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Memorials?

By Steve Trevethan | Mon 17th July 2017 - 4:03 pm

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We may not have a monument to Margaret Thatcher but we do have a monument to “Thatcherism”. It is the Grenfell Tower.

The foundation of Thatcherism is the minimisation of the state. It plans and proceeds to reduce government regulation and suppress its spending. It does this without the guidance of long term consequence and human cost.

Tower blocks, like Grenfell, lack sprinkler systems, alarms and secondary exit routes which, before the “bonfire of red-tape”, were the norm. They have been mandatory in New York since 1967. Grenfell proves that they are necessary and yet HMG has not yet withdrawn a press release of 03/04/2016, entitled “Government going to further cut red tape by £10 billion”. It has not reviewed or withdrawn its doctrinaire and dangerously unspecific “One-in, Three-out policy” under which three regulations must be removed every time a new one is introduced.

As well as its economic and social consequences, Thatcherism has affected attitudes, behaviours, relationships and language.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged grenfell tower and margaret thatcher | 12 Comments

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A powerful drama that must not become reality

By Catherine Crosland | Mon 17th July 2017 - 2:38 pm

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Many of you will have seem the recent television adaptation of Mike Bartlett’s play, King Charles III.

Beautifully and movingly written, in Shakespearean style blank verse, the play is set in the near future, when “King Charles III” has just inherited the throne.

Charles is asked to sign a piece of legislation that would severely limit the freedom of the press. He refuses to do so. He is portrayed as principled and conflicted. He has no wish to cause a constitutional crisis. His conscience just will not allow him to sign.

When Parliament plan to proceed with the legislation anyway, Charles uses his legal right to dissolve Parliament.

I will not give away any “spoilers” about how this fictional situation is resolved. But the play made me wonder how likely it is that such a situation could occur in real life. The worrying fact is that it is quite possible. I am not suggesting that Prince Charles, when he becomes king, would ever behave like his fictional counterpart in this play. But unless the rules are changed, some future monarch could easily do so.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged legislation and monarchy | 35 Comments

Federal Conference Committee report on selection of motions for Bournemouth

By Zoe O’Connell | Mon 17th July 2017 - 12:16 pm

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Federal Conference Committee met again last weekend to select motions that will be debated when we meet in Bournemouth. 41 motions were submitted, and usually selection proceeds in rounds. Motions are first eliminated on the basis of drafting, debatability and other such issues before subsequent rounds trim the agenda further based on time constraints.

However, due to the snap general election we received slightly fewer motions than usual for an Autumn Conference so only one round of debate was required. In most cases, the discussion gave a clear consensus and no vote was needed, but I have noted below where there was a vote that was particularly close.

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Posted in News | Tagged 2017 autumn conference and federal conference committee | 76 Comments

Social Liberal Forum Conference: The Retreat from Globalisation

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 17th July 2017 - 9:41 am

Saturday’s Social Liberal Forum conference in London provided much food for thought as speakers challenged Liberal Democrat orthodoxy in various ways.

Beveridge Lecture

William Wallace kicked off proceedings by giving the annual William Beveridge Lecture. His theme was: Is a Liberal and Democratic society compatible with globalisation. His answer? Well, it disproportionately benefits the super rich and authoritarian states, so we have to change things to ensure that nobody is left out.

He started off by quoting Emmanuel Macron, who’s said he supported a market economy but not a market society. He said our society was divided between the poor, unskilled and the relatively affluent highly educated. The gulf between them is cemented in successive generations. Globalisation had meant a substantial number of left behind people whose grievances were entirely justified. Those grievances led to the Brexit vote.

Challenging the idea that higher taxes harm the economy is key. We need investment in public services and to recognise that the social fabric is damaged if there is too big a gap between wealthy CEOs and their workers.

He looked at business ownership and how little multi-national takeovers do for regeneration and how important it was that our financial and corporate leaders tackled this.

We need to throw the “Citizens of Nowhere” thing right back at Theresa May, he argued, pointing out the super rich from across the world who dominate our economy.

One idea he had to improve social solidarity was to have all adults undertaking a year of Citizen’s Service working on a community project, or care home.

Giving people some sense of ownership and control over their destiny was key, whether that was by closer, more responsive local government or an increase of mutual ownership of companies.

