The Telegraph reports:
The Liberal Democrats have drawn up a hit-list of pro-EU Tory MPs who they want to unseat as they plot a Brexit purge for the election campaign.
The Telegraph can reveal that four Conservatives in parts of the country which most voted to stay in the European Union have been singled out.
Among those targeted will be Tania Mathias MP, whose Twickenham constituency overwhelmingly backed staying in the EU at last year’s referendum.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has declared that momentum has given the Liberal Democrats the upper hand in the snap general election.
Since the announcement on Tuesday of a snap election 8,000 people have joined the party with membership more than double than what it was before the election in 2015. The party also raised £500,000 in just 48 hours.
In an email to members, Willie wrote:
Nobody was expecting the announcement on Tuesday but the calling of the general election has given the Liberal Democrats real momentum. A staggering 8000 new members joined the party in the 48 hours after the election was called as people have flocked to us in a bid to change the direction of this country. No other party has seen such a surge.
The upcoming election comes on top of the 30 council by-elections that the Liberal Democrats have gained since last year, including in Scotland. And who could forget that historic by-election victory in Richmond, overturning a Tory majority of 23,000 to be the voice against the Conservative hard Brexit.
The first Scottish opinion polls since the General Election was announced have been published and there’s mixed news for the Liberal Democrats.
Panelbase has us on just 5% (but that’s still up since January) and Survation has us up 1 from the 2015 election at 9%. If we go up at the rate that we have done in every election other than 2015, we could be on for a fair few gains up here. Edinburgh West and North East Fife, both gained from the SNP at Holyrood last year are the top targets but seats like Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and Charles Kennedy’s old seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber are definitely in play. Winning back those highland heartlands from the SNP would be a marvellous thing and it is eminently doable.
On a UK level, we’ve gone up 4 points to 12% in a YouGov poll.
And there has been another important development:
For the first time in our polling average models since December 2012, the Liberal Democrats are in third place, above UKIP.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) April 22, 2017
UKIP are on the way down, and they certainly don’t seem to have learned any lessons about candidate approval, if one of their Glasgow council candidates is anything to go by. It’s quite something when being in favour of the guillotine and flogging are the mildest of your bizarre views. From the Herald:
Tim Farron has done what I’d been hoping and ruled out the Liberal Democrats going into coalition with either Tories or Labour.
This means that the Tory argument that Corbyn, Sturgeon and Farron will get together and do a deal with the Loch Ness Monster to crash the stock exchange (ok, maybe the last bit of that was an exaggeration) is shown to be nonsense. People can vote Liberal Democrat with confidence knowing that we will do everything we can to oppose the Tories and Labour on Brexit.
It also has the advantage of putting to bed at the earliest stage of the campaign the endless questions about who we would go into coalition with and what would we compromise on. This has dominated questions to Lib Dem leaders in past elections and it is good that we have eliminated it. There is no way that we could credibly do a deal with either. Providing serious issue by issue opposition is what we will be doing.
Here’s what Tim said in an email to party members:
I want to make this clear.
The Liberal Democrats will not enter into any coalition deal with either Theresa May’s Conservatives or Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.
On Thursday 8th June, every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to change the direction of our country and stop a hard Brexit.
The reasons for this decision are simple.
Under no conditions can we sign up to Theresa May’s Hard Brexit agenda; a hard Brexit will be a disaster for Britain. It risks crashing our economy and leaving us isolated on the global stage.
The Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has ruled out any form of coalition with the Tories or Labour after the general election as he sets out a bold ambition to attract enough Remain voters to form the main opposition party in parliament.
In a dramatic shift of strategy for a party that entered coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 in the “national interest”, Farron said in an interview with the Observer that there will be “no deal, no deal with anybody” under any circumstances.
Campaigns, of course, are already up and running across the country for the May 4th local elections, but Theresa May’s announcement has given even greater impetus to Lib Dem activists across the country.
Here’s a round-up of some of today’s action via Twitter – please let us know about any other team action photos in the comments field below!:
Caroline Pidgeon was up in Cambridge lending her support to Julian Huppert in his campaign to regain the city’s parliamentary seat and also to Rod Cantrill in his bid to be the first Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough:
Fantastic day supporting the wonderful @julianhuppert and @RodForMayor in Cambridge with @kateparminter -I hope they are both elected. pic.twitter.com/vI55ncQKNt
— Caroline Pidgeon AM🔶 🇺🇦 (@CarolinePidgeon) April 22, 2017
Jane Dodds and the team have been out in Montgomeryshire:
Great evening canvassing in #Llanfechain with Chris Richards and the team @WelshLibDems @MontLibDems #LibDemFightback pic.twitter.com/CRKU0SHFDW
— Jane Dodds AS/MS 🔶🏴 (@DoddsJane) April 22, 2017
We will be hosting a series of webinars for party members in the run up to the 2017 General Election. These sessions will arm you with essential skills needed during the campaign, including media training, fundraising and campaign skills.
