David McKenzie

The SNP’s Defence delusions: A fantasy that puts Scotland at risk

By David McKenzie | Wed 12th March 2025 - 5:08 pm

The Scottish National Party has long promoted an unrealistic vision of Scotland’s defence in the event of independence. Their incoherent and reckless approach, outlined in the deeply flawed 2014 White Paper, demonstrates an alarming lack of seriousness in dealing with modern security threats. With a resurgent Russia invading Ukraine and probing NATO’s defences, the world becoming increasingly unstable and Donald Trump back in the White House openly questioning America’s commitment to NATO, the SNP’s defence policies are not just inadequate, they are dangerous.

The 2014 White Paper proposed a budget of just £2.5 billion for Scotland’s armed forces barely enough to maintain a credible defence structure. It assumed Scotland would inherit assets from the UK Armed Forces, despite no legal mechanism ensuring this. It envisioned a ‘Scottish Defence Force’ with a handful of frigates, a small army, and a limited air force, all while rejecting the very defence arrangements that currently protect Scotland. The reality of setting up a military from scratch was entirely ignored. Where would personnel be trained? How would equipment be procured? What alliances would Scotland rely on, given that SNP membership remains broadly opposed to NATO? These are fundamental questions that remain unanswered.

The SNP has no serious plan for dealing with the threats Scotland faces. Russian military aircraft routinely test the UK’s air defences, often requiring RAF jets to intercept them as they approach Scottish-UK airspace. Currently these intrusions are swiftly dealt with by highly trained personnel operating from Lossiemouth. An independent Scotland, with a small air force and no serious defence infrastructure, would struggle to respond adequately. If the SNP still intends to pursue another independence referendum in the next Scottish Parliament, they must be forced to explain how they would protect Scotland from these threats. The UK’s integrated defence network, intelligence-sharing agreements, and military alliances provide Scotland with essential security. An independent Scotland would be left exposed.

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Lucy Nethsingha

We can start to improve social care by tackling attitudes towards migrants

By Lucy Nethsingha | Wed 12th March 2025 - 11:12 am

If ever there’s an issue – or a sub-section of a broader issue – that sums up the sense that the UK is broken, even eight months after a new government was supposed to set a new direction, it’s social care.

The crisis in social care has been recognised for decades, but successive governments have failed to tackle it, and it’s getting rapidly worse. This is bad enough on its own, but it has two serious knock-on effects: it reduces the effectiveness of the NHS as it cannot release from hospitals some patients who are fit to leave but have nowhere to go; and it further drags down the reputation of local government, which doesn’t have the resources to deal with social care and sinks ever lower in the public’s estimation. Add the effects of Brexit, Covid, the cost-of-living crisis and a toxic debate on immigration, and you see why the situation with social care is worse now than it has ever been.

So what do we do? Well, a lot of money would help – most solutions to the social care problem require money, but, let’s face it, the kind of public spending that just isn’t feasible at the moment. So we have to look in other directions.

There have been four major shocks to the social care system in recent years: Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit, and Britain’s attitude towards immigration. The first two are factors largely outside our control. We can’t undo the loss of so many NHS and care staff due to the impact of Covid, and the cost of living crisis, coupled with repeated rises to the Real Living Wage and NI rates for employers, has sent the cost of staff rocketing, with many care companies struggling to compete for permanent staff and often forced to pay high wages to agency personnel.

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Mark Valladares

11 March 2025 – today’s Scottish press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 11th March 2025 - 11:15 pm
  • Jardine calls for doubling of maternity pay
  • Cole-Hamilton: We cannot fix A&E waits without fixing social care
  • Carmichael calls for government response following shipping collision
  • 1,065 drugs deaths last year
  • Vacancies in majority of care homes and care at home services
  • Rennie responds to Dundee University news

Jardine calls for doubling of maternity pay

Liberal Democrat women and equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP has called for the UK Government to do everything possible to tackle economic barriers for women, including by doubling statutory maternity pay and expanding parental leave.

As well as backing parental leave as a day-one right at work, Liberal Democrats are calling on the UK Government to:

  • Double Statutory Maternity Pay to £350 a week.
  • Increase paternity pay to 90% of earnings.
  • Create a new use-it-or-lose-it ‘dad month’, encouraging more fathers to take parental leave.

