Liberal Democrat Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 5th February 2017 - 2:30 pm

7 best Many thanks to the 22,000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Lamb and Mulholland to abstain on Article 50 vote. What does this mean for the party? (86 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Why I’ve left the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election campaign (12 comments) by Ed Fordham

Yet another massive Lib Dem GAIN from Labour (25 comments) by Caron Lindsay

In full: Tim Farron’s speech in the Article 50 debate (49 comments) by The Voice

ICYMI: Nick Clegg’s brilliant speech in the Article 50 debate (21 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Is this the beginning of the end for May’s government? (44 comments) by Katharine Pindar

Posted in Site news | 2 Comments

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Lords reform back on the agenda?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 5th February 2017 - 12:30 pm

No doubt Lords reform will be back on the agenda after the peers have had their way with the Article 50 Bill. The Lords will at most be able to delay the legislation, but it may well return to the Commons in a shape that is displeasing to the Tory brexiteers. In that instance, we can expect to see ministers huff and puff about the impertinence of an unelected house interfering with Government legislation. These will be the same ministers who as Tory MPs frustrated Nick Clegg’s plans to have the House of Lords elected along with so many of their colleagues.

The Lords is a revising and scrutinising chamber and it has a duty to take the Government on if they produce bad legislation and I expect to see them doing that.

The idea of electing the Lords was discussed again on Friday as Green Peer Jenny Jones’ private members’ bill came up for second reading. It is not dissimilar to Lib Dem thinking on Lords reform and it was therefore unsurprising that our Alan Beith and Paul Scriven spoke up in favour of the Bill.

Alan had a good swipe at the Tories’ plans for a Repeal Bill in the process:

>We are now in a new situation. It would be an extraordinarily optimistic person who thought that we could get through legislation on Lords reform in a Parliament which will be overwhelmed by the vast corpus of primary and secondary legislation that will be involved in leaving the European Union. Perhaps the noble Baroness shares the tendency to political optimism which is often a characteristic of Liberal Democrats.

Her Bill has many similarities with the coalition’s proposals and with Liberal Democrat policy. It provides for what we regard as the essential ingredient of democracy while recognising that the second Chamber should be elected on a different basis from the Commons and on a different timescale. However, retaining all existing Peers except hereditaries as non-voting Members outnumbering the voting Members would produce a very strange assembly with obvious tensions. The noble Baroness may be making a massive concession before the process of negotiation has even begun in order to get turkeys to vote for Christmas.

Posted in News | Tagged alan beith, house of lords, Jenny jones, lords reform and paul scriven | 12 Comments

LibLInk: Alex Cole-Hamilton: On selling our souls for a US trade deal

By NewsHound | Sun 5th February 2017 - 10:56 am

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton is a vocal opponent of Donald Trump. He’s always had a massive interest in US politics. In 2008, he and his best friend Kevin Lang went out to Virginia to campaign for Barack Obama.

He’s written for the Scottish Lib Dems website to talk Trump and trade deals – specifically why we mustn’t allow our commitment to human rights to be diminished.

Many have watched in horror as the progressive legacy of Barrack Obama has been comprehensively devoured in the early days of Donald Trump’s post-truth presidency and with it, a cold awakening to a new kind

…

Posted in News | Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, brexit, donald trump, human rights and theresa may | 7 Comments

Three things a local party can do for newbies

By Adam Bernard | Sun 5th February 2017 - 9:05 am

With another(!) influx of new members, it seemed time to write about some things that work for us in Harrow. They’re not unique to us, but they’re not universal either, so it seemed worth sharing.

Say hello!

Here in Harrow Liberal Democrats we try and make sure all new members — if they want — get an individual personal welcome. Our (awesome) membership secretary, or someone else from the exec, or a ward organiser, or whoever, just arranges to meet for a chat at a café/pub.

It’s a really good way to a) make sure new members feel cared about; b) get a chance to find out what their interests / skills are, what they’d like to help with, and what they’d like to see the local party doing; c) let them ask any questions — on policy, or procedures, or local information. d) give them the hard sell on the next Harrow Lib Dem Pint where they can meet more of the team.

Pints

Posted in News | Tagged local parties, membership and newbies | 8 Comments

Tom Brake’s speech in the Article 50 debate

By The Voice | Sat 4th February 2017 - 12:59 pm

The final Liberal Democrat contribution in the Article 50 debate came from Tom Brake. We have published all the others as it is important for us all to be aware of what our MPs did and said on this most momentous of decisions.