Full details below:
Tuesday 25 April 2017|Time 5-6pm| Trainer: Laura Shields – Media Trainer, Director of The Media Coach & chair of Brussels Lib Dems.
This session will cover:
Register here
Wednesday 26 April 2017|Time 5-6pm| Trainer: HQ Fundraising Team
Responding to reports Donald Trump will put the EU ahead of the UK in trade talks, Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:
This is a devastating blow to Theresa May’s hard Brexit plans.
Yet another claim by the Brexiteers, that Britain would be at the front of the queue for a trade deal with US, now lies in tatters.
Theresa May should now make clear she will prioritise a trade deal with the EU over one with Trump.
St Stephen’s Hall, Houses of Parliament – some rights reserved by UK ParliamentDespite understandable security measures, it is still easy to visit the Houses of Parliament and watch the proceedings.
I went there this week. You basically present yourself at the Cromwell Green entrance, which is halfway along the building by the big statue of Oliver Cromwell. At the gate, they tend to ask you why you want to come in – but you just have to say “I want to go to the public gallery of the House of Commons (or Lords)” and they’ll let you in (having checked that the queues are not too long). You then get given a green card and are seen by a policeman who gives you a little briefing. You then go through the inevitable airport security check and you are in.
It’s worth noting that it is your right as a citizen to enter Parliament and ask to see your MP at the central lobby. You are advised to book an appointment with your MP for such a meeting, but you don’t have to. Of course, he or she might not be in Parliament if you turn up unannounced, but all UK residents have a right to walk into parliament for such a purpose or to watch proceedings.
Once you are in you do have a surprising amount of freedom to linger and wander through the place, without any “shooing along” from officials. There are officials and security guards around, but it is really quite surprising how free you are to “mooch about” and admire the various paintings, plaques, ceilings etc. You get to stroll through Westminster Hall, which is magnificent and the most historic part of the present Parliamentary buildings. Charles I was tried there.
Nick Clegg appeared on Newsnight on Wednesday night at the end of a feature on Tory/Lib Dem marginals in the South West.
He said that Theresa May had called the election for cynical and opportunistic reasons, to try and “hoover up a huge majority” before the effects of Brexit hit and capitalising on the weakness of Corbyn.
He said that issues like the chronic underfunding of the NHS and schools were also important and were being overshadowed by Brexit.
In an interesting glimpse to our election strategy, he said that it was clear that Theresa May would still be PM and the Tories would still be the party of Government and the key test now was how to provide effective opposition to that Government. We are not going to sustain Theresa May in power to “implement a self-harming hard brexit” and we certainly aren’t going to help Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street.
Every so often, the right wing talk shows come up with something a liberal wants to hear.
“Sharp, witty, self-deprecating, a pleasure to interview, a polished media performer.” Who said this about our Tim?
None other than Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk Radio, chatting to Guido Fawkes’ owner Paul Staines about the lack of leaders’ debates in the forthcoming General Election. She even started to say that he was likeable but then apparently thought better of it.
Staines said that it wasn’t Corbyn May was bothered about, it was Tim Farron. Hartley-Brewer then came out with the compliments above.
You just need to Google “Willie Rennie and pigs” to find the funniest moment of last year’s Holyrood election campaign.
Well, there’s another election on and Willie put the past behind him and went to see some lambs.
So far, so cute:
In case it wasn’t clear we’re in full scale election campaign mode, here’s Willie Rennie bottle feeding a lamb pic.twitter.com/gDRlwmEI8S
— Philip Sim (@BBCPhilipSim) April 21, 2017
What could possibly go wrong?
Apart from the odd unfortunate camera angle.
The Lib Dems have raised more than £500,000 in individual donations since Theresa May called for a General Election on Tuesday morning.
All parties have made cash appeals to supporters after Theresa May’s surprise decision to hold an election on 8 June.
The Lib Dems say they raised £500,000 in 48 hours.
A similar Labour fund-raising drive is reported to have raised £200,000. Labour has yet to comment on the figure, reported by the FT.
The Conservatives have been contacted for details of their fundraising efforts.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron claimed activists and donors were “flocking” to his party on the back of its distinctive anti-Brexit message.
