Liberal Democrat Voice

Ed Davey’s email on Islamophobia

By Mary Reid | Fri 9th August 2024 - 11:19 am

Yesterday evening Ed Davey sent an email to members in response to the public violence over the past week. It says:

The last ten days have been immensely difficult for our country.

First, the horrific attack in Southport that claimed the lives of three innocent young girls.

Then, the far right extremists who exploited this tragedy to incite and commit appalling acts of violence. Violence that targeted Muslims, asylum seekers and communities of colour.

These thugs do not speak for Britain or our values. But how we respond does.

My response to last night’s events:

It is heartwarming to see so many people

…

Posted in News | Tagged ed davey | 4 Comments

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Maiden speech: Bobby Dean MP for Carshalton and Wallington

By The Voice | Fri 9th August 2024 - 8:47 am

Apologies for not covering Bobby Dean’s maiden speech earlier. He gave it during the debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill on 30th July.

Here is the full text:

Posted in Parliament | Tagged Bobby Dean NP, maiden speeches and speeches | 2 Comments

Nominate someone for the 2024 Councillor Awards

By Mary Reid | Thu 8th August 2024 - 11:55 am

Each year the Local Government Information Unit awards exceptional councillors across England Wales and Scotland. They have five categories:

Community Champion
Leader of the Year
Young Councillor of the Year
Innovator of the Year
Lifetime Legend

Last year Cllr Hannah Perkin won the Community Champion award for England and Wales. Hannah is Leader of the Lib Dems on Swale Borough Council, but her award focussed on her work to increase diversity and inclusion. She set up the Faversham Disability Forum, which campaigns to improve access for people with a range of disabilities in local public spaces, including playgrounds and swimming pools. Hannah has also campaigned across a range of issues including violence against women and environmental matters. You can read her citation and interview here.

Many of you will know a Lib Dem councillor worthy of one of these awards, so you know what to do. You can read more about the categories and submit a nomination here. Nominations close on Friday 13th September.

Posted in News | Tagged Local government and local government information unit | Leave a comment

FCC report following agenda selection meeting

By Nick da Costa | Thu 8th August 2024 - 9:05 am

The Federal Conference Committee met on Saturday to run through a number of items leading up to Autumn Conference in Brighton, which is being held from 14 to 17 September 2024.

We are looking at a very different conference to recent years, having had the most successful election of our party in over a century; and I am certain there will be lots of celebrate in Brighton.

The general election has really constrained all of our deadlines, so the agenda selection meeting was almost a month later than usual. Furthermore, the election has impacted all of our planning. The amazing Conference Team are delivering a conference, which usually takes 5 months of intense work in less than two months.

Because all deadlines have been pushed back, we will not be producing a paper agenda; instead it will be available online and we will inform members when it has been uploaded. We will still produce printed version of Conference Extra and Daily in the Conference Centre.

Furthermore, we have set a later deadline for submission of amendments, which will be Monday, 9 September at 13:00.

We are hoping to publish the full text of the motions shortly, so that you can start planning amendments, questions to reports and emergency motions.

Conference is an excellent opportunity to engage with members from all across the country, to influence the party policy and strategy, and to a huge array of fringe and training events, which I recommend those attending to take full advantage of.

Our amazing election result has meant that we’ve had an increase in interest in events at Conference; we’ve seen a great upsurge in fringe bookings and exhibitions – and both of these were sold out pretty much the day after the General Election. Please do visit as many exhibitors and fringes as you can.

Understandably, many members, AOs and other party groups have been busy on the General Election, so we have seen a reduction in motions submitted from across the party – therefore, the FCC has also made time in the auditorium for some different types of sessions; including a panel discussion on Defence and Veterans, the General Election Review, and a consultation on our New Policy Agenda.

We received a large number of motions from across the party, and are extremely grateful for the time and effort that members make in formulating policy motions and ideas for debate at Conference. We really wish that we could select so many more that ended up on the final list, but as always time at conference is at a premium and a large number of motions, although selected in the first round, did not make it through the second round when we then started to look at reducing timings.

As regularly mentioned, time is tight at conference, and we are unable to take all motions submitted to Conference. Regarding the motions which were not selected, we have provided a summary of reasons why motions have not been submitted, and have provided further information to those people whose motions were not selected. I have tried to keep this succinct for the purposes of the list of motions.

Posted in News | Tagged 2024 autumn conference and federal conference committee report | 1 Comment

Obituary: Andrew De Freitas

By Ed Fordham and Ian Barfield | Wed 7th August 2024 - 4:49 pm

Liberal Democrat former councillor Andrew De Freitas has died: he was truly a unique and special man who deserves a prominent place in our history. As his friends we have jointly written this tribute.

Based on outdated inaccurate perceptions, very few people expected that Grimsby and Cleethorpes would be bright blobs of gold on the UK map of local government control. Few people ever thought that the Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council might be a Liberal Democrat, that he would be of Caribbean descent, and that his tenure as Leader would …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged andrew de freitas and obituaries | 5 Comments

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Christine Jardine urges Government to appoint Independent Advisor on Islamophobia

By The Voice | Wed 7th August 2024 - 9:33 am

Lib Dem Equalities Spokesperson Christine Jardine has written to Women and Equalities Minister Anneliese Dodds to welcome the work the Government has done so far in measures to support Muslim communities and urging them to go further by filling the post of Independent Advisor on Islamophobia that the Conservatives left vacant for two years.

