Mike Clancy

The Independent View: Why Lib Dems should support the Employment Rights Bill

By Mike Clancy | Sat 8th March 2025 - 12:30 pm

When people think of the priorities of the Liberal Democrats, they may not immediately think of employment rights, compared to the focus on health and care, or on Europe. But reading last year’s manifesto, the degree of attention paid to this issue would surprise many. The manifesto that delivered such a resounding result for the party included a commitment to ensure “the highest possible standards” of labour protection, alongside individual measures on zero hours contracts, sick pay, and more.

Such language isn’t a surprise to me or to the trade union I lead. As a politically independent union, Prospect has a long history of working with Liberal Democrats, and we know that concern for worker’s rights isn’t confined to one corner of the political spectrum. That is why I am confident that the Liberal Democrats, and especially Lib Dem peers, will play a positive role in the next stages of the Employment Rights Bill.

The Bill has clearly been the subject of considerable commentary, and the number of amendments reflects the extensive discussion that has taken place between government, business and trade unions. At its heart though, the Bill remains a vehicle for tackling some of the worst abuses in our labour market, guaranteeing individual and collective rights, and setting us back on a path to a high growth and high productivity economy based on positive employment relations. All of these aims fit squarely within the Liberal Democrat tradition, as does the way that the Bill assists with the immediate challenge we face in health and care which is rightly the party’s priority.

The headlines here will of course be about the way the Bill seeks to tackle our broken sick pay system which was horribly exposed by the Covid pandemic, and the move towards solving the workforce crisis in social care by introducing a new Fair Pay Agreement. This is a necessary, though clearly not sufficient, step towards fixing this broken system and I know Lib Dems will continue to campaign on this issue.

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Caron Lindsay

Happy International Women’s Day!

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 8th March 2025 - 11:20 am

Today is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the inspirational women we know and to recognise that we still have a long way to go to achieve equality for half the population in almost every aspect of our national and international life.

This year’s theme is For ALL women and girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment. With women’s rights under threat across the world from Afghanistan to the USA, that could not be more appropriate.

When I think of inspirational women, if I didn’t mention my sister, Honor, who celebrates her 50th birthday this week, she would kill me. You can read the soppy post I wrote about her on my own blog here.   She has always been one to demolish barriers, achieve the seemingly impossible and always make us laugh while she’s doing it.

My mother was the one who inspired all of us. I grew up in the 70s, when women often lost their jobs, even in the Civil Service, when they got married, and almost certainly when they got pregnant. My mum ran her own business in Inverness and was a great role model of achievement and independence.

In the Lib Dems, I am surrounded by brilliant women who inspire me every day. If I started to list then all, I’d still be here next International Women’s Day. This year, though, we can celebrate our largest ever contingent of women MPs, 44% of our parliamentary party.  We should also celebrate the huge contingent of women campaigners, agents and organisers who built their campaigns.

How many can you spot in this official Commons photograph?

Here’s Susan Murray, our MP for Mid Dunbartonshire:

Lib Dem Women,  the party’s official organisation representing women, say, on Instagram:

Ed Davey said on Twitter:

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Buy American, Save Ukraine.

By Tom Arms | Sat 8th March 2025 - 9:11 am

There is an outside, long shot chance of saving Ukraine and the Western Alliance—Buy American.

I don’t mean American cars or cereal. I mean something which really costs—American weaponry, American satellite links and American intelligence.

The money is there, $300-plus billion in frozen Russian assets that was being held back for Ukrainian reconstruction. There is not much point in saving it for reconstruction purposes if there is no country to reconstruct.

On top of that the normally frugal Germans are about to remove the EU debt brake and leap into a defense spending spree. And across Europe taxes are set to rise and welfare budgets cut to pay for what is now a defense emergency.

The purpose of the rapid rise in defense spending is to fill the huge hole left by the withdrawal of the United States from Ukraine and probably Europe as a whole. The problem is that no matter how big the budget it will take at least five—probably more—years to rebuild military forces and defense industries, and Putin is banging on Europe’s door today.

That is why British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky pressed Donald Trump for security guarantees as part of any ceasefire agreement.

The problem is that Trump does not see any advantage for him—or America—in providing such guarantees. It involves expensive aid until a ceasefire agreement is reached; commits US forces to a clash with Russia if Putin—as expected—breaks the ceasefire and potentially interferes with his plans to buddy up with fellow autocrat and would block access to Russian natural resources.

So give him a cash incentive with a bit of ego boosting thrown in for good measure. This is the kind of enticement Trump easily understands.

To start with the US gets the mineral rights deal he is demanding for past aid. Next,Trump is the recognised point man in negotiations with Vladimir Putin, but he has to consult and keep informed  European leaders and Zelensky.

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Mark Valladares

7 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 7th March 2025 - 10:30 pm

Safer Phones Bill: Government making “ponderous progress” as measures watered down

Commenting on news that the Safer Phones Bill was watered down to gain government support, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology Victoria Collins MP said:

So far, the Government has made ponderous progress on children’s online safety. I’m disappointed that they’ve seemingly succeeded in pushing for the Safer Phones Bill to be watered down – a bill that had such promise when it was first proposed.

There’s a mounting crisis in children’s mental health, driven in large part by addictive algorithms. Parents and families across the country are crying out for change when it comes to support in the online world.

We’re picking up the baton where the Government have dropped it – starting with our amendments to the Data Bill on the digital age of consent. We’ll keep fighting to make sure young people are properly protected.

Lib Dems demand publication of legal advice on seizing frozen Russian assets

The Liberal Democrats have written to the UK Attorney General, calling on him to publish the legal advice provided to the Government regarding seizing the frozen Russian assets held in the UK.

