Tag Archives: featured

Mary Reid

Shaffaq Mohammed and Mark Pack join the Lords

By Mary Reid | Fri 20th December 2024 - 5:41 pm

Congratulations to Shaffaq Mohammed and Mark Pack who have been appointed to the House of Lords!

Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed has been Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Sheffield Council for 13 years and was a former Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber. He was a youth worker before he got directly involved in politics.

Back in 2011, he wrote about his story, from a boy in Kashmir to Leader of Sheffield Lib Dems. More recently he has been chairing a Carers’ Commission for Ed Davey, developing policy which has been so prominent in our campaigning as a party.

Dr Mark Pack has been no stranger to Lib Dem Voice, having been one of our founding editors and a prolific contributor over the years. His term of office as President of the Liberal Democrats comes to an end next year.

His early involvement with the party was at Lib Dem HQ where he served as Head of Innovations, bringing the party into the digital age. Although Mark has never stood for political office, he has acted as an energetic campaigner behind the scenes, developing real expertise in political campaigning, polling and electoral law.

There is a more detailed account of our two new peers here.

Mark and Shaffaq join Caroline Pidgeon, former Leader of the Lib Dems on the London Assembly, who was made a peer earlier this year.

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Mark Pack

Mark Pack’s December report: Beating Labour and seeing off Reform in Sheffield

By Mark Pack | Thu 19th December 2024 - 9:08 am

Happy Christmas and New Year

Once again, we end the year with more Liberal Democrat MPs, more Liberal Democrat council leaders and more Liberal Democrat councillors than we started the year. We also have in Ed Davey the main party leader who consistently comes out best in the polls.

You have already heard many statistics from myself and others about that progress, so this time I will simply share perhaps my favourite. There are now 25 Liberal Democrat MPs with a majority over 10,000… and just 5 (!) Conservatives.

That is a huge tribute to the personal vote built up by so many of our campaigners, supported by people’s kind collective efforts across the party … and a sign of just how much political trouble the Conservatives are still in. Trouble that Labour has been remarkably quick to run into too. It is impressive how many Liberal Democrat campaigners have been out in the cold and rain, winning council by-elections and building support with campaigns on topics such as the Winter Fuel Allowance.

Willis Marshall’s dramatic win for us in Sheffield recently captured much of the current state of our politics. A cracking Lib Dem campaign and candidate, scoring a 27% vote share increase to take a seat off the Labour Party in an area where we had not won before – and in the process, seeing off Reform – who surged up into second place – by just 10 votes, while the Conservative vote fell by three-quarters. In other words – our areas of success spreading, holding Labour to account and winning ourselves, rather than leaving the political space for the populists to fill.

Such successes are only possible thanks to the generous combined efforts of our members, staff, donors and volunteers. A deep thank you to everyone who has contributed to our successes this year, and the very best of luck for the challenges to come next year. But before that, I hope everyone gets a good break over Christmas and New Year.

Next steps in the party’s strategy

Work is starting on developing our new strategy for this Westminster Parliamentary cycle. How do we build on our success in electing 72 MPs this July and making gains in every round of local elections in the last Parliament? How do we spread our success more widely? And what do we need to change about how we operate to achieve that?

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Caron Lindsay

Oh look, another leopard…

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th December 2024 - 7:37 am

Last week, we brought you news of a consultation on the party’s internal election regulations which opened in mid December and closes on 3 January.

It’s clearly Consultation Season in the Party because members have had an email inviting them to contribute to the Federal Policy Committee’s Policy review by 6 January.

In the email, Ed Davey says:

In July, millions of people put their trust in the Liberal Democrats, many of them for the first time. They have handed us an exciting opportunity and a humbling responsibility.

So now we must continue to lead the way, with big, bold policies to tackle the challenges facing our country in the years ahead. Not just clearing up the enormous mess left by the Conservatives, but building the fair, free and open society we all believe in.

That’s why our Federal Policy Committee (FPC) has set up a new working group to develop a strategic programme for renewing our policy in the years ahead.

We want to hear from you, to help chart our course towards a policy platform that serves us well as we tackle the priorities of the British people; be a responsible opposition to the Government; finish the job against the Conservatives; and paint a clear vision of the more liberal Britain we want to build.

As a first step, we want to hear from you what are the most important areas for us to focus on, to help guide our work over the coming months.

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Mark Valladares

Is now the time to really commit to the campaign to Rejoin?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 16th December 2024 - 10:15 am

I’ll freely admit that I’ve been a bit sceptical about the campaign to rejoin the European Union. Not because I don’t believe that we should be within the fold rather than outside it but rather, I felt that we needed to be clear as a nation about what we really wanted of the relationship. Also, having put our neighbours through the psychodrama that was Brexit, they needed to be confident that we really meant it before attempting to negotiate a return.

The Party itself has struggled with determining a campaigning stance. Those who joined the Party as a campaigning vehicle to overturn the 2016 referendum have mostly sought an avowedly pro-Rejoin stance, whilst others, more cautious about losing potential voters, have soft-pedalled such a stance whilst indicating their support for an eventual return. The fairly disastrous campaigns of 2017 and 2019 reinforced the sense of caution.

But the news that polling by the European Council for Foreign Relations suggests that British voters are now willing to accept free movement as part of the conditions for rejoining the Single Market, perhaps changes the game.

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Caron Lindsay

Beware of the Leopard

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 11th December 2024 - 9:02 pm

There is a truth universally acknowledged that if you want to go through the motions of consulting people, but you don’t really want to encourage them to respond to you, you slip out a consultation, say, in the second week in December when nobody is really thinking about the issue in hand and close it on 3rd January.

I’m minded of the consultation process for the destruction of earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass as outlined by the brilliant Douglas Adams in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

So this is a roundabout way of saying that the Federal Board has slipped out a consultation on the party’s Internal Election Regulations in the second week of December that closes on 3rd January.