Currently, low rates of statutory maternity and paternity pay are not high enough to give parents a real choice, while the UK’s two weeks of statutory paternity leave lags far behind most advanced economies. Around a quarter of fathers are not eligible for paternity pay, either because they are self-employed or because they have not been with their employer continuously for six months.

The party argues that encouraging more fathers to take parental leave is critical to closing the gender pay gap. On average, women face a ‘pay penalty’ of 45% lower earnings in the six years after giving birth to their first child.

Ms Jardine said:

As we celebrate the achievements of women and girls across Scotland, we cannot forget about the barriers that stand in the way of progress.

That’s why my party is committed to doubling maternity pay and expanding parental leave.

Doubling maternity pay would help ease the pressure on women to return to work before they are ready.

Meanwhile, encouraging more fathers to take paternity leave will give women greater choice and help new dads to spend time with their child.

Liberal Democrats want to see women given the choice and flexibility they need, backed up by a proper package of support.

Cole-Hamilton: We cannot fix A&E waits without fixing social care

Responding to new figures showing only 63.5% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 2nd March, while 3,532 people waited over 8 hours and 1,510 waited over 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

For years under the SNP our A&E departments have been left mired in crisis and it’s leading to staff burning out.

The problem at A&E is that there isn’t enough capacity. Too many people are stuck unable to leave hospital because they can’t get the care package they need to leave safely.

We cannot fix these A&E waits without fixing the problems in social care to create the capacity needed to get people seen on time. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats fought for more money for social care in the budget and back a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.

Carmichael calls for government response following shipping collision

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has said that a shipping collision off the coast of North-East England today must be “a spur for stronger regulation” against unsafe behaviour by tankers, including in the waters around the Northern Isles. Mr Carmichael noted local complaints about tankers sheltering in areas off the coast of Shetland in particular, despite these being marked as “areas to be avoided” for such vessels.

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Mark Valladares

11 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 11th March 2025 - 10:15 pm
  • Thames Water Appeal: Company must be put into Special Administration
  • Hull leader Mike Ross calls for emergency COBRA meeting in light of North Sea collision
  • DEFRA halting incentives another “outrageous” attack on farming communities

Thames Water Appeal: Company must be put into Special Administration

Today, Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard will be appealing the High Court’s judgment on plans that would see an additional £3bn debt added to Thames Water’s existing debt of more than £16bn. Commenting ahead of the appeal, Charlie Maynard said:

Today I am fighting for the 16 million customers who have been left to foot the bill of Thames Water’s mismanagement.

Both Ofwat and the government have buried their head in the sand, as firms such as Thames Water ramp up billions of pounds of extraordinarily expensive debt while continuing to pump tonnes of disgusting sewage into British rivers and seas.

This cannot continue, and the Liberal Democrats will lead from the front and fight to protect customers. The ultimate question is who should bear the costs of the disastrous way Thames Water has been run. The shareholders and creditors who were responsible for making those decisions, or the customers who have had to put up with poor service at extortionate prices.

The solution is obvious. Thames Water must be put into Special Administration, so much of the debt can be written off and the company put onto a stable financial footing.

Hull leader Mike Ross calls for emergency COBRA meeting in light of North Sea collision

Liberal Democrat leader of Hull City Council, Mike Ross, has called for COBRA to be convened in response to the North Sea collision and fuel spill.

It comes following the collision of two ships off the coast of Withernsea, East Yorkshire, with a risk of fuel leaking into the Humber estuary, and the Aviation, Maritime and Security Minister’s update to the Commons.

Ross said COBRA was needed to avoid potential “environmental catastrophe” adding, “It is only right and proper that all available resources are used to try to contain and limit the damage.”

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Stephen O'Brien

PIP: A lifeline for disabled people to work and live independently

By Stephen O'Brien | Tue 11th March 2025 - 10:55 am

PIP (Personal Independence Payment) isn’t just another welfare benefit. It’s absolutely essential for disabled people who want to work and remain part of society. For so many, it’s the key to overcoming barriers and being able to lead the lives they choose, despite the many challenges they face. PIP helps cover the extra costs associated with disabilities, from getting to work to needing a carer to assist them throughout the day. It’s not just a handout, but a vital tool that allows disabled individuals to live with dignity and independence.

