Refusal to publish Russian interference shows Johnson morphing into Trump
Gyimah: Labour plans fail meet the needs of working people
Lib Dems set out plans to strengthen support for survivors of violence and abuse
Lib Dems: Johnson’s speech shows he is misleading voters again
Lib Dems: Selection of Chris Davies shows Tories’ contempt for voters
Refusal to publish Russian interference shows Johnson morphing into Trump
Following the reports that Hillary Clinton has said it is “inexplicable and shameful” that the UK government has not yet published a report on alleged Russian interference in British politics, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary Chuka Umunna said:
There was a bit of a glitch yesterday, as the press releases ended up in my spam folder for some reason. Things seem to be back to normal, so the usual service resumes here…
Welsh Lib Dems – time to embrace zero-carbon housing
Lib Dems: EU resolution a vital step in UK’s duty to stand up for people of Hong Kong
Davey demands urgent action as knife crime epidemic continues to spread
Umunna: OBR report shows No Deal Brexit would be unforgivable
Lib Dems: Johnson’s ‘fishy tales’ have no plaice in Number Ten
Tories must follow Welsh govt in gender neutral school uniforms move
Welcoming the decision by the Welsh government to make school uniforms accessible and gender neutral, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:
It is great news that children in Wales will be able to wear affordable, gender neutral school uniforms. I am proud of the role my colleague Liberal Democrat Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams has played in securing this progressive change.
The Conservative government must now take this step into the twenty-first century. Dictating what children wear because of their gender is outdated and harmful.
Louise Furness recently spent a week on a work placement with North West MEP Chris Davies. Here she tells us about her insight into life in Brussels.
Monday: Walking into the European Parliament for the first time is quite something. It is an impressive complex and a hive of activity – and this is supposedly a quieter period as fewer proposals are put to Parliament and MEPs spend more time in their constituencies in the run-up to the elections. The week began with a team meeting, during which Chris discussed his diary with Carly and Joana from his office. This …
Over on his blog, North West MEP Chris Davies explains why he is backing former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt to continue leading the ALDE grouping and be the group’s nominee for president of the European Commission.
He is a man who can provide the European Union with a degree of leadership and inspiration that it has been missing.
I am seriously concerned that Europe is stagnating while countries elsewhere gain greater economic influence. Verhofstadt is absolutely right in saying that we must break free of our self-imposed shackles and move forward.
Europe’s common fisheries policy is set for radical reform after negotiators for EU governments and the European Parliament reached agreement in Brussels at 03.00 this morning.
Supporters of the deal claim that it paves the way for rebuilding Europe’s depleted fish stocks and curbing the discard of millions of tonnes of fish each year.
British representatives have played a key role in securing the reform. They say that it demonstrates how EU policies can be changed for the better.
An obligation to land all pelagic fish, such as mackerel, will commence from 1 January 2015. Other reforms, which must yet be formally approved …
As attention turns towards next year’s European Parliamentary elections, Liberal Democrat MEP’s continue to work for jobs and growth, and against some of the more ludicrous bureaucratic excesses…
“EU must get tough on tax” says Sharon Bowles MEP
Ahead of yesterday’s EU Summit in Brussels, the European Parliament backed a common European strategy to combat tax fraud, evasion and havens.
UK Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles, who chairs the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, said:
It is totally unacceptable that corporate tax avoidance is now the norm in Europe, aided and abetted by aggressive tax planning and tax consultancy firms.
Lib Dem MEP calls on EU Parliament to scrap planned budget hikes
On Tuesday, senior UK Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon called on the European Parliament to scrap planned budget increases ahead of the next series of votes on EU spending.
Mr Lyon, a vice chair of the EU Budget Committee, has tabled amendments that, if implemented, would see the one off costs of funding the European election absorbed within a real-terms budget freeze.
Chris Davies reveals one of the unexpected problems of the European Parliament shuttling between Brussels and Strasbourg at great expense: bed bugs. Here’s an excerpt from his latest notes:
I went to the medical centre in the European Parliament in Brussels. “I’ve had these itchy spots on my arms and legs for 6 weeks or so,” I told the doctor. “They started off like insect bites but they won’t go away.” She looked at them and asked if any new spots had appeared since the Parliament was
New Slovene government formed with a strong liberal presence
Following what has been described as a “constructive motion of no confidence” in the Slovene Parliament, President Borut Pahor has invited Positive Slovenia‘s leader, Alenka Bratušek, to form a new government. ALDE member party, Civic List, has joined the administration, with its leader, Gregor Virant, becoming Minister of the Interior. In addition, ALDE Treasurer, Roman Jakič, has become Minister of Defence. For any Liberal Youth reading this, he’s a former IFLRY Vice-President.
With all our attention today on Westminster (or Eastleigh) we can easily overlook important decisions being taken in Europe.
Tomorrow the European Parliament will be voting on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. Now fish do not quite carry the same emotional appeal as equal marriage, but the management of fisheries is of significant environmental as well as economic significance.