By doing so, they give off vibes that they are going through the motions of consultation. They want to know whether we think a larger threshold of nominations is needed. They haven’t set a figure, but will look at the result of the consultation and bring a proposal to Spring Conference. That would mean the changes would be in place for the next elections in Autumn next year.

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Lord William Wallace

Local Democracy, or Devolved Administration?

By Lord William Wallace | Thu 5th December 2024 - 4:50 pm

Within the next few weeks the Labour government will publish its promised white paper on Devolution.  Reports so far suggest it will extend combined authorities with directly-elected mayors across the rest of England, abolish the remaining district councils and move to unitary councils covering parts of combined authorities – in practice a new two-tier system in which the relationship between combined-authority mayors and unitary councils will remain to be settled.  There’s unlikely to be any significant change in financial control from the centre or tax reform.  A move towards three-year settlements for central funding of local and combined authorities is more likely.

I’m not an expert on local government; nor do I know whether our party yet has an agreed position on how to respond.  I accept that the mayoral model in London works well – with a London Assembly to hold the mayor to account, and London borough councils to provide local services and representation.   The mayoral model is suitable for conurbations – though it needs (as in London) to be balanced by a representative assembly, with multiple local councils constituting it.  But I’m doubtful whether a similar model suits the rest of England.

In Yorkshire the consensus among MPs and council leaders was strongly for a regional body and local councils, if necessary also with elected mayors for the conurbations of West and South Yorkshire.  Instead the last government imposed upon us combined authorities both in North and East Yorkshire, with only two elected councils in each.  The imposition of a unitary authority across North Yorkshire has replaced district councils that covered distinct communities – Harrogate, Craven, Scarborough and Whitby, Richmondshire, and Selby – with a geographically vast area with a much smaller number of councillors.  York, however, was left outside, so an elected mayor and combined authority has therefore been imposed on two very different local authorities.  The combined authority and mayor for East Yorkshire will similarly sit over only two existing local authorities.

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Manuela Perteghella MP

Manuela Perteghella MP writes: Cody’s Law – protecting young lives

By Manuela Perteghella MP | Wed 4th December 2024 - 11:55 am

As I stood up in Parliament to ask my first-ever question at Prime Minister’s Questions, I couldn’t stop thinking about Cody Fisher and his family. Cody was just 23 years old when he was stabbed to death on the dance floor of The Crane nightclub in Birmingham on Boxing Day 2022. What should have been a fun night out with friends ended in tragedy because of failings that could—and should—have been avoided.

Cody’s death has left an unimaginable hole in the lives of those who loved him. A talented young footballer, he had his whole future ahead of him. But a deadly weapon—a zombie knife—was smuggled into the venue, bypassing what the court later described as “cursory” security checks, despite over 2,000 people being there that night. It’s hard to comprehend how such a basic safety measure was overlooked, and it’s even harder to accept that no action has yet been taken to prevent something like this from happening again.

Since Cody’s murder, his family, and in particular his mum, Tracey Fisher, has been incredibly brave in her fight to make sure no other family goes through what hers has endured. Tracey is calling for “Cody’s Law,” which would make it mandatory for nightclubs and similar venues to install metal detectors and have bleed kits on site. These are simple, common-sense measures that could save lives.

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Caron Lindsay

Love is Enough surges into iTunes top 10

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 30th November 2024 - 3:11 pm

So the first chart announcement since Love is Enough,  the song by young carers featuring Ed Davey was released is out.  It would melt even the most permafrosted heart.

And they’re at……

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Matthew Ma

ALDC’s by-election report – 28 November 2024

By Matthew Ma | Fri 29th November 2024 - 7:51 pm

It was a long list of holds for this week’s by-elections as only 1 out of 10 seats switched hands, where Lib Dems snatched a seat out of Labour in Sheffield City Council. Labour defended their other 7 seats, albeit losing a hefty amount of votes in almost all seats; the Lib Dems also defended the 2 remaining seats.

For the only gain this week, the young Cllr Willis Marshall brought the Lib Dems from fourth place to first in the Woodhouse ward in Sheffield City Council. Coming from the single digits, Willis and the Sheffield team more than quadrupled the Lib Dem vote share to 33% this time around and won the seat! Congratulations to the Willis and the team for the hard work put in to achieve this momentous result.

Sheffield City Council, Woodhouse
Liberal Democrat (Willis Marshall): 1018 (33.0%, +26.8%)
Reform: 1008 (32.7%, new)
Labour: 650 (21.1%, -36.8%)
Conservative: 168 (5.0%, -9.5%)
Green Party: 153 (5.4%, -4.5%)
TUSC: 56 (1.8%, -1.0%)
The Social Democratic Party: 33 (1.1% , new)

In the nearby City of York Council, the Lib Dems comfortably defended its seat with 64% of the vote, towering the second place Conservatives. In the Haxby & Wigginton ward, Cllr Richard Watson and the team grew the vote from just over one-half to almost two thirds of the voting base. Congrats and thank you to Richard and the local team for the tremendous win!

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey aims for Christmas Number 1

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 27th November 2024 - 10:30 pm

Well that headline is a sentence I never thought I’d write.

And I have to admit that when I first saw the press release announcing it, I rather involuntarily invoked the name of the person we celebrate at this time of year at volume. Then I thought “No, please, not Sweet Caroline.”

However, I remembered that generosity is key to the spirit of Christmas and when I looked into it some more, I discovered that, actually, Ed’s collaboration with Bath Philarmonia’s Young Carers’ Choir is pretty decent. “Love is enough” falls into the category of heartwarming Christmas songs rather than the crazy ones. Though given some of the things Ed did during the General Election, I could be forgiven for fearing it would be the latter.

The song has been written by the young carers themselves to celebrate the bond between themselves and those they care for.