The call comes as pressure mounts on the Government to seize the assets and use them to fund support for Ukraine – made all the more critical by President Trump’s reckless decision to suspend military aid and intelligence sharing with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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Samuel Jackson

Increasing the Liberal Democrats’ Northern Appeal

By Samuel Jackson | Fri 7th March 2025 - 6:52 pm

At last year’s general election, the British people voted for change following nearly a decade of chaos under the Conservatives punctuated by austerity, Brexit, mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, scandal at Westminster, the mini-budget and the cost-of-living crisis. This much was shown by the twenty-point slump in their vote share in comparison to their 2019 result.

Nationwide, our party gained 57 seats to elect a total of 72 MPs to Westminster, our best performance ever and a close parliamentary reflection of our vote share of 12.2%. Because of the distortive effects of First Past the Post, a system whereby winning only one-third of votes casts gave Labour a 411-seat landslide, we had to undertake a laser-focused campaign targeting changeable seats. While our party represents constituencies throughout Great Britain from St. Ives to Orkney and Shetland, nearly 82% of our MPs represent the South of England. This is largely the result of our new MPs being elected predominantly from the dismantled Conservatives’ Blue Wall.

By contrast, there are only four MPs representing the North of England: the incumbent Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) and the newly elected Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove), Tom Morrison (Cheadle) and Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough). This is not reflective of our support in the region. Because of FPTP, we won only half of our fair share of seats in Northwest England and only a quarter in Yorkshire and Humber; in Northeast England, our 5.8% vote share won us no seats while Labour won 26 out of 27 seats on 45.4%.

The North of England has historically been considered part of Labour’s Red Wall. However, the loss of many of these seats to the Conservatives in 2019 shows that Labour’s grip on the region is slipping. With Labour now in government at Westminster and their actions and inactions earning them the ire of many, we are presented with an opportunity to make further inroads and resolve a possible North-South disparity within our own party.

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Matthew Ma

ALDC by-election Report, 6th March

By Matthew Ma | Fri 7th March 2025 - 5:40 pm

This week with its 9 principal councils saw mostly successful defences this week across all political parties, with only 2 exchanging hands. A huge gain for the Lib Dems from the Tories thanks to our consistent performance, and another for an independent councillor from a slumping Labour. The Conservatives and Labour both held their remaining 2 seats respectively, while the Lib Dems, the Green Party, and Plaid Cymru all held theirs.

Part of the only 2 gains this week, Cllr Andy Bell managed to gain the seat in Vivary Bridge, Vivary Bridge from the Conservatives, who fell to third place this time around behind Reform. Congratulations to Andy and the team for the monumental win!

Pendle BC, Vivary Bridge
Liberal Democrat (Andy Bell): 388 (34.9%, +3.5%)
Reform: 358 (32.2%, new)
Conservative: 244 (22.0%, -16.9%)
Labour: 121 (10.9%, -11.9%)

In Eastleigh BC, Cllr Prad Bains gathered over half of the vote in the Hamble & Netley ward, holding the seat. Congrats to Prad and the local team for the fabulous win, towering over second place Reform.

Eastleigh BC, Hamble & Netley
Liberal Democrat (Prad Bains): 1224 (52.1%, -6.7%)
Reform: 542 (23.1%, new)
Conservative: 421 (17.9%, +3.0%)
Labour: 164 (7.0%, +0.5%)

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Caron Lindsay

World Book Day! What are you reading?

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 6th March 2025 - 7:50 pm

It’s World Book Day today! Children all over the country are heading to school dressed up as their favourite book character. My 12 month old great niece even went to nursery in a Very Hungry Caterpillar costume.

Unfortunately, MPs don’t dress up, but some have marked the occasion. Here’s Christine Jardine on books at lunchtime in her office:

I’m not sure why Tom Gordon is reading Brave New World when he could just watch the news. He said on Twitter:

Happy World Book Day. I’m currently reading Brave New World for the first time. There’s probably a joke here about the state of the world and reading a dystopian novel.

Adam Dance, aware of the impact of Dyslexia, wrote to the Education Secretary to ask for more action to help pupils with the condition:

A very sobering thought from a bookshop owner I know who said that the free World Book Day books given to children are often, for children on free school meals, the first book they have ever owned. I loved reading as a child, I always had my nose in a book. It took me out of my own head and made me imagine. Reading is so enjoyable and really helps you learn and develop as a person and it’s so sad that reading for pleasure is on the wane.

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Rob Parsons

A non-wonk’s guide to liberalism

By Rob Parsons | Thu 6th March 2025 - 12:10 pm

A while ago someone was looking for what they called a brief non-wonk’s guide to liberalism. In a fit of activism I wrote one. Once I had fleshed it out, I was surprised by the centrality the idea of debate had to my entire presentation.

The logic is quite simple. Liberalism has at its centre a broad brush of principle – that each should be free to do whatever they want provided they do not harm others in exercising that freedom. There is relatively little else that is central to the principles. That means that every strategy, position, rule or practice has to be worked out in the light of current circumstances to align as closely as possible to that principle – which means that all those practices, strategies, etc, have to be worked out anew again and again. (“When the circumstances change, I change my mind.”) That means we need to be able to talk to each other continuously and honestly, and yet sensitively and with respect.

It takes quite a lot of self discipline to do that. No doubt many would argue that we have lost that ability – social media, echo chambers, the weaponisation of lies, the practice of bullshit. I do not believe that; the ability to listen and speak respectfully has to be learned anew by each generation. And that is perhaps more important for us than for other political parties because it is so central to the practice of liberalism.

