Liberal Democrat Voice

WATCH: Lynne Featherstone on 5000 same sex marriages

By The Voice | Tue 14th March 2017 - 8:27 pm

The Liberal Democrats have discover that there are 10,000 happy people thanks to Lynne Featherstone’s persistence in getting same sex marriage through.

Watch her video on the subject;

Posted in News | 1 Comment

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Royal indiscretion

By John Kelly | Tue 14th March 2017 - 6:55 pm

This week it was reported in the Times that President Reuven Rivlin of Israel had invited the Royal Family to send a representative to the country this year to celebrate a hundred years since the Balfour Declaration. There is intense speculation in the Israeli press now that the Royal Family might break its longstanding reluctance to visit Israel officially. It would clearly invite controversy to visit a country in such flagrant breach of international law – defying the United Nations with its illegal settlements, child detention, blockade of Gaza and marginalisation of its ethnic minorities. The Balfour Declaration, as well as promising a home for the Jewish peoples, also promised that the rights of the Palestinians must be protected. This was ‘a sacred trust of civilisation’ under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations which Britain took on when it accepted the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. We betrayed that sacred trust and, until that trust is redeemed, the Balfour Declaration should not be celebrated. A petition to the Queen’s Private Secretary to discourage such a visit is circulating.

The idea that the Royal Family would give any sort of endorsement or honour to the State of Israel this year sadly fits with a pattern of inadvisable steps that have been taken in the last couple of years. The weekend before her infamous visit to the White House, Theresa May told Andrew Marr that it was up to the Queen whether President Trump was invited to Buckingham Palace this year. Within days she had extended an invitation on the Queen’s behalf, which was of course accepted, to great public outcry in the UK. American presidents crave the publicity that goes with a State Visit to the UK – remember Ronald Reagan on horseback with HM at Windsor. Normally US Presidents must wait until their third year in office – if indeed they get one at all. That gives them a chance to show that they are a good friend to the UK and frankly deserve it. George H Bush never had one at all. Donald Trump hasn’t done anything for the UK yet, and is a major potential threat to the world order. His visit, if it happens anytime soon, will be highly controversial and will embroil the Royal Family in politics. It was unwise of the Palace to go along with Theresa May in approving Trump’s visit in his first year.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged israel, palestine and royal family | 13 Comments

Lorely Burt calls for help for girls in “period poverty”

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 14th March 2017 - 5:30 pm

Every time I remember when I’m in the supermarket, I try to buy a packet of sanitary towels to stick in the food bank donations trolley because I know how difficult it is for women facing poverty to deal with the additional cost that periods bring. The BBC reports this week that girls are missing school because they can’t afford sanitary protection.

Girls in the UK are missing school because they cannot afford sanitary protection, a charity has said.

Freedom4Girls was contacted by a school in Leeds after it became concerned about teenage girls’ attendance.

The group provides sanitary products to women in Kenya – but is now doing the same in West Yorkshire.

One teenager told the BBC she taped toilet roll to her underwear and missed school “every month” because of her period.

Two teenage girls spoke to BBC Radio Leeds about how they tried to cope without tampons, sanitary towels or pain relief.

A discussion on Women’s Hour this morning also highlighted the problem.

It’s good to see that our Equalities spokesperson, Lorely Burt, is bringing this up in her speech in the Budget debate in the House of Lords.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged food banks, freedom4girls, lorely burt and period poverty | 7 Comments

Preparing for 2020 Parliamentary Selections: Returning Officers

By Arfan Bhatti | Tue 14th March 2017 - 4:24 pm

With snap election candidacy expiring at the end of May, the selections for 2020 are drawing ever closer.

Returning Officers are the little known but crucial role to enable this. They’re the link that makes open selections possible and the more we have now the faster we’ll be able to get a full slate of candidates in place for 2020.