I hope that I am wrong, but I believe that the decision that the country took on 23 June will result in the biggest self-inflicted wound since our disastrous intervention in Iraq. That wound is festering and it will leave the UK permanently economically weaker, even after it has healed. I believe that, when Members of Parliament believe that a course of action is going to be a catastrophe, they have a duty to harry, assail and oppose the Government, not to acquiesce.

I respect those who voted to leave. They had, and have, genuine grievances about a lack of jobs or education prospects, and concerns about the changes they see in our society, including concerns about immigration. The Brexiteers claimed that leaving the EU would address those concerns by stopping the cancellation of urgent hospital operations—paid for, presumably, by the tsunami of cash that was going to come to the NHS post-Brexit—improving teacher shortages in our schools and boosting housing supply. It will not do any of those things. In fact, it will make them worse. I doubt that even the leave campaign’s most prominent pledge, to reduce immigration substantially, will be achieved. Why would it be? After all, the Prime Minister has spent many years seeking to reduce the level of non-EU immigration, and nothing changed there.

What leaving the EU will do with certainty is diminish us as a nation and reduce our influence and international standing. That has already happened. Brexit has forced our Prime Minister, a born-again hard-line Brexiteer, to line up with Trump—indeed, to walk hand in hand with him. While European leaders and Canada condemned his Muslim ban, our Prime Minister’s initial response was to say, “Not my business.” Worse, she immediately offered him, with indecent haste, a state visit—far quicker than any other US President—which I am sure had absolutely nothing to do with her desperation to secure a trade deal, any deal, with the protectionist Trump.

Posted in News | Tagged article 50 debate, brexit, house of commons and tom brake | 5 Comments

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Norman Lamb slams West Kent NHS Operations Ban

By Antony Hook | Sat 4th February 2017 - 11:19 am

The NHS in West Kent (one of the most prosperous parts of the South East) has banned operations until April due to a funding crisis.

Norman Lamb

Norman Lamb, the former Liberal Democrat Health Minister, has responded after West Kent banned all non-urgent operations until April.

“Patients who are in severe pain should not have to wait for a new financial year to have an operation. This is not what our NHS is about. What we need instead is a new financial plan from the government to deliver the funding the health service needs.

“This is the longest …

Posted in News | 22 Comments

Britain in 2030 essay competition: And the winners are…

By Jim Williams | Sat 4th February 2017 - 8:57 am

It’s been a busy few weeks! Your Liberal Britain’s competition to write the party vision statement closed in early January. Since then we’ve had 30 volunteers reading and re-reading the 197 entries we received to produce a shortlist, working from a rigorous set of criteria rooted in the ideas contributed by the 7,000 members we consulted last year.

Now our group of seven judges – including Lib Dem Voice’s very own Caron Lindsay – have selected our winner and runners-up.

But first – why do we need a vision statement? As a party we struggle at times to explain what we stand for: our values mean the world to us, but they can be hard to communicate. Tim Farron is energetically rebuilding the party as a social movement with a common purpose, and our determined stance on Brexit is building support and momentum both.

At the same time, our opposition to Brexit does not in itself explain who we are or what we want to achieve more broadly – nor will it continue to be the defining issue in politics indefinitely.

To support Tim’s work, we need a party-wide conversation about what we stand for. Your Liberal Britain has worked to provide that conversation, hearing from more than 7,000 people and running 67 events up and down the country.

Our approach is simple: to best explain what we stand for, we should describe how Britain could be different if we Lib Dems had our way.

Blair and Thatcher each had more than a decade in government to remake Britain. We can still feel the consequences today. What would the UK be like after a decade of Lib Dem government?

We need a short, simple, inspirational description of how life in Britain would be better if the Lib Dems had their way. Your Liberal Britain’s ‘Britain in 2030’ competition is our effort to write that vision statement.

The authors of the winning and runner-up entries will now form a writing group, along with four established writers in the party who we’ve invited ahead of time. Working from the winning entry, these seven writers will collaborate to produce a vision statement that the whole party can get behind.

We’ll start work in mid-February, and take as long as we need to get it right. If we do our jobs well, this document could guide our policy making, inform our campaigns and communications, inspire our members, and support our candidates and elected representatives.

