Tag Archives: europe

The speech Ed Davey should have made on the EU

This is the speech Ed should have made on the EU

Hats off to Ed Davey for calling for an EU/UK customs union. Last month’s call rightly attracted media attention, and amounts to the first step towards the Lib Dems re-establishing ourselves as Britain’s most pro-European party.

As a signatory to the Guardian letter in November 2023 which called on the party leadership to make a clearer statement about what the Lib Dems stand for, I give credit to Ed for his EU speech. But he should have gone much further, and framed our party’s position differently. That may sound like an extreme position – after all, leaders have to tread cautiously and take people with them – but let me explain why last month’s stance was too tentative.

All political parties are trying to carve out an identity for themselves against a backdrop of disenchantment that is fuelling populism. In particular, the 18-35 age cohort, which strongly voted Remain, feels no-one speaks for it. It therefore needs an inspiring message, one that is relayed in human, not technocratic, terms.

The case against Brexit is so clear that there are only one-and-a-half reasons not to call for the process of Britain to rejoining the EU to start right now. The main reason is that there was so much divisiveness around the referendum campaign (and afterwards) that everyone is understandably keen to avoid reopening old wounds. But old wounds that have not healed only fester, so the rapprochement with Europe must include an acknowledgement that people are still sore. More importantly, in pursuing that rapprochement we must try to take Leave voters with us – whether they wish they had voted differently or not, they must feel respected, not feel they have lost face.

The half-reason is the fear that going back into the single market will stoke immigration. It’s a valid reason because immigration is high on voters’ concerns, so anything that looks like increasing the number of people entering the UK has the potential to boost support for the populists. But it’s only half a reason because immigration has gone up since we left the EU, not down.

Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 12 Comments

20 January 2025 – today’s press releases

  • 40 new hospitals: Shoddy attempt to bury bad news on day of Trump’s inauguration
  • Farm incomes in Wales fall by 34% – Liberal Democrats call for Government reset
  • Trump inauguration shows importance of close ties with Europe

40 new hospitals: Shoddy attempt to bury bad news on day of Trump’s inauguration

Responding to the Health Secretary’s announcement that there will be significant delays to the completion of the New Hospital Programme, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

This is a double betrayal. The Conservatives shamelessly made promises they never intended to keep to countless communities served by crumbling hospitals.

Now this government uses the day of Trump’s inauguration in a shoddy attempt to bury bad news, showing an outrageous disregard for patients.

Instead of ducking scrutiny, the Health Secretary needs to publish the full impact assessment of these delays.

Patients have a right to know just how at risk they are, and how many more delays they will have to suffer as a result of the government’s decision.

Farm incomes in Wales fall by 34% – Liberal Democrats call for Government reset

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on Labour to reset their relationship with farming and the countryside following the release of statistics showing farming incomes in Wales have fallen by 34% for the period April 2023 to March 2024.

David Chadwick MP, the Liberal Democrats Wales spokesperson in Westminster has said that recent policy failures by both the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay and the UK Government are damaging agriculture and the wider rural economy in Wales and risk making the situation even worse.

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18-19 January 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

  • Patel on Trump: “naive and dangerous”, say Lib Dems
  • Davey: Trump presidency “deeply worrying for millions”
  • Pressure rises on Govt as two in three Labour voters back closer ties with Europe given Trump presidency
  • More than 11,000 malicious calls to ambulance service in past decade
  • 2024 the worst year on record at A&E

Patel on Trump: “naive and dangerous”, say Lib Dems

Responding to Priti Patel’s comments about the Trump presidency on Laura Kuenssberg’s programme this morning, Calum Miller MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, said:

Priti Patel’s comments on her ‘trust’ in Trump are naive and dangerous. The incoming US administration will be one to watch carefully, to deal with critically – not one in which we should put blind faith.

Her desire to rush into a free trade deal between the UK and US – one that could sell British farmers and food standards down the river – reminds us of where her and her party’s true alliances lie: with the Mar-a-Lago clan, not with constituents here in Britain.

The Conservatives are competing with Reform to be most submissive toward Trump, but we should be approaching the new President from a position of strength.

The Liberal Democrats will continue to push for a fair deal for British people – beginning with a new UK-EU customs union that boosts UK growth.

Davey: Trump presidency “deeply worrying for millions”

Commenting as Trump’s inauguration takes place today , Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

Donald Trump returning to the White House will be deeply worrying for millions of people in the UK and around the world. With a President who promises trade wars, undermines NATO and praises Vladimir Putin, the threats to our national security and our economy are clear.