The good news is you can help enable a swift timetable of selections by training to be an RO as early as April via a two day training session run over Easter weekend. There’s also a great introductory session happening this Saturday at Spring Conference (11.00am to 12.30pm) and you can also get a feel of the role by shadowing Returning Officers if you can’t make any of those dates.

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Drive the wedge

By Martin Roche | Tue 14th March 2017 - 3:08 pm

The weekend’s media was full of reports of bitter disputes between No 10 Downing Street and The Treasury. Hitherto buried tensions have surfaced publicly, following the Chancellor’s NI debacle. Hard Brexiters, we learn, want to see Hammond off and have him replaced by one of their own. The Tory party is as split on Europe as ever it was. It is up to us to exploit those divisions. It is up to us to remind the public that the ruling party is a split party. Split on EU policy, economic policy, foreign policy and social policy.

In the very near future …

Posted in Op-eds | 8 Comments

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Why I’m supporting Yes this time

By Keith Legg | Tue 14th March 2017 - 1:41 pm

In September 2014, you could well be expected to have thought that it was all over. The “no” vote to independence – including mine – was 55%, the SNP broadly accepted the result, and it looked like there was no way the Tories would win an overall majority in 2015, effectively ruling out an EU referendum.

How things have changed.

In 2014, I started the referendum relatively open-minded but leaning towards a “no”, but by the end (and having been firmly put off the idea by Alex Salmond) I was quite firmly in the “no” camp.

But in my head I was clear about one thing. My priority was to remain a European citizen. I would prefer to do that as part of the UK, but if that wasn’t possible then other ways had to be considered.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged indyref2 | 38 Comments

Nick Clegg struggles to be polite about the government’s self-deluded piffle

By Joe Otten | Tue 14th March 2017 - 12:01 pm

Nick Clegg, blistering in the Standard, warns that the government is condemned to break its Brexit promises.

Recalling promises of a stronger trading position, the continuation of the benefits of membership, no hard border with Ireland (never mind Scotland), less red tape, taking back control – never mind the £350 million; Nick warns of an impending reckoning.

Posted in LibLink | Tagged brexit, brexit negotiations and featured | 27 Comments

Reaching out to the ‘Left Behind’: what policies should we put first?

By Lord William Wallace | Tue 14th March 2017 - 11:08 am

The pitch which the Leave campaign successfully made to the poorest 10% of UK citizens in last June’s EU Referendum was that their problems of low pay, insecure jobs and waiting lists for affordable housing were all due to competition from immigrants, and would be eased by leaving the EU. The budget, with little on social housing and less on funds for schools or other public services in deprived areas, has made their situation worse, rather than better. Labour has been hesitating about how far to buy into their grievances about immigrants. How should Liberal Democrats respond …

Posted in Conference | 35 Comments

The United Kingdom is my country and I will fight for it

By Aude Boubaker-Calder | Tue 14th March 2017 - 10:15 am

Dear House of Commons,

This evening, I have heard that you voted in a majority to be a place where the unrepresented are being devalued and brushed aside like piece of dirt on your suit. You, the country of one of the first parliamentary democracies who gave a voice to the people you represent. You, who decided that the absolute monarchy and aristocracy were unfair and a voice should be given to everyone. You just tarnished the name of democracy and multiculturalism.

EU expatriates might be your friends, your neighbours, the ones who serve your coffee in the morning before your session, …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged article 50 bill | 10 Comments

Article 50 is not the only or the best way to leave

By Joe Otten | Tue 14th March 2017 - 8:33 am

Now that the invocation of Article 50 is imminent, I thought I would reflect on how we managed, as a country, to gain such momentum for such a bad way of leaving the EU.

Firstly, it should be understood that before Article 50 was agreed, it was not impossible to leave the EU. Greenland did so, by agreement, and without that agreement being subject to an arbitrary one-sided deadline. The point of agreeing Article 50 was not to make it possible to leave, but to make it harder. Article 50, like Trident, is not meant to be used; that is not …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged article 50 and brexit | 18 Comments

Heartbreak

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 13th March 2017 - 10:30 pm

I’m feeling pretty heartbroken at the moment. Like Charles Kennedy, I’m a highlander, a Scot, a Brit and a European, with the first and the last most important. Now my rights as a European citizen (though I will be one no matter what) and a British citizen are under threat.

