Tony Blair says he is considering ways in which he may be of use in returning to UK public life, as reported in an interview write-up in Esquire magazine.
Perhaps he needs our help to suggest ways he could be of use to the public and UK politics in general?
Our future trade relations are the major battleground in the Brexit process. Unfortunately the public debate on trade remains poor, fuelled by the Brexiteers’ misleading, if not self-delusional, narrative of how the global world trading system works.
Brexiteers tell us the EU is more dependent upon us because we import their cars, cheeses and wines so we shall secure a good deal. When Brexiteers are reminded about our large trade deficit, International Trade Minister Fox blames our “fat and lazy” businessmen. Brexiteers argue we shall be free to conclude our own trade deals. However, a free trade deal with the EU will afford less market access than what we enjoy now as part of the Single European Market. It is no wonder why business organisations have responded with an open letter asking the Government to ensure we retain full Single Market access.
The UK will not have the upper hand in trade negotiations because 44% of our trade is with the EU whereas we account for only 17% of EU trade. With only 2% of world GDP compared with the EU’s 22% of world GDP, it is no wonder why US Trade Representative Mike Froman stated in the Financial Times on 30th October 2015:
Washington is not particularly in the market for a trade agreement with a single nation like the UK … it is absolutely clear that Britain has a greater voice at the trade table being part of the EU (and) part of a larger economic entity.
The second Clinton/Trump took place early this morning. This time it was “Town Hall” style – with questions from audience members. It started without the traditional handshake (which has one precedent in the shape of one of the Nixon/Kennedy debates) but finished with a brief one.
Some of the subjects covered were: the leaked video-tape of Trump, Bill Clinton’s misdemeanours, taxes, the Clinton emails, the character needed to be President, ISIS, Syria, Supreme Court judges, energy and healthcare.
Following the referendum, Britain has to find a new place for itself in the world. Extricating the UK from the European Union on terms that don’t crash the economy is going to be an astonishingly difficult task that neither the Conservatives nor the Labour Party seem to be willing or able to face up to.
On the right, the Conservatives appear to be indulging in post-Brexit nostalgia, an imaginary time when the British Lion merely had to roar to make other nations meekly fall into line. However, Brexiteers can bellow “BUT THEY NEED US MORE THAN WE NEED THEM” as often as they like: the statement does not become any more rooted in reality for the repetition (as both France and Germany are beginning to make clear). On top of this is the noxious language unleashed at last week’s Tory conference about foreigners and the implied threat to fight a culture war against those who want a Britain that is open, tolerant, and engaged with the world. Still, at least we have an effective opposition, right?
Well no. Labour have decided that what really matters, at a time of increasing illiberalism and anti-foreigner rhetoric, are endless debates about the constitution of its internal governing bodies, a(nother) fight about nuclear weapons, and mandatory reselection of MPs. More damningly, amidst the silence on Brexit, it is hard to escape the feeling that the party leadership are ultimately happy to embrace the opportunity to rehash a Bennite version of autarky that Brexit offers.
I have to say that I’m finding the outrage among senior Republicans about the latest scandal to hit Donald Trump pretty ridiculous. Where the hell were they when he was calling Mexicans repists and threatening to make the Mexican Government build a wall between the two countries? Where were they when he was threatening to ban Muslims from the US?
I am dismayed at the way some media outlets, including the BBC, have minimised Trump’s comments. Grabbing a woman in an intimate area is not “lewd talk,” it’s an admission of a serious sexual assault and should be treated as such. His so-called apology, if anything, makes things worse. Leah McElrath put together an analysis of how his words sound very much like those of an abuser.
Even if the GOP decided to get rid of Trump, it’s too late to get anyone else on the ballot in enough key states to actually win the presidency, so they have to suffer the ignominy of going to the country with a candidate who isn’t fit to be an employer let alone be leader of the most powerful western democracy.
Theresa May’s plan to introduce worker directors onto company boards is a start, but she still has a long way to go to catch up with liberal thinking: Jo Grimond advocated worker-owned firms more than 50 years ago, and she hasn’t reached that point yet.