The single aims to raise money for Bath Philarmonia and  Carers’ Trust.

Here’s a wee preview:

We’ve stuck to the time on the embargo, but the Guardian got the story early.

The result is uplifting and festive, and perhaps just the right side of saccharine to appeal to Christmas listeners. It does not, however, feature much audible input from Davey, whose contributions are slightly buried in the glossy mix.

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Mark Pack

Mark Pack’s November 2024 report: A guaranteed way to lose votes

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th November 2024 - 1:32 pm

The importance of next May

A blessing and a curse of a democracy is that elections keep on coming around. So while this year has been an exhausting one of election campaigns already, we also need to be turning our eyes to the local elections coming up in May.

Most of the seats up in May were last contested when the Conservatives were still on an electoral high back in 2021. Therefore they provide us with an important opportunity to follow up on our major gains from the Conservatives at both local and Westminster level since 2021. They also provide us with an important opportunity to continue to grow our strength more broadly, especially in areas where, now with a Labour government in Westminster, new possibilities are opening up.

But there is one sure-fire, 100% guaranteed, rock-solid way of repelling voters from us, and it is one we use far too often.

It is not having a Liberal Democrat on the ballot paper. Zero votes for the party guaranteed.

Both Labour and the Conservatives, for example, get very close now to having a full slate of candidates in local elections. We do not.

The good news is that since in the last Parliament we have collectively started focusing on really raising our candidate numbers in council contests, we have made good progress, both for by-elections and for the May rounds of elections.

Standing candidates is not only about credibility and relevance. It is also the way to get more people into the habit of regularly voting for the Liberal Democrats – a crucial step in building the sort of larger core vote for the party that will help us succeed more often.

With us having regained our third place in the House of Commons, continuing that progress in candidate numbers to help further establish ourselves is even more important next May.

If you have local elections coming up in your area, there are great training materials and supporting documents on how to increase your candidate numbers, and how to run a proper approval process. Drop me a line if you need help finding the support you need.

Good luck!

A 15th century technology still reigns supreme

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Nick Baird

Lib Dem MPs are wrong to campaign against farming inheritance tax changes

By Nick Baird | Wed 20th November 2024 - 10:55 am

With the ‘Tractor Tax’ protests filling the news for several days, yesterday delivered an email from Lib Dem HQ informing me that our MPs are demanding that the tax be axed. I was both surprised and disappointed to see our MPs siding with some very wealthy vested interests on this issue. It is clear that investment in farmland is being used by some as a deliberate ploy to dodge inheritance tax, and beyond romanticising the “family farm” and way of life, I’ve yet to hear a convincing moral or economic argument as to why farmers uniquely deserve a better deal on inheritance tax than you or me. And even after Labour’s proposed changes, the IHT regime for farms still remains far better than that available to almost anyone else.

Ed Davey and Tim Farron tell us that farming is vital to the country, that rural communities have been taken for granted, and that Brexit and trade deals that undercut British farmers with food produced to lower standards is a disaster for them. All that is true, but it has absolutely nothing to do with inheritance tax, and even if Labour change their minds tomorrow, the very real challenges that British farmers face will remain. I find it curious (or perhaps not) that tax is the issue that has brought out farmers to protest, whipped up by some multi-millionaires and a right wing press that is ideologically opposed to all inheritance tax in principle.

If we accept that genuine farming families are deserving of special treatment to allow farms to be passed down tax-free within the family, there are ways that Labour’s plans could be amended to ease that, but Lib Dem MPs are siding with tax-dodging multi-millionaires to reverse the change entirely. They are wrong to do so.

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The Voice

Christine Jardine’s message for Trans Awareness Week

By The Voice | Mon 18th November 2024 - 7:33 am

Lib Dem Women and Equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine has issued a message for Trans Awareness Week which runs until Thursday. She said:

Today is the beginning of Trans Awareness Week. It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate trans people, acknowledge the challenges they face, and reflect on how we as a society can work together to improve trans people’s lives.

In decades past, the UK has led the world in advancing equality for all LGBT+ people – with the Liberal Democrats playing a particularly key role in driving that progress forward.

However, too many trans people still face discrimination and hostility simply for being who they are. Sadly, the fight for equality must go on.

The figures are stark. The number of hate crimes recorded against trans people have skyrocketed by 52% since 2020/21. Young trans people face the highest rates of homelessness among the LGBT+ community. Not to mention the shocking reality that on average, trans people are being forced to wait more than 7 years to get the specialist healthcare they deserve.

Let me be clear – Liberal Democrats will always stand up for the rights of everyone in the LGBT+ community, including trans people.

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Joe Harris

Will Labour scrap your local council?

By Joe Harris | Tue 12th November 2024 - 3:40 pm

There’s been much speculation recently, fuelled by leaks from within Government, about the new Labour Government’s upcoming English Devolution Bill. If the reports are accurate, the bill could bring significant changes to the way local government is structured in England. While Labour’s intentions may be aimed at decentralising power, there are worrying indications that some of these proposals could undermine local democracy rather than empower it.

As Liberal Democrats, we have always championed genuine devolution that puts real power in the hands of local communities. But while we welcome the opportunity to engage in a discussion about devolution, we need to tread carefully. If these leaked proposals are anything to go by, there are some aspects that should give us serious pause. Labour seems committed, for instance, to creating new regional mayors across the country—a model that doesn’t necessarily fit all communities and may lead to the abolition of district councils in the process.

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The Voice

Lib Dems mark Remembrance Sunday

By The Voice | Sun 10th November 2024 - 10:20 am

It’s 10 years since the stunning and emotive display of ceramic poppies, one for each allied soldier killed in the First World War, at the Tower of London.

Today, the nation marks Remembrance Sunday, 110 years after the war broke out and almost 106 years since it ended.

Ed Davey said:

Remembrance Sunday is such an important day for all of us. We remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, for our peace and for the future we all share.

