Tag Archives: foreign policy

Mark Valladares

5 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Tue 5th March 2024 - 8:30 pm
  • More than 1,800 people stuck in hospital
  • Cole-Hamilton: SNP cut £30m from mental health despite missing targets yet again
  • Lib Dems reveal some of the biggest nationalist failures on the international stage
  • Lib Dem Mayoral candidate beats cancer

More than 1,800 people stuck in hospital

Responding to new Public Health Scotland figures which show 1,860 people were stuck in hospital due to their discharge being delayed, with 57,860 days being spent in hospital by people waiting to be discharged, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Amid a chaotic turnover of SNP health secretaries, the Scottish Government has completely failed to tackle core problems that are leaving far too many languishing in hospital wards.

People should never have to wait weeks or months in hospital for a care home place or help to return home.

The SNP’s ill-fated centralisation of social care will do absolutely nothing to ease pressures. This billion-pound bureaucracy must be scrapped, not salved.

Continue reading »
Posted in London, News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment
Rebecca Tinsley

Time for a Distinctive Liberal Democrat Policy on Ending Conflict

By Rebecca Tinsley | Wed 17th May 2023 - 8:55 am

The Foreign Office has an unspoken strategy: whenever possible, it frames conflict as a humanitarian disaster, not a political problem requiring a political solution. Supporting UN aid efforts is laudable, but it is also easier than devoting diplomatic time and capital confronting deep-seated issues like systemic corruption, the persecution of minorities or the marginalisation of ethnic groups. No wonder so many civil wars defy our efforts to secure a genuine sustainable peace.  

The current violence in Sudan is an example of how officials respond to conflict as if it were an earthquake rather than a man-made disaster. Twenty years ago, officials treated the ethnic cleansing in Darfur like a disease rather than a racist expression of the Sudanese regime’s policy to eliminate its Black African civilians. The ideology behind the slaughter in Darfur was never acknowledged, just as Milosevic’s plans for Greater Serbia and the Interahamwe’s genocidal ambitions to erase Rwanda’s Tutsi minority were ignored by diplomats at the time. 

Another Foreign Office strategy is to cling to the old, discredited elites when searching for a negotiated settlement. In Sudan, the architects of the violence were seen as the international community’s partners in the search for peace. Over the last two decades, the voices of civilians were largely ignored, while the elite – and the men with guns – made promises they were never asked to keep. No benchmarks were set, and there was no mechanism to deliver consequences for failure to fulfil commitments made to negotiators. It was Bosnia all over again.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Lord William Wallace

William Wallace writes: The contradictions of ‘Global Britain’

By Lord William Wallace | Thu 11th March 2021 - 11:51 am

Embed from Getty Images

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

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

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

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
Humphrey Hawksley

China and its challenge to Liberal Democracy

By Humphrey Hawksley | Wed 9th September 2020 - 5:00 pm

Anti-Chinese rhetoric is growing, and it is amazing how seamlessly our enemy number one has shifted from Islamic extremism to an expansionist China with barely the blink of an eye. 

No longer do we have a War on Terror but the spectre of a new Cold War. 

Accusations against Chinese President Xi Jinping are beginning to mirror those against Middle Eastern dictators when complexities of cultures and societies were concertinaed into cartoon-style characters of evil such as with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. 

We all know what happened there and, unless we are vigilant, we may be walking into another disastrous trap. 

With gulag-style camps in Xinjiang and the crackdown against political dissent in Hong Kong, such criticism against China are justified. 

The question is, however, what can liberal democracies do that is effective. 

A first step is to look more at ourselves and reestablish liberal democratic values that in the past two decades have fallen into a sorry state of repair. 

Liberal democracy was once heralded as a beacon for delivering security and freedom. Failure in the Middle East and North African conflicts has shredded that reputation. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 12 Comments
Mark Valladares

Is being bullied by Donald Trump the future for British foreign policy?

By Mark Valladares | Fri 17th January 2020 - 3:36 pm

The news, as broken by the Washington Post, that the Trump Administration threatened to levy a 25% tariff on British car exports to the US unless Britain warned Iran of violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal in which Iran would accept strict rules and oversight of its nuclear activity in exchange for being allowed back into the international community, should concern us all.

Of course, it wasn’t just Britain – the French and Germans were threatened too.

But the difference between us and them is that the French and Germans are part of a bigger group, and …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems: Raab defence of Trump not in UK’s interests

By The Voice | Mon 6th January 2020 - 8:11 am

Following Dominic Raab’s appearance on the Andrew Marr show yesterday morning, Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said:

Dominic Raab’s lapdog defence of Donald Trump’s reckless action against Iran is seriously misguided and not in Britain’s best interests.

