NewsHound

Frank Bruno to campaign for Norman Lamb today

By NewsHound | Thu 1st June 2017 - 10:50 am

Norman Lamb has the endorsement of a heavyweight today. Frank Bruno, who is a great supporter of Norman’s work as health minister although he doesn’t support any political party, is visiting North Norfolk to campaign for him.

From the Eastern Daily Press:

Since meeting Mr Lamb during his time as a Health Minister, the pair have worked together on a number of initiatives to improve mental health support.

Bruno, who is not party political, is a long-time ambassador for people suffering from mental health problems and has spoken of his own experiences with bipolar disorder and will join Mr Lamb on the campaign trail.

The pair have worked together on a number of initiatives to improve mental health support.

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Caron Lindsay

“As an MP, I’d find solutions” – a profile that shows why Elizabeth Riches should win North East Fife

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 1st June 2017 - 9:50 am

There’s a super profile in The Courier of Elizabeth Riches, our excellent candidate in North East Fife. The reporter sent to follow her for the day was obviously impressed, saying that she is “full of charm and charisma.”

When I read it, I thought that this is definitely the Elizabeth I know.

Elizabeth is full of charm and charisma, chatting to everyone she meets, whatever their political preferences.

“You have to listen to what concerns people; individuals have their worries and there’s no point in pontificating about things that hold no interest,” she says.

“Some are worried about their children’s education and the fact Elmwood College can’t offer the courses it used to, or they might be concerned about lack of broadband.

“As an MP, I’d find solutions. This is a unique moment for the country. This election is probably far more important than any we’ll have for a long time and I would really make a difference to North East Fife.”

“I’ll use my experience as a teacher, councillor for the East Neuk and deputy leader of Fife Council to serve the best interests of the area.”

The article also has conversations with voters, many of whom are impressed with Elizabeth. What comes across, though, is the long record of service the people of North East Fife has had from its local councillors. What an incredible foundation of goodwill they have built.

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Edward Sainsbury

Let our actions do the talking on diversity

By Edward Sainsbury | Thu 1st June 2017 - 8:55 am

This election is all up in the air with just over a week to go and the key message going out to Lib Dems everywhere is target, target, target. I agree 100% with one caveat.

When I wake up (or perhaps more realistically; go to sleep) on 9th June I would like us to have more MPs. Whilst the number of likely gains is small in number, each one will be a massive boost to the party and the hard-won result of hours and hours of volunteers delivering, canvassing and promoting those candidates.

My one caveat however, is that I would be very disappointed if our parliamentary party was not more diverse. I know that hundreds of activists have been supporting many of our fantastic women standing for parliament in held and previously held seats; from Sarah Olney to Jo Swinson; Tessa Munt to Christine Jardine there has been a clear awareness of the need to ensure the Liberal Democrat MPs in this next parliament aren’t all men.

However, another element of diversity the party does not seem to be following through on, as strongly, is ensuring the ethnic diversity of our MPs. We have a very strong chance to elect one such MP in Amna Ahmad, the incredible candidate for Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park and who I have been fortunate enough to be campaigning for over the past four days. 

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The Voice

WATCH: Tim Farron’s best bits from last night’s debate

By The Voice | Thu 1st June 2017 - 7:46 am

Here are four of Tim’s highlights from the debate last night:

His opening statement

3 reasons to vote Lib Dem and warning against giving May a blank cheque to introduce Dementia Tax, nick school lunches and implement a bad Brexit deal without giving people a say.

The Bake-off moment

Taking on Paul Nuttall over demonising immigrants – and what makes a good immigration policy

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Caron Lindsay

Debate summary – how did they do?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 31st May 2017 - 10:48 pm

Apologies for the abrupt ending  to the previous post. I have a MacBook that just won’t charge which, as you can imagine, is incredibly frustrating.

So,  I am typing this on my phone.

The debate tonight was prettty much Amber Rudd getting some fairly forensic scrutiny from Farron, Lucas, Robertson, Corbyn and Wood, probably in that order. Paul Nuttall was the malevolently embarrassing interloper – that pain in the backside at a party that nobody will admit to inviting. If his role was to make the Tories look less scary, it didn’t work.