Basic Income

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged social liberal forum conference 2017 | 12 Comments

The 13th Doctor: 3 reasons why the BBC have made a brilliant choice

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 16th July 2017 - 5:53 pm

There is only so much excitement Liberal Democrats can take. The prospect of a new Doctor and a new Leader in the same week is testing us to the limit. I suppose it’s just as well we had a General Election campaign to build our stamina. We should perhaps also be grateful to our MPs for sparing us the extra adrenaline rush of a contest. Just to get this out of the way, I know that there have actually been 14 Doctors, if you count John Hurt, the “War Doctor”, but the BBC aren’t going to screw up decades of merchandising by mucking about with the numbering.

There is something about the quirky, socially awkward time lord, traversing time and space, saving entire races from themselves over and over again that appeals to Liberal Democrats. So many of us would have been waiting for the announcement this afternoon. And so it came:

Meet the Thirteenth Doctor #DoctorWho #Doctor13 pic.twitter.com/wycdcneZ7o

— BBC One (@BBCOne) July 16, 2017

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged doctor who, jennie rigg and jodie whittaker | 31 Comments

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Why we shouldn’t be surprised by Philip Hammond’s reported comments

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 16th July 2017 - 1:45 pm

I must go back and look at newspapers from the Major administration of the 1990s at some point. It was clear then that his Cabinet was divided (over Europe) and that they all seemed to hate each others’ guts. However, I can’t remember anything quite as nasty as the various newspaper reports doing the rounds now describing the open warfare between and around senior Cabinet ministers in the current Government.

It seems like a total free for all with Philip Hammond getting the brunt of it. So far, it’s been leaked that he said that public sector workers were overpaid and that driving a train was so easy that even women could do it. There is some dubiety over both comments. He certainly didn’t deny the first and on the second, Politics Home reported that Hammond had been stitched up.

We’re almost getting to the point where John Major’s “bastards” comment looks affectionate.

It would be quite funny to watch if these people weren’t driving our country to a much less certain and prosperous future.

One thing strikes me, though. The comments attributed, perhaps falsely, to Hammond are just the sorts of things Tories say.

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Posted in News | 16 Comments

Cable: Hammond’s position on public sector pay unsustainable

By The Voice | Sun 16th July 2017 - 12:15 pm

Chancellor Philip Hammond was quite happy to tell Andrew Marr that his Cabinet colleagues didn’t trust him on Brexit, but not so quick to deny that he’d said that public sector workers were overpaid. Our shadow Chancellor and almost leader Vince Cable had this to say:

I am very surprised by Philip Hammond’s reported comment the public sector workers are “overpaid”. Who exactly is he talking about? Nurses? Teachers? Police officers? Servicemen and women?

There is very clear evidence of chronic shortages and recruitment difficulty in many of our essential services. Basic economics, let alone wider ideas of fairness suggests that Hammond’s position is totally unsustainable.

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Posted in News | Tagged philip hammond, public sector pay and vince cable | 33 Comments

LibLink: Kirsty William: It’s not about whether we charge tuition fees. In Wales, we’ve found a third way

By NewsHound | Sun 16th July 2017 - 10:57 am

The one Liberal Democrat left in national government, Kirsty Williams, has written an article for the Guardian in which she sets out what she is introducing in Wales – a plan to help students with living costs which will support part time and postgraduate students too:

The new support package in Wales will cover those who start their course in 2018/19, wherever in the UK they choose to study. Every student will be entitled to support equivalent to the national living wage. This means that eligible full-time students will receive maintenance support of £11,250 if they study in London and £9,000 per year elsewhere if they live away from home.

This will be delivered through a mix of loans and grants, unlike in England where zero maintenance grants are available. Very small, limited grants are available in Scotland, but they too are currently reviewing the system.

Welsh students from the lowest household income will receive the highest grant – £8,100 in their pocket, and more in London. Our estimates suggest that a third of full-time students will be eligible for that full grant.

Furthermore, our data shows that the average household income for a student in our current system is around £25,000. Under the new system such a student will receive around £7,000 a year in their pocket.

However, potentially the most radical element of our reforms is to provide equivalent support for part-time and postgraduate students. Wales will be the first in Europe to achieve this. For the first time, part-time undergraduates will receive similar support for maintenance, pro-rata to their full-time counterparts.

