Caron Lindsay

Cole-Hamilton challenges Ruth Davidson to disown Tessa Munt’s Tory opponent for foul mouthed independence rant

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 15th May 2017 - 4:45 pm

The chair of the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ election campaign Alex Cole-Hamilton has today called on Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson to disown the Conservative MP for Wells who has been caught in foul-mouthed tirade against a young person.

The Sunday People has the details:

A Tory MP blasted a Scottish girl who said she would vote for independence in a second referendum, saying: “Why don’t you f*** off back to Scotland.”

James Heappey, 36, fighting to stay MP for Wells, Somerset, has apologised, insisting he was joking.
He asked sixth-formers at nearby private Millfield school how they’d vote in a new Scottish referendum

When one Scots girl said she’d back independence, he lashed out.

Over the weekend, Conservatives in Midlothian complained (justifiably) about the behaviour of SNP activists who were basically obnoxious. When anyone on whatever side uses unhelpful language, it just ramps up the tension some more and it’s not fair on those of us who want to see a civilised political environment.

Alex said:

Ruth Davidson needs to immediately disown the actions of her Conservative MP colleague.

Once again a senior Conservative manages to help the SNP by being obnoxious.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems send out strategy briefing to members

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 15th May 2017 - 3:49 pm

One of the things that Lib Dem members really liked about the last General Election was the strategy briefing that came out a couple of months before. In it, the party’s high command explained what they were trying to achieve and how they were going to do it. They also gave suggestions on what members could do to help them achieve our common aims.

We had years to prepare for that election. We had two weeks between Theresa May’s announcement and Parliament being dissolved and we had the local elections going on at the same time. Surely there wouldn’t be time …

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Mary Reid

“Like your styles,” Harry should vote Lib Dem

By Mary Reid | Mon 15th May 2017 - 2:14 pm

 

In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine Harry Styles revealed his political views:

I’m probably going to vote for whoever is against Brexit.

I think the world should be more about being together and being better together and joining together, and I think it’s the opposite of that.

Apart from giving Lib Dem Voice an excuse to post a photo of the singer, it also gives us a chance to remind everyone of the power of the anti-Brexit vote, and how it worked for us in Richmond Park.

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Mary Reid

David Davis accepts that we could leave without a deal

By Mary Reid | Mon 15th May 2017 - 11:31 am

Yesterday on Peston on Sunday David Davis claimed that in the Referendum those who supported Leave were knowingly voting to leave the single market, ie a hard Brexit. That’s not what Liberal Democrats are hearing on the doorstep.

Davis also said that we might leave the EU without any deal at all, and we had to plan for that possible outcome.

You can watch the interview here, starting 6:20 minutes in.

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Nick Hopkinson

May’s Brexit will create a weak and unstable United Kingdom

By Nick Hopkinson | Mon 15th May 2017 - 9:32 am

Voters in next month’s general election are being asked to support Theresa May’s ‘strong and stable’ leadership in the Brexit negotiations. What voters may in fact be choosing is a weak and unstable United Kingdom. Inflation, first prompted by the 15% fall in sterling after last year’s vote to leave the European Union (EU), will continue to erode real standards of living. The drip drip of foreign firms reallocating future investment and jobs outside the United Kingdom will continue. As a result Government tax revenue will decline and Tory austerity will last longer. The Scottish Government will progress a second …

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #480

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 14th May 2017 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 480th 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 (7-13 May, 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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David Becket

Let’s make the Lib Dems the party of education, education, education

By David Becket | Sun 14th May 2017 - 10:47 am

Education is going through a difficult time, with many schools declaring teachers redundant, increasing class sizes, cutting out subjects and asking parents for money. The Government claims education has never been better funded. It takes no account that this is mainly due to an increase in pupil numbers, or that additional costs are being placed on schools. Nor do they mention the unfunded increase in National Insurance. They are prepared to waste money on Grammar Schools. As Liberal Democrats we should take a different view, scrap the Grammar Schools and start funding education with a fully costed proposal, part funded by savings from staying in the Single Market.

