Tag Archives: featured

Morgan and Farron speak on rural levelling up

By Andy Boddington | Thu 10th November 2022 - 3:03 pm

Rural issues are often sidelined in the Commons and in public policy. Yesterday, Tim Farron and Helen Morgan made significant contributions to the rural levelling up debate in the Commons chamber.

The debate, secured Selaine Saxby Conservative MP for North Devon, was sparsely attended but there were some strong speeches (Hansard).

Helen Morgan and Tim Farron highlighted the way that farming is being treated under the Conservative government, though the botched introduction of the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMS) and trade deals. Rural transport was a major issue, trains, buses and access to rail stations. Hospitals of course featured. Ambulance delays. Bed blocking. The inability to attract staff because there is nowhere local and affordable to live. And the ever difficulty of getting a decent broadband connection in rural areas to allow businesses to thrive (I might add education and medical services to that list also).

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey’s Autumn Speech in full

By Mary Reid | Sun 6th November 2022 - 1:46 pm

Here is the full text of Ed Davey’s speech, given at 1pm today.

Good afternoon friends.

It was an enormous privilege to represent our party, and my Kingston and Surbiton constituents, at the funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Beneath the splendour of Westminster Abbey, surrounded by dignitaries from nations around the world – It was a beautiful memorial to a life of faith, devoted to our country and our Commonwealth. And a poignant celebration of values we all hold dear:

Patriotism. Compassion. Service. Values embodied by Her Majesty.

We thank her again. And we welcome her son, King Charles III, to the

…

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey calls for legal right to see GP within 7 days

By Mary Reid | Fri 4th November 2022 - 3:37 pm

Getting a doctor’s appointment is becoming more and more of a challenge. Whether it means explaining in detail to a non-qualified receptionist who triages requests, or having to grapple with an inflexible online booking system, or having to join a phone queue at 8am exactly, or even filling in an online form just to be put in another triage queue – the processes seem designed to make you think it’s not worth it. They are particularly trying for anyone who is elderly, sick or in pain, or who has a chronic medical condition, and these, after all, take up a large proportion of appointments.

During the pandemic we got used to phone and video consultations, but we all knew these were not the most effective way to make a diagnosis, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that serious conditions were missed. It may still make sense for a doctor to hold an initial remote conversation, but only if an in-person appointment can be made speedily if needed.

But the delays in getting appointments is very real. Years ago no-one would have been offered a GP appointment in two weeks’ time for a new condition, and yet that is what is happening now.

Ed Davey is announcing plans to give us all the legal right to see a GP within a week (or 24 hours if urgent). It is certainly an indicator of the stresses within the NHS if a week’s delay is seen as an improvement. He has unearthed data which shows that 25% of people in some areas have to wait over two weeks for an appointment.  This is in the context of the two week target for suspected cancer cases to be seen by a specialist, where the clock only starts once someone has actually seen their GP. That wait could be doubled if they can’t get a GP appointment immediately.

The proposal is that this right would be enshrined in law, thus putting a duty on the Government to ensure that it happens.  Of course, it can only be achieved if the recruitment and retention of GPs is improved, and that requires action at the highest level.

So watch out for the announcement in Ed’s major speech at the weekend – designed to replace the missed Conference speech. Ahead of that he has said:

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Have the Tories broken Britain?

By Andy Boddington | Thu 3rd November 2022 - 5:48 pm

To answer my own question. Probably. At least for the next several years. We have dispirited political party in charge. It seems to change its mind on policies as often as it changes ministers, while claiming it is in control and leading us forward. All the Conservative Party has done with its constant internal chaos is lead our country to the precipice.

A huge economy likes ours is not going to fall overnight. Or even fall. But there are many striving and burgeoning economies across the world that want a share of our cake.

The pain of Tory incompetence is soaring interest rates. Tax rises are promised. Public spending cuts are high on the agenda.

The Tory pain will be felt by those who owe money, in mortgages and other loans. Saving rates will increase but will be overwhelmed by inflation. People will lose their homes. Businesses will go under. The poor will inevitably remain poor, even poorer.