Tim Farron was brilliant – he got his key “trust the people” message across and highlighted the points on the NHS, dementia tax and school lunches. His best line, as tweeted by Nick Robinson, was the “If you vote Tory you give her a blank cheque.

He was fantastic on climate change too.

For me be was the winner. I will take half a mark off for him waffling a bit on the NHS and for possibly over-egging the “Theresa isn’t here” line but apart from that he was great. 9/10

Caroline Lucas was good too – clear and concise. She can have 8/10 because she was better at describing problems than offering solutions.

Angus Robertson, presumably put up by the SNP to give him some exposure as he is under pressure from the Tories in his Moray seat, was very good in parts, particularly on immigration. However when it got to terrorism, he failed on two parts in the same question. He talked about giving the police and security services the resources they require. What, no scrutiny or regard to civil liberties? Well, the SNP certainly isn’t known for that. Nobody south of the border would know, but policing is under-resources and a total mess up here thanks to SNP mismanagement.  6/10.

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Caron Lindsay

BBC Debate open thread

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 31st May 2017 - 7:37 pm

And we’re off.

First off opening statements from the 7 participants. We have Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru, Angus Robertson from the SNP, Jeremy Corbyn, Caroline Lucas from the Greens, Paul Nuttall, Amber Rudd and Tim Farron.

Amber Rudd is now claiming credit for stabilising the economy…before driving it off a Brexit cliff. She’s predictably doing the May vx Corbyn. But will people like what they have seen of her Brexit plan, Dementia Tax and under-investment in the NHS.

Corbyn seems pretty animated and on message.

Tim gets the final opening statement. Three reasons to vote Lib Dem: Investment in NHS, giving you a say on Brexit deal, and whatever power you give me I will use to stop May taking you for granted. Here’s the whole thing.

Where do you think Theresa May is tonight?

Take a look out your window. She might be out there sizing up your house to pay for your social care.

And why do you think she called this election?

She wants five years as Prime Minister and she thinks you’ll give it to her, no questions asked – literally.

Even if she brings in a Dementia Tax, sacks your kids’ teachers and nicks their lunches while she’s at it.

We can all agree that is a rubbish offer.

Look, I know we don’t all agree on Brexit, but she’s off to negotiate a deal for you, for me – for all of us.

Imagine if it’s a bad deal – I mean Dementia Tax bad.

I know that to persuade you to vote Liberal Democrat I have to give you some really good reasons.

So here’s three.

One. I’ll rescue the NHS and social care by putting a penny on income tax.

Two. I’ll give you the final say on the Brexit deal, not Theresa May.

Three. Whatever power you give me, I’ll use it to stop her taking you for granted.

It’s strong – What if the Brexit deal is bad, dementia tax bad, he said? We might not agree on Brexit, but I’ll give you a say in what happens next. He described the Tory offer as “rubbish” – talking of May sizing up your house to pay for your social care and nabbing your lunch while she’s at it.

First question on public sector pay freeze. Amber Rudd shows no empathy to the questioner whatsoever and talks about the need to balance the books.

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Caron Lindsay

What we need from Tim Farron tonight

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 31st May 2017 - 6:09 pm

In just under two hours, Tim takes to the stage with representatives from 6 other parties for the tv debate. It’s the one and only time during the election that we will see all 7 parties represented in the one debate.

Theresa May has bottled it, which is no surprise as we have seen how awful she is when she’s unscripted or when something happens that she’s not expecting.  That moment with Kathy in OXWAB showed that she has no ability to listen to what she is being told or to properly empathise with people.

Jeremy Corbyn is showing up, which you have to give him credit for. He has a big job to convince people that he could be PM in just over a week’s time. It will be interesting to see what his line on Scottish independence is tonight. It has changed several times over the past few days, much to the discomfiture of Scottish Labour. He seemed to suggest that he would be happy as PM to talk to the SNP about having a referendum. This will go down like a bucket of cold sick in Edinburgh South where Labour’s only MP Ian Murray  is trying to defend his seat from both Tory and SNP onslaughts. The Tories won’t win, but they could stop him – and if they don’t think Labour will stop a second independence referendum, it does Ian Murray no good whatsoever.