The United States’ so-called strategy with Iran and across the Middle East is so incoherent and inconsistent that it is making the search for peace and security far more problematic. So it is a huge mistake for the Foreign Secretary to give Trump a blank cheque of unequivocal support, especially when the Government was not even consulted before this action and this could backfire

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 22 Comments
Paul Reynolds

How much should the Lib Dems focus on UK foreign policy?

By Paul Reynolds | Thu 15th March 2018 - 4:59 pm

I once used the phrase ‘No-one is going to vote Lib Dem because of our policy on Azimstana’. The point is an obvious one; surveys show us that the average British voter is more concerned about domestic issues such as health, education, welfare, employment, immigration and crime. Understandably so.

However, there are three very good reasons why, notwithstanding, we need to invest time in foreign policy, international relations and the global economy.

First, UK foreign policy does from time to time come to the fore in the mind of the voting public and we have to be on top of the issues, …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Baroness Liz Barker

Baroness Liz Barker writes: The Tory threat to UK foreign policy

By Baroness Liz Barker | Sun 20th March 2016 - 8:55 am

Lynne Featherstone and Lindsay Northover were outstanding DfID Ministers. During their tenure, with the support of Liberal Democrats in both houses, and throughout the party, for the first time,  radical commitments such as an to end Female Genital Mutilation by 30% by 2018 were included in UK Government policy.  Furthermore, those Liberal Democrat ministers, insisted that commitments to the rights of LGBT people and people with disabilities be central to FCO and DfID policy and programmes.

They did so, not just because of our unshakeable commitment to human rights, but because the UK’s unique history with the Commonwealth nations and relationships with European partners, give an unparalleled position from which to be an influence for good in the world.

This summer, the UK government has an opportunity to attend the 2016 Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference,  which will be co-hosted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of Uruguay. It will involve the main international donors who support and fund LGBTI programmes.  It is a rare opportunity for the UK government to leverage the political commitment of the coalition government by involving other governments,  and the private sector,  in developing good practice guidance on funding, supporting NGOs to bring about change on difficult subjects. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | Leave a comment

Hawks and doves: equidistant foreign policy?

By Michael Cooke | Mon 5th October 2015 - 11:00 am

Five years ago, the Liberal Democrats held the centre ground in the coalition formation negotiations between left and right. Equidistance is a loaded word, one that cynics will laugh at as vacuous. However, five years later, neither of the two main parties seem sufficiently interested in foreign affairs.

This party could be equidistant between doves and hawks in foreign policy. To illustrate the dove-hawk twin hybrid, below are three examples. I am not necessarily endorsing the following as solutions and they are not exhaustive in terms of detail. They are merely prompts for a debate.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Hannah Bettsworth’s speech to the Liberal Democrat Voice fringe meeting at Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 4th October 2015 - 10:20 am

20th Sep 2015 conference LDV fringeOne of the highlights of Conference for me was the Liberal Democrat Voice fringe meeting. We wanted to do something a bit more serious this year and, as foreign policy is a key interest of several of our team members, we decided to discuss how we forged a liberal foreign policy in these challenging times. What is liberal interventionism all about.

We are extremely grateful to our four speakers. Baroness Julie Smith stepped in at the very last minute so we especially appreciate her thoughtful contribution. We also heard from Lord William Wallace, from our Lords Foreign Affairs team, Nick Tyrone, now at British Influence, and Hannah Bettsworth, President of Liberal Youth Scotland, who specialises in international relations and has as special interest in gender mainstreaming, ensuring that the interests of women and girls are considered in every aspect of policy development.

Hannah’s speech was described by one member of the audience as one of the best on foreign policy he’d heard in a long time, so we thought it might be a good idea to reproduce it here. Hannah wants to credit Tim Oliver for his help and advice in pulling it together. Enjoy.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Tim Oliver

Opinion: We need meaningful discourse on Trident, not playground politics

By Tim Oliver | Thu 9th April 2015 - 4:25 pm

I have spent much of the campaign so far wondering when issues of foreign policy would be discussed. This open question soon morphed into a desperate cry for someone, anyone to talk about what goes on beyond the shores of these islands and what Britain can or should do about those events. The 7-way debate that we were graced with by ITV proved to be as devoid of these questions as the rest of the campaign, for even when issues such as immigration floated in, they were stripped of an international context.

So it was that I had essentially resigned myself to a campaign devoid of hard questions about big problems, until today’s news headlines sparked a moment of hope. Trident had risen from the depths to push itself, and surely with it bigger questions about Britain, onto the agenda. At last, I could have almost cried, we can have the debate!