So who are the winners? First up, here are the authors of the nine entries we shortlisted:

Posted in News | Tagged your liberal britain | 1 Comment

ALDC’s by-election report – 2nd February 2017

By ALDC | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 6:55 pm

Last night saw another amazing gain for the Lib Dems resulting in our first new councillor in Rotherham since 2000! In Rotherham there were two seats up for contention – one a Labour seat and another for UKIP. Both changed hands.

In Brinsworth & Catcliffe, Lib Dem Dr Adam Carter has three simple messages which were repeated throughout the literature and scripts for doorstep and phone canvassing.

Adam lives locally in Brinsworth
He works as an NHS doctor
The Lib Dem Team are fighting for a new school

The Labour vote went down an astonishing 26.2% from 2016 local elections as our vote rose by 50.4%. This is the highest share of votes ever in Rotherham and Adam and his campaign manager, Hannah Kitching, rightly deserve all of the plaudits coming their way for this fantastic win.

LD Adam Carter 2000
Labour 519
UKIP 389
Conservative 91
Green 30
32% turnout
Majority 1481
LD gain from Labour
Percentage change 2016

On the same night in another part of Rotherham, in Dinnington ward, Stephen Thornley stood for the Lib Dems. The amazing result in the other part of Rotherham shows the very effective targeting of their campaign. This was not a ward the team were going to win, however, they still stood a candidate and should be applauded for doing so.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged local government by-elections | 3 Comments

Attack Leave’s Leaders, Ideas and Claims. Not Voters.

By Antony Hook | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 5:01 pm

When our party, and the wider movement of people in our country who are broadly liberal, is at its best we are: understanding, tolerant, empathetic and open.

But there are times when some people “on our side” are less than that. There are some people who do not understand the difference between robustly defending an idea and being rude.

I know the aggression of the other side. I know all about the trolling and harassment on social media. In my years as a candidate I have had hate mail, someone follow me at night, silent phone calls and been signed up to junk mail lists. You just …

Posted in News | 43 Comments

Tributes to Gordon Aikman

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 4:15 pm

There is a real sadness across Scotland today at the loss of a wonderful young man. Gordon Aikman was the Research Director of the Better Together campaign when he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in the Summer of 2014. We all hoped that he would defy the odds and, like Stephen Hawking, still be there in his 70s. Sadly that was not to be as his death was announced this morning.

I only met him a few times. The first was at some reception organised by our Conference commercial people in Edinburgh a few months before he was diagnosed. He was very funny and friendly and someone who was very easy to get along with.

It says so much about him that his reaction to such a terrifying and horrific diagnosis was to do something to help those who came behind him. His Gordon’s Fightback appeal has, to date, raised almost £540,000. He did more than raise money, though. He put his research skills to good use and presented the First Minister with an irrefutable case for the provision of better care for MND sufferers, with more specialist nurses.

My heart goes out to his husband Joe Pike and his close friends including Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale.

All of Scotland’s political leaders, and some others, paid tribute to him today.

Terribly sad. A generous, determined and gentle man. He has left a great legacy. https://t.co/Box1HPkBZn

— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) February 3, 2017

In a statement, he added:

This is incredibly sad news. Gordon was a generous and determined gentleman. My thoughts go out to Joe, Gordon’s family and friends.

His contribution during the independence referendum campaign was both intelligent and joyful. I have great memories of working with him. He has left a great legacy that no one will forget.

Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale is a close friend who has personally raised more than £20,000 for the appeal:

Gordon was a beautiful man who existed to do nothing but good in this world – just devastated pic.twitter.com/Nc3gw55IB1

— Kezia Dugdale (@kezdugdale) February 3, 2017

In her statement she said:

Posted in News | Tagged gordon aikman and Scotland | 3 Comments

LibLink: Lindsay Northover: UK aid: High impact, low cost

By NewsHound | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 2:55 pm

Former Lib Dem International Development Minister Lindsay Northover has been writing for Politics Home about the benefits for both recipients and us at home in the UK of our international aid budget. This is very important to read when it is clear that this is the next target of the right wing media and political types.

She wrote of the impact on disease prevention:

Since 2000 and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals, the world achieved its commitment to halve extreme poverty. The Sustainable Development Goals adopted globally in 2015 aim to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, leaving no one behind. That is a supreme challenge. But it is clearly the right thing to do and in our interest. The instability fostered in the world by poverty, migration, climate change, conflict, must be tackled collectively.