Arguably, we in the Liberal Democrats are not very good at it (though we’re certainly no worse than other parties). Debate descends into argument too quickly and too often. Perhaps we need to revive the practice of teaching the skills of debate as a central part of being a Liberal Democrat, so that we can converse most productively both among ourselves and in other fora. Perhaps there could be a new section on the Campaign Hub. (Yes, I’m being a bit mischievous, but only a bit.)

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Ken Westmoreland

So long Skype: the demise of a once disruptive technology

By Ken Westmoreland | Thu 6th March 2025 - 9:24 am

I haven’t used Skype in years, and nor have many of my contemporaries, and it was only reading a reference to it by a Lib Dem peer in a debate that I remembered it still existed, but in the wake of Microsoft’s announcement that it will soon be discontinued, it’s worth remembering what the world of international telecommunications was like before it.

Having lived and travelled abroad in the 1990s, I remember when international calls were a thing, and an expensive one at that, either entailing buying phone cards or frantically feeding coins into a payphone just to get someone call you back. Indeed, it reflected the era Skype was born in that a Guardian headline referred to how it ‘disrupted the landline industry’, and while it did become available on smartphones, it still conjures up images of clunky old desktop computers.

Skype is what is known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, and while it was not the first such service, it was certainly the most user-friendly, and inexpensive, as it only required you to download a piece of free software, create an account with a user name and password, and you were free to call anyone else who had done the same. By contrast, other VoIP services required you to buy expensive bits of hardware, and even if you were willing to, how many of your friends and family were?

Its founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, were no strangers to disruptive technology, having been behind the file-sharing app Kazaa, before it faced multiple lawsuits from record companies and film studios over copyright infringement. However, while creative industries could arouse public sympathy, given the cultural resonance of music and film, the same could not be said for telephone companies, which were, and still are, charging subscribers exorbitant amounts by the minute for voice calls, and were in dire need of disruption by the likes of Skype.

Traditionally, international phone calls were only possible because telecom operators in different countries had agreed to interconnect with each other, or rather, governments, because they were often state owned, and extensions of the post office. In addition, those operators were usually a monopoly, and if they weren’t, other operators were subject to licensing and regulation.

But Skype changed that; it mattered naught what country you were in, as long as you had a decent internet connection, you could use it, although some telecom operators did their best to block or throttle it. In addition, you were not completely cut off from the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) as you could buy credit to make outbound calls to regular phone numbers, and receive inbound calls on a regular phone number in the country of your choice.

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NewsHound

WATCH: Ed on Pod Save the UK

By NewsHound | Wed 5th March 2025 - 3:45 pm

Ed Davey appeared on the most recent episode of Pod Dave the UK, talking to Coco Khan.

Watch his 13 minute interview here.

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The Voice

WATCH: Ed calls for Andrew and Tristan Tate to be extradited to UK

By The Voice | Wed 5th March 2025 - 2:14 pm

Today at PMQs, Ed Davey asked Keir Starmer to request the extradition of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to face trial.  Watch here.

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Europe must federalise to survive in a Trumpian world

By James Lawrence and Ben Cope | Tue 4th March 2025 - 2:00 pm

The continent must unite to survive without America’s support. Federalism is the way.

The Europe we know and love is under threat. For President Trump, ‘America First’ means everyone else last, allies included. In a dizzying flurry of official announcements and offhand remarks, the man in the White House has undermined Europe’s economies, security, and ultimately, its very existence.

By threatening to withdraw military support for Ukraine, Trump has signalled America will no longer be the world’s policeman and protect Europe. The continent needs to stand on its own two feet. But it’s stumbling. Soon-to-be German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hit the right notes when he said “my absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” but there’s no plan to achieve it. When Trump asked Starmer if the UK could “take on Russia” by itself in an otherwise chummy meeting, he was met with an awkward laugh.

Without American support, Europe faces existential threats in a hostile world. We are simply not in control of our destiny. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it requires getting real about where our strength lies – together. A federal Europe, where both sovereignty and identity are shared between supranational, national, and local levels would give us the power to make our voices heard. Such a system works in America, dividing politics and culture between federal, state and county levels, and, on a smaller scale, in Germany. We are stronger united.

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Geoff Reid

What would being on a war footing look like?

By Geoff Reid | Tue 4th March 2025 - 11:00 am

How would Britons react if the country was placed on a war footing? My question is provoked by a letter from a certain Freya Hartley in this Sunday’s Observer. Her two short paragraphs are worth quoting in full:

“I feel strongly that our government should be bold and forward thinking and put itself and the country on the equivalent of a war footing. It needs to push through fast a raft of measures to improve our self-sufficiency, especially in food, energy, and defence. As we did in the Second World War.

They need to hold cross-party brainstormings, initiate a blitz of public information to get the whole country engaged and involved. Act fast. This could bring the country together. We left Europe and the US has left us, we are alone and we need to come together, work together. Good could come out of all this horror”.

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Andrew Chandler

Trump, Zelensky and the White Paper of our time

By Andrew Chandler | Tue 4th March 2025 - 9:00 am

Embed from Getty Images

The images from the Oval Office were grotesque. Donald Trump, a man who prides himself on his ability to “make deals,” sat across from a beleaguered Volodymyr Zelensky and did what can only be described as political hazing. Instead of offering assurances of support, Trump harangued and hounded the Ukrainian president, all while dangling an exploitative mineral deal before him — one that offers no security guarantees, only the faint scent of transactionalism masquerading as diplomacy.

