Mark Valladares

Welcome (belatedly) to my day: 26 May 2025 – what if, like Bielefeld, I don’t actually exist?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 26th May 2025 - 1:32 pm

One of the increasingly troubling trends in modern life is the use of AI as a tool to gather and utilise information. Now, this might merely be the concern of a late middle-aged bureaucrat whose caution is inevitable. On the other hand, it may reflect an entirely reasonable fear that people are too trusting of the information presented to them by unaccountable algorithms. But what if those algorithms are being used to surreptitiously influence what we think and how we perceive the world around us?

We’ve already seen X turn from an entertaining, and occasionally useful, social media platform into a hot mess as Elon Musk openly manipulates its working algorithm to promote those views he supports and punish those who puncture his fragile ego. And now the legal system is facing a challenge from plaintiffs using AI-generated false case precedents to support their arguments in court.

The kneejerk solution is to legislate to address these concerns but the pace of technological change and jurisdictional challenges make any attempts to do so complex and probably futile. Parliamentarians lack the tools, and often the skills, to design a set of principles which might be effective.

I am, clearly, not the only person wondering about this. Nick Clegg has been in the news this week, having made a speech suggesting that the Liberal Democrats should be willing to go into a coalition in future (good luck with that campaign, Nick!). He’s got a book out in the Autumn, “How to Save the Internet”, which should be intriguing.

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Mark Valladares

26 May 2025 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 26th May 2025 - 10:24 am
  • Patients “left in the lurch” as month long waits for last minute cancelled ops to be rearranged more than double
  • Scot Lib Dems to lead debate calling for immediate teacher workforce plan

Patients “left in the lurch” as month long waits for last minute cancelled ops to be rearranged more than double

Close to 20,000 operations cancelled at the last minute took more than 28-days to rearrange last year, in breach of the NHS’s own standard, research by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

It means that 23% of the 85,400 elective operations cancelled at the last minute in 2024/25 took longer than a month to rearrange. This represents a three-fold increase on 2015/16’s figure of 7%.

The Liberal Democrats said the figures showed patients being “left in the lurch” as they waited for “potentially life altering operations”. The party called on the Government to end its “embrace of dither and delay” and take action on rebuilding crumbling hospitals and end the crisis in social care “so crucial to fixing the underlying problem in the health service”.

The data also shows that the number of last minute cancellations breaching the health service’s 28-day standard has also risen significantly from 9,000 in 2015/16 to 19,400 last year. That represents an 115% increase on the waits for rescheduled last minute cancellations a decade ago. In the past year alone the number of these breaches has jumped by around 1,500, up 8% to the highest level post the pandemic.

The data also revealed a breakdown on NHS Trusts with the most breaches of the 28-day standard. The Trust with the highest number of breaches that had not experienced a recent merger was University Hospitals Leicester with 942 and then followed by Surrey and Sussex Healthcare with 710.

Of the 108 NHS Trusts that reported full data for each year since 2015/16, 73 saw a rise in the number of breaches.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP said:

Patients are being left in the lurch, forced to wait in pain and distress for potentially life altering operations. Each of these delays represents an extra month that someone’s misery is prolonged.

This is the devastating legacy of the Conservatives neglect of this NHS, but the Labour government is proving aimless in how to turn this around with ill-thought through reforms and kicking vital projects into the long-grass.

This embrace of dither and delay on building new hospitals or fixing the crisis in social care, so crucial to fixing the underlying problem in the health service, is failing patients. It is time Ministers realised this and showed real ambition in ending these unacceptable delays and getting patients the care they deserve.

Scot Lib Dems to lead debate calling for immediate teacher workforce plan

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie will lead a Scottish Parliament debate on Wednesday afternoon in which his party will call for an immediate teacher workforce plan to counter declines in key subjects like Maths and Physics and a lack of permanent contracts for teaching staff.

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Mark Valladares

24-25 May 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 25th May 2025 - 11:00 pm
  • Number of lung cancer patients not treated within two-month standard rises by 40% with some waiting more than a year
  • Winter Fuel Payments: Govt needs to complete world’s slowest u-turn
  • Cole-Hamilton reveals constituencies with most sewage spills and those with no monitoring
  • Greene urges government to keep a record of online sextortion offences

Number of lung cancer patients not treated within two-month standard rises by 40% with some waiting more than a year

The number of lung cancer patients not treated within the 62-day standard from a referral has risen by 40% since 2019 to 3,750 last year

One patient waited 481 days to begin treatment following a referral for lung cancer with hundreds waiting longer than four months for care in 2024

Liberal Democrat MP Clive Jones, a cancer campaigner and cancer survivor himself, has now written to the Health Secretary following the closure of the call to evidence for the National Cancer Plan demanding a target for 100% of patients beginning treatment within 62-days

The number of lung cancer patients waiting longer than the 62-day referral to treatment standard has risen by 41% since 2019, with 3,750 patients enduring waits of at least two-months last year, Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) by Lib Dem MP Clive Jones’ office have revealed.

Jones’ office received responses from 65 of the 144 NHS Trusts meaning the true number of lung cancer patients not treated within the 62-day standard is likely far higher. From those Trusts that did respond, it showed that those treated outside of the 62-days rose from 2,660 in 2019, to 3,750 last year, a rise of 41%.

The data also revealed the number of people waiting more than four-months to receive treatment, more than double the time expected for the standard. It showed 717 people last year waiting at least four-months, double 2019’s figure of 356. Trusts also responded with the longest time that someone had waited to begin lung cancer treatment with Bedfordshire Hospitals reporting a wait of 481 days.

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Janey Little and Eleanor Kelly

Stillbirth surveillance shows why we must decriminalise abortion

By Janey Little and Eleanor Kelly | Sun 25th May 2025 - 7:24 pm

 

Stillbirth surveillance is the next chapter of our dystopian and dangerous abortion laws. Our parliaments must legislate to decriminalise.

