to reinstate bus subsidies?
Well the member did not agree with me, and proceeded to inform me about all the community transport initiatives underway throughout the county. I am already well versed in these grass-root efforts, having been along to a fair number of community transport meetings over the last two months.
My problem is that offering locals buses twice a week for shopping; or relying on volunteers to get people to hospital appointments; or telling village residents to cross a busy highway (A40) for the nearest bus; is not good enough.
Connecting Oxfordshire, Local Transport Plan 2015 – 2031 includes the vision behind providing local buses. Here are three of the key outcomes (p. 16):
1. To support the transition to a low-carbon future.
2. To support social inclusion and equality of opportunity.
3. To protect, and where possible enhance, Oxfordshire’s environment and improve quality of life.
Once out, the pin can’t be put back in. Or can it?
Yes it can, so long as the strike lever has not been released. And that is the position we are in with Brexit. In theory, article 50 can be revoked if we act fast, but the clock is ticking. And According to both Emmanuel Macron and Alastair Campbell, editor of the New European, we have little time left. At some point, the EU will go into full self-protective mode and focus on performing a clean amputation. In grenade terms, the strike lever will have been released and the explosion will be inevitable.
That is why we have to move swiftly. According to Campbell, the time window after our August holidays will be slim. “When the political season resumes, we had better have got our act together”, he writes, ”or else this thing is happening”.
There are formidable difficulties facing us. Though we see tantalising signs of a national change of heart, a lot of energy has built up behind the Brexit juggernaut which means that simply aborting it is well nigh impossible.
Brexit has been aptly described as an act of national self-harm, and self harm has a considerable cathartic value. It is like a wave which rears up before crashing and dissipating its energy on the beach. Anyone who has ever been distressed enough to think of harming themself will tell you that it is not much use being told “forget it, and just carry on as normal”.
Here’s a roundup of media comments made by Lib Dem parliamentarians and spokespeople today.
Norman Lamb slammed the Government for failing to deliver more GPs:
The government’s promise to recruit 5,000 more GPs by 2020 lies in tatters, with fewer GPs now than when this pledge was first made.
“The pitiful increase we have seen in recent months is nowhere near enough to cope with rising patient demand.
“This failure to recruit enough doctors will inevitably have a damaging impact on the ability of patients to access the healthcare they need.
“We are already close to breaking point, with people in many parts of the country struggling to get appointments with their GP.
“More doctors are urgently needed to guarantee a fully-staffed NHS that provides everyone with the care they need.
The government didn’t really get round to condemning Donald Trump’s appalling remarks in the wake of Charlottesville, but they were quick off the mark to support him sending more troops to Afghanistan. Jo Swinson said:
For once, sense seems to have prevailed in the White House.
“But to succeed in Afghanistan will require winning the hearts and minds of its people and working closely with neighbouring countries.
“On that front, Donald Trump has already done untold damage through his proposed refugee ban, Islamophobic comments and cack-handed approach to foreign affairs.
“The government’s rapid statement of support for Trump today contrasts with its failure to swiftly condemn his divisive views and actions in the past.
“Simply pouring more troops into Afghanistan will not work without a broader strategy involving careful diplomacy and redoubled efforts to build a stable government.”
Trigger warning for child abuse.
There are kind of rules – good rules that are there for good reasons – governing how we talk about racial issues, when we must. Properly contextualise. Look for similarities rather than differences. Don’t make or appear to make generalisations about groups of people.
When I was at school we had leaflets thrown over the school fence with the faces of white people who had been killed by black people. The object of the leaflet was to encourage racially motivated violence to “even up the score” using crimes that, if they happened at all, probably weren’t racially …
Week by week the countdown to March 2019 looms closer. The chances of stopping a disastrous hard Brexit are slim, but there is a small window of opportunity if we go about it in the right way.
As Vince Cable and Nick Clegg emphasise, it all rests on building a coalition of moderates with the courage to break out of the extreme Brexit groupthink. This means that we need a Brexit position which is decisive, but also respects those who are resigned to the prospect of Brexit – for now – and reaches out. A clear majority of constituencies voted for Brexit, so for Parliament to block it, or at least soften it, we are going to need to bring people together.
That is why I’m very concerned by the motion being proposed for Autumn Conference, in which it is being suggested that we should play an all-or-nothing game of Russian roulette with people’s livelihoods. The motion suggests that we should retreat into stubborn rejection of the referendum, without securing a clear mandate against Brexit. The tide is slowly turning against a hard Brexit, but time is running out to stop it all together. That should still be our main aim, but it would be an act of gross neglect to take a gamble on suddenly halting Brexit in its tracks and lose.
That’s why we must consider very carefully how we would feel waking up in Hard Brexit Britain in 2019. With investment receding and jobs in freefall, our idealism and anti-Brexit fervour would be in vain. I know I would be thinking about what could have been. We could have had a soft Brexit. We could even have stopped it all. This could all have been less painful.
Even if you endorse this anti-Brexit gamble with our economy, you have to ask how best we can realistically build a coalition to stop Brexit. Surely the answer isn’t to retreat into introverted Europhilia, but to reach out to those sceptical about Brexit and make the case? If the tide of public opinion turns, this is how we stop Brexit – by giving the people the final say in a referendum. This is a realistic and democratic position which can appeal to ‘Releavers’ and soft Leavers alike once the dangers of Brexit become clearer.
I am frustrated about the bureaucracy I recently encountered as a County Councillor. Oxfordshire Mind, which provides many valuable mental health services throughout the county, has a new initiative to promote mental health awareness throughout Oxfordshire.
The question I submitted to the Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health was:
Oxfordshire Mind is seeking £308K funding for Mental Health Awareness for children and young people. This investment in Public Health would potentially save the NHS and Social Care millions of pounds a year in Oxfordshire. Will the Cabinet Member meet with Mr Dan Knowles, CEO of Oxfordshire Mind, and me regarding funding this scheme of prevention, ensuring better mental health for young people in this county in years to come?
The written response was that the Cabinet Member cannot meet with us as that would be showing favouritism to one charity over another. She informed me there is bidding process to go through for funding.
Being a new County Councillor, I was unaware of this and so now I know better! But asking the question, and having it publicly documented, has already raised awareness. So it is not a wasted effort on my part.
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