It was a moment that should chill anyone with a passing knowledge of history. Because what we witnessed wasn’t just another Trumpian tantrum; it was the re-run of an old, dark playbook. The optics of Trump cosying up to Putin’s interests at Ukraine’s expense are hauntingly reminiscent of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Stalin, with all his paranoid cunning, believed that Hitler’s outstretched hand was one of good faith — or at least mutual self-interest. He was wrong. Hitler, never one to honour a deal longer than it served him, turned on the Soviet Union with all the fury of a betrayed beast. The lesson? Dictators do not negotiate in good faith, and deals with devils have expiry dates written in invisible ink.

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Roger Hayes

Pay Attention Britain!

By Roger Hayes | Mon 3rd March 2025 - 1:45 pm
    It’s only been a little over a month since Donald Trump’s return to power and already the world feels a lot less safe; our future a lot less secure.

    His governing style is bluster, bullying, bribery and blackmail. Sidelining Congress in favour of executive fiat, dismantling the US federal structures that threatens the reversal of 80 years of US foreign policy and world order.

    Even our right-wing media are rattled.

    On Wednesday, the Telegraph editorial (while stating the bleeding obvious) read – Sir Keir Starmer will need to tread carefully today as he sets out to gain Washington’s support in several key policy areas. The Prime Minister cannot be seen to overly concede to Donald Trump, but he also cannot risk angering the leader of the world’s largest economy at a time when Britain is on the brink of recession.

    Yesterday, The Mail on Sunday’s headline proclaims (with uncustomary frankness) – Now Stop the State Visit for Bully Trump!

    Sadly, once again our government wrong-steps in its response to a crisis.

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Paul Hindley

Starmer is living in a dreamworld. Britain must choose between Europe and Trump’s America

By Paul Hindley | Sun 2nd March 2025 - 12:43 pm

What a difference a day makes. On Thursday, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer went to Washington DC to meet with President Donald Trump. There, in the White House, Starmer had a jovial and good-spirited meeting and press conference with the new US President. The press hailed the Prime Minister’s visit as a triumph referring to it as a “love-in” and a “bromance”. It appeared to vindicate Starmer’s strategy of walking a delicate diplomatic tightrope between Europe and the new American administration.

But then came Friday. President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s wartime leader, who is viewed by many to be a modern Churchill, sat in the same seat in the Oval Office as Starmer had done. However, Zelensky’s meeting with Trump could not have represented a greater contrast to that of Starmer’s a day earlier. There, Zelensky was subjected to berating and bullying from Trump and his Vice President JD Vance. Trump and Vance brought absolute shame on to the Office of the Presidency by goading and bullying Zelensky. All of which played into the hands of Vladimir Putin and his fascist attempt to conquer Ukraine.

Starmer’s dream day in the Oval Office has quickly turned into a living nightmare. Trump’s treatment of Zelensky reveals an uncomfortable truth. That in this increasingly divided and polarised world, Britain cannot continue to walk a diplomatic tightrope between Europe and Trump’s America. Britain will have to decide who it stands with. Do we stand with most other European democracies in defending what remains of the liberal rules-based order, or do we stand with Trump in forging a harsh world of realism, authoritarianism and post-truth politics?

In the EU, the likely next German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has called for greater European independence from America. There are even serious considerations about the creation of a common European army, especially as Trump’s America is no longer seen as a reliable NATO partner. Britain, along with the rest of Europe, must free itself from its dependency on America, especially on matters of defence. We Europeans must stand on our own two feet. We must embrace being the leaders of the free world, a position that Trump vacated on Friday when he sided with Putin against Zelensky. 

There are significant risks for Britain in choosing to side with Trump over Europe. A cutthroat trade deal with Trump’s America that forced us to reduce our trading standards and economic regulations would be bad for our economy. It would also kill any hopes of getting a stronger trading relationship with the EU. Britain should not allow Trump to bully us into accepting an unfavourable trade deal through the threat of increased tariffs. The Trump Administration has also taken aim at Britain’s attempts to combat hate speech and discrimination. To reduce such protections would only embolden the far-right even further. In short, if we side with Trump, then Britain risks being reduced to a vassal state of Trump’s America.

However, it is far from certain that Starmer will take Britain closer to Europe. Take for example, the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, rebutting the idea of a youth mobility scheme with the EU. Ed Davey has rightly called for Britain to join a customs union with the EU. Yet, even this proposal, one that would bring clear economic benefits, has not been supported by Labour. The fact that Labour cannot support even the most reasonable and modest proposals for strengthening our relationship with Europe is a cause for concern.

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Samuel Jackson

Peace abroad, peace at home: Addressing the Liberal Democrats’ Achilles’ heels 

By Samuel Jackson | Sun 2nd March 2025 - 10:45 am

On Friday, the Starmer Government witnessed its first departure on principle as Anneliese Dodds, the Minister for International Development, resigned. With Keir Starmer having announced an increase in defence spending to 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product  by 2027, Dodds criticised the corresponding cut in international development from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3%, saying that it would ‘remove food and healthcare from desperate people – deeply harming the UK’s reputation’.

Starmer has said that there is ‘no driver of migration and poverty like conflict’ and Dodds gave him the benefit of the doubt by stating that he was not ‘ideologically opposed’ to international development. Nevertheless, Labour have broken a manifesto pledge. On page 125 of their 2024 manifesto Change, they pledged to increase the UK’s international development budget to 0.7% of GDP, reversing a cut made by the Conservatives. Reducing Britain’s soft power capacity will likely instigate rather than quell conflict.

As this episode coincides with Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that his new spending decisions are driven by pandering rather than prudence. Increasing national defence spending would be a sound means of endearing the UK to Donald Trump who has lambasted NATO allies for not spending enough in this regard, and a sound insurance policy considering his scepticism of the alliance and his wide-eyed admiration for strongman authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin.