The importance of PIP cannot be overstated. It enables people to get into work, stay there, and contribute to society, instead of being stuck on the sidelines. It’s about providing an equal opportunity for disabled people to engage in the workforce, despite the physical and financial obstacles they might encounter. Without PIP, many disabled people simply wouldn’t be able to work, or would struggle to stay in employment. PIP helps level the playing field, enabling disabled people to live more independently and participate fully in society, just like everyone else.

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Andrew Chandler

Sick man of Europe, again: welfare, work and Britain’s dilemma

By Andrew Chandler | Tue 11th March 2025 - 9:00 am

In the 1970s, Britain was called the sick man of Europe. Years later, that sick man has returned; with its withered cane. This time, however, it comes to us in sickness benefits (a cruel irony); having ballooned 25% since 2019. Some chalk it up to COVID’s long shadow. However, our European counterparts, who also endured the pandemic and post-recovery, have not seen the same rise in welfare. This suggests why some circles are calling it a “British disease”.

Rachel Reeves’, boxed in by her fiscal rules, is staring down a £9bn hole. A hole that might come from welfare cuts. Labour ministers are proclaiming that people are “gaming the system”.

Now, bad actors exist. I’ve no doubt there are people who cheat the system – I saw this as a Housing Officer. But also during that period, I saw the vast majority of sickness benefit claims were done in good faith. A recent example, I recently spoke to a man who had worked for decades as a Health & Safety Lead and Warehouse Operator for a supermarket. The stroke took that away from him. His employer, despite years of service, couldn’t make meaningful adjustments to keep him on. But he still had his Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to shelter him. If it was not for PIP, the stroke would have been the least of his problems – he remarked. This is why we have a safety net. It suggests to me that businesses aren’t doing enough in making adjustments. If we are going to win on Social Security then we need to also win on Job Security.

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Mark Valladares

10 March 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 10th March 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Hull Council Leader Mike Ross calls on Government to set out “Rapid Response Plan” after North Sea Collision
  • Cole-Hamilton backs Scottish cheerleaders in exam battle

Hull Council Leader Mike Ross calls on Government to set out “Rapid Response Plan” after North Sea Collision

Liberal Democrat Hull Council Leader, Cllr Mike Ross, has called on the Government to hold an emergency meeting in East Yorkshire and to set out a “Rapid Response Plan” following the events unfolding in the North Sea.

The call comes as a major operation is underway off the east coast of England after an oil tanker and a cargo vessel collided …

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Michal Siewniak

How can Town Twinning be “resurrected” in the UK?

By Michal Siewniak | Mon 10th March 2025 - 5:04 pm

As a Polish born Councillor, I have always wanted to show my beautiful nation to some of my Council colleagues. Although Poland has become a popular tourist or a city-break destination, I think that still many of us have incorrect perceptions of the country of my birth. Since 1989 and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and in particular since the beginning of the centre, Poland has changed beyond recognition. Membership of the EU since 2004, high levels of growth, investment and productivity, and a strong economy helped Poland to establish itself as a key decision maker in Europe, and a country that many look up to.

At the end of February, I was absolutely delighted that, thanks to an invitation from Mr Łukasz Kuźmicz, the Mayor of Syców, the Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Councillor Frank Marsh, and I had an amazing opportunity to visit the South-West part of Poland.

It is fair to say that we were truly overwhelmed with our trip so far; incredible hospitality, well run and organised Council, fantastic staff at local primary and secondary schools, and students with fluent English. The list goes on! I was so impressed with the Polish “can-do” attitude, willingness to cooperate and just constant drive to make things happen.

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Nathan Hunt

Why Labour’s council reorganisation threatens young people’s representation in politics

By Nathan Hunt | Mon 10th March 2025 - 12:48 pm

Local government reorganisation is happening. That’s the reality.

As a current district councillor, I could debate the pros and (many) cons of this all day – but one topic I’ve heard worryingly little about is how these reforms could destroy what little representation young people have in local government.

Currently, young people in local government are a rarity. According to 2022 data from the Local Government Association, just 16% of councillors are under the age of 45 – despite the same group accounting for over 40% of the population.

The same dataset found that just 1.2% of councillors were aged under 25 – around 200 in total across England.

There’s currently half as many under-25s who are councillors than players in the Premier League.

