Geoffrey Payne

19 July 2025 – Social Liberal Forum Conference: Building a Liberal Vision for Britain’s Future

By Geoffrey Payne | Tue 24th June 2025 - 1:07 pm

Tickets for this event are available via the Social Liberal Forum website.

The Challenge We Face

Nine years have passed since the Brexit referendum divided our nation. The narrow Leave victory, driven primarily by the “left behind” communities in Wales, the Midlands, and Northern England—areas that felt abandoned by decades of economic neglect—set us on a path that has fundamentally reshaped British politics.

Those of us who supported Remain were left grappling with profound questions: How do we understand what happened? How do we respond constructively to the concerns that drove that vote?

The 2024 election brought hope that Labour might finally deliver for these “left behind” communities after 14 years of Conservative mismanagement and Brexit failure. Yet early signs suggest this promise may go unfulfilled. The result? Growing disillusionment with mainstream politics, with voters either staying home or turning to Reform UK—a dangerous trend we’ve witnessed across the democratic world, from Trump’s America to populist movements throughout Europe.

This presents a stark warning for the next general election expected in 2029: unless we act decisively, Britain risks following the same destructive path toward authoritarian populism.

The Liberal Democrat Opportunity

The Liberal Democrats now with 72 MPs can offer something different. But seizing it requires fundamental changes:

  • Higher national profile so that voters know what we stand for
  • Ambitious economic policies that directly tackle inequality and public sector decline
  • A compelling vision for Britain’s future where voters can feel that their vote makes a difference
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John Medway

More thoughts on GDP and growth

By John Medway | Tue 24th June 2025 - 10:16 am

My thanks to Tony Vickers for usefully setting out his take on the subject of GDP in last Friday’s Lib Dem Voice, Global Capitalist Economics: time to unmask GDP?. Here in response is my own take, which isn’t far from his.

I see the fundamental aim of any progressive movement to be the enhancement of human well-being, including that of future generations. A progressive government needs to recognise four preconditions for sustainable and enhanced well-being: a supportive physical environment, such as a stable climate, clean water and fertile soils; a healthy economy free from such scourges as poverty, squalid …

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Mark Pack

Mark Pack’s June report to members

By Mark Pack | Tue 24th June 2025 - 7:30 am

It’s the Lib Dems who can beat Reform

Here are some statistics that should both encourage us and spur us on. They are for principal authority council by-elections since May 1st where a Reform candidate finished as one of the top two:

  • Reform and Conservative in the top two : 0% Conservative wins
  • Reform and Labour in the top two: 17% Labour wins
  • Reform and Lib Dem in the top two: 78% Lib Dem wins

In fact, the figures are even better than that, because those other 22% of contests where Reform finished first and the Lib Dems second were all contests in previously Labour held seats and where we had moved up from further behind to second. Even though we did not win in those, they were still good results for us, taking significant steps forward.

In other words, just as liberalism is the philosophical answer to populism, so Liberal Democrat campaigning is the practical answer to populism.

Thank you, Dick Newby

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat group in the Lords, Dick Newby, has announced that he is standing down as leader of the group after almost a decade in post. That period has been a real rollercoaster for the party, and included a long stretch when the Lib Dem Lords group had to take on a big extra burden of work due to the shrunken size of the Commons Parliamentary Party.

Huge thanks for everything you have done, and for making me so welcome as one of the newest members of the group.

Constitutional amendment

The Board is still consulting on the wording of a ‘tidying up’ omnibus amendment to submit to Autumn Federal Council. This is designed to tidy up slight ambiguities of wording, missed cross-references and the like rather than to make any substantive change. Such periodic housekeeping does however end up saving time and making things easier.

So please grab your constitutional magnifying glass, ready your pedantic skills and take a look at the consultation.

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: Why are we sitting on the fence on America’s strikes on Iran?

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 23rd June 2025 - 4:37 pm

Sometimes our party or, at least, its leadership, leaves me with my head in my hands. This past weekend and, indeed, today is one such occasion.

On Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions, or deputy PMQs as it was as Starmer was at the G7 in Canada, our own deputy leader Daisy Cooper reminded the House of Commons of the Lib Dems brave and right leadership of the opposition to the Iraq War back in 2003 and warned against the UK once again backing another United States misadventure in the Middle East.

Well all I can ask is: what happened between Wednesday and Sunday? Did we think the UK should oppose action against Iran when it was only a theoretical idea? Has Ed overruled Daisy? Or have our leadership as a collective had a case of the jitters and (as always, some might argue) are they running scared of Tory voters in the shires?

The statement our leader put out yesterday managed to basically use up quite a number of words to absolutely nothing at all.

Do we support the action? No answer.

Do we oppose it? No answer.