Corbyn is also vulnerable to attack from Tim Farron, who will be after the moderate Labour Remain voters who are not, in the main, Corbyn fans. We can expect Tim to be reminding the audience that Corbyn whipped his MPs to oppose right to stay and membership of the single market in the Article 50 Bill and just stood and waved Theresa May towards the cliff edge. 

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NewsHound

Paul Keetch obituary in the Telegraph

By NewsHound | Wed 31st May 2017 - 2:55 pm

The Telegraph has published an obituary of former Liberal Democrat MP Paul Keetch who died last week at the age of 56.

Locally-born and a former city councillor, Keetch built on the efforts of previous Liberal candidates – among them Sir Robin Day. He ousted the long-serving and highly regarded Sir Colin Shepherd by 6,648 votes when the national anti-Conservative swing became irresistible, then fought hard to hold the seat, his majorities in 2001 and 2005 being 968 and 962 respectively.

Keetch was an assiduous party defence spokesman from 1999 to 2005, when Charles Kennedy dropped him. His main concern was the SAS, based in his constituency, but he became a tenacious campaigner on service welfare issues, with the interests of other ranks particularly at heart. It was Keetch who ascertained prior to the Iraq War that half the troops heading for the Gulf had refused a voluntary anthrax jab. He probed, uncomfortably for the MoD, why only three officers had been caught by drug tests, compared with 3,400 junior ranks. Keetch suspected the military had done its best not to test officers.

He also championed the cider industry, which was in the doldrums when he founded the All-Party Cider Group in 1997. Bulmer’s of Hereford recovered soon after on the back of a marketing campaign for Magner’s Irish cider, halting a situation in which many Herefordshire growers were grubbing up their orchards. In 2007 cider overtook beer in off-licence sales.

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Andrew Haldane

Who needs a big majority?

By Andrew Haldane | Wed 31st May 2017 - 12:55 pm

While pleased that our 1p on income tax to rescue Health and Social care is in the public consciousness I’m disappointed that one of the most important ideas in the manifesto; the cross-party Health and Social Care Convention, hasn’t had the high profile it deserves.

Not only is it by far the best way forward but it is also a model for a better way to do politics. I am proud that we recognise that Health and Social Care should not be a political football and that, while developing clear ideas for a long term solution, Norman Lamb has put so much effort into trying to work with other parties and relevant experts. Our 1p on tax addresses the need for urgent action and provides the time and space to continue to develop a shared vision for the future.

The abandonment of Dilnot and the Dementia Tax fiasco bring into sharp relief the need for a more measured and consensual approach.

Some of the other issues that are dominating the election demonstrate how Governments gifted parliamentary majorities totally disproportionate to their support in the country are able arrogantly to impose ideologies that impact not just over one Parliament but for decades to come.

Across Europe countries with better political systems than ours converted their inefficient nationalised industries into efficient businesses with state shareholdings, very many of which of are now making substantial profits out of less fortunate British consumers. Most of the countless thousands of young people unable to find decent housing weren’t even born, much less able to vote, when successive Conservative and Labour governments sold off council housing without taking the blindingly obvious step of replacing these with alternative affordable homes.

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Caron Lindsay

Tory warnings about “bad Brexit” have one word too many

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 31st May 2017 - 11:55 am

The latest Tory tactic seems to be to warn against a “bad Brexit” and to say that only they, if they get a whopping enough majority, can make sure we get a “good” deal. On that majority point, think of the last time you said to yourself “Oh, Merkel has a huge majority, we need to do what she says.” The point is that we go into these negotiations in a weakened position anyway. There are 27 EU member states and 1 of us. Who has the power here? The Tory brexiteers needn’t bother trying to blame the EU for a situation that they created.

Jeremy Hunt is the latest to talk of the dangers of Brexit going wrong and what that will mean for our NHS. In fact, if Brexit happens, it will damage our NHS on various fronts. The crash in our economy that would result if Theresa May’s extreme Brexit goes ahead would cost the NHS dearly. And today a report says that the NHS could stand to lose an extra half a billion if returning ex-pats came back to be treated on the NHS in Britain. This was entirely predictable.