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NewsHound

Ed Davey on Peston: Braverman, carer support and getting elected

By NewsHound | Thu 3rd November 2022 - 9:47 am

Sir Ed Davey appeared on ITV’s Peston last night.

Peston suggested that since Rishi Sunak had arrived in No 10, the Lib Dems had been in reverse in the polls. Rejecting that and talking about the three by-election wins in Chesham and Amersham, Tiverton and Honiton and North Shropshire, Ed said:

A lot of people said we won because people were turning away from Boris Johnson… I knocked on doors. I talked to people. What we found that they were rejecting the Conservative Party. They were doing it because of health matters, like ambulances, huge delays in getting access to GPs or NHS dentists. They felt the Conservatives had taken them for granted and were just out of touch… We found lifelong Conservatives rejecting the Conservative Party. Whether its Sunak or Johnson it doesn’t really matter.

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Mark Pack

Mark Pack: Why I’m running for Party President

By Mark Pack | Wed 2nd November 2022 - 11:59 am

Editor’s Note: The LDV team has invited the three candidates for Party President to write an article for us. 

I eat tofu. I listen to podcasts. I’ve appeared on the BBC. I read The Guardian. I live in north London. Both my parents were immigrants. 

It’s a good thing that Conservative Home Secretaries and Prime Ministers don’t get a vote in our internal elections, as I’m really not the sort of person they like.

And they certainly don’t share my politics… because I want our country to be more liberal, more tolerant, more inclusive, and at the heart of Europe. The more Liberal Democrat policies we get enacted, the better people’s lives are. 

To achieve that, we need to get our strategy and organisation right. We have to have more MPs, more Mayors, more MSPs and MSs, more London Assembly members, more councillors and our first Police and Crime Commissioners.

Since taking up post as President in January 2020, we’ve made real progress implementing the lessons from the independent election review of the 2019 general election. We’ve strengthened our campaign staff, steadied our finances and improved our governance. We’ve focused on reaching diverse groups, engaging our members, and modernising our technology so we can do better in getting our messages across.

We’re winning again at local elections and by-elections – and I’m delighted that by-election winners Helen Morgan and Richard Foord are backing my campaign. 

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The Voice

Emily Davey talks to the Guardian about living with Multiple Sclerosis

By The Voice | Tue 1st November 2022 - 7:32 pm

The Guardian has just published an interview with Ed Davey and his wife Emily in which they talk to political editor Pippa Crerar about Emily’s Multiple Sclerosis. They have decided to do so now so that they can use their platforms as an MP and Councillor to advocate further for disabled people and their carers.

Emily was diagnosed with the condition in 2012, but she has noticed a deterioration since lockdown, when she was  not able to be as active. She and Ed have decided to talk about this now to highlight how this is affecting other people:

 (Emily) Davey, who ran Kingston council’s public health portfolio during the pandemic, said: “We’ve got a problem here, we have people with mobility problems, including the elderly, who aren’t suddenly going to recover and get better. How do you manage to get people active again on that scale?”

Her husband added: “Here is just another example of the impact Covid had on the nation’s health which is probably not well recognised. We know both from our own personal experience, but also from our constituents and from talking to doctors, there’s a massive issue out there across the country.”

Emily talked about how she her condition is changing:

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Mark Valladares

Your Parish and Town Councils need you!

By Mark Valladares | Fri 28th October 2022 - 12:30 pm

ALDC are often reminding us that we should run candidates everywhere in local elections, and far be it for me to disagree. But it isn’t always easy – not everyone wants to be a councillor, and in years like 2023 with the prospect of a Conservative collapse in the Districts, there is a risk that even supposedly paper candidates may get elected.

But let me introduce you to a world where elections are usually uncontested, and where not every seat is filled.

The National Association of Local Councils has published its review of the 2022 elections at Town and Parish Council level and, whilst it was a relatively “off year” for the tier, with just 10% of local councils holding elections, just 11% of those elections were contested, representing 888 of the 8,068 council seats up for grabs. Worse still, 1,639 seats remained vacant after the elections, or 20% of the available places.