This is why my Lib Dem colleagues Michael Moore and Jeremy Purvis took their private member’s bill through Parliament in the last days of the Coalition to secure that future commitment of 0.7 percent of GNI on aid. Many members across both Houses helped us, together with NGOs, and tributes are paid to the UK internationally for making this commitment.

So let us look at disease control and elimination – which is just one area that the UK is a world leader in, but which is topical as we pass the fifth anniversary of the London Declaration in 2012, when a major increase of funding for neglected tropical diseases was announced.

Posted in News | Tagged international development, Lindsay Northover and politicshome | 1 Comment

Julian Huppert writes…Stoking the flames of liberalism

By Julian Huppert | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 1:30 pm

Can you imagine how you’d feel, waking up on the 24th February, to hear the BBC headline ‘In what is being seen as a stunning boost to the hard Brexit campaign, Paul Nuttall, the leader of UKIP, sensationally snatched the seat of Stoke-on-Trent Central from a disintegrating Labour party. Nigel Farage is now live.’

I’d feel utterly gutted. The Tories, with Labour’s acquiescence, are already following the UKIP line closely enough, without an extra UKIP MP.

I’ve been talking to people in Stoke, and looking at the figures. Labour are in massive trouble there. It’s more than a decade since they got over 40% in any election, local or national there, with a huge decline in their actual votes. Less than half their voters in 2001 were still voting for them in 2015, with 14,000 having abandoned them, and that was even before Jeremy Corbyn. Sadly, many people are deserting Labour and looking for an alternative. For some, that alternative will be UKIP – we have to provide a better option for them.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brinsworth, by-elections and stoke on trent central | 15 Comments

After Brinsworth and Catcliffe we must all turn our attention to Stoke Central and Copeland

By Andy Sangar | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 12:00 pm

Thirteen days ago I broke off from a canvass conversation on a Brinsworth doorstep to take a call from Great George Street asking me to head to Copeland for the parliamentary by-election.

Last night’s victory for Liberal Democrat Dr Adam Carter in the Brinsworth and Catcliffe by-election is remarkable in many ways. The first Lib Dem elected in Rotherham since 2000. A 38.3% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats. A crushing defeat for UKIP in a ward they had high hopes. A victory for hope and optimism amidst the pall of recent scandals that have blighted Rotherham.

Like many …

Posted in Campaign Corner | 9 Comments

ICYMI: Sarah Olney’s speech in the Article 50 debate: We can’t build country without fear & poverty by turning our back on our neighbours

By The Voice | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 10:25 am

When I think of the country that I would like my generation to give to our children, I think of a country that lives without fear, poverty and inequality, but we cannot build that world by turning our back on our neighbours, closing the door to our friends, turning a blind eye to tyranny or walking hand in hand with intolerance.

Sarah Olney has got the hang of making great speeches in the House of Commons pretty quickly. In the Article 50 debate, she spoke from the heart while revealing the obfuscation of the Government as they try to deny people the true information about the consequences of Brexit. Here is her speech in full:

In this country, we have settled, through a process of trial and error, on a system of parliamentary democracy as the most effective form of governance. The importance of Parliament’s role was once again asserted by the Supreme Court last week. The responsibility of parliamentarians is clear: to take decisions in the best interests of the country with particular regard for the needs of their constituents. I believe that leaving the European Union will be hugely damaging for this country; the British people, through the referendum, narrowly expressed a different view. It is now up to Parliament to take account of the result of the referendum and decide what is in the best interests of the country.

There is no evidence, and none has been presented, that the best interests of the country will be served by the immediate triggering of article 50 and the pursuit of the hardest Brexit possible. It seems to me an abdication of responsibility to say that the only factor that can be considered in deciding whether to trigger article 50 is the result of the referendum. “The will of the people” cannot be tied down to one single point and be presumed never to change or waver. It should not be assumed that the decision of a narrow majority of people, willing and entitled to express a view on 23 June, should be the only thing to determine the fate of the whole population for now and many decades into the future. This is not the end of the debate; it is only the beginning.

Posted in News | Tagged house of commons and sarah olney | 3 Comments

Observations of an expat: I am a liberal

By Tom Arms | Fri 3rd February 2017 - 8:55 am

The Brexiteering Trump supporter narrowed his eyes, curled his upper lip, glared at me and sneeringly stuttered: “You..you..LIBERAL.

I removed the handkerchief from my pocket, wiped away what I believe was unintentional spit from just below my left eye, and gave him an infuriatingly rueful smile.

