Tag Archives: conservative party

Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: Illiberal Labour and the War on Local Choice

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 26th January 2026 - 4:30 pm

One of the most important questions in politics is a simple one: do those in power trust people to make decisions for themselves? Not to always decide wisely, not to always choose outcomes that ministers like, but to choose at all.

Increasingly, this Labour government appears to answer that question with a quiet but unmistakable no. Across justice, democracy, local government, policing, and even its own internal party processes, a consistent pattern is emerging: when local choice becomes inconvenient or risky, it is removed. That should worry anyone who cares about liberal democracy.

Let’s start with the justice system. Proposals to curtail the right to a trial by jury in significant categories of cases are often presented as pragmatic reforms, designed to ease backlogs or improve efficiency. But jury trial is not a procedural luxury – it is one of the most profound expressions of public participation in the administration of justice. It embeds the principle that the state does not sit in judgement alone; it must persuade ordinary citizens beyond reasonable doubt.

When that right is narrowed for the sake of administrative convenience, the public is not being protected – it is being excluded.

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Simon McGrath

From now on, no decent person can vote Tory – UPDATE

By Simon McGrath | Mon 3rd November 2025 - 11:45 am

Last week, I wrote about the appalling Tory plan to deport millions of legally settled people.

This plan involved cancelling the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) of people who are not UK Citizens if they were (among other things) living in a council house, not earning more than £38,700, or had a disabled dependent receiving State benefits. As Shadow Home Office Minister, Katie Lam, said at the time, this policy would target “a mostly, but not entirely, culturally coherent group of people.”

It seems this may have been a step too far even for the Tories. The Guardian reports that …

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Simon McGrath

From now on, no decent person can vote Tory

By Simon McGrath | Tue 28th October 2025 - 9:19 am

I have known lots of Tory voters in my life and a fair few Tory members and many  of them have been decent people who want the best for our country, albeit they have different ways of achieving it to us  (the same could be said for Labour supporters). But on October 18th the Tory Party changed and I do not believe any decent person can now vote for them.

Their  “ rising star” Katie Lam, who is a shadow Home Office Minister, says that she wants to deport  millions  of people who have “Indefinite Right to Remain” (ILR).  She told the Times (£):

There are also a large number of people in this country who came here legally, but in effect shouldn’t have been able to do so. It’s not the fault of the individuals who came here, they just shouldn’t have been able to do so. They will also need to go home. What that will leave is a mostly, but not entirely, culturally coherent group of people.

This is the language of mass deportations; of our friends, our workmates and members of our families, who have lived here , obeyed the law , paid their taxes and  brought up their families here.

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: is Ed putting some of his MPs ‘in the freezer’?

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 6th October 2025 - 5:45 pm

So you might not have noticed, because to say it was beneath the radar is very much an understatement, but our leader reshuffled his top team last week. I only saw one news outlet cover it, Sky News Online. Of course, it happened during Labour Conference so, as ever, the lobby journalists attention was very much elsewhere. But is it just me or does it appear that our whole strategy as a party can be summed up with the phrase ‘under the radar’?

It was suggested to me by someone senior at Conference that it’s the ‘don’t frighten the horses’ strategy, in other words that if we remain beige and inoffensive and don’t really say anything about, well, anything and the Tories continue to implode we’re bound to take scores more Tory seats… right? I don’t know where to start with how complacent, muddled, and wrong-headed such an alleged strategy is. Even assuming it works, if we get scores of MPs elected on the basis that they don’t really believe in anything, how do they then stick up for liberal principles, like being pro immigration and LGBT+ equality, in Parliament and so on? Am I the only person who would rather we elected say 30 MPs who are clear on their liberal principles and policy positions and then can be full-throated in defending liberal values and minority rights in the chamber and on the media? Is just getting more people elected really what we’re here for…or does it actually matter what they stand for/believe in?

Anyway, back to the reshuffle.

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Mark Valladares

10 September 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 10th September 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Lib Dems call for mandatory origin labelling on beef
  • Davey on Doha Strikes: Starmer must summon Israeli Ambassador
  • Ed Davey on Mandelson: Civil Service Commission must investigate if ambassador has broken diplomatic code
  • Lib Dems push vote on banning loud music on public transport as new poll reveals impact of “headphone dodgers” on commuters
  • Chamberlain writes to Health Secretary over stroke patient’s 80-mile journey for care
  • Greene: Asylum motion shows desperate Conservatives aping Reform

Lib Dems call for mandatory origin labelling on beef

On Back British Farming Day, the Liberal Democrats are urging the Government to protect British farmers by making it mandatory to include country of origin on produce.