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Posted in News | Tagged kirsty williams, tuition fees and Wales | 5 Comments

Tonight, 8pm, BBC Parliament – Conversation with Shirley Williams

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 16th July 2017 - 8:55 am

Shirley Williams is probably my biggest political hero. It was she who inspired me in 1981 when she fought the Crosby by-election. Her sharp intellect, indefatigable energy and ability to communicate with her audience have all made sure that she is loved by many of all political persuasions.

She came up to Scotland during the last few days of the horribly divisive independence referendum in 2014. It was a painful time. However, as Shirley stepped on to Dunfermline High Street, one of the Yes campaigners came across and took her hand and said how much she had always admired her. It was a rare moment of togetherness during that most unpleasant of campaigns.

I was distraught that I missed her when she came up to Edinburgh West and East Dunbartonshire during the General Election. At 86, she was still supporting and helping other women get to Westminster.

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Posted in News | Tagged bbc parliament and shirley williams | 12 Comments

No country for old men?

By David Warren | Sat 15th July 2017 - 11:45 am

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the trend was for younger political leaders.

We had Blair, then Cameron, Clegg and Miliband.

Our American cousins elected the youthful Barack Obama as their President.

Ming Campbell one of the Lib Dem leaders in this period was thought too old by some and his age was clearly a major factor in his stepping down.

He was 66 at the time.

Oh how things have changed.

Labour’s Corbyn is in his late sixties, in the US the President is 71 and arguably his main opponent the excellent Bernie Sanders is 75!

As Britain’s Liberal party undertakes a leadership election it looks like the septuagenarian Vince Cable may be the only runner.

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Posted in News | Tagged age and vince cable | 30 Comments

New issue of Liberator out

By The Liberator Collective | Sat 15th July 2017 - 8:32 am

Issue 385 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This includes in Radical Bulletin our piecing together of the story of Tim Farron’s resignation and who did and did not conspire to do what. We also look at what went on in some controversies over candidates and campaigns.

Its traditional for Liberator to send a questionnaire to leadership contenders, so we did so even though there is only one and Vince Cable’s answers can be seen here.

This issue’s other free sample article is Liz Barker’s recounting of how she tried to get Tim Farron to see the political implications of his views on gay sex.

Elsewhere, Liberator includes Vauxhall candidate George Turner’s criticism of party headquarters’ role in his campaign, reflections on the results from Tony Greaves, Michael Meadowcroft, Paul Hindley, Nigel Lindsay and others, and to remind us that it’s not just the UK that has had a general election, Marianne Magnin reports on Macron’s win in France.

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Posted in News | Tagged liberator | 5 Comments

Tim had already decided to go before the election – remember where you heard it first

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 14th July 2017 - 9:18 pm

When Tim Farron came up and cooked my breakfast 3 days before the election, I had a feeling it would be the last time I saw him as leader. I’m not sure where that feeling came from, but it turned out to be right – unless I randomly bump into him in the next six days.

A few days after his resignation, when I’d almost calmed down, I wrote:

In trying to piece together the events of this week, I hear, though, that Tim had returned to Westminster in a positive mood. Friendly sources close to him tell me that he

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberal democrat leadership and tim farron | 28 Comments

Vince Cable on Lib Dem prospects: You could come from third to first really quickly

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 14th July 2017 - 8:40 pm

In an interview with the Guardian published tonight, Vince Cable sets out some lofty ambitions for the party:

I ask him what would constitute success for his leadership. “If there is a significant improvement in our vote share, and a sense that we are back in the frame as a serious party being listened to,” he says. He is not looking merely at picking up the odd seat – his age doesn’t permit him that incremental approach – but is more interested in driving up popular support. “You could come from third to first very quickly.” He is encouraged by Emmanuel Macron’s remarkable ascent and the appeal of “radical centrism” in France, and draws parallels with Britain. “The right had become discredited in France, while here the Tory brand is becoming discredited by the day, and there was also a reaction against the Mélenchon left.”

That’s a long way from where we are now, so under what circumstances can we get there? Well, the true cost of Brexit is going to become apparent:

Cable stands by his suggestion that we may never leave the EU. “The Brexit process is going to get very messy. I meet a lot of senior civil servants and they’re trying to be loyal, but their eyebrows rise. They just can’t see how it can be done. The government haven’t taken on board the complexity of unwinding 40 years of regulatory activity.” He says the row over Euratomis a taste of the chaos to come. “The Brexiteers are only just beginning to understand the enormous can of worms they have opened up.”