We are sitting on the fence, yet again, when we could be, in the spirit of Charles Kennedy, leading the opposition to a President of the United States who is chaotic, unhinged, and who is riding roughshod over Congress and the usual way things are conducted.

A convicted felon who cares not one jot about checks, balances, and due process, who cares only about himself and his agenda. He apparently doesn’t even care about his own MAGA base to whom, pre election, he made very clear his opposition to American military participation in other people’s wars and who stridently made clear that, in his view, America should not act as the world’s policeman.

Then again, Trump is using the American military against U.S. citizens using their first amendment right to protest his disgraceful stances on immigration including ‘deporting’ U.S. citizens (which is rightly being challenged in the courts).

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Adrian Sanders

Here we go again…

By Adrian Sanders | Mon 23rd June 2025 - 12:53 pm

I have woken most mornings since President Trump came to power with a feeling of foreboding as I switch on the radio in the morning to discover his latest announcements. Add to that a sense of déjà vu when events in the Middle East top the news and I can’t say I start the day in the best of spirits.

Back in 2002 an American President was convinced that regime change in a Middle Eastern country would put a stop to terrorism carried out by so called Islamic groups and avenge the atrocity that occurred on the 11th September 2001, better …

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Barry Smith

A Monument to the Past, a Barrier to the Future

By Barry Smith | Mon 23rd June 2025 - 9:42 am

“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us,” said Winston Churchill, defending the decision to retain the adversarial layout of the House of Commons during its post-World War II reconstruction. Looking at the way our political system functions today, it’s hard not to agree with him.

Entering the Palace of Westminster, one is immediately immersed in centuries of history. The very walls radiate tradition. Westminster Hall — where Queen Elizabeth II lay in state — dates back over 900 years. The weight of British history is tangible, steeped in the legacy …

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Caron Lindsay

Happy 80th birthday, Mary Reid

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 23rd June 2025 - 7:30 am

Today is an incredibly special day.

Our wonderful Thursday and Friday editor Mary Reid celebrates her Ruby Jubilee.

We are sure that everyone she ever taught, anyone who has been on the receiving end of her patient and generous help with their articles for this site, anyone whose campaign she has helped, anyone whose problem she solved as a councillor, anyone who has benefitted from the Conference access fund she pushed for, anyone who has benefitted from her wise advice, anyone who has enjoyed her incredible hospitality, will wish her the most fantastic of celebrations. The above, by the way, is a lot of people.

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The Voice

Ed Davey: we must work for diplomatic solution

By The Voice | Sun 22nd June 2025 - 10:55 am

Ed Davey has commented on the US attacks on Iran:

Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose a grave threat to regional stability and global security. That threat can only truly be eliminated through robust diplomacy.

Following the US strikes, it is essential that we work to deescalate the conflict and achieve that diplomatic solution.

Do you think this is the right approach? Should he be more vocal in opposition to Trump’s actions?

let us know your views in the comments.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 22nd June 2025 - 10:31 am

 

Trump

MAGA is divided. Its strength in the past that it has been united behind one man—Donald Trump.

Whatever he said was taken as gospel. Whatever he did was heroic.

But now there is a possibility that he may decide to join forces with Israel and drop a bunker-busting bomb on Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment facilities. As a result some of the shine is coming off MAGA’s great leader.

“This has not been thought through,” said Trump’s former campaign manager Steve Bannon. He added: “Stopping forever wars is one of the three planks of the MAGA Movement.”

Tucker Carlsson is known as Trump’s lead trumpeter. “I am afraid this (the US bombing of Iran) will see the end of the American Empire,” he said.

And then there is loony MAGA to the core Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Forever wars, intervention, regime change, put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke and will ultimately lead to our destruction.”

Then on the other side are figures such as senators Lindsay Graham and Mitch McConnell. They have both called on the president to support Israel and strike Iran while it is at its weakest. But then they are Old Guard rather than MAGA.

Iran

Iran desperately needs friends. Unfortunately for Tehran they appear to be backward in coming forward.

The two most likely candidates for a supporting role are China and Russia. The Russians have been the grateful recipients of Iranian-made drones which are making an impact in the Ukraine War.

Moscow was quick to condemn the Israeli attack which it said was unprovoked and in breach of the UN Charter. The Russians also accused Moscow of undermining diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to peacefully abandon any nuclear ambitions.

That all sounds very warlike, and in January of this year Tehran and Moscow signed a 20-year “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” which covered a wide range of interests including, defense, intelligence sharing, nuclear technology and energy. The agreement, however, does not commit Russia to come to Iran’s defense if the latter is attacked.

On Thursday Moscow closed all of its diplomatic offices in Iran and withdrew its entire diplomatic staff. They were needed if Putin was going to provide substantive aid.