This follows months of concern from British farmers about the impact of the UK-US trade deal on British beef producers, after the UK agreed to allow up to 13,000 metric tonnes of beef imports from the US tariff-free.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for beef produced sold in large shops and large restaurants to include mandatory labelling that includes the country of origin to allow consumers to make informed decisions and promote British produce.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

Farmers are absolutely vital to Britain – to our economy and future food security. They put food on our table, manage our landscapes and without them, we would all be worse off.

Over the past year, the Government has done nothing but neglect the farming community, first with the cruel family farm tax, and then by cutting the farming budget and selling out British farmers by accepting US beef produced to lower standards.

The Liberal Democrats back British farmers who deserve so much better. I am urging the Government to do the same, axe the family farm tax, give the farming budget £1bn more a year and back British farmers.

Davey on Doha Strikes: Starmer must summon Israeli Ambassador

Responding to the Israeli airstrikes in Doha, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey said:

Netanyahu’s strikes on Doha show that he is less interested in securing the release of the hostages than he is in continuing to fuel regional destabilisation.

Keir Starmer must summon the Israeli Ambassador to Downing Street – immediately – to make clear that these strikes were utterly reckless and a flagrant breach of international law.

This latest escalation will only undermine efforts to secure the release of the hostages still held in Hamas’ captivity, and set back the path to a desperately needed ceasefire.

Starmer needs to make that case when he meets with President Herzog today – and confirm to the President that the UK will no longer send F-35 parts to Israel which it can use for its devastating campaign in Gaza.

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Mark Valladares

23 July 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 24th July 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Lib Dems slam Govt for forcing through foreign state news ownership in face of “historic” cross-party resistance
  • Cleverly on ECHR: Cracks in Badenoch’s reshuffle starting to show

Lib Dems slam Govt for forcing through foreign state news ownership in face of “historic” cross-party resistance

The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government’s move to disregard cross-party opposition in the Lords and force through legislation allowing foreign states to own a larger stake in British news outlets.

The Government has pushed through legislation that will allow foreign states to buy substantial stakes in UK newspapers in a “dark and dangerous” move for the country, the Liberal Democrats have said. Peers voted in favour of the legislation.

Despite the loss, a substantial 155 peers from Labour, Conservative, crossbench and non-aligned political backgrounds voted in favour of the Liberal Democrat motion.

Lib Dem peer Chris Fox, sponsor of the rare “fatal motion” that would have scrapped the legislation in its entirety, condemned the move. He described the legislation as endangering our “historic” freedom of the press and risking “playing into the hands” of potentially malicious states.

Under the approved legislation, the cap will now rise to 15% – meaning foreign states could be able to own substantial stakes in newspapers in the UK.

However, there’s still confusion around how the legislation will work in practice, with warning bells ringing regarding the ability of separate states to ‘stack’ their 15% stakes in order to take over much larger stakes in UK media assets.

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Mark Valladares

22 July 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 23rd July 2025 - 11:45 pm
  • Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza
  • Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role
  • Laura Anne Jones’ defection – The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales
  • Lib Dems attack “SNP’s dirty secret” as environmental targets look set to be missed
  • Greene comments as west coast ferry faces months out of action

Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the government to urgently bring in tougher sanctions on the Israeli Government and officials amid a brutal new ground offensive in Gaza, including sanctioning Netanyahu and IDF generals.

Commenting in the wake of fresh Israeli Defence Force (IDF) ground operations in Gaza, Ed Davey called for the UK Government to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and to begin drawing up plans to sanction individual IDF generals leading the ground and aerial bombing campaigns across the Strip.

Ed Davey also said the UK should halt all arms sales to Israel, including component parts for F-35s. He has called on the Government to stop “ on its hands” while Gaza faces demolition, and commit to “stemming the flow of fighter jet parts to Israel”.

The party’s calls come following additional reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) that its facilities have come under attack during Israel’s fresh offensive in Deir al-Balah.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

The Foreign Secretary must realise that we’re past the point of threatening sanctions. We need sanctions now, including against Netanyahu and the IDF generals leading the military campaigns in Gaza.

Every day the Government sits on its hands, more innocent civilians are being killed while over a million are at risk of starvation. Meanwhile, the hostages held by Hamas are no closer to being freed. This is utterly intolerable.

The Government needs to do everything it can to stop the carnage unfolding in the Strip. That must include stemming the flow of UK fighter jet parts to Israel.

Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role

Commenting on Kemi Badenoch’s ongoing Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, including the appointment of James Cleverly as Shadow Housing Secretary, Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

Kemi Badenoch has appointed the very man who said that replacing Liz Truss as Prime Minister would be a terrible idea. It’s like appointing an iceberg apologist to a role steering the Titanic.

The public won’t forgive this group of failed former Conservative ministers for the damage they did to our economy and NHS.