But the Lib Dems need to be more consistent and outspoken in support for worker-owned firms and other types of co-operatives, too. Over the decades, we’ve had the occasional burst of enthusiasm, such as when Nick Clegg called for the creation of a “John Lewis economy” in 2012, but it doesn’t appear to be integrated into our policy-making as it is over at the Co-operative Party. It ought to be for the following three reasons:
First, by supporting co-operatives we can create a coherent, credible, principled centre-left alternative to Corbynite state socialism that might help us find common ground with some Labour and Co-operative Party supporters. Significantly, the Co-operative Party is increasingly keen to distinguish itself from Labour now, and shares some of our views on key issues. As Labour MP and chairman of the Co-operative Party, Gareth Thomas, says, the co-operative movement is pro-business and pro-EU; so are we.
Have you seen Gary Johnson forgetting ‘what’ Aleppo is? If not I’d recommend it. His baffled expression is hilarious.
But when you have finished chuckling, may I ask you a question? Where is Shenzhen?
My guess is most of you are now stumped. I only know because I once had to catch a train from Shenzhen station. Which is embarrassing because by one definition it is the 8th largest city in the world. It is adjacent to but several times the size of Hong Kong. Which, remarkably, is no longer among the twenty largest Chinese cities. And China is an enormous country in an enormous region:
Credit: Redditor valeriepieris
Despite this the last Liberal Democrat manifesto includes more references to Israel – which has 0.001% of the world’s population – than to all the countries in the Asia-Pacific combined. And they are only mentioned in the context of advocating EU membership. There are (or have been) groups declaring themselves to be “the Liberal Democrat Friends…” There are the Chinese Liberal Democrats but they exist “to promote closer links between the Party and the Chinese and South East Asian community in the UK.” of Israel, Palestine, Kashmir, India and Turkey but not of China, Indonesia or Vietnam. Basically, if a Lib Dem says they care about foreign policy that usually means they are interested in Europe or the parts of the Islamic world somewhat adjacent to it.
It is a common dictum that politicians should be judged by their actions not by their words. Well it would appear that on many fronts the government could be rightly accused of double-speak after this week’s Conservative Party Conference.
Theresa May was Home Secretary for six years. During that time she deported almost 50,000 students with dubious legality and yet still failed to meet her own unrealistic targets. She also oversaw a big reduction in the number of immigration officers at ports and airports. However rather than accepting targets will never be met and giving the Home Office the staff they need, it has now become the job of head teachers and property owners to control immigration. If you cannot do it yourself outsource to someone who can is the leitmotif of the May government.
Landlords now face the risk of prosecution if they fail to check the right of their tenants to live in the U.K. Yet when a Tory Minister for immigration in the last government failed to check the papers of his cleaner he simply went to the back benches only to be reappointed to a Ministerial job. The “A country which works for everyone” slogan needs more small print than the average insurance policy.
On the face of it, it seems an innocuous enough phrase. A simple telling it like it is without being too specific or a way of summarising all those professional politicians and others in the orbit of government. It’s handy when the column inches are tight. So why am I so vexed with this now? After all the phrase and the theory behind it isn’t a new one as it has been around since the middle of the 20th century. Why now?
Because in the last few years its usage has been subtly usurped and now it hides a whole series of insinuations that undermine many of the core principles not just of those who read this here but of anyone of any political stripe who takes what democracy gives us to heart.
I’ve heard it used more recently but here is a good example of how the phrase has been corrupted. Nigel Lawson (a member of the political elite if ever there was one) on Question Time.
It’s been quite a week in British politics. The Tory conference and the UKIP self-combustion serve to crystallise a distinct change. A sea change, if you like.
We heard Amber Rudd saying companies will have to register “foreign” employees (next step getting them to wear badges?) and Theresa May hard Brexiting.
I know that many of you will rightly be focused on the positive by-election campaign that we are currently running in Witney so you might have missed that internal elections to our Party’s Committees are now underway. Nominations opened last Wednesday. This is the biggest exercise in internal party democracy which the Party has undertaken in decades, following the implementation of One Member One Vote. For the first time, every member is allowed to vote for committee members and any member who receives the required nominations can stand for election.
There are four committees up for election: the Federal Board, the Federal Conference Committee, the Federal Policy Committee and the Federal International Relations Committee. In addition, a number of spaces are available for members to represent the party within our Delegation to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE). The position of Party President is also up for election this year.
