Merlene Emerson

Rock or Island? Disputes in the South China Sea

By Merlene Emerson | Mon 6th March 2017 - 11:50 am

Whilst researching this subject, I couldn’t help thinking that here were the ingredients ripe for the design of a board game.  It could be something of a cross between “Diplomacy” and “Vendée Globe”?

Each player representing a country of choice could set its mission and collaborate with other players to achieve their desired outcomes.  Chance cards might include whether, say, an international tribunal has decided in their favour.  And tokens could be earned along the way to enable them to reclaim rocks and reefs, build air strips or even patrol the islands with clone submarines?

We are, of course, not speaking of a game but of what is happening in reality, and the countries involved in a potential war game include South East Asian countries (such as Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) and also greater powers such as China (Taiwan) and the US.  At stake are the rights to valuable resources such as oil and gas, fishing rights and the protection of vital sea routes.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 17 Comments
Advert
Alexander Balkan

From UKIP to Social Democrat in the LibDems

By Alexander Balkan | Mon 6th March 2017 - 9:42 am

This piece is long overdue, as I joined the Liberals Democrats back in October 2016. Since then, I have been elected Secretary of Runnymede & Spelthorne Liberal Democrats. I am also deeply involved with the newly formed (or regenerated) Royal Holloway LibDem Society.

So how does one defect from UKIP to the LibDems? I shall be frank.

I started involvement with UKIP in 2010, at the age of thirteen. This was when the party was an anti-EU pressure group. It felt outrageous and fantastically rebellious to participate in an idea that could undermine the entire establishment. When I saw the three main parties, I saw spin, snobbery and fakery. I did dream that one day something big would take down the political elite, who to me had a contempt for ordinary people and democracy.  Today, I still believe this contempt exists strongly, but now we have a situation where they are forced to listen a little bit more.

My involvement in UKIP allowed me to channel my indignation. Also, being the only young person in the room, on many occasions, allowed me to develop a range of political and communication skills that may have taken much longer to attain in another party.

However, I came to realise that the party was seriously limited: organisationally and intellectually.  There is no plan, for anything. It’s all improvisation. And if there is  someone with a plan, he/she will probably leave or get kicked out, because the party’s vested interested in keeping the party like a pressure group is too strong. It felt like what Party HQ really needed was a textbook explanation of the roles and functions of a political party on every wall, before anything serious could begin.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 53 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #471

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 5th March 2017 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 471st 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 (26 February – 4 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:

Continue reading »
Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment
The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 5th March 2017 - 6:43 pm

7 bestMany thanks to the 13,700  visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Lib Dems GAIN a council seat and have a strong hold in Redcar (17 comments) by Caron Lindsay

£1 million donation to Lib Dems helps party oppose Brexit (18 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Wow! A Liberal Democrat on Question Time tonight (11 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems react to Government defeat over #righttostay (60 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Brexit – it’s time to stop looking for someone to blame and take action (45 comments) by Andrew Davidson

Why I was furious to get an email from Liz Leffman (41 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Continue reading »
Posted in Site news | Leave a comment
Paul Walter

Donald Trump is a dangerous and complete joke – but the joke is on the American people

By Paul Walter | Sun 5th March 2017 - 1:05 pm

I give you this series of early morning tweets from the President of the United States of America, as collated by Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire:

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 19 Comments
Advert

History doesn’t always have to be written by the victors

By Ian Thomas | Sun 5th March 2017 - 10:59 am

On 5th March 1770 outside the customs house on King’s Street, Boston, Private Hugh White was talking to some off-duty comrades when a passing Bostonian made a crack about the British soldier’s commanding officer – prompting Pvt White to clock the civilian across the side of the head. The off-duty soldiers made themselves scarce, leaving the private to deal with the fast-growing ring of angry Bostonians that soon surrounded him. White backed up against the custom house door – gun raised out of fear of what might happen next. The growing crowd heckled him, daring him to shoot.

Up the street, Captain Preston, commander of the custom house garrison, watched events unfold. The Captain was hoping that the situation would resolve itself naturally but soon the church bells started tolling and more men, many armed with clubs, started showing up and Preston knew it was high-time that he went to get his man. He led a corporal and six privates through the crowd, now numbering 300-400 strong, towards Private White but rather than just pulling the soldier out from the situation he ordered his men to form a semi-circle around him while facing the crowd, guns unfortunately loaded.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 6 Comments
Katharine Pindar

This is our time now: a time for assertiveness and for anger

By Katharine Pindar | Sun 5th March 2017 - 9:15 am

This country deserves better than to be ruled as it is by an Alice–in-Wonderland government, feebly countered by a Humpty-Dumpty official opposition.