However, the converse decrease in international development spending is a blatant attempt by Starmer to ingratiate himself with Trump by aping his administration’s actions. The Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk in their questionable quest to cut $2 trillion worth of federal spending – or 15% of the total US budget – have endeavoured to shut down the US Agency for International Development. Even the temporary funding freezes, overturned through court challenges, have disturbed vital support for programmes combatting diseases including tuberculosis and HIV.

Unfortunately, Labour is also likely playing to a domestic audience. Reform UK have topped several recent opinion polls albeit in the twenties alongside Labour and the Conservatives. By being generally ‘anti’ and actively playing up their position as an opposition party, Reform is drawing in aggrieved supporters  from both major parties. With the Damoclean threat of Reform winning an outright Commons majority in 2029 with even fewer votes than they did in 2024, Labour have decided that following their populist lead is the best course of action.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 2nd March 2025 - 8:26 am

Germany

Europe’s largest economy and largest population has lurched to the right. Friedrich Merz is on the conservative wing of the right of centre Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been relegated to the number three slot for the first in post-war German history. But, more importantly, the far-right Alternativ fur Deutschland (AFD) is now firmly entrenched in the number two position.

Electoral success such as that enjoyed by the AfD in last weekend’s federal elections would normally ensure a place in a coalition government. Not in Germany, the mainstream parties have agreed to a firewall between themselves and the AfD that prohibits political cooperation between themselves and the AfD.

It was this firewall that was recently attacked as “undemocratic” by US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference.

But then America does not have the burden of a Nazi past which many Germans fear the AfD threatens to resurrect. It favours remigration which many interpret as a mass deportation of immigrants. It is Euro-sceptic; anti-LGBTQ; pro-Russian; opposes sending military aid to Ukraine and is ambivalent about Germany’s Nazi past. Germany’s Committee for the Protection of the Constitution has designated the AfD as an “extremist right-wing” organisation which means it is being closely monitored by the police and security services.

But the AfD garnered 20.8 percent of the vote—double what it won in the previous federal election. The party—or at least its policies—cannot be disregarded, especially its position on immigration.

The traditional German mainstream parties—CDU/CSU, FDP, SPD and Greens—have tended to deal with the immigration issue by ignoring it. In the case of the CDU, Angela Merkel went further and declared that Germany had a moral responsibility to help refugees and in 2015 admitted more than a million and laid the foundations of a backlash.

The new soon-to-be Chancellor Merz is determined to win back AfD supporters by stealing some of their clothes and introducing tough anti-immigrant legislation.

The difficulty is that the AfD has positioned itself as the only party willing to talk about immigration and propose radical action to tackle the perceived problem. If Merz and the CDU position themselves in this space, they risk being perceived as a less authentic version of the AfD. Voters are convinced that the AfD cares passionately about limiting immigration. They may be less convinced that it is a genuine priority of the CDU.

United Kingdom

The famed British Welfare State is threatened by the American withdrawal from Europe and the resultant increase in defense spending.

In fact, social spending belts across Europe will need to tighten as money is poured into missiles, drones, tanks and howitzer shells to protect Western Europe from the Russian bear.

This week, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, announced that he was cutting overseas aid from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent to pay for an increase in defense spending from 2.3 to 2.5 percent by 2027 and three percent by the end of the decade.

The cuts in aid will put $15 billion in the British exchequer which is enough to fund the increased spending up to 2.5 percent but not enough to go all the way to three percent. And, the fact is, that three percent is unlikely to be enough. American officials are talking about five percent across Europe if they want to keep Donald Trump happy and in NATO. And if the US abandons Europe as feared than defense costs will be much, much higher.

Britain, devotes 25 percent of GDP on welfare spending and another 10 percent of GDP on the NHS. Other European countries spend between 25 percent and 30 percent on social welfare. Funding structures for health services varies.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: A British Knight in King Donald’s Court

By Tom Arms | Sat 1st March 2025 - 9:20 am

The British Foreign Office set a low bar for Sir Keir Starmer’s trip to America—Don’t fall out with King Donald. He succeeded.

That is not to say that substantive issues were not discussed. They were and included:

Tariffs – and the possibility, nay probability,  of reviving the Johnson era US-UK trade deal that could exempt Britain from the crippling tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose on the EU.

The Chagos Islands – Trump is inclined to go along with the British position.

And Ukraine – On this top of the agenda item Sir Keir failed. Trump was immovable – No backstop. No security guarantees and total confidence in the honesty of fellow dissembler Vladimir Putin.

The tete a tete started with a cringe-making pantomime when in front of the world’s media the prime minister reached into his suit pocket and drew out a letter from King Charles III.

It was the expected invitation to Trump to make an historic second state visit to Buckingham Palace.

Royal Family fan Donald evinced childlike surprise and delight at the expected letter and the friendly tone was set for the private talks in the Oval Office. The first box was ticked.

An Anglo-American trade deal has long been one of Trump’s priorities. Not because of any love for the royal family or the homeland of his mother. No, Donald Trump wants a trade deal with Britain because he hates the EU. It is a threat to American trade hegemony. Trump wants to encourage its break-up and insure that Britain does not return to the European fold by pulling it closer to America.

In any upcoming trade talks the British public will be focused on chlorine-washed chicken, hormone-fed beef and higher prices for NHS drugs. The attention of Trump’s negotiators will be on coordinating regulations across a wide-range of goods and services to make it more difficult for Britain to negotiate re-entry into the European single market and/or customs union.

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Tom Arms

The End

By Tom Arms | Sat 1st March 2025 - 7:00 am

February 28, 2025 may well go down in history as the day that the Western Alliance ended and the world was suddenly thrown into an unknown future by a White House bully and his initialled sidekick.