As I write, the Labour Party, the so-called opposition, is about to crumble and let the Government have its way on the Bill that will pave the way for our exit from the European Union. It beggars belief that the Government has been able to get this through without any serious opposition. It’s the greatest issue of our time, and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party might as well have been part of the most right-wing, isolationist, dangerous government we have had in my lifetime.

I’ve been fairly sure that the country has been headed to hell in a handcart before. There was the 80s, for a start, when Thatcher destroyed the industrial fabric of our country and championed selfishness over community. You thought things could only get better with a Blair Government but he ended up ruining the country’s standing with the folly of Iraq.

I thought I had felt heartbreak in 2011 when I saw so many of my friends lose in the Holyrood election, when we lost our MEPs and the turmoil that followed, in 2015 when the General Election result was the worst we could have anticipated. None of that, tough that it was, comes close to my sadness and fear for the future. I feel like we’re throwing away our safety net in so many ways. What will be left of workers’ rights and human rights in ten years’ time?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged article 50 bill, brexit, featured, indyref2 and Scotland | 41 Comments

Labour crumbles into farce but Lib Dems stand firm in opposition to Article 50 Bill

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 13th March 2017 - 9:38 pm

It’s time to report the Labour Party to Advertising Standards or something. They certainly shouldn’t be allowed to call themselves an opposition after they have spectacularly failed to provide any on the most crucial issue of our time.

The amazing Lib Dem Press Office has been providing some rather entertaining commentary as the country falls apart.

While they are on the exploratory, fact finding mission to god knows where, we will actually serve the function of being an opposition. https://t.co/QkavYYfkJS

— Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) March 13, 2017

.@UKLabour decide that far from being content with not being fit for government, they have to prove they are not fit for opposition either.

— Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) March 13, 2017

Posted in News | 13 Comments

Rennie and Farron react to Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement on the second independence referendum

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 13th March 2017 - 9:09 pm

It looks like either a second referendum on Scottish Independence in 5 years is on its way. Either that or an indefinite stalemate between the Tory Government in London (who must give permission for the vote) and Nicola Sturgeon’s nationalist government in Edinburgh.

This was inevitable ever since the Brexit vote. That a large majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU was always going to lead us to this place. Nicola Sturgeon built a very big tent in the hours after the result was declared but she and her ministers spent the rest of the Summer dismantling it piece by piece. They talked about independence incessantly. Now, they’re a nationalist government. They are not going to give up on independence because they lost a vote any more than I’m going to give up on the EU.

You have to govern for all of your people, though and, at the moment, there is no sign that anything like a majority of the Scottish people want an independence referendum. For many, relationships from the division and polarisation of the last one are only just healing over.

Willie Rennie and Tim Farron have both been reacting to today’s announcement. Willie said:

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged indyref2, Scotland, tim farron and willie rennie | 11 Comments

Is Trident’s successor a white elephant?

By David Grace | Mon 13th March 2017 - 6:30 pm

On Saturday afternoon Spring Conference debates motion F11 “Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons” which actually endorses the government’s plans to replace Trident with Successor at a cost of £200 billion, twice the original estimate. The motion also talks about developing multilateral negotiations and ending Continuous-at-sea Deterrence (CASD) but in essence it supports a like-for-like deterrent, which we opposed through the coalition years.

I was on the working group which drafted the report which this motion approves, but I don’t agree. I’m tabling an amendment which agrees with most of the motion’s analysis and call for beefing up negotiations but also calls for Trident to be phased out and NOT replaced.