The party, who are arguing for another referendum on the final Brexit deal, say they have seen their membership jump to 95,000, attracting 8,000 new members since Tuesday alone.
All these programmes helped to produce an extraordinary decade for American Art, which is reflected brilliantly in the Royal Academy exhibition, on until June 4th in Piccadilly, London.
What comes over is that the decade established a distinctive American Art world, which was finally free of reference to art elsewhere. There is an extraordinary variety of styles producing a most colourful and impactful exhibition, reflecting the profound changes going on in the USA at the time.
In August 2016, unusually, I made an appointment to see my MP. I wanted to talk to him about Britain, after Brexit, being part of the EEA and EFTA – in other words “a soft Brexit”.
My Conservative MP unequivocally explained that he campaigned for “remain”, his constituency voted “remain” and he wanted to salvage a good deal for local companies from Brexit. He spoke about making sure there are no extra barriers for local businesses exporting abroad. He enthusiastically received a paper I gave him from the Adam Smith Institute advocating EEA/EFTA membership after Brexit.
One of the party’s best ever campaigners has been chosen to chair the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ General Election campaign. Alex knows a lot about winning seats from the SNP after sensationally grabbing Edinburgh Western from them last year.
Alex said:
I’m honoured to take on this important role for my party. We have a great grassroots organisation that is hungry for victory.
We have the wind in our sails and a hugely motivated activist base, keen to bring the party back to strength.
I can’t wait to get my teeth into the campaign.
Willie Rennie explained why he had chosen Alex:
As I made my way to work I noticed an increased police presence on the Moscow Metro on that frosty April 3rd. A football match? Arriving there, I saw my Russian colleagues scrambling for their phones to call relatives in St Petersburg. A 22 year Kyrgyz-Russian Islamist had unleashed an improvised suicide bomb on a metro carriage near Sennaya Ploshad. The death toll has now come to fifteen, with forty-nine people injured.
When in November two years back terrorists laid siege to a night club in Paris, Muscovites lit up their Ostankino Radio tower in the French tricolour to express shared humanity; when St Petersburg’s atrocity occurred the Eiffel tower did not display the white-blue-red colours of the flag of the Russian Federation. Indeed, when there came a terrible, but less dramatic, attack in Stockholm four days later Russia’s loss seemed to become forgotten by the Western media.
Meanwhile the U.K seems intent on becoming what George Eaton, in the New Statesman, calls `Russia’s greatest foe`. The Tory government has sent out 800 troops and long-range missiles to Estonia. May, meanwhile, has discouraged M.Ps from attending Anglo-Russian parliamentary groups on grounds of the `security risk` (N.S, 11/4/17). Johnson – who Corbyn was right to call a `cold war warrior`- has reneged on a scheduled diplomacy mission to the Kremlin. This is at the same time that May is going cap in hand to the Saudis for trade deals!
The Electoral Commission have got off the mark pretty quickly and published their election timetable.
Key dates are:
Close of nominations: 4pm on 11 May 2017
Register to vote by: midnight on 22 May 2017
Whoops of delight and the whoosh of triumphant fists punching the air were apparently to be heard at Lib Dem HQ on Tuesday when Theresa May announced the 8 June election. For a party hammered so badly two years ago, the chance to regain some lost ground is indeed enticing, but if we’re to make the most of the opportunity some nettles need to be grasped.
Tempting though it is to believe in our invincibility based on recent by-election successes, we are still only around 11% in the polls. That will go up in certain seats, but our final total of MPs will depend on whether we’re willing to be smart, and to set aside the tribalism of past elections.
If you’re sick of terms like ‘progressive alliance’ or ‘cross-party cooperation’, fair enough. But then think of it like this: in an election that is going to defy traditional party allegiances because of the role of Brexit, we cannot adopt the old “my party right or wrong, and all other parties are the enemy” attitude. We have to think of the broader concept of liberalism, as well as openness, tolerance and internationalism.
That means recognising that there are plenty of people in other parties – largely Labour and the Greens – who are philosophically close to us. We may have issues with the Labour leadership, but that doesn’t stop us recognising that there are many good people in Labour. And while we believe we’re big on the environment, it helps to have a specifically environmental party to keep us all honest.
I think I’d better revise my “Guide to the Lib Dems for new members” post!
Welcome to all 8000 of you who have joined the party since the snap election was announced on Tuesday.
We hope you enjoy the next seven weeks which are bound to be intense. There is nothing like the whirlwind of an election!
