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An open letter to the leaders of the EU

By Mark Goodrich | Fri 15th July 2016 - 8:55 am

I get it. I really do. We have been a difficult partner for the whole time we have been in the EU and its predecessors. And after the Brexit referendum vote, you had to put up with Nigel Farage being his usual unpleasant self in the European Parliament. You should know that many of us felt exactly the same as Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis whose facepalm went viral on social media (and we enjoyed his heartfelt blog as well).

So, I understand it when you demand that the UK get on and serve an Article 50 notice. You want us to get on with it. But I ask you to think again.

When I think of the Article 50 notice, I think of a scene in the Batman movie “The Dark Knight”. The Joker has rigged two ships full of explosives, one of hardened criminals and one of innocent civilians. Each ship has a trigger to blow up the other one and save themselves. The Tory leadership are like the boat of criminals – torn between a desire to trigger Article 50 to save their own skins and the consequences if they do.

One thing that I have heard a lot is that serving an Article 50 notice will reduce uncertainty. That can’t be right. If an Article 50 notice is served without a deal already being worked out in outline, uncertainty will massively increase because of the risk of a “Hard Brexit” in two years’ time.

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Posted in News | Tagged brexit and eu | 21 Comments

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+++BREAKING: Three, no, actually FOUR Lib Dem by-election gains

By The Voice | Thu 14th July 2016 - 11:41 pm

Good news from different parts of the country – three very strong by-election gains tonight so far. One in Cornwall, from UKIP, and another with a huge swing from the Tories in Norfolk, and the third from Independent in Wiltshire.

And how nice it is to have to edit the post to add in one more – also in Cornwall where we won from Independent by a LONG way. Figures to follow.

And here they are:

St Teath & St Breward result:
LDEM: 44.8% (+13.0)
IND: 17.5% (+17.5)
CON: 14.6% (-2.1)
IND: 13.1% (+13.1)
IND: 5.3% (+5.3)
LAB: 4.8% (+4.8)

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) July 14, 2016

Here are the details of the earlier three:

Trowbridge Grove (Wiltshire) result:
LDEM: 45.9% (+45.9)
CON: 21.4% (+6.9)
UKIP: 13.4% (+13.4)
LAB: 8.4% (+8.4)
IND: 8.1% (+8.1)
GRN: 2.9%

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) July 14, 2016

New Councillor Chris Auckland is a relatively new member of the Lib Dems, too. Yet another newbie making a very important mark on the party.

Newquay Treviglas (Cornwall) result:
LDEM: 57.8% (+32.9)
CON: 25.0% (-2.1)
LAB: 10.3% (-7.4)
IND: 6.9% (+6.9)
UKIP didn't stand.

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) July 14, 2016

And Norfolk

Astley (North Norfolk) result:
LDEM: 40.8% (+40.8)
CON: 25.3% (-30.7)
UKIP: 17.0% (+17.0)
GRN: 10.4% (-15.9)
LAB: 6.5% (-11.3)

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) July 14, 2016

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

Lord Dick Taverne writes: A common cause to stop Brexit

By Dick Taverne | Thu 14th July 2016 - 7:05 pm

There is a smell of defeatism in the air, a widespread view that the people have spoken and that we must respect them and accept their verdict. What nonsense! There is nothing sacred about a referendum vote, any more than the result of a General Election. We Lib Dems cannot accept Brexit because it would be a calamity that would undo everything we have always fought for. Furthermore reversing Brexit is not a hopeless cause.

When the time is right, there is every justification for a new referendum. A referendum must offer a clear choice, which the last did not. When Theresa May says Brexit means Brexit, what does Brexit mean? Some Leavers want no more free movement of labour, which means no access to the single market. Others want access, which means the free movement of labour must stay. Indeed with only a very tiny margin in favour of Leave, far more votes were cast for Remain than for each of these two incompatible objectives of the Leave Camps.

A re-run is especially justified if there is a dramatic change in circumstances, such as a massive shift in public opinion. This is very likely. Most economists and every independent expert organization, the IMF, the IFS and the Bank of England, predict a serious recession. Leavers promised a future in the sunny uplands, and lots of new money for the NHS, not more austerity and severe cuts in spending. Now they may be ringing their bells, but soon they will be wringing their hands.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit, common cause and eu | 66 Comments

The disruption of green tech

By Steve Mason | Thu 14th July 2016 - 2:54 pm

Finally the report from The Committee of Climate Change on fracking has been released and produced some interesting results, raising concerns of the effect of fracking on the UKs climate change targets.