This isn’t a surprise. The role on paper just doesn’t work for young people. Whilst being a councillor is intended to sit on top of a full time role, the reality is very different, with meetings easily spilling over into the daytimes, ever-growing casework piles, huge time pressures, and residents’ needs to meet. On top of this, councillors with special responsibilities face even greater challenges.

This blind spot is a huge problem. Our councils need to reflect our whole communities, not just a subset of them. Councils need councillors with a range of experience and backgrounds to make good decisions – and councils that lack young voices (and voices from other underrepresented backgrounds) lack views from the whole community. Whilst a good councillor is capable and able to represent the views of their whole community, it’s still absolutely vital to have young people around the table.

Unitarisation makes these problems worse. It raises the barrier to entry significantly, and higher barriers to entry can often lead to worse representation of underrepresented groups – placing the already dire representation of young people further at risk.

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Duncan Brack

A distinctive defence niche for the Lib Dems to seize

By Duncan Brack | Mon 10th March 2025 - 10:35 am

In the last couple of weeks, policy on defence has suddenly moved centre-stage – to the point where even Lib Dem Voice has an article about it! The support given to Ukraine by our parliamentary party is no less than one would expect, but perhaps we should look a little deeper, as there’s an idea for making defence spending more effective which the Liberal Democrats are ideally placed to champion.

Much political and media attention is focused on the need to spend more on defence as a percentage of GDP. Starmer realised the significance of this and the need to act urgently ahead of his visit to the White House. He shifted from his 2024 manifesto position of 2.5 per cent ‘when resources allow’ to 2.5 per cent from 2027, with funding coming from reductions in international development assistance. 

But we need to be clear on what the money will buy. What capabilities does the UK need? Also, how do we ensure value for money – maximising the benefit from each pound, both in terms of defence capability but also as a contribution to UK jobs and economic growth, rather than US imports?

Currently the UK’s defence, intelligence and security arrangements are effectively joined at the hip with the US. Our nuclear deterrent is supplied by the US. Our intelligence comes largely from the US through the Five Eyes network, led by the US. Much of our kit is purchased from the US and our command and control is dependent on US technology. 

So a pressing question is whether we now need to establish our own defence capability independent of the US. In the short term, this may be difficult – hence the need to maintain a relationship with President Trump. But in the medium term, and particularly in how the UK uses its increased defence budget, there is an urgent need to move away from US dependence, as the last few weeks have underlined.

We could attempt to do this on a UK-only basis. Or we could attempt it through much greater cooperation and integration across Europe. While grateful for European support, the Ukrainians have experienced at first hand the difficulties of fighting a war using what they have described as a ‘military zoo’. The EU has 12 types of battle tank, while the US has one.

This, then, is the opportunity. At a time when the UK and its European partners need to step up expenditure on defence when resources are limited, it is vital that the extra money is spent as efficiently and effectively as possible. Crucially, if the UK is to realise economies of scale and interoperability and have the ability to act without relying on the US, then Europe’s military capabilities must be integrated much more closely. We need to create a single European defence industry capable of supplying our needs, ensuring European control of the technology, and ensuring that the economic benefits, including jobs, are shared fairly with our partners on this side of the Atlantic.

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Mark Valladares

8-9 March 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 9th March 2025 - 11:59 pm
  • Davey: Starmer should visit new Canadian PM and stand in solidarity against Trump “turning the screws” on Canada
  • Chamberlain: Remove barriers for women by supporting unpaid carers
  • Cole-Hamilton: Long Covid still harming lives five years since pandemic
  • Rennie demands urgency as half of Scotland’s universities fall into deficit

Davey: Starmer should visit new Canadian PM and stand in solidarity against Trump “turning the screws” on Canada

As Mark Carney is announced the new leader of Canada, Ed Davey has called on Starmer to head to Ottawa to stand in solidarity with the country’s new Prime Minister in response to Trump’s threats against Canada.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has offered his “warmest congratulations” to the new Canadian PM, Mark Carney. He celebrated the joint Commonwealth history of the two nations, including their shared monarch.

He has also called on Keir Starmer to fly to Canada this week as a show of support, as Trump continues to threaten the imposition of tariffs on Canadian products – as well as on steel and aluminium imports, including from the UK, later this week. Trump has also continued to make alarming comments about wanting to turn Canada into America’s ‘51st State’.

