Tag Archives: general election 2017

For World Environment Day: The Lib Dems’ vision

Our digital people have been excelling themselves as usual this campaign.

On this World Environment Day, see below the video the party has put together outlining the problems and our vision for dealing with them.

The party would not have been happy to have come just behind Labour in the Friends of the Earth rating of manifestos. Tim Farron has today sent them

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Farron: Trump is an embarrassment. May must withdraw the State Visit invitation

Sadiq Khan’s calm leadership of London through two awful terrorist atrocities is worthy of praise. Not, though, if you are Donald Trump, who took to Twitter to attack the London Mayor.

Publicly humiliating someone who is working all hours dealing with a major incident is not on if you are a private citizen. If you are the leader of the free world, it’s completely unacceptable. This is the guy to whom Theresa May has granted the high honour of a State Visit.

Trump has shown on so many occasions that he doesn’t deserve it – not least because he attacks Sadiq Khan with what is becoming monotonous regularity.

Tim Farron has said that the invitation should be withdrawn.

Trump is an embarrassment to America.

In the wake of three recent terrorist attacks, two of which killed people on the streets of London, Donald Trump decides to use his time in the Oval Office to attack the Mayor of London over twitter.

Sadiq Khan has shown dignity and leadership.

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Tim Farron: A Britain where everyone is treated fairly

Tim Farron, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have written responses to Operation Black Vote’s Race Equality Manifesto. Tim’s was first published here and is reproduced below.

Liberal Democrats believe that every person is entitled to the same opportunity to succeed in life. That means breaking down the barriers that hold people back, fighting discrimination and defending individuals against an overreaching government. We strive for a country that is welcoming and open-minded. One that is optimistic, that rejects prejudice and embraces diversity.

We stand for the everyday citizen and against unchecked power, and that is one of the reasons why this election is so important. Because, make no mistake, Theresa May called this election to amass more power so that she does not have to consult on a Brexit deal no matter how bad the implications might be for Britain.

Liberal Democrats would therefore not only stop Theresa May driving Britain’s economy off a cliff-edge with a hard Brexit. We would also stop any attempts to scrap the Human Rights Act or withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. We would also strengthen the UK’s commitment to international human rights law.

Equality is therefore at the heart of our policies. Whether it’s tackling racism, addressing poor physical and mental healthcare by adding 1p on income tax to boost funding for the NHS, enshrining equal marriage into law, or protecting the rights of workers in the gig economy. Liberal Democrats are proud of our record on equality, but we know there is much more to do, and this includes being more representative as a party.

We are slowly getting there, with three times as many BME candidates standing in winnable seats this election following measures implemented in 2016 which means we are the only political party using every available measure under the Equality Act to improve diversity. This enables us to reserve places on shortlists for BME candidates. The Liberal Democrats believe we should be able to have all BME shortlists and regardless of who the Government is on 9 June and we will continue to lobby Ministers to make this change.

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Lib Dems highlight “Brexit Brain Drain”

The Liberal Democrats have discovered that more than than 1,300 academics from the European Union have left British universities in the past year, prompting concerns of a Brexit brain drain.

A recent analysis by the Russell Group, which represents 24 of the UK’s leading universities, found that there are 24,860 members of staff from other EU countries at UK universities, making up 23% of all academics.

Across the country there has been a 30% increase in the number of EU academics quitting over the past year compared to two years ago, according to figures released following Freedom of Information requests.

Edinburgh University suffered the third highest loss of staff of all those shown in the UK, with 96 EU academics leaving in 2016-2017, (up from 76 in 2015-2016 and 62 the previous year).

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The day Tim Farron cooked my breakfast

Eighteen years ago today, at around 5:30 in the morning, I was being wheeled back to the ward with my new baby. Try as I might, I couldn’t sleep because I was too besotted to take my eyes off the gorgeous bundle in the little hospital cot.

At that time this morning, I was hitting the M8 to drive into Edinburgh. What could I possibly be doing at a cafe in Corstorphine at 6 am with Edinburgh Western MP Alex Cole-Hamilton and Edinburgh West Lib Dem candidate Christine Jardine?

The answer duly emerged – after a slight detour for this vehicle. There are, apparently, two establishments called Cafe Vigo in Edinburgh and, you guessed it, they went to the wrong one.

Tim was kicking off a tour of key seats in Edinburgh West, one of the best prospects for a gain on Thursday. He later went to another – East Dunbartonshire.

They disappeared into the kitchen surrounded by a gaggle of hungry journalists.

Tim made fried egg rolls, Christine made bacon rolls. And they were good, too. I had a fried egg one. Normally, I like them with a softer yolk, but it was just as well this one a tad over-cooked to avoid mess.

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WATCH: Lib Dems attack “Dementia Tax” with mock estate agent “Theresa May and Co”

The Liberal Democrats have launched a mock estate agent named “Theresa May and Co”, in a scathing attack on Theresa May’s plans on social care, widely referred to as the “Dementia tax”.

It is described as “Westminster’s finest estate agents – dealing exclusively in selling vulnerable elderly people’s homes to pay for the care they desperately need.”

It comes after Liberal Democrats including Ed Davey led a protest outside Conservative HQ against the dementia tax with ‘Theresa May and Co’ placards. Watch it here:

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WATCH: John Leech’s story

See this fantastic video put together by John Leech’s team to celebrate the achievements of his career.