It’s no wonder the Conservatives previously pledged to avoid any reshuffle until the election.

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday – Will we nail the final nail into the Tory coffin?

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 26th May 2025 - 4:32 pm

Here lies the deceased. The Conservative Party, 1834-2025.

Or, to borrow from a certain former Prime Minister who encouraged the use of a handbag in less than diplomatic negotiations,

This is an ex-parrot. It is not merely stunned. It has ceased to be, expired, and gone to meet its maker. It is a parrot no more. It has run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is a late parrot.

That of course was Margaret Thatcher speaking to the Tory Party conference, about the Lib Dems and our then new party symbol, “a bird of some kind” as she described it, in 1990.

Of course ironically it would in fact be herself who was (politically) defenestrated just a few weeks later when her own Cabinet turned on her and she stood down as Conservative leader and Prime Minister. Be careful what you wish for, some might say.

If any party knows about coming very close to its own political death it is the Lib Dems and our predecessor parties, sometimes reduced to just a handful of MPs. But, as our former leader Tim Farron likes to say, we Lib Dems are like cockroaches… almost impossible to kill us off.

It’s taken a decade since we were given a right royal kick in 2015 after our first time in UK-wide government since Liberal leader Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair served as the Secretary of State for Air in Churchill’s war time national Cabinet, but under Ed Davey’s steady leadership, punctuated by the occasional cringeworthy stunt to garner attention from a Westminster press pack who seem to have permanently forgotten that we even exist, we are back in a strong position on which we can and must build.

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Adam Bennett

We should be proud to be the party of business

By Adam Bennett | Tue 20th May 2025 - 9:00 am

After a moment of epiphany, everything changes. Our brains get re-wired, and the world looks like a different place. Some people travel the world in search of these epiphanies, seeking spiritual guidance in some far-flung, lush, or exotic corner of the planet

Me? My defining moment of epiphany struck in the West Midlands Town of Dudley, in an office block besides a roundabout off the A4123. I guess that’s the thing about epiphanies: they tend to surprise you.

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Mark Valladares

25-26 January 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 26th January 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • NHS: “bonfire” of targets shows shocking lack of ambition for patients
  • Over 500 infrastructure incidents at delayed hospitals last year which now are “hanging by a thread”
  • Councils paying £24,000 more a year per pensioner in nursing costs as Lib Dems call on govt to reverse “foolish” NICs hike
  • Reeves on Kuenssberg: Chancellor’s approach to growth “does not survive contact with reality”
  • Badenoch on Kuenssberg: “Bungling Badenoch” still has no idea how angry people are at the damage the Conservatives did
  • Scottish Conservative leader urged to explain whether he believes triple lock should be means tested
  • Almost 1 in 5 senior mental health roles missing a permanent appointee

NHS: “bonfire” of targets shows shocking lack of ambition for patients

Responding to a report in the Times that the government is set to scrap half of NHS targets, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

Patients have put up with a health service that has been run into the ground and caused unnecessary suffering for millions.

The new government cannot claim to have broken with years of Conservative neglect simply by moving the goalposts in this way.

That is not delivering for patients, instead it is a sly attempt to give themselves an undeserved pat on the back.

From delays to reforms of social care, new hospitals being kicked into the longgrass and now this reported bonfire of NHS targets, this new government is showing a staggering lack of ambition for patients.

Over 500 infrastructure incidents at delayed hospitals last year which now are “hanging by a thread”

  • At hospitals in the New Hospital Programme which have seen their construction dates pushed back there were 506 infrastructure incidents – causing 32 days of clinical time to be lost
  • These sites also saw close to 100 floods last year – a quarter of all floods on the NHS England estate despite accounting for less than 1% of the buildings
  • Delayed hospitals have already had to shut all toilets on the estate following sewage leaks and burst water pipes mean patients warned off going to A&E
  • The Liberal Democrats said that the figures revealed that the delayed hospitals are “hanging on by a thread” and called on the Health Secretary to publish a full impact assessment into the risks to patient safety

There were more than 500 infrastructure and estate incidents last year at hospitals where construction as part of the New Hospital Programme will be delayed, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

They resulted in significant impact for patients with 759 hours of clinical time lost as a result of these incidents, the equivalent of 32 days.

241 of these infrastructure and estate incidents were judged to be caused by or related to critical infrastructure risk at these sites, equating to almost half. These issues can include crumbling roofs at risk of collapse, water leaks, broken-down lifts or ventilation and heating systems not working properly.