When we have sorted out the finance and stopped wasting money on Grammar and Free Schools it is time to break down the National Education System (which Labour appear to support), and remove the Regional Schools Commissioners. The tasks currently carried nationally and regionally should be devolved locally, through revamped LEAs. That is not returning to the old LEA structure, but LEA school support was very valuable and in many cases achieved more than a ticking off from Ofstead. League tables should go, and be replaced by a report of strengths and weaknesses, with proposed improvement actions. 

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Caron Lindsay

Rennie reveals “appalling” child mental health waits

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 14th May 2017 - 8:55 am

There are five key elements to the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ main themes for this General Election. We plant ourselves firmly on the side of the majority of people in Scotland – pro EU, pro UK and progressive. And we say that our priorities for any extra money coming to Scotland are education and mental health. None of this is particularly surprising as Willie Rennie has been banging on about it for years.

The SNP is in charge of health and education in Scotland and has failed miserably on both. This week very poor literacy figures came out. Given every child under 15 has received their entire education under the SNP.

One barrier to being able to make the most of education is poor mental health. Willie has been talking for some time about a constituent whose child had to wait a year for mental health treatment. If you think about it, that’s a sixth of their secondary education. Once proper support begins, it’s not a quick job to restore good health so the impact on children’s lives is real and damaging.

New statistics acquired by the party through freedom of information requests have shown that five big Scottish health boards, including Lothians, Fife and Highland, recorded cases of children waiting over a year for mental health treatment in 2016/17 or on their current waiting lists.

They include children and young people waiting:

666 days in Lothian before starting treatment in 2016/17
623 days in Highland before starting treatment in 2016/17
611 days in Fife currently
448 days in Ayrshire and Arran currently
385 days in Grampian before starting treatment in 2016/17

After publishing the new figures, Willie commented:

It is appalling to learn that children and young people are still waiting almost two years for the mental health treatment they need. Waiting more than 600 days for help must feel like a lifetime. SNP ministers should hang their heads in shame.

These new statistics show why SNP Government was so wrong to reject the opportunity to invest to transform mental health services in its budget. It shows the damage caused by its letting the mental health strategy expire for 15 months. Its replacement has finally been published but charities and pressure groups have rightly declared it lacks ambition, detail and investment.

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The Voice

Liberal Democrats commit to international aid spending

By The Voice | Sun 14th May 2017 - 12:01 am

In news which will surprise absolutely nobody, the Lib Dems are announcing today that we will maintain the requirement to spend 0.7% of GDP on international aid.

Getting this written into law was one of our best achievements in coalition and we are not going to let it go even though ti has become the focus of the ire of the right wing press.

We believe that it is important that the UK continues to alleviate poverty across the world, helping to build a more secure and stable international community.

Tim Farron explained why this is so important to us:

Liberal Democrats are fierce internationalists, and I am proud of Britain’s record as a world leader in providing help and support to some of the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world.

UK aid prevents suffering.  It allows girls to stay in school, stops babies from dying of preventable illnesses, and ensures that farmers can sell their crops at a fair price. A healthier, safer and more stable world is the best interest of British families as well. That’s why Liberal Democrats are today vowing to fight for Britain’s legacy and protect the 0.7% target.

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Caron Lindsay

How the Lib Dem Press Office spent Eurovision

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th May 2017 - 10:43 pm

The Lib Dem Press Office’s work rate at the moment is nothing short of phenomenal. They are putting out so many press releases and comments. It’s all good stuff.

Despite working even more flat out than usual for pretty much a moth, it’s been good tonight to see that they haven’t lost their sense of humour.

Eurovision is a bit like Lib Dem Christmas and whoever was running the press office’s Twitter account was certainly in the festive spirit.

It’s nice to know that they are thinking ahead, too. Although heaven help us…

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The Voice

Lib Dem reaction to the NHS cyber attack

By The Voice | Sat 13th May 2017 - 8:45 pm

Lib Dems have been reacting to the cyber-attack, telling the Conservatives that they should have put more resources into preventing this type of crime.