We were chilled to read about the new stillbirth surveillance guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). This NPCC guidance on “child death investigations” includes the seizure of mobile phones and accessing data from menstrual tracking apps in order to understand people’s “intentions” with the pregnancy. You would think this was a news story in Trump’s America, not right on our doorstep.

This development is part of a wider picture: one of an incremental and dystopian attack on women’s rights, both at home and across the globe. Anti-abortion activism in the UK is on the rise, with the UK branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) receiving over £1.1 million in 2024 from the US parent body. Last year, Nigel Farage said that rolling back the 24-week abortion limit was “worthy of a debate in parliament”. Meanwhile, misogyny is increasingly becoming mainstream globally, while nearly a quarter of governments reported backlash on gender equality in 2024.

Reform to abortion law in England and Wales is long overdue. Currently, abortion is a criminal offence under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, unless it is carried out according to the requirements of the Abortion Act 1967. Over the last 10 years we’ve seen an increase in police suspicion with dozens of investigations and six women in England charged in the past two years alone. 

In 2021, a 15-year-old girl was investigated for a year for an unexplained stillbirth, which was dropped after they concluded that it was due to natural causes. In 2024, a case against Bethany Cox was dropped after a three-year investigation where she was charged with abortion as a teenager. A psychiatric examination found that this had a “profound” impact on Cox. Mothers have been prevented from caring for their children.

People who are already suffering from trauma relating to stillbirth, miscarriage, and the ending of a pregnancy have been subjected to lengthy invasive investigations and emotional turmoil, while stripped of their support network at a time of vulnerability. Women denied access to their premature babies, their devices seized by police, having to hand over breastmilk to hospital receptionists because they previously considered an abortion. This cannot go on.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 25th May 2025 - 9:49 am

Romania, Poland, Portugal

On the surface, this week’s elections in Poland, Romania and Portugal were a victory for Europe’s political centre. But look an inch or two below and a different, darker story emerges.

Let’s start with Romania. A few week ago the country was looking into a political abyss after the first-round of presidential elections was won by Calin Georgescu. The far-right, ultra-nationalist, pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine, anti-NATO, agronomist was a political unknown before the December vote. Yet he managed to top the first round of a two-part elections. A quick investigation revealed Russia skulduggery. The election was annulled and Georgescu barred from running for office.

So, the Romanian far-right put up another candidate—George Simion—who adopted many of the same policies of the barred Georgescu. He lost this week’s election. The centrist Nicursor Dan can claim a solid victory with 53.6 percent of the vote but Simion was close enough—at 46.4 percent of the vote—to be a future threat.

A bit further to the north the first round of the Polish presidential elections were much, much closer. Centrist candidate Rafal Trzaskowski narrowly topped the poll with 30.8 percent of the vote while far-right candidate Karol Nawrocki’s slice was 29.1 percent. The two men will face-off in a final round on June 1st.

A far-right Polish president could easily undermine the country’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk who has been in the forefront of world leaders supporting Ukraine. The president’s role is largely ceremonial except for the power to veto any legislation passed by the Polish parliament (Sejm) and to appoint the judiciary.

Further to the West, on the edge of the European continent, Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) won enough seats to form a government, although it fell short of a majority.

AD’s success, however, was not the big news of the night. The big news was the triumph of the far-right Chega Party which more or less tied with the established centre-left Social Democrats with 23 percent of the vote. Three years ago Chega polled only seven percent.

The Chega Party joins Vox in Spain, Reform in the UK, AfD in Germany, AU in Romania, Sweden Democrats in Sweden, Freedom Party in Austria, National Rally in France….All of these parties have risen on the backs of inflation, a housing crisis and general uncertainty about the future. They are waiting for the established political parties to mis-step, or, fail to deliver.

United States

Gold is Donald Trump’s favourite colour. It is also expensive. These two factors could explain why the American president is calling his proposed missile defense shield the “Golden Dome.”

The wished-for shield is loosely modelled on Israel’s highly successful “Iron Dome” which has successfully rebuffed missile attacks from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

I say, loosely, because Israel’s Iron Dome is 15 mobile Patriot missile batteries which are moved around the country to the best sites for intercepting incoming missiles. The batteries are all land-based and cover an area of 8,550 square miles.

Trump’s Golden Dome would be based on sea, land and in space and would cover an area of 7,650,000 square miles. It would also be designed to detect and destroy missiles before they are launched as well as after they are launched.

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Michal Siewniak

“International Day of Democracy” for the Polish community in the UK

By Michal Siewniak | Sat 24th May 2025 - 11:53 am

 Tired, in actual fact exhausted. Almost no sleep for 24 hours, however it was worth it! There is no better way to enable people to vote in any elections so that they can actively shape the future of their communities, towns, cities and countries, especially when you live abroad.

It might have been a small event, however it was a significant and historic moment for the Polish community in Hertfordshire. For the very first time, a polling station for the Polish presidential elections was opened in Welwyn Garden City on Sunday, 18 May. It really felt like a wonderful “democratic celebration”.

Organising the station was a significant logistical challenge. It required cooperation with consular officials and the assembly of a trained and reliable election team. It is quite incredible, given that many more people expressed their willingness to vote, 108 polling stations have been set up across the UK. Moreover, more than 509,000 Poles living abroad had an opportunity to cast their vote and choose the next President.

In comparison with London or Manchester, Welwyn Garden City is a small town, however it was great to see that voters travelled not only from nearby towns such as Hatfield, Stevenage, St Albans, Barnet, Hitchin, Hoddesdon, Waltham Abbey, Ware, Cheshunt and Harlow, but also from further afield – including Portsmouth and Leyland. Many commented on how grateful they were not to have to travel far, and praised both the organisation and the charm of Welwyn Garden City itself. Their warm feedback confirmed to us that this initiative was truly worthwhile. The members of the commission (13 in total) created a welcoming and supportive environment, filled with a true sense of community.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: South African farmers

By Tom Arms | Sat 24th May 2025 - 9:44 am

South Africa’s White farmers—and, face it, most of South Africa’s farmers are White Afrikaners—are facing difficulties.