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Mark Valladares

16 January 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 16th January 2025 - 11:30 pm
  • GDP Figures: Government must see sense and scrap jobs tax
  • Liberal Democrats table motion forcing Government to release analysis of potential Trump trade war
  • Badenoch speech: half-hearted apology does not absolve her from toxic legacy
  • Triple lock: “bungling Badenoch’s” first policy is to slash the state pension
  • Carmichael welcomes RFA vertical launch licence
  • McArthur calls for clarity over BP job losses

GDP Figures: Government must see sense and scrap jobs tax

Responding to GDP growing by 0.1% in November, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Chancellor has put the handbrake on the economy with her misguided jobs tax and the consequence is this pitiful rate of growth.

Every month this persists means less money in struggling families pockets and public services without the funding they need.

After years of the Conservatives’ economic vandalism, the public was crying out for change but this new government is falling well short of fixing this mess.

Rachel Reeves needs to see sense and scrap her foolish jobs tax and pursue a real strategy for growth like fixing our broken trade relationship with our European partners and replacing the broken business rates system.

Liberal Democrats table motion forcing Government to release analysis of potential Trump trade war

The Liberal Democrats are tabling a ‘Humble Address’ motion which would force the Government to release its analysis of the potential impact of Trump tariffs on the UK economy.

It follows reports that the Government has conducted internal assessments of how a potential trade war with the US may hit the UK economy, but is refusing to publish them.

The Liberal Democrat motion will call urgently for the publication of all impact assessments conducted by the Government regarding the impact of Trump’s tariffs ahead of his inauguration on 20 January.

Humble Address motions have been successfully used in the past, including in 2017 when the Government was forced to publish an impact assessment of Brexit on the economy.

The new US administration’s purported plans may involve tariffs of up to 20 percent on UK exports, which could hit the UK economy by £22bn according to the research conducted at the University of Sussex.

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Adam Robertson

The Conservative leadership election which could consign the Conservatives to history?

By Adam Robertson | Tue 23rd July 2024 - 10:17 am

Embed from Getty Images

In October, I talked about the Liberal Democrats last year becoming the Official Opposition by 2025. It led to a dynamic debate within Lib Dem Voice, but nonetheless it is a crucial debate that we need to have on the direction of our party, if we wish to be a party of Government again. It is an important debate we need to have as we are in the midst of a possible realignment within British Politics, as the Conservative Party could be ‘consigned to history’.

I want to talk now, in more depth, about the second seismic political event in my October article: the Conservative Party leadership election. The first seismic political event was the General Election, where Ed Davey deserves credit for running a fantastic campaign in getting us 72 MPs. The Conservative Party leadership election deserves more attention as it is going to be the most consequential leadership election since the 1922 Committee has been formed. It could change the political landscape, as consequential as when Labour replaced the Liberals as the main centre-left party during the early 20th Century.

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 13 May 2024 – and then there were two…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th May 2024 - 7:40 am

Natalie Elphicke? Really?

Well, you have to admire whoever it is in Labour who is handling Tory defectors – they’ve managed to smuggle out one of the more unlikely “converts” to their cause. And, if you really wanted to engender a sense of paranoia amongst the Conservative leadership, what better than to recruit someone like Natalie? Is anyone with a blue rosette above suspicion now?

But, beyond the Westminster bubble, how does this look? What message does it send in terms of principles? How big does a “big tent” get to be and still retain any sense of exclusivity?

Now, I do get it. We’ve welcomed a few controversial recruits over the years – I won’t name names and you’ll all have your own ideas – but in most cases, there was a big political principle at stake. And whilst, as I’ve noted in the past, expecting any new recruit to sign up to every dot and comma of our policies is naive at best, it should be reasonable to expect a significant philosophical overlap.

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Mark Valladares

12 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 12th March 2024 - 11:45 pm
  • Stuart’s failure to call out racist Hester comments “jaw-dropping”
  • 1,197 suspected drug deaths in 2023
  • Firefighters face risks as government fails to deliver RAAC register
  • Welsh Lib Dems call for more support for childcare sector in Wales
  • Care leavers shouldn’t be forced to “bear burden of proof” when it comes to accessing housing support
  • Blackie calls on Susan Hall to disown racist Frank Hester remarks

Stuart’s failure to call out racist Hester comments “jaw-dropping”

Responding to Graham Stuarts’ comments this morning on Times Radio where he refused to say Frank Hester’s alleged comments were racist and refused to say the money should be returned, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said:

Graham Stuart’s refusal to call out these racist comments was simply jaw-dropping.

The Conservative Party has flat out refused to return these donations despite these comments being inexcusable. How low can you go?

Rishi Sunak can bunker down and hide in Downing Street as long as he wants but every day he doesn’t return this money is another damning blow to the Conservative Party’s credibility.

1,197 suspected drug deaths in 2023

Responding to new Police Scotland figures showing that there were 1,197 suspected drug deaths between January and December 2023, which is a 10% increase compared to 2022, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

When 100 people a month are dying in Scotland’s drugs deaths emergency, we need to be open to anything that will save them. Each represents a life cut short and a family torn apart by grief.