The UK must lead on the world stage again, standing up for our interests by working closely with other countries – above all our European neighbours.

While Nigel Farage toadies up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk in Washington, Liberal Democrats are working hard for our communities here in the UK. We will press the Government to be far more ambitious and positive in fixing our relationship with Europe, to strengthen Britain’s hand when it comes to dealing with Trump.

Pressure rises on Govt as two in three Labour voters back closer ties with Europe given Trump presidency

A two-thirds majority (64%) of 2024 Labour voters agree that the UK should build closer “economic and security ties with Europe” given Trump’s incoming presidency, polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed – piling pressure on the Government to accelerate talks on UK-EU relations as the new presidency gets under way.

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Ed Davey speech: Negotiate a UK-EU Customs Union to “turbocharge economy” and strengthen hand against Trump

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today call on the Government to negotiate a new UK-EU Customs Union, to boost Britain’s economy and ability to deal with the incoming Trump Presidency from a position of strength.

In his first major speech of the year, Ed Davey will criticise the Labour Government for ruling out a Customs Union with the EU, saying it would be the best way to tear down trade barriers and “turbocharge our economy in the medium and long term.”

He will call on ministers to negotiate a new deal with the EU this year, with the goal of forming a Customs Union by 2030 at the latest, arguing this will allow the UK to “deal with President Trump from a position of strength, not weakness.”

He will then criticise Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for wanting to go “cap in hand” to Donald Trump and “beg for whatever trade deal he’ll give us.” And he will criticise Nigel Farage for “fawning over Trump and licking his boots”, being “more interested in advancing Trump’s agenda over here than the UK’s interests over there.”

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The Fall of the German Government: How the liberal FDP and the Debt Brake Shook the Country.

In late 2024, Germany’s political landscape was upended by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light coalition”, comprising the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the market-oriented Free Democratic Party (FDP), one of our sister parties in ALDE. This coalition, which once promised a progressive agenda, fractured under mounting economic pressures, the war in Ukraine, ideological differences, and a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. The FDP’s commitment to fiscal discipline was central to this political upheaval, particularly the controversial Schuldenbremse—Germany’s debt brake.

The crisis started in November 2023 when the Court ruled that the government’s allocation of €60 billion to the so-called “Climate and Transformation Fund” (KTF is the German acronym) was unconstitutional. The KTF was originally set out in the coalition agreement and was designed to finance Germany’s energy transition and decarbonisation efforts. It was seen as a vital part of the coalition’s strategy to address climate change and modernise the ailing German economy.

The Court determined that transferring unspent COVID-19 relief funds to the KTF violated the debt brake provision in Germany’s Basic Law (Grundgesetz). This decision essentially invalidated the fund and created a significant shortfall in the government’s budget for critical infrastructure, energy transition projects, and social programs. The ruling was a severe setback to the policy agendas of the Greens and the SPD. For the FDP, it was a validation of their fiscal stance. Finance Minister Christian Lindner, leader of the FDP, seized upon the court’s decision to affirm the party’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, as it prevents inflation and is also fairer for younger generations who would have to pay off the debt. Lindner argued that the ruling reinforced the FDP’s argument that circumventing the debt brake undermined constitutional governance. However, it also led to a stalemate in coalition negotiations. The SPD and Greens sought new funding mechanisms to replace the invalidated KTF, while the FDP remained steadfast.

The debt brake (Schuldenbremse), introduced into Germany’s Basic Law in 2009, was designed to ensure fiscal responsibility by limiting the accumulation of national and regional government debt. The rule restricts annual structural deficits to 0.35% of GDP, except during emergencies (such as the COVID-19 pandemic). The FDP views the debt brake as essential for economic stability, with memories of the interwar hyperinflation still being strong in the country. However, critics argue that the debt brake, as it is currently worded, has become a constraint, preventing necessary investments to address long-term challenges like climate change and economic competitiveness.

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Europe or USA: do we now have to choose?

The UK’s image of its place in the world since the Second World War has rested on the claim to act as the ‘Atlantic bridge’, as Tony Blair used to put it.  We were the USA’s closest ally within Europe, and one of the major players, alongside France and Germany, within Europe.  The end of the Cold War weakened that claim, as American attention turned towards the Pacific.  Brexit weakened it a great deal further.  But now Trump Republicans and their British supporters are insisting that we have to choose: follow America, or slide back towards Europe.