This now means that party membership now stands at 95,000. If just 5000 more people join us, then that’s Tim Farron’s membership target for 2020 smashed.
Sal Brinton, our Party President, had this to say:
People are flocking to the Liberal Democrats as we are the only party who are offering effective opposition to this Conservative Brexit government.
Theresa May: we have the troops for this fight and they are raring to go.
The Tories demand the British people vote them a blank cheque at this election. They’re not telling you anything about their plans for Brexit negotiations, much less the compromises that will have to be made if any sort of deal is to be reached. And if you’re one of the millions who never voted for any sort of Brexit, hard or otherwise, the timing of this election guarantees your voice will be safely ignored.
The Tories know there is no chance of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, so they’re having an election now before they have to work out even the most basic details of what the Brexit deal will be. The UK negotiators have hard decisions to make around how much to compromise on movement of people in order to maintain some movement of goods and capital. How much to contribute to EU budgets in order to maintain access to EU research and security programmes. What EU laws to keep in order to trade with EU economies.
However, once they win this election they will be able to sign off on any agreement they want, or worse still walk away without any sort of deal, and there is nothing the British people will be able to do.
When you live in one of the safest Tory seats in the country and you get a phone call out of the blue from a life long Tory voter saying that he is prepared to campaign for the Lib Dems in the General Election you start to think that you’re dreaming!
One lesson of the Richmond Park by-election that we should all take account of in the coming general election is that those who call an election may lose control of the campaign. Zac Goldsmith chose to fight a by-election on the expansion of Heathrow airport. But he lost the election because voters found other issues – above all, Europe – mattered as much to them.
The energetic Daisy Cooper, whose spirited campaign made her runner-up in the Party’s Presidential Election in 2014 despite a late entry into the contest, is now the PPC for St Albans.
Since her selection last August, she has been campaigning strongly on the issues that matter to the heavily Remain voting citizens of St Albans.
This is in contrast to the local Brexiteer Tory MP Anne Main, whose greatest contribution to recent national debate was encouraging countryside walkers to flick away their dog poo. Her advice was contradicted by people who know about these things – the South …
Politics in the UK seems to be in flux following the Brexit vote. With the Tories split between remain and leave and Labour too busy squabbling amongst themselves to be effective it ought to be a time for the Liberal Democrats. Yet, so far, although we have seen many individual members of both the Labour and Conservative parties switch to the Lib Dems, only a handful of councillors and no MPs or MEPs have done so. Why is this?
I want to suggest that in the case of the Labour Party there are two factors; loyalty and respect
We often accuse the Labour Party of being tribal. The reality is that loyalty is ingrained in the psyche of Labour Party supporters and even more so in MPs. The worst thing that you can do is be ‘disloyal’. Crossing the floor is unthinkable for almost all Labour MPs and we need to recognise that this is a real factor in preventing people from joining us. When you couple this with the attitude of Labour people to what they perceive as treachery – for example the Lib Dems joining with the Tories in government – you begin to see how difficult it is to get people to come across, even if they share our values to a much higher degree than the values of the Labour Party.
It’s just been announced that, subject to approval by MPs, the Gorton poll will be cancelled as a by-election and will now take place along with all the other seats on 8th June.
From the BBC:
A by-election for the Manchester Gorton constituency has been cancelled after the House of Commons backed Theresa May’s call for a June general election.
The Cabinet Office said the election for the vacant seat, planned for 4 May, would now take place on 8 June as part of the nationwide polling day.
MPs will be asked to formally overturn the writ for the poll.
The proposed by-election
…
John Pugh has announced that he won’t be fighting the General Election in his Southport constituency.
John Pugh, MP for Southport, said he planned to retire next month, but “did not bank on the prime minister’s opportunism” in calling an election.
He said he did not want to work through “the nightmare chaos of Brexit” in the next parliament.
The local constituency party will now choose a new candidate from an all-woman shortlist.
Great news:
I’m standing to be a pro-UK, pro-EU MP for East Dunbartonshire (2167 SNP maj over LD, 61% No to Indy & 71% Remain) #libdemfightback #GE2017
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) April 19, 2017
In a statement, she added:
This next Parliament will be pivotal for our country, both for Scotland’s place in the UK, and the UK’s relationship with the rest of Europe.
I’m standing in the general election because I’m passionate about keeping Scotland in the UK, and averting the disaster of the Tories’ hard Brexit. Most people in East Dunbartonshire agree – 61% voted to stay in the UK and 71% voted to remain in the EU. They deserve a pro-UK, pro-EU MP.