Brian Paddick said:

The Conservatives try to paint themselves as the party of law and order but crime has changed and they have failed to keep up. Instead of investing in the security of the systems that our public services rely on, they have chosen to extend surveillance systems instead.

Rather than giving the NHS the funding it needs to keep its IT up to date, you have a Home Secretary who wants to weaken encryption and waste millions on unnecessary intrusion into people’s privacy. Only the Liberal Democrats will stand up against mass surveillance, for cyber-security and properly fund the NHS.

He demanded an inquiry into why the Conservatives had cut cyber security support:

We need to get to the bottom of why the government thought cyber-attacks were not a risk, when a combination of warnings and plain common sense should have told ministers that there is a growing and dangerous threat to our cyber-security.

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Caron Lindsay

Tributes to Emily Price

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th May 2017 - 7:16 pm

The Aberystwyth Liberal Democrats and particularly its strong and close-knit branch of Young Liberals are in shock today after learning that the incoming Vice-Chair of the Welsh Young Liberals (IR Cymru) Emily Price died in hospital last night.

She had been taken ill after being elected as a Town Councillor in Aberystwyth last week.

On social media, I see her described as beautiful, gentle, kind, funny, someone who was going places – clearly someone who was a popular and well-loved member of her community.

Last Monday she handed in her university dissertation. She had been going to do her Masters in the town next year.

Mark Cole, who’s an Honorary President of IR Cymru, paid tribute to Emily:

Emily’s sudden and tragic loss is incomprehensible.

Emily was a real character and she was a beloved member of the Aberystwyth University students group of which she was until recently the President.

She had helped lead a revitalised society that put so much effort into recent Parliamentary, Assembly and Council campaigns. But she also led a renaissance in the social activities of the group – I haven’t known such a close-knit and family-like group of liberal students in Aberystwyth for many years and Emily was very much the happy matriarch of this growing brood of young liberals.

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NewsHound

Swinson: I want to help get the country back on track

By NewsHound | Sat 13th May 2017 - 12:54 pm

Jo Swinson has been talking to the local East Dunbartonshire paper the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald about why she is standing for Parliament, hoping to regain the seat she held for 10 years until 2015:

She said: “It was a really close result last time and I loved working as a local MP for my home area, a community that I love and where I’d grown up. I would love to do that again. “That is coupled with a deep concern about the direction of the country. “There are real challenges ahead such as the Brexit negotiations and the uncertainty of another independence referendum. “I’m determined to do what I can to fight against another independence referendum and get the country back on the right track.”

She also talked about the issue of tuition fees, saying that she has learned from that experience:

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Caron Lindsay

Brake: UKIP standing aside because May has adopted their agenda

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th May 2017 - 10:54 am

At the last General Election, we did this “Beware Blukip” thing to warn against a Tory/UKIP coalition. At the time, I thought it was a bit ill-advised because my real worry was the Tories getting a majority. They did that and look what havoc they have wreaked since.

If the Labour manifesto is supposedly going back to the 70s, the Conservative one will be going back even further to a rose-tinted view of the 1950s, rolling back as much of the social progress we’ve made in my lifetime as it can.

I mean, fox hunting. Really.

It now emerges that UKIP are standing in only 377 seats in this election and, frankly, are unlikely to win any of them. This should give us no relief whatsoever because their agenda has now been adopted by the Conservative Party.

As Tom Brake put it:

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NewsHound

Poll: Two thirds of Labour Remain supporters are voting Lib Dem this time

By NewsHound | Sat 13th May 2017 - 8:59 am

A poll in the New European has shown a massive swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats of Remain supporters.

From the paper:

The poll, of more than 1,300 respondents, compares how people voted in the 2015 General Election with how they intend to vote next month. It suggests the Liberal Democrats will double their share of the vote in this significant section of the population, while Labour’s will halve.