The undynamic duo’s treatment of the president of a country which has sacrificed thousands upon thousands of lives in the cause of the protection of the West shamed the United States and countries who have been in alliance with America.

“Say thank you. Say thank you,” shouted J.D. Vance when he should have been thanking Zelensky for the ultimate sacrifices his countrymen and women have made.

“You are not showing any respect,” said Donald Trump, sounding more like a mafia don then the leader of the Free World. It was draft dodger Trump who should have been respecting wartime leader Zelensky who has—against all odds—held out against the Russian war machine for three years.

Several times Zelensky tried to say thank you and explain his position, but each time he was shouted down by Vance and/or Trump.

At one point Trump pursed his lips shook his head back and forth and repeated in a childishly petulant mocking voice: “I don’t want a ceasefire. I don’t want a ceasefire.”

Again, Zelensky tried to explain that he wants an end to the war but that any ceasefire must come with security guarantees because Putin has broken every ceasefire, treaty and agreement that Ukraine has negotiated with the Russian dictator.

Zelensky flew to Washington to sign a deal which would hand over a major chunk of his country’s mineral rights. Trump said the rare earths that American companies would mine was compensation for the aid that America has given Ukraine. Zelensky agreed to that but also wanted assurances that included in the deal would be future security guarantees. A deal which gave away billions worth of mineral rights in perpetuity without protecting Ukrainian territorial integrity was worthless.

But Trump and Vance were determined to secure the rights and at the same time withdraw American support and bully Zelensky into effectively surrendering to Russia. And it was done before a television audience of billions in what appeared to be an attempt to humiliate the Ukrainian leader. The result was possibly the most disgraceful scene in diplomatic history.

European leaders, Democrats and officials from the first Trump administration seemed to regard it as just that.

John Bolton, Trump’s former National Security Adviser, said on X: “Trump and Vance have declared themselves to be on Russia’s side in the Russo-Ukraine war, This is a catastrophic mistake for America’s national security. And let’s be clear: Trump and Vance now personally own that policy. It is not the view of a majority of Americans of either or no political party.”

>H.R. McMaster another former national security advisor in the first Trump administration, said it is  “impossible to understand” why Trump and Vance “seem determined to put more pressure on President Zelensky while they seem to be coddling Putin—the person who inflicted this terrible war in Ukraine.”

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a post on X said the “outrageous display” from Trump and Vance was “disgraceful” and “downright un-American.”

French president Emmanuel Macron said: “We should respect those who have been fighting since the beginning,”

“Ukraine, you’ll never walk alone,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said via X. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, “Ukraine, Spain stands with you.” Friedrich Merz, the likely incoming German leader, also said he stands with Zelensky before adding that the “aggressor and victim in this terrible war” must never be confused. Top diplomats for the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland issued similar messages of support for Kyiv and the Ukrainian president.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Zelensky for his “dignity” and said the bloc will continue working with him “for a just and lasting peace.”

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said: “Estonia’s support for Ukraine remains unwavering. It is time for Europe to step up. We do not need to wait for something else to happen; Europe has enough resources, including Russia’s frozen assets, to enable Ukraine to continue fighting,”

The diplomatic meltdown at the White House comes as European leaders—including Zelensky—are preparing to meet in London on Sunday to discuss their next moves in the Ukrainian imbroglio. Host Sir Keir Starmer sees Britain as bridge between Europe and America. The problem is that Trump and Vance appear to be intent on burning that bridge.

Here is the transcript of Trump, Zelensky, and Vance’s contentious exchange. It has been edited for length and clarity.

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Caron Lindsay

Ed: This is thuggery from Trump and Vance

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 28th February 2025 - 9:58 pm

Well. There’s a danger to thinking that Donald Trump can’t get any worse. He will inevitably disappoint you by sinking even lower.

Tonight’s row with Zelensky in the Oval Office was a case in point. It was always going to be a set-up for the brave Ukrainian leader but I don’t think any of us had quite anticipated the appalling scenes we saw. How he managed to handle himself with such calmness and dignity in the face of that barrage is beyond me.

One of many lowlights from Trump was him saying that he couldn’t condemn Putin because he couldn’t slag him off and then bring him in to a deal. But it was fine for him to call Zelensky a dictator? A fact he seemed to have forgotten when pressed on it yesterday by the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason.

It seems very much like it’s Trump and Putin vs Europe now. Who would have thought that we would need to increase defence spending to defend ourselves FROM the US.

I grew up during the Cold War. I was born after those 13 days in 1962 when everyone was terrified that the Cuban Missile Crisis would bring about a nuclear war. While there was a sort of perpetual anxiety, it was at least relatively stable. There was nothing as unpredictable as a US President who can be nice as pie one minute and as nasty as you can get the next.

Donald Trump has been in office for 39 days and so far it’s been much, much worse than I had feared. I hadn’t had “Mar – a – Lago on Gaza” and while we knew he was going to throw Zelensky under the bus, I don’t think anyone expected tonight’s scenes.

While I know that Keir Starmer is doing his best, I felt like there weren’t enough vomit emojis in the world last night to describe the camaraderie in the White House. It was just really uncomfortable. And the contrast with tonight is still making my blood run a bit cold.

Ed Davey has been quick to show support for Zelensky. He said:

This is thuggery from Trump and Vance, plain and simple. They are bullying the brave true patriot Zelensky into accepting a deal which effectively hands victory to Russia. Unless the UK and Europe step up, we are facing a betrayal of Ukraine.

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Charles Quinn

ALDC By-election report, 27th February

By Charles Quinn | Fri 28th February 2025 - 7:35 pm

We celebrated 2 principal council by-election wins this week. Thank you to everyone who stood and campaigned for us. We enjoyed some fantastic results.