China—in total disregard of sanctions—gets 20 percent of its oil from Iran. In 2021 Tehran agreed to become a key link in China’s Belt/Road Initiative. In 2023 China brokered a diplomatic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

China wants to increase its influence in the Middle East and its sees Iran as its Trojan horse in achieving that goal. Unfortunately it took four days for President Xi Jinping to get around to even making a statement on Israel’s attack. And then it was to offer China’s good offices as a peace broker rather than as no-holds barred Iranian supporter.

The fact is, Tehran is a rogue state. It exports terrorism and destabilises the world order. Few people outside of Iran would grieve its demise and many inside would also be glad to see the fall of the theocracy. But that could only make the mullahs more dangerous as they are backed into a corner with no option but to lash out in return for a guaranteed ticket to an Islamic paradise.

Gaza

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Ed Fordham

David Boyle (1958-2025) – the nicest of reluctant philosophers

By Ed Fordham | Sun 22nd June 2025 - 8:57 am

When the histories of modern UK liberalism are written – and the tally of inspirations, ideas and motivations are drawn up… then the name of David Boyle (1958-2025) should feature.

It was lunch with Cllr Lord Greaves of Pendle, I think, when we agreed that local government and the Liberal Democrats needed an injection of energy. Tony’s reply was without hesitation: David Boyle. Cllr Richard Kemp had seen David speak at a conference on mutuality and ecology-led economies and had recently become leader of the Lib Dem Group at the Local Government Association (LGA): he also wanted to mobilise David’s talents.  In no time at all I had the privilege of offering David a contract to write an account of Liberal Democrat councils who were in control and positions of power: Power Actually.

And so began an LGA funded programme with David as he surveyed, met, interviewed and researched what Liberal Democrats were doing locally when they were in positions of power. Power Actually: a study of Liberal Democrat localism in action (2007) was followed by Greening Actually: environmental action through the local perspective (2009).

What David had enabled as a manifesto of achievements and with it a transformation in our approach to local government. Saying what we did, why we did it and what difference it made. That work and its legacy will stand the test of time and it is there for all to read. David was rightly pleased with both publications.

When ‘Power Actually’ came out David was immensely proud at the reaction – it was his compilation and collation of ‘our’ story. I recall at the launch Council Leader, the late Cllr Serge Lourie paying tribute to David – “David not only heard what we said, but he listened to what we were trying to say.”

David was not new to the Liberal Democrats – a longstanding activist and indeed former Young Liberal – he knew our political landscape.  When the Editor of Liberal News, Mike Harskin, died suddenly in 1992 David was asked by Chris Rennard to take over as Editor. David rose to the moment and was to be there for six years, editing a weekly paper that was driven by its diverse readership and reflecting both geography and quirkiness that it entailed.

And after he served as editor he served four years on the Federal Policy Committee where he was a calm, genial and inspiring source of ideas and wisdom.

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Caron Lindsay

Former Lib Dem News Editor David Boyle has died

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 21st June 2025 - 11:50 am

It was a huge shock to wake up to the awful news that former Lib Dem News Editor David Boyle died suddenly yesterday.

David was one of the foremost thinkers in the party. He contributed much to the debates in this party, often on the pages of this site. And when he sent a piece in, he was always really humble about it. “Might you have time for this?’ he’d say. I mean, his writing was always so thoughtful, relevant and intrinsically liberal.  There was never any way we were going …

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: End of Empire

By Tom Arms | Sat 21st June 2025 - 10:30 am

Trump’s metaphorical coin-tossing decision-making over the bombing of Iran is the clear result of imperial over-reach cloaked in dangerous isolationism.

But whichever way the president decides, the fact that he has to sit in the Oval Office with a handful of yes men and women underscores the fragility of American foreign policy and the rapid decline of a great power.

Previous post-war presidents could rely on an elaborate and carefully constructed network of alliances, treaties and international laws to help with the decision-making. The decisions were not always right. But if they were wrong the burden of the blame could be shared and recovery was easier.

Trump suffers from hubris – aka excessive pride – has extended that hubris to a significant portion of the American electorate and wrapped it in a cloak of isolationism. This in turn has led to the withdrawal – or threatened withdrawal – from alliances, treaty obligations, and international and domestic law.

In 1987 the British historian Paul Kennedy wrote the seminal geopolitical history “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers.” In it he set down the axiom that great powers decline when their military commitments outstrip their economic base—a process he called “imperial overstretch.”

Before Trump the United States appeared to be set to avoid the Kennedy Trap. For a start the fount of its power was liberal democratic values rather than the naked greed which drove the imperial age. It then concentrated on forming alliances and diplomatic cooperation with the countries – Western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada… –  with which it shared those values.

Those countries in return provided military bases and support. MAGA Republicans claim that America’s allies have exploited American goodwill. That is true. But they have also delivered the facilities that have provided America with a global reach which in turn has increased its trading and economic power.