The Times on November 16th headlined the statement by Stephen Moore, advising Trump at his Florida base, that ‘Britain must decide – do you want to go towards the European socialist model or do you want to go towards the US free market?’  If the latter, then a free trade agreement would be available to avoid the tariff war Trump is threatening to engage in with the EU and others; if not, no deal.  This wasn’t a surprise; Daniel Hannan had an Op-ed in the Mail three days before, making the case for Britain accepting a trade deal with the USA and the extra-territorial regulations (on food additives and hygiene, etc.) that would go with it rather than moving closer to the EU Single Market.  There are even reports that some in the Trump camp want to extend the North American Free Trade Area to Australia and the UK, to form an Anglo-Saxon grouping (with Mexico as an anomaly) under American leadership.

Brexit was never really about re-establishing British sovereignty.  For romantics like Hannan about the superiority of ‘the English-speaking peoples’ and the ‘special relationship’ which was thought to offer Britain continuing global status it was about following the USA and accepting its economic and social model rather than what was seen to be the European alternative – yielding sovereignty to the USA rather than sharing sovereignty with our European neighbours.  Boris Johnson’s Churchill fixation pushed him towards the idea that Britain and America were and remain ‘special’ partners.  Nigel Farage is an even stronger advocate of Anglo-Saxon solidarity – assuming that the USA will continue to be run by Republican Administrations promoting free markets and a shrunken state.

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PMQs: Ed quizzes Starmer on Europe

It’s great seeing Ed getting a guaranteed two cracks of the whip at PMQs every week.

And many people in the party will be thrilled that he pushed the PM on Europe and asked him to consider a youth mobility scheme to give people in their 20s the chance to live and work in Europe for 3 years.

I did wonder before the recess if he was maybe letting Starmer off the hook on his second questions and I think he could have pressed that point a bit further today – though he did say he would leave it for another time before moving on to improving the trade deal.

I look back with fondness on Willie Rennie’s legendary and dogged persistence of one issue at a time with the SNP, whether it be college cuts, ferries, conditions in prisons, free school meals or mental health at First Minister’s Questions. He would prosecute a line pretty forensically over several weeks and that got him noticed. And sometimes it resulted in concessions from the Government when he had destroyed all their rebuttals.

I get the argument that keeping Starmer guessing about the topic also has its merits, but I would like to see a bit more follow-through. When the Prime Minister fails to answer the question the first time, I’d like to see Ed find his inner terrier.

Watch the first question here.

The text of the full exchange is below

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2 October 2024 – yesterday’s press releases

  • Conservative leadership: To call this contest scraping the bottom of the barrel would be an insult to barrels
  • Davey: New Govt must make repairing our broken relationship with Europe a priority
  • Welsh Government urged to adopt successful family court model – Substance use among parents dropped by over a quarter
  • McArthur comments on prisoner early release figures

Conservative leadership: To call this contest scraping the bottom of the barrel would be an insult to barrels

Responding to the speeches made by the four Conservative leadership candidates at their party’s conference today, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

To call this contest scraping the bottom of the barrel would be an insult to barrels. Every day this leadership contest goes on reminds the public why they voted to kick the Conservatives out of office.

The leadership candidates are competing in an undignified race to the bottom, suggesting maternity pay should be slashed, civil servants should go to prison and insulting the armed forces. All four of them are failed former Conservative ministers, refusing to take responsibility for their appalling record in government.

Davey: New Govt must make repairing our broken relationship with Europe a priority

Responding to Keir Starmer’s meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

After years of Conservative failure, this new Government must make repairing our broken relationship with Europe a priority. That starts with a common sense agreement on a Youth Mobility Scheme between the EU and the UK.

For years, Conservative Ministers not only ignored our closest neighbours but treated them with contempt.

The Conservatives’ shoddy deal with the EU has harmed farmers, fishers and small businesses across the country. It’s time to tear down the red tape erected by the former Conservative Government and give a boost to Britain’s economy, by working closely with our European allies once again.