Are they being subjected to a government-orchestrated genocide? No, that is a Trumpist calumny of the first order.

Are they being buried in their thousands along the road as show in one of the videos that Trump showed in the Oval Office? No, that was a five year-old video showing a temporary memorial to two Boer farmers.

What about all the newspaper cuttings that Trump produced in his ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa? Those were all about fighting in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.

How about Julius Malema singing “Kill the Boers.” He is leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters which won 9.5 percent of the vote in the last election. Describing him—as Trump did—as representative of South African politics is akin to saying that Nigel Farage and the Reform Party determine British government policy.

In short, Trump’s attempted trap was riddled with obvious lies. Except one, President Ramaphosa in February signed a bill allowing for the confiscation of farmland.

Mind you, it is more nuanced than that. The bill allows for expropriation in “circumstances where it is just and equitable and in the public interest to do so.” And defines the just and equitable circumstances as when the land is not being used and stipulates that there should be no intention to either develop the land, resell it at profit or to use it such a way to pose a risk to other people.

This may sound fair, but it is also vague enough to worry the banks who are expressing concern about loans to South African farmers. And Boer farmers, like farmers everywhere, live from bank loan to harvest to bank loan.

Actual implementation of the new law is being held up by a legal challenge from the Democratic Alliance Party which is actually a member of the ruling coalition. The DA claim that the law breaches the constitutional provision protecting private property and is preparing its case for South Africa’s Supreme Court.

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Mark Valladares

23 May 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 23rd May 2025 - 11:40 pm
  • Telegraph deal: stake promised to UAE before legislation approved “puts the cart before the horse”
  • With just weeks to go, 125,000 meters still need replaced
  • UK Government admits it doesn’t know how much Welsh Rail electrification would cost

Telegraph deal: stake promised to UAE before legislation approved “puts the cart before the horse”

Responding to reports that the Telegraph has agreed a deal with a US private equity firm but that the UAE will retain a 15% stake, Chris Fox, Liberal Democrat Lords’ Spokesperson for Business and sponsor of the fatal motion to block the legislation allowing foreign state stakes in British papers, said:

Promising a stake in the Telegraph to the UAE before Nandy’s legislation has passed Parliament puts the cart before the horse.

We don’t believe in letting overseas states buy their way in to influencing the news we read. We’ll move to block the law as soon as it reaches the Lords – and can win the vote if the Conservatives do the right thing and stand with us.

The new permissions for foreign ownership of newspapers simply don’t exist yet, and there’s many lawmakers who don’t believe they should.

Of course we want to see our iconic British papers survive, but editorial independence must be shielded from foreign sway – not just in the current case, but for all future deals cut on UK newspaper ownership as the media landscape continues to change beyond recognition.

With just weeks to go, 125,000 meters still need replaced

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland Beatrice Wishart has called for urgent action to prepare for the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) switch-off as she highlighted figures showing that with just weeks to go there are just under 125,000 meters still to be replaced but just 5,000 per fortnight are being replaced.

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Michal Siewniak

From working in Greggs to becoming a Deputy Mayor

By Michal Siewniak | Fri 23rd May 2025 - 5:53 pm

“My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style”.

If someone told me exactly 20 years ago that I would become a Deputy Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, I wouldn’t have believed. Although I completed my MA Degree in History in Poland and Croatia, which included learning about the UK Parliament and its democratic processes, I don’t think that I understood the function of Mayor as well as the role of the Local Authorities. Starting in Greggs, then moving to a well-known retailer, Hertfordshire Council, Secondary School and eventually, landing in the Community and Voluntary Sector, which played a huge part in enabling me to fall in love with charities, local groups and grassroots organisation on issues such as engagement, community participation and capacity building.

Moreover, for purely political reasons and democratic composition of our Council, it would not be possible for me to even contemplate the possibility of putting myself forward and actually winning the contest.

It was quite a privilege to be appointed as the Deputy Mayor at the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s AGM on Monday, 19th May. It was equally amazing to be elected as the first Polish and European national to this role. It was wonderful to see a group of 30 people, to my surprise, who joined the meeting. The quiet Chamber has suddenly become a bit noisier! It was so uplifting to receive a number of encouraging messages, since my appointment.

Am I excited? Yes? A bit nervous? Yes? However, I am hugely looking forward to the opportunity that presents itself. The chain itself helps, however I am so keen, as a passionate activist, to ensure that this role enables me to inspire others to make a difference. I will work my hardest to build bridges, connect people, and challenge negative attitudes and misconceptions. So, none of it is about me but about bringing residents of Welwyn Hatfield together in order to create a sense of fraternity and belonging. It is so important, especially today, when we seem to be often separated and far away from each other.

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Chris Ward

ALDC by-election report, 22nd May

By Chris Ward | Fri 23rd May 2025 - 3:55 pm

 Three by-elections on Thursday 22nd May, and a trio of Liberal Democrat defences. 

In Horsham, there was a by-election to fill the seat vacated by new Liberal Democrat MP John Milne. Congratulations to Cllr Louise Potter and the team on a good hold! 

West Sussex County Council, Horsham Riverside
Liberal Democrats (Louise Potter): 1193 (45.7%)
Conservative: 569 (21.8%)
Reform UK: 547 (21.0%)
Labour: 181 (6.9%)
Green Party: 118 (4.5%)

Liberal Democrats HOLD 

A successful defence too on Eastleigh Council, where Cllr John Shepherd was elected to be Lib Dem group leader Keith House’s latest ward colleague. Congratulations! 

Eastleigh Borough Council, Hedge End South
Liberal Democrats (John Shepherd): 1266 (44.4%, -8.7)
Conservative: 735 (25.8%, -3.8)
Reform UK: 728 (25.5%, new)
Labour: 122 (4.3%, -6.6)

Liberal Democrats HOLD 

Congratulations too, in Sutton, where a potentially tricky by-election defence in a Conservative / Lib Dem split ward was emphatically won by Cllr Lisa Webster. 