Trump has rejected liberal democratic values and attacked the countries and political leaders that continue to espouse them. He has rejected the rule of law at home and abroad. Trump is a 17th century mercantilist who is governed by the belief that might is right. Billionaires are mighty so they must be right. America is mighty therefore it must be right.

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Liam Yip

ALDC by-election Report, 19th June

By Liam Yip | Fri 20th June 2025 - 7:19 pm

This week saw the first time that the Liberal Democrats had stood a candidate in the Ashford Town ward (Spelthorne) since 2007. An extremely strong campaign by us saw the Lib Dems gaining the seat from the Conservatives. Well done to Gregory Neall and the team for leaping ahead of the others and winning the seat, despite not standing in Ashford Town for nearly 20 years.

Spelthorne BC, Ashford Town
Liberal Democrats (Gregory Neall): 539 (27.4%, new)
Reform UK: 459 (23.4%, +21.0)
Conservative: 374 (19.0%, -18.4)
Labour: 234 (11.9%, -2.2)

Liberal Democrats GAIN from Conservative

The Highlands saw two by-elections being held. Whilst Cromarty Firth saw a missed opportunity for the crowded field of independent candidates, in Eilean a’ Cheò we came a close second place, greatly improving on our vote share. Thank you to Ross Costigane, Fay Thomson and the Highland team for their efforts, particularly in Eilean a’ Cheò.

Highland Council, Eilean a’ Cheò
Independent (Gillies): 823 (23.5%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Fay Thomson): 741 (21.6%, +18.1)
Independent (Dickson): 655 (18.7%, new)
SNP: 527 (15.1%, -7.1)
Independent (MacDonald): 276 (7.3%, new)
Scottish Greens: 239 (6.8%, new)
Reform UK: 157 (4.5%, new)
Conservative: 86 (2.5%, -8.2)

Independent (Gillies) GAIN from Independent

Highland Council, Cromarty Firth
SNP: 568 (23.8%, +6.8)
Independent (Cross): 503 (21.1%, +9.1)
Independent (Rattray): 368 (15.4%, +1.8)
Reform UK: 348 (14.6%, +11.4)
Liberal Democrats (Ross Costigane): 290 (12.2%, -8.1)
Scottish Greens: 92 (3.9%, +0.1%)
Alba: 91 (3.8%, new)
Labour: 77 (3.2%, -0.0)
Conservative: 48 (2.0%, -0.4)

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Hina Bokhari

Britain is a tinderbox and our efforts to confront Islamophobia are not good enough

By Hina Bokhari | Fri 20th June 2025 - 12:25 pm

At this week’s Mayor’s Question Time, I asked Sadiq Khan a straightforward but urgent question: why is there still no dedicated Islamophobia training across London’s public institutions?

It’s a question I asked not just as an Assembly Member, but as a Muslim woman who knows what it feels like to live in Britain right now. Recently online, I’ve been told I’m an immigrant who doesn’t belong here. At a street surgery, I was told all Muslims should be killed. At London Bridge station, I was called a Paki and told I should go home.

Islamophobia has been normalised in politics, in the media and in daily life and it now stands at record and alarming levels. Muslims in Britain today live with legitimate fear of being harassed in the street, targeted online, or being viewed with suspicion simply for existing.

And that fear isn’t paranoia. It is rooted in an ugly and worsening reality. The horrific stabbings in Southport last year didn’t just shock the nation—they unleashed something darker. We witnessed terrifying mob violence targeting asylum seekers, Muslims, and anyone perceived as other.

One year on, little has improved. Britain remains a tinderbox. The conditions that led to those outbreaks of hate are not only still here, they are deteriorating by the day. Meanwhile, the silence from much of the political establishment has been deafening.

Worse still, those in power have not helped calm the situation – they’ve inflamed it. When the Prime Minister uses hostile rhetoric about immigrants, it legitimises the very forces that seek to dehumanise entire communities. Meanwhile, GB News and the Reform Party are given free rein to pump conspiracy theories into the mainstream, with barely any challenge.

All of this is happening while many of our public institutions remain fundamentally unequipped to respond. That’s why the absence of Islamophobia training in key London bodies, including the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade, is so dangerous. This isn’t just a symbolic omission, it’s a critical operational failure.

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Tony Vickers

Global Capitalist Economics: time to unmask GDP?

By Tony Vickers | Fri 20th June 2025 - 9:52 am

It seems increasingly probable that capitalism must evolve radically. The drift to populism shows that our democracy is failing because our model of market-led economics isn’t achieving what a growing majority of voters want.