That is just one problem of several highlighted by the Nuffield Trust:

According to the Nuffield Trust, it may not be easy to continue with this agreement after Brexit.
If all of these pensioners decided to return to the UK – a big if – they could be expected to fill 900 NHS hospital beds a year, it says.

The NHS would need about 1,600 more doctors, nurses and other workers to provide the care, it estimates.

Also, hospitals could end up short-staffed if migration of workers from the EU slows or stops post-Brexit.
And access to medicines could also become more difficult if the UK leaves the EU’s medicine licensing system.

So, we have a crashing economy, extra people to treat with fewer staff and restricted access to medicines. All of these are en entirely predictable consequence of any Brexit. It’s not exactly what was written on that bus, is it?

In response to today’s report, Norman Lamb said:

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Caron Lindsay

REMINDER: Conference Early Bird Discount closes before the end of next mon

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 31st May 2017 - 10:55 am

Yes, I know you’re a bit busy right now, but this is important.

If you have just been paid, now is the time to register for Autumn Conference as the Early Bird discount will have expired by the end of next month.

A reminder of the post I wrote when registration opened:

An email from Andrew Wiseman, chair of Federal Conference Committee, announced that registration was open for Autumn Conference in Bournemouth.

The Dorset town is my favourite conference venue. Maybe I’m just biased because the weather was so gorgeous the last time we were there, and the Goat and Tricycle pub is one of the nicest and has fantastic beer, but I’d strongly recommend coming. Let’s hope that we have many more MPs to welcome, too.

The exceptionally good news is that the Early Bird Discount rate would normally run out before the election, but it has been extended until 23rd June. This shows that the Conference Office and Federal Conference Committee have listened to criticism they received (some of it from me) about previous events when the discount has expired at a time when it would have caused difficulties for people. So, well done to them for that. 

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The Voice

Scottish Liberal Democrats to launch manifesto

By The Voice | Wed 31st May 2017 - 9:55 am

Willie Rennie will launch the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ manifesto this morning at an Edinburgh mental health charity.

We will have the details later, but ahead of the launch he said:

Votes for the Liberal Democrats will stop another divisive independence referendum from the nationalists.

With the Scottish economy teetering on the edge of a recession, the performance of Scottish education dropping down the international rankings and mental health services failing to deliver, the last thing our country needs is another divisive and distracting independence referendum.

The Liberal Democrats are setting out a positive plan to invest in mental health and education. A modest penny on tax secures those.

We will protect jobs in Scotland by opposing an extreme Conservative Brexit and giving people the right to reject a bad deal.

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Martin Roche

Let freedom ring

By Martin Roche | Wed 31st May 2017 - 8:55 am

This is the speech I’d like to hear Tim Farron give before the General Election.

I stand with you today to talk about the security of our nation, the protection of our way of life and about combatting the terrorist, the bomber and the gunman.

Our police and security services are working at full capacity. We know that and we thank them for it. The government deserves praise for its reaction to the Manchester outrage.

Many voices – prominent and influential Muslims among them – have joined in condemnation of the terrorist’s actions and in praise for the wonderful response from the emergency services and the people in Manchester, across the UK and worldwide.

We are deploying money, human resources and all the relevant machinery of the state to keep us safe from harm.

But there is one thing we are not doing.

No leading politician of recent times has attempted to replace the poison being fed to the impressionable with a counter case of championing democracy and its values and rights.

There is a vacuum in the battle and it is being filled by the extremists to spread hate, violence, death and destruction.

Democrats have to force out their death cult and replace it with the clean, pure, fresh air of democracy.

Every school, every pulpit, every council chamber should ring every day with democracy. It is freedom.

I call today for the leaders of political life in the U.K to join me in a reaffirmation of the fundamental values, right and benefits of democracy.

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Antony Hook

“We get fined if we meet your wishes” – the NHS could be so much better

By Antony Hook | Tue 30th May 2017 - 1:59 pm

Liberal Democrats are rightly proud of the fact that the NHS exists and the role of Liberals, especially Beveridge, in its creation.

But I find there is a lot to be concerned about in the way it is run.  From the point of view of a patient I often feel more like a player in an elaborate board game.

When I call my local surgery for an appointment I am invariably told nothing is available for 2 or more weeks.  It’s always longer if I want something early or late to minimise the disruption to work.