We must never forget their sacrifice nor can we forget the veterans, many of whom will march past the Cenotaph today. They still bear the scars, both mental and physical, from their service, and our country can and must do much more to support them.

Alex Cole-Hamilton spoke at Holyrood this week and remembered not only those British soldiers who had died in conflict but Ukrainians who are fighting to protect our freedoms.

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Lord William Wallace

Defending Liberalism in a Trumpian world

By Lord William Wallace | Wed 6th November 2024 - 6:36 pm

World politics is going to be rough in the next few years – and British politics will be increasingly difficult, too.  Trump’s victory means that the USA’s role in global affairs will be highly unpredictable.  But we can predict that American influence will not be constructive on a range of global issues, from combatting climate change to managing the world economy and containing conflicts, and is unlikely to be affected by consideration for British or European concerns.  So how do we respond?

Ed Davey’s first response to Trump’s victory was spot on.  We need to defend and promote liberal values and prioritise rebuilding closer relations with our European neighbours.  Neither of those are easy.  Illiberal movements are gaining ground in many democratic countries, including within the EU.  Liberal democracy gains most support when economies are growing, societies are stable and international relations are peaceful.  Even without the added complications of an incoherent and unfriendly US Administration, the challenges of preventing catastrophic climate change, of coping with the mass movement of people that climate change and regional conflicts are already driving, of moving towards a sustainable global economy and resisting Chinese and Russian expansionism would be hard to manage – and harder to persuade the British electorate to share the cost.

There will no doubt be a flood of analyses of why a majority of American voters supported Trump.  But discontent at the economic and social disruption of their lives, and disillusion with the ‘elites’ who – as they see it – allowed disruptive change to sweep from outside through their communities, were major factors.  Those discontents are widespread in Britain as well.  The ‘left behind’ in northern and coastal towns feel similarly abandoned by educated elites and multinational corporations.  You Gov tracker polls show that the answer to the question ‘Are members of Parliament in touch with the public or not?’ has consistently shown around 70% answering ‘out of touch’ and 10-12% ‘in touch’ over the past five years.  Those in the Brexit Referendum who were saying ‘I want my country back’ were expressing a similar sense of loss to Trump supporters who want to ‘Make America Great Again.’

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Caron Lindsay

A scary week ahead

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 3rd November 2024 - 11:59 am

American presidential elections in days of yore were pretty simple. We all went to bed at our usual time and then when we woke up in the morning, we knew who was going to be President.

And then Bush v Gore 2000 happened and it all took a bit longer as we learned about things like “Hanging Chads” and how they affected the vote counts in Florida. It took until 12 December until the Supreme Court stopped the recount and Gore conceded the next day.

In 2020, we spent four long nights and three and a half long days constantly refreshing CNN and agonising in WhatsApp chats before it was clear to everyone except Donald Trump and his followers that Joe Biden had won.

This year I’m not sure I have a big enough cushion to hide behind as the results come in. But before we get too absorbed in the details, take a minute to have a good laugh at Kamala’s appearance on last night’s Saturday Night Live. Pitch perfect:

We are probably not going to know for a while after the polls close whether the US will have a President who will respect women’s rights, put more money back in the hands of the poorest and grow the economy, or someone who will give to his billionaire mates, pursue policies that see more women die because they can’t get medical treatment if they have a miscarriage, and threaten US democracy itself.

The conventional wisdom amongst commentators at the moment is that Donald Trump will get his second term in the White House. Let’s hope they have it as wrong as they had it in 2016 when they all thought Hillary was going to win. We have to remember that part of the reason for the Democrats losing back then was because they were so convinced they were going to win that they stopped spending money in the swing states while Donald Trump spent a fortune on wall to wall advertising.

The Democrats are not making that mistake again. The Harris/Walz campaign has been concentrating on the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. The election will likely be decided on tens of thousands of votes in those places. It’s a bit like how our elections are decided in 100 or so marginal seats across the country except on a bigger scale.

She’s had some help in the past week from Scottish Lib Dem Leader who went out there with some friends (at their own expense) to knock on doors. It’s not the first time he has been out. He turned out to be a good luck charm for Obama in Virginia in 2008. He made some observations on Twitter this week about his trip an the prospects in the election:

The field campaign team there are exceptional but they are utterly exhausted and driving hard for the finish line, I’m proud to know them. They certainly put me to work in getting out the vote.

With over 1k doors knocked across 9 communities in Lackawanna county, PA, I got to see a lot of the Scranton area in stunning autumnal beauty. These are warm, resilient communities, but in many ways they have cause to feel left behind.

This is an exceptionally tight election, everyone knows that, but I’ve never seen tribalism run quite so deep before. Those houses without partisan lawn signs are in the minority and this election is dividing communities and even families, like never before.

A standout highlight for me was getting to meet Tim Walz in person, but above that I will never forget the warmth of the people I met on the doors of Pennsylvania.

My assessment? She can absolutely do it, but turnout is everything.

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Vince Cable

Vince Cable on the budget: manifesto folly

By Vince Cable | Tue 29th October 2024 - 10:59 am

Embed from Getty Images

‘Read my lips: no new taxes’; ‘we will reduce net immigration to the tens of thousands’; ‘we pledge not to increase tuition fees’. Promises easily made in an election campaign. A source of endless regret in government.

There will be endless regret from Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise tax rates on taxes accounting for three quarters of tax revenue.  There is an urgent and compelling need to raise taxes in the coming budget for reasons of fiscal prudence and to stem the decline in public services. Yet, despite having an enormous parliamentary majority, the government has denied itself a mandate properly to address these fundamental problems.