It was refreshing to find at Harrogate that this view is now widely shared among Liberal Democrat activists, as shown by the response to “Leading the Way”. ALTER (Action for Land Tax and Economic Reform) summed it up in our response: “The Economy must work for Society, not the reverse”.

None of the other three main UK parties seems to question this. Yet we see no plan from any of them that could conceivably deliver “growth” (read on) that meets even most of the urgent needs of any UK government. Labour seems stuck with Treasury orthodoxy but look what happened when Liz (the lettuce) Truss put neoliberalism into overdrive.

The last time I looked (in 2023), Treasury’s own figures on National Wealth showed that the only element which has grown significantly since the 1990s is land wealth. Considering land value (as opposed to building value) is passive and represents wealth tied up and thus non-productive, it is not surprising that everything useful seems to be deteriorating. An owner of land with actual or potential development (buildings, etc.) on it on most days in the past 40 years has seen their wealth grow more than an average wage-earner, while they do nothing. The “real” economy gains nothing. That land owner is behaving rationally; by following the current dysfunctional economic model, the government isn’t – if it wants Growth!

I’m no economist but history tells us that in an emergency we somehow set aside ‘normal’ economics and find the resources to do what needs doing. Is Treasury – or rather ONS – now starting to do this, with its “Beyond GDP” blog?

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Jack Meredith

Please sir, may I have no war?

By Jack Meredith | Thu 19th June 2025 - 11:31 am

The presidency of Donald Trump has, thus far, been defined by his failure to fulfil his election promise to de-escalate global conflicts.

Most recently, Trump has flirted with the idea of the US entering into the Israel-Iran conflict, commenting, “I may do it, I may not do it” when questioned. To put it simply, this is not the language of de-escalation.

But the next logical question after “Will the US get involved?” can only be “Will it call on the UK to join?”. This decision will come down to Keir Starmer, who will either have the choice of authorising the UK’s involvement or putting the decision to a parliamentary vote, the latter being the route taken by former Prime Minister Tony Blair regarding the Iraq War.

There is, however, a third option: the Wilson approach.

Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson decided to withhold the UK military’s involvement in the Vietnam War, a decision echoed by his successor, Edward Heath. While both provided support through materials and rhetorical encouragement, neither leader engaged directly.

Keir Starmer will likely face this choice in the coming weeks and months. Either he will have the UK join Trump in engaging in war, or he will withhold British military support. It is his moment to show whether Wilson or Blair inspires his leadership.

I hope that he chooses the former, for all our sakes.

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Suzanne Fletcher

How good that LDV posts don’t fade away

By Suzanne Fletcher | Thu 19th June 2025 - 9:26 am

Whilst looking up the words “Put it on a piece of paper, shove it through a letter box”, David Penhaligon, this LDV link came up from September 2012:

“What the three departing Lib Dem ministers said as they leave Government”

How interesting and I am afraid depressing to read what three of our retiring Ministers said on their dismissal 13 years ago.

Sarah Teather rightly saying:

I’m hugely proud of the part I have been able to play in ending child detention, and rolling out the pupil premium, giving free nursery places to disadvantaged two year olds, amongst many other achievements.” And we should never forget that.  But also “Particularly close to my heart has been the work to reform the system of support for children and families with special educational needs and disability.

One of the crying out needs today about the need for a much better system for SEND children and their families.  Let us not forget that the fight started there,

Paul Burstow:

Having dedicated most of my political career to improving the health and care of others it has been an absolute privilege to be directly involved in framing a new social care law and working closely with colleagues in the sector to set out a reform agenda in the Care and Support White Paper.  In the last two years or so I have been able to introduce policies that will improve the mental health of adults and children, the care of older people and the diagnosis of dementia.

How crucial it is today that the care system is reformed.  Let us not forget the fight that started with that white paper.

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The civil service impact statement for the Assisted Dying Bill could be very inaccurate

By A retired medical doctor | Wed 18th June 2025 - 5:31 pm

Editor’s note: This article contains details of terminal medical procedures which some readers may find upsetting.

The Civil Service has done an ‘impact assessment’ for what the NHS and hospice sector will look like if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying (AD) Bill becomes law.

It’s chosen a sample of a  few ‘comparator’ US jurisdictions  and New Zealand to show how many cases of AD there are (expressed as percentage  of total deaths). The population of the sample is equivalent to England and Wales.

The projection estimates a few hundred AD cases here a year initially, rising annually. However, New Zealand, in its first year of AD, recorded an AD rate six times the rate that was recorded in the first year in  California – equivalent to 4,000 England/Wales deaths if we scale up for population size. The maximum Civil Service estimate for the first year in England and Wales is 1,600 deaths. So what has gone wrong ?