Sutton London Borough Council, Carshalton South & Clockhouse
Liberal Democrats (Lisa Webster):1674 (52.2%, +12.1)
Conservative: 767 (23.9%, -18.2)
Reform UK: 573 (17.9%, new)
Labour: 89 (2.8%, -5.4)
Green Party: 79 (25.5%, -7.1)
CPA: 23 (0.7%, new) 

Liberal Democrats HOLD 

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Jim Coupland

Technocracy vs populism

By Jim Coupland | Fri 23rd May 2025 - 1:51 pm

The Labour government have announced a U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts. Pondering over Sir Keir’s leadership of Labour and now his current premiership, I’ve noticed that he is fighting a battle which I feel is being overlooked. What I currently find is that there is a polarising divide for politicians where they seem to try and find a balance between technocracy and populism.

What do I mean by these terms? Well, for us political nerds, I think we all know what populist politics is. It can come in many forms, from the Corbyn era to the MAGA movement, it is there to serve as an alternative to the status quo of politics. More than just a technical opposition in parliament, populists aim to change the system altogether. What do I mean by technocracy? Well, that is what I would define as the ‘establishment’. Politicians and civil servants who create legislation and policy that makes minimal change to the institutions.

Looking at the government, the Prime Minister is a technocrat at heart. A pragmatist. What I have learned, being a former Labour member under his leadership, is that ideology is not what he is interested in. He cares about details and prides himself on preservation of institutions. That has been Labour’s weakness since their election victory in 2024; Labour campaigned on ‘change’ but have shown through their actions that there will be no meaningful change. For example, a key educational policy in their 2024 manifesto is to recruit 6,500 teachers. That sounds like a lot; however, figures have shown that in both 2021/22 and 2022/23, nearly 40,000 teachers left the profession. 6,500 new teachers will not solve the retention crisis of school staff.

Labour can point to raising wages, which I support, but that policy alone does not solve poverty or wealth inequality. In my personal position, the wage rise only amounted to me having roughly £6 extra onto my day rates in one of my jobs. I don’t live in poverty but as a working-class person, that policy hasn’t eased the financial pressures we all face.

Looking at the numbers, I understand why Labour made their decision of the winter fuel cuts. There are plenty of pensioners that, in my view, were going to suffer as a direct result of the policy and be pushed into poverty. However, there are pensioners that were receiving the payment when they were quite well off. Rory Stewart recently spoke of how his mother received the payment when she didn’t need to. With an ageing population, the winter fuel payment is extremely costly to the taxpayer. This is the technocratic argument.

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Mark Valladares

22 May 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 22nd May 2025 - 11:35 pm
  • Government borrowing figures: “warning lights must be flashing in the Treasury” – Lib Dems
  • Government back Lib Dem campaigns protecting victims of domestic abuse and sexual offence
  • Teachers’ pay award: Government “building castles in the sky” if they think schools can fund rise
  • First Minister misses two-year NHS waiting times target

Government borrowing figures: “warning lights must be flashing in the Treasury” – Lib Dems

Responding to the latest figures showing that Government borrowing in April was at its fourth-highest since records began, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

The warning lights must be flashing in the Treasury this morning.

Rachel Reeves has failed to get a grip on the mess left by the Conservatives, making a series of blunders whilst avoiding taking the bold action that would set us on the right path.

It is time for the Labour government to change course. The first steps must be scrapping the damaging jobs tax, reforming business rates and being much more ambitious in negotiations with the EU, pushing for a customs union that would create the growth we desperately need to rebuild public services and protect family finances. Short-sighted red lines will only doom Rachel to failure.

Government back Lib Dem campaigns protecting victims of domestic abuse and sexual offence

Today, the Government has agreed to act on two Lib Dem campaign priorities as part of their response to the Gauke Review.

In response to Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde’s campaign to formally recognise domestic abuse crimes in the law, the Government has announced it will create a specific, new categorisation that will enable judges to officially register offences as crimes of domestic abuse.

This would enable the Government to finally be able to exclude domestic abusers from its SDS40 early release scheme – which has so far allowed many domestic abusers to leave prison early in the absence of such a categorisation – putting victims at risk.

It will also mean the Government will now be able to track the number and reoffending rate of domestic abusers offenders. Josh Babarinde uncovered via a Written Parliamentary Question that currently, in the absence of a categorisation, the Government doesn’t know how many domestic abusers are in prison.

Sarah Olney’s longstanding campaign to enable victims of rape and sexual offences to request a transcript of sentencing remarks free of charge has also been included in the Government’s review.

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Hina Bokhari

Words have power: London must champion migration, not demonise it

By Hina Bokhari | Thu 22nd May 2025 - 4:12 pm

Migration is not a threat – it is the very foundation of London life. From the Romans and Anglo-Saxons to the Windrush generation and Ukrainians fleeing war today, migrants have always shaped this city into a dynamic, diverse capital. That should be a source of collective pride, not a target for political attack.

Yet when the Prime Minister dismisses immigration as a “squalid chapter” or warns of an “island of strangers” and “incalculable damage,” more than disappointing, it is downright dangerous.

Such rhetoric dehumanises communities and deepens division. In a climate of rising hate crime and attacks on asylum seekers – including the horrifying attempt last year to burn down a hotel with people still inside – the Prime Minister’s words are worse than insensitive: they are recklessly incendiary.

Words have power. They shape opinion, policy, and lives. In moments like this, we need leaders who speak with care, clarity, and courage – who choose unity over fear, and hope over hate.

Instead, the language from Number 10 echoes the darkest chapters of our political past, more suited to Enoch Powell than a modern leader. And while Sadiq Khan has said these are not words he would use, that’s not good enough from London’s Mayor.