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Caron Lindsay

Daisy’s PMQs Debut

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 23rd October 2024 - 8:12 pm

With Keir Starmer out of the country, it was down to the deputies to take the stage at Prime Minister’s Questions. Angela Rayner and Daisy Cooper put in their first appearance of the new Parliament in their new roles. For Conservative Oliver Dowden, it was his last in the role. There was very funny love in with menaces between him and Rayner in their exchanges. It was a bit like a seaside comedy show. The serious stuff came when Daisy asked her two questions.

 

May I associate myself and the Liberal Democrats with the Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks about Chris Hoy, and about all those involved in the train crash?

Our NHS is bracing itself for a winter crisis. One of the causes of the winter crisis every year is that there are thousands of people in hospitals who are fit to go home, but who cannot be discharged because there are not the care workers in place to enable people to recover at home or in a care home. Will the Deputy Prime Minister consider the Liberal Democrats’ idea of an NHS winter taskforce to winter-proof our NHS, end the cycle of the winter crisis, and put to an end the scandal of hospital patients paying the price of the social care crisis left by the Conservatives?

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments, and I share her desire to ensure that care workers are given the respect and importance that they deserve. They are critical to solving the problems in our national health service. The Labour party will create a national care service, and we are launching our first ever fair pay agreement for care professionals to boost recruitment and retention. We must get the NHS back on its feet after the disaster of the Conservatives, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will have more to say on that in the Budget.

Daisy kept to the same theme for the second question, talking of the dangers to the care sector of increasing employers’ National Insurance contributions, something she had mentioned in her Sky News interview on Sunday:

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for her answer. We stand ready, as a party of constructive opposition, to work with the Government to fix our social care system. However, a measure that could make it harder for us to keep the carers that we so desperately need would be an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions. Were that measure to go ahead, it would affect millions of small businesses, including 18,000 small care providers. Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure the House that nothing in the Budget will make it harder for vulnerable people to access the care workers and the care that they desperately need?

A bit of flannel from Rayner in return, but at least the job of setting out our position had been done:

Again, I will not speculate on the Budget, not least with the Chancellor sat beside me. To reiterate what the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have said, this Budget will recognise that working people of this country and enterprise in this country have been hard-hit by 14 years of the Conservatives. We will rebuild Britain, and we will grow our economy to pay for our public services.

Rayner had to face another three Lib Dems in the session. This is great to see, and likely to be more commonplace now that we make up more than 10% of the House.

First up was Monica Harding who had a heartbreaking story of a young boy in her constituency who has been out of school for a year because they don’t have the right special needs provision for him.

Charlie from my constituency is an eight-year-old boy with an autism diagnosis who has been out of school for almost a year. He is one of 1,800 children in Surrey missing school because of a lack of appropriate special educational needs provision. Will the Government commit to ending this scandal by properly funding special educational needs provision in next week’s Budget, so that children like Charlie, in my constituency of Esher and Walton and beyond, are no longer let down?

Angela Rayner was sympathetic but had nothing concrete to offer:

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Lord William Wallace

Are we ready for US election chaos, or for President Trump?

By Lord William Wallace | Wed 23rd October 2024 - 2:22 pm

Liberal Democrats will be hoping that the nightmare of the US presidential campaign will be over on November 5th, with a clear win for Kamala Harris, accepted by Donald Trump, leading Republicans and state and federal courts.  But at present that looks the least likely outcome.  More likely by far will be either a contested result, after chaotic events during the voting and state counts, or a narrow Trump victory with chaotic consequences for US politics and foreign policy.  Either will have major implications for British politics and foreign policy.

The continuing rumble of opinion polls suggests a virtual tie between Harris and Trump, with the outcome dependent on who turns out among the small minority of undecideds.  Challenges to names on voting registers are under way in several states.  Counting may well be disrupted; there were some assaults on election counts four years ago, and the atmosphere has become more fraught since then.  Republican local organisations are ready to use the courts to challenge any contestable declaration or hint of malpractice.  We may not be sure who has won for some time.  And the consequences of a Trump win are as uncertain as the candidate’s utterances have become.  So how should we react to what will be an assault on the principles of liberal democracy and on the transatlantic partnership which has been at the core of the UK’s position in the world since 1941?   

One Liberal Democratic theme, I suggest, must be to remind disillusioned citizens in this country of the importance of constitutional institutions and limited government, and the dangers of sliding down the road towards populist rule.  Britain has just emerged from several years of chaotic government, with a populist prime minister attempting to prevent Parliament from returning from a recess when he had been in office himself for only s few months.  We have witnessed right-wing attacks on our supreme court, an Elections Act that lifted constraints on political donations and restricted the autonomy of the Electoral Commission, and Conservative ministers supporting conspiracy theories about ‘liberal elites’.  We now have a Labour government which has won the most disproportional parliamentary majority since 1832: 63.4% of MPs from 33.7% of the votes cast, on a worryingly low turnout of 58%.  Public trust in ‘Westminster politics’ has sunk to the lowest recorded point since opinion surveys began.  The potential for an anti-democratic backlash, if this government fails to improve both economic growth and public services, is high.

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Caron Lindsay

Daisy Cooper says no to fuel and NI rises and yes to more investment in public services

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 20th October 2024 - 9:59 am

Daisy Cooper was on Sunday with Trevor Phillips on Sky News. As our new Treasury Spokesperson, she was asked about what she wanted to see in the Budget.

But first, she was asked whether she accepted the Government’s narrative about the £22 billion black hole in the public finances.

She replied that there was no doubt that Conservatives left the economy in a mess. There may be an  argument about  the 22 billion number but what people want to know is if public services are going to get better. Are they going to get the health and social care they need?

She said that we were deeply uncomfortable about the rumoured increase in National Insurance employers’ contribution  because of the effect on smaller businesses. In particular, she mentioned how this might affect small care companies and that might lead to even more care home closures and increase the crisis in care.

However, we would support taxing banks and gambling companies and changing fiscal rules to allow more investment to build more schools and hospitals.