To many conservative-minded folk a liberal is a threat to their way of life. Liberal tolerance of other religions, genders and cultures forces conservatives into politically correct language which sticks in their throats. The liberal emphasis on equality threatens their supremacy and culture. And liberal generosity is seen as undermining livelihoods and threatening security.

The word liberal is derived from the Latin root liberalis which means noble, gracious and munificient; character traits which I would love to have. Liberalis is also the root for the word liberty which runs golden thread-like through modern western civilisation. “Give me liberty or give me death,” shouted Patrick Henry. The single word “liberty” was emblazoned on an early American revolutionary flag and it plays a key role in the Preamble to the US constitution.

Liberte is the first word in the catchy slogan of the French revolution, and in 19th century European liberalism was equated with parliamentary government and political reform based on equality.

Adam Smith regarded natural liberty as the highest form of human existence and liberal—or free—trade between nations was his ultimate aim. For the ancient Greeks a liberal arts education was the summit of learning and culture.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberalism and observations of an ex pat | 14 Comments

Yet another massive Lib Dem GAIN from Labour

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

Brinsworth in Rotherham is not the most likely Lib Dem territory, but tonight, Dr Adam Carter is the new Lib Dem Councillor for the area. This is the are which includes Orgreave, where the violent confrontation took place during the Miners’ Strike.

Liberal Democrat GAIN Brinsworth & Catcliffe
(Rotherham) from Labour.

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) February 3, 2017

And it’s not by a tiny margin either.

Brinsworth & Catcliffe (Rotherham) result:
LDEM: 66.0% (+50.4)
LAB: 17.1% (-26.2)
UKIP: 12.8% (-16.4)
CON: 3.0% (-8.8)
GRN: 1.0% (+1.0)

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) February 3, 2017

Posted in News | Tagged brinsworth and local government by-elections | 25 Comments

The irony behind tonight’s Corbyn media firestorm

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 9:35 pm

By Jeremy Corbyn’s standards, it was actually quite a good speech. Pink News has the video here. He was engaged, clearly speaking from the heart. He talked about having saved a Gay Centre from attack by National Front types decades before gay rights became fashionable. And then, in true Corbyn fashion, he has to go and ruin it all by concluding:

Our defence of you is a defence of all of humanity and the right of people to practise the life they want to practise, rather than be criminalised, brutalised and murdered, simply because they chose to be gay, they chose to be lesbian, they were LGBT in any form

Obviously, being gay isn’t some kind of lifestyle choice. You don’t choose it any more than you choose your eye pr skin colour or whether you are right or left handed. It is how you are born. Everything about Jeremy Corbyn’s voting record on LGBT issues over the years suggests he knows that and that he genuinely mis-spoke tonight. Let’s face it, it’s not the first time he’s snatched disaster from the jaws of opportunity.

He should be aware that any inference that your sexual orientation or gender identity is a choice plays into the hands of those who wish to roll back the decades of progress. It is also deeply upsetting to LGBT people.

It’s even more upsetting when it’s being gleefully amplified all over the place by the right wing press and Tory LGBT groups.

Posted in News | Tagged jeremy corbyn, LGBT, pink news and right wing media | 10 Comments

Why I’ve left the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election campaign

By Ed Fordham | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 7:53 pm

I’m sitting here in Stoke-on-Trent railway station waiting for a train to London. Yes I’m leaving the by-election – for 36 hours. Handing over the tasks, the jobs, the plans to other people whilst I hold half the information in my mind was pretty mad. And all the people I was dropping things onto, they already have jobs to do. But that’s the nature of the by-election HQ here in Stoke-on-Trent busy busy busy.

However I’m not leaving for a break, or any kind of desire to get away – I’m off to the funeral of a best friend who was untimely killed on his war to work just before Christmas in a car accident at the age of 33. So I’m off for a good old cry and a large number of real deep life-affirming hugs with some very special friends. There won’t be a dry eye in the house. I’m stopping myself from crying as I type this.

So I need another favour from you all. I’m asking you to step up and step in for my absence. We need your help on the street, on the doorsteps and on the phones. Do I matter so much? No! But every person, every delivery, every canvass makes a positive difference to our chances. And my mate, whom I’m off to say goodbye to, was positive if he was nothing else.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged by-elections, stoke on trent central and zulfiqar ali | 12 Comments

Tower Hamlets councillor Andrew Cregan leaves Labour and joins Lib Dems

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 5:55 pm

Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats received a boost today when local councillor Andrew Cregan left Labour to join the rapidly growing local Lib Dems.

