Tag Archives: Farron

Tim Farron: ‘Unless the government agrees to a referendum on the final Brexit deal, the party will vote against Article 50’

Tim farron photo by liberal democrats dave radcliffe

This morning, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has laid out a red line on Article 50 and said unless the government agrees to a referendum on the final Brexit deal, the party will vote against Article 50 in the House of Commons.

Tim Farron said:

Millions of people are deeply worried by the government’s handling of Brexit.

So my position is very clear: the Liberal Democrats believe that the people are sovereign.

They must decide whether or not they agree with the deal that the government reaches with Brussels, which means

Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged and | 64 Comments

Tim Farron writes: ‘renegotiation not a game changer’

Thursday 18 February

Arriving at St Pancras for the Eurostar early on Thursday morning, I found myself amongst a small gaggle of lobby journalists, all clutching tickets to the same destination – Brussels, presumably with ‘open returns’ with no one being sure how long the negotiations would take.

We were, of course, heading to Brussels ahead of the summit at which David Cameron would try and thrash out the last minute ‘grand deal’ that would allow him to campaign for Britain to stay in Europe.

The substance of the deal has been held up as the greatest political settlement of our time by his more loyal supporters and dismissed as entirely irrelevant by the usual Eurosceptic suspects in the Conservative party.

Neither styling is fair. The renegotiation is not a game changer, but it shows that our European partners are open to working together to achieve reform in Europe.

I was heading to Brussels to talk to the liberal leaders and Prime Ministers from across Europe at the ALDE Pre-Summit meeting.

Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments

Razing half a camp with bulldozers is not a solution

Dunkirk refugee camp

Razing half a camp with bulldozers, flanked by riot police is not a solution Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said as the French government was given the green light to plan to clear part of the Calais migrant camp known as the ‘Jungle’.

This situation is a heart-breaking symptom of a wider human humanitarian disaster in the Middle East. Razing half a camp with bulldozers, flanked by riot police is not a solution.

Moving people from a tent to a shipping container will have very little impact.  The families I met in Calais were people and families from places like Iraq and Syria fleeing war and instability.  These people are trying to look for a place of peace where they can make a new life for them and their family, at least until it’s safe enough to return home. These measures will not help one jot to deal with the issue.

In the camp it is estimated that there are around 300 unaccompanied children. The UK government should do the right thing and urgently act to identify children with family in Britain and offer them refuge immediately.

I call for assurances that these refugees will be treated humanely, rather than as criminals, and for the French authorities to set out a long term, sustainable plan for them. Without these answers it is more likely these desperate people will head back to the channel tunnel and attempt deadly crossings once again.

Posted in News | Also tagged | 8 Comments

‘Ofcom have bottled it over Openreach’ – Farron

 

 

Tim Farron by Paul Walter

Tim Farron has commented over Ofcom’s decision over the future of Openreach:

Ofcom had a chance to make a massive change in the sector and have bottled it. I am now calling on the Government to be bold and bring forward plans to break up Openreach and BT, and inject real competition into internet provision. If they won’t, we will, and I will challenge them to back it. Are they on the the side of entrepreneurship or not?

Most of my constituents count themselves lucky if they can

Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 19 Comments
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