Another rumour is that fuel duty is going to go up for the first time in 15 years. Daisy said that we were concerned about the impact of doing this during a cost of living crisis. If there was a viable alternative with good public transport it might be easier to stomach. The burden of cleaning up the  Tory mess should be on big companies, not on ordinary people.

She was pressed by Phillips about the effect of our proposals on taxing banks. What impact would that have on our savings and pensions? She answered that the four or five biggest banks made £40 billion in profit and we want to reverse the tax cuts they have had which could raise just a tenth of that,  a small amount of money for them,  to help turn our public services around.

She said that we would have to look at the budget as a whole but would likely vote against a rise in employers’ NI contribution.

The main Liberal Democrat priority for the Budget was to see health and social care. Daisy talked about her own experience of serious illness and her Crohn’s diagnosis:

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Christine Jardine MP

Developing our LGBT+ policy for the future

By Christine Jardine MP | Thu 10th October 2024 - 11:34 am

Christine Jardine, who is our Women and Equalities spokesperson, will be bringing a consultation paper to Spring Conference on LGBT+ policy. This post is on the Lib Dem website.

Social justice is at the heart of everything we believe in as Liberal  Democrats.

Not just social justice for some, but for everyone.

That is why we work so hard to ensure that we can deliver positive change for our often victimised and vulnerable LGBT+ community.

From Ed Davey moving the repeal of the abhorrent Section 28, to the tireless work of Liberal Democrat ministers like Lynne Featherstone in getting the Same Sex Marriage Act passed, our party has always been at the heart of many important steps towards equality.

But sadly there is still more to do.

Prejudice and discrimination are still far too often visited on the LGBT+ community.

Made worse by years of  a Conservative government intent on using vulnerable people as pawns in their culture wars. Not to mention the heartbreaking reality that LGBT+ people are more likely to suffer from poor health outcomes, homelessness, and difficulties accessing public services.

Liberal Democrats want to build a country where nobody’s life chances are limited because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. That is why I will be producing a spokesperson’s paper, in my capacity as Women and Equalities Spokesperson, to outline what steps we need to take to make this a reality.

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Matthew Ma

ALDC’s by-election report 3 October 2024

By Matthew Ma | Mon 7th October 2024 - 4:12 pm

Four principal council by-elections were held this week, with Labour defending three and SNP defending one. Most seats changed hands, with Labour losing all three seats they were defending and SNP holding the last. We stood in all four and our candidates have carried forth the momentum from past weeks to register gains in vote share on all seats. 

The stand-out result this week came from Dundee Council in Strathmartine ward. The first place SNP lost more than 10% of first preference votes while the Lib Dems gained 8%. Counting continued to the fifth round, where Jenny Blain finished close second: just 32 votes behind SNP! Well done and thank you to Jenny and Dundee Lib Dems for putting up such a great fight, setting us up for a Lib Dem victory next election.  

Dundee, Strathmartine (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 5)
SNP: 1188 (35%, -10.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Jenny Blain): 912 (26.9%, +8.2%)
Labour: 911 (26.9%, +4.0%)
Conservative: 143 (4.2%, -1.7%)
Green Party: 121 (3.6%, +0.2%)
TUSC: 116 (3.4%, +2.7%)

Another by-election in Dundee Council in Lochee sees an SNP gain from Labour after seven stages. Thank you to Outi Bourke for standing and growing our vote share here. 

Dundee, Lochee (first preference results, SNP elected at stage 7)
SNP: 1203 (37.3%, -5.9%)
Labour: 1148 (35.6%, -0.2%)
Conservative: 219 (6.8%, -1.6%)
Alba Party: 178 (5.5%, +2.4%)
Green Party: 176 (5.5%, +1.3%)
Liberal Democrats (Outi Bourke): 156 (4.8%, +1.7%)
Workers Party of Britain: 143 (4.4%, new)

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Not all politicians are the same

By Mark Morris | Tue 1st October 2024 - 1:12 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Almost 44 years ago the 39th US President left the White House.

Quite incredibly that President is still alive and today he celebrates a very special birthday.

Yes, today is the 100th birthday of Jimmy Carter.

As a President it must be said he faced many formidable challenges, including an energy crisis, high levels of inflation and the Iran hostage crisis. Yet, just because he was a one term President it would be a mistake to overlook some important achievements.

In 1977, Carter brokered two US treaties with Panama. The next year he presided over a round of meetings between Egypt’s President Anwar el-Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David. The outcome was the Camp David Accords which ended the state of war between the two nations that had existed since 1948.

Jimmy Carter was also ahead of his time in recognising the importance of renewable energy and as a practical example ensured solar panels were installed at the White House. And along with his wife Rosalynn he was a pioneer in advancing mental health.

Since 1981 Jimmy Carter could have made a personal fortune from corporate work and after dinner speeches. Instead, he and his wife chose a very different path.

After leaving the White House Jimmy Carter established a career as a diplomat, humanitarian and author, pursuing conflict resolution in countries around the globe. This article simply doesn’t have the space to provide the full list of countries that President Carter and the Carter Center have undertaken conflict mediation in – but do take a look at the Carter Center website to obtain just a glimpse of is incredible work. Its work has also extended to fighting disease, leading the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, with the bold ambition that it becomes the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. That ambition is tantalising close to being reached.

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Charles Quinn

ALDC’s By-Election report – 20 September 2024

By Charles Quinn | Fri 20th September 2024 - 7:49 pm

There have been 10 principal council by-elections this week. It’s been a triumphant week for the Lib Dem as we registered our first by-election gain since the General Election (against Labour). We also stood in all 10 vacancies and increased our vote-share in a number of places to score some excellent second place finishes. 

Overall the results saw a lot of chopping and changing with seats changing hands in almost every direction. The only constants were the Lib Dems not losing a seat (but gaining one) and Labour not gaining a seat, but losing 3! 