Shale gas production of the UK is not going to be the answer to our energy needs when it comes to meeting our climate change targets. It is now obvious the UK has missed the boat on this ‘payday’ unless development is done on a huge scale, industrializing vast areas of rural England. The recommended regulations in the report to facilitate the size of expansion needed will never be in place.

The regulations needed to mitigate fugitive emissions are also not financially viable, making the cost of fracking even more expensive. There will always be methane leaks, the industry cannot stop it. The industry’s own figures of 2% to 5% expected leakage of methane from exploration, production and the supporting infrastructure needed, will put the UKs climate change targets in jeopardy.

The report states that ‘UK shale gas production must displace imported gas rather than increasing domestic consumption. Allowing unabated consumption above these levels would not be consistent with the decarbonisation required under the Climate Change Act.’ Each alternative has an almost identical climate change footprint and the imports are likely to be cheaper. If the government commits to use domestic fracked gas this will drive up energy prices and eventually hit the poorest families in the pocket!

The report does not consider the ongoing technical issues such waste disposal, water pollution, set back distances, community disruption, seismic concerns, industrialisation, etc. etc. etc! It is time for the government to stop bending over for the gas and oil lobbyists and realise they are backing the wrong horse.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged environment, green energy and tracking | 5 Comments

Phil Reilly becomes Lib Dems’ Director of Communications

By The Voice | Thu 14th July 2016 - 2:25 pm

A familiar face heads back to Lib Dem HQ. Phil Reilly, the man who wrote Nick Clegg’s brilliant resignation speech which inspired 20,000 people to join the party, has been appointed interim Head of Communications following the departure of James Holt to pastures new. Phil has been working for Nick since then – including helping Nick with his new book which is coming out in September.

Since the election, he’s shared some funny stories on his blog, Blimey O’Reilly.

The most recent involves his old colleague Mr Holt, who had a bit of a brainwave at the Eastleigh by-election to get Nick Clegg out of the campaign HQ without being harassed by a throng of journalists. I wonder if Boris might consider using the same technique when he leaves home every day – although I doubt the same personnel would be as willing to help him.

The entrance to the building was an enormous roll-up, corrugated metal affair, like a huge garage door or the sort of thing you would use to protect a massive off license after hours. The press pack were all expecting the DPM to come out through the smaller front door, built into the roll-up wall, into an open car park, where they could pounce on him like jaguars on a gazelle. So, Holty arranged dozens of activists, some gripping placards and bright orange diamonds, inside the building facing the entrance, like infantry preparing to march into battle.

Behind the advanced guard was Nick Clegg flanked by dozens more activists and, rather conspicuously, a couple of the Metropolitan Police’s finest close protection officers.

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Posted in News | Tagged ldhq, phil reilly, staff and tim farron | 5 Comments

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BBC poll suggests by 2:1 voters want PM May to prioritise single market over restricting free movement

By Paul Walter | Thu 14th July 2016 - 1:33 pm

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Mark Easton presented some interesting “Brexit expectations” polling by ComRes for the BBC last night on the Ten O’clock News. Here are a couple of highlights:

Most Britons think that maintaining access to the single market should be the priority for the Government when negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (66%), while just a third say this of restricting freedom of movement (31%).

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Posted in News | Tagged brexit and david davis | 6 Comments

Brexit minister (10th July): PM has promised to put border controls ahead of economy in negotiations

By Paul Walter | Thu 14th July 2016 - 11:58 am

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The new Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, has already helpfully set out his Brexit negotiating positions in a speech to the Institute of Chartered Engineers in March (carried in full on his website). He has also more recently written a detailed article on the subject on Conservative Home.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit and david davis | 16 Comments

Report of Federal Policy Committee meeting – 13 July 2016

By Geoff Payne | Thu 14th July 2016 - 10:26 am

The Federal Policy Committee is traditionally very busy in the immediate run-up to the summer holiday. That is because of conference deadlines and the need to get everything concluded before August when a lot of people are away.

The most recent meeting of the committee, which came hot on the heels of the last one, was on 13th July 2016. It also happened to be the day that Labour plunged further into disarray following the revelation that Jeremy Corbyn will appear on the ballot paper in their leadership election and, of course, the country had a new Prime Minister foisted upon it.