As liberals, that tends to offend, especially given our general view that citizens should be engaged and consulted by those who represent them. Indeed, the laws that determine how local councils are elected permit co-options within thirty days of an election where vacancies remain unfilled, a recipe for affirming undemocratic local cliques.

For many small Parish Councils, the lack of power is a contributory factor – how can you entice people to sit in meetings every two months where most of the issues are dealt with at higher tiers of local government? – but even towns with five figure populations and significant budgets struggle to find sufficient candidates.

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COP27: If Sunak won’t go to Egypt, King Charles should

By Andy Boddington | Thu 27th October 2022 - 7:40 pm

Alok Sharma lost his cabinet role shortly after Rishi Sunak picked up the keys to No 10 Downing Street. It was a shocking action. Sunak could have kept Sharma in place until after COP27. A simple act that would have shown the new prime minister’s commitment to the challenge the world faces as the atmosphere and oceans heat. It would have shown a mark of respect for one of Britain’s greatest champions in tackling climate change. Another simple act would be for the prime minister to attend COP27 for a day to show that Britain is not wavering on its commitments on easing climate change.

The industrial revolution began here in Britain, just up the road from me in Ironbridge. Its achievements are to be celebrated. Its consequences must now be mitigated. We, and the other nations most responsible for greenhouse emissions, must be at the forefront changing the way we work, the way the world works.

This is more a necessary transition than a painful transition. Of course, it costs money up front, but the payback of being ahead on technology change gave us the advantage more than two centuries ago. It should do so again.

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The Voice

Nominate top women in Westminster: Helen Morgan “one to watch”

By The Voice | Thu 27th October 2022 - 6:13 pm

The House magazine runs an annual poll to identify the top 100 women in Westminster. To quote from the launch publicity from The House:

There are more incredibly talented women from across politics and public service than ever before, from parliamentarians, to journalists, civil servants, and activists.

Some might say, yes, but there is now a shortage of women in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet.

Putting that to one side, we Lib Dems and liberal thinkers have a lot of talented colleagues in both houses and across the broader Westminster village. Why not spend a few minutes shouting out for Lib Dem women that you admire? You can do so here.

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Caron Lindsay

David Gauke suggests cross-party action to force a General Election

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 22nd October 2022 - 10:55 am

Until the 2019 General Election, David Gauke had been Conservative MP for South West Hertfordshire for 14 years. One of the voices of reason on Brexit, he ended up losing the Conservative whip just before Boris Johnson’s illegal prorogation of Parliament when the opposition seized control of the parliamentary timetable to pass Hilary Benn’s Act aimed at preventing a no deal Brexit.

Like most of the country, he recognises the dangers of allowing Boris Johnson to return to Number 10 and has come up with an idea. He wants Ed Davey and Keir Starmer to invite Johnson’s opponents amongst Conservative MPs to force a General Election. In return, Labour and the Lib Dems would not oppose those Conservative MPs with majorities over 10,000 in that election if they stood as Independents against new Conservative candidates.

Mr Gauke set out his thinking in a Twitter thread:

If Boris Johnson became PM again, given the views of many Tory MPs, this is what I’d be tempted to say if I was Keir Starmer or Ed Davey: “The PM is not fit for office. Nor is the Tory Party. We know that many honourable Tory MPs feel the same way. Now is the time for all MPs who put the national interest first to come together & force a General Election. It is a lot to ask Tory MPs to do this but, because this is a national emergency, we are prepared to make a bold & generous offer. We say to those Tory MPs with majorities bigger than , who are motivated by national interest & not just saving their seat, that if they vote with us in supporting a GE, we will not stand against them in their seats if they run as independents.

This offer might just persuade a sufficient number of Conservative MPs – who cannot face being led by Johnson again – to leave the party & back a GE. The other parties might be foregoing some seats they’d win but they’d get their GE (and plenty more seats).

I get where he is coming from.   Between us, Lib Dems, Labour and Greens took over 14,900 votes in South West Herts in 2019. Gauke, standing as an Independent, was beaten by the Conservative by 14,200. We are agreed that we must have a General Election now, but Lib Dems would argue that  whoever is the Conservative leader, not just Boris.