We start in Bromsgrove DC where newly elected Cllr James Clarke gained Sidemoor ward from Labour, increasing the Lib Dem vote share by just short of 25%. Labour lost 30% of their vote and slipped to 3rd place. Congratulations to Cllr Clarke on our first by-election win of this current Government!

Bromsgrove DC, Sidemoor
Liberal Democrats (James Clarke): 276 (52.6%, +24.9%)
Conservatives: 141 (26.9%, +3.1%)
Labour: 87 (16.6%, -29.2%)
Green Party: 21 (4%, new)

Another excellent result this week came on Cornwall Council in Falmouth Penwerris ward. Here our candidate John Spargo increased the Lib Dem vote share by 25.5% (up from just 4.5% in the previous election) and jumping from 4th place to 2nd. Labour just held onto the ward but it is perfectly poised for us now in the next election. Congratulations to John and the team in Cornwall.

Cornwall Council, Falmouth Penwerris
Labour: 337 (44.7%, -19.8%)
Liberal Democrats (John Spargo): 228 (30.2%, +25.5%)
Green Party: 189 (25.1%, +16.6%)

We also finished a close second in St Neots ward in Huntingdonshire DC. Lib Dem candidate Alan Hunt increased the Lib Dem vote by 2.3% and came just 100 votes behind Well done to Alan and Huntingdonshire Lib Dems. You’ll get them next time. 

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Mary Reid

Up to 750,000 people disenfranchised in General Election

By Mary Reid | Thu 19th September 2024 - 3:36 pm

The Electoral Commission report on Voter ID in the General Election found that 16,000 would-be voters were turned away by polling officers because they did not have approved ID. But the picture is much worse than that, because many people simply did not turn up at the polling station because of the ID rules, or were stopped by the greeter and never returned. In fact, the Electoral Commission reckons that 750,000 people might not have voted in the General Election because of the need for Voter ID.

The report also found that while most people were aware of the requirement for Voter ID, 29% of people aged 18- 24 did not know about it and 24% of people from ethnic minority communities were unaware. In general, the impact was felt greatest by those two groups plus voters in social grade C2DE.

This is a topic I have written about before. On the day after the local elections in 2023, when Voter ID was first introduced, I asked: “Voter ID – did it prevent electoral fraud or did it interfere with voters’ rights?“. The answer came the following month with another report from the Electoral Commission: “14,000 voters turned away – but probably many more“. Then a month later a letter appeared in the press from eminent ethnic minority actors and artists, calling for the abolition of Voter ID because of its disproportionate impact on people of colour: “Actors and artists back the abolition of Voter ID“.

There are two possible responses to the latest findings. Either increase the types of acceptable photographic ID or abolish Voter ID altogether.

The Electoral Commission recommends that “The UK Government should undertake and publish a review of the current list of accepted forms of ID, to identify any additional documents that could be included to improve accessibility for voters.” At the moment travel passes for older people are acceptable but bizarrely those for young people are not. They also suggest that any voter who does not have a acceptable form of ID should be able to take a registered voter with them to the polling station to attest for them.

The other option – embraced by the Lib Dems, is to abolish Voter ID altogether.  Its original purpose was to stop impersonation – when someone fraudulently claims to be someone else and steals their vote. This is a crime, of course, but one that seems to happen extremely rarely. Between 2019 and 2023 only 11 people were convicted of it.

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Caron Lindsay

Caling all trans allies in Brighton – show support at 1pm today

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 10:58 am

Jude Parker spent two days this week sewing a huge trans Pride flag with the help of Douglas, her much loved sewing machine. It’s pretty massive 15 metres and weighs 4.5 kg. She carried it to Brighton along with the rest of the merch for the LGBT+ Lib Dems stall. It was a real labour of love in response to the blow of hearing that an anti trans group had been allowed to have a stall at Liberal Democrat conference.

This flag will be unfurled outside the Brighton Centre at 1pm today in a show of solidarity with trans people in our country and in our party. Everyone who supports trans rights is welcome to show support.

We are proud of our history as a party that has always stood up for LGBT+ rights, as we’ve stood up for women’s rights, for racial equality and human rights generally. It’s in our core.  So what on earth are we thinking allowing in a group that does not align with our values?

This group have been wanting to have a stall for some years and we have turned them down. In fact, the Federal Conference Committee turned them down again for this Conference. Unfortunately, the legal advice the party sought was apparently clear that we could be liable for significant costs and damages if, as was considered likely,  this group sued us.  They seem to have the resources to do so, and, unfortunately, LGBT+ people in the party do not have access to such deep pockets. So, FCC was over-ruled and they were given a stall.

There is surely an issue around access to justice in all of this. If only the rich can take action which sets legal precedents, there is a clear power imbalance which should worry us.

Some would argue that the party should have said, as Harry Willcock famously did in 1950 when asked to show his ID card “We’re liberals and we’re against this sort of thing.”

I can definitely see the logic in that and a bit of me wishes we had the courage to stand up against an unfair and illiberal law, even if the sums involved in defending a legal action makes me, as a recovering state party treasurer, wince with pain. Even if you win your case, you rarely get all your costs back and it’s expensive and time consuming.

Our conference exhibition is our shop window to the world. A law which compels us to include people who do not share our values on the grounds that they have a “protected belief” seems ridiculous. As a political party, we surely should have the right to choose who sits in our shop window.

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s guide to the craziness of Conference, updated for Brighton 2024

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 11th September 2024 - 7:47 pm

In just 2 days’ time, Liberal Democrats will be gathering in Brighton for our annual Conference.  Sadly, for the first time since 2011, I won’t be there.  I was only going to be able to come for 24 hours, but, unfortunately, my husband is ill. He’ll be fine, but now is not the time to leave him.