In East Suffolk DC we held Woodbridge ward with a spectacular 25% increase in our share of the vote. Congratulations to Cllr Ruth Leach and everyone who supported the campaign. It is our best vote share increase of the year so far.

East Suffolk DC, Woodbridge
Liberal Democrats (Ruth Leach): 1023 (53.6%, +25.4%)
Conservative: 391 (20.5%, +1%)
Reform: 274 (14.4%, new)
Labour: 219 (11.5%, -8.4%)

In Westmoreland and Furness Council we held Eamont and Shap ward – also increasing our vote share and securing a whopping 67% of the vote. Congratulations to Cllr Nicki Vecqueray and the local team on such a comprehensive victory.

Westmorland and Furness, Eamont and Shap
Liberal Democrats (Nicki Vecqueray): 789 (67.2%, +1.5%)
Conservative: 241 (20.5%, -13.8%)
PCF: 76 (6.5%, new)
Green Party: 68 (5.8%, new)

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Hugh Andrew

Procurement: The beast in the room

By Hugh Andrew | Fri 28th February 2025 - 6:01 pm

I was very interested in the recent article on NHS procurement. As a small business owner I have had multiple dealing with state procurement systems in all their awful grandeur over the years. They may seem dull but in a wholesale reformation of them lies a method of unlocking a massively more efficient and productive state.

UK procurement rules were originally set up to align with EU Directives and with the laudable objective of providing a level platform for competitive tendering for major projects. However intention and execution rarely coincide with regard to British bureaucracy and, while European governments seem to be able to use procedures as they were designed, as they understand and work to the underlying principles, the UK and Scotland used the creation of an extra ‘process’ to:

  1. Set up a bureaucracy of procurement independent of any real control. Like most bureaucracies this validates itself by indefinite and uncontrolled expansion into areas where it is remarkably ill suited (in Scotland the main procurement body is technically under the control of all 32 Scottish local authorities which means it is de facto under no control at all)
  2. Validates its own success.
  3. Instead of simplifying process creates a giddying layer of documentation, gold plating and multiple entering. This of course requires an ever expanding bureaucracy to administer.
  4. Massively expands requirements on interested suppliers by requiring a morass of irrelevant certifications and documentation. This essentially excludes small and medium sized businesses and instead of expanding the potential number of suppliers slashes them.
  5. Since procurement process is deliberately disconnected from the purpose for which it is intended, every project is simply compressed into one ‘standard’ form without any regard for its suitability. Since those who construct the forms have minimal understanding of what they are trying to do they often enshrine economic lunacy in their construction. Since the process is all and its validation is by endless repetition then innovation is completely discouraged.
  6. The result of this is that those who do tender build in an ‘idiocy’ premium to cover themselves against the obvious incomprehension of the process. Both this and the relatively small number of suppliers who work their way through results not in price competitiveness but substantially enhanced pricing.

In an even more Kafkaesque development procurement bodies will often respond to such criticisms by inviting winners of tenders to help refine their procurement processes! Funnily enough those winner then tend to win repeat tenders!

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey: Why I Care – and why care matters

By Mary Reid | Fri 28th February 2025 - 12:43 pm

Ed Davey has been writing a book entitled Why I Care: And Why Care Matters, which has been taken up by the publisher HarperCollins. Note that this is a holding cover …

The Bookseller has an article about it, although it is incorrect in stating that it is Ed’s debut – in 2001 he wrote Making MP’s Work for Our Money: Reforming Parliament’s Role in Budget Scrutiny, and he has contributed to several other volumes.

The Bookseller give us a quote from the Editorial director for HarperNorth Jonathan de Peyer:

Ed’s story, which he has so bravely made a key element of his party’s campaigning on the issue of social care, touched millions during the general election. But there’s so much of it we don’t know, and so much about Ed’s efforts to support and empower carers, and to reform the sector, that deserves wider attention. This book is a real passion project for all involved and will galvanise public debate about an issue that touches almost all of us.

The book will be published in May and you can pre-order it here.

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Les Tarr

Don’t close public libraries

By Les Tarr | Fri 28th February 2025 - 10:34 am

The closure threat to public libraries across Scotland has highlighted a major flaw in the funding of local authorities. Chronic underfunding over the last 14 years, has resulted in a year-on-year hunt around budget time to find services to cuts.

No where is this better illustrated than in the situation around public libraries, that have been seen as soft targets, and those servicing rural and coastal communities are seen as fair game for savings. In urban areas where there may be several library branches within a city or large town it is an issue, but in the rural and coastal towns the nearest library may be several miles away. In cities the nearest branch that may be a bus ride away, in the rural and coastal areas that bus ride may be hours and on limited timetables.

When a library is closed in a rural or coastal locations it is lost forever.

At a business debate on public libraries in Holyrood on the 5th of February, one contribution by an MSP who had been a local councillor stood out. He noted that when he became a councillor he was subjected to several presentations around funding and budgets.

To quote from the transcript of the meeting; ‘the first week we were there, the chief executive took us all to the side, all us councillors and we had presentation after presentation after presentation that told me they had no money I had to cut budgets there was nothing I could do, and it was all frontline services.

A shocking indictment on how local government operates, and how democratically elected councillors are being treated.

Libraries are the last free, safe civic spaces available to communities. They are havens for those who are seeking to learn and better themselves. Public libraries need to be protected.

Libraries should be seen as an asset to local authorities and not just a cost centre.

In the past, when economic pressures such as the depression of the 1930’s and post WWII period, governments invested in public libraries as a means of sparking regeneration.