The text of her letter is below:

Dear Anneliese,

I wish to share my concerns about the shocking violent Islamophobia unfolding on our streets and urge early action to fill the position of Independent advisor on Islamophobia left vacant for two years by the previous Conservative Government.

Like the rest of the country, I am deeply distressed by the riots, violence and disorder we have seen in recent days. A small minority of far-right extremists have exploited the unfathomable tragedy in Southport to commit appalling acts of violence, targeting Muslims, asylum seekers and communities of colour.

I fully support your government in calling the motivation behind some of this violence what it is – Islamophobia.

Racism and Islamophobia have no place in our society. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes, communities and places of worship. I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues utterly condemn this violence.

Posted in News | Tagged anneliese dodds, christine jardine, equalities, islamophobia, ldcre and roderick lynch | 4 Comments

Hina Bokhari writes…I don’t want to keep talking about Islamophobia

By Hina Bokhari | Wed 7th August 2024 - 7:28 am

“Are you ok? Was the first question Natasha Devon on LBC asked when she interviewed me about the rising Islamophobia.

We really shouldn’t be talking about Islamophobia. We should be talking about the tragedy of three little girls being brutally killed, the continuing violence against women and girls and the factors that led to these terrible murders.

But instead, the news is focussed on extremist thugs who have spread disinformation and caused chaos on our streets. Quite rightly Starmer and Davey have called it out.

And now our leaders have also said that these were not legitimate protests but riots targeting Muslims, asylum seekers and communities of colour.

I’m glad that there has been progress here. Words matter. And it shouldn’t take Muslim groups like the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) or Muslim commentators or Muslim politicians having to call out the racism we have seen recently.

Muslims need allies. They need the Government, MPs from all parties and community leaders to call it out too. When a riot starts because disinformation is spread about a killer being Muslim and then those rioters shout “f*** Allah” and attack a mosque – that’s called Islamophobia or anti-Muslim hatred or just simply racism!

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured, hina bokhari and islamophobia | 1 Comment

6 August 2024 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 7th August 2024 - 1:05 am

Ofwat fines: A game of catch up after Conservative Ministers turned a blind eye
Cole-Hamilton: SNP must take action to avoid winter crisis at A&E
Welsh Lib Dems call on new First Minister to “restore trust in Welsh Politics”
Police office numbers are lowest on record
Number of people stuck in hospital reaches new high
Scot Lib Dems criticise SNP exam failings

Ofwat fines: A game of catch up after Conservative Ministers turned a blind eye

Responding to Ofwat imposing a £168m fine on Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

After years of inaction and failure under the last Conservative government, it is welcome to see the regulator finally impose proper fines.

This should only be the start if these polluting firms are to clean up their act.

We now need a ban on bonuses and an end to bumper profits on the industry.

Sadly this is all a game of catch up after Conservative Ministers turned a blind eye to this environmental scandal.

Cole-Hamilton: SNP must take action to avoid winter crisis at A&E

Responding to new figures showing only 69% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in June 2024, while 14,126 people waited over 8 hours and 5,936 waited over 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

Normally in summer we would see an improving picture at A&E, but these waiting times are already very long, and moving in the wrong direction.

Under the SNP the NHS is teetering on the brink, staff are overwhelmed, and thousands are waiting far too long to be seen.

We need to see action from this SNP government to address long waits at A&E before we are staring down the barrel of a winter crisis.

Scottish Liberal Democrats would overhaul the SNP’s failed NHS Recovery Plan, get you fast access to GPs and help people leave hospital on time through a new minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.

Welsh Lib Dems call on new First Minister to “restore trust in Welsh Politics”

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the new First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan to rebuild trust in Welsh politics.

Posted in News, Press releases, Scotland and Wales | Tagged accident and emergency, alex cole-hamiton, educational attainment, hospital occupancy, jane dodds, liam mcarthur, policing, tim farron, trust and water companies | Leave a comment

The role of social media – a crisis of conscience for Lib Dems?

By Richard Kemp | Tue 6th August 2024 - 10:25 am

One of the issues that has come to the fore following the appalling murders then just as appalling lawlessness in Southport earlier this week is the question of free speech. There can be no doubt that misinformation has caused much of the rioting and sheer criminality of the past few days. There are a lot of similarities between what happened in the 1981 Toxteth riots and what happened in 2024 in Southport but there is one crucial difference – social media and the various mobile phones and appliances that supercharge them.

Just to recap within a couple of hours of the murders false information was put out through social media that the person who committed the murders was an immigrant who came over on small boats and was a Muslim. The Police are bound by law to restrict information about suspects, but they did release one nugget of information that, in a rational world, would have shut down the rumours. They said that the suspect was from Rwanda.