There seems to be something special about Highland Council by-elections in early October for the Liberal Democrats. On 8 October last year, Jean Davis won the Aird and Loch Ness ward. Now, a year later, Trish Robertson has been elected as Liberal Democrat councillor for Culloden and Ardersier in a thrilling count that went to the wire. The photo shows a bit of the ward on the other side of the firth from our holiday cottage near Rosemarkie.
Trish Robertson (Scottish Liberal Democrats) has been duly elected as Cllr for @HighlandCouncil #Culloden & #Ardersier Ward pic.twitter.com/osEGe7dwgO
— The Highland Council (@HighlandCouncil) October 7, 2016
Scotland uses the Single Transferrable Vote for local elections and the Alternative Vote for single place by-elections. On first preferences, the SNP were 290 ahead of Trish in second place. The Tories were a mere 24 votes behind us.
Stage 1 results #Culloden & #Ardersier By-Election #Inverness pic.twitter.com/PtaCOW6Uzq
— The Highland Council (@HighlandCouncil) October 7, 2016
By stage 8, Trish had moved to 25 votes ahead of the SNP.
‘Who Dares, Wins’ was our catchphrase used by my campaign manager and Leader of the Sheffield Lib Dems Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed to motivate the many members and supporters who came to Mosborough to support my campaign to be elected as Councillor for the Mosborough Ward on Sheffield City Council. It was a stunning victory that saw us go from 4th place to 1st, increasing our vote share by a whopping 32%.
I have lived locally in Mosborough for 25 years, I’ve brought my children up here and feel passionately about the community. I have been fortunate enough to represent this area once before from 2008-2012. People remembered the hard work I put in during my time as a Councillor previously and appreciated that I knew the area. Labour, on the other hand, selected a candidate who lived 20 miles away on the opposite side of the city.
Theresa May’s triumphalism over the Brexit election result is divisive and shocking. 48% of the electorate voted Remain, apparently including, inconsistently, Theresa May. Her statement that anyone continuing to campaign to Remain is ‘subverting democracy’ is equally shocking. Do Remainers no longer have the right to freedom of speech and democratic campaigning? The Brexiteers campaigned long and hard against a previous democratic vote to join the EU, so Remainers are equally free to do the same now. And they should. I’m ready to join and support any such campaign.
Her claim to be uniting the country whilst setting ‘the working class’ against the ‘international elite’ is yet again shocking. Caricaturing a whole group of people who, in the main, are hard-working intelligent professionals working internationally in this way, and pitting them against the ‘working class’, is outrageous. These groups of people should and can respect and value each other in a civilised society.
The Conservative Party conference has opened the floodgates to a torrent of populist policies aimed firmly at what Theresa May calls ‘ordinary working-class people’. The NHS is to become self-sufficient in British doctors. British firms will come under increasing pressure to hire British workers. Our military will ‘opt out’ of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The hard-working people of Britain, says Theresa May, will no longer be ignored by ‘the powerful and the privileged’. And she rails against those who see their patriotism as ‘distasteful’ and call their fears about immigration ‘parochial’.
The message is clear: If you’re working hard to make ends meet, the Tories are the party for you.
I have to admit that it’s a clever strategy. This pro-British, anti-foreigner approach appeals to the many people who feel that previous governments have left them behind, while also being a sort of political catnip to Tory stalwarts. And it cleverly taps into the popular sentiment underlying the Brexit vote, without needing to refer explicitly to the shambles that is the Government’s Brexit policy.
Liz Leffman’s campaign in Witney has received another boost as a rival candidate has thrown his weight behind her campaign.
Adam Knight, who last week put in papers to stand as an independent, has now endorsed Liz. The photo shows Adam, Liz and Tim Farron at the Lib Dem HQ in Witney.
Adam is an Angel Investor, supporting initiatives to give opportunities to young people, and has previously been Head of Commodities for Credit Suisse. He was educated locally and is campaigning to bring more affordable housing to a greater swathe of the population.
Tim Farron welcomed this development
I am delighted to have Adam Knight’s backing. He has some really compelling ideas on how to enable more people in Britain to get on the housing ladder.