The reform, which will be led by scientists as well as fishermen, will set targets for the rebuilding of fish stocks, and to end the practice of discarding perfectly edible fish. Every …
Proposals for a revised Common Agricultural Policy met with mixed emotions
On Wednesday, the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee (AGRI) voted on reform proposals to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). ALDE MEPs welcomed the votes in general as a major step towards a more sustainable European agricultural model. However, ALDE condemns the possible double payment for greening and agri-environmental measures and rejects a possible return to failed past policies of heavy market interventions.
Commenting after the votes, George Lyon MEP (UK, Liberal Democrat), ALDE team leader on the AGRI committee and shadow rapporteur on the direct payments report, said:
A couple of months ago you may recall a big row when it was alleged three eastern European children were removed from their foster parents by Rotherham council because the couple were members of Ukip.
Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies certainly recalls it. And on Monday he made a one-minute speech in the European Parliament about it:
Chris Davies (ALDE ). – Mr President, before Christmas there was, rightly, a furore when social workers in Rotherham took away children from foster parents because they belonged to UKIP,
Hopes of Europe becoming a world leader in the development of a key technology to combat global warming have been dashed, and more than €1.5 billion of EU funding available to support carbon capture & storage (CCS) projects will now be diverted to new renewable energy schemes. The announcement today that steelmakers ArcelorMittal will not proceed with their Ulcos project in France means that not one single new CCS scheme is set to proceed.
Speaking at a plenary session of the European Parliament yesterday, Chris Davies, European Parliament member for the North West, urged his fellow MEPs to look beyond the short term to vote to restore fish stocks:
Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 500 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.
Oakeshott, Ashdown and Pack top your list
LDV asked: Which prominent Lib Dems who are NOT MPs (eg, peers, campaigners) are doing an effective job of promoting the party to the public? Please write-in.
Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott
Lord (Paddy) Ashdown
Mark Pack
Evan Harris
Baroness (Shirley) Williams
Lord (Chris) Rennard
Caroline Pidgeon AM
Willie Rennie MSP
Baroness (Susan) Kramer
Stephen Tall
Kirsty Williams AM
Lord (Tom) McNally
Baroness (Ros) Scott
Brian
The European Parliament will today debate and vote on its report on the Commission’s Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy by 2050. The report establishes a policy framework for the EU to achieve a 80-95% reduction in its CO2 emissions by 2050, and it is expected that MEPs will endorse it by a large majority.
Sir Graham Watson MEP, who is the Chairman of a global network of MPs and MEPs from all mainstream political parties campaigning to increase government investment in renewable energy and electricity supergrids called the Climate Parliament, as well as a Liberal Democrat MEP …
By Chris Davies
| Fri 17th February 2012 - 4:26 pm
Money is tight. The party is far from being flush with cash and there is not enough in the coffers to fund the level of campaigning we need. We rely heavily on voluntary donations, and equity demands that we dust off a recommendation of the 2008 Bones Report – the one calling for Lib Dems at every level of government to give a proportion of their income to support activities that can enhance the effectiveness of the party.
Most councillors already do this, donating 5-10% of their allowances. ALDC even provides model standing orders that require each voting member of a …
It was a Liberal Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt (now the leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament) who ensured that legislation to permit medically assisted dying was brought forward in Belgium a decade ago. Publication of the report by the independent commission on assisted dying, chaired by Lord Falconer, should be a reminder to our Liberal Democrat leadership of our own very similar party policy on the subject.
Medically assisted dying (the patient self-administering) or euthanasia (the doctor providing direct assistance) are very definitely liberal matters. They are about respect for individual wishes when the frailty or immobility of the individual …
So says 1066 and All That (Sellar and Yateman – a prewar forerunner of ‘Horrible Histories’) when summarising the Reformation.
It’s a good line and we can smile at the vanities of sixteenth century isolationism, knowing that today’s politicians, and people, are much more sophisticated. Nor do we regard the continent as cut off if there is fog in the English Channel.
During the early hours of 9th December (mark that date) David Cameron, we are told, played a blinder and ensured that 26 out of 27 countries in the EU were rescued from their fiscal and financial folly by …
I have said for months that it would be best to avoid arcane debates about treaty change altogether and if we had to proceed down that road, it would be best to do so in a way that did not create divisions in Europe.
The demands Britain made for safeguards, on which the Coalition Government was united, were modest and reasonable. They were safeguards for the single market, not just the UK.
There were no demands of repatriation of powers from the EU to Britain and no demands for a unilateral carve-out of UK financial services.
Chris Huhne has ordered a private inquiry into which fossil fuel lobbyists “got to” the Conservative MEPs who defied David Cameron and voted down an ambitious carbon emissions target in the European parliament on 5 July.
“I have asked for a full analysis of what happened,” said the energy and climate change minister, speaking at an event in parliament. “We thought the vote was going to be close, but it was not close. We want to see which lobby groups managed to get to the MEPs.”