Two thirds (66.6%) said they would be voting Lib Dem on June 8, with Labour on just 22.3%. This represents a huge swing since 2015, when 43.9% voted Labour, and 29.4% Lib Dem. Meanwhile, support for the Conservatives has almost evaporated, from 9.3% in 2015, to just 0.4% of readers saying they will vote Tory next month.

Readers were also asked whether they would vote for any party which promised another EU referendum, with 62.8% saying they would. The Liberal Democrats are currently the only major party to make such a pledge. However, it seems most people have conceded the chances of a second referendum are low. Just 9.3% think there will be another poll.

The paper’s editor Matt Kelly said:

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Caron Lindsay

Why we don’t need another divisive independence referendum

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 12th May 2017 - 4:20 pm

Willie Rennie will probably be disappointed that he didn’t actually get to scrap a car when he visited a scrap yard in Fife this morning. He went there to say that the Liberal Democrats would “scrap the SNP’s plans for another divisive independence referendum.”

He did, however, manage to look disapproving:

He said:

The Liberal Democrats are clear that we want to scrap the SNP’s independence referendum.

The news this week that Scottish education standards on literacy and numeracy have dropped right back shows why it is important.

It is clear to me that if we can stop the SNP’s independence referendum then we can force the Scottish Government to focus on education instead.

The last thing Scotland needs is another divisive independence referendum. It must be scrapped.

There is actually very little appetite, even from some who voted Yes last time, to go through another independence referendum. The divisions from that time are only just starting to heal for some. And as soon as Nicola Sturgeon made her announcement in March, my Twitter timeline was full of the old invective from the cybernats. The rancour invades even the most random areas of our lives, as my husband’s experience shows.

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John King

Conundrum of referendums and why we need another one

By John King | Fri 12th May 2017 - 2:45 pm

Referendums? Are you really so dumb? Surely it should be referenda? All right, I openly admit that I’m no expert on referendums, or referenda, my background being in science and medicine. The following thoughts are strictly those of a layman, but they should be relatively light on establishment bias and received wisdom.

I see five problems and a conundrum

The first problem is that referenda are subject to ‘populist’ forces. What is meant by that?

Suppose there was a referendum on whether we wanted to pay taxes. The populist lobby, attuned to the visceral nature of taxation, would urge us to take back control of our own money. Why let faceless bureaucrats in the government tell us what to do with it? The people should decide how much to give to public services, the armed forces and so on.

In an ideal world of sensible altruistic people, that might work. More likely, the country would go bankrupt.

The second drawback of any referendum is that it polarises and divides with the efficiency of a football match. Supporters flock to opposing sides, whatever the question at issue. Had the question on the ballot paper been “Should be EU remain as it is or move towards greater integration?”, we would now be a nation of remainers pitted against integrationists. A better sort of division, but still a divided nation.

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: The first Scottish Party Election Broadcast

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 12th May 2017 - 1:15 pm

Last night the first Party Election Broadcast of the year was shown in Scotland.

It’s a re-worked and updated version of the Groundhog Day PPB broadcast earlier this year. Tim Farron has also re-done his piece to refer directly to the election.

The commentary includes direct reference to the so-called Rape Clause which has horrified so many people across the country.

Enjoy.

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David Thorpe

If you want a progressive alliance, you need to vote against Labour this time

By David Thorpe | Fri 12th May 2017 - 11:45 am

The Liberal Democrats have officially ruled out alliances this time, but informal arrangements seem to be popping up all over the place, and it’s certain a vote for Corbyn won’t help any such alliance evolve in the future.

Vince Cable allegedly believes that there are certain Labour candidates in this election whose views ‘exactly match our own.’ If that is the case then it is rather reassuring that the current reactionary riff being performed by Corbyn and Co. is not the tune to which all of the Labour Party march.

But the problem is, that doesn’t matter. Corbyn has already said he would like to stay even if he loses the election, and that he doesn’t want alliances. So every vote for the Labour Party in any seat anywhere will become part of his narrative to suggest that rejection by the people is a mere detail, each vote a cudgel to legitimise their counter-intellectual concerns.