When I pressed him directly today at Mayor’s Question Time about whether he considered the Prime Minister’s language dangerous, he refused to answer, instead deflecting repeatedly. Our diverse capital demands more than quiet disapproval and political evasion. London needs bold leadership willing to vocally reject divisive rhetoric – even when it comes from a Labour government – and to defend a simple truth: migration is not a crisis to contain, but a core part of who we are.

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Mary Reid

On capitalisation

By Mary Reid | Thu 22nd May 2025 - 1:21 pm

This is not a treatise on economics, but a minor rant about the use of capital letters.

American media often like to capitalise every word in their headlines. For example: Trump Lectures South African President in Televised Oval Office Confrontation (New York Times) and Trump Claimed This Photo Proved ‘Genocide’ Of White South Africans, But There’s 1 Big Problem (HuffPost)

There are some exceptions to this practice in the US: see Trump confronts South African president, pushing claims of genocide (Washington Post). However in the UK none of our media capitalise headlines. For example: Trump ambushes South African president with video and false claims of anti-white racism (The Guardian) and Trump makes South African president squirm by playing ‘white genocide’ video montage during astonishing Oval Office moment (Daily Mail).

Being a kind of language nerd, on my editorial days I tend to carefully remove unnecessary capitals from the headlines of posts submitted to Lib Dem Voice.

I am equally strict about American spellings of words when the context does not justify it.  “Defense” written instead of “defence” is a common error, and don’t get me started on “gotten”.

There is one exception to my rules – our wonderful contributor Tom Arms. Tom is an American, hence the Ex-Pat. I do leave his spelling intact, but I still can’t resist removing capital letters from headlines.

In his day as editor on Lib Dem Voice Mark Pack campaigned about the use of spaces after full stops – only one allowed, not two. For my part, I have been known to have a prolonged discussion with one of our academic contributors on the correct use of single and double speech marks, to the amusement of the other members of the LDV team. Mark and I are both published authors so we have had the experience of justifying our writing style and use of terminology to copyeditors and proof readers, which does help us to consolidate our position on these rather esoteric issues.

We don’t expect that level of linguistic nit-pickery in our contributors – but I would ask you, please, to avoid assigning random capital letters in your headings and general text. And do not use American spellings for good English words.

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Jonathan Brown

Action on Gaza at last – but is it fast and far-reaching enough?

By Jonathan Brown | Thu 22nd May 2025 - 10:14 am

This week, as Israel intensifies its ground operation in Gaza and aid agencies warn of impending famine, the UK government seems to be finally taking a stand. On Tuesday, the UK joined France and Canada in issuing a joint statement condemning Israel’s ongoing aid blockade and military escalation and warning of “concrete actions” if the Israeli government fails to change course. The following day, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced a series of new measures, including a formal pause on UK-Israel trade negotiations, targeted sanctions on illegal settlers, and the summoning of the Israeli Ambassador to the UK – a rare diplomatic move not taken since the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers in April 2024.

These are important and long-overdue steps, signalling a shift in government rhetoric and a new willingness to intervene after months of equivocation. But in the face of daily mass atrocities in Gaza, tougher and more comprehensive measures are required to compel urgent, on-the-ground change and pave the way to just and lasting solutions.

The need for decisive international action could not be clearer. After eleven weeks of total blockade, at least 500,000 people in Gaza face a critical risk of famine. Following mounting international pressure, Israel is now allowing a “basic amount of food” to enter, but this is a fig leaf, nothing more, certainly nowhere near enough to avert mass death from starvation. The UN’s humanitarian chief has warned that 14,000 babies could die within days without immediate help. At the same time, Israel has launched a fresh ground offensive aimed at seizing yet more Palestinian territory and forcibly displacing the population, killing at least 500 Palestinians since the offensive began last week. In the West Bank, illegal settlement building, land seizures and settler violence continue to surge, with senior minister Smotrich vowing that Israel will “apply sovereignty” i.e. illegally annex the land before the current government’s term ends in 2026.

For too long, the UK government has enabled these atrocities through inaction, evasion, and quiet complicity. Even as international legal bodies have made clear that the Israeli government is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and that its occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful, UK ministers have carefully avoided directly acknowledging Israel’s breaches of international law, preferring instead to reference “risks” of breaches. Rather than using its leverage to press for compliance with international law, the UK has consistently sent a dangerous message: that Israel is free to violate international law with impunity.

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Mark Valladares

22 May 2025 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 22nd May 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Accounts Commission report shows councils face “titanic gulf”
  • Welsh Lib Dems Respond to Bevan Foundation Report on Impact of Disability Benefit Reforms on Wales

Accounts Commission report shows councils face “titanic gulf”

Responding to the embargoed Accounts Commission report into Scotland’s council finances, which warns that despite the average council tax rising by 9.6%, local government continues to face recurring pressures in excess of funding uplifts, with councils identifying a difference of £647 million between anticipated expenditure and the funding and income they receive, Scottish Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Jamie Greene said:

Local authorities have had a raw deal from the SNP over many

…

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Mark Valladares

21 May 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 21st May 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Inflation: High time the Government put in place a proper plan to boost our economy
  • Thames Water bonuses: Hardly a cause for celebration for customers
  • Winter Fuel Payments: the “world’s longest u-turn continues”
  • Winter Fuel Payments: Serious proposal from the Prime Minister Needed
  • Lib Dems Respond to Welsh Gov Business Rates Consultation
  • Carmichael challenges Prime Minister to pause family farm tax

Inflation: High time the Government put in place a proper plan to boost our economy

Responding to inflation rising to 3.5%, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Today’s grim figures reveal a triple whammy on Britain’s households – resulting from the Government’s disastrous jobs tax, Donald Trump’s devastating tariffs and April’s damaging business rates bill rises.

Ministers cannot allow inflation to spiral as it did under the Conservatives, but they risk repeating their record for as long as the employer’s National Insurance hike remains in place.