Many party members have long supported ending the UK’s nuclear weapons but others have placed their faith in nuclear deterrence on balance. People may feel the global security situation inclines them more than ever to support replacing Trident with the Successor programme. The argument can be summarised as “Oh my God, Putin !, Oh my God, Trump ! We better have our own nukes”. I originally felt that the party’s latest working group on the subject was a waste of time. Nothing had changed. But I was wrong.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured, nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons policy working group, spring conference 2017 and trident | 8 Comments

John Leech writes…Help save fire-rescue hero from deportation

By John Leech | Mon 13th March 2017 - 4:57 pm

If I asked you to imagine your ideal community, who and what would be in it? What kind of people would you choose to have as your neighbour? Would you want a neighbour who would be there in your moment of need – maybe even go as far as risking their life for you?

Well, you may have heard that just over a month ago, a resident here in Manchester did just that.

Robert Chilowa ran to the scene of a ferocious blaze engulfing a neighbour’s house after hearing screams of terror. He rescued two young children from the flames and assisted another who had broken her ankle in the disaster that had already claimed the lives of their grandparents. His heroic efforts were the only saving grace in an otherwise tragic event.

Now, I’ll take a pretty good guess that you’d want this man as your neighbour, right? Well, despite braving the devastating fire in Withington, rightly garnering national headlines, he has now been threatened with deportation.

Posted in News | Tagged asylum, featured, home office, john leech and robert chilowa | 2 Comments

Join @timfarron for Euro campaign photos at conference

By Antony Hook | Mon 13th March 2017 - 4:17 pm

I’m really proud to be the Liberal Democrats’ Brexit Spokesman for the South East. Working with Nick Clegg, our national Brexit spokesman, to hold the government to account and fight for the true national interest could not be more important.

One of the most successfully ways to communicate a message is visually. Pictures speak loudly.

I would like to mention two opportunities, if you are coming to party conference this weekend, to join photos that you can use at a local level.

First, we know that hard Brexit is putting our future under the axe. No-one voted for the Brexit axe to fall on family …

Posted in Conference, Europe / International, Europe Referendum and Events | Leave a comment

Hammond is right to break the Conservatives’ National Insurance pledge

By Tom Papworth | Mon 13th March 2017 - 3:17 pm

Philip Hammond’s decision to raise National Insurance contributions (NICs) for self-employed people has been the most eye-catching and controversial aspect of the budget. No less captivating for a Liberal Democrat has been our party’s response. Lib Dems are understandably keen to hammer the Tories for breaking a manifesto promise. And MPs have been quick to paint themselves as the defenders of entrepreneurs and small business people (though patronising them as “White van man” is probably unwise).

For all that, the Chancellor’s policy is right – though it goes only a tiny way to treating all workers equally and fairly. Let us look first at the tax break and then deal with some objections.

Employees pay class 1 national insurance at 12% on earnings from £155 to £877 a week and 2% on earnings above that. The weekly sums are supposed to equate to £8,060 and £43,000 a year.

Employers also pay 13.8% on top of what the employee pays. Despite the myth that “employers pay” and that this comes out of profits, this is a tax on employed people’s wages. This is the biggest part of the injustice in the tax system and the chancellor has not touched it.

Self-employed people pay class 4 national insurance at 9% on profits between £8,060 and £43,000 and 2% on profits above £43,000.

Self-employed people also pay class 2 national insurance at a flat rate of £2.80 a week if they earn over £5,965 a year. So silly is this policy that George Osborne killed it (from April 2018). Interestingly, as part of that it was announced that class 4 national insurance would be increased to compensate, so there is some cover for Mr Hammond’s move.

Those incorporated as companies are able to take their income as dividends rather than salary, and so avoid NICs altogether.

Posted in News | Tagged budget 2017 and national insurance contributions | 18 Comments

What’s the REAL state of the parties?

By Brian Milnes and John Grout | Mon 13th March 2017 - 1:49 pm

Frequent Opinion Polls since May 2016 show one picture; Conservatives way ahead, Labour & Liberal Democrats suffering, UKIP hanging on.