East Dunbartonshire is the SNP’s second most marginal seat, with a majority of just 2,167 over the Liberal Democrats. The result last time makes it absolutely clear: this is a fight between the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, and one I fully intend to win.
I helped her get elected the first time round in 2005. She put so much work into it over the preceding two years. She worked part time and every morning she’d go out delivering. Every afternoon and evening she spent canvassing. She was disciplined, organised and effective. And she turned out to be a brilliant MP and Equalities Minister.
Her announcement comes after her old boss at the then Business, Innovation and Skills Department, Vince Cable, announced that he was standing for Twickenham:
#GeneralElection #GE2017 #GeneralElection2017 https://t.co/poq46gEC2s
— Vince Cable (@vincecable) April 18, 2017
An awful lot of people that I love depend on a world where LGBTI people have proper equality. I need my leader to be able to speak up for the young transgender person so that they can feel confident that someone is on her side and understands what she needs to be able to live a happy and fulfilling life, who gets that you you are unlikely to meet your potential if you are being bullied for being gay, and how important it is that you have a good support network. I need a leader who speaks out for LGBT rights locally, nationally and internationally. In Tim Farron, I have a leader I can absolutely trust on that score.
Mischief-making Labour people, seeking to comfort themselves at the prospect of the oncoming slaughter for them, have been having a go at Tim on Twitter on this subject.
Those of us who know that Tim is sound have been saying so. And you’d think that the acting chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats, Jennie Rigg, would have something interesting to say on the subject. And she does. And, as you would expect from her, she does not mince her words.
Dear media people,
I see that, thanks to Cathy Newman’s interview last night, the thorny theological topic of Sin has raised its ugly head once more.
Let me get this right out in the beginning: I don’t give a fig what Tim Farron’s religious beliefs are. You know why? Because I am a Liberal. He could believe the sky is made from Puff the Magic Dragon’s bumfluff, and I wouldn’t care one jot, whit or iota. What I do care about, and care deeply about, is
How Tim Farron votes in parliamentHow he treats people – LGBT+ people in particular – in everyday life
So lets do a little list of things which illustrate how Tim Farron views LGBT people:
With one exception, Tim Farron voted fully in favour of same sex marriage. The one time he abstained? That was because he was trying to get an amendment passed on the Spousal Veto, a really nasty little clause which shafts trans people. Yep, that’s right, even the time he abstained was because he was fighting for LGBT+ rights, not against them.
He was the first party leader to issue a statement on the gay concentration camps in Chechenya. He condemned them in the strongest terms. And while the Greens have since joined in, none of the Tories, Labour, or UKIP have.
He campaigned against section 28 from its inception, and thinks that refusing people service for their sexuality (like bakeries not baking cakes for gay marriages) is unchristian.
He spoke out on the blood donation ban (I’m still banned from giving blood, by the way – because I have had sexual relations with bisexual men).
He has campaigned tirelessly for the rights of trans women in prisons, and trans issues in general. When we had a trans rights motion before conference, he was there at 9.30am in the front row to vote for it. Not because of the cameras – there were no cameras – but because he is enthusiastic about LGBT+ rights, and not just G rights with a smattering of L like many politicians.
The government has launched a consultation on banning letting fees, a proposal originally tabled by Liberal Democrat peer Olly Grender. It’s responsible and right to address the shortcomings for tenants of a private rental market that now accounts for 19% of all households. And as the consultation paper sets out, there’s an economically liberal logic to the ban as well.
As a liberal, I’m not against market-based proposals for social problems. On the contrary, I’m all for them. In the summer after I left school, I worked temporarily as a Housing Allocations Officer. I see no reason in principle why housing associations should be the main providers of homes to people on benefits, for example — providing there’s enough housing to go round, and so long as people aren’t trapped in poor-quality accommodation. Indeed, greater choice for those on benefits within the private sector may be to their advantage, and improve social mobility overall. What’s more, it’s cost effective provision from the point of view of the state. However, there’s an obvious barrier to decent private rental accommodation frequently faced by those on benefits: the reluctance of so many private landlords to rent their properties to them. For many people, this is unfair discrimination. Banning letting fees is a positive step, but won’t tackle this sort of problem. My issue with the government’s plans is that they’re another example of Theresa’s tokenism.
Private landlords, with perhaps a “buy to let” as their pension pot, and renters are both likely to be among our party members. What could we as Liberal Democrats propose to help groups of tenants with little available capital beyond their rent money into better quality accommodation and, at the same time, keep landlords on board who want to protect their assets from risk?
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