As we were going through the meeting, government announcements were being about new Cabinet members. We paused several time for a collective intake of breath.

There was a lot to discuss. We did not finish until some time after 9pm.

Membership of the committee

Gareth Epps has resigned from the committee because he has taken a job that is politically restricted. Gareth has been a very active member of FPC for a long time and he will certainly be missed from the committee. We were, however, delighted to welcome Antony Hook as his replacement.

Education Working Group

The committee agreed the chairs, membership, and remits of three new working groups. Each of those groups was recommended by the Agenda 2020 exercise.

The first of these was education. The remit requires the group to identify proposals for new policy in Education in England. The group is particularly to be directed to identify policies which could be strong campaigning issues within education, reinforcing our overall liberal vision of creating opportunity for everyone regardless of background. The group is also expected to consider and address Liberal Democrat principles on diversity and equalities in developing their proposals. It will deal with the overall principles of education, Early Years, funding, structures, academies, governors, standards and inspections, quality, teacher recruitment, closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students, school and the world of work, Further Education and adult education. It will not deal with Higher Education.

The chair is to be Lucy Nethsingha. The membership of the group was appointed. It is fair to say that there was very strong competition for places. In fact, we had over 830 applications for the working groups.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged committee reports and federal policy committee | 5 Comments

A few words of gratitude as Margaret Sharp takes her leave

By Mark Valladares | Thu 14th July 2016 - 8:59 am

It does seem that the news over the past fortnight or so has been dominated by people saying goodbye to spend more time with their families or whatever. In some cases, they will be more missed than in others, and, on this occasion, it is time to mark the retirement from the House of Lords of our longtime spokesperson on Universities, Baroness (Margaret) Sharp of Guildford, who has decided to take up the option to retire at the still relatively spritely age of 77.

Margaret is another of those whose work over many years led to a triumph celebrated by others, in that it was her success in reducing the Conservative majority in Guildford from over 20,000 to a rather more slender 4,500 that helped Sue Doughty to her famous success in 2001.

An economist of some regard, Margaret taught at the London School of Economics, as well as working in the National Economic Development Office in the 1970s, before becoming politically active with the onset of the Social Democrats.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged house of lords and margaret sharp | 8 Comments

Boris as Foreign Secretary? That was unexpected…

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th July 2016 - 10:44 pm

So, just as Theresa May left Buckingham Palace, I had to leave home to go for a meeting. When I stepped out into an Edinburgh street and checked my phone two hours later, I realised I’d stepped into a parallel universe. I must have done. I mean, a new Prime Minister known for careful and cautious deliberation appointing a man who had grossly insulted the President of the United States just a few weeks ago as the country’s top diplomat? It’s probably worth reminding ourselves of Boris’s response to President Obama’s “back of the queue” speech.

Johnson, a high-profile figure in the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, wrote about the decision of the Obama administration to remove a bust of Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill from the Oval Office.

“Some said it was a snub to Britain. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan president’s ancestral dislike of the British empire – of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender,” said Johnson in an article designed to hit back at Obama after the US president waded into the EU referendum debate on Friday.

As it happens, the bust was removed before Obama even took office. Again, like many of the Leave campaign’s claims, only the most casual relationship with the truth.

And then there was the time when he compared the EU to Hitler.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged boris johnson, gin, theresa may, things you never thought you'd write and tim farron | 57 Comments

Lord Paul Tyler writes: Chilcot and Iraq: The Verdict

By Paul Tyler | Wed 13th July 2016 - 5:35 pm

The House of Lords debated the Chilcot Report on 12^th July 2016: here are some of the key quotes from Peers who spoke, giving some flavour of the debate:-

“The noble Lord, Lord Touhig, said that there was an atmosphere of mutual respect at the time of the vote. I beg leave to question that judgment. Charles Kennedy was described as being guilty of appeasement. He was told that he was similar to Neville Chamberlain, and a national newspaper printed a photograph of him with the word “Traitor” underneath. There was by no means mutual respect. So the reactions on these Benches to the report from Sir John Chilcot are, as might be imagined, somewhat mixed. But the one thing on which I hope we can all agree is that Charles Kennedy’s principled leadership on this issue has been vindicated, as indeed has the similarly principled stance taken by Robin Cook.”- Lord (Ming) Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat)