But I am always told “if it …

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NewsHound

LibLink: Brian Paddick: The Liberal Democrat plan in the fight against terrorism

By NewsHound | Tue 30th May 2017 - 10:45 am

Brian Paddick has written a piece for the Huffington Post about the Liberal Democrat ideas to tackle terrorism in the wake of the appalling atrocity in Manchester.

At times like this received wisdom is that Liberals should stay quiet and allow others to offer tough solutions and new laws to eradicate violent extremism and terrorism. Us bleeding-heart liberals have nothing to say and should stick to hand-wringing. That is wrong.

If we want to continue to live in an open, democratic society that values freedom and civil liberties we must accept that we can never be 100% safe, but that doesn’t mean we do nothing either.

The first is about stopping people becoming radicalised in the first place – and that means getting rid of Prevent:

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We need to tell people about our economic policy

By Contributor 2017 | Tue 30th May 2017 - 8:55 am

As an Orange Book adhering Lib Dem, a big highlight of the reign of Clegg & Cable was a very simple, yet very effective thing – that our economic policy was clear, empathised, and well known. We knew where we stood, we knew where we were going, and quite frankly, the economic policy that we pushed in the coalition, reflected that fact. The Liberal Democrats were a party that knew how to manage an economy.

So, looking back at that highlight, I fear that, something may have been rather overlooked this campaign; our economic plan. Indeed, more importantly, what exactly it is. I mean, obviously we have one. In fact, according to Oxford Economics, we have the best one. So, for me, the question is simple – why aren’t we making a big deal out of it?

It is very clear to me, and to many people up and down the country, that the Liberal plan for our economy is worlds ahead of the Labour or Conservative ones. We have a plan for proper growth, for sustainable development environmentally, for treating small businesses with the high regard they deserve, and for ensuring that our spending plans are sensible, and above all else, fair. Yet, when we are covered in the media, very little focus is put upon this. It seems insane to me that we aren’t inundating the whole nation with the fact that when push comes to shove, we could, will, and can, make people better off. In fact, those in the whole bottom half of our income demography would be faring far better if we were the government.

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The Voice

Tim Farron on Dominic Raab: the Alan B’Stard view of politics

By The Voice | Mon 29th May 2017 - 4:10 pm

Did you spend this fine morning out campaigning, or were you sitting on your sofa watching Victoria Derbyshire? I hope it was the former, but if so you will have missed a choice gem from Dominic Raab. You may remember that he was once a Conservative justice minister.

The discussion turned to food banks and the fact that they were being used by nurses in some parts of the country. Dominic Raab made this comment:

What they tend to find is the typical user of food banks is not someone that is languishing in poverty, it is someone who has a cash flow problem episodically.

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The Voice

Jo Swinson on support for victims of domestic violence and abuse

By The Voice | Mon 29th May 2017 - 12:04 pm

 

Jo Swinson has been responding to the Conservative plans on domestic violence.

Domestic violence and abuse is a horrific stain on our society and still all too often a hidden crime. Everything that can be done must be done to eradicate it once and for all. But let us be clear actions speak louder than words and Conservative cuts to local authorities have meant that funding for domestic abuse services have suffered, with some services having to refuse referrals from victims due to a lack of capacity.

Victims need more than just platitudes and unless the Conservatives are willing to invest the resources needed then nothing will change.

The Liberal Democrats would support victims of domestic violence and abuse and help them secure justice by reviewing the investigation, prosecution, procedures and rules of evidence in cases of sexual and domestic violence and guarantee funding for legal aid in domestic violence cases.

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Mary Reid

Is this the best email of the election?

By Mary Reid | Mon 29th May 2017 - 9:16 am

As clickbait goes, it is rather eye-catching, and I was intrigued.

And the first sentence drew me in:

Theresa May is about to lock down the internet. Will you let her?

There is only one response offered – but then there can only be one way to reply to the question – NO.

So I clicked, I signed the petition, I shared on Facebook. If I wasn’t convinced after the first question, the email then went on to invite me to click two further buttons which repeated the message in slightly different ways.

But there is a killer PS:

PS: Based on user feedback, we’ve been asked to include more GIFs in our email, so as a special reward for joining our fight, we’ll send you something extra special.