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28 August 2024 – today’s press releases

Back from three weeks away, time to pick up the party’s press releases again…

  • Water bills: High time Ofwat were replaced
  • UK-Germany treaty: A positive step forward
  • Erasmus: Disappointing that Govt will not rejoin scheme
  • 170+ artists slam SNP culture cuts
  • Scot Lib Dems comment as FM and Chancellor meet

Water bills: High time Ofwat were replaced

Responding to comments from water firms that despite rising bills for consumers, companies claim this isn’t enough to stop sewage spills, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

It’s an absolute outrage that British families face sky high bills that continue to rise, whilst water firm CEOs pocket millions of pounds in bonuses, and all the while filthy sewage continues to destroy our seas and rivers.

It’s clear to see that the current regulator Ofwat is not fit for purpose, and it’s high time they were replaced. That is why the Liberal Democrats have been calling for a new regulator to crack down on water companies and hold them accountable to end this sewage scandal once and for all.

UK-Germany treaty: A positive step forward

Responding to UK-Germany treaty talks, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:

This is a positive step forward after years of the Conservatives trashing the UK’s relationship with Europe.

But the new Government needs to be more ambitious about rebuilding stronger ties with our European allies.

That should start with agreeing a Youth Mobility Scheme giving young people the opportunity to easily live and work across the continent.

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Observations of an Expat: Defense Cooperation – Back Door to Europe

If Britain’s Labour government is looking for it, there is a gaping door back into a new relationship with Europe – defense cooperation.

And this door has the added advantage that increased defense cooperation between Britain and its European NATO allies is becoming essential to counter growing American disillusionment with Europe.

Whether it is a MAGA-fied isolationism or a pivot to Asia, it is clear that foreign policymakers in both the Democratic and Republican parties are questioning America’s commitment to Europe.

For those on both sides of the English Channel this creates an opportunity to start to repair the damage of eight years of Conservative Party Brexiteering. It could also strengthen European defences and, ironically, help to retain the American nuclear umbrella.

Europe faced the problem of American isolationism and problems with Asia before—in the run-up to the creation NATO and within a year of its founding. When the idea of linking America to the defense of post-war Europe was first mooted, Senator Arthur Vandenberg, leader of the Republican-controlled Senate, insisted on proof that the Europeans were jointly committed to their own defense.

This was proven by British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin with a 50-year Anglo-French Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance in 1947 and then a year later with an extension of the mutual defense pact to include Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Vandenberg and the Republicans were impressed, and on April 4, 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty was signed.

A year later Europe panicked when North Korea invaded South Korea. What if the Soviet Union took advantage of Korea to attack Europe? Could America afford to fight on two fronts? Which was the more important to Washington—Europe or Asia? The result was the Pleven Plan (named after French Prime Minister Renee Pleven). It proposed strengthening the European arm of NATO with a European Army headed up by a European defense minister.

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Tom Arms’ World Review

United States of America

Self-inflicted cracks are starting to appear in the MAGA edifice. The two Republicans wielding the sledgehammers are Alabama’s conspiracy theorist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and, of course, Donald Trump himself.

The former president, has time and again, demonstrated a total disregard for the rule of law, or at least its application to his affairs. Next week the judge in his New York trial, Juan Merchan, will decide whether Trump is guilty of contempt of court for repeatedly breaching a gag order against his making comments about witnesses, jurors, the judge, the judge’s family or any court officials.

It is a legal courtesy for opposing legal teams to give a day or two’s advance notice of witnesses to give the lawyers time to prepare. The prosecution has asked the judge that they be allowed to withhold the information on the grounds that Trump is likely to issue intimidatory comments on his Truth Social platform. The judge has agreed.

Marjorie Taylor Greene – who has been dubbed “Vladimir Putin’s Envoy Extraordinaire to the US Congress” by Democrats and moderate Republicans – appears determined to totally destroy Republican credibility. Her main target is the $60 billion aid package for Ukraine which has been held up for months by far-right MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives.

The package is expected to be approved this weekend. But Ms Greene is determined to make a last ditch effort to kill the aid bill with a series of outrageous amendments, including: No humanitarian aid for Gaza, withdrawal from NATO, no support for a two-state solution, and – best of all – a demand that any member of Congress who votes in favour of aid for Ukraine be conscripted into the Ukrainian army.

Ms Greene and the other members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus have managed to alienate moderate Republican congressman who are expected to cross the floor to vote with Democrats to pass the aid bill. Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden said that he and his colleagues were “sick and tired” of being “bullied” and “blackmailed.”

Europe

America’s “cancel culture” came to Europe this week–and then cancelled itself.

Cancel culture, is a term used by mainly US conservatives to decry the efforts of liberals to block (or “cancel”) public appearances by right-wing speakers. The tactic has become especially popular American university campuses where left-wing student demonstrations have forced the cancellation of speeches by right-wingers.