“In Parliament, as we have rightly been told, the Liberal Democrats—the noble Lord, Lord Campbell, and his colleagues—stood out. Charles Kennedy was a great party leader, who showed great courage. It was the Liberal Democrats’ finest hour, and reminds me of the South African war, when Campbell-Bannerman and Lloyd George condemned the British Government for “methods of barbarism”. In government there was, of course, Robin Cook. Chilcot is a complete vindication of what he said on every aspect—on weapons, on security and on the flouting of the United Nations. He was indeed a great man, and a very considerable loss.” – Lord (Ken) Morgan (Labour)

“ I note that last weekend the noble Lord, Lord Prescott —second-in-command in the Blair Government —wrote:

“In 2004, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that as regime change was the prime aim of the Iraq war, it was illegal. With great sadness and anger, I now believe him to be right.”

I salute the noble Lord for that. I would be even more impressed by his candour if he admitted that Charles Kennedy, and Liberal Democrat MPs, of whom I was one, took precisely that same view in March 2003.”- Lord (Paul) Tyler (Liberal Democrat)

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Posted in News | Tagged chilcot report and house of lords | 1 Comment

+++Breaking: Jim Wallace steps down as Lib Dem Leader in the House of Lords

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th July 2016 - 4:07 pm

Jim Wallace has announced this afternoon that he is to step down as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.

Jim, the former MP and MSP for Orkney & Shetland, has been leader of the group of 107 Liberal Democrat peers since October 2013, during which time he was also Advocate General for Scotland and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords in the Coalition Government. he of course previously served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland between 1999 and 2007.

Jim explained his decision:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged house of lords and jim wallace | 3 Comments

10 for No 10

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th July 2016 - 3:31 pm

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As David Cameron leaves, it dawns on me that this is the 10th time the Prime Minister has changed in my lifetime. I thought I’d share with you my memories of the other changes.

When I was born, Harold Wilson was PM. I don’t remember him losing out to Ted Heath in the 1970 election because I was just a toddler. Nor do I really remember Wilson really getting back in again in 1974. I have a vague memory of walking along Dell Road in Inverness with my parents as they went to vote, though.

The first change I actually remember was in 1976 when Wilson resigned and Callaghan took over. There was no 24 hour news cycle then, and in fact telly didn’t even go all day. However, I think we were watching General Hospital (the UK version) in the afternoon when the news appeared on screen – James Callaghan is the new Prime Minister. We then got a newsflash in the commercial break.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged nostalgia and prime ministers | 15 Comments

How political parties have lost their sense of purpose

By Joe Zammit-Lucia | Wed 13th July 2016 - 2:30 pm

How Political Parties Have Lost Their Sense of Purpose

Several years ago I was in a meeting between senior commercial and research staff in a multinational pharmaceutical company. Discussing various research projects, one commercial person declared with obvious exasperation “Don’t forget that we’re here to make money not to indulge in fancy research projects.” The President of R&D, a Scotsman, looked him in the eyes and responded “Laddie, you’re wrong. We’re here to make medicines that make people better. And if we can do that, then we’ll make money as a result.”

This episode illustrates what has happened to business over the last several decades. It has lost its sense of purpose. There was a time when business used to focus on making products that made people’s lives better. If they could do that at a cost that was below what they could sell their products for, they made a profit and prospered. All of that is gone in far too many businesses. Now the primary goal is “shareholder value” – code for short term profit maximization – irrespective of whether social good is created or destroyed.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged political parties | 10 Comments

Ming Campbell on Chilcot: “My ally right or wrong is not sustainable”

By The Voice | Wed 13th July 2016 - 12:58 pm

The House of Lords has been debating Chilcot this week.

Ming Campbell, our foreign affairs spokesperson at the time, spoke in the debate. Here’s his speech:

Contrary to popular belief, I have never believed that what we were presented with was a false premise—implying that there was some effort at deception—but I have always believed that it was flawed, and the distinction is important. But it is clear that throughout these events Mr Blair thought that it was the right thing to do—and he still does. That was inevitably a moral judgment, but the strength of it gave rise to the error of making the evidence fit the judgment rather than the judgment fit the evidence.