It’s high time the Government saw sense and put in place a proper plan to boost our economy: scrapping the jobs tax, standing with our allies to end Trump’s trade war, and urgently negotiating a new customs union with the EU. We must see bold action to deliver relief for millions of hard-pressed households.

Thames Water bonuses: Hardly a cause for celebration for customers

Responding to reports that Thames Water has halted their bosses bonus scheme, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment, Tim Farron MP said:

This will hardly be cause to celebrate for the millions of Thames Water customers who continue to face eye-watering bills.

The public are rightly fed-up with having Thames Water’s mess dumped on them.

The Government must act now and replace Ofwat with a new regulator with real power that can properly hold water companies to account on environmental pollution and unjustifiable bonuses.

Winter Fuel Payments: the “world’s longest u-turn continues”

Responding to the Prime Minister saying that more pensioners will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments next winter, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The world’s longest u-turn continues.

The Prime Minister has today announced the ‘concepts of a plan’ that have come far too late for the millions of pensioners forced to freeze in their own homes over the winter.

The least those people deserve is an apology for this punitive policy and a serious proposal from the Prime Minister on how he will begin to pick up the pieces from his Government’s disastrous decision. Not vague words that will take months to materialise into something meaningful.

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In service of the common good

By Graham Garvie | Wed 21st May 2025 - 12:41 pm

Retirement offers many opportunities the most important of which is time to enjoy some pursuits which employment rarely allows. Reading more books is one of these. And, in parallel with reading goes the opportunity to write. 

As you may know, I have written previously about my time working in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Recently, I have tackled a much bigger writing task – that of an autobiography. This has been a laborious but a hugely enjoyable exercise – digging out diaries, documents, photographs, press cuttings and perusing and choosing which to use.

Core to the book In Service of the Common Good is the fundamental importance to humankind of the common good, empathy and kindness especially in today’s increasingly dangerous and selfish world.  Interspersed with reflection and humour, there are naturally strong liberal themes throughout; professional advice on councillor/officer relationships and the pitfalls and opportunities of political coalitions.

The book has now been published and is on sale for £10 and £5 p and p.  All proceeds will go to that excellent charity The Samaritans which has a branch in Selkirk. 

To give you a flavour of the book which has 126 pages, the chapter headings are as follows:

Musings from the Second Top Diving Board

  1. An Edinburgh Foothold

       2.Path-Finding

  1. An Unexpected Diversion  
  2. Making Waves
  3. The World as Workplace
  • Land of the Long White Cloud
  • Democratic Aspirations
  • And Iraq
  • Not Brexit
  1. A United Kingdom
  2. Art is the Heart of Things
  3. Influence and Encounter
  4. A Royal Salute

     10. And More Besides

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey’s Why I care and why care matters out this Friday

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st May 2025 - 9:17 am

Ed Davey has written a book about his own varied and lifelong caring experience and it’s coming out on 22 May, just in time for me to take my copy with me on my Highland holiday.

He sent an email to party members telling us about the book and letting us know that we can get 30% if we pre-order by today.

He said:

As you know, caring is, and has been, much of my life. And yet, it is only since becoming Leader that I have felt comfortable and compelled to speak about it. In my first speech, I talked about being a voice for carers, and you will remember how the message grew into the story I shared in our election broadcast.

Opening up like that was a big decision for both Emily and me. But since then, we have received a fairly constant stream of support and kindness. My inbox has become almost like a meeting place for carers from all over the country to share their support, advice and kind words, and talk about their problems.

It truly solidified for me that telling our stories – the realities of caring, the joys and the struggles – is the most powerful way to change things. It cuts through the noise and reminds everyone of the human beings at the heart of this issue.

The thought that care might slip down the priority list scares me. It too often feels like governments see care as something that’s just… too complicated, too difficult to really tackle. And that’s a shame, because I believe it’s the very foundation of a healthy society.

And so, I have written a book.

I will be honest, it’s deeply personal for me, and for the four other carers whose stories I tell. At times, I found it difficult to write.

But with these personal stories, and my reflections on what it’s going to take to really fix care, I hope we can put care at the forefront of people’s minds, make it so real that it can’t be ignored.

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Mark Valladares

21 May 2025 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 21st May 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Water sector investigations: Doesn’t even begin to address sewage scandal
  • Reaching net zero is ambitious but achievable if SNP ditch familiar excuses

Water sector investigations: Doesn’t even begin to address sewage scandal

Commenting to the Government’s announcement into the number of criminal investigations into environmental breaches by water companies, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

81 investigations does not even begin to address the sewage scandal that has plagued British rivers and seas for far too long.

This is a national scandal which got far worse under the Conservatives’ watch. Their record is one of rising sewage levels and water firms stuffing

…

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Mark Valladares

20 May 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 20th May 2025 - 11:20 pm
  • Health Foundation mortality report: must be a “wake-up call” for Government to turnaround these “unacceptable statistics”
  • Winter Fuel Payment: u-turn taking so long it puts “turning an oil tanker around to shame”
  • Jamie Greene taking on additional role as transport spokesperson
  • Lib Dems: UK Govt must ensure households compensated if worse off after RTS shutdown
  • Rennie: Decline in college staff shows SNP neglect of further education
  • McArthur comments on young offender death inquiry
  • Greene responds to Liberty Steel news
  • Cole-Hamilton presses SNP over failure to deliver Erasmus replacement

Health Foundation mortality report: must be a “wake-up call” for Government to turnaround these “unacceptable statistics”

Responding to a report by The Health Foundation, which revealed that by 2023, female mortality rates in the UK were 14% higher when compared with the median of 21 other high-income countries, with male mortality rates 9% higher, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

Preventing avoidable deaths and protecting the public’s health should be at the top of any Government’s priorities and to see it neglected in this way, bringing immeasurable suffering to people and their loved ones, should be a wake-up call to us all.