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #482

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 28th May 2017 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our xxxth weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the five most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (-, 2017), together with a hand-picked seven you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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NewsHound

Jo Swinson’s election car-share

By NewsHound | Sun 28th May 2017 - 2:55 pm

It is a truth pretty much universally acknowledged that East Dunbartonshire is one of the key battlegrounds and best hopes for a Lib Dem gain in the UK. Our Jo Swinson is fighting to regain the seat she lost to the SNP in 2015. I’ve been in the constituency twice this week and have been impressed by the number of Jo Swinson posters in people’s gardens. It feels much more visible than it did back in 2005 when she was first elected.

The Scottish Sun has done an election car-share type thing with her in which she talks about life in and out of politics – including her early days of campaigning back at school.

I tell you what I did crusade on at my school Douglas Academy. I was on the school council and one of the campaigns I ran was for uniforms to be changed so that girls could wear trousers if they wanted to.

“I didn’t particularly want to wear trousers but I thought it a matter of principle. I made my case about how it would be warmer if they could wear them in the winter.

“And I remember the assistant head saying to me quite pointedly, ‘Well it might be warmer than a very short skirt’.

She also talked about her experience working in the lingerie department of Marks and Spencer’s.

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The Voice

New campaign poster highlights “Dickensian” Tory school meals plan

By The Voice | Sun 28th May 2017 - 12:55 pm

 

The Lib Dem focus this weekend has been attacking the Conservatives for their most controversial domestic policies – school lunches and the dementia tax.

We put out a poster that channels Oliver Twist to highlight the Tory plans to abolish provision of school lunches and replace them with breakfasts.

When Nick introduced the lunches policy in coalition, he made sure that there was some pretty detailed nutritional standards to go along with it.

Each week, pupils eating free school lunches get: five portions of fruit, five portions of veg, five portions of protein (meat, fish, eggs or beans), five portions of starchy food (at least one being wholegrain) and five portions of milk or dairy.

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The Voice

Liberal Democrats set 10 questions for Theresa May on the “Dementia Tax”

By The Voice | Sun 28th May 2017 - 11:55 am

Rarely has such an ill-thought out policy made it into a manifesto. The Tory proposals for what’s been dubbed a “dementia tax,” going back on previous proposals to set a cap on care costs for those who need care, don’t even seem to have the agreement of senior Conservatives. In fact, if the Sunday papers are to be believed, they don’t even have the backing of Theresa May’s two chiefs of staff.

Vince Cable outlines the main issues here:

The Liberal Democrats have today put 10 questions to Theresa May on the implementation of this policy. Her speech last Monday was initially presented as a u-turn. She then claimed in her Andrew Neil interview that it was anything but. Voters need to know exactly what this policy means before they go to the polls in 11 days’ time.

The questions are:

1. At what level will the cap on care costs be set?

2. How will it be uprated? Will it be in line with house prices?

3. Does the £100,000 floor apply to households or individuals?

4. Will the cap and £100,000 floor apply to care costs only, or will it also include accommodation costs?

5. Will people still need to pay an arrangement fee and interest for care costs, and if so how will these charges be set? The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM) currently charges 2.25% interest and a £900 set up fee plus £300 a year.

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Caron Lindsay

Alpacalypse

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 28th May 2017 - 10:55 am

It wouldn’t be an election without photos of Willie Rennie with cute animals.

This time, they even behaved themselves.

I thought that the election hadn’t had enough alpacas in it, so I was delighted when I heard that he was off to visit an alpaca farm. Here he is with Edinburgh West candidate Christine Jardine and Edinburgh South West candidate Aisha Mir:

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Simon Beard

More in common – my visit to my local mosque

By Simon Beard | Sun 28th May 2017 - 8:55 am

Campaigning for the General Election has been suspended twice in recent days, and rightly so. Last Sunday, we paused in memory of Jo Cox, her lifelong work to show that we have more in common and her tragic death, whilst in recent days we ceased campaigning in the wake of Monday’s atrocious terrorist attack on Manchester by those who wish to use death and destruction to drive us apart.