The belief that the United Kingdom should be with the United States “whatever” was a flawed belief. Indeed, some would say that that single word reveals all that lay at the heart of the disastrous decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein. On reflection, there seems to have been a complete misunderstanding of the position of the United States. George W Bush always wanted regime change—it was no secret—but why was that? It was because around him was a cluster of influential neocons who thought that his father had made a fatal error in not instructing American forces to go to Baghdad at the end of the first Gulf War. If anyone doubts the good reasons for that decision, I suggest they read the memoirs of Sir John Major, who sets out with great clarity his support for that decision.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged chilcot report, house of lords and Ming Campbell | 1 Comment

So farewell then David Cameron…

By Paul Walter | Wed 13th July 2016 - 11:20 am

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In the week of Chilcot, we can at least observe that David Cameron didn’t cause an unnecessary Middle East invasion which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david cameron | 14 Comments

Three Freedoms: the campaigning priorities for Brexit

By James Baillie | Wed 13th July 2016 - 10:05 am

The upcoming Brexit negotiations will be difficult for Liberal Democrats to watch. The vast majority of us campaigned to remain, and even those who voted to leave will, I imagine, be nervous at the prospect of an authoritarian Tory leader, probably without a specific mandate from the electorate for her party to run these negotiations, having so much power over what Britain’s negotiating position is to be.

As a parliamentary party, our lack of numbers will make it hard for us to get our message across when we’re needed the most. This is a time we as members and supporters are perhaps needed more than usual; to directly protest, write letters, persuade our fellow citizens, and hold the government to account from outside Westminster in support of our representatives inside.
Creating unambiguous messages to send to government on such a complex problem with such diverse viewpoints is difficult, and much ink has been and, I’m sure, will continue to be spilt on the subject. Today I just want to outline an idea of one specific strategy we could take, which I’m dubbing the “three freedoms” principle, as an attempt to boil down the terrifying complexity of the EU negotiations to something rather punchier.

Essentially, my view is that in the negotiations (setting aside the upcoming struggles on eg working rights and environmental protection which are likely to devolve to Westminster) there are three key things to secure.

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Posted in News | Tagged brexit, free movement of people, research and trade | 11 Comments

Lib Dem Jobwatch – ALDC internships and OXWAB organiser

By The Voice | Wed 13th July 2016 - 8:56 am

Two interesting opportunities working for the party are currently available.

The first is an internship in campaigning and communications for the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Camapigners. Details are as follows:

This is a full-time role, paid at the UK National Minimum/Living Wage (currently £7.20 per hour for 25 year olds and over, and the applicable rate for under 25s) based at our offices in Manchester city centre.

ALDC is the national organisation for Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners. This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in the work of the organisation as we continue to build on the gains in this year’s local elections and by-elections.

The post is based at ALDC’s Manchester HQ, helping with our national campaigns output, our communications and social media, and also helping campaign ‘on the ground’ with two of our partner local parties in Greater Manchester (Oldham and Bury).

Successful candidates must have sympathy with the aims and values of the Liberal Democrats.

The deadline for applications is 10am on Wednesday 27th July 2016.
Interviews will take place in our offices on Wednesday 3rd August 2016 (travel expenses to attend the interview will be paid

Ellie Hudspith worked as an intern for ALDC in 2014-15. She went on to work for CAMRA and said:

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Posted in News | Tagged aldc, lib dem jobwatch and oxwab | Leave a comment

Goodbye, David

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th July 2016 - 8:38 am

As David Cameron leaves No 10, his legacy is being scrutinised. I have to say that I found the glowing tributes coming from his Cabinet colleagues as they entered Downing Street yesterday pretty nauseating.

Much of the news commentary has been way too positive.

I am dreading the inevitable fawning over him that’s going to happen as he faces his last Prime Minister’s Questions. I will not be happy if, as they did for Blair, any of our lot indulge in any applause or standing ovations for him.

Let’s look at some of the key compliments people are paying him:

Stabilise the economy?

Well, do you remember the 1980s when the recession lasted for years because the Tories insisted on cutting public spending beyond what was sensible? Well, this time they were prevented from doing so by the Liberal Democrats in coalition. They wanted to cut further and faster. It was Nick Clegg and David Laws, by and large, who saw that common sense prevailed. Even then, some of their ideas weren’t put into practice because the Tories wouldn’t have it. Some of us felt that even the Liberal Democrats in Government too far but at least the economy was starting to do well. Until, that is, David Cameron’s actions have led to a spectacular crash in the value of the pound. More money was wiped from the country in the days after the referendum than we ever paid to the EU. And that’s only the start.