The UK has few Rwandan refugees, and they came over 30 years ago at the time of the massacres and genocide in that Country. Rwanda is a member of he Commonwealth of Nations although we were not the colonial rulers. Commonwealth membership gives Rwandans greater rights to come to our Country just as we Brits have greater rights to go to their countries. So, the perpetrator was not a ‘boat person,’ his family came here with the support of the UK government all those years ago and was not a Muslim. 96% of the population of Rwanda are Christian and only 2% is of the Islamic faith.

I believe that this means that we must think carefully of the advantages and disadvantages of social media. I use social media a lot. I blog for example. I tweet. I regularly communicate with my grandchildren, using facetime. I email which is a process which saves so much time and paper. So social media must stay but there must be constraints on it.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged free speech, right wing violence, social media and southport murders | 24 Comments

The real conflict in the land between the Sea and the River

By Leon Duveen | Tue 6th August 2024 - 7:44 am

The real conflict in the land between the Sea and the River is not between Palestinians & Israelis, it is not a religious war (there are Jews, Muslims, Christians & believers of other religions supporting both sides). It is a conflict between, on one side, those who want that land exclusively for their side, realising that it will mean an ongoing war for the foreseeable future, a war that neither Palestine nor Israel can win but both Palestinians & Israelis will lose, and, on the other side, those who are willing to trade exclusivity for peace, who are willing to accept that both Palestinians & Israelis have the same right to claim the land as their people’s homeland and to be a free people in it.

The exclusivists on both sides are very good at painting the 100+ years of conflict in black and white, us or them, win or lose terms. Indeed, the exclusivists on both sides are not above working with each other to stop those who accept the need to compromise being accepted as the real patriots. Even the recent assassination of Ismail Haniyeh can be seen like this, the removal of a relatively moderate Hamas leader in such a way as to strengthen the hawks on both sides.

The reality is the opposite, it is those who believe Palestinians & Israelis both have rights to that small sliver of land, who believe both people have ancient ties to it and that they both need to learn to live alongside each other who are the real patriots, the people who really love both the land the people who live there & want to see an end to the continual violence.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged israel, middle east and palestine | 6 Comments

5 August 2024 – today’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 5th August 2024 - 11:50 pm

Ed Davey responds to COBRA on riots

Responding to the Prime Minister chairing COBRA following riots across the country, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The country has rightly been appalled and outraged at the despicable actions of a tiny minority. All those thugs who have rioted and carried out racist attacks must face the full force of the law.

Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes, communities and places of worship.

We welcome the actions taken by our brave police officers and the new measures announced today by the government to clamp down on criminals attempting to terrorise our

…

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged ed davey and riots | 1 Comment

Liberal Democrats must drive the new government hard on housing

By Charlie Murphy | Mon 5th August 2024 - 4:39 pm

It is a familiar story that parties find it politically expedient to oppose new homes being built, particularly within a given politician’s local area. It happens time and again, even among those who profess an understanding or recognition of the scale of the housing crisis and its injustice.

We desperately need more homes nationally, but problems with housing affordability are most acute in the South East of England and the Home Counties surrounding London. When we talk of “the right homes in the right places” it is all too easy to think that means “not here”.

The reality for the Liberal Democrats is now that “not here” doesn’t work. We have been enormously successful in selling a vision of a progressive, forward looking and practical politics to large parts of the South East and Home Counties. In the East of England we won seven MPs, and in the South East we won twenty-four – around 3,500 votes off of supplanting the Conservatives as the second party in the region.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged housing policy | 6 Comments

The Independent View: Kinship Carers in the Spotlight: A Call for Continued Commitment and Support

By Dr Lucy Peake | Mon 5th August 2024 - 2:26 pm

Kinship carers play a vital role in our society, providing loving, stable homes for more than 141,000 children in England and Wales whose parents are not able to care for them.

Grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, other relatives and family friends step up, often at a point of crisis and in very challenging circumstances, to prevent children from entering the care system.

Despite their critical contribution to the lives of many, kinship carers have been overlooked by successive governments. As a result, most kinship families receive little to no support, and according to our research, many are at breaking point. Nearly 1 in 8 told us a lack of financial support and help with their children’s needs meant they were concerned about their ability to continue caring for their children in the next year if their situations didn’t improve. This could mean devastating consequences for children, families and the state.

The previous Government’s National Kinship Care Strategy (December 2023) finally gave kinship families some recognition, but the ‘radical reset’ proposed by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has yet to be delivered.

Kinship carers and the children they are raising need security and support as a matter of urgency.

2024: turning the tide?

This summer has been a watershed moment. For the first time, kinship care was mentioned in the manifestos of England’s three leading political parties. Tireless campaigning over many decades by kinship carers – themselves already overstretched by the challenges of caring for children with little support – has got us to this point.

And they’ve had some welcome help.

In recent years, Liberal Democrats have stepped up to bring the experiences of kinship carers and the case for greater support for kinship families directly to Westminster.