The Conservatives’ catastrophic mismanagement of the NHS and their savage cuts to public health support have brought us to this point but the Labour government has shown nowhere near the ambition required to repair these unacceptable statistics.

It is not good enough for ministers to sit on their hands and watch the NHS and the opportunity to live a healthy life decay in this way. We need to see the Government step in as a matter of urgency, to reverse the cuts to the public health grant and bring an end to these devastating deaths.

Winter Fuel Payment: u-turn taking so long it puts “turning an oil tanker around to shame”

Responding to the Chancellor’s comments that she will listen to concerns over the Government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

This U-turn is taking so long it puts turning an oil tanker around to shame.

The Government should feel embarrassed that it has taken a dire set of a local election results to realise what everyone has known from the start: this policy was doomed to fail and punished some of the most vulnerable.

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Mark Valladares

19 May 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 20th May 2025 - 10:35 pm

A day later than usual, as I was busy being “gloriously” re-elected as Chair of Creeting St Peter Parish Council…

  • Davey on UK-EU deal: “positive first steps” but PM must ignore Reform and Conservative “dinosaurs”
  • Youth Mobility Scheme: UK needs “explicit details” not “woolly commitments”
  • UK-EU deal: with “more ambition” economic benefits could have been “ten times greater”
  • Scottish Water failure to follow up Holy Loch spilling “woefully complacent”

Davey on UK-EU deal: “positive first steps” but PM must ignore Reform and Conservative “dinosaurs”

Responding to reports that the UK and EU have reached a deal to be announced later today, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

These seem to be some positive first steps in rebuilding our relationship with Europe after years of a Conservative Party that wrecked trust and broke our relationship with our closest allies.

The Prime Minister must ignore the naysayers and dinosaurs in Reform and the Conservative Party and be more ambitious in getting the best deal in the national interest.

Youth Mobility Scheme: UK needs “explicit details” not “woolly commitments”

Responding to reports that a youth mobility scheme has been agreed only in principle, Liberal Democrat Europe Spokesperson, James MacCleary MP said:

After months of flip-flopping, it appears the Government won’t get a youth mobility scheme over the line today.

That’s incredibly disappointing – we need more than just a woolly commitment. While an agreement in principle marks progress after months of Lib Dem pressure on this issue, we should have been able to negotiate a scheme at today’s summit, rather than kicking the can once more down the road.

The Government must make it an urgent priority after talks end to map out explicit details on how and when the youth scheme will be introduced.

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Roderick Lynch

Britain is adrift, and the silence is deafening

By Roderick Lynch | Tue 20th May 2025 - 5:32 pm
I didn’t plan to write this. I’ve just come through an intensive weekend, much of it spent in hospital. And it’s from my bed, in the quiet hours between the beeping monitors and the routine checks, that I’ve had time to reflect not just on health, but on the health of this country. This is after I have witnessed two Filipino nurses spoken to and treated like something under a shoe. They did not deserve to be racially embarrassed in public, simply for stating they finished their shift three hours ago.

Racism in Britain isn’t always loud. It’s often quiet, strategic, systemic. It’s in the job you don’t get. The voice you’re asked to lower. The opportunities that somehow never arrive. I’ve seen it play out in boardrooms and back rooms, on doorsteps and in data. And I’ve watched how it’s brushed aside by a political class that either doesn’t care, or pretends not to see it.
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Adam Bennett

We should be proud to be the party of business

By Adam Bennett | Tue 20th May 2025 - 9:00 am

After a moment of epiphany, everything changes. Our brains get re-wired, and the world looks like a different place. Some people travel the world in search of these epiphanies, seeking spiritual guidance in some far-flung, lush, or exotic corner of the planet

Me? My defining moment of epiphany struck in the West Midlands Town of Dudley, in an office block besides a roundabout off the A4123. I guess that’s the thing about epiphanies: they tend to surprise you.

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday – An opportunity is opening up for Lib Dems…will we take it?

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 19th May 2025 - 5:00 pm

We live in strange political times. Polarised politics, suffocating social media, a faltering economy. People want certainty in an age of ever swifter geopolitical change.

Some fall for the easy answers of the hard Right and the uncompromising Left. Where does that leave the moderate Centre? Sat on the fence? Stuck in the middle of the road, primed to become roadkill? Never prepared to give an opinion or pick a side? Always waiting to see which way the wind blows before choosing a direction of travel?

That is certainly how some see us. Are they wrong? Are we just the least worst option? A protest vote? Can a party which once saw in its ranks (even if not at the same time) both Darren Grimes (right-wing media regular and now a Reform deputy County Council leader) and Zack Polanski (now deputy leader of the Greens and running to lead that party on an unapologetically eco-Left agenda) really believe in anything? Are we just a blank canvas on which anyone can paint their particular brand of politics and sell it as Liberalism?

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Geoffrey Payne

Social Liberal Forum Conference in Manchester, 7th June. We have much to talk about!

By Geoffrey Payne | Mon 19th May 2025 - 2:45 pm

We have reached a key moment in British politics. The recent local election results show that the two party system is well and truly broken.

Of course we have been claiming that for many years, but the scale of the losses for the two main parties – both at the same time – were, according to John Curtice, unprecedented for local elections.

A lot of that was down to big Liberal Democrat gains, but most of that was down to the anti-liberal Reform UK party, who are now threatening to destroy the Tory party and to take away Labour’s working class base.

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Chris Bowers

We must be brave on immigration – now!

By Chris Bowers | Mon 19th May 2025 - 12:30 pm

The Liberal Democrats have always been at their best when they’re brave – when we shout about things we believe in, even if they go against the current trend. Things that can tap into a seam of public opinion that is sympathetic but whose members have been wondering whether they are the only ones to think what they’re thinking.