But when we look at “Real Votes from Real People”, from a 310,000+ sample size, from 3 countries since May 2016, we get a much different picture:

Local government by-elections may not be translatable into General Election results, but they show a remarkably different position – and one that is much more attuned with feedback from the doorstep.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged state of the parties and statistics | 12 Comments

Welcome back to York and join us campaigning!

By Keith Aspden | Mon 13th March 2017 - 12:37 pm

As the countdown to party conference continues, I would like to say how pleased I am to be welcoming Spring Conference back to York.

Visit York estimate that the weekend will boost the city’s economy by more than £600,000. And I know that pubs, hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, and restaurants will be reporting soaring demand. Added to the short-term economic boost is the long-term impact that the continued national exposure will bring. It is a showcase for York as a destination for conferences and events. York is a beautiful, well-connected city with the potential to hold many more big political and business conferences.

It is also a chance for our members in York to meet our MPs and peers as well as councillors and campaigners from across the country. And as we all know, a chance for local party members to actually debate and decide national party policy.

In York, our councillors and members have been working hard since we formed a joint administration in May 2015 to run City of York Council.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged spring conference 2017, york and york liberal democrats | 4 Comments

Now we must stand firm, and proclaim our own powerful vision.

By Katharine Pindar | Mon 13th March 2017 - 11:25 am

So we come to the crunch. We have voted against triggering Article 50 in both the Commons and the Lords. We are being attacked, as Tim Farron was on Radio 4’s Any Questions last Friday night, for being anti-democratic.

I have read this accusation many times here on Liberal Democrat Voice. I have occasionally heard it on Copeland doorsteps too, during the recent by-election. No amount of pointing out, as Tim did again that night, that the people who voted Leave in the Referendum had not voted to leave the EU Single Market has cut much ice with those voters who simply demand, ‘We voted to leave – get on with it!’ Theresa May’s government will shortly obey them.

Were we wrong in what we insisted on? And if so, are our electoral chances being harmed by that public perception? Maybe the latest Tory wins in local elections, maybe the commanding Tory lead in the opinion polls, maybe the too-few votes for us in the recent by-elections – perhaps they all had some small connection with public disagreement over our known stance. Could that be the case?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged any questions, brexit and tim farron | 7 Comments

New issue of Liberator out

By The Liberator Collective | Mon 13th March 2017 - 10:25 am

Issue 383 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

This issue’s free sample online content is from Tony Greaves on what ‘taking back control’ really means, and from Dave Raval on why the much-vaunted post-Brexit trade deals will bring more problems.

Elsewhere in the issue there is:

On the Fence With A Part-Time Submarine

Liberal Democrats look set to yet again show they lack the guts to scrap the waste of money that is Trident, says David Grace

A Vote for A Delusion

Leave voters who think they have made Britain a global player again are in for a shock, says Paul Hindley

The Tinkerbell Approach to Politics

Posted in News | Tagged liberator | Leave a comment

Don’t get mad, get even: Join the Lib Dems

By Tom Arms | Mon 13th March 2017 - 8:55 am

Just received an email from Tim Farron.

“Incredible news , “he reported, “moments ago, our membership reached 85,002.”

I wrote back: “Not enough.”

We are still in fourth place. Labour stands at 515,000. The conservatives are 150,000 and the SNP is 120,000.

The United Kingdom is a tribal nation and its politics reflect the tribes that divide it.

The Liberal Democrats are a unifying force. That is one of the main reasons I joined it. But to succeed it must break the tribal lock that has bedevilled British politics for nearly 200 years.

The only way to be certain of success is to have MORE members than any other political party. It sounds like a tall order. It is. But it is a necessary one.