Last Saturday I visited the North West Kent Muslim Association for their public open day, and now feels like a good time to write about that visit. Like many people, I learned something about Islam while at school, but had never been inside a mosque before, and to be honest, I would have struggled to tell people where my local mosque was.

Dartford’s mosque is on Crayford high street, in a converted church building. For the open day, they had set up an exhibition in their community room, focusing on the fundamentals of Islam, the relationship between Islam and Europe (including the many things that we have gained from Islamic cultures, such as coffee drinking) and on Islam and Science.

As both a Liberal and a Christian however, the most interesting parts of the day for me were the discussions with local Muslims. I was surprised to see the mosque had separate entrances for ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ (though we were all welcomed through the same gate this time). However, women at the mosque assured us that this was not a sign of inferiority or subjugation for either sex and that they felt that Islamic law and practice was there to guard their equality rather than undermine it.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown: Tories’ Royal Marine cut plays fast and loose with UK defence

By NewsHound | Sat 27th May 2017 - 12:55 pm

It makes sense that Paddy should write for the Plymouth Herald on defence given the city’s strategic importance.

He took the Government to task for cutting the Marines – about which he knows more than most people:

For more than three centuries – from Gibraltar and Trafalgar to Normandy and Afghanistan – the Royal Marines have epitomised those qualities. They have fought in more theatres and won more battles than any other British unit. In our nation’s hours of danger, they have been, as Lord St Vincent predicted in 1802, “the country’s sheet anchor”.

So the news that the Government is cutting 200 Royal Marine posts – at such a volatile time in world affairs – should concern us all. They are committing this folly in response to a crisis of their own making.

The cost of Conservative foolishness doesn’t end with the Royal Marines. They’ve cut personnel numbers, breaking their manifesto promise not to reduce the Army below 82,000. Troops on the frontline are deprived of basic equipment and combat training has been slashed, putting soldiers’ lives in greater peril. Warships sit idle at quaysides. No wonder top generals have accused the Government of “deception” over defence.

The Tories are very practised at talking tough on defence in elections. But look at the history: it’s always Tories who cut most on defence in government. It’s now clear that Mrs May will get back in because of the hopelessness of the Labour Party. But it would be very dangerous to give her a big enough majority to ignore us again.

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Linda Jack

No bright new dawn

By Linda Jack | Sat 27th May 2017 - 10:55 am
Like all of us I have spent the last few days deeply impacted by the events in Manchester.
 
As a mother who has, like so many of us, lain awake waiting for the turn of the key in the lock to know, however old your kids are, they are home, I grieve for every young life that has been taken from us. Their loss is not just to their families, or communities, but to us all. John Donne puts it so beautifully ‘ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee’.
 
Youth should be a time of such optimism, such promise, such dreams, such fun, such excitement. Death is something that happens to old people, not you, you are invincible. Yet now, for so many children and young people – no bright new dawn. 
 
So as shock turns to anger, grief to the need to understand why, the narrative changes accordingly.
But what is often missing in debates which feature the great and the good, as this Independent article highlights is the voice of the very young people we are concerned about. 
 
An exception was the interview (47:30 in) on Radio 4’s PM programme with a young Libyan who expressed the kind of views I have heard so many times over the years working with Muslim young people. I was also struck by this analysis from Nafees Ahmed.
 
It is clear that the Prevent programme is failing and just throwing money at it won’t help – our party has it right in focusing on community engagement. But many of us are very disappointed that there is no mention of our policy on Youth Services in our manifesto. 
 
As Children and Young People Now report, it was a youth and community worker who first warned the authorities about  Salman Abedi, to quote NYA CEO Paul Miller
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NewsHound

Norman Lamb “The best MP in the region”

By NewsHound | Sat 27th May 2017 - 8:55 am

“Can Norman Lamb hold on in Leave voting North Norfolk?” is the headline from a PoliticsHome article.

The constituency is profiled and this is what Norman has to say about it:

After four general election victories, can the region’s lone Lib Dem fend off the Tories and cling on his largely rural constituency for a fifth time? On the surface the signs are ominous. In 2015, his majority dropped to just over 4,000. In last year’s referendum, North Norfolk voted to leave the European Union by 59%. And while the Greens are getting behind Lamb, Ukip has pulled out of the race and urged supporters to vote Tory to “rid ourselves of our Liberal Democrat MP”.