Does he see any form of Brexit that can work? “I’m increasingly pessimistic,” he says. He thinks there is a 50-50 chance that Britain will get a deal and transition period that safeguard the economy. “That could happen,” he says. “But I think there’s a very high risk of the whole thing falling apart and crashing out, with all the costs associated with it. It’s at that point that the second referendum becomes absolutely essential.”

If you like that kind of thing, there’s a delicious put-down of Corbyn:

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Posted in News | Tagged the guardian and vince cable | 15 Comments

High, positive impact for a hard-fighting political machine.

By Humphrey Hawksley | Fri 14th July 2017 - 1:25 pm

The Liberal Democrats are preparing for new leadership at a time when a gaping vacuum continues across the British political spectrum. Our strong and motivating voice is needed more than ever. The challenge is how to make it heard.

I wrote earlier advocating broad brush changes to the party (Get clever, get brave and reform to win,). I now follow up with four examples of initiatives that could give us high, positive impact with minimal paperwork.

First, investigate bad practice. In March, the party brilliantly uncovered EU nurses quitting the NHS through a Freedom of Information request. There needs to be a stream of such reports. Within our membership is an array of skilled investigators from the security services, lawyers, journalists and others. Investigative units could uncover bad and illegal practice in housing, the environment, the health service and so on with results fed through our MPs and peers to hold government to account. This would require an element of top-down management, but if handled effectively, one stunning investigation after another could have the public on the edge of their seats, expectantly waiting to see what appalling misdeeds the Liberal Democrats uncover next.

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Posted in Op-eds | 170 Comments

Dick Taverne writes…Three reasons the Brexit vote is reversible

By Dick Taverne | Fri 14th July 2017 - 11:55 am

Vince Cable has boldly challenged the received Westminster wisdom that the referendum vote is irreversible. Here are three good reasons why he is right.

Leavers did not vote for Brexit to make us poorer..

A very thorough YouGov inquiry carried out on the eve of the referendum into what motivated Leavers found that very few “expect, or would tolerate, a hit to their living standards …. They were almost unanimous in believing Brexit was a cost-free option.” There was no evidence of any willingness to make economic sacrifices to achieve such aims as reducing immigration or regaining sovereignty.

Brexit is making us poorer.

The evidence for this is growing stronger every day. Living standards are declining because of rising inflation while wages stagnate. More and more companies plan to emigrate, with thousands of probable job losses. Our economic growth is now the slowest in the G7 – and depends on unsustainable levels of household debt. There is a growing shortage of key EU workers in vital public industries and services, such as the building trade, the tourist industry and fruit farming; and most ominous of all, thdere is a decline of over 90 per cent in EU nurses and carers applying to work in Britain.

And worse is still to come. A recent report commissioned by Mayor Sadiq Khan predicts Brexit could cost 70.000 jobs in the City of London alone, which would have a devastating effect on our national economy. Indeed the overwhelming majority of economists predict a bleak future after Brexit.

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Posted in News | Tagged brexit | 29 Comments

No silver bullet for our Lib Dem doldrums

By Theo Knott | Fri 14th July 2017 - 10:25 am

While picking over the bones of our, what could charitably be called, ‘middling’, general election campaign, many Lib Dems have called on the party to develop a new identity of some kind. A single issue that we can define ourselves with. I respectfully think that such an approach is unlikely to lead to the electoral promised-land that some have hoped for.

I am yet to be convinced that there is such an issue, but even assuming one exists that the public likes, there is an underlying paucity at heart of the party in terms of councillors, vote share, seats and public trust. A new identity may help to address some of these, but realistically, much of our resurrection is only going to be based upon time, rebuilding our local base and effort.

We have constructed our parliamentary success historically upon the bedrock of strong and local campaigns. Boiling down from national context to seat-by-seat contests, often with victories instigated at council level and then translated upwards. Not only did it help to breach out credibility gap with the public (the idea that we couldn’t win somewhere), but it also compensated for our relative lack of party profile and money, as compared to Labour and the Conservatives.

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | 53 Comments

Observations of an ex pat…The law

By Tom Arms | Fri 14th July 2017 - 8:55 am

The British like to think they invented the law. It is true that thanks to empire and successful European wars, British law is the foundation of many of the world’s legal systems.