It’s vital for both British and Canadian security that the Commonwealth allies “stand strong together”, Davey said – urging Starmer to show a “united front” against Donald Trump’s “senseless” threats against Canada’s sovereignty and economy.

Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

I would like to express my warmest congratulations to the new leader of Canada, Mark Carney. We treasure Canada’s historic relationship with the UK and I look forward to our two nations’ ties becoming ever stronger during your premiership.

It’s vital for both British and Canadian security that we stand strong together. With global instability rising, it’s never been more important to show a united front with our Commonwealth friends – and to stand together against Trump senselessly turning the screws on his allies, whether that’s Canada, the UK or Europe.

Responding to the trade war along the North American border, our Prime Minister must stand in solidarity against Trump’s bullying and visit Ottawa in a joint show of strength. Starmer must be clear that Trump’s threats against Commonwealth nations’ sovereignty are unacceptable.

Chamberlain: Remove barriers for women by supporting unpaid carers

Speaking on International Women’s Day, Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP has pledged to improve support for unpaid carers in order to tackle gender inequality across society, as she highlighted that the majority of Scotland’s unpaid carers are female.

According to the Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Carers Census survey, 73% of all unpaid carers are female.

A 2023 survey from Care Scotland found that a third of female unpaid carers have given up employment to care. A further 55% said that their physical health has suffered as a result of their caring role, while 81% felt stressed or anxious because of it.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have brought forward a series of measures to help unpaid carers across the country, including through Ms Chamberlain’s Carer’s Leave Act.

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Caron Lindsay

Cole-Hamilton stands up for Long Covid sufferers on National Day of Reflection

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 9th March 2025 - 10:33 am

It’s almost 3 years since I first had Covid, an experience which has made my life a lot smaller. My road to recovery from Long Covid has been erratic and very, very slow. It’s only now that I’m properly starting to enjoy life as I used to – in small doses. I have to be very careful about planning, pacing and prioritising – which is exhausting in itself. I consider the effect on my life to have been profound, but I am also aware that I have got away relatively lightly. Those who got Long Covid in the earlier days particularly are much worse off.

Through this time, it’s been incredibly comforting to see Liberal Democrats push the case for more to be done for people for whom Covid has been a life-limiting experience. Layla Moran and Alex Cole-Hamilton particularly have been steadfast in their support having met so many people who are either affected or who are treating those who have been.

Today, on the National Day of Reflection, Alex highlights those struggling with Long Covid. He also paid tribute to NHS staff and communities

Five years on from the pandemic, thousands of Scots are still suffering from Long Covid. More than 80% of them say that the condition has adversely affected their ability to undertake day-to-day activities.

A 2024 Cambridge Econometrics report, The Economic Impact of Long Covid in the UK, estimated that Long Covid, ‘may have macroeconomic costs of some £1.5bn of GDP each year’. The report also indicates that, ‘lower employment of around 138,000 by 2030 follows as a consequence’.

Adjusted for Scotland’s share of the UK population, this suggested a yearly economic impact of £120m and 11,000 jobs by 2030.

In recent budget negotiations, Scottish Liberal Democrats secured millions more in funding for dedicated support for Long Covid sufferers.

Alex said:

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 9th March 2025 - 8:30 am

Germany

Friedrich Merz is steaming ahead—and he hasn’t even formed his government.

The string bean leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is certain to be chancellor as soon as he has formed his coalition with the Social Democrats. But that will take several weeks of political haggling and the fast moving and fast deteriorating international scene dictates that the power house of Europe must be involved NOW.

So, next week the German parliament is being recalled to amend the federal constitution to allow the government to increase borrowing to boost the economy by investing in infrastructure and to pay for a bigger defense establishment. This means that when the new government is sworn in on March 25th it will have the financial means to hit the ground running.

Up until the election of Donald Trump Merz was a firm Atlanticist. But on election night he he spun 180 degrees. “My absolute priority,” he told supporters, “will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.”

And for those who worry about Trump pulling out of NATO, Merz strongly hinted that Europe may be the ones to leave the alliance.

United States

The US Department of Defense recently published a manual on counter-insurgency called Joint Publication 3-24 (JP3-24). It argued that the lessons over the past 60 years show that in the 21st century the only way that one country can successfully occupy another is through total annihilation.