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged bobby dean, ed davey and kinship care | Leave a comment

What our new MPs bring to the political debate

By Lord William Wallace | Mon 5th August 2024 - 11:35 am

Liberal Democrats who are frustrated at the modest media impact of our 72 MPs in the first month since their triumphant election should remember how long it takes to recruit new staff, discover the intricacies of parliamentary life and the surrounding media, put their diverse skills to effective use, and decide which specific issues they are going to make their own. In the last Parliament our 11 MPs had to cover the full range of issues thrown at them, with a skeleton supporting staff, with each by-election winner making a welcome difference to the load. When our Lords group met together with our new MPs, Ed Davey generously thanked us for the policy support and advice we had provided (with our larger numbers, though very limited staff) in combatting Tory legislation in the past 3 Parliaments. A much larger Commons Party, with significantly-increased staff both in MPs’ office and attached to the Whips’ Office, will transform our capabilities.

Few of us will yet have discovered the wealth of experience and expertise our new MPs bring to their new, fulltime, responsibilities (I’m still discovering constituencies that I didn’t realise we’d won…). Clearing some papers today, I discovered a memo on the government’s data strategy that Tim Clement Jones and I had written four years ago with a Liberal Democrat expert called David Chadwick – and realised that I’ve already met our new MP for Brecon and Radnor, and that he’s an established expert in a delicate field of public policy. A rapid look through our MPs’ short biographies shows a wealth of local Council experience, with all that provides for grappling with issues of social care, public services, environment and housing. I see that Gideon Amos, our Taunton MP, is also an architect and town planner by profession.

Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Tagged members of parliament | 14 Comments

Devolution – but not as we know it…’

By Roger Shelley | Sun 4th August 2024 - 1:30 pm

Great to see William Wallace’s recent critique of the elected Mayoral system This creeping assault on local democracy by the usual unholy Labour-Conservative alliance is now gathering pace, with the new Labour government committed to its expansion.

William is right that the Mayoral system is a mess, but so too is local government as a whole, weakened by decades of underinvestment, now undermined further by the mayoral expansion process.

England currently has a chaotic patchwork, with largely the north being used as a ‘test bed’ for the mayoral system. I use the term advisedly, and note Liz Kendall’s call last week that ‘we need to experiment to get evidence’. Quite. Where is the empirical evidence that Combined County Authorities, like the ‘East Midlands’ one, just imposed on Notts and Derbys, are going to work efficiently, let alone democratically, in improving people’s lives? As a district councillor on the only non-Labour or Tory led authority in the new Mayoral authority area, I feel I am entitled to some proof, on behalf of my residents.

I am concerned that the LGA, and for that matter, think tanks with a role in public policy analysis, seem at best uncritical, at worst supine in their acceptance of this false devolution. I’ve tried hard and cannot see who is providing essential critical analysis of the democratic deficit and effectiveness of delivery or projects, targets and growth that these Mayoral authorities actually give – and crucially how ‘Metro Mayors’ are performing compared to the Combined County Authorities.

I can sort of understand that cohesive predominantly urban areas like Greater Manchester and London might achieve some improved delivery, in for example, public transport, but where is the evidence that this is working in diversely dispersed combined urban-rural authorities? I would like to see our new overwhelmingly southern MPs wake up to this issue, before it is presumably rolled out inexorably across their counties.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire’s new EMCCA has a desultory budget of £38m over the next 30 years – unless it raises extra through higher local taxation, or where a lucky few councils may succeed in bidding for extra central government grants, filtered through the Combined Mayoral Authority, in a divisive competitive race.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged devolution and Local government | 7 Comments

The importance of saying “Thank you”

By Jean Low | Sun 4th August 2024 - 11:30 am

As someone who first got involved with the Liberals at the General Election of February 1974, I suppose I might be described as a veteran of election campaigns. At various times over the decades I have been a candidate (national and local), an agent, and a foot soldier.

Last month I was excited to be able to help out in three target seats, two of which were fairly close to my home, and one which involved a lengthy journey. Some health issues prevented me from doing as much as I did 50 years ago, but I am of course delighted that in all three constituencies, Lib Dem MPs were elected with very healthy majorities.

Like all the other 69 MPs that were elected, none of these three would now be in Westminster if it had not been for the thousands of volunteers up and down the country who faced up to fierce dogs, fiddly gates and difficult letter boxes, who knocked on hundreds of doors, and who wrote interminable envelopes. Like others I guess, I was shouted at, barked and growled at, had balled-up leaflets thrown at me, and also met some lovely people.

Whilst I appreciate that new, and returning MPs, have a huge amount to cope with in their first few weeks, not least finding somewhere to live, setting up an office, and coping with the inevitable flood of case work, there is one thing which I believe they should all do, as a priority, and that is say “thank you” to those whose sterling efforts ensured that they were elected.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2024 general election and campaigning | 6 Comments

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 4th August 2024 - 9:35 am

Donald Trump is the “Great Obfuscator.”

When asked to clarify his outrageous claims he muddies the political waters even more in an attempt to be all things to all people.

Last Friday he told the Christian political pressure group Turning Point Action that if they voted for him in November they wouldn’t have to vote again. He would “fix it.”

Liberals immediately raised the anti-democracy hue and cry. Donald Trump, they said, planned to either abolish elections or rig the system so that conservative Republicans would stay in power forever.

No, no, no, say the MAGA people. That is not what he meant at all. He meant that they won’t have to vote for Donald Trump again because he is prohibited by the constitution from running for a third term.