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Mary Reid

The fallout

By Mary Reid | Fri 21st October 2022 - 3:43 pm

Lib Dems have been busy today dealing with the fallout from the resignation of Britain’s shortest ever Prime Minister. I’ll rephrase that – the British Prime Minister who served for the shortest time in office EVER (although the original version is probably also true, if of no political significance).

First, all departing Prime Ministers are entitled to an annual allowance for the rest of their lives of £115,000 to cover office costs. This was covered in a press release yesterday, where Christine Jardine is urging her not to take it. Today Ed Davey told LBC radio:

Most people have to work at least 35 years to get a full state pension. I think working 45 days shouldn’t give you a pension that is many many times what ordinary people out there get after a lifetime of work.

Second, traditionally Prime Ministers can hand out peerages and other honours in a resignation list. Boris Johnson has only just honoured 29 people in that way. Another tranche following so soon from Liz Truss would be completely inappropriate. Wendy Chamberlain, Lib Dem Chief Whip, has written to the Chair of Parliamentary and Political Service Committee:

As you know, it is traditional upon a Prime Minister’s departure from office for them to issue a ‘Resignation Honours’ list. This list signifies individuals who are to be rewarded with an honour from the King which, in turn, would be considered by your committee.

However, because of the unprecedented circumstances surrounding Liz Truss’s tenure and resignation, I am writing to urge you and the committee to reject any Resignation Honours list put forward by her.

Liz Truss will be the shortest serving Prime Minister in British political history. It is possible that by the time she formally resigns, she will not have held office for more than 50 days.

I do not believe that it would be appropriate for Liz Truss to be permitted to issue a resignation honours list, given the extremely short length of her tenure.

I urge you to make it clear that you and your fellow committee members would not sign off on any such honours, which would be the second list in a matter of months.

Third, there is a lot of concern that Boris Johnson is thinking of entering the leadership contest. This was, of course, the Prime Minister who was only persuaded to stand down after 50 ministers resigned. As also mentioned in press releases our MPs have now tabled a motion to stop anyone who has broken the law while in Government from ever becoming Prime Minister. It reads:

That this House believes that the upholding of standards by its Members is of vital importance to the functioning of UK democracy; believes that it is vital that the Prime Minister and Ministers uphold these standards; and therefore resolves that any honourable or right honourable member that is found to have broken the law whilst in Government should be barred from holding Prime Ministerial Office.

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey: Country wants a General Election

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 20th October 2022 - 7:23 pm

“I have just publicly congratulated a lettuce.” Now there’s a sentence I never thought I would write. But after six weeks in which the Government had descended into a destructive and self-destructive parody, it seemed appropriate. The Daily Star’s “Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce” livestream was childish, but appealed to our sense of the ridiculous as our politics became more absurd.

My plan for yesterday evening was to watch the Doctor Who Easter special. I knew it would shred my emotions, so I’d been putting it off, but the thirteenth Doctor’s tenure ends on Sunday so I’d better get on with it.  Anyway, Channel 4’s Gary Gibbon started to explain the bizarre events in the Commons voting lobbies and I ended up binging on the news channels until I fell asleep.

Of all the weird things about last night, the strangest was that the vote didn’t even matter. It was on an opposition motion, which the Government usually just ignores. What on earth possessed them to make such a big deal out of it when the Parliamentary Party was already in a highly sensitive state? Apparently making it an issue of confidence would nullify any of the rebels’ letters, but chucking them out of the parliamentary party would surely reduce the threshold and invite more letters from disgruntled MPs.

Not content with crashing the economy with the binfire budget, they turned in on themselves.

The Conservative Party is in so much pain that it is not capable of governing. It really needs to go and lie down in a darkened room for a few generations until it sorts itself out. Yet they are about to inflict their third PM in three years on to us.

I am not convinced that the 1922 Committee has thought through its high nomination requirement, which has presumably been set to keep out Boris Johnson. There is every possibility that you have one person with the backing of 100 MPs, and two others just short of that. They will be just as split as ever and we have seen how they behave when they all hate each other.

The country shouldn’t have to deal with this. Every household in the country on low and middle incomes will be paying more for borrowing, energy, basic costs of living because of Liz Truss’s folly. And the folly of MPs who allowed her to go forward to the members.