I am angry that, as a result, in my neighbouring Copeland constituency our Liberal Democrat candidate Rebecca Hanson was sidelined by the clash of these tottering Titans. Of course she did well to double our share of the vote and beat the hollow UKIP, but not nearly as well as such an excellent standard-bearer deserved.

Instead the representative of this uncaring, and ultimately incompetent government of ours went to Westminster.

The Liberal Democrat campaign in Copeland was focused. ‘Who is fighting hard Brexit?’ demanded one leaflet, which explained how the Liberal Democrats are the only party fighting to protect jobs, jeopardised by the Conservative plan to leave the Single Market. Rebecca’s support for the further investment in the local nuclear industry was there, with back-up details.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 77 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems take part in national Day of Action opposing Brexit and supporting #righttostay

By The Voice | Sat 4th March 2017 - 6:00 pm

Today, across the country, Lib Dems have been taking part in a national day of action, collecting signatures for our petition calling on the Government to give EU nationals the right to stay in the UK and spreading the word about our opposition to the Government’s position on Brexit and our call for people to be given the final say on the Brexit deal. This is way too important for all our futures to leave to the Brexit Government.

I hope that EU nationals take some comfort from the fact that there is so much public support for them to be given the right to continue to live in the country where they have settled.

There were over 100 events in total. Here are some of the pictures of the bright street stalls all over the country:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

++++Breaking: Jackie Pearcey will fight Manchester Gorton by-election for the Lib Dems

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th March 2017 - 5:22 pm

News from the land of Twitter:

Jackie is a fabulous candidate. She has 20 years’ experience as a Gorton councillor. She’s brilliant. I first met her in a queue at the Torquay conference in 1993 and I just love her plain-speaking manner and sense of humour. There couldn’t be a better person to fly the Lib Dem flag. She’s in the centre of the photo in between Mamchester mayoral candidate Jane Brophy and the one-man opposition to Labour Cllr John Leech. That man gives Labour in Manchester a million times more trouble than Corbyn’s Labour gives to Theresa May’s Brexit Government. 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 23 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Two months to go: What will you be doing on polling day?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th March 2017 - 3:45 pm

It’s just two months to go until every seat in Scotland and Wales and the English County Councils are up for election. Also being elected are the metro mayors. Jane Brophy in Manchester, Stephen Williams in West of England, Rod Cantrill in Cambridge, Beverley Nielsen in West Midlands, Chris Foote-Wood in Teeside, Carl Cashman in Liverpool are all flying the Liberal Democrat flag.

Now is a good time to work out what you can do on polling day to help your local campaign team plan their effort. Polling day is incredibly important. Elections can be lost on the day if we …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Why I was furious to get an email from Liz Leffman

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th March 2017 - 2:15 pm

Before I even start this, let me just say that Liz Leffman, the Chair of the English Party and our wonderful candidate in the Witney by-election is one of my favourite Liberal Democrats and that none of this is her fault.

She is one of the most constructive and practical people I have come across in the party and I’m delighted that she is leading the English Party on its journey to reform.

However, I got an email from her the other day, sent out by party HQ, that made me furious. Here’s what it said:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 50 Comments
Stephen Glenn

Analysis of Northern Ireland Election results #AE17

By Stephen Glenn | Sat 4th March 2017 - 12:45 pm

So all the votes have been counted, the transfers shuffled and now we have up to three weeks of negotiations to see if the Northern Ireland Assembly can come together in some shape. But what was the story of the count yesterday in Northern Ireland’s second election in 10 months?

This election saw a reduction of seats in Stormont from 108 to 90, or each seat returning just 5 MLAs. The turnout was up 10% on last May at 64.8% so every party was able to claim that more people voted for them but it was how that extra 10% of voters turned out that is the real story.

The two big gainers in the vote share were Sinn Féin up 3.9% and only 1200 votes behind the DUP in the popular vote and Alliance who were up 2.1%. The SDLP and UUP had negligible shifts in vote share -0.1% and +0.3% respectively, and the DUP dropped 1.1%. But this election became a story of transfers. From the moment that the UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said he would give his second preference to the SDLP things were shaping up.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 11 Comments
Richard Hall

The Lib Dems are the party the country needs

By Richard Hall | Sat 4th March 2017 - 11:20 am

I’ve been following politics for about 15 years and I joined the Liberal Democrats in January. When I was first interested in politics,  I was pretty right-wing. I was mired in stereotypes about race, sexuality, gender, and the unemployed. I was an avid reader of the Daily Mail and would hang on every word written by Richard Littlejohn. Then Michael Foot died. Now I’m too young to remember Michael Foot, but I’m sure older readers will remember him as being very divisive. Well Littlejohn just couldn’t help but call him a “useful idiot” just 3 days after he died and after that I was out. I slowly embraced liberalism and left right-wing dogma behind.