It was left to Fox News—Trump’s chosen television medium—to clarify the muddle. Interviewer Laura Ingraham pressed him to explain. Trump said the statement was made to encourage Christians to vote in November because American conservatives don’t often vote. He added that the same could be said for gun owners.

This was patently false. As a group, America’s Christians and gun owners are among the largest proportion of voters in the US. His clarification made no sense. So what did the Great Obfuscator mean?

Just as confusing…

…is Trump’s position on the much-discussed Project 2025.

For the benefit of those who have been trapped in a sealed cave for the past six months, Project 2025, is a 900-page report compiled by the right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation. It sets out in great detail a programme for Donald Trump if he is inaugurated president in 2025.

Among its provisions are proposals to gut the FBI and Department of Justice and replace tens of thousands of federal civil servants with loyal MAGA Republicans. It wants a national ban on abortion and restrictions on contraception and IVF treatments. Project 2025 proposes a strong “unitary executive branch;” an “end to civil rights protections” and no more “safeguards on drinking water.” All efforts to combat climate change would end” and America would focus more on drilling for fossil fuels. The Department of Education would be scrapped along with all economic ties to China.

Democrats immediately denounced Project 2025 as anti-constitutional, anti-Democratic, anti-American and verging on the illegal. And they added that all those antis pretty well summed up Trump himself.

A fair amount of the mud stuck and Trump quickly started to distance himself from Project 2025. This proved difficult because one of the main contributors to the report was his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The Director of the Heritage Foundation, and the main impetus behind the report, Paul Dans, was Trump’s Chief of Staff for the Office of Personnel Management.

This week Mr Dans resigned as Director of the Heritage Foundation and claimed that Project 2025 was not meant to be an action plan for Donald Trump. Instead, he said, it was merely some thoughts for any future conservative administration.

The Trump campaign immediately put out an “I told you so” release. But then we need to look at what Trump has personally promised to do: Gut the Department of Justice and the FBI and put on trial for treason the “Biden Crime family” and political opponents such as Liz Cheney. “Drill, drill, drill for oil.” Raise tariffs on Chinese exports for between 65-100 percent. Pardon most of the Capitol Hill rioters. Round-up and deport up to 15 million illegal immigrants and “fix it so you won’t have to vote for me again.”

What next in the Middle East?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged donald trump, middle east, tom arms world review, usa and Venezuela | Leave a comment

Observations of an ex pat: Great green box ticker

By Tom Arms | Sat 3rd August 2024 - 9:55 am

As a box ticking exercise it is difficult to beat the Great Green Wall of Africa.

For those not familiar with this incredibly important and ambitious project, the Great Green Wall (aka GGW) is an international undertaking to prevent creeping desertification in Africa. It proposes to plant and maintain on the southern border of the Sahara Desert a nine-mile wide forest stretching 4,831 miles from Dakar on the Atlantic to Djibouti on the Red Sea.

It is estimated that the GGW will create 10 million jobs in one of the most poverty-stricken regions of the world. That means 10 million people less likely to seek survival in Europe and America.

More jobs means more income for governments which means increased political stability and improved governance in one of the most of the world’s most politically unstable and corrupt regions.

From a climate change perspective the GGW is potential wonderful news. The proposed grass and tree coverage is projected to restore 250 million acres of degraded land and capture 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Trees also play a major role in reducing global temperatures.

So far about $30 billion has been pledged from a variety of sources to complete the project by 2030. There has already been extensive planting in Senegal, Chad and Ethiopia.

But according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, one of the GGW’s major sponsors—the Great Green Wall is in danger of collapse. The number one threat is violence. Nine of the countries through which the GGW crosses are in the top 20 of the 2024 Global Terrorism Index.

They are the victims of civil war; Jihadist terrorist attacks; the withdrawal of French troops from the Sahel region and their replacement by Russian forces. The Jihadists in particular—and the Russians to a lesser degree—feed on political instability. The GGW encourages stability, so the Jihadists do whatever they can to disrupt the planting regime.

Violence is not the only problem. Critics also claim that the environmental initiative lacks political leadership. That is not surprising. Its roots stretch back to 1952-53 when one of the early climate change activists, British explorer and botanist Richard St Barbe Baker, first proposed the Great Green Wall. He went on to found the International Free Foundation which has since planted an estimated 26 trillion trees.

Many of the foundation’s trees were planted in the Sahel Region. But the foundation is a charity. Governmental coordination and vast amounts of aid were needed to ensure success. In 2002 the project was revived at a special African summit in Chad to launch World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. In 2012 the African Union took it on as a flagship project and in 2014 they were joined by the EU and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). At the One Planet Summit in 2021 various partners pledged $14.3 billion.

But the widespread interest also created problems. At the beginning of 2024 the project involved 21 countries and the same number of international organisations as well as a plethora of charities at international, national and local level. The wall needs directed political leadership and instead is plagued by a confusing babel of competing interests.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged observations of an ex pat | 4 Comments

The importance of the presumption of innocence

By Michael Taylor | Sat 3rd August 2024 - 7:55 am

Innocent

There is a tradition dating back well over 1000 years that any person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proved guilty. In other words, an accusation doesn’t make someone guilty, it a court that hears the evidence and decides, either magistrates or, for serious offences a jury.