These numbers are already going in the wrong direction and with the SNP and Greens having pushed through a budget that delivers a real-terms cut to drug services, I am extremely concerned that problems will simply get worse.

Every tool at our disposal needs to be used to reduce harm and save lives. That includes protecting the drug and alcohol budget, integrated drug checking facilities and preparing now for a network of safe consumption rooms because help can’t just be limited to Glasgow.

Well-meaning words won’t stop people dying. Humza Yousaf and his government must deliver swift change and ensure they never take their eye off the ball again.

Firefighters face risks as government fails to deliver RAAC register

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today urged the Scottish Government to compile a complete list of buildings where the dangerous bubbly concrete known as RAAC is present, as a minister conceded that the presence of the material could present safety implications for firefighters responding to incidents.

In response to a parliamentary question from Mr Cole-Hamilton, community safety minister Siobhian Brown admitting that “Where the material is in poor condition there could be greater risk of weakness or collapse”.

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Mark Valladares

Lee Anderson defects to Reform UK – Liberal Democrats respond

By Mark Valladares | Mon 11th March 2024 - 12:20 pm

Whilst you should never be surprised by anything that happens to the Conservative Party these days, this was perhaps one of the more readily predicted events. And, naturally, because you’d have to have a heart of stone not to get some amusement from this, there have been a number of Liberal Democrat responses to the news that Reform UK Ltd has its first MP.

The official response first though…

Wera Hobhouse was quick to point …

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Mark Valladares

27 February 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 27th February 2024 - 11:50 pm
  • Lib Dems table motion calling on Parliament to rebuke Lee Anderson’s Islamophobic comments
  • Cancer survival rates: Lib Dems will put giving UK among best cancer survival rates at heart of priorities
  • Tory support in freefall – Rob offers London liberal choice
  • Welsh Lib Dems call for action against child health inequality in Wales

Lib Dems table motion calling on Parliament to rebuke Lee Anderson’s Islamophobic comments

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a censure motion, calling on Parliament to rebuke Lee Anderson’s Islamophobic remarks and calling for him to come to the House and apologise.

The party is calling on Conservative MPs and the government to back the motion, adding that the Conservative party must “show that Islamophobia is not tolerated in Parliament”.

It comes as Anderson said that he would not apologise for his Islamophobic remarks as to do so would be “a sign of weakness”.

The motion tabled by the Lib Dems, if adopted by the government and passed by the House, would be an unprecedented rebuke of the Ashfield MP’s remarks. It would show that Parliament found the remarks unacceptable and Islamophobic and that Anderson should apologise in the House.

Liberal Democrat Women and Equalities spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP said:

Lee Anderson’s remarks were damaging, divisive and need to be called out for what they are – Islamophobic. He should apologise immediately.

British Muslims across the country deserve so much better than this. There is no place in our society for hatred like this.

If the government is too weak to call out this behaviour, the House – including Conservative MPs – must take matters into its own hands and show that Islamophobia is not tolerated in Parliament. Not go completely silent on the issue or look for a way to excuse the inexcusable.

This latest scandal proves once again that the Conservative party is not fit for purpose and is certainly not fit for office.

Cancer survival rates: Lib Dems will put giving UK among best cancer survival rates at heart of priorities

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Caron Lindsay

LIb Dems demand that Sunak removes the Whip from Lee Anderson

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 24th February 2024 - 12:30 pm

Lee Anderson has spent most of the past 2 years saying horrible things to excite the Tory right. From telling anyone unhappy with how the UK treats migrants could “f**k off back to France” to saying that people should be able to feed themselves for 30p per day, giving him his “30p Lee” nickname, to horribly transphobic comments about Eddie Izzard, he has been one of the commanders of the Tory culture wars.

Last night, talking to GB News, he took it all a step further by being unambiguously racist and islamophobic about London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan.

From the BBC:

He told GB News Islamists had “got control” of Mr Khan and he had “given our capital city away to his mates”.

His words, which follow pro-Palestinian protests outside Parliament, have also been condemned by Tories.

Not condemned enough by Tories as the same article reports a Conservative source trying to play down what he had said. The fact that he still had the Tory whip 5 minutes after making these comments is an absolute disgrace. As the hours drag on, this looks increasingly like Rishi Sunak is either too weak to discipline Anderson or he agrees with him.

Anyone with an ounce of decency has called on Rishi Sunak to remove the Conservative whip from Anderson for these comments, including Labour’s Annaliese Dodds and Theresa May’s former Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell. Here’s what Lib Dem MPs have been saying.

Daisy Cooper said:

These comments from a Conservative MP are despicable. Rishi Sunak should remove the Conservative whip. There should be no space for this in our country, let alone in our Parliament.