New research by the Guardian and Greenpeace into lobby groups and
Over on his blog, North West Lib Dem MEP, Chris Davies, expresses his astonishment at the reluctance of some Liberal Democrats to shout our government successes from the rooftops (or, alternatively, on a FOCUS leaflet). His blog is particularly timely given the frankly extraordinary email sent to Liberal Democrat MPs by the former Leader of Liverpool City Council, Warren Bradley, calling on the Liberal Democrats to pull out of the coalition.
A twin travelogue treat to tempt Lib Dems to go and help in the Oldham East and Saddleworth election rerun:
If you choose your delivery round carefully, you can see some pretty scenery in the constituency – Chris Davies MEP gives us a glimpse of the countryside while urging us to turn up soon:
Lib Dem Voice is proud to have the first picture of North West MEP Chris Davies and his flying golden penis.
Davies won the trophy when he was named as Politician of the Year at the Erotic Awards 2010, for his work to give sex workers a voice at last year’s party conference and defending them from the prohibitionist policies of the previous government.
The award, proudly on show in Chris’s Stockport office, was previously held by another Lib Dem, Baroness Miller, and could be found in the office Sue Miller shared with Lord Lee of Trafford and Lib Dem party
Here’s your starter for ten as we continue our Saturday slot posing a view for debate:
Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies has recently written to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg renewing his call for British troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan:
It is very difficult to justify our continued engagement when the reasons for it so often appear contradictory and open to challenge. I suspect one reason why 77% of people in this country tell pollsters that they want our troops out of Afghanistan is because they either do not know what are the objectives for their presence or do not
After an extended election break, we’re reviving our Saturday slot posing a view for debate:
The election campaign of 2010 will, above all, be remembered for the transformative effect of the television debates, and the breakthrough of Nick Clegg. They were, in the main, substantive discussions in which real policies – and real political differences – were openly debated. But they also re-inforced the impression that British politics is, above all, about personality; and in particular, that the quality politicians need above all is empathy, an ability to connect with the voters they seek to represent.
Empathy is a vital quality of leadership. It is one which is perhaps tipping the balance of opinion in the Labour party against David Miliband, who comes across as less of a listener than his brother and rival, Ed.
But empathy can all too easily tip over into something else: an overly emotional reaction which blinds politicians to sound reason. The moment a politician loses his rag – however understandably, however provoked, however gloriously – is the moment I feel my respect draining away.
I do not want a politician who knows only how to emote. I want a politician with cool, clear, concise judgement. Our leaders are faced with umpteen improbably tricky decisions before breakfast: they cannot afford to waste their energies as the mood takes them.
Perhaps the ultimate exemplar of the non-emoting politician happens also to be the world’s most powerful leader, President Obama. Yet he has come in for criticism in recent days from the Washington media for failing to show sufficient anger at BP, forcing Obama to declare himself somewhat falsely ‘furious’ (while reasonably pointing out he wasn’t hired to yell at people):
Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies has spotted some rather odd entries in Nick Griffin’s expense claims from the European Parliament. Nick Griffin had previously stalled on publishing his expenses but now he’s given in to the pressure there are some distinct oddities:
a) Nick Griffin claims to have donated £5,575.91 to a fund that has only declared income of £4560.65.
b) Nick Griffin has previously said he employs three members of staff, one of whom is shared with another MEP. However the expense claims list eight people, give no names and only one of their job titles matches previous public statements about …
Time flies – Friday already! And is it really 29 years to the day that the Gang of Four launched a new political party: the Social Democrats?
Roy Jenkins said at the launch:
We want to get away from the politics of our dated dogmatism and class confrontation. We want to release the energies of people who are fed up with the old slanging match.
Digital economy bill to be pushed through parliament next month
The controversial digital economy bill will be pushed through in the “wash-up” leading up to an election, after the government confirmed that it will receive its second reading in the Commons on 6 April – the same day that Gordon Brown is expected to seek Parliament’s dissolution.
Harriet Harman, the leader of the house, said today that the bill will get its second reading. But when questioned by Labour MPs Neil Gerrard and Tom Watson about the lack of time given to debate over controversial issues in the bill, she said only that “ministers are aware” of the strong feelings that the proposed legislation has engendered.
Leon Duveen Thankyou Mo for this very perceptive article.
From last October I have been trying to caution Israel & Israelis against trying to find a military solutio...
Helen Dudden The veterans are one sad fact of life.
It's a 10 year waiting list for an accessible flat or home. Many are left losing limbs. Often a long stay in hospital ...
Roland @Simon “ I think the real lesson there for us is, if the UK ever gets a written constitution, make sure it can be changed and updated without too much difficu...
Suzanne Fletcher Hope that the issues in the important motion are able to be promoted far and wide beyond the Lib Dems, so they end up being put into practice. our Lib Dem parl...
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Gasping Local Government.
The Chagos Islands, Mauritius and the ICJ
The 'Silk Road' is a myth: Trade with the East went by sea and India was at its heart
Honouring the Real Thing and launching Black History Month in Liverpool
Starmer kills off Leveson two
Michael's weekly ward surgeries today! #dundeewestend
Bye bye coal: A Net Zero milestone
Leon Duveen 
Helen Dudden 
Roland 
Suzanne Fletcher 
Joseph Bourke 