At the end of a week that has seen Keir Starmer do his best Enoch Powell impersonation with his ‘island of strangers’ speech, we have an opportunity – nay, a responsibility – to stand up for immigrants to the UK. This is …

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Mark Valladares

16-18 May 2025 – the (long) weekend’s press releases (part 3)

By Mark Valladares | Mon 19th May 2025 - 11:20 am
  • Davey on UK-EU Summit: PM must be ambitious and not “dragged back” by Badenoch and Farage
  • £5bn from Youth Mobility Scheme would give Government “nowhere to hide” on winter fuel payment, say Lib Dems
  • Davey on care visas: ‘Don’t leave our loved ones in the lurch’
  • 2024 worst on record for ambulance equipment faults

Davey on UK-EU Summit: PM must be ambitious and not “dragged back” by Badenoch and Farage

Ahead of the UK-EU Summit, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has urged the Prime Minister to be “bold and ambitious for our country” and ignore “dinosaurs fighting old battles” in Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage.

The Lib Dems wrote to Labour MPs over the weekend, urging them to back closer trade ties with the EU to boost the public finances and avoid cuts to support for vulnerable families and pensioners.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said:

Keir Starmer must be bold and ambitious for our country in today’s summit. Voters were promised change by this government, and they have to deliver.

Being truly ambitious, including a new UK-EU customs union, would be the single biggest thing ministers could do to boost growth and fix the public finances.

Anything less would be a choice to limit growth, harming living standards and hitting the NHS and other public services.

The Prime Minister must ignore the dinosaurs fighting old battles, who want to drag us back to the destructive Brexit wars of the past, and focus on getting the best deal possible for the UK.

£5bn from Youth Mobility Scheme would give Government “nowhere to hide” on winter fuel payment, say Lib Dems

The Centre for European Reform claims that a Youth Mobility Scheme could add 0.45% to GDP over the long-term. New House of Commons Library analysis commissioned by the Liberal Democrats suggests that such growth could add roughly £5 billion to exchequer revenues a year.

The House of Commons Library has estimated that if GDP was 0.45% higher this could mean an additional tax revenue of around £5 billion a year in the long-run. The 0.45% figure was arrived at by a Centre for European Reform study on the economic impact of a Youth Mobility Scheme between the UK and EU.

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 19 May 2025 – Keir, you can only take progressive voters for granted if they don’t have a choice…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 19th May 2025 - 7:30 am

Watching the Starmer administration thrash about as it attempts to put Reform “back in their box” has been an increasingly unedifying experience over the past few weeks. And yes, it’s probably time to treat them like any other opponent now that they’re in a position of power in a number of county councils, but apeing them on immigration policy isn’t exactly doing that, is it?

I am not naive, however. Many Reform voters (in fairness, most voters) pay little attention to the day to day of modern politics. They don’t care who runs local services unless things go wrong, have little understanding of, or care about, the difficulties of local government finance. They just know that their council tax bills goes up every year, and the services get worse. And, if nobody else is active in their neighbourhood, why not vote Reform? It couldn’t get worse, surely?

Obviously, it can though. Letting a bunch of people who have little knowledge of how local government really works and whose prejudices are unsupported by the facts risks either a series of poor decisions or effective officer control. The former leads to ever more diminishing services, the latter to a loss of democratic oversight and accountability. But there will always be someone else to blame, and that will be what some voters will be happy to accept.

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Mark Valladares

16-18 May 2025 – the (long) weekend’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Sun 18th May 2025 - 11:00 pm
  • Lib Dems urge Labour MPs to back closer trade with EU which could raise £25 billion a year and avoid welfare cuts
  • Record low number of frontline NHS staff receive flu jabs this winter as some areas see less than one in 10 vaccinated
  • Youth Mobility Scheme news a ‘glimmer of hope’
  • Scottish Water urged to get a grip as bills and bonuses rise

Lib Dems urge Labour MPs to back closer trade with EU which could raise £25 billion a year and avoid welfare cuts

The Liberal Democrats have sent a letter to Labour MPs urging them to back closer trade ties with the EU to boost the public finances and avoid “savage” cuts to support for vulnerable families and pensioners.

It comes as House of Commons Library analysis, commissioned by the party, has estimated that if GDP was 2.2% higher, that could mean roughly £25 billion in extra tax revenues a year. The 2.2% figure is from independent analysis by Frontier Economics commissioned by Best for Britain and is for GDP in the long-run based on a new trade deal with the EU that secured deep alignment on goods and services.

This would easily be enough for the Government to U-turn on its cuts to winter fuel payments (£1.5 billion) and disability benefits (£5 billion), along with future cuts to public spending expected to be announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review next month.

In the letter sent to Labour MPs, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller will say his party would be willing to work constructively on securing a new trade deal with Europe, providing the boost to public finances needed to reverse cuts to disability benefits and the winter fuel payment. The Liberal Democrats’ 72-strong group of MPs is the largest third party in 100 years. Over 100 Labour MPs have reportedly signed a letter calling on the Government to back down from the welfare cuts.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new trade deal with the EU including a new UK-EU customs union, which would significantly reduce red tape for British businesses exporting to the continent. Previous independent analysis has found that close alignment with the EU on goods and services could boost GDP by 2.2%. The House of Commons Library has estimated that if GDP was 2.2% higher, this could boost annual tax revenues by roughly £25 billion.

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Calum Miller MP said:

A far more ambitious trade deal with Europe, including a new UK-EU customs union, would be the single biggest thing ministers could do to boost growth and fix the public finances.

The Liberal Democrats stand ready to work constructively with Labour MPs to boost trade with Europe and avoid savage cuts for vulnerable families and pensioners.

The local elections showed the Government is facing a massive backlash for failing to deliver the change the country was promised. Ministers now face a stark choice: be bold enough to change course or continue with policies that are harming people and our economy.

Record low number of frontline NHS staff receive flu jabs this winter as some areas see less than one in 10 vaccinated

A record low of 37% of frontline health service staff took up flu jabs this winter, with some areas seeing less than one in 10 receive the vaccine. This came as hospitals battled a surge in those admitted due to the disease, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

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