Conservatives – quite rightly – see this as an attack on free speech.

This week the Edmund Burke Foundation, a conservative American think tank/pressure group, was hosting a conference of right-wing European luminaries in Brussels. Or at least, it was until it encountered the cancel culture of a series of Brussels mayors.

Trouble started the weekend before the event when one of the mayors of Brussels 19 districts decided that the Euro-sceptic foundation’s National Conservatism Conference would not be welcome in his district which included the EU institutions. He feared that the speakers’ anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-LGBT views would attract violent counter demonstrations. So the venue was shifted to a building near the European Parliament where another district mayor turfed out the organisers.

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How we should be European in 2023

We have a responsibility to not just be pro-EU but pro-European. Let’s never say no to re-joining the EU but prioritise laying the groundwork for a successful pro-active membership of the community.

Manchester City seem oddly un-British. I’m not referring to the nationalities of the players involved, nor where the club’s money comes from, but rather what they’re doing: Winning. They’re not the underdogs, nor the victims of bad luck, but rather predictable winners because of their world-leading teamwork, players and organisation.

This un-Britishness is certainly reflected in the media and popular response. A mixture of disbelief and almost disappointment, some journalists point out how City are ruining football with their predictable dominance correlating with their extreme wealth. Britain, historically a nation of underdogs, has somehow produced a monster of a team reminiscent of Imperial Germany in its superpower trajectory.

Most importantly, I would say, Britain is perhaps not used to such coherence, strength and success after years of internal division and geopolitical humiliation. No-matter one’s views of Brexit as a policy, it wasn’t executed very well. Brexit has contributed to Britain’s economic troubles resulting in the insecurity of millions, while a divisive discourse paints Britain as the victims in an adversarial relationship with Europe.

Yet it wasn’t always like this. It wasn’t long ago that Britain was not just European, but a European leader in its values and foreign policy. No matter how sickening he was to some people, Tony Blair demonstrated a superstar-like energy as prime minister. Perhaps not quite like Manchester City now, Britain was definitely a European force to be taken seriously.

Posted in Op-eds | 24 Comments

Observations of an expat: Adjusting the thermostat

European thermometers dropped this week. But generally speaking it has been a relatively mild winter and temperatures are starting to rise. This is good news for Ukraine. Good news for Europe. Bad news for Russia and great news for America.

Twelve months ago the Western Alliance was seriously worried that Europe’s reliance on Russian gas and oil would render it powerless to stand up to Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The outlook is now considerably brighter. Cash-strapped consumers turned down thermostats. Russian gas supplies have been cut by two-thirds. Nordstream pipelines have shut down (thank you saboteurs whomever you  may be). New storage facilities have been built for liquefied natural gas (LNG). The US has increased its shipments of LNG and Europe is moving faster towards renewable energy sources.

Glitches remain. Landlocked countries such as Austria, Hungary and Slovakia remain heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas and some 20 billion cubic metres (BCM) of Russian gas is still being pumped by pipeline into the EU. Ironically, the pipeline runs through Ukraine. Also, Europeans have increased purchases of Russian LNG, but moves are afoot to reverse that.

The bulk of Europe’s gas is now coming from America. Exports from the US are up 137 percent from a year ago. Companies such as Chevron and Exxon have stepped up fracking operations in Texas, Appalachia, New Mexico and Louisiana. They freeze the gas in terminals and then ship it to Europe. There it is transferred to either newly built storage facilities or specially adapted ships where it is returned to its gaseous state and piped to homes, power stations and factories.

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Britain can never rejoin the EU, it might join it.

I have passionately supported European integration since I first became aware of the European Economic Community around 1962. I am as die-hard a Remainer as you can find. Despite that, I consider calls within our Party asking our leaders to campaign for re-join to be naïve.

To re-join something means basically to restore what existed before. If I fail to pay my subscription to the Chartered Institute of Taxation, I will be expelled. If I pay the missing subscription in a reasonable timescale, I can re-join and do not need to take any membership examinations; examinations that must be taken by new members seeking to join.

To put it very simply, the UK has left the EU. If it wishes to become a member, it needs to apply for membership. The EU has a detailed process for dealing with membership applications, and of course every single EU member state has a veto.