The Liberal Democrats are now the free market, free trade, pro-business party. With the Conservatives intent on yanking us out of the Single Market and Labour lacking any economic credibility, we are the only party capable of creating opportunity in a stable economy. It is hugely significant that someone of Adam’s standing in the business community should recognise that support for the Liberal Democrats in this crucial by-election is support for British business.
Adam Knight added:
In a letter published in the Financial Times, our economic spokesperson, Baroness Susan Kramer argues that it would be “economic vandalism” for the government to fail to financial services sector during the Brexit process:
The financial services industry generates over £65bn in taxes each year, over one-tenth of total government revenue. The loss of full access to the single market in financial services would not just hurt those in the banking industry. It would mean schools, hospitals and services across the country going without funding. We all want to rebalance our economy to be less reliant on financial services, but failing to support this vital sector during Brexit would be an act of economic vandalism.
“Nieuwsuur”, the Dutch equivalent of BBC Newsnight, on Wednesday October 5th had an item about the situation that the tens of thousands of Britons (43,000, according to estimates) living in the Netherlands landed in because of the Brexit. In the capital Amsterdam alone, there are 15.000 British inhabitants; so it was logical that the local “Expat Center” opened an information desk once the result of the referendum became known. The town mayor, Mr. Van der Laan (PvdA/Labour), organized an information evening at which he recommended not to be too hasty in taking decisions about one’s status and/or position. He …
Willie Rennie writes in the Times that the Tories are throwing petrol on the fires of prejudice unleashed by the Leave campaign during the EU Referendum.
Telling doctors from other countries who are here saving lives in our NHS that their position is only secure until we can rush a crop of new graduates through medical school is not responsible. Telling people from other countries who are thinking about moving here to work and pay taxes that their names might be included on a list of foreign workers is not responsible.
If we are publishing lists of foreign workers, we may as well pull up the drawbridge. These policies are not about controlling immigration. They are about demonising immigrants.
The message this sends to foreign students, medical staff, businesses and others is clear. You are not welcome here. As a liberal who has always believed that we can achieve more when we work with those around us, this does not just make me sad. It makes me incredibly angry.
The Scottish Conservatives are just as responsible as their colleagues, he adds:
I’ve only done a couple of posts in the past week or so, making reference to “events” keeping me away from LDV. When I came back from Witney, I found my husband very seriously ill. An ambulance dash and some very scary moments later, my worst fears were confirmed and then some.
Things have now settled down considerably. We’ve had a couple of boring days without medical drama now and we’d like things to stay that way. He will be in hospital for a wee while yet, though, so please bear with me if it takes me some time to respond to things. The rest of the team have been fantastic – so many thanks to them for stepping in while I’ve been preoccupied.
The reason for telling you all of this is to help you to understand how utterly furious I was to see that Liam Fox had actually said this out loud when asked about the rights of EU citizens following Brexit:
To give that away before we get into a negotiation would be to hand over one of our main cards in that negotiation and doesn’t necessarily make sense at this point.
You just can’t go changing the goalposts when people have made their home, maybe fallen in love, settled, had children, built lives and support networks. That is so wrong. It is simply not fair to put EU citizens in a situation where they won’t know what’s happening to them until the Brexit deal is stitched up behind closed doors.
The team caring brilliantly for my husband includes people who have moved here from other parts of the EU. I don’t want to think of any of them being used as a negotiating card. They are working hard, in very difficult, under-resourced circumstances, giving outstanding and compassionate care to people at their most vulnerable.
Full marks to Tom Ash. Earlier this week he nailed an historic parallel for Brexit. That was Henry VIII and the reformation.
However, those who favour an open, outward-looking UK, can claim an older, greater precedent than the Brexit-like Henry VIII, who broke with Europe basically because he couldn’t perform in bed sufficiently to produce enough healthy sons. (OK, there’s a bit of historic licence there and I’m being a bit (a lot?) cheeky – apologies – and I also apologise to the Scots, Welsh, Irish and Cornish that this is all about England).
Well, you have to hand it to the Tories. When it comes to brazen reinvention in an attempt to hold on to power there is nobody quite like them.