There is a worrying tendency today to pronounce someone guilty merely on the basis of an accusation and to demand that that person be treated as a criminal, losing their job and being shunned by society.

Take Huw Edwards. He was accused of dreadful crimes involving children and has, after a trial in which he pleaded guilty, been convicted. This is the point at which he should have lost his job, not back in 2023 when the accusations surfaced. Many years ago, I attended a CHE bonfire party held at the independent Labour Party tearooms somewhere outside Burnley. An older man recalled that prior to the sexual offences act he was charged and convicted for homosexual acts. His employers, the local council, waited till he had been convicted and then, and only then, handed him his dismissal papers. Of course, today he wouldn’t even have been in court, but the council did not assume he was guilty and continued to employ him until after the conviction.

Posted in Op-eds | 10 Comments

2 August 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 2nd August 2024 - 11:05 pm

Jenrick: A terrible record tainted by failure
Calls for increased security after violent thuggery spreads to London

Jenrick: A terrible record tainted by failure

Responding to Robert Jenrick’s Conservative Leadership campaign event, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper MP said:

As a Minister, Robert Jenrick oversaw a housing crisis and failed to address immigration, he has a terrible record tainted by failure.

Only in today’s Conservative Party could someone with such a terrible record of failure think they could lead it.

Jenrick is now a symbol of the way the Conservative Party has moved further and further away from lifelong Conservative voters in the Blue Wall. People right across the country are instead putting their faith in the Liberal Democrats to get a fair deal for them.

Calls for increased security after violent thuggery spreads to London

A London Assembly Member has called for increased security around mosques in London following the spread of violent and racist riots to London.

Violent riots have erupted in several British cities following misinformation spread by the far-right in the wake of the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar in Southport.

Posted in London, News and Press releases | Tagged daisy cooper, hina bokhari, riots and robert jenrick | 2 Comments

A SWOT analysis for the Liberal Democrats?

By Simon Banks | Fri 2nd August 2024 - 7:22 pm

Long ago, working in primary care management, I was struck by how the partners of an excellent GP practice, replacing a retiring partner, had not even asked themselves how their area might change over 20 years or so and whether this might influence their choice. In my Liberal Democrat local party and region, it was clear to me many local parties were stumbling on, doing what they knew, grumbling about too much work and not enough people, knowing their activists were ageing, but doing little to find new ones: plenty of hard work, but no vision, no strategy.

So I became an advocate for local party Development Plans before the English Party pushed the issue and made a development plan a constitutional requirement for local parties (that’s fixed, then). As Chair of my Region’s Development Committee, I’ve been encouraging and advising on the things ever since.

If you’re in a hole, discover how deep the hole is and how to get out of it. If you’ve made progress but reached a plateau, identify the pinch points and what can be done. A basic tool for this is a SWOT analysis (not to be confused with heavily armed police: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.).

If this is a good idea for local parties, as I’m convinced it is, what about higher levels?

Regional Parties will have strategies, but they may well not include a hard look at existing strengths and weaknesses. The English Party and the Federal Party have various plans, often quickly forgotten, but apparently nothing like a Development Plan; strategy means the next election (as in Ed Davey’s “Guardian” interview) and SWOT analysis could be embarrassing.

What would a SWOT analysis for the whole party right now look like?

Of course, strengths would include 72 MPs, with the credibility the election result brings us. Another would be an HQ election operation, unlike 2015 and 2019, that listens to local feedback, looks at Connect input and opinion polls and reacts accordingly. Then, a comparatively open and democratic party, compared to Labour’s obsessive top-down control; and many hardworking councillors.

Weaknesses? Are there any? There are. For a start, after the surge in 2019, by all accounts party membership went into deep and spectacular decline, though figures have not been published for some time. Our campaigns need activists; activists are drawn from the membership; so a deep decline in membership is serious, possibly fatal. Increases at general election time are normal; we hear this has happened, but how much? Without openness about the figures, no judgment can be made. But will new members fall away as most of the 2018-9 recruits did? Local parties should prioritise not just recruiting members, but engaging them, and not just in leafleting. Yet the pressure from the centre is for an almost Soviet programme of getting them working and harder, harder, harder! Fine, but can they also have fun?

Posted in Op-eds | 13 Comments

The two child cap is just the beginning

By Carl Cashman | Fri 2nd August 2024 - 2:09 pm

Without fail at every council meeting, well, at every opportunity they can, my local Labour Party will bring up the Coalition.

They wheel out the same line, each and every time. For them it’s entirely the Lib Dems fault that austerity happened, even more than that each of our members bear a personal burden for cuts made. But they will gladly sidestep the impact of Labour Mayor Joe Anderson – whose legacy is alleged corruption, poor governance, wasted millions and Tory commissioners we’ve just gotten shot off.

Now let me get this out of the way – I’m not an apologist for the coalition, it got some things right, but it got a lot of things wrong. The most lasting damage is that the coalition broke the trust that voters had in the Liberal Democrats, and we’ve lost our status as the non-establishment party, the Greens are mopping up that vote in many of the urban cities in England. We must work on that as a priority.