Tim Farron:

This isn’t dog whistle, it’s fog horn. Sunak will remove the whip for this if he has an ounce of either decency or strength.

Munira Wilson:

Utterly disgusted by Lee Anderson’s racist comments. Stirring up hatred and tension in our great capital city in this way is downright dangerous. If Sunak has an ounce of decency and courage, he will kick Anderson out of the Tory party.

Alistair Carmichael:

This is entirely wrong and harmful from Lee Anderson, and comes after a similarly malign attack by the Conservatives in recent weeks. Criticise Sadiq Khan all you like on policy but these dog whistle arguments about his character have no basis and no justification.

Beyond Westminster, Lib Dem AM Caroline Pidgeon:

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Mark Valladares

5 February 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 5th February 2024 - 11:50 pm
  • NHS waiting lists: Sunak must reverse cuts to spending
  • OECD Report: UK set for highest inflation levels in G7
  • PopCon event: Blue Wall voters will look on with horror
  • Sunak’s broken promise: NHS waiting lists won’t fall back to pre-pandemic levels until 2030
  • Keegan gives government “good” Ofsted while children taught in crumbling classrooms

NHS waiting lists: Sunak must reverse cuts to spending

Responding to Piers Morgan’s interview with Rishi Sunak, where he admits he has failed to cut NHS waiting lists, the Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Finally Rishi Sunak has admitted he has failed to cut NHS waiting lists, leaving millions of

…

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Lord William Wallace

Following the ‘five families’ of the Conservative Right

By Lord William Wallace | Sun 21st January 2024 - 8:40 am

As the Tories continue to tear themselves apart, have you checked whether any of your local Conservative MPs belong to any of the factions of the Tory Right, scheming and plotting so actively that moderate Tories have dubbed them after the mafia families of southern Italy?

 There’s no point in putting on leaflets that many Tory MPs have lost touch with reality.  But it’s very useful to do some quick research on which groups particular Tories belong to, what they stand for (and against), and what they’ve said about key issues.  Even the right-wing press has concluded that that ‘plenty on the government benches are living in a dream world’, as Harry Cole commented in the Sun.  The Times parliamentary sketch on a December Commons debate Rwanda protested that ‘many of the contributions to the debate were fantastically unhinged.’  Peter Lilley, a member of the ‘Common Sense Group’, insisted in the Lords the other week that Britain is being run, and ruined, by a liberal conspiracy of which our party – together with the BBC, the universities, lefty lawyers and the like – is an active component.  He believes that passionately; he shouted it across the chamber at us.

The European Research Group is the oldest of these factions: the Brexit dinosaurs, still fighting to cut further links to Europe.  Mark Francois is now its chair, Jacob Rees Mogg, Steve Baker and Suella Braverman having gone into (and out of) government. Francois was nicknamed ‘Corporal Francois’ when a junior defence minister; it was not meant kindly.  Since the Referendum the ERG has campaigned for the hardest possible Brexit. Nine of the 40+ MP subscribers to its shared research team were appointed to Liz Truss’s Cabinet. Six were retained in Sunak’s Cabinet, although Braverman has since resigned; Chris Heaton-Harris, who opposed the Northern Ireland Protocol, now struggles as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to reconcile conflicting pressures.  The group condemns ‘foreign courts’, and demands that we leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Northern Research Group – deliberately modelled on the ERG, with funds for research support – is larger, and has the most practical agenda: to strengthen the voice of the large number of northern MPs in the southern-dominated Tory Party, and in particular to support Boris Johnson’s Levelling-Up promises.  Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale, was its chair and driving force until briefly made a minister in Liz Truss’s government, when John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, became chair.  54 MPs signed a letter in support of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ in 2021. But its influence has shrunk; Levelling Up was never funded, northern infrastructure continues to deteriorate, the Conservative Government is still run from southern England.

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Divided and confused Tories need a rest and we need a rest from them

By Andy Boddington | Wed 28th December 2022 - 9:45 am

If I was the editor of Conservative Home, I would be embarrassed to publish its annual poll of the most popular Tory MP. Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield won.

If you are struggling to remember who Anderson is, think of cooking 30p meals, a challenge a reporter from the Nottingham Post found impossible. Anderson is the former Labour councillor turned Tory MP who said people going to food banks can’t cook or budget. I wonder what he had for Christmas dinner. Maybe an out of date wet lettuce reduced at the supermarket checkout. He is a fully paid up member of the nasty party and infamously can’t cope with hecklers, telling one: “If you smartened yourself up, you’d make a good tramp.” And he faked a doorstep interview but didn’t have the sense to turn off a microphone while arranging the stunt.