Posted in News | Tagged membership and tim farron | 19 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #472

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 12th March 2017 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 472nd 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 (5 – 11 March, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By The Voice | Sun 12th March 2017 - 4:47 pm

7 best Many thanks to the 19.500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Donald Trump is dangerous and a complete joke – but the joke is on the American people (15 comments) by Paul Walter

From UKIP to social democrat in the Lib Dems (53 comments) by Alexander Balkan

The other side of Brexit – what about the leavers? (65 comments) by Mark Argent

++Breaking: Jackie Pearcey will fight Manchester Gorton for the Lib Dems (23 comments) by Caron Lindsay

This is our time now, a time for assertiveness and for anger (75 comments) by Katharine Pindar

Yet another Lib Dem GAIN from the Conservatives (18 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

Rennie’s independence referendum risk: why it may well be a good thing

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 12th March 2017 - 1:35 pm

There’s a phrase that goes “Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.” I have sometimes said to Willie Rennie that I think he’s being too safe and that he needs to take more risks. He’s taken a pretty big one this morning by saying in no uncertain terms that Liberal Democrat MPs at Westminster will vote against a Section 3o order, the mechanism that would allow the SNP to hold another Scottish independence referendum. Certainly, the Tories will no longer be able to say, as they have been falsely alleging for the past year or so, that we have gone soft on independence. Showing Scots that they have a progressive pro UK party prepared to stick by its word is a good thing.

So why is this a risk? Well, there’s nothing more likely to get Scottish backs up than being told by Westminster that they can’t do something. If that actually happened, it might drive people to support having another referendum, even if they didn’t want to leave the UK. At the moment, though, every poll suggests an increasing number of Scots who don’t want to go through the divisive trauma of 2014 all over again. Willie’s announcement is very much in keeping with both our principles and public opinion. That’s actually a point that the didn’t make in his Sunday Politics Scotland interview, but worth pointing out.

Our party is and always has been a pro UK and pro EU party. We are against leaving the UK for all the same reasons that we are against leaving the EU – we believe in partnership and collaboration and see nationalism and isolationism as a recipe for disaster. We explicitly ruled out supporting another referendum on independence in our Holyrood manifesto last year and there is no way we could go back on that. Reneging on key manifesto promises has not gone so well for us before. It’s therefore entirely logical and consistent that we would oppose independence at every opportunity to do so.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged nick clegg, Scotland and willie rennie | 60 Comments

LibLink: Jo Swinson: if we lose focus, progress on gender equality can easily be lost

By NewsHound | Sun 12th March 2017 - 11:15 am

Jo Swinson has written a piece for the Huffington Post as part of their “All women everywhere” series in which she warns that progress on gender equality is under threat.

The chairman of Tesco’s board may feel that white men making up three quarters of his board constitutes being an “endangered species” but Jo sees the progress she made as a minister being eroded:

With the efforts of Vince Cable, Lord Davies, Helena Morrissey and many others we drove women’s representation in FTSE boardrooms up to record levels, yet Egon Zehnder found that the proportion of women appointed to Boards in 2016 actually decreased. The Equality & Human Rights Commission finding last year that 54,000 women a year lose their jobs due to pregnancy and maternity discrimination is shocking in itself, but even more so when you consider that this figure has almost doubled since 2005.

In all the metrics about how many years it will take to achieve gender equality in any given field we are used to depressingly distant dates like 2067 or 2095. For women in technology the answer to when equality will be achieved if current trends continue is never.

Some men, she remarks, see a tiny number of women in power as a threat. She wrote this before the Tesco Chairman’s comments so clearly proved her point but she cited the usual social media whinging about International Women’s Day:

Posted in LibLink | Tagged gender equality and Jo Swinson | 1 Comment

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference

By The Voice | Sun 12th March 2017 - 10:08 am

It was a speech full of warmth, positivity and passion. Willie Rennie knows that a second referendum on Scottish independence needs the positive, emotionally resonant pro UK argument that was so lacking in 2014. He planted the Lib Dem flag in the progressive pro UK/pro EU space in Scotland, saying that we represented the views of the Scottish people. The challenge for the party is to turn that into votes. Watch his full speech here.