Ed Davey, Daisy Cooper and Christine Jardine have been commenting on various aspects of the Conservative chaos

Ed  has been doing the media rounds this afternoon making the case for a general election so that the country can finally get some decent government. Here he is on the BBC, Sky and ITV:

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Liz Truss goes, the country and world breathes relief

By Andy Boddington | Thu 20th October 2022 - 1:39 pm

Jeepers. We needed this. But we didn’t need the continued instability. Liz Truss has rightly resigned this afternoon. She had no credibility when elected. She had no credibility in her few days in office.

The procedures for replacing Truss are uncertain. The Tories after a summer that saw potential candidates for the Tory leadership tearing each other and the Tory’s ability to govern the nation, govern anything was trashed.

In a statement outside No 10 today, Liz Truss resigned. She boasted of her low tax, high growth economy. She has submitted her resignation to King Charles.

The new Tory leader and the prime minister will be decided within the next week (by the Tories).

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This fantasy government is now the stuff of nightmares

By Andy Boddington | Thu 20th October 2022 - 9:22 am

When we were children, we played games of fantasy. Believing we were nurses, fire fighters, astronauts. As adults we still play games, not always acting like we are grown up. The Conservative Party has become adept at this. It previously appointed a prime minister who fanaticised that rules didn’t apply to him. Its current fantasy prime minister claims she is running the country. And too many the party fanaticises that no matter what it does, people will still vote it into power.

Yesterday, the Conservative fantasy turned into farce. A pantomime. Party managers’ attempted to whip Tory MPs into voting in favour of fracking by turning it into a vote of confidence on Liz Truss. That failed big time, with around 40 Tory MPs failing to vote. Fracking is a contentious issue but for a prime minister to stake her job as prime minister on it when it was known that many Tory MPs will not support it was one of the most ill-considered decisions of modern government. And, as it proved, the stuff of nightmares.

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Mary Reid

Meet the candidates for Party President

By Mary Reid | Wed 19th October 2022 - 12:45 pm

Update: Since this post was published we understand that the date for the hustings for England will be rearranged. We will update you as soon as we can.

Following on from the Newbies Guide to the party elections we now have the dates for the presidential hustings.

There are three candidates for President of the Liberal Democrats:

  • Lucy Nethsingha
  • Mark Pack
  • Liz Webster

Three online hustings have been arranged, one each for England, Wales and Scotland.

  • England: Sunday 23rd October, 6pm to 8pm  New date Thursday 27th October, 6pm to 8pm
  • Wales: Wednesday 26th October, 6pm to 8pm
  • Scotland: Sunday 30th October, 1.15pm to 2pm.

These meetings are for members only. You do need to book here in order to receive the link to the online event.

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey calls for General Election after Chancellor leaves office

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 14th October 2022 - 12:48 pm

We know now that Kwasi Kwarteng is out as Chancellor just hours after Downing Street told the BBC’s Chris Mason that he and Liz Truss were “in lockstep.” Whether he jumped or was pushed is for the journalists to work out.

I would be very surprised if we see them leaving Government in lockstep together, which seems unfair given that he was basically implementing the policies she put forward during her leadership campaign. In fact, he blinked first when the markets first went wild, putting out a statement after what was described at the time as a heated row between him and Truss.

It’s going to be interesting to see who she appoints as Chancellor – and who would be willing to do the job. Could we see Penny Mordaunt in No 11, or some  have suggested Jeremy Hunt.

We just have to wait to see what Liz Truss says at the press conference later this afternoon. She’s not a great one for humility and if there was ever an occasion that called for that in huge amounts, this is it.

While a u-turn, or partial u-turn (a j-turn?) on the Budget of Chaos will likely calm down the markets, the damage has been done to people’s mortgages and they will be feeling that for years to come.

Ed Davey has called for a General Election to get this lot out of office:

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Lib Dem MPs on health crisis: government has got it badly wrong

By Andy Boddington | Thu 13th October 2022 - 4:04 pm

One of the most stunning non-answers in the House of Commons of late was Liz Truss’s response to Daisy Cooper at PMQs yesterday on the danger of collapsing hospital buildings. The here today, and possibly gone tomorrow, prime minister either didn’t hear the question or did not know how to respond (Hansard).