Socialism of the Corbyn kind is predicated on centralising power. It is an ideology of pessimism. Lib Dems like devolution and empowering the individual,  an ideology of optimism. 

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The Voice

Lib Dems to introduce extra paid month of leave for fathers

By The Voice | Fri 12th May 2017 - 10:17 am

The Liberal Democrats will introduce an additional month of paid parental leave especially for fathers to encourage greater sharing of parental responsibilities.

The policy will build on our transformational achievement of introducing Shared Parental Leave in order to ensure that new parents can make the decisions which work best for their family.

Jo Swinson, who introduced the original Shared Parental Leave in the Coalition Government, said:

The Liberal Democrat introduction of Shared Parental Leave was a massive step towards more equal parenting, and recognising the vital role that fathers play. Parents across the UK have already benefitted from greater flexibility and freedom in how they share the care for their new baby.

But more needs to be done in order to encourage men to take leave when they become a dad, to bond with their child during the early weeks and months of their life. Research shows that fathers being more involved in their children’s lives is good for children’s development and good for the health and happiness of the whole family.

That is why the Liberal Democrats want to give dads across the country the chance to spend more time with their children.

A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to change the direction of this country. If you want an open, tolerant and united Britain, this is your chance.

Susan Kramer, Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary, said:

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Newspuppy

Coffee break fun: Kate Hoey airbrushes out her Lib Dem rival

By Newspuppy | Thu 11th May 2017 - 3:00 pm

Kate Hoey must be feeling threatened by her local Lib Dem candidate George Turner. As one of the most prominent advocates of Brexit in a heavily Remain voting constituency, (not to mention having to campaign on Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto), her jacket is, shall we say, on a shoogly peg.

The other day, she tweeted a photo of an event at a school in her constituency. If you look in the back row, you will see Sarah Olney. Next to Sarah Olney is a pair of legs without a head. They belong to George Turner who has been airbrushed out.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, George Turner said:

“I saw Kate tweeted and I thought it was a bit strange as I remembered standing on stage next to Sarah Olney. I was thinking: ‘Did I move?’ But all the time Kate spoke I was stood next to Sarah.

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Bernard Aris

Our Liberal “Internationalism”, born in a period of party fragmentation, is now our uniting and unique selling point

By Bernard Aris | Thu 11th May 2017 - 1:10 pm

When you consult books about Liberal and Liberal Democrat party history about the birth of our “Internationalism”, European “Federalism” and our thesis that stand-alone nationstates (and “narrow nationalism”) become more and more obsolete, you discover a surprising fact.

According to Michael Steed’s chapter “Liberal Tradition” in Don MacIver’s bundle “The Liberal Democrats” (from 1996), it was in the comprehensive policy survey “The Liberal Way” of 1934, that we stated that in future, “narrow nationalist” parties everywhere would face parties, the Liberals firmly among them, supporting the growing, factual interdependence as best policy basis. Philip Kerr, marquis of Lothian, said (1935): “the only final remedy for war is a federation of nations”. But personal guilt about having himself written the War Damages clause in the Versailles Treaty made Kerr become an  advocate of appeasement to Germany, a Liberal dissident, until the Munich Agreement.

Both Chris Cook’s history of the Liberals in 1900-’76, and Robert  Ingham & Duncan Brack’s authoritative bundle “Peace Reform & Liberation” (PRL; 2001) tell that this  “interdependence  makes collectivism better policy”-idea was formulated in a phase of disintegration of the Liberal party (the split about the 1931 National Government; desertions to the National Liberals and Labour; loss of seats).  

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Tobie Abel

No deal, no way

By Tobie Abel | Thu 11th May 2017 - 11:33 am

There isn’t going to be a free trade deal before we leave the EU.  Theresa May was advised as much by the civil service back in November when it became clear that there is no-where near enough time to negotiate a deal.  In any case it is not in the EU’s political interests to come to an agreement until after we’ve actually left the club so as not to encourage further euro-scepticism on the continent.