Same sex marriage?

Well, he didn’t really. The person who drove that through Government was Lynne Featherstone, backed up by Theresa May. Cameron regretted it because of the fuss his backbenchers made. He couldn’t even get half of them to go through the lobbies in support of the measure. Nick Clegg was the first leader to enthusiastically embrace the concept of same sex marriage and did so even ahead of the 2010 election.

He won two elections and a referendum?

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david cameron and prime ministers | 22 Comments

Chilcot: Why I knew Tony Blair was wrong

By Nigel Jones | Tue 12th July 2016 - 4:15 pm

In the late 1980s I worked in Iraq, developing personnel and timetable software systems for Baghdad University.

The second day I was there, I was called in by the head of the university’s IT department to meet a uniformed major in the Iraqi army. He had a computer system which was not working properly.

I was asked if I would like to go with him to sort it out. I readily agreed. We drove for an hour through areas of very poor housing. People looked sad and children were running around with no shoes.

We arrived …

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Posted in Op-eds | 18 Comments

The Iraq Fiasco: British & Dutch Social Liberals apply their commitment to Rule of International Law

By Bernard Aris | Tue 12th July 2016 - 12:38 pm

Ever since Cobden & Bright, British Liberals have been keen supporters of using peaceful means like Arbitration and International Law for the settlements of disputes. When Gladstone brought forward the Ottoman repression of the Bulgarians, criticized the imperialism of Disraeli’s Afghan and Zulu Wars, and launched “6 right principles”, he brought Human Rights and equality of nations into international politics. Many Liberals supported the League of Nations Union and its predecessors.

Dutch Liberalism, especially the Social-Liberal, cosmopolitan kind, has always cherished the International Law tradition of Grotius. Professor Van Vollenhoven in 1910 advocated a World Court …

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Posted in News | 3 Comments

Theresa May open thread

By Joe Otten | Tue 12th July 2016 - 11:05 am

So congratulations are in order to Theresa May on becoming Prime Minister.

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May has usually been described as dull, diligent and effective, but I expect now that she has the top job a little more of her personality will be stamped on the government. She is famous for calling out the Conservatives for allowing themselves to be seen as the ‘nasty party’ and was considered a moderniser, but has not always risen above the nasty herself – the “Go home” billboards for example.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged theresa may | 26 Comments

Post-Brexit questions on immigration and emigration

By Steve Trevethan | Tue 12th July 2016 - 9:35 am

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Migrations, big and small, have causes, so let’s start by looking at them.

War or military conflict, with and without “boots on the ground” is an all too frequent cause. The huddled masses trying to escape from the war torn and terrorised Middle East provide a pressing example.

“Real Estate” or land-grab forced migration is another category, of which the evictions of Native Americans by US governments provide examples. Not all examples are historic.

Politically purposed, forced migration was used in the Scottish Highland Clearances of the 1740s. The UK government forced Scots to emigrate to weaken and punish actual and potential Jacobite rebels. It is possible that the refugee precipitating conditions created in Iraq, Libya and Syria etc. may be similar. To wreck one country may be regarded as a misfortune: to wreck at least three looks like policy.

Religious and ethnic intolerance can be a people mover and divider, as the partition of India into India and Pakistan indicates. Managed bigotry is a powerful political tool.

The consequences of Global Warming are causing increasing numbers to move.

With sufficient perception, will and power all of these human-made migration-causing activities could, at least, be reduced. Prevention is better than cure.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged immigration and migration | 11 Comments

Motions selected for debate at Federal Conference in Brighton

By Zoe O’Connell | Mon 11th July 2016 - 7:19 pm

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Whilst UK politics is in barely-controlled chaos, the Liberal Democrat policy-making process rumbles quietly on – with Federal Conference Committee (FCC) meeting in London on Saturday to select motions for Autumn Conference. I have described the decision-making process in previous posts so I will not go on at length, except to repeat my usual caveat that non-selection of a motion does not mean FCC does not think the topic is suitable for debate. Many motions are dropped in round one because of drafting problems, constitutional issues, timing in the electoral/policy making cycle or because the issue is covered by another motion or working group.