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 34 Comments
The Voice

LibLink … Tim Farron: The Conservatives are underplaying our hand in Europe

By The Voice | Mon 16th March 2015 - 4:10 pm

Tim Farron speaking - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsJust before conference Tim Farron posted on Huffington Post on a totally different subject – Conservative foreign policy.

He writes:

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the deterioration of human rights in Russia should be a key concern of all our political parties. If we are to stem the violence in Ukraine, we need a strong and united Europe, as much as we need wise thinking from the US and other players. But I am concerned that the Conservative leadership is crippled by an overblown and insecure fear of Ukip. We are punching below our weight in Europe. Cameron is in danger of putting party politics above peace in Ukraine and Europe – and our national interests.

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 11 Comments
John Kelly

Opinion: Ethical Foreign Policy

By John Kelly | Mon 16th March 2015 - 2:26 pm

 

At a dinner in London last week to celebrate David Steel’s 50 years in Parliament Nick Clegg congratulated David on his internationalism and talked at length about the importance of our Party being the champion of internationalism and human rights.

In his final conference speech Nick said “we will stand up for tolerance, decency and fairness” but this was put in a domestic context.  Hopefully we will soon hear an election speech from Nick offering a Lib Dem foreign policy that will clearly differentiate us from the Tories and from the policies of the Blair/Brown years.

This is the speech I would like to see Nick deliver about ethical foreign policy:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Clegg and Wallace highlight need for Lib Dem approach to foreign policy and criticise Conservative coalition partners

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 14th November 2014 - 11:05 am

There’s a fair bit of “differentiation” in the air at the moment. Last week we had Norman Baker’s resignation over difference in Home Office policy. Yesterday both Nick Clegg and Foreign Office Minister Lord William Wallace took time to highlight the fundamental differences in approach between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to international affairs.

First, more casually, on his Call Clegg phone-in, Nick had a good go at the Tories on international development after Philip Hammond’s comments in opposition to Michael Moore’s Private Member’s Bill which aims to enshrine the 0.7% aid target in law:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Andrew Wigley

Opinion: China and Hong Kong – a missed opportunity

By Andrew Wigley | Mon 2nd July 2012 - 1:23 pm

Last weekend marked the 15th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong. On a torrentially wet evening on 30 June 1997, the UK relinquished control of a territory which was home to almost seven million people and one of Asia’s leading commercial centres.

It also marked the end of the most colossal missed opportunity to further Chinese democracy.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 2 Comments
Joe Bourke

Opinion: Foreign policy lessons for the Lib Dem approach to Iran

By Joe Bourke | Thu 22nd December 2011 - 4:26 pm

The Green movement in Iran after the presidential elections in 2009 was the first of the recent popular backlashes against entrenched corruption in authoritarian regimes. That was followed by the Arab spring, continuing upheaval in Egypt and now a similar movement in Russia and elsewhere.

At the time of the electoral protests in Tehran, Iranian staff at the British embassy were being accused by the Iranian authorities of treason and fomenting unrest. There was only muted support for the reform movement in Iran from the international community.

Last month we saw the British Embassy in Tehran ransacked and vandalised

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 20 Comments
Max Atikinson

Last call for entries: Speechwriting competition – can the right words fend off protestors?

By Max Atikinson | Sat 26th February 2011 - 4:44 pm

Writing speeches with Paddy Ashdown sometimes happened at difficult times, like when we’d spent weeks preparing his announcement that he would run for the leadership in 1988 – only for it to dawn on us that we’d have to produce another one for the next day, then another, followed by almost a speech a day for the next three weeks.

Nor was it much fun when the party was at 4% in the opinion polls or, and this was probably the most difficult one of all, working on his first speech as High Representative to the parliament of Bosnia Herzegovina.
…

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • Craig Levene
    No amount of money can compensate for policies that resonate with voters and address their concerns . Harris had the ground game and the financial backing , but...
  • Nigel Jones
    Both sides in ths middle east confict is to blame. Hamas and Hebollah of course but Israel also in its revenge and dtermination to control all areas near but ou...
  • David Raw
    @ Mark Frankel According to the Vatican news in November, there have been 44,300 deaths in Palestine since that terrible 7 October day - 70% were women and chi...
  • Pamela Manning
    Mark Frankel if you look at facts you will find that Israel is the one not to be trusted. Israel signed up to Oslo accords which prohibited the creation of or e...
  • Nigel Jones
    Looks to me Elon Musk's financial support for Reform is good reason for our party to talk to other parties about urgent reform of party donations, something we ...