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A job and a half for the new Federal International Relations Committee

I was very pleased to have been part of the successful Federal International Relations Committee’s (FIRC) 2-hour international marathon at the West Midlands conference last weekend. Full marks to current FIRC Chair Phil Bennion. A FIRC First!

Having just been elected to the new Federal International Relations Committee, I will be encouraging it to focus on four big areas:
• Get our party leadership back on track concerning Europe.
• Mobilise newly enfranchised overseas voters to vote Lib Dem at the next UK General Election, especially in our target seats.
• Keep Lib Dems’ profile up internationally so the party continues to have global and European influence.
• Continue …

Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged | 25 Comments

Reality moves us closer to Europe

As Britain’s nationalist government implodes after transitioning from a self-believer to a true believer at the helm, geopolitical reality has crept up on the political opportunism of the previous administration—and the narrow ideology of its successor.  

Dalliances with distant and divergent America, India, and Australia have proved to be no match for the integrated single European market on our doorstep.  A market of nearly half a billion people even without the United Kingdom, the value provided by the European Economic Area nations in goods, services, capital, and people—its four central pillars—can be seen more clearly now that we have been cut adrift.  The most immediately visible deficiencies are the goods and labour shortages now plaguing the UK.

By contrast, the much-vaunted post-Brexit trade agreements lie mired in the mud.  A deal with India is reported to be on the verge of collapse after Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioned the idea that Indian immigration—a prerequisite of any agreement—would be on the same basis as that recently accorded to Australia and New Zealand.

Tory anti-immigrant sentiment risks scuppering trade and barring badly needed workers as Braverman follows in Priti Patel’s footsteps as another immigration hardliner; despite also being the daughter of non-white, non-European newcomers, and surely aware of the great contributions Indian subcontinent and Ugandan Asian immigrants have made to the UK.

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Welcome to my day: 13 June 2022 – take a deep breath (and a glass of Sekt) and carry on…

Dobré ráno! Liberal Democrat Voice is brought to you today from Starý Smokovec, in the Slovak Tatras, where your intrepid Day Editor is spending the day. As befits a member of the Party’s Federal International Relations Committee, I’m on a rail odyssey across the continent, from Stowmarket to here and back (the pretty way). And I’m drinking beer in half-litres…

Slovakia has benefited from its accession to the European Union, with the average Slovak worker earning 70% more than they did twenty years ago. Inward investment has been consistently high, and GDP has risen significantly over that period. This was rather what was envisaged as a result of the 2004 expansion of the European Union into Eastern and Central Europe, with everyone benefiting from a larger single market. It’s galling to hear various Brexiteers suddenly rediscovering their enthusiasm for free trade with our neighbours but think of it as the first baby steps towards a rather better relationship with the European Union.

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The Liberal Democrat Conference on the Future of Europe

As we head into the Autumn conference and debating season, for those of us for whom Europe is still the most defining issue of our time, the next couple of months are going to be very exciting. As a member of the Liberal Democrats you are going to have the opportunity to have your say.

In June the European Union launched its “Conference on the Future of Europe”, whose purpose is to generate ideas and set out a vision for how the EU should develop and improve in the future.

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William Wallace writes: The contradictions of ‘Global Britain’

Embed from Getty Images

A year ago Boris Johnson promised that his government would undertake the most fundamental review of the UK’s international priorities since the end of the Cold War.   He promised that this would be the biggest review of our foreign, defence and development policy since the end of the Cold War, designed to maximise our influence and integrate all the strands of our international efforts.

Next Tuesday, March 16th, the first part of this ‘Integrated Review of Foreign and Security Policy’ will be published – several months later than planned.  Changes in those responsible haven’t helped: David Frost was made national security adviser, then threatened to resign, then became instead the Cabinet minister for (mis)handling relations with the EU.  Dominic Raab was distracted by the messy business of putting the FCO and the Department for International Development (DfID) together.  The Prime Minister as usual wasn’t thinking things through.  We expect a smoothly-written essay on ‘Global Britain’, without much detail on what that means in practice.  The implications for defence manpower and resources will appear in a separate paper two weeks later.

Johnson has rhapsodised on ‘Global Britain’, without ever explaining what exactly that implied.  Freed from the constraints of the EU, he saw Britain recovering its ‘buccaneering spirit’; he seems unaware that the buccaneers were licensed pirates.  He’s been ecstatic about sending a carrier task force past Singapore to the South China Sea, though he never explained what the strategy behind that would be.  Tory think-tanks have produced reports on ‘the tilt to the Indo-Pacific’, which others have labelled ‘the tilt away from Europe’.