More detailed feedback has been given to those who submitted motions, often including suggestions for improving motions. This is not something I will try to repeat here as I only have my own notes of the meeting to go on, and errors would be inevitable. The task of rapidly providing feedback requires a lot of effort and is split amongst a dozen members of FCC.

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Posted in News | Tagged 2016 autumn conference | 27 Comments

Hopefully this will be the last stunning day in British politics for a while

By Paul Walter | Mon 11th July 2016 - 6:04 pm

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Well, well, well. Yet another stunning day in British politics.

There we were expecting two months of two candidates touring constituency Conservative parties. And then suddenly we hear that we’ll have a new Prime Minister on Wednesday evening.

Our Prime Minister exits the stage humming a bar of the West Wing ending theme tune.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged brexit, conservative party, eu referendum and theresa may | 19 Comments

Engaging Young People in Politics

By Haydyn Mullard | Mon 11th July 2016 - 5:34 pm

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In the lead up to the EU Referendum young people were seen as the demographic that could decide whether the United Kingdom leaves or remains in the EU. There were all sorts of ideas to get young people to register, David Cameron was on tinder, “Register to vote” geo-filters were on Snapchat and even Facebook was notifying people of the registration deadline. On paper it seems like this would work, as a young person, I use all of those apps on my Smartphone. I was reminded of it constantly and I expect frequent users of either of these apps were too.

When the registration deadline was extended after the website crashed two hours before it was supposed to close, there were some rather vocal members of the Leave Campaign stating that it should have closed regardless and it was clear they were worried that a 48-hour extension could hinder the hopes of a Leave vote.

Where did it go wrong then? I was at University at the time of this and all my friends were registered. A recent study by Opinium has revealed 64% of 18-24 year olds turned out to vote which is the lowest out of the age groups, for example the same study found that 90% of over 65’s voted. Those 18-24 year olds who did vote, voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining however.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged eu referendum and young people | 6 Comments

Psychoactive Substances Act: Killing people for votes

By Jordan Lees | Mon 11th July 2016 - 3:55 pm

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In May 2016, the legislative abomination spawned by Home Secretary Theresa May, the Psychoactive Substances Act, finally came into effect.

The Act was supposedly created to combat the rise of “legal highs”. Laboratories design and manufacture new substances, intended for use in research, which can often have similar effects to existing drugs: 1P-LSD, for example, has similar hallucinogenic effects to the Class A drug LSD. However, since it is a different substance, it was legal to be produce, sell, and possess.

Theresa May’s solution was to introduce this new legislation, making the production, sale, import or export of “psychoactive substances” a criminal offence. The Psychoactive Substances Act doesn’t ban a list of substances – it bans every psychoactive substance, which it vaguely defines as a substance which affects the brain, with a few specific exemptions. These exemptions include alcohol (responsible for 8000 deaths per year in the UK) and nicotine (tobacco is responsible for 100,000 deaths per year). Legal highs, on the other hand, were responsible for about 60 deaths in England and Wales in 2013.

For the purposes of this Act a substance produces a psychoactive effect in a person if, by stimulating or depressing the person’s central nervous system, it affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged psychoactive substances act | 16 Comments

Lib Dems: The creatives’ party

By Richard Warren | Mon 11th July 2016 - 2:31 pm

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The EU referendum debacle has shown clearly which group of voters we ought to target most: the creative sector. According to the Creative Industries Federation, 96 per cent of its members voted Remain. It’s one of many political battlegrounds where Lib Dems and creatives are on the same side. Creatives habitually call for freedom of expression, freedom of movement, free markets, greater diversity and more support for the self-employed. The Liberal Democrats is the only party to consistently call for those things too, as evidenced by our opposition to the Snoopers’ Charter and support for immigration.

Already, many if not most creatives consider themselves liberal. It’s simply a case of putting a capital “L” at the start of the word and adding “Democrat” after it. Incidentally, the same is probably true of scientists, most of whom also voted for Remain.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged creative industries | 49 Comments

+++Tim Farron calls for general election as Theresa May is set to become Prime Minister

By News Meerkat | Mon 11th July 2016 - 1:19 pm

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Yet another dramatic turn of events. Theresa May is a drive up the Mall away from being Prime Minister as Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the Tory leadership race.

Tim Farron commented:

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Posted in News | Tagged featured | 82 Comments