Ending free movement will not reduce migration to the tens of thousands.  The government will still have no control of the number of people leaving the country, nor the skills and experience they take with them.  In any case migration in the UK is driven by economics and the government will be in no position to risk a labour shortage and consequent rise in wages and fall in tax receipts.  Economics will take priority above migration, as it has done for each of the last seven years.

Britain is not going to become a low tax, low regulation global trading hub outside the EU.  Any such moves would be classed as fiscal and regulatory ‘dumping’ and would lead to retaliatory measures not just from the EU but the US as well.  That would cripple the global supply chain that underpins our most successful industries.   In any case the government is already spending £50 billion more than its earning, even after 7 years of austerity, and with billions more needed for education, the NHS and infrastructure investment slashing taxes is the last thing on the agenda.

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The Voice

Tim Farron announces plan to take 50,000 Syrian refugees

By The Voice | Thu 11th May 2017 - 10:15 am

Since his election as leader in 2015, Tim Farron has been one of the strongest voices arguing that we should offer sanctuary to those fleeing  the appalling, brutal war in Syria. He has made several visits to places like Calais and Lesvos to talk to refugees.

On his agenda  today is a visit to a refugee charity in Gloucestershire where he will announce an ambitious manifesto commitment for refugees.

The manifesto sets out a plan to take 50,000 refugees over five years from Syria in the next parliament, as well as reopening the Dubs programme for unaccompanied asylum seeking children stranded in Europe, and working with international partners to create safe and legal routes.

Under Theresa May, the Conservatives have u-turned on two previous pledges, one to take more refugees from Syria and another to help abandoned child refugees.

Tim will say:

This is about the sort of country we are. The Britain I love is an open, tolerant, united country with a generous spirit and compassion for those in need. I love my country – and I hate it when my government makes me feel ashamed.

Faced with suffering and trauma on a scale not seen since the Second World War, Theresa May has wilfully chosen to tear up her promises to help some of the most vulnerable children and people in the world.

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Ian RIdge

Why things need to change in education

By Ian RIdge | Thu 11th May 2017 - 9:17 am

At no other time during a 10 year teaching career has the horizon appeared so dark and bleak over the educational landscape.  Retention is low and recruitment equally as poor within the sector, begging the question “Why is it so hard to find teachers?”  Even now as I type, I find myself questioning if this is what I want for my future.

The truth is that the profession is built on people with a passion for their career, people who believe in the importance and the worth of educating and guiding future generations.  And it is the good will and convictions of their beliefs that has held it together thus far, but with ever increasing frequency more and more have had this good will stretched to breaking point.

Teachers have become the puppets of a system that helps the few at the expense of the many.  A child’s education should not be determined by how rich they are or their faith, but yet this is the system we find ourselves in.

With the Conservatives in government we have suffered through an educational leader, Michael Gove,  who openly decried experts, who had a complete lack of experience or expertise in an educational environment.  Though he has since moved on, each passing Education Secretary has had equally little experience or desire to listen to experts.  Even now Mrs May plans to force Grammar Schools into the system without and evidence that they work, at the expense of schools that are already operating.

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The Voice

Lib Dems would boost mental health care with £1 billion investment

By The Voice | Thu 11th May 2017 - 7:48 am

Liberal Democrats have stated that £1 billion of the party’s additional health funding would be spent tackling the “historic injustice” faced by people with mental ill health.

Last weekend, we unveiled a Five Point NHS and Care Recovery Plan to increase funding for health and social care services, including a penny on income tax to provide a £6 billion funding boost.

Today we are saying that £1 billion of this extra money would be ring-fenced as dedicated funding for mental health services.

This would help to deliver on 12 key priorities, including improving waiting time standards for mental health care on the NHS and providing support for pregnant women and young people suffering from mental health problems.