After a journey that started in US politics and included a lot of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” I developed left leaning views, open to reason but annoyed at the way people where being scapegoated for the mistakes of the powerful instead of being helped. But I became too cynical about politicians and started towards the far left. There I realised they were full of dogma too, were too anti-capitalist and fond of false equivalences about Republicans and Democrats, as well as being disrespectful of reasonable points of view. On top of that I realised that as much as the right-wing has been duped by The Sun and the Daily Mail, they were being taken in by Russia Today and Press TV.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 10 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Great result for Alliance as majority of Northern Ireland votes against Brexit

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th March 2017 - 9:48 am

The Northern Ireland election results are now  in and they show some very encouraging trends for those of us with a liberal outlook. Our sister party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, won 8 seats and got its highest vote share in 28 years. Although their number of seats stays the same at 8, in an Assembly that is 18 seats smaller, that is a major achievement. It also increased its first preference vote share by over 2%.

Voters also sent a message that they were opposed to Brexit with the biggest losers being the unionist parties, who lost 16 of the 18 seats. The DUP famously gave more than £400,000 to the Leave campaign. The impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland, particularly on the border with the Irish Republic, would be devastating as Nick Clegg wrote recently.

On her Facebook page, Alliance leader Naomi Long summed up a good night for the party:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 25 Comments
Elle Wadsworth

The Independent View: What’s the crack?

By Elle Wadsworth | Fri 3rd March 2017 - 2:28 pm

As more countries and jurisdictions are relaxing their laws around cannabis, many questions have arisen. Will legalisation affect potency? Could some types of cannabis actually reduce psychosis? What are the choices in cannabis legislation, is it just prohibition or legalisation? And if cannabis is legalised, will everyone start using it? These are just a few of the questions answered by myself and two other researchers from King’s College London in the fourth episode of a new podcast; What’s the Crack.

We created the podcast with an aim to improve public awareness of the complexity and reality of addiction, policies, stigma surrounding drug use and drugs scandals in the newspapers by exploring the evidence base. We are all passionate about the drugs and addiction research field and every episode draws upon our collective knowledge and experience, addressing the health, criminal justice, social and individual side to a story. The podcast links the academic world to the public, bridging the gap and filling in the blanks with research evidence that the media have left out. Previous episodes have covered Dry January, Fabric nightclub in London, drug consumption rooms and now it tackles cannabis legalisation.

This episode introduces different policy options of cannabis legislation, providing alternatives to the usual dichotomous choice of prohibition (possession and supply is illegal) or legalisation (cannabis is freely and widely sold). Alternative legislation is discussed; decriminalisation (it is only illegal to supply) and regulation (a government monopoly). In addition, various factors in the legalisation debate are considered, such as psychosis and THC (active chemical that make users feel “stoned”)/CBD (cannabinoid with various potential medical applications) levels and the impact of legalisation on these. Cannabis is made up of the chemicals THC and CBD and emerging evidence suggests that cannabis high in CBD may mean that people experience fewer psychosis-like symptoms when using the drug. Arguably an incentive for controlling the THC/CBD ratios.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Catherine Crosland

Living on borrowed time

By Catherine Crosland | Fri 3rd March 2017 - 12:58 pm

Many of you will have read Kate Atkinson’s novel, Life After Life. If you haven’t, I recommend it. On one level, it is a story of alternative realities, but its real theme is war. In chapter after chapter, the central character, Ursula, meets a different untimely end. Each time, this is followed by a chapter in which, in an alternative reality, the tragedy is averted, and Ursula lives longer, on borrowed time. Perhaps we are all Ursula, in one of her more fortunate realities. I’m sure I am.

I was born in the early hours of the 9th September, 1962. I had picked an inauspicious moment. Within a few hours of my arrival at Epsom District Hospital, a consignment of Soviet ballistic missiles had arrived in Cuba. This led, when I was a month old, to a confrontation between the USA and the USSR, which came close to leading to nuclear war.