I’m still scarred by my trip to the Witney by-election in 2016. He hadn’t been well just before but seemed to be on the mend. To cut a long story short, within hours of my return the next evening, he was spirited away to hospital in a blue light ambulance and he was there for 51 nights. The virus we thought he had was in fact an infection in his heart which ate one of his heart valves. Vegetation on a leaflet they called it.  An ironic affliction for a Lib Dem.

However, I have revamped my Guide to the Craziness of Conference for this year. Enjoy. And if you have any questions, ask away in the comments.

Federal Conference is probably the best fun that you will ever have in your life. You will thoroughly enjoy every exhausting moment. If you’re new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I had a long break from going to them and when I returned, in 2011, I spent the first day wandering round in a state of wide-eyed amazement,  like a child in a toy shop.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy. If you have any other Conference survival tips, let me know.

If you have any questions, there are lots of places to get answers. There’s Federal Conference Committee helpdesk in the Brighton Centre. And if they can’t help, ask someone on one of the party organisation stalls in the exhibition – if they don’t know the answer, they’ll probably be able to point you in the right direction.

1. Plan your days

The Conference day has a huge variety of things to do. As well as the debates in the hall,  there’s a comprehensive training programme and a massive fringe.  There are spokespeople Q & As. There are competing fringe choices to be made.  You can guarantee that you will never be bored and that several things you want to see will be on at the same time.  Spend some time now poring over the Agenda (which gives details of the policy motions) and Directory (which has details of the exhibition, fringe and training) to work out what you don’t want to miss. Conference Extra, which has details of amendments will be published shortly.

Don’t forget to pick up the Conference Daily which has news and important information.

Be aware as well that you can eat quite well for free by choosing the right fringe meetings – look for the refreshments symbol in the directory.

Believe me, it’s much easier if you sort out your diary in advance. The best laid plans will always be subject to a better offer or meeting someone you haven’t seen for years randomly in a corridor, but it’s best to at least try to get some order into the proceedings. The Conference App is a real help for this. You can download it from whichever App store you use on your phone (search for Lib Dem Conf). Fully updated now for Brighton, it allows you to add events to your schedule and has all the papers loaded on to it.

2. Make time to do the Exhibition properly

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Lord William Wallace

Defending Liberalism against illiberalism

By Lord William Wallace | Wed 11th September 2024 - 2:30 pm

Liberals are naturally optimistic and reasonable.  We recognise the past struggles to establish open, tolerant societies, the rule of law and accountable government, but too easily assume that those battles have been won.  In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most optimistic Liberals thought we were entering a post-conflict liberal world.

It’s now clear that the principles of a liberal political and economic order have to be defended against multiple threats.  Our society has become far more socially liberal than our grandparents; but not all are persuaded, and illiberal groups within Britain and outside are doing their best to reverse what has been won.  Our economy is deeply integrated into a global economy which is unstable, grossly unequal and environmentally unsustainable.  Corruption and crime are embedded in the global economy, and spill over into the UK; we have seen some painful examples of domestic corruption in recent years.  Political liberalism – liberal democracy – is on the defensive, across Europe and Asia, within the USA and within Britain itself.

Behind our immediate relief at the disappearance of populist Conservative government, British politics is in a volatile state.  Popular alienation from Westminster is at the highest level yet recorded in surveys.  Local democracy has been shrunk and weakened through successive reorganisations, increasing central control and reductions in funding.  The Labour government has won a massive parliamentary majority on 33.7% of the popular vote, with under 60% of voters turning out – and with efficient targeting by all parties leaving many constituencies without any visible local campaign.  There are now 10 groups in the Commons with 4 or more MPs; yet Labour and the Tories are still acting as if Britain has a two-party system.  It’s possible that the next election will see right-wing reaction against Labour constitute a major political force. Reform won 14% in July from almost a standing start.

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Dr Jonathan Carr-West

The Independent View: Celebrating councillors has never been more important

By Dr Jonathan Carr-West | Wed 11th September 2024 - 12:59 pm

The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) & CCLA Cllr Awards offer an annual opportunity for members of the public to highlight the contributions of the often unsung heroes of local democracy. 

The glittering Awards ceremonies, held at The Guildhall, London, for English and Welsh councillors and City Chambers, Edinburgh, for Scottish elected members, have always provided an evening of glamour and gratitude for those working tirelessly behind the scenes to improve the places we live. 

However, with the Awards now in their 15th year, it’s never been more important to shine a light on councillors across Great Britain who go above and beyond in their service and work under increasingly difficult conditions.

Local representatives are often the first point of contact for residents’ concerns, whether it is a housing, public services, or safety issue. They are the most accessible and accountable level of government. 

With trust in institutions declining and public disillusionment with politics growing, councillors’ ability to make tangible changes in people’s lives can build trust in democracy at a grassroots level.

But being a councillor is no easy task, particularly in the current economic climate.  Many councillors juggle full-time jobs alongside their public duties. The vast majority of councillors are ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help their communities thrive, and they represent the best of public service.

So, as local communities face growing challenges, it has never been more important to recognise and celebrate the work of our councillors. The LGIU & CCLA Cllr Awards celebrate excellence in a wide range of categories, from Community Champion to Leader of the Year. 

Previous winners include Cllr Hannah Perkin (awarded Community Champion in the 2023 LGIU & CCLA Cllr Awards), who entered politics to challenge the closure of the children’s centre in which she worked. As a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Faversham Abbey in Swale Borough Council in Kent, she was recognised for her commitment to her community, being involved in local projects and charities, and prioritising and representing her residents’ voices in the council.

She told us:

I try to inspire people to get more involved in telling local government what their priorities are and then shaping local government to represent them. When I first stood, I didn’t see myself represented: I was a young mum and I worked in a children’s centre. Lots of people don’t think local government represents them but when you boil it down, people realise it is all about them.

The Cllr Awards demonstrate the essential role councillors play in building better communities, whether that’s by developing innovative policies to address local challenges or providing support to vulnerable residents. 

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