In a debate in Westminster Hall, Daisy Cooper was again in action, this time on the preventive covid-19 drug Evusheld. This is a pre-exposure prophylactic drug administered by injections that gives a degree of protection against catching Covid-19. There are around half a million immunosuppressed people in the UK who could benefit from this treatment, including people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. But the government refuses to make it immediately available, instead waiting on a NICE review which may not conclude until well in 2023, after the expected winter surge in illness, including Covid and seasonal flu. Cooper said the government had got this “badly wrong”.

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Mary Reid

Daisy Cooper on PMQs

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 7:18 pm

Daisy Cooper had a question about hospitals with dangerous roofs at Prime Minister’s Questions today. Bizarrely Liz Truss seems to be answering a totally different question.

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Helen Morgan

Helen Morgan: 12 hours with an ambulance crew

By Helen Morgan | Tue 11th October 2022 - 1:45 pm

It’s midday on a wet and windy Friday afternoon. Normally I’d be in a village hall for a surgery with constituents. Instead, I’m hurtling down an A-road being deafened by a siren in the back of an ambulance.

I’m with paramedics Steve and Julie and we’re responding to the first call of our 12-hour shift. It’s only minutes since we clocked on but the elderly lady in need of help has been waiting more than three hours. She’s got Covid symptoms and chest problems making her a category two call with a target response time of 18 minutes.

Indeed, by the time we pack up just before 1am we’ve been to four category two calls, all of which had been waiting at least two hours, and one category three with a 12-hour delay.

All of our response times are around 10 times longer than the target and today is a ‘good’ day by recent standards in Shropshire.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review: Russian setbacks, Ukraine, North Korea, Saudi, Trussonomics, Hurricanes

By Tom Arms | Sun 9th October 2022 - 2:30 pm

Setbacks for Russia

The Chinese, according to senior diplomatic sources, have told Vladimir Putin that they will not support his use of nuclear weapons. This is unsurprising given that Beijing used a recent UN meeting to reaffirm its long-standing policy of “assured retaliation” which basically means no first use and no support for first use of nuclear weapon by other countries.

The Chinese position is one of a series of mounting Russian diplomatic setbacks that are running alongside a series of battlefield defeats.

On Friday there was a Cold War echo when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to jailed Belarussian activist Alex Byalyatski, banned Russian dissident organisation Memorial and Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties. The award was clearly meant to undermine Putin.

Meanwhile 44 European heads of government (all of them except Belarus and Russia) met in Prague to present a united Euro-front against Russia.

At the same time, NATO defence ministers gathered in Brussels with arms manufacturers to discuss beefing up assembly lines.

And finally, because success breeds success, the US Congress voted another $542 million in economic and military aid to Ukraine.

Signalling success in Ukraine

NATO’s investment in Ukraine is starting to pay intelligence dividends. Any war scenario provides opportunities for testing equipment and ideas as well as learning about the strengths and weaknesses of the warring parties.

European military chiefs learned the rudiments of trench warfare during the American Civil War. There are also coups from captured equipment such as the T-90M tank which I wrote about last week. But of even greater significance is Ukrainian success in the signals war.

Modern warfare depends hugely on the ability of a warring state to 1- send and receive signals 2- block homing signals from the opposition’s guided missile and artillery systems and 3- deploy effective homing signals so that your ordnance reaches its target. The NATO equipment supplied to Ukraine is scoring high marks on all three. This is playing a major role in hobbling the Russian military and providing NATO with vital battlefield SIGINT (signal intelligence).

Attention Seeking Kim Jon-Un

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York Membery

Exclusive: Vince Cable talks about his new book

By York Membery | Fri 7th October 2022 - 9:14 am

Former Lib Dem leader Vince Cable has just published a fascinating new ‘his and her’ memoir, ‘Partnership & Politics in a Divided Decade’, with his wife Rachel. It covers a tumultuous decade in British politics which saw the creation of the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition, Brexit and beyond.