At my last council meeting, we moved my group’s motion on scrapping the two-child benefit cap. I was on the end of a condescending lecture from the Deputy Leader about “political choice”, she was referencing the coalition. But I fired back on this because, let’s be honest, now that the Labour Party are in Government they are going to learn a lot about “political choices”.

What was their first political choice? To keep the two-child benefit cap, a decision that Newham Labour Councillor Joshua Garfield celebrated as “Country before Party”. The most bizarre thing is that the King’s speech isn’t a binding commitment anyway – the Conservatives have demonstrated that multiple times – it’s simply an indication of a government’s aims for that coming parliament.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged labour and liverpool city council | 30 Comments

In defence of EHCPs

By Robert Jones | Fri 2nd August 2024 - 12:04 pm

Local authorities across England have a duty to assess children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and produce ‘Education, Health and Care Plans’. EHCPs are vital for identifying the needs of children and ensuring that those needs are communicated to and met by the local authority, schools, nurseries or other services and settings. Key parts of an EHCP are legally enforceable and provide a guarantee for children and their families.

EHCPs were introduced with the Children and Families Act 2014 by the coalition government. Much of the initial work on EHCPs was carried out under Lib Dem minister Sarah Teather, with the draft legislation published in her name in 2012. Today EHCPs have a mixed reputation. They have played a significant role in the rise of local government expenditure on social care. Across England spending on SEND provision by councils is predicted by some to reach £12 billion by 2026. It is unsurprising then that there is ever more pressure to reduce those costs and we can see numerous examples of councils formulating strategies to push down the ‘demand’ for EHC assessments.

My local authority, Shropshire Council, is no exception. In response to a question to cabinet on July 17 on the worsening rate of assessments being completed within the statutory 20-week window, it was explained how the council is working to “address the increase in demand” with a proposed framework for ‘Ordinarily Available Provision’. The view apparently taken is that too many children who could have their needs met without an EHC Plan are requesting them anyway. Now, there is little doubt that a much more inclusive approach to education across mainstream schools which could offer provision that meets a broad range of needs as a matter of course needs to be a central priority for education policy nationally. This will involve reform of our approach to education, schooling and the curriculum at all levels of the system. Councils like Shropshire and others which claim to pursue such goals at only a local level are at best optimistic and, it would appear, are more concerned about their own financial sustainability than meeting the educational, health and social needs of children.

A report produced by researchers at ISOS Partnership for the County Councils Network and the LGA was published on July 25. It has drawn a lot of comment from across the SEND community, including charities and independent campaigners, much of it critical. The report focuses its attention on the rising pressures the current system for SEND provision in England creates on local authorities’ budgets, suggesting that up to one in four councils could face an existential threat. The report calls for a number of measures, not least the need for reform that looks at the education and schooling system as a whole, promoting inclusivity and addressing children’s needs as early as possible within existing settings, reducing the need for children and young people to require additional SEND provision, particularly in special schools, except in the cases of the highest need.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged education health and care plan, SEND and special educational needs and disabilities | 4 Comments

Maiden speech: Jess Brown-Fuller MP for Chichester

By The Voice | Fri 2nd August 2024 - 10:07 am

Jess gave her maiden speech in the debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill on Tuesday.

Here is the text of her speech in full:

Posted in Parliament | Tagged Jess Brown-Fuller MP, maiden speeches and speeches | Leave a comment

1 August 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 1st August 2024 - 10:30 pm

Rural crime report: Communities suffering after years of neglect
Davey on PM Statement: “Riots and disorder are never the answer”
Rennie responds to bin strikes news

Rural crime report: Communities suffering after years of neglect

Responding to NFU Mutual’s new Rural Crime Report, which shows that the cost of rural crime rose to £52.8m in 2023, Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

Rural communities are suffering badly after years of neglect by the last Conservative Government. Far too many criminals are getting away with stealing millions of pounds worth of equipment from our farmers.

This needs to change. Rural communities deserve much more focus within government, including a proper strategy to combat rural crime that costs our economy so much.

Davey on PM Statement: “Riots and disorder are never the answer”

Responding to the Prime Minister’s press conference on the unrest since the attack in Southport on Monday, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Tagged dustbin strike, ed davey, riots, rural policing, tim farron and willie rennie | 1 Comment

The Party of young people: The critical contribution of young members

By Janey Little | Thu 1st August 2024 - 6:01 pm

Young people are the life and the soul of the Liberal Democrats.

Having long forgiven the party over tuition fees, young people played a pivotal role in the party’s successes in the General Election. We in the Young Liberals have built a reputation over time for being committed campaigners and enthusiastic door-knockers, but even we were amazed at quite how much young people across the party poured their hearts and souls into this election. We have come leaps and bounds from where we were in 2019. Since then, the Young Liberals have professionalised, built capacity and communities across states and regions, and worked together more effectively to ensure that we could maximise our impact in the General Election. As members, volunteers, party staff, candidates, federal committee members, state executive members, and across all levels of the party, Young Liberals led the way during the General Election.