It is certainly the cornerstone of the American judicial system and the old imperial countries. British lawyers rewrote the law books in Germany following World War Two and contributed heavily to the European Court of Justice with which they are currently having so many problems.

Actually, the principle that the rule of law MUST underwrite civilized societies dates back to at least ancient Egypt. It is there where we find the first allegorical representation of the Goddess Justice holding the scales in which the rights and wrongs of a case were impartially weighed. The Egyptians called her Anubis.

The Greeks called her Dike, and added the sword to represent the finality of legal decisions. The Romans provided the moniker Justitia, or Justice, and the Swiss added the blindfold in the 16h century.

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Posted in News | Tagged observations of an ex pat | 6 Comments

Catherine Bearder MEP writes…EURATOM: The wedge dividing the Tories’ ideological Brexit

By Catherine Bearder | Thu 13th July 2017 - 1:55 pm

The Tories’ division on Europe is widening. Nothing demonstrates this more than on one simple issue: EURATOM.

In Theresa May’s letter invoking Article 50 she confirmed that Brexit would mean more than Brexit as the UK would also withdraw from the European Atomic Community, a separate legal entity from the EU.

The UK, a country dependant on nuclear energy, relies heavily on EURATOM; our electricity generation, healthcare provision, scientific development, and nuclear safety are all closely intertwined with EURATOM’s regulatory regime.

Withdrawal could restrict the movement of nuclear materials, damaging scientific research and innovation (particularly in the development of future fusion power plants), and threatening the UK’s nuclear power supply.

What many won’t realise is that this could also restrict supply of key materials for radioactive cancer treatment. Dr Nicola Strickland, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, has already warned of the damage this could do to over 10,000 cancer patients being directly treated by imported radioactive isotopes and the increased cost burden this would place on an NHS already stretched for resources.

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Posted in News | Tagged brexit and euratom | 22 Comments

What now for moderate politics and discourse?

By Nick T | Thu 13th July 2017 - 12:34 pm

“Emily Thornberry just took down the entire Tory party in 45 seconds” says the caption. Below is a video of Emily Thornberry at the despatch box at yesterday’s prime minister’s questions performing, it has to be said, very well.

It is the sort of thing we all see dozens of times every day, scrolling through our social media feeds whilst we wait for out train, lie in bed or pretend to listen to a friend’s anecdote.

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Posted in News | Tagged featured | 28 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Nick Clegg: We were the world’s leaders in democracy. Now it’s Germany

By The Voice | Thu 13th July 2017 - 9:18 am

Nick Clegg has the following to say in his regular column for Inews:

The more you lose your grip, the more you hold on to what you know. It is a sure sign that an institution is in steady decline when it fixates on past glories. A belief in the traditions of the past often masks discomfort about the challenges of the present.

And so John Hayes, a jovial mid-ranking Conservative Minister with reliably anti European, traditional views, revealed more than he probably intended when he recently declared in the House of Commons, “I will not be taking interventions by anyone who is not wearing a tie, on whatever side of the house they sit.”

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Posted in LibLink | 21 Comments

The new standard bearer for science and innovation is… Norman Lamb

By Matt Dolman | Wed 12th July 2017 - 7:42 pm

Congratulations to Norman Lamb, the newly-elected Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, who overcame competition from fellow Lib Dem Jo Swinson.

In seeking the role, Norman pledged to offer “sound guidance, leadership and authority” to the Committee and ensure that science and technology are “fully considered in Brexit negotiations”, all while emphasising the importance of science for the UK’s future prosperity.

The new role gives Norman a great opportunity to hold this Government to account on a whole range of issues covering science, technology, research and innovation.

This is especially important in today’s political landscape, because Parliament’s Select Committees have become increasingly powerful in the last couple of years – and they can only get stronger with a weakened Government in place.

(To see what I’m talking about, it’s worth reading a recent paper by the Institute for Government that talks about how Select Committees can exert their influence during a hung-parliament).

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Posted in News | Tagged norman lamb and science and technology | 11 Comments

Another civil liberties victory for the Scottish Lib Dems

By NewsHound | Wed 12th July 2017 - 12:55 pm

Over the years, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have been responsible for a number of changes in policing and civil liberties policies in Scotland. After we led the opposition, the Scottish Government had to abandon plans for a super ID database that would have made Labour’s look like a champion of civil liberties. Alison McInnes, when she was Justice Spokesperson in the last Parliament, successfully fought both routine arming of the Police and indiscriminate stop and search.