I asked Vince about the book and his reflections on the era…

You published a well-received memoir, Free Radical, in 2010, so why write a second volume?

Certainly, two bites of the cherry is rather self-indulgent. I justify it on the basis that the really important things, politically, happened after 2010.

And why write a ‘his and her’ memoir rather than a traditional solo memoir?

I think the partnership element in political lives is very neglected – and the double act with Rachel meant the book isn’t so egocentric. At stressful times (Coalition, defeat, leadership) the emotional and practical support was essential. Also the ‘political wives’ perspective has been rather spoilt by Sasha Squire: funny but lots of malicious gossip.

The Coalition years seem a lifetime ago now, but you think it’s important to revisit them?

A major motive for writing the book was seeing the party become a victim of lazy stereotypes crafted by our opponents and our being mostly airbrushed out of history.

What should the Lib Dems be proudest of achieving during the coalition government?

There is a long list of Lib Dem achievements: the pupil premium; triple lock pensions and stakeholder pensions; gay marriage; lifting low earners out of tax; development of offshore wind; and in my department the creation of the British Business Bank and the Green Investment Bank, as well as relaunching apprenticeships and preserving the Post Office network.

We also stopped a lot of bad things: deeper cuts in benefits, highly illiberal moves on immigration, and some of the wacky ideas now being peddled by Rees-Mogg like ‘no fault dismissal’ and effectively outlawing strikes.

What about the controversial hike in student tuition fees?

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NewsHound

Three in four blame Kwasi Kwarteng budget for higher mortgages

By NewsHound | Thu 6th October 2022 - 11:59 pm

New polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed three in four (75%) blame the Government’s budget for higher than expected mortgage rates.

The findings reveal even the majority of Conservative voters (68%) blame the expected rise in rates on the Government’s budget last month, which sent the financial markets into turmoil.

The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates to as much as 6% next year, adding considerable costs to mortgages. This week Moneyfacts reported the typical two year fixed rate mortgage has topped 6% for the first time in 14 years.

Those who own their home with a mortgage also blame the likely rise on rates on the Government’s budget (76%).

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NewsHound

Tim Farron set to run London Marathon for air ambulance charity

By NewsHound | Sat 1st October 2022 - 12:35 pm

Our former leader really is a glutton for punishment. Last year he ran the London Marathon, raising over £5000 for the Brathay Trust, a social enterprise supporting young people in Cumbria.

And tomorrow he plans to do it all again:

This time, he’s fundraising for the Great North Air Ambulance and has already raised more than £3000.

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Mary Reid

“The Tories are the most economically right-wing major party in the developed world”

By Mary Reid | Fri 30th September 2022 - 3:00 pm

According to John Burn-Murdoch in the FT “The Tories have become unmoored from the British people“. The charts are very telling and worth looking at. You can see them here but best to go to the FT itself.

Through the mini-Budget Liz Truss has moved the Conservatives to the right of Brothers of Italy and US Republicans, and even to the right of Bolsonaro’s party in Brazil.

This is set alongside a chart showing the position of British voters on the two axes of social and economic values. Even the most right wing of Conservative voters are not in sympathy with Trussonomics. Lib Dem and Labour voters lie even further to the left, of course. In numerical terms, the Truss Government scores 9.4 out of 10 (far right), whereas Conservative voters average 4.2, and British voters overall have an average score of 3.2.

The Tories have plotted a course to the very edge of the economic map, and when they scan the horizon there is nobody to be seen.

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Truss car crash interviews on BBC local radio on cost of living and fracking

By Andy Boddington | Thu 29th September 2022 - 1:33 pm

Having absented herself from the media for days, the prime minister chose to defend her decisions and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on BBC local radio. Truss appeared on breakfast shows on BBC Radio Leeds, Norfolk, Kent, Lancashire, Nottingham, Tees, Bristol and Stoke. Her media advisers clearly thought local radio would be a soft touch with presenters more used to talking about a church fete. So very wrong. The interviews were sometimes excruciating. You could hear pauses at times, as she struggled to find her scripted reply and to remember which radio station was interviewing her.

