Tag Archives: david allen green

That May/Juncker dinner leak – what does it all mean and what has Tim Farron been saying about it?

So the May and Juncker dinner leak is all over the papers. “Brussels gossip” says the Prime Minister. What she didn’t say was that it was untrue.

A very useful summary of the main points appears here on The Economist’s Jeremy Cliffe’s Twitter feed. In essence, it sounds as though the Prime Minister has no clue about how Brexit is going to work. They don’t even seem to understand the basics. That already puts our country at a significant disadvantage. If you are going to have to go into a negotiation like this, it helps if you understand what you are doing.

When the story first emerged, Tim Farron had this to say:

These reports have blown a massive hole in the Conservative Party’s arguments.

It’s clear this government has no clue and is taking the country towards a disastrous hard Brexit.

Theresa May chose a divisive hard Brexit, with Labour’s help, and now has no idea what to do next.

This election offers us a chance to change the direction of our country, keep Britain in the single market and give the people the final say over what happens next.

After May had spoken this afternoon, he added:

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 46 Comments

Opinion: One last chance to achieve far-reaching libel reform

The Defamation Bill is nearly law. Several key reforms needed to protect free debate are already included in the Bill, thanks to the tireless work of the Libel Reform Campaign (declaration: I have acted as an adviser to the campaign), the heroic defence of free speech by individuals in the face of financial ruin, and Parliamentarians from both Houses, with Lib Dems leading the charge.

At the very last, however, a Tory attempt to scupper one of the most important provisions that was included in the bill needs to be defeated if the ensuing Act is to achieve …

Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 11 Comments

Your essential weekend reader — 8 must-read articles you may have missed

It’s Saturday morning, so here are eight thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking juices…

No, you’re not entitled to your opinion – Patrick Stokes at The Conversation argues that proper debate relies on contested claims based on relevant expertise: just holding to your own view ain’t enough.

Is The Economist left or right? – its digital editor Tom Standage answers the question ‘yes and no’: which can

Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment

Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2011 – nominations now open

BOTY 2
The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their sixth year. As usual, they’ll be awarded in a budget lavish ceremony at the party’s autumn conference in Birmingham.

Click on the following links to see last year’s Shortlist and the Winners.

This year’s awards are as follows:

Posted in Best of the blogs | Also tagged , , , , , and | Comments Off on Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2011 – nominations now open

LibLink: David Allen Green – What the Liberal Democrats should do next

Over on his New Statesman blog, lawyer and Liberal Democrat member, David Allen Green, has posted a piece setting out his thoughts as to what the Liberal Democrats should do now to avoid another round of election results like the one we have just experienced.

Here’s an excerpt:

If the Liberal Democrats are to be a serious party in respect of central government, there are two things to be done. First, they need to be more realistic and consistent in what they campaign for: manifestoes and pledges now need to practical and attainable. The luxury of striking populist poses is for

Posted in LibLink | 20 Comments

LibLink: David Allen Green – Why I have joined the Liberal Democrats

Over at his New Statesman blog, David Allen Green — the magazine’s legal correspondent and author of the Jack of Kent blog — has explained his decision last week to become a fully paid-up member of the Liberal Democrats.

To be more accurate, he first lists all the reasons why he will be a dissenting member of the Lib Dems … before then highlighting how he was finally persuaded to join by ConservativeHome’s founding editor Tim Montgomerie analyses that ‘the current government is significantly more liberal than an entirely Conservative administration would otherwise be’.

David concludes:

Politics is about power. The

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 3 Comments

Libel Reform Bill published

Earlier today, the government published its draft Libel Reform Bill. It’s an issue that Liberal Democrats, along with many others, have been campaigning on for a few years now and one on which Lib Dem minister at the Ministry of Justice Tom McNally has said his reputation should be judged on.

So it is good news for both our freedoms and Tom’s reputation that the Bill published today proposes major reforms and has met with a warm response, including:

Major changes to Britain’s antiquated defamation laws will be outlined by ministers today with the publication of a bill to provide greater

Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Katharine Pindar
    Let's speak up, and demand to be heard. I don't fear what we will say, just the public not hearing from us. Newsnight on BBC 1 last night was an example of what...
  • David Raw
    As someone who first joined the Liberal Party way back in 1961, what I have observed since 2006 leads me to agree that David Allen's diagnosis is correct....
  • David Allen
    Yes. The Lib Dems have become a Janus Party - Facing both ways. There is a lot of detailed social-liberal centre-left word-play, designed to keep the activist...
  • David Raw
    @ Tristan Ward " I am wary of having my children (or any children) educated by the state given the state’s tendency to insist that citizens are there for it...
  • Anthony Acton
    The question was - what are the LDs for? IMO we should be the party of the rule of law, which is the essence of liberal democracy. We now have the time and r...