I have joined the Lib Dems as the only party that is pro-EU, fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united https://t.co/b5Yx88ZZdP

— Andrew Cregan (@Andrew_Cregan) February 2, 2017

From the Standard:

Mr Cregan, 33, said he had the “greatest respect” for his Labour colleagues on the council and said would support them in votes “where it is due”.

But he criticised Mr Corbyn’s leadership, particularly on Europe and said he was dismayed by “what is going on at grassroots level in the party”.

By contrast, he said, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron offered a clear lead against Brexit. “The Liberal Democrats are fighting for Britain to remain an open, tolerant and united nation in Europe,” he said.

Senior Lib Dems were delighted to have a toe-hold on Tower Hamlets. Chris Maines, chair of London Liberal Democrats, said: “Thousands of former Labour members and supporters across London have joined the Liberal Democrats over the past few months.

“They will help us provide the real opposition to this Conservative Brexit government, which does not represent the majority, and a Labour party getting in line behind Theresa May and pushing for a hard Brexit.”

Posted in News | Tagged andrew cregan, brexit, elaine bashaw and tower hamlets | 1 Comment

Tim Farron’s message for Time to Talk Day

By The Voice | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 2:40 pm

Today is Time to Talk Day, when we are asked to talk about mental health to help reduce the stigma and provide support to those who suffer from mental ill health.

Tim Farron has recorded a message for the day.

Posted in News | Tagged tim farron and time to talk day 2017 | 3 Comments

Why we shouldn’t feel helplessness towards the refugee crisis in an age of Trump

By Office of Lord Roberts | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 12:06 pm

During the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2015 public awareness of the refugee crisis arguably reached its peak. In particular, images of three-year-old Alan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach sparked public outrage, and a wave of ideological mobilisation. That is not to say that the country did not care prior to this incident, but for many months following that particular fatality social media outlets were awash with vocal outcries of sympathy.

Posted in Op-eds | 2 Comments

The first results in the party internal elections are in

By The Voice | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 10:25 am

As we have publicised a couple of times, a new round of party elections is taking place. The electorate is the Federal Board.

The following people have been elected unopposed:

Registered Treasurer & Chair of Federal Finance and Resources Committee: Peter Dunphy

Party Treasurer: Lord Mike German

Chair of Federal Campaigns and Elections Committee: James Gurling

Chair of Campaign for Gender Balance: Candy Piercy

Vice Chair of Federal Board: Neil Fawcett

Federal Board Rep on Federal International Relations …

Posted in News | Tagged internal elections, liberal democrats and party organisation | 5 Comments

For our 4000+ Newbies: The Lib Dem Lowdown: How the party works and what it has to offer

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd February 2017 - 8:49 am

Welcome to the 4000 people who have joined the Liberal Democrats over the past month. This is basically a revision of a post that I first did in May 2015 when many joined the party in the wake of the election result (and revised after the Referendum) in the hope that it might be useful to tell you a little bit about how our party works and give you a bit of an idea of the opportunities open to you. If you are not yet a member, read it and if you think it sounds appealing, sign up here.

What do we believe?

Before we get into the nitty gritty of organisation, the best statement of who we are and what we’re about can be found in the Preamble to our Constitution which underlines how we believe in freedom, opportunity, diversity, decentralisation and internationalism. Here’s a snippet:

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.

We look forward to a world in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace and in which their different cultures will be able to develop freely. We believe that each generation is responsible for the fate of our planet and, by safeguarding the balance of nature and the environment, for the long term continuity of life in all its forms. Upholding these values of individual and social justice, we reject allprejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality.

We have a fierce respect for individuality, with no expectation that fellow Liberal Democrats will agree with us on every issue. We expect our views to be challenged and feel free to challenge others without rancour. We can have a robust debate and head to the pub afterwards, the very best of friends.

Your rights as a member

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged new members | 6 Comments

In full: Tim Farron’s speech in the Article 50 debate

By The Voice | Wed 1st February 2017 - 5:30 pm

Tim Farron spoke in the Commons debate on Article 50 this afternoon. Here is his speech in full:

She is not in her place now, but I want to pay tribute to the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson) for her excellent maiden speech.