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What now is our “Path forward” to rejoin the European Union in the future?

Following today’s debate on our European position and deciding as I had hoped that we would move away from an undemocratic “revoke line” which did us as a party no good, and also stepped away from an immediate “hostage to fortune” rejoin line which would also bury us deep into oblivion, and yet we agreed to the strategic and wise move to hold back, listen to the voters not to our hearts and steadily rebuild our support on the matters of today – Covid being the most important to all our lives with a long term commitment to be a Member of the European Union in the future.

However, as a party we now have to build a message which will in time change hearts and minds on the value of our European membership. That means, emphasising from January onwards when we will have according to the withdrawal treaty properly brexited and on January 1st 2021 when we have to interlink the things we have lost to Brexit and gradually bring those issues to people’s attention.

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Speeches that got away – Supporting the Europe motion

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Written a speech for Conference and not been called? Send it to us at [email protected] and we’ll try and put it up during the debate so that your effort does not go to waste.

Over the years, our party line on the European Union has been consistent and resilient. Indeed, of all of our policies, it’s the one for which we are most known. Our credentials on Europe has led us to becoming the principal pro-EU party of the UK in the eyes of many. Our MEPs proudly wore anti-Brexit messages to the European Parliament. It is codified in our party’s constitution that we affirm the values of federalism and integration within the EU. Our dedication to pro-European values is not under threat.

But what is under threat, conference, is our message. Our presence in the minds of the public, already tenuous, may well be moribund should we neglect to represent those who would be hurt by a no-deal outcome. Conversely, should we abandon our commitment to Europe, I worry that it will be perceived as yet one more breach of trust. It is our steadfast and durable commitment to the anti-Brexit movement which sets us apart. That is why I believe that we should oppose no-deal now, and not rule out rejoining the EU in the future.

This is bigger than us as a party, and it is more than just our place in Europe that is under threat. It is the lives and livelihoods of Europeans in Britain, and Britons in Europe. It is our voice on the world stage. It is our poorest and most left-behind communities. Our values. Our security. It is even our human rights. That European values fall so closely to our own, conference, ought to encourage us to seek as close an alignment as possible with our friends on the Continent. That our future lies with Europe ought not to be under question.

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Ten former MEPs write….Why now is not the right time to campaign to rejoin the EU

This weekend at our party conference we will debate our Europe motion, clarifying the party’s policy on our relations with and towards the EU.

The main focus of debate between members is likely to be around  ‘r’. Not the COVID ‘r’, which we have all become used to, but the Brexit ‘r’ word – rejoin. 

We all remember the joy we felt last May when our representation in Europe went from one solitary MEP, Catherine Bearder, to a surprisingly fulsome group of 16 from right across the country – several of whom had not expected to be elected. 

It was a symbol of how strongly people felt about Brexit, and, thanks to a proportional electoral system, their commitment to EU membership was reflected in our election result. 

I can honestly say no one in the party, or outside it, regrets our departure from Europe more strongly than the 16 of us. 

But the world has changed since 31st January beyond what any of us could have imagined.

Hard though it is to accept, for those of us who fought tooth and nail to stop Brexit, most people’s attention is now far more  are now far more focused distracted by on COVID and the implications it is having for their families and jobs, the economy, education and our health and social care services. 

As a party, it would be wise for us  to focus on the fact that only 2% of UK voters now think Brexit is the most important issue facing us. We are back to the sort of numbers seen before the EU referendum was even a thing. Remember that? When no one ever talked about our relationship with Europe – except the Daily Mail!

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A Belgian, liberal perspective on handling the pandemic

Leading Belgium’s #COVID19 task force, Federal Minister Philippe De Backer from our sister party, Open VLD, has shown leadership and resilience in the face of crisis. I thought that our readers might be interested to see a liberal response to this crisis.

Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged | 4 Comments

Europe and democratic consent

Although the text is yet to be chosen there will be a policy debate at our virtual conference (have you registered yet) on our Europe policy going forward.

The question is whether to adopt an immediate ‘rejoin’ policy, in the spirit of our ‘revoke’ policy at the last election on the simple grounds that we regret leaving the EU and would like to rejoin it, or whether it is a better idea to seek a closer relationship with the EU as a short term goal and to leave rejoining for a time when the prospects of success are better.