It showcases his tenacious support for a pardon for Alan Turing and other men convicted of homosexual acts and his audacious opposition to Manchester’s Labour council. It can’t be easy being the only opposition councillor in the room, but he gives them some grief and gets stuff done.

Enjoy!

In an email to supporters, John said:

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“Breakfast doesn’t mean Breakfast”

A brilliant new poster highlighting the Conservatives’ plans to scrap free school lunches and replace them with breakfasts at a cost of just 7p per child was launched this week. Its slogan “Breakfast clearly doesn’t mean Breakfast” mocked Theresa May’s oft repeated Brexit remark.

The poster was issued to make the point that a quarter of a million children in poverty could suffer as a result of May’s plans. It shows what you could get – a slice of bread and a few baked beans – for the Tories’ budget of 7p per meal. There are alternatives – half a boiled egg, or 37.5g of cornflakes with 100ml of milk. Not a great start to the day.

Nick Clegg said:

Theresa May’s cruel and illogical decision to take away free, hot lunches for all infants will hurt hundreds of thousands of Britain’s poorest children.

It’s clear that the reintroduction of means-testing for school lunches will mean many children losing out on what could be the only hot, nutritious meal that they receive each day.

Theresa May is not only risking the health of some of our youngest children, but she will also create terrible inequality in the classroom.

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LibLink: Nick Clegg: Why the Liberal Democrats believe a legal, regulated cannabis market would improve public health

Nick Clegg has been writing in the BMJ outlining our position on Cannabis.

He compares criminalisation of drugs to the prohibition of alcohol in the States:

Far from controlling and eliminating alcohol use, the “noble experiment” of prohibition drove users towards increasingly potent and dangerous drinks. With no regulatory levers in place except the threat of arrest (which had to be set against the promise of handsome profits for those who defied the law), there was no effective way to control the market. The ensuing public health crisis was one of the key motivations behind the repeal of prohibition in 1933, when President Roosevelt signed a new law allowing the sale of beer with a maximum alcohol content of 4%.

For spirits in 1926, read “skunk” in 2017. “Skunk” is a direct result of prohibition. New cultivation methods have pushed up potency over the past 20 years. Just as 1920s-era bootleggers didn’t bother to produce and smuggle high volume, low alcohol beer, so the illicit cannabis industry has responded to criminal enforcement by developing products that maximise profit, with no consideration for the health of its customers.

He goes on to talk about the merits of regulation:

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Our final PEB: What happens if we get a bad Brexit deal?

Here’s a clip from our final Party Election Broadcast of the campaign which is airing today:

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Cable: Tories and Labour have turned their backs on the economy and business

Vince Cable makes a major intervention in the election campaign today with a speech on the economy and Brexit. He is not going to mince his words.

He will

  • Accuse both Labour and the Conservatives of adopting a Brexit strategy almost designed to inflict maximum economic damage by rejecting membership of the single market and customs union, as well as other benefits of the EU
  • Warn that the economic storm clouds are already gathering once more from rising inflation, falling real wages and rising personal debt to slowing spending and growth
  • Highlight the Liberal Democrats’ positive economic plan, including boosting spending while still achieving a surplus on the current budget
  • State that “under Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leadership’s model for economic management is the bankrupt, hyper-inflationary Venezuela.”

Here’s a flavour of what he’s going to say.

If we crash out of the single market and customs union and revert to World Trade Organisation terms, respected independent estimates suggest that our trade will slump by almost a third by 2030. Far from turning Britain into a centre for exports, the main thing we would export under Theresa May would be jobs.

Labour’s plans for a spending spree funded by taxing the rich and corporations have been described by the IFS as wholly unrealistic, and will certainly scare off the investment and talent that are fundamental to our global economy. The May-Farage extreme Brexit that Labour voted for will drive out high-earners and leading international companies, leaving lower tax receipts for public spending.

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The Economist endorses the Liberal Democrats

The esteemed publication the Economist has said that its vote goes to the Liberal Democrats.

It is not, to be fair, the most enthusiastic endorsement that this world has ever seen, and its language harks painfully back to the brains and heart stuff that Nick Clegg came out with pre 2015, but we can take this.

No party passes with flying colours. But the closest is the Liberal Democrats. Brexit is the main task of the next government and they want membership of the single market and free movement. (Their second referendum would probably come to nothing, as most voters

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Tim’s Andrew Neil Interview discussion thread.

I am just this minute in from a night’s canvassing and haven’t yet watched Tim Farron’s interview with Andrew Neil.

I will do so in a bit and add in some commentary here but you may wish to discuss it in the meantime.

It’s available on iPlayer here if you haven’t seen it either.

So, I’m going to watch it and comment as I go.

Neil starts provocatively,  stating that we wanted to have our laws made in Brussels and have no control of our borders. Tim wisely immediately responded by saying that it was important that we give the people the final say on the Brexit deal.

If Theresa May is making a choice about the most extreme choice of Brexit, people should have the say over it, he said. 

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WATCH: A brighter Lib Dem future for Britain – with Tim, Andrew, Layla, Jo – and a cameo by Jasper

The party has been producing some cracking videos lately. This one is bound to make you smile. In it, Tim talks about what Lib Dem MPs can do for their communities and highlights the key strengths of 3 of our key candidates. Andrew George on fishing, Layla Moran on science and Jo Swinson on business are featured.

And, if, like me, you are a fan of Tim’s Springer Spaniel, Jasper, you’ll be very happy indeed.

Enjoy.

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Frank Bruno to