On this occasion, disaster was averted. But my friends and I grew up with deadly Soviet weapons aimed permanently at us. Meanwhile, our government had equally deadly weapons aimed permanently at Russian children.

On 26th September 1983, a couple of weeks after my twenty-first birthday, the world again came close to nuclear war. This time, by a complete accident. The Soviet satellite early warning system appeared to detect five missiles from the United States heading towards the Soviet Union. The officer in charge at the time, Stanislav Petrov, would have been expected to report this to his superiors. Had he done so, a retaliatory strike might have been ordered, almost certainly leading to full scale nuclear war. But Petrov chose to “wait and see”. And it turned out the system had malfunctioned. Petrov may have saved millions of lives.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 63 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Friday fun: Tom Brake and Sarah Olney in Twitter video controversy

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd March 2017 - 12:20 pm

I don’t think Tom Brake, Sarah Olney or Simone van Beek, the staffer from LDHQ who directed the video, actually meant to amuse Twitter in quite the way that they did with this campaign video for Fairtrade Fortnight.

The message was good, although it may not have had quite the chemistry of the old Gold Blend ads of the 1990s.

For those readers who are too young to remember them, this was a series of twelve ads over six years advertising Gold Blend coffee. The romantic tension between stars Anthony Head and Sharon Maugham built up over time and everyone was on tenterhooks waiting for the final instalment. It made the fuss over Christmas department store ads we see today seem very small.

As a long-time boycotter of Nestle products, I had the pleasure of watching them knowing that I would never give the company a single penny in return for the entertainment.

Anyway, back to Sarah and Tom and the reaction on Twitter. This comparison seemed a little strange:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 5 Comments
Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Guns, butter and bridges

By Tom Arms | Fri 3rd March 2017 - 10:15 am

Donald Trump’s economic policy can best be described as guns, butter and bridges.

At the moment the United States ratio between its public debt and what it earns as a country every year is 104.7 percent.  That means the government owes 4.7 percent more than the country earns.

If America was a business– or a private household—the bank manager would be strongly advising Uncle Sam to earn more money and/or cut expenses or file for bankruptcy.

Now, Donald Trump wants to increase defence spending by ten percent, maintain welfare spending, spend trillions on improving American infrastructure and cut taxes.

Cash to pay for this will come from increased revenues from a stimulated economy, revised trade and defence deals with other countries, cuts in environmental programmes, the diplomatic corps and foreign aid.

Can he do it? Well let’s take a quick look.

Improve Infrastructure– America has plenty of roads, bridges, railways, ports and airports. It just needs to maintain what it has—but that will cost plenty. The American Society of Civil Engineers reckons that $3.6 trillion needs to be spent by 2020 just to maintain existing infrastructure.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 2 Comments
Merlene Emerson

Romancing the Silk Roads

By Merlene Emerson | Fri 3rd March 2017 - 8:45 am

As someone fascinated by the Central Asian countries, I was delighted when the All Party Parliamentary Group for China (APPCG) organised a talk this week by Peter Frankopan, author of “The Silk Roads – A New History of the World”.

“The Silk Roads are rising again”, said Richard Graham MP, Chair of APPCG at the end of a fulsome introduction of the Oxford University historian.  Yet, there are not many other Parliamentarians, let alone the British public, who are in tune with the zeitgeist.

Frankopan was keen to put into historical context the dramatic changes that we are witnessing today with a shift in the world order. The declining influence of western colonial powers,  the UK’s vote for BREXIT and the election of Trump, were contrasted against a China growing in confidence and pursuing the “One Belt One Road” initiative, the lynchpin for Xi JinPing’s foreign and economic policies.  

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems GAIN a council seat and have a strong hold in Redcar

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd March 2017 - 12:17 am

It’s that time on Thursday night again and I can tell you that we have gained a council seat – this time, on Wells City Council, from the Independent. Congratulations to Rob Ayres and his team.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 30 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Wow – a Liberal Democrat on Question Time tonight

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd March 2017 - 5:50 pm

Good news. We have a Lib Dem on Question Time tonight.

It may actually be worth watching.

Although there is a downside.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dem Job Watch: Cambridge Special

By The Voice | Thu 2nd March 2017 - 4:20 pm

As part of our occasional meander round the Liberal Democrat job ads, we have learned that Cambridge Lib Dems are looking for some staff between now and the May elections.

Across Cambridgeshire activists are campaigning hard to make Rod Cantrill the first elected mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and to take control of Cambridgeshire County Council.

Utilising both traditional and sophisticated online campaigning techniques in order to reach a huge geographical area, and with members of the winning Richmond by-election team at the helm, this is a great chance to come learn from the best.