First up for the prime minister was an interview with on BBC Radio Leeds. As the first of the day, it wasn’t so much of a car crash for Truss as the later interviews.

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NewsHound

Davey: Truss must cancel Tory conference to deal with economic crisis

By NewsHound | Thu 29th September 2022 - 8:56 am

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on Liz Truss to cancel the Conservative party conference which begins this weekend, and instead recall parliament to vote to fix the disastrous mini-budget. Lib Dems are also calling on the government to bring forward a rescue package for homeowners unable to pay higher mortgage bills as a result of last week’s budget.

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Charley Hasted

Lib Dem Councillors shortlisted for national awards

By Charley Hasted | Wed 28th September 2022 - 3:15 pm

The Local Government Information Unit has released the shortlists for its annual awards and four Liberal Democrat Councillors have made the billing!

Lib Dem Voice’s Editorial team send our congratulations and good luck on the night to for Liberal Democrats:

Ruth Dombey – Sutton Borough Council (Leader of the Year)

Ruth was first elected in 2002 and has been Leader of Lib Dem led Sutton council since 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Goodchild – Central Bedfordshire District Council (Community Champion)

Susan has been a Councillor since 2005 serving on both Bedfordshire County and Central Bedfordshire District Council. She is the Governor of a local school and involved in a number of community groups.

 

 

 

 

 

Peter McDonald – South Cambridgeshire District Council (Resilience and Recovery)

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The Conservatives no longer stand for a stable economy

By Andy Boddington | Sun 25th September 2022 - 9:30 am

Friday’s Kwasi-Budget was not officially a budget, despite being on of the most important fiscal statements since the Thatcher era. Because it was not a budget, it was not scrutinised by the Office of Budget Responsibility. That is yet another example of the Conservatives trying to circumvent processes designed to ensure that government’s act rationally.

This was a budget that will make top earners even more wealthy, while leaving the country and the poorest more impoverished. It was a budget based on the discredited myth of trickle-down economics. It was a budget that will allow wealthier people to dine out in style while those on the breadline scramble for crumbs.

This is an idealist budget driven by a leader who is beginning to make Margaret Thatcher look left wing.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 25th September 2022 - 7:55 am

Mahsa Amin’s death

They are burning their headscarves and police cars in Iran. Persian women are fighting back against the mullahs’ morality police. The catalyst for their anger is the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amin. The Iranian authorities claim she died of a pre-existing heart condition. Rubbish, say her family, there was nothing wrong with her heart. She died, they claim, because she was beaten in the police van on the way to the station. Ms Amin was arrested because she was wearing her hijab or head scarf improperly. That is common offence which the morality police monitor along with the wearing of tight trousers and leggings, holding hands or kissing in public.

Iran is not the only Muslim country with morality police. Afghanistan has probably the most severe. Iran probably holds the number two slot. Others include Nigeria, Sudan and Malaysia. Then there is Saudi Arabia where the ruling family’s adoption of Islam’s strict Wahhabi sect led to the establishment of the notorious Committee for the Protection of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Better known among Saudis as simply “The Committee.” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, however, has been circumscribing the morality police to the point of near extinction. The backlash in Iran may force the Mullahs to follow suit which can only undermine their wider claim to political legitimacy.

Another lurch to the right in Europe

Europe is taking another lurch to the right. This month two national parties with links to a fascist past have either come to power or are poised to do so.

Sweden has been known as Europe’s most tolerant country towards cultural diversity. But this month the rabid anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats emerged as the second largest party and is forming a government with the centre-right Moderates.

In a disturbing echo of Donald Trump, party leader Jimmie Akesson declared it was time to “Make Sweden Great Again.”

Georgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy has an equally upsetting motto which links her party to its fascist past—“God, family and fatherland.” Ms Meloni is expected to emerge as Italy’s prime minister after Sunday’s vote. Her party is Eurosceptic, anti-immigration, anti-gay, anti-abortion and has expressed doubts about NATO membership.

Italy and Sweden join Hungary, Britain, Czech Republic, Slovakia Austria and others who have lurched rightwards. There are differences between them but the one common element is the disturbing trend to portray their country as a victim.

Iceland

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