Liberal Democrats have always been proud internationalists. It was the Liberals who backed Winston Churchill’s European vision in the 1950s, even when his own party did not do so. Since our foundation, we have been champions of Britain’s role in the European Union and fought for co-operation and openness with our neighbours and with our allies. We have always believed that the challenges that Britain faces in the 21st century—climate change, terrorism and economic instability—are best tackled working together as a member of the European Union.

Being proud Europeans is part of our identity as a party, and it is part of my personal identity too. Personally, I was utterly gutted by the result. Some on the centre left are squeamish about patriotism; I am not. I am very proud of my identity as a northerner, as an Englishman, as a Brit, and as a European—all those things are consistent. My identity did not change on 24 June, and neither did my values, my beliefs, or what I believe is right for this country and for future generations. I respect the outcome of the referendum. The vote was clear—close, but clear—and I accept it.

But voting for departure is not the same as voting for a destination. Yes, a narrow majority voted to leave the EU, but the leave campaign had no plans, no instructions, no prospectus and no vision. No one in this Government, no one in this House and no one in this country has any idea of what the deal the Prime Minister will negotiate with Europe will be—it is completely unknown. How, then, can anyone pretend that this undiscussed, unwritten, un-negotiated deal in any way has the backing of the British people? The deal must be put to the British people for them to have their say. That is the only way to hold the Government to account for the monumental decisions they will have to take over the next two years.

Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Tagged article 50, brexit, house of commons and tim farron | 49 Comments

4000 new Lib Dem members in a month

By The Voice | Wed 1st February 2017 - 4:08 pm

The Liberal Democrat figures for January are out and they are impressive – 4000 members in the month, 2000 of them in the last 10 days and 1000 since Tim Farron led the opposition to Trump’s travel ban and called for the offer of the state visit to be withdrawn.

Party President Sal Brinton said:

Reaching 82,000 members is the highest membership in over two decades. With more than 4,000 new members having joined us in January and more than 1,000 joining since Trump’s Executive Order on Friday, people are responding to the politics of hatred by joining the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats are the real opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government and it is great to welcome so many new members.

Posted in News | Tagged membership and sal brinton | 8 Comments

Churchill inspires D66 fightback against Trumpism and Farage’s people-expulsing “Hard Brexit”

By Bernard Aris | Wed 1st February 2017 - 2:45 pm

This past week, both the Guardian and the Sun had articles about the deputy ALDE liberal group leader Sophie in’t Veld in the European Parliament getting involved in the mistreatment of ordinary EU citizens, living and working in the UK and being married to Britons, by the May government and its over-enthusiastic Brexiteer ministers. Both newspapers only failed to mention which party Mrs In’t Veld belongs to: none other than D66, the social-liberal inheritors of the pre-War VDB.

As one of three parties at the origins of Dutch abortion legislation (very similar to David Steel’s brilliant Liberal inheritance on that point in Britain), D66 fully supports the initiative by our Trade & Development minister Mrs Ploumen to try to compensate family planning advice and abortion services in the Third World, scrapped by Mr. Trump and his Christian-fundamentalist Vice President Pence. We’ll support continuing that compensatory policy in the next Dutch coalition government formed in the coming summer.

People who know about the career of Winston Churchill will be outraged by the fact that president Trump, who cosies up to jingoist-Russian, NATO-threatening and EU-subverting president Putin, put up a bust of Churchill in his Oval Office. You only have to look up Churchill’s Wikipedia item to see that from 1934 onwards (Hitler walking out of the League of Nations and abandoning his Versailles restrictions), Churchill sought and got data about German re-armament (Luftwaffe) and harried the appeasing Tory governments to re-arm Britain. An enormous contrast; Trump is behaving more like the self-seeking, protectionist European governments, not paying attention to foreign policy, which proved such easy pickings for Hitler and (in Poland and the Baltic) Stalin.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged churchill, D66, netherlands and sophie in't veld | 11 Comments

The Radical Association: Fighting for a bolder Lib Dem future

By James Baillie | Wed 1st February 2017 - 1:15 pm

Times are tough for liberals and liberalism internationally, and perhaps especially at the moment in the Anglosphere. It’s frustrating to be locked out of power, and to see our values attacked from all sides both at home and abroad. It’s miserable seeing the UK lurch towards a hard Brexit, and I hope that together we can fight against May’s love-in with the hardline authoritarian regime emerging across the Atlantic.