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Paul Walter

Government needs to fund plan for ME, CFS and Long Covid patients #fundtheplan

By Paul Walter | Thu 27th February 2025 - 3:00 pm

The government is about to release their new NHS plan ‘rethinking ME’ but absurdly it’s not actually coming with any funds attached to it, despite the fact there is now irrefutable evidence of its biological existence and the rapidly increasing number of patients, due to the number of Covid long sufferers who meet the diagnostic criteria. Many patients have been let down for decades over the lack of funding, not to mention being treated awfully over the years by the medical community.

The funding for ME/CFS/Long Covid patients is about £40 per patient per annum, one of the lowest of any disease despite the most severe patients having a very quality of life compared to patients with several other illnesses.

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Ben Curtis

What the Lib Dems can offer on rail

By Ben Curtis | Thu 27th February 2025 - 11:45 am

Ask any Brit about their last positive experience on a train – and chances are they will do one of two things: laugh in your face or wax lyrical about one of Spain, the Netherlands, France or Italy.

Despite Britain introducing rail to the world, 200 years ago to this year in fact, the system is creaking – and stories are becoming more horrifying. Overcrowded trains, jaw-dropping ticket prices and endless complaints about on-board wi-fi justifiably fill social media and newspaper articles. After decades of neglect and mismanagement, the UK’s railway network needs more than a fresh lick of paint – it needs a complete rethink. With the government on the cusp of launching their plans to the industry we have the perfect opportunity to propose some liberal ideas to fundamentally improve the offering for passengers.

The new government’s plans are bold and have more cross-party support than one might imagine. Plans to create ‘Great British Railways’ (a singular body to run both rail services and infrastructure) have near universal support. The government will, and perhaps at the time of reading, have already, put forward proposals to unite track and train into one body – citing fragmentation as the reason for the poorly run state of our railways. Broadly, they are spot on: too many chefs occupy the kitchen, leading to a poor quality broth.

Whilst the ‘broad principles,’ as one senior rail figure described to me, are agreed upon – the devil will truly be in the detail – our party needs to ensure good policy outweighs rigid ideology.

For the first time since the mid 1990s, all aspects of the railway – save the leasing of the trains, freight operations and a few other constituent parts – will hinge entirely on government money. In a tight fiscal environment, this should worry anyone who uses the train.

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Nick da Costa

Balancing compassion with care: Rethinking assisted dying, disability, and palliative services

By Nick da Costa | Thu 27th February 2025 - 9:24 am

I have long believed that every individual with a terminal illness should have the autonomy to choose a dignified end to their suffering. I have supported assisted dying, convinced that compassionate legislation can relieve unbearable pain. Recent debates have reignited a conversation that is both deeply personal and political.

My conviction comes from enduring ideals and painful personal experience. In the final week of my mother’s life, I witnessed the physical and emotional anguish of terminal illness. Although her suffering was brief, those days were marked by excruciating pain. Had she had the option of assisted dying, she might have chosen a more controlled, peaceful departure. I remain grateful her pain was short-lived, yet I cannot help but think of those who suffer for far longer.

However, I harbour serious reservations about the current legislative approach. While Kim Leadbeater’s bill recognises individual choice, it risks overshadowing the urgent need for improved palliative care within our NHS. I have been influenced by concerns raised by disability campaigners, including Mary Regnier-Wilson’s tweets. She argues that the bill erodes trust in our healthcare system by pressurising vulnerable individuals into seeing assisted dying as their only escape from a failing support structure.

This perspective underscores a broader fear: that legalising assisted dying without addressing systemic issues will normalise a shortcut in end-of-life care instead of prompting the necessary investment in comprehensive support. Our palliative services remain under-resourced, with funding and staffing shortages and outdated facilities leading to substandard care. The bill’s narrow focus risks diverting attention from these critical reforms.

Critics contend that legalising assisted dying may offer a temporary escape for those in unbearable pain, but it does little to tackle broader healthcare inequalities. In a society where many already suffer from inadequate care, introducing assisted dying without first strengthening essential services feels nonsensical. As one poignant question asks, “what’s the point of living well, if we are unable to help those people die well too?”

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Caron Lindsay

New book out today: When we speak of freedom – Radical liberalism in an age of crisis

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 26th February 2025 - 8:19 pm

When all we see before us is a dystopian hellscape with populists everywhere and everything we have ever valued (or taken for granted) about living in a liberal democracy where human rights are valued has suddenly turned on its head, we need a way of sorting things out.

A book published today, edited by our friend and regular contributor Paul Hindley and Ben Wood, seeks to provide some of the answers. When we speak of Freedom: Radical Liberalism in an age of crisis is published by Beecroft Publications in association with the …

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Geoffrey Payne

3 New Lib Dem MPs to speak at the Social Liberal Forum pre-conference lunch in Harrogate

By Geoffrey Payne | Wed 26th February 2025 - 1:55 pm

The Spring Lib Dem conference in Harrogate starts at 4.30pm on the Friday 21st March. Before that at midday we in the Social Liberal Forum (SLF) are organising a pre-conference lunch event at the Crowne Plaza hotel near the conference centre. 

Last year the spring conference was in York and we organised a similar lunch time event with 3 prospective Lib Dem MPs as speakers; Josh Babarinde, Victoria Collins and Bobby Dean, all of whom got elected last July. This year we invite back Bobby Dean with 2 more new MPs; local MP Tom Gordon and Pippa Heylings who is our spokesperson for energy security and net zero.

They will talk about their personal journey from deciding to join the party to becoming candidates and winning their seats. They will discuss the challenges ahead and how MPs representing the prosperous “Blue Wall” seats may be able to work to benefit people living in the deprived communities in the “Red Wall” seats. They will also share their vision of what it means to be a Lib Dem MP.

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