That record continues as the Lib Dems have now ensured that Police Scotland has deleted records of half a billion numberplates captured under numberplate recognition.

From Scotland on Sunday:

The climbdown comes after a Lib Dem Freedom of Information request last year revealed that 852,507,524 number plate records captured by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras across the country were held in a Police Scotland database, with data available from as far back as 2009. Data retention laws require that any such information is only kept for crimes, while all other data must be deleted. The Lib Dems had expressed concern that the retention of so much information relating to innocent individuals was infringing on people’s civil liberties. The number of records deleted was revealed by the police in response to another Freedom of Information request submitted by the Lib Dems. Information provided by the police showed 547,459,904 number plate records had been disposed of.

Scottish Lib Dem Justice Spokesperson Liam McArthur said:

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Posted in News | Tagged civil liberties, justice, liam mcarthur and Scotland | Leave a comment

It’s time for an All Party Parliamentary Group on Land Value Taxation

By Joe Bourke | Wed 12th July 2017 - 10:55 am

The rioting in Hamburg on the occasion of the meeting of the G20 this month highlights the oftentimes violent confrontation that exists between alternative theories of capitalism and socialism, as represented by the established orthodoxy and those that would seek to tear it down.

At the heart of this conflict lies differing interpretations of economic theory, often depicted simplistically as left v right; Keynes v Hayek; socialism v capitalism; social liberalism v economic liberalism; or progressives v conservatives.

Henry George’s Progress and Poverty envisioned a capitalism that would allow all people to own the product of their labour, but that things found in nature, particularly land, belongs equally to all humanity.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged caroline lucas, land value taxation and vince cable | 36 Comments

It’s Swinson vs Lamb today

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 12th July 2017 - 8:55 am

Today, MPs elect their Select Committee chairs. The Liberal Democrats are to chair the Science and Technology Committee. The House will have the chance to choose between two of our MPs, Norman Lamb and Jo Swinson.

Each has produced a statement in support of their candidacy:

Jo Swinson

Statement

“more collegiate than tribal” – Telegraph

Collegiate

Even the Telegraph said I’m collegiate, and they’re not known for their love of Lib Dems. If you’ve been in Parliament for many years, I hope you agree that I engaged constructively with MPs regardless of party when I was a Minister: from pubs to payday lending, employment rights to equalities. If you’re newer, you don’t need to take my word for it, do ask your colleagues. And feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or ideas.

Fair

Select Committees are about the art of asking good questions to get to the heart of an issue. It’s a wonderful privilege – and fascinating – to be able to quiz experts on any given subject, and I hugely enjoyed my time on the Environmental Audit Committee from 2007-2010. Every member of a Select Committee has an important role to play. In creating reports and recommendations for Government, Select Committees should be both challenging and constructive: giving credit where it’s due, and being bold about where change is needed.

Enthused by science and technology

Science and technology offer hope for the advancement of society, as an engine of growth for the economy, and to solve the big problems we face as humanity, from climate change to disease. The UK has a pivotal role to play, with a well-respected scientific community that should be supported and celebrated. I’m enthused by these opportunities, as an early adopter of technology for democratic engagement, a former Vice-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Digital Taskforce, and having served as a Non-Executive Director of a data science start-up. My constituency is home to the Beatson Institute, a world-class science facility focused on cancer research.

Can v Should

Science rightly pushes the frontiers of knowledge, and asks “Can we?”. In public policy terms, we must also ask “Should we?” Ethical questions range from balancing online privacy with security to preventing artificial intelligence entrenching current inequalities, from how to assess the benefit of new pharmaceuticals to understanding fully the impact of drones and driverless cars on employment. The Select Committee should play a crucial role in exploring these dilemmas and finding a path forward.

Norman Lamb

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged Jo Swinson and norman lamb | 16 Comments

What can we learn from the ages?

By Ken Munn | Tue 11th July 2017 - 11:16 am

With party leadership currently in play, and in an effort to acquaint myself with our history, I took a look at Liberal/Alliance/LibDem results of general elections since 1950. Here’s what I found.