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Simon McGrath

Lib Dems should say no to the UK acquiring tactical nuclear weapons

By Simon McGrath | Wed 18th June 2025 - 12:34 pm

The Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June, contains plenty of ideas which I believe our Party should support – an increase in the number of ships in the Royal Navy, increased reserves of munitions, and a big increase in our capacity to produce them, many more drones and protection of our underwater communications are all sensible proposals in the more dangerous world in which we now live.

But there is one part of the review which I do not believe we should support, and that is a proposal for the UK to acquire tactical nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver them. The SDR says (Recommendation 30):

“Commencing discussions with the United States and NATO on the potential benefits and feasibility of enhanced UK participation in NATO’s nuclear mission.”

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Andrew Chandler

Why I support the right to die with dignity; a Liberal case

By Andrew Chandler | Wed 18th June 2025 - 9:29 am

I will always remember my Catholic mum said to me; last time we had this debate about Assisted Suicide when it went to the then High Courts sometime in the 00’s. I remember her saying as we watched the announcement on TV in our living room with great sigh “I think people should just be allowed to go to heaven on their own flight plan.” Mum was always great to make something sound so simply to sound so deep and meaningful.

Some year’s passed, and my mum had Bowel cancer, stage four. Eventually she had to be moved to a hospice. By the final weeks, even pain-relief could no longer dull her agony. What do you say to someone who is desperate to die, not because they are suicidal, but because they are exhausted? Frail and failing. Her dignity, slowly stripped away by bedpans and catheter tubes. She didn’t want to die soon, she wanted to die free.

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Mark Valladares

17 June 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • NI tax hike: Government must scrap damaging jobs tax
  • Trump tariff deal: Govt must come clean and publish impact assessment
  • Lib Dem MP to take Thames Water to the Supreme Court
  • Rennie responds to school leaver deprivation gap widening
  • SNP miss key targets for drug treatment and care
  • Rennie: Will another 77 pages of school violence guidance change anything?
  • Cole-Hamilton: NHS, care and economy at the heart of liberal vision

NI tax hike: Government must scrap damaging jobs tax

Commenting as S&W’s business owners sentiment survey revealed around a third of business owners have said they plan to cut more jobs after being hit by higher national insurance contributions, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Unfortunately, this confirms what we knew from the start – that the unfair National Insurance tax hike is a massive hammer blow to businesses already struggling to cope, and will lead to people losing their jobs or seeing their salaries suppressed.

Small businesses are the engine of our economy and the backbone of our communities. After all the damage they faced under the last Conservative Government, the government should be doing everything it can to support them.

Ministers need to go back to the drawing board, scrap this damaging jobs tax that holds back economic growth, and instead ask the big banks and social media giants to pay their fair share of tax.

Trump tariff deal: Govt must come clean and publish impact assessment

Responding to the news that the UK-US trade deal has been partially signed off by Donald Trump, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson and Deputy Leader, said:

The Government needs to come clean on the full details of this deal – including publishing impact assessments on how it will affect British farmers, food standards and steel industry. When you’re dealing with someone as unreliable as Trump, you have to read the small print.

If precedent is anything to go by, Trump will be working behind the scenes to extract more concessions. We need a cast-iron guarantee that the NHS will be exempt from any kind of Trump deal and that US tech giants won’t be given a tax cut.

Lib Dem MP to take Thames Water to the Supreme Court

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard will be appealing to the Supreme Court, and asking them to hear his case against the Thames Water (TW) restructuring plan.

This follows Charlie’s case earlier in the year which was heard in the High Court. Charlie is arguing that the public and customer interests should be taken into account for this restructuring plan given Thames Water provides essential public services and has a monopoly over customers, and that the Court should not leave it up to the Secretary of State or Ofwat to decide whether there are any public interest objections.

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Neil Casey

Drilling for illusions: Why more North Sea oil won’t cut your energy bills

By Neil Casey | Tue 17th June 2025 - 3:00 pm

Oil markets are on edge again. With the price of Brent crude fluctuating amid the ongoing Israel–Iran conflict, you’d think drilling more in the North Sea would be the obvious fix for UK households drowning in energy costs. You’ve probably heard the claim: if the UK just drilled more oil and gas from the North Sea, we could reduce our reliance on imports and bring down energy prices. It’s a line repeated by politicians and industry figures alike. But even in a storm of geopolitical shocks, more domestic extraction won’t shield us from global price swings or cut what we pay at the pump or on our heating bills.