We would  also set out to end the inappropriate use of force against people with mental ill health, end out of area placements for mental health patients and prioritise national action to reduce the number of suicides.

Norman Lamb said:

The Liberal Democrats are committed to ending the historic injustice against people with mental ill health.

Under the Conservative government, services have been stretched to breaking point at a time when the prevalence of mental ill health appears to be rising.

Neither Labour nor the Conservatives have outlined how they will fund mental health services. We’ve made it clear that our priorities will be funded from our ambitious plan to inject £6bn a year into the NHS with an additional penny on income tax.

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Joe Otten

On deals and no deals

By Joe Otten | Wed 10th May 2017 - 4:14 pm

Tim Farron was challenged this morning on the radio whether the decision by the local party to stand down in Brighton Pavilion respresented some sort of deal. It isn’t, and nor should it be.

For all my long standing political differences with the Greens, I, like Tim, am relaxed about this decision. We weren’t going to win in Brighton Pavilion, and it is only fair that the Greens have a voice in parliament. Their politics are really quite bad in some ways but it is better they have a voice than are silenced. And tactically, I’d rather see a remainer …

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Caron Lindsay

Canvassing in the sunshine

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 10th May 2017 - 2:55 pm

The idea of knocking on strangers’ doors and asking them how to vote can be a bit daunting. Even those of us who are experienced at it can feel a bit nervous about doing it sometimes – but the good news is that as soon as you are out and you have knocked on a few doors, you really start to enjoy it.

Last night I headed out for my first big canvassing session with the fantastic Edinburgh West team.

We were in an area of the constituency which is not part of Alex Cole-Hamilton’s Scottish Parliament seat. It was a beautiful evening, with warm sunshine and pink cherry blossom. It’s an area where we have in the past successfully persuaded people who support other parties to vote tactically for us. With the Tories surging in Scotland, would they still be willing to do so?

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Caron Lindsay

Rennie: Scottish Lib Dem MPs will fight for their areas against the SNP government.

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 10th May 2017 - 1:25 pm

Willie Rennie has been up in the Highlands these past couple of days. Yesterday, he helped out in a restaurant and cocktail bar in Tain to launch Jamie Stone’s campaign for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. Thankfully they didn’t let him make any fried rice. When he was a student he thought that you actually had to fry it like an egg.

Today, he’s visiting an ironing company in Dingwall (Lib Dems pressing forward – ed) as he launches Jean Davis’ campaign for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Charles Kennedy’s old seat.

The thing about 54 Scottish seats at the moment is that they are all being failed in numerous ways from health to education to farming by the SNP Government at Holyrood, yet they are represented by SNP MPs who sign up to a code of conduct that they will not criticise the party . These areas need MPs who will stand up for them against what the SNP is doing.

This is a point that Willie will be pressing (sorry) home today. He said:

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Simon Beard

We need to talk about existential risk

By Simon Beard | Wed 10th May 2017 - 11:55 am

I am the Lib Dem PPC for Dartford in the upcoming general election, and, like candidates up and down the country, my campaign is being dominated by local issues. This is right and proper, a good MP can make their constituents’ lives better in so many ways, and for most voters, the key issues are always going to be the things that affect them directly.

However, in my day job, I am also a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, an academic institute that studies, and tries to prevent, human extinction level threats. As academic institutes go, we are naturally very keen to produce work that is relevant to policy makers and to communicate what we do as widely as possible, and not just to other academics. However, standing for election makes me acutely aware of just how narrow the circle of people who we communicate with actually is.

Threats to the survival of humanity are real and present, and should any of them come to pass the loss would be incalculably great. We face challenges from dangers that are well known, such as climate change and nuclear war, and others that can appear more speculative, such as global pandemics and Artificial Intelligence. Most importantly, there are things that we can do right now to substantially reduce these risks, if only we could motivate politicians and others to take them into account when making policy.

Many of these are obvious. We need to implement ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We need to work with international organisations to solve global problems. We need to achieve global nuclear disarmament as quickly as possible.

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