I …

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Daily View 2×2: 7 May 2020

2 big stories

Who’d have thought it? The achievement of the testing target on 30 April is already looking deeply shady, with the inclusion of posted tests included in that figure, plus allegations that even those posted weren’t actually usable. And now, subsequent data shows that the numbers are going backwards, not upwards. The solution, a new target. The distraction from failure – some relaxations in terms of going out and about.

Meanwhile, the European Union is predicting that its economy will shrink by 7.4% this year, the worst performance since World War II, with the economies of Southern Europe worst …

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Ode to something less than Joy

There was a time, not so long ago, that any news interview conducted outside the Westminster Parliament would be punctuated by a loud and long cry, “Stoooopppp Breeeexiiiit”.

Brexit was not stopped. December 2019 saw a Tory government returned to power, transformed from a handcuffed minority to a stomping majority. The Liberal Democrats did not benefit in any huge way from the Stop Brexit stance, lost one seat overall, and a certain person did not stand before us as the next Prime Minister.

We could focus on a post-mortem – all the events that led to that outcome – refining …

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Where we go from here

Embed from Getty Images

On Tuesday I visited the European Parliament building for the first time.

I was awed by the beautiful modern glass buildings in the Place de Luxembourg, which merge together to form an impressive (and somewhat confusing) web of corridors and doorways.

The Parliament is the epicentre of the European Union and is where over 7,500 staff and 751 MEPs work. Sadly, from Friday, this will be reduced as our UK contingent leave Brussels – just 8 months into what should’ve been a 5-year term.

But my visit to the Parliament wasn’t just to marvel at the impressive architecture. I came to meet with our MEPs, and to represent Wales at an event entitled “Brexit: What next for the Nation States”. I was joined by the indominable Sheila Ritchie MEP, representing Scotland, and newly elected Alliance MP Stephen Farry, representing Northern Ireland.

I spoke of how there are so many people who feel behind in Wales, with little sense of being connected with the centres of power that made decisions.

Even though Wales received £680million per year from the EU, making it a nation that benefitted far more than it contributed, there is a huge disconnected between areas of high poverty and the actual financial advantages membership of the EU brought for their communities.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 30 Comments

Brexit – it’s time to accept that we’ve lost. There’s a new battle to fight…

I’m a pro-European. I’ve been involved in European politics as an active ALDE Party member for some years now. And it grieves me to say this but… we’ve lost. Complain about the voting system, about the lies, the sheer injustice of the thing, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Conservatives got their majority and will end the debate about our membership of the European Union in seven weeks. They’ve got a mandate, like the one we would have claimed had we won.

I’ve received a number of invitations to join a group seeking to campaign to rejoin the European Union, and there may be a case to be made for that in the years ahead. But looking backwards gives you neckache, and liberals have a new task ahead, to make the case for liberal values and persuade the British public that our outward looking, inclusive stance isn’t just good in itself, but can actually being benefits to those who have felt failed by the political system.

And yes, that means making the case for a stronger, more secure relationship with our neighbours, holding the Conservatives to account when their choices are bad for our country, its people and the economy. It means having a vision for how that relationship will look, and a willingness to argue for it. What are the benefits to voters in Sunderland, or Lowestoft, or Truro, of a closer trading relationship with Europe? And what are the concessions we might have to make?

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28 May 2019 – today’s press releases

Winning is, it has to be admitted, so much better than losing, but the ramifications of the European Parliamentary elections keep coming. A block of sixteen MEPs are a significant factor in choosing who leads Europe for the next five years, and Liberal Democrats have an opportunity to be heard at the top table, with seven Liberal members of the European Council.

And today’s press releases give you a flavour of the possibilities…

  • Corbyn remains a block to Labour support for a People’s Vote
  • Catherine Bearder elected to lead Lib Dem MEPs
  • Prime Ministers meet to discuss election result

Corbyn remains a block to Labour

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What European liberals have achieved over the past five years – the economy

Given how little coverage there has been in the British media of the work of the European Parliament, it comes as no surprise that few voters know what it does. Luckily, the ALDE Group in the Parliament have produced a guide to their achievements since the last European election in 2014, and I’m going to take the opportunity to highlight some of them today.

More stable financial markets

Scandals around the manipulation of the LIBOR and foreign exchange benchmarks, as well as the alleged manipulation of other indices, has highlighted the importance of benchmarks and their vulnerabilities. ALDE led negotiations …

Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged , , , and | 28 Comments
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