North Sea oil is not reserved for domestic use. It’s extracted by private companies who then sell it on the global market to the highest bidder. It doesn’t stay in the UK, and it’s not priced for UK customers. That means that even if it’s drilled off the coast of Aberdeen or Shetland, it could end up in China or the USA – whoever pays the best price. The UK then buys back refined oil products, particularly diesel and jet fuel, at global prices, just like everyone else. And even though the UK is a net exporter of petrol, the price you pay at the pump is still determined by the global market.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Mark Valladares

Diary of a Returning Officer: Week 1 – the Regional Candidates Chair has called, and I’ve said yes…

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th June 2025 - 1:00 pm

There’s been a lot of debate, dare I say controversy, over the recent proposal to Federal Conference regarding how Parliamentary candidate selections are managed. But perhaps it might be interesting to see how the process actually works…

I’ve been a Returning Officer for the Party for a very long time, more than thirty years. My “patch” has generally been the South East of England, covering four of the Party’s Regions – London, South East England, South Central and the East of England. There was a time when I “had ballot box, will travel” but, for a variety of reasons, I’m not willing to take on too many these days. On the other hand, the modern processes don’t actually require me to leave my home office, so I can theoretically cover more territory.

A few days ago, I had a phone call from our Regional Candidates Chair. That’s not totally unusual, as I was foolish enough to stand for the Regional Candidates Committee which, of course, she chairs. And, as a veteran of the candidate selection processes, she apparently values my opinion – or humours me, you’d have to ask her that. She had a request, would I take on a selection? I thought about it for a moment, but agreed readily enough. She promised to put me in touch with the Local Party and, after a quick chat about general business, we said our goodbyes.

So, I need to do some preparation. First of all, there are new Selection Rules, approved by English Council in March. As I’m not a member of English Council, I hadn’t read them. And now I have. They are, it must be said, a streamlined version of what had previously existed which, in turn, was a streamlined version of its predecessor. The new version runs to just nine pages plus some Appendices, which cover another ten. They aren’t as daunting as they might have been.

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Posted in Op-eds, Party policy and internal matters and Selection news | Tagged | 20 Comments
Jack Meredith

You can’t spend sovereignty, Mr. Farage

By Jack Meredith | Tue 17th June 2025 - 11:09 am

In 2015, Nigel Farage visited Swansea, Wales, in the run-up to the referendum on European Union membership. He made several claims during his visit, stating that Wales was receiving a “rotten deal” from the EU, alleging its membership was causing severe damage to the Welsh steel industry and that small businesses were at risk of collapse. He claimed that the UK had ceded control of fishing, industry, farming, and business to the EU, but provided no evidence to support these claims.

Fast forward four years. By this time, the UK had voted to leave the EU, and Mr Farage was back in Wales once more, this time in Merthyr Tydfil, campaigning for a UKIP victory in the European elections. When questioned by a BBC reporter about the benefits to Wales of leaving the EU, by then referred to as “Brexit”, Mr Farage was unable to answer. When questioned about the money Wales received from the EU, specifically £250 million a year, Mr Farage simply responded that “we” have given away hundreds of billions over the last few decades.

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Posted in Op-eds and Wales | Tagged , , and | 22 Comments
Mark Valladares

16 June 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 16th June 2025 - 10:45 pm
  • More than 1.3 million PIP claimants at risk of losing support with worst hit areas revealed
  • Davey: Starmer must rule out Trump tax on life-saving drugs
  • Casey Review: Victims must finally get the justice they deserve
  • McArthur: SNP must explain why it is using England as ‘dumping ground’

More than 1.3 million PIP claimants at risk of losing support with worst hit areas revealed

The Government’s cuts to Personal Independence Payments could leave 1.3 million people claiming the standard and enhanced-rate payment for daily living activities at risk of losing some support, analysis of the Government’s response to a Liberal Democrat Written Parliamentary Question has revealed.

Under the Government’s plans, from November 2026 people on PIP will be required to score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to receive support with everyday tasks such as washing and cooking. Those scoring less will lose access to the “daily living” component, which for some will result in a full withdrawal of the benefit.

The Government’s response to a Lib Dem Written Parliamentary Question revealed the number of current claimants who did not score at least four points. The figure hit 1.3 million, with 1.1 million standard-rate and 200,000 enhanced-rate claimants at risk. It means that 87% of standard-rate claimants and 13% of the enhanced-rate claimants could lose out.

The analysis also revealed the number of claimants at risk in each constituency. The constituency with the highest number of claimants who could lose support was Liverpool Walton with 5,250 enhanced and standard-rate claimants at risk. This was followed by Blackpool South and Liverpool Riverside with 5,060 and 4,940 respectively.

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Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Tagged , , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Samuel Jackson

We need a debate on Electoral Reform

By Samuel Jackson | Mon 16th June 2025 - 7:15 pm

As we approach the first anniversary of Labour’s loveless landslide general election victory, it is worth taking stock of the current state of British politics.