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Posted in Op-eds | 47 Comments

This lady is for turning

By The Voice | Tue 11th July 2017 - 9:22 am

Our lovely friends in the Lib Dem Press Office have been keeping tally. They have found twenty policies that the Government has U-turned on in the last year. And here they are:

Northern Powerhouse: It was reported last August that Theresa May had decided to ditch the Northern Powerhouse from her plans for an industrial strategy, she later back-tracked and made clear she was fully behind it.
EU nationals: Theresa May reversed her stance towards EU citizens living in Britain (£), after her rivals accused her of treating them as “bargaining chips” in exit negotiations.
Hinkley Point: The PM

…

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Posted in News | Tagged theresa may | 15 Comments

Rennie calls on Justice Secretary to end “chilling” Police whistleblower policy

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 10th July 2017 - 8:14 pm

Scotland’s Police force has been beset with difficulties since its 8 Police forces were merged into a single entity five years ago. Some of these difficulties have come to light because police officers have reported their concerns to politicians and the media. So what is the Police management plan to deal with this? Simples. Just make police officers register every single contact with politicians or journalists. If they don’t they could find themselves in big trouble.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has called for the intervention of the Justice Secretary and Scottish Police Authority to ensure that the police hierarchy are not free to silence internal critics after it was revealed that new guidance has been issued within Police Scotland that will crack down on whistle-blowers.

Scotland’s justice secretary has been urged to ensure new Police Scotland guidelines do not have a “chilling effect” on internal critics within the force.

The new rules require officers to declare any associations they have with journalists and politicians, raising concerns they will be used to quash whistleblowing.

The guidance is compulsory for all police officers and special constables, with the prospect of misconduct proceedings for anyone who breaches it.

It is part of the force’s latest anti-corruption strategy and aims to “protect the information, assets and reputation of Police Scotland”.

The General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation likened it to the sort of policy you would find in a banana republic.

Any policy that equates contact with elected parliamentarians and journalists with contact with criminals is deeply worrying.

It risks being seen as an attempt to silence dissent that would not be out of place in a banana republic.

Willie said:

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Posted in News | Tagged police scotland and willie rennie | 2 Comments

Brexit: yes, it’s personal

By M P Hoskins | Mon 10th July 2017 - 5:08 pm

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One of the things that most struck me about the arguments made by the supporters of Brexit during the EU referendum was that they seemed, in their essence, to be based on emotion. There were many arguments put forward for Brexit that presented it as a rational economic choice, but these arguments were clearly secondary, almost an afterthought, to the ones based on British exceptionalism and distrust of anything foreign.

And yet when you pressed Brexit supporters, as I quite often did, on these points and suggested that perhaps those of us supporting the EU both in the UK and in other Member States also had an emotional attachment to the project, this was pooh-poohed out of hand. It was implied that, whereas the UK was entitled to indulge its childish Anglo-centric sentiments, foreigners would bow to practicality and Brexit would prevail. This is the basic construct behind the “German carmakers, prosecco” argument, essentially that neither German nor Italian exporters would want to lose the trade with the UK and therefore they would put pressure on their governments to come to an agreement. Likewise, I often heard it said that Spain depended on what was called “British expats” for so much of its income that it would do nothing to upset the Brexit applecart.

Time has proven that these arguments are not only irrational and patronising but actually wrong. It is childish and limiting to recognise your own emotions without recognising them in others too.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit | 63 Comments

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Op-eds

Somerset’s farmers are on the front line of climate change (Sarah Dyke)
Mathew on Monday: Local Government Reorganisation review welcome (Mathew Hulbert)
Reform is winning because liberal Britain is not listening to its own society (Michal Simon)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)
Why Holborn and St Pancras deserves our all (Rosemary Runswick)

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Recent Comments

David Raw
@ Katharine Pinder I have the same perception as you on how Mr Burnham appears to be handling matters so far, Katharine. He is certainly wrong footing Ms Bade...
Katharine Pindar
Thinking of the very different wars that Andy Burnham's government and William Beveridge's government face or faced, one thing is clear - there is not an enemy ...
David Evans
Mick, While acknowledging that you successfully retrained as a primary school teacher and that on another occasion you taught, probably very successfully in...
Mick Taylor
I requalified as a primary school teacher from being a secondary teacher. There were, and may still be, one year courses for this purpose and I imagine that cou...
Jana
“ One practical solution would be to make it much easier for primary school teachers to requalify and go to work in our secondary schools” Really? Most p...