“To hold countries,” wrote the American planners, “you need to impose order. To impose order you need to control populations. To control populations you need to use violence. Violence leads to violence, which is inherently antithetical to order.”

American forces have discovered in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan that, even with the support of local governments, tiny pockets of resistance can make chaos more or less permanent. Attempts to quell that chaos are counterproductive as they only result in reactive violence.

The days of colonial empires imposing their rule on near-docile populations is over. In the post-colonial world populations demand the right to rule. If occupiers want to usurp that right they have to impose draconian anti-insurgent measures and each new imposition undermines their control.

What the US has found to its cost, the Russians should have concluded after the failure of their Ukrainian puppet Viktor Yanukovych and will discover again if they succeed in ousting Volodomyr Zelensky and installing a stooge in Kyiv. Vladimir Putin will certainly discover the truth of JP3-24 if he goes onto re-establish the Russian empire and conquers Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and others.

His only hope is to replace the local majority with an ethnic Russian majority. This was a well-tried tactic of the tsars and Joseph Stalin which led to the forced removal of local populations to less equable climes such as Siberia.

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Mo Waqas

My mother: my hero. A tribute on International Women’s Day

By Mo Waqas | Sat 8th March 2025 - 4:30 pm

On this International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate the greatest hero in my life — my mother, Amtal.

My mother is a woman of extraordinary strength, resilience, and unwavering principles. She may stand at just 4’11”, but her presence is far greater. She carries herself with dignity, pride, and courage that inspires everyone who knows her.

Today, my mother lives a peaceful and independent life in a small village called Kotha, in the Gujrat district of Punjab, Pakistan. She spends her days tending to her small plot of land, growing her own food, nurturing her beautiful flowers, and caring for her chickens and beloved dog. After years of hardship and struggle, she now enjoys the quiet life she always deserved — a life she built through resilience and hard work.

The values that shaped me

My mother’s greatest gift to me wasn’t just her love — it was her wisdom. She believed that strength is measured not by power or status, but by how you treat others.

She taught me to stand up for those who can’t defend themselves, to never compromise on my values, and to remain humble no matter how much success I achieve.

I remember her telling me, “Never bow before small men in big offices.” She believed that respect should be earned through character, not through titles or wealth. This principle has stayed with me throughout my life — in my career, in politics, and in my relationships.

Whenever I faced tough decisions or difficult people, her voice echoed in my mind: “Do what’s right, even if you stand alone.”

Her unshakable spirit

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Chris Bowers

What would Paddy do?

By Chris Bowers | Sat 8th March 2025 - 2:30 pm

Image of Paddy Ashdown with words "What would Paddy do?"Bringing the party’s first leader back to life – in a modern-day cause

Six years after his premature death at age 77, Paddy Ashdown is making a comeback in the interests of the party’s immediate future.

Well, not really. But Paddy’s name does adorn a new publication from the Yorkists, a group of party activists keen for the Lib Dems to have a stronger public identity. What would Paddy do? is ostensibly a submission to the party’s policy review, the one chaired by Ed Davey and Eleanor Kelly that will report later this spring and propose motions to federal conference in September. But it’s really a discussion paper about where the Lib Dems need to go, given that the run-in to the 2029 general election is likely to take place on various shifting sands.

Despite its formulation, the title of the Yorkists’ submission is not an attempt to second-guess what Paddy Ashdown would do in the current circumstances, but to invoke the spirit of a political colossus who understood the person-in-the-street and was willing to take bold and counterintuitive stances. His stand-out policy was a penny on income tax to fund a boost to education, the tax rise deliberately ring-fenced to make it more palatable to voters (if indigestible to Treasury mandarins), but he also went against the Zeitgeist in 1989 when he called for all Hong Kong citizens with British nationality to be allowed to live here.

Consequently, what the Yorkists are feeding into the policy review addresses nine policy areas, combining immediate pragmatic proposals with thinking outside the box and challenging today’s Zeitgeist. Defence is a fast-moving topic, but the main call in What would Paddy do? is for cooperation among Europe’s states so money spent on defence goes further. It also urges efforts to tackle housing shortages to focus not simply on new building targets but on a package of measures that includes stipulating the right kind of dwellings to be built and accompanying land and taxation measures to stop starter homes becoming boltholes for the urban rich.

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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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