Perhaps it was this this nastiness and lack of integrity that led to him being voted Backbencher of the Year by Conservative Home’s panel of readers. How representative those readers are of Conservatives at large is unknown. Anderson gained a mere 54 of 553 total votes. You don’t have to have a degree in statistics to recognise that is less than 10% of votes. What a dismal showing. Although Conservative Home voters could select their own candidates, it is clear there nowhere near a consensus among dedicated Tories.

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Mark Valladares

2 November 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 2nd November 2022 - 10:30 pm
  • Sunak at COP27: PM embarrassed by Boris Johnson’s attendance
  • Welsh Government Must Do More to Combat Fuel Poverty
  • Matt Hancock should resign and trigger by-election
  • Welsh Conservatives Dysfunctional, Divided and Ineffective
  • Welsh Liberal Democrats – Welsh Government Must Change Their Mind on COVID Inquiry

Sunak at COP27: PM embarrassed by Boris Johnson’s attendance

Responding to the news that Rishi Sunak will now be attending COP, Liberal Democrat Climate Change Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP said:

This whole debacle has shown the environment is simply not a priority for Rishi Sunak. He’s only going after being embarrassed by Boris Johnson’s attendance.

We need action rather than just attendance from the Prime Minister. Building more renewables, the cheapest and most popular form of energy, and insulating our cold and draughty homes will accelerate progress towards net-zero, cut energy bills and increase the UK’s energy security.

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 31 October 2022 – whatever happened to Grigori Zinoviev, anyway?…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 31st October 2022 - 7:31 am

Historians amongst our readers might recall the “Zinoviev letter”, published on 25 October 1924, just four days before the General Election of that year, in which the Daily Mail suggested that the normalisation of UK relations with the Soviet Union under a Labour government would radicalise the British working class and put the Communist Party of Great Britain in a favourable position to pursue a Bolshevik-style revolution. It was, of course, a hoax but did its job, leading to a huge Conservative win and, in the process, the crushing of the Liberals.

The notion that Labour might be the opportunity that the Soviet Union needed was sufficiently credible to allow the hoax to work.

And here we are, nearly one hundred years later, in a situation where the Russian Government has infiltrated a British political party at the highest level. You wouldn’t have predicted that a decade ago, would you? And, whilst there is no suggestion that the Conservative Party is acting for the Putin regime, it is a mystery that Conservative and other right-wing politicians have been so welcoming towards Russian influence.

The receipt of significant sums of money from Russian donors, the welcome mat put down for Russian oligarchs, the willingness to be seen in public with said oligarchs, the appointment of one of their number to the House of Lords, all of these would have been unthinkable for the anti-communist warriors of the Conservative Party in the eighties.

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Johnson: Imperious, impervious and delusional

By Andy Boddington | Sun 26th June 2022 - 8:30 am

Our prime minister is beleaguered, only he doesn’t know it. He told the press pack in Rwanda that he intended to remain as prime minister until the mid-2030s. With members of his cabinet scheming against him and negative approval ratings in opinion polls, that looks unlikely.

Both Johnson and some Conservative MPs are in denial about the message sent by the government by the public in Thursday’s twin by-election defeats. At least two of Tory MPs have blamed the Tiverton and Honiton defeat on the “girls” (MPs to you and me) that shopped Neil Parish for his tractor porn antics in the chamber. Another said they didn’t see the defeat coming because “people were lying on the doorsteps”. How out of touch can the Tories be?

Other MPs recognised that the bond of trust has been broken between the prime minister, the Conservative party and the voters: “People think he’s a liar and a shady bugger.”

As Richard Foord said on Thursday: “It’s time for Boris Johnson to go. And go now.” The departure of the “shady bugger” is long overdue.

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Steve Trevethan

How to beat Johnson’s government on economics

By Steve Trevethan | Tue 12th October 2021 - 9:55 am

Might election campaigns have the foundations of attractive ideas, emotional appeal and a plausible previous record?

This government has/had strong emotional appeal, especially through its leader. Its ideas have the benefit of being based on the currently dominant economic theory of Neo-liberalism. It is supported, directly and indirectly by the mainstream media which, mostly, bolsters the performance of HM Government.

Opposition parties lack the theatrical style of Mr. Johnson. Therefore attack his language techniques. Ratios of jokes to facts? Ditto facts to inaccuracies. Ditto future tenses to past tenses. Which speech has the most metaphors etc.?