Will you join the team? Can you forward this message to someone who might fit the bill?
There are three exciting roles available to the right candidates, with the potential for free accommodation in Cambridge for the duration of the campaign.

You can work part-time or full-time, so flexibility in job-sharing is an advantage.  Please indicate what you are interested in and how you might combine them.

Office Assistant

Campaign Assistant

Digital Campaigns Assistant

Applications to Elizabeth Parkin (Chair of Cambridge Liberal Democrats) by midnight on Monday 6th March.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Remember when all we had to worry about was Ed Miliband forgetting to mention the deficit?

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd March 2017 - 2:50 pm

Remember when Ed Miliband made his last leader’s speech before the 2015 election and he forgot the bit that had the deficit in it? To be honest, it was quite incredible that he managed to memorise an entire speech and deliver it without an autocue. It was just a shame that the bit he missed out was about something so politically important.

At least it was there, though.

Today, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell made a speech ahead of the budget that barely mentioned Brexit or the single market. There is an argument, I suppose, that they don’t need to. I mean, why …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 4 Comments
Martin Roche

Let’s turn the forensic spotlight on Theresa May’s “Britain that works for everyone”

By Martin Roche | Thu 2nd March 2017 - 1:19 pm
It should have been one of the government’s more difficult weeks.
 
News emerged that police forces in England are rationing how they respond to calls for help. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary says too many crimes are not being properly investigated and fewer prosecutions reaching the courts. That’s the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
 
Another watchdog, this time the Care Quality Commission, says 80% of hospitals are failing across a range of vital areas. That’s the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
 
In the House of Lords decency prevailed and the Noble members of that house voted to guarantee the UK residency and other rights of EU nationals. The government’s immediate response was to say it will try and overturn the vote when the Bill comes back to the Commons. That’s the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
 
What else, oh yes, Shelter says 80% of families in England can’t afford to buy a new home in their locality. A Tory minister gave a grudging apology following an outcry over his dreadful remarks about mentally ill people. In the South East of England commuters continued to suffer strikes and delays as the government plays ideological games over the Southern Rail dispute, which is really of course about the Tories crushing the last ounce of power from the public-sector unions. That’s the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 26 Comments
Ed Fordham

Winning in Stoke-on-Trent: The foundations that YOU laid

By Ed Fordham | Thu 2nd March 2017 - 11:48 am

On Tuesday, Ian Horner and I as Agent and Campaign Co-ordinator respectively cleared the by-election HQ for Stoke-on-Trent Central.   Unlike many such events from former by-elections, this was no sad or weary wake.

As we loaded up the bags and boxes, sorted out what could caravan into the next election portal we laughed, smiled and exchanged anecdotes of a campaign well fought.

1. Over 60% of the constituency that voted had voted against the Stoke Labour Party nominee, Gareth Snell. This result ws no ringing endorsement.
2. UKIP – the party that was going to win this unfairly designated “capital of Brexit” – were beaten and their Leader sent packing to fight his own internal civil war with no mandate, no victory and a clear rejection.
3. The ramifications of Labour’s strategy of total compromise and to become the party of Brexit Plus has lead to them voting with the Government. Yes, on Brexit Labour supported the government – now arguably the suicide note of history just got shorter.
4. The Tories, with a young shiny candidate did well to consolidate their support, build in their local councillor base and to almost supplant UKIP for second.

So with these elements at play, what worked for the Liberal Democrats?

We ran a campaign that was bold, confident, almost audacious. I recall clearly the moment in Sleaford and North Hykeham when it emerged that Ross Pepper was the only remain anti-Brexit candidate. With Labour fleeing the field, it is now clear that that will be the norm now going forwards.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 6 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Willie Rennie: Lib Dems will make case for public vote on Brexit deal even after Article 50 is triggered

By NewsHound | Thu 2nd March 2017 - 10:19 am

Willie Rennie, writing in the Perthshire Advertiser has made the case for a vote on the Brexit Deal. People can change their minds, he said, like the public did over Iraq. He reminds us that Charles Kennedy was vilified for his anti-war stance but he was vindicated in the end. And even if the government refuses to do something, it can be made to think again:

If you think about the fuel duty protests in the year 2000. There was a UK Government with a majority of 179 in the House of Commons. It didn’t have to have an election for two years. But it still changed its policy in response to an evident change of public mood.

A Brexit deal referendum would be the right and democratic thing to do. When they look back at this time our grandchildren will be perplexed that we did not take our time and ask ourselves the question if we really wanted this.