We had the pleasure of being at the forefront of the campaign. The YL Development Officer fed back to HQ where the Young Liberals were campaigning at different points in the election, helping to inform decisions about where best to organise action days and divert resources throughout the rest of the party. Young people’s commitment to the party strategy and campaigning efforts helped to lock down seats earlier in the campaign, meaning that resources could then be diverted elsewhere, ultimately helping the party to achieve the phenomenal result of 72 MPs.

Each one of us contributes to what we can achieve and what we can become as a party, and we should be nothing but proud as young people in the party for what we collectively accomplished in the General Election.

But more than our efforts on the ground, Young Liberals helped to shape the narrative and the policy offer of the Liberal Democrats in this election. Firstly, it was the Young Liberals who championed carers a few years ago, before it became a key piece of the party’s identity under Ed Davey’s leadership.

Moreover, at autumn conference, Young Liberals worked with the Lambeth local party to pass a policy on ending period poverty. The result is that we were the only major political party to even mention periods in our manifesto. We as a party are leading the way on this issue.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured and young liberals | 7 Comments

Standing against hatred: A call for unity in the face of tragedy

By Mo Waqas | Thu 1st August 2024 - 3:41 pm

The horrific deaths of the three young girls at a dance class have sent shockwaves through our country. This senseless attack, which rightfully should be condemned, has left families and the wider Southport community in mourning. My heart aches for those affected by this tragedy.

In the wake of this incident, we have seen a troubling rise in Islamophobia. This is an issue I have spoken about extensively. It began with the Leeds Riots, where many, including right-wing figures like Nigel Farage, incorrectly assumed the unrest was linked to the South Asian community. In reality, the Muslim community in Leeds was actively working to calm the situation. However, individuals like Tommy Robinson and Lawrence Fox have fanned the flames of sectarianism and populism, perpetuating harmful stereotypes.

The far-right narrative that blames immigrants and Muslims for societal issues is damaging and untrue. They portray my community as terrorists, rapists, and benefit scroungers. This scapegoating has reached a point where many third and fourth-generation Muslims, like myself, feel fed up. We are British—we embrace the quirks of British life, from its famously unpredictable weather to enjoying a vegan sausage roll and chips with gravy. We are proud of our nation, and our grandparents fought against fascism for this country. My great-grandfather served in Burma, and our families have contributed blood, sweat, and tears to be part of this society.

Our contributions are undeniable. My grandfather started working in a mill in Bolton in the 1960s, and now his descendants have become barristers, nurses, investment bankers, care assistants, and bus drivers. They play integral roles in the fabric of Britain. I am the first in my family to stand as an MP and the first to chair my local party. We break glass ceilings every day.

To the far-right, I have a clear message: you will not win. This Britain is for the tolerant and welcoming. We have friends from diverse backgrounds—atheists, theists, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those who think Wigan have a better football team than Bolton (obviously incorrect) . We focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. We care about the Lionesses and whether it’s called a bread roll, barm, or cob. We debate whether to put cream or jam first on a scone. These are the things that make us British.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged islamophobia | 6 Comments

MPs and other jobs

By Rob Parsons | Thu 1st August 2024 - 2:12 pm

I have a proposal for dealing with MPs who have other interests. It’s a solution I have proposed a number of times in different places, and in every case it has been very difficult to get reactions from others. This puzzles me. If there is something fatally wrong with my proposal, would somebody here please tell me, so I need not bother myself with it any more. If it is not fatally flawed, then I think it deserves a hearing.

I believe my suggestion is more liberal than the current free for all, and also more liberal than banning second jobs. My suggestion is not to ban MPs from having other jobs or other interests, but simply to ban them from voting on anything in which they have a financial interest (and maybe other kinds of interests as well). This is in line with practice in local authorities where representatives routinely recuse themselves from issues where they have declared an interest.

This might cause notable changes in the selection process. How eager would local parties be to appoint someone who had a directorship of a medical company and hence could not vote on any health issue? It might give rise to different, and more ethical, internal conversations among candidates. They would have to calculate their net worth as a candidate with and without their interests, and might thereby arrive at a more realistic assessment of what they can offer to the political process. It won’t in many cases; of course; people will continue to calculate purely in terms of political advantage, but it might change some conversations. Imagine all those Tory landlords who would not be able to vote on anything to do with housing.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged members of parliament | 18 Comments

Maiden speech: Josh Reynolds MP for Maidenhead

By The Voice | Thu 1st August 2024 - 12:00 pm

Josh Reynolds made his maiden speech in Tuesday in the debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill.

Here is the full text:

Posted in Parliament | Tagged Josh Reynolds MP, maiden speeches and speeches | Leave a comment

Actually, this Summer of Strategy could be quite good…

Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

Ed Davey’s email on Islamophobia

Maiden speech: Bobby Dean MP for Carshalton and Wallington

Nominate someone for the 2024 Councillor Awards

FCC report following agenda selection meeting

Obituary: Andrew De Freitas

Christine Jardine urges Government to appoint Independent Advisor on Islamophobia

Hina Bokhari writes…I don’t want to keep talking about Islamophobia

6 August 2024 – yesterday’s press releases

The real conflict in the land between the Sea and the River

5 August 2024 – today’s press release

Liberal Democrats must drive the new government hard on housing