The text is below:

Posted in News | Tagged Scottish liberal democrat conference and willie rennie | 5 Comments

Today at Welsh Conference

By The Voice | Sun 12th March 2017 - 8:00 am

Welsh Conference continues this morning. There are more spokespeople Q and A sessions along with a debate on future relations with the EU. They will also be discussing their Governance Review with a call to establish an 8 member task force to take this forward. Here’s the full agenda.

9:30 Party Spokespeople
Bob Griffin: Economy and Infrastructure
Cadan ap Tomos: Young People, Equalities and the Welsh Language

9:50 PM5: Future Relationship with the European Union

Having regard to:

1 the narrow majority for ‘Leave’ in the EU referendum;
2 the need to respect that majority and the views which led up to it;
3 the multiplicity of beneficial outcomes from Brexit then suggested to the electorate;
4 the limited two-year negotiating period after Article 50 is triggered.

Notes with concern that:

Posted in News | Tagged welsh liberal democrat conference and welsh liberal democrats | 2 Comments

The New European provides an inspiring read

By Paul Walter | Sat 11th March 2017 - 6:40 pm

Track down your nearest copy of #theneweuropean using our store locator:https://t.co/kvriI0JXJg pic.twitter.com/lgBq7u3vTt

— The New European – Think Without Borders (@TheNewEuropean) March 11, 2017

That front page persuaded me to buy a copy of The New European newspaper this week, for the first time. It’s almost Private Eye-like. Some of the small print at the bottom is hilarious. Godmother, the film, it states is:

Featuring “Nigel Farage as the horse’s arse”
Filmed on location in “La La Land”
Based on a half-baked idea by David Cameron
Directed by Unseen Forces

Posted in Selection news | Tagged alastair campbell, brexit, donald trump, michael heseltine, owen jones and The New European | 2 Comments

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s Facebook Live interview

By The Voice | Sat 11th March 2017 - 10:46 am

Here is the Facebook Live interview that Willie Rennie did for the BBC yesterday:

Posted in News | 8 Comments

Op-eds

Labour has the promise on business rates – We have the plan (Pawel Urbanski)
Redirecting the funds to the jobs Britain cannot do without (Edward Marsh)
Israel and the West Bank (Andy Daer)
Getting ready for Conference – Directory now out (Caron Lindsay)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)

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Enough is enough: Women and girls deserve better

William Wallace writes: We should talk more about Liberalism

Vince Cable writes: The rebirth of council housing

An early win for affordable housing – now let councils build

WATCH: Lynne Featherstone on 5000 same sex marriages

Royal indiscretion

Lorely Burt calls for help for girls in “period poverty”

Preparing for 2020 Parliamentary Selections: Returning Officers

Drive the wedge

Why I’m supporting Yes this time

Nick Clegg struggles to be polite about the government’s self-deluded piffle

Reaching out to the ‘Left Behind’: what policies should we put first?

The United Kingdom is my country and I will fight for it

Article 50 is not the only or the best way to leave

Heartbreak

Labour crumbles into farce but Lib Dems stand firm in opposition to Article 50 Bill

Rennie and Farron react to Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement on the second independence referendum

Is Trident’s successor a white elephant?

John Leech writes…Help save fire-rescue hero from deportation

Join @timfarron for Euro campaign photos at conference

Hammond is right to break the Conservatives’ National Insurance pledge

What’s the REAL state of the parties?

Welcome back to York and join us campaigning!

Now we must stand firm, and proclaim our own powerful vision.

New issue of Liberator out

Don’t get mad, get even: Join the Lib Dems

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #472

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

Rennie’s independence referendum risk: why it may well be a good thing

LibLink: Jo Swinson: if we lose focus, progress on gender equality can easily be lost

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference

Today at Welsh Conference

9:50 PM5: Future Relationship with the European Union

The New European provides an inspiring read

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s Facebook Live interview

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