If the Brexit deal is damaging to jobs, the economy, our environment and the country’s security why would we not ask the British people. Why should we let bureaucrats and politicians behind closed doors make decisions that will have an impact on generations to come? Liberal Democrats will provide the focus for a democratic mandate that lets the British public have a say.

When Willie was MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, he was a member of the Defence Select Committee. He had some observations to make about Britain’s place in the world:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems react to Government defeat over #righttostay

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st March 2017 - 7:02 pm

Tim Farron and Dick Newby responded quickly to the excellent news that the Lords have done the decent thing and defeats the Government over EU Nationals’ right to stay.

The Government now needs to think again over how it treats the millions of EU citizens living in this country.

Theresa May has been stubbornly determined to use EU citizens in the UK as bargaining chips. Today the Lords have told her this is not acceptable. The Government must now secure the future of the millions who are currently being held in limbo by its drive for a hard Brexit.

The Liberal Democrats will stand up to this government

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 61 Comments
The Voice

WATCH: Farron: EU Nationals should be allowed to stay if we have anything decent about us

By The Voice | Wed 1st March 2017 - 6:28 pm

Ahead of the crucial vote in the House of Lords, now imminent, Tim Farron has done a video urging everyone, whether they voted Leave or Remain, to come together and protect the rights of EU nationals living in the UK.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Giving EU nationals the right to stay benefits us all

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st March 2017 - 4:47 pm

I’m feeling quite nervous this afternoon. The House of Lords is debating an amendment which would give EU nationals who have made their homes here the right to stay. The Government is expected to be defeated and I hope very much that this will be the case and that we won’t have the disgraceful scenes we saw on Monday when the so called opposition were whipped to reject an amendment on the single market.

For me, this is something very personal – and also a bit selfish. Like virtually everyone else, I have friends who are EU nationals. They live here. This is their home. I don’t want to see them used as bargaining chips. My neighbours are from Poland. I don’t want them to have any worries about whether they will be forced to uproot their lives and disrupt their daughter’s education.

Those things are important, but as many of you will know, my husband was seriously ill at the end of last year. He is making a good recovery thanks to the excellent specialist medical care he received. The surgeon who saved his life and who sped back into the hospital at dead of night when there was a problem to operate again is Italian. He’s the same surgeon, actually, who saved the life of Nicola Sturgeon’s father-in-law. His registrar is from Greece. The nurse who looked after him in ITU so skilfully was also Italian. I want them to have the right to live here unimpeded for two reasons. First of all, it’s the right thing to do. Secondly, I don’t want to lose their skills which make Edinburgh one of the best places for cardio-thoracic surgery in the UK. 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 16 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Sarah Olney holds first Westminster Hall debate on Heathrow expansion

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st March 2017 - 3:20 pm

There’s a lot of firsts when you are a new MP. Your first Early Day Motion (like a House of Commons petition), your first speech, your first question, and your first Westminster Hall debate. These debates, held outside the main chamber, concentrate on one subject and allow an MP to raise an issue directly with the Minister.

It will be of no surprise that Sarah’s first Westminster Hall debate was on the subject of Heathrow expansion and the effects in terms of road congestion and pollution of a bigger airport.

You can read the full debate – including the Deputy Speaker’s rebukes to both Sarah and a colleague for breaking the rules and a fairly patronising response from the Minister – here. Below is Sarah’s speech in full.

And she shouldn’t worry about a minor rebuke from the Speaker. Others have done worse and survived. Willie Rennie forgot to turn his phone off before one debate in 2007 and got a right telling off when one of his staff (not me) rang him during a Westminster Hall debate.

This is what Sarah said yesterday:

Continue reading »
Posted in Parliament | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Katharine Pindar
    @ David Raw. Thanks for your comments in this thread, David. And yes, it's good that we seem now to have a government which the Liberal Democrats can work with,...
  • Katharine Pindar
    No I can't, Peter, but hopefully the government under Andy Burnham can! Are you not persuaded yourself that now your Socialist party can finally be the 'real d...
  • Katharine Pindar
    Peter Martin: as to why we need the USA still to defend Europe, it is surely that we need President Trump to stand up to Putin for Ukraine and promote the end o...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Katharine, " It’s difficult now to see how Keynesian full employment can be fulfilled these days, to generate production of goods and economic grow...
  • Meg Thomas
    Important move. Thanks very much. The sad thing is we know it will fall on stony ground, but it really needs saying...