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Mark Valladares

Daily View 2×2: 5 May 2020

By Mark Valladares | Tue 5th May 2020 - 7:30 am

There’s almost too much going on at the moment. Certainly, there’s too much going on for the Government to cope with, given its evident bandwidth problems…

2 big stories

Buzzfeed News is claiming an exclusive insight into the Goverment’s proposed ideas in terms of relaxing the current restrictions and, on the face of it, they look fairly sensible. But, as I commented yesterday, are the British public willing to return to the ‘old normal’ so soon? My sense is that they generally aren’t, but the Government needs to change that mindset if their desire to taper down the level of support …

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Mark Johnson

Why the Conservative Party can no longer be considered the natural party of business

By Mark Johnson | Tue 3rd March 2020 - 8:30 am

Our market economy is certainly far from fair but as a result of a series of poor Government decisions, it is going to get a whole lot worse, for businesses and private citizens. The Conservative Party has often been considered the natural party of business, but a raft of policy outcomes on the horizon means this may no longer be the case.

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Mark Valladares

19 November 2019 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 19th November 2019 - 11:35 pm
  • Johnson offers failed knife crime policies
  • Lib Dems respond to Farage comments on local Tory and Brexit Party deals
  • Swinson: ITV debate proves people at home deserve so much better
  • CCHQ’s Twitter factchecking ploy is straight of Putin’s playbook

Johnson offers failed knife crime policies

Responding to Boris Johnson’s announcement on knife crime, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Ed Davey said:

The UK is in the grip of an epidemic of serious violence, and we urgently need real solutions. Instead, all the Tories can offer are the same old failed policies.

These Conservative policies are all about seeming tough on crime, but they won’t actually do anything

…

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Mark Valladares

7-8 September 2019 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 8th September 2019 - 11:00 pm

Swinson: Rudd resignation another blow to Boris Johnson

Responding to the news that Amber Rudd has quit both the cabinet and the Conservative Party, Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson said:

Amber Rudd’s resignation is yet another blow to Boris Johnson and his reckless plans to crash the country out of Europe without a deal. His disregard for the country’s interest and those who are meant to be his colleagues is symbolic of how broken our politics has become.

As this Government continues to decay, the need and urgency to stop Brexit cannot be clearer – we need a people’s vote with the option

…

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Jamie Dalzell

Rory Stewart: you were honest with the Tory Party about Brexit, now it’s time you were honest with yourself

By Jamie Dalzell | Thu 20th June 2019 - 8:53 am

Dear Rory, 

As the only person standing for the leadership of the Tory Party (“Conservative” must now surely be considered an oxymoron) who recognises how much damage Brexit will cause our country, I was saddened to see you knocked out of the contest yesterday. 

I will not go as far as saying I would vote for you; fundamentally I only vote for people who will stop Brexit and address the real problems in this country through root and branch reform of our own broken political system. However, I did very much respect your open and honest approach with Brexit supporters and the clear way in which you explained the fundamental problems that are yet to be addressed by this failing government.

Sadly your Party appears to have chosen to “believe in the bin” and are duly committing themselves to the trashcan of history. 

However, although I admire the honesty of your campaign, I also think you have been naïve. Although, you have recognised and communicated the problems of ‘no deal’ Brexit, the only solution you were able to offer was to ratify May’s Withdrawal Agreement.

Like many others, I don’t see the DUP, Labour, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Lib Dems, Greens or ERG suddenly shifting position because of a People’s Assembly. However, even if you managed to get the deal through Parliament and avert ‘no deal’ in October, I believe this would only be a very short-lived stay of execution. Any such agreement would become the new rallying point of the Faragists and we would just face another battle to try to save a weaker agreement in which we are already relegated to being a rule-taker.

Fundamentally, I believe this is an attempt to appease the unappeasable. Such efforts actually only serve to undermine our work to crystallise support for a People’s Vote and rally opposition against the media-dominant isolationist agenda. 

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Bernard Aris

Reflections on the Tory Party Revolution – part two

By Bernard Aris | Wed 24th April 2019 - 11:00 am

Conservative Party logo
Part 2: from the 1940’s generational change to the growing hostility to Europe
Reading Alan Clark’s history of the Tories 1922-1997 (Phoenix/Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1999), and Alan Sked and Chris Cooks “Post-War Britain” (Penguin, London, 4th. ed., 1993), you see how in 1940-51, while party leader Churchill was concentrating on foreign affairs (winning a war until ’45, then uniting Europe in his “interlocking circles”: Europe, the Commonwealth, and NATO), the other parts of the Tory party reacted to more domestic modernising trends and proposals. (See about Churchill’s priorities: Clark, Tories, p. 321-22; Sked & Cook, Post-War, p. 77-78).

Alongside the “Post-War Problems Central Committee” (PWPCC) formed at Tory party HQ in 1941 under Education Secretary “Rab” Butler, there emerged a progressive “Tory Reform Group” (TRG) of “Young Turks”. Clark says Food minister Lord Woolton (Tory from 1945) was the only Cabinet minister caring about “Post-War Problems”.

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