The Tories have rarely been more on message at an annual conference. “A Country That Works for Everyone” was not just in every camera shot but in every speech, whether it was Amber Rudd (yes, that one-time Remain campaigner) insisting companies employ more British workers or Angela Leadsom, in surely the most curious environment speech in British political history, imagining a future of happy youngsters breathing in rural British air as they reconnected with rural communities.
Combine lip service to a vague industrial strategy to benefit all hard-working Britons with some populist and reactionary thinking drawn from the lexicon of some – even many – of the 52% who voted for Brexit. Job done.
We send best wishes to UKIP MEP Steve Woolfe and his family, following his hospitalization after an incident at the European Parliament. We wish him a speedy and full recovery.
Photo by European Parliament
I was honoured to be part of the European Parliament’s observer delegation to the CITES CoP17 in South Africa. As a campaigner for wildlife protection I know the opportunity to influence protection at the highest level is rare.
Before I headed to South Africa I voted in favour of a European Parliament resolution calling for all elephants to be listed on Appendix 1 of CITES (the Convention in Trade of Endangered Species) This would mean in effect a total ban on the international trade in elephants.
The resolution was overwhelmingly supported by MEPs which shows the European Parliament’s strong opposition to the trade in elephants and their ivory which in the past decade alone has seen the loss of 110,000 African elephants as a result of poaching and the massive global demand for ivory tusks as well as for trophy hunting.
Just delving about in the Getty Images archive, I happened upon these great images of our current leader and some of our past leaders*. Please click on the images to read the captions.
* includes predecessor parties.
LDV has received this open letter from a group of concerned Lib Dems…we thought you might like to read it.
Dear friends,
Lets cut to the chase.
We awoke yesterday to the smell of hatred, xenophobia and isolation pouring from the voices of the Conservative Party and Conservative Government.
It sickened us to hear what was being said about refugees, migrants, international students and people who are foreign. It’s wrong and it’s not the country we love.
In response to the Prime Minister’s conference speech in Birmingham, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said:
Regardless of the rhetoric, the Conservatives have moved to the right. The Prime Minister’s words about a pitch to the centre-ground are utterly divorced from her party’s actions over the last few days. The Conservatives are reckless, divisive and uncaring. They are the fence-building, snooping-on-your-emails, foreign-worker-listing party and that is something that most people will be revulsed by.
Lifelong Liberal stalwart John David died early on Monday morning. John David was an immense presence in the Pendle community who served as a Liberal and Liberal Democrat member of Pendle Borough Council for 28 years. He was elected in May 1986 for the Fence area until retiring in May 2014 due to ill health. He was Leader of the Council from 2008 to 2010 and Deputy Leader from 2012 to 2014, and served as a highly distinguished Mayor of Pendle in 1992/1993.
A proud Welshman (not least when Wales were on the rugby field) John was a lifelong Liberal. He stood for the Liberals in Bosworth in the 1964 General Election, polling 10652 votes, almost a fifth of the total, in a seat the party had not previously contested. By the 1980s he was living in Pendle in Lancashire, running a business in Burnley, and in the 1986 Council elections Gordon Lishman (then the Pendle PPC) sat in his kitchen until, in Gordon’s words, “John signed the nomination form to get rid of me on the promise that he had no chance of election”. He won and held the seat for 28 years.
The Independent reports:
A majority of people would rather the UK have a soft Brexit, which sees the country give concessions on EU immigration in return for access to the single market, a poll has found.
Commenting on the Home Secretary’s speech to the Conservative party conference, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:
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Somerset’s farmers are on the front line of climate change (Sarah Dyke)
Mathew on Monday: Local Government Reorganisation review welcome (Mathew Hulbert)
Reform is winning because liberal Britain is not listening to its own society (Michal Simon)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)
Dysfunctional council to be abolished after years of controversy and "all out civil war"
Good news about the Family Farm Tax
David Alton, Andy Burnham and telescopic radicalism
Will Burnham abandon neoliberalism by adopting a radical agenda?
Pennsylvania's Kids for Cash Scandal shows the danger of the profit motive in the juvenile justice system
Conservative councillor joins Lib Dems in Cannock Chase
The AI world and some fallacies about it
Yet another government makes a mess of local government reform
The Joy of Six 1574
Front Street looking great
Peter Davies 
Mary Reid 
Adrian Moss 
John Kelly 
David Raw 