Even in the darkest and most confusing times, though, it’s important that we look to the future as well as fighting present battles. That’s why I and others have been working on setting up the Radical Association, a new ginger group hoping to build innovative new policies and strategies for the Liberal Democrats to face the challenges of the 21^st century. Global warming, increasing automation in the economy, cybercrime, building a more open & accessible society, coping with an ageing population, strengthening and revitalising local communities – these and more are all issues that need a wave of fresh liberal ideas to meet them and ensure we’re ready for the challenges that the future will bring.

We’ve now got to the stage where we’re ready to lay the groundwork and put together a formal organisational structure for the Radical Association so we can carry these goals forward. We’re planning to work right along the policy pipeline, from supporting policy research and discussion groups, through to working out how we can get bold, clear policies onto the conference floor, to helping the party campaign on new ideas and get them out into the country’s wider political debate. At last conference we were active in calling for a wider rethink of the party’s social security policy, and we’re committed to building on that and working on other areas in the months ahead and helping ensure members are presented with clear choices and big new policies on the conference floor and beyond.

Posted in News | 11 Comments

Federal Conference Committee Motions Report

By Zoe O’Connell | Wed 1st February 2017 - 11:45 am

Avid readers of Liberal Democrat Voice will already have seen Geoff Payne’s report on the results of this weekend’s Federal Conference Committee meeting. All those whose motions were not selected should now have received feedback, so we’re able to release the list of motions to be debated in March when the party gathers in York.

Although I have covered this before, a quick reminder of how FCC selects motions is probably helpful particularly as this is the first time I have included information on voting. Selection runs in rounds, with the first round consisting of an FCC member responsible for a particular policy area briefly introducing the motion and making a recommendation on inclusion on the agenda. After this, committee members discuss it and decide if it should be accepted or not. This usually involves a show of hands, although the decision is often clear following the debate and a lack of any objection to the recommendation. Even being very tough in round one, we always end up with more excellent motions left than can fit in the agenda, so the process is then repeated in subsequent rounds as necessary.

It is important to note that non-selection of a motion usually does not mean that FCC believes the topic unworthy of debate, although we are always wary of repeatedly debating the same few items over and over. Most motions end up not making it to conference due to lack of time, because of technical or drafting issues or because Federal Policy Committee already working on a policy paper in that area. Those who submitted motions will have been given more detailed feedback. The committee also can only select from motions that have been submitted to us!

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged federal conference committee report | 16 Comments

ICYMI: Nick Clegg’s brilliant speech on Article 50 Bill

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st February 2017 - 10:22 am

I am so proud of Nick Clegg who made one of the speeches of his life, and one of the best I have ever heard in Parliament, in the Article 50 Bill yesterday. You would hope that such a momentous decision would bring out the best in our MPs. It certainly did for Nick whose oratory was mature, passionate, honest and searingly critical of a Government acting in its party’s, not the national interest, Watch it here.

The full text, including the interventions, is below:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged article 50, brexit, house of commons and nick clegg | 22 Comments

Tim Farron welcomes LGBT History Month

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st February 2017 - 9:00 am

February is LGBT History Month, a chance to celebrate those campaigners who have made such a difference for LGBT rights and a chance to remember all those who suffered as a result of repressive attitudes and laws. When I was growing up, I was heartbroken to hear accounts of long-term partners being frozen out of hospital visiting or funeral arrangements by family members who didn’t recognise their relationship. You could live with someone for decades and have no rights when they were ill or when they died.

It looks as though the US may be about to enter a period when these hard-won rights are cast aside and we’ll have new examples of the effects of harsh and cruel intolerance. There are numerous examples of repressive regimes where LGBT people face death or imprisonment. In this country, hate crime is on the increase. The road to equality across the world is still being built and it’s important that we all do our bit to help.

I am constantly awestruck at the courage of some of my friends, who took risks when same sex sexual activity was still illegal (officially until 1980 in Scotland) to support others and to lay the foundations for the much more welcoming environment we have today. Scotland is one of the best places in the world to be LGBT these days and it’s due to people like my friend Gregan Crawford, who is now Edinburgh Lib Dems’ Master of All Things Connect (seriously, he makes the best delivery runs EVER).

Anyway, here is his account of an International Gay Rights Congress which took place in Edinburgh in 1974 which ended up with 2000 people marching on the BBC:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged gregan crawford, LGBT, lgbt history month and tim farron | 3 Comments

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