But Lamb – who defied his party line and abstained on the vote to trigger Article 50 – says Brexit doesn’t come up on the doorstep very much and “the majority of people you talk to don’t mention it at all”. The clumsy Ukip intervention has galvanised non-Tories who “don’t like that sort of attitude and language”, he claims.  He is also finding it “very easy to persuade people who in the past voted Labour to support us this time”. And above all, he is optimistic that his personal connections with voters will win the day.

“In a way, this is a contest between the Conservative national message … and a growing sense that a Tory landslide is pretty much an inevitability. So do we really want a one-party state? And do people actually want to lose an MP who has a got a long track record of active campaigning?” he asks.

“Interestingly, as you go round talking to people on the doorsteps and in town centres and outside schools, a lot of people are saying ‘I will vote for you because of what you have done here or what you’ve done for our family’. Yesterday, someone said ‘You saved my daughter’s life’. It was a case of an eating disorder where they weren’t being listened to and I intervened on their behalf and got things moving.

“A lot of people say ‘We’ll vote for you, we want to keep you as our MP’. And this is a side of politics that the commentators often don’t see.”

“The best MP in the region”

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Caron Lindsay

Sarah Olney’s “festival of fun” and Stephen Lloyd’s t-shirt giveaway – just two of the things happening in Lib Dem target seats this weekend

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 26th May 2017 - 6:20 pm

A few weeks ago, we might have thought we’d be spending this bank holiday sipping gin and tonics in our back gardens in beautiful sunshine, but Theresa May had other ideas.

Never mind, though. Lots of Lib Dem target seat campaigns are pulling out all the stops to entice you in. I am sure that others will add details of their events in the comments, but here are two that caught my eye.

Sarah Olney has this lot to get rid off and a little bird tells me that they have all sorts of fun things planned to keep visitors happy in their work. Head here  – they still have the same office as the by-election.

In Eastbourne, Stephen Lloyd’s team is trying to tempt you with some fetching yellow t-shirts, promised to the first few campaigners who show up. Stephen lost by a whisker in 2015.  His campaign office at 100 Seaside Road) will be open 10-5 for you and on Sunday evening there is a campaign rally.

But, really, how could you resist these.

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Caron Lindsay

Kirsty Williams on the “divisive” political atmosphere

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 26th May 2017 - 3:55 pm

Former Welsh Lib Dem Leader Kirsty Williams has spoken out about the unpleasant divisiveness of our political atmosphere after one of her team was racially abused and she had the unsettling experience of a man making a shooting gesture and telling her Liberals should be shot.

From Wales Online:

Describing the change she has seen since the EU referendum, she said: “I think ever since the Brexit vote I think politics has become very divisive in a way I haven’t witnessed in all these years and I think in some ways that has unleashed something where the country is very, very, very divided and that’s to be regretted and unfortunately I don’t see how that divide is going to be healed.”

Acknowledging the responsibility of politicians to take care in the language they use, she said: “I think all politicians at all times need to be mindful about how they express their arguments.

“There are legitimate arguments to be expressed but words are powerful and the influence politicians have is powerful and therefore there is a responsibility on all of us to be very mindful about how we conduct ourselves and the language we use.

She described what had happened to her volunteer and the effect that has on people:

“Unfortunately it just seems that this kind of discourse is becoming the norm. We’ve had a volunteer racially abused this week.

“She feels that she can’t go and deliver any leaflets because she was racially abused while just out delivering leaflets.”

The volunteer was someone who wanted to “do her bit in support of the values she believed in and unfortunately feels she won’t be able to do that again”.

The AM fears such experiences will stop people from getting involved in politics.

“That’s the issue, isn’t it,” she said. “Why would people want to put themselves and potentially their families through this?

Read on to find out how she reacted to a Conservative sign being planted in her hedge.

I do agree with Kirsty that politics can be pretty vicious at the moment. I am not sure it’s any worse than when I started out back in the 80s, though. It did calm down for a while in the late 90s. It used to be Labour who were the worst. Power came too easy to them and they responded with an aggressive arrogance to anyone who tried to take it from them. 

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