The Starmer ministry has committed a series of unpopular acts, many of which run contrary to the ethos of the Labour Party as the left-leaning of the two major parties and have proven alienating to some of their key voters. The Conservatives have failed to make any significant recovery in the opinion polls, likely due to ongoing backlash against their disastrous decisions over austerity, Brexit, coronavirus, the cost-of-living crisis and the mini-budget. And Reform UK seems on track to form the next government on a lower vote share than Labour won in 2024, with Labour and the Conservatives seemingly aping their anti-migrant, anti-woke policies in a desperate bid to reattract disaffected voters.

Such a picture would surely highlight the need for a more responsive democracy in the UK. Having usually elected a single party to majority government on under half of the national vote, First Past the Post has proven unconducive to delivering such a democracy. With declining support for the two-party status quo, FPTP may serve to elect Parliaments that have little or no bearing on voters’ intentions.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 3 Comments
Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: We must never deny the importance of soft power

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 16th June 2025 - 4:35 pm

No one can deny the reality that we live in an increasingly dangerous world.

Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine. Israel’s war with Hamas. The dangerous stand off between Iran and Israel. Ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. The Democratic Republic of Congo. And on and on.

With the benefit of hindsight how foolish it now seems for the political scientist Francis Fukuyama to have declared, in an at the time much lauded book in 1992, the ‘end of history.’ The argument that, with the conclusion of the Cold War, Western liberal democracy had won the battle of ideas and beaten autocracy; as he wrote, ‘not just… the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: That is, the end-point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalisation of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.’

If only, eh?

Less than a decade later such a theory began to be tested to distruction with the 9/11 attacks on American power by Islamist terrorists and the subsequent ‘war on terror.’. Two decades on from that, the world, as noted above, whilst not quite in flames is certainly more dangerous and uncertain than since the end of the Cold War if not longer.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Mark Paine

‘What is truth?’ (and why this matters to Liberal Democrats)

By Mark Paine | Mon 16th June 2025 - 2:16 pm

We live in a post-truth age. No longer is there any such thing as objective reality. On both Left and Right, the media, commentators and politicians present their own subjective reality, primarily based on feelings and lived experiences. These alternate realities allow facts to be denied, history to be altered and new ‘facts’ to be created which are more conducive to the mindset of other people who live in this particular simulacrum of ‘real’ reality. When facts do not matter, when a lie is believed even when all the evidence points to the contrary, when we cannot or refuse …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 5 Comments
Suzanne Fletcher

How to empty the hotels

By Suzanne Fletcher | Mon 16th June 2025 - 11:15 am

It is a Labour pledge to empty all hotels of asylum seekers by the next general election. So how are they going to do it?

I sincerely hope not by expanding sites like Wethersfield where, as the Helen Bamber Foundation has said that accommodating people at the base causes harm to their physical and mental health and “Housing people, including survivors of torture and trafficking, in an isolated, overcrowded camp reminiscent of an open-air prison, with inadequate healthcare and legal services, is an inhumane way to treat those seeking protection.”.

There are Liberal Democrat alternatives, other than “I wouldn’t have started from here.”. All the following is established Lib Dem policy.

We start from the premise that there needs to be radical reform, independent of central Government, to speed up decision making. Such should be taken out of political control completely and move towards a caseworker-model of support for applicants, to seek just outcomes that are right first time. It is no use moving policy-making to different departments if the Home Office retains control of the process of administering and assessing applications. It isn’t just a quicker decision that is needed but one that is right first time. 75% of decisions are appealed and 33% of those are allowed first time. If the cost of appeals were to be transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Home Office that in itself would make a difference. It is easy to refuse and then hope a person did not appeal. Sometimes the Home Office do not even bother turning up at an appeal hearing. If they had to pay for it, they would do a better job.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 3 Comments
John Jewers

Governments must do more for survivors of same-sex sexual assault

By John Jewers | Mon 16th June 2025 - 7:30 am

There’s a strange fact which you may not know about the UK. You live in the world’s only country that tells the world that no person (man or woman) can ever be raped by a woman. 

Imagine telling a lesbian that they don’t count because their assaulter wasn’t a man? We live in a time where it is in vogue to put on a rainbow in June but gay or lesbian survivors of same-sex assault aren’t even recorded. Is this not the peak of homophobia? But this is our law.

Here’s another funny fact. We’re the world’s only jurisdiction that records sexual violence against men as a crime against women and girls. The state telling men who are sexually assaulted that they are actually women is one of the worst and most demeaning insults male survivors can endure. I know, because I am one. It implies that my manhood is gone because I was victimised. Alas, neither Labour or the Conservatives seem to think this is a big problem. 

The situation for male survivors especially is worsening. Today a little under half of crisis centres will turn men away from their door. But in 2025, the government is cutting the country’s only support line for male survivors. The cost of maintaining this line is not much, a mere £250,000 pa.

Empathy is a value that our party puts first. I am a survivor of sexual violence. I live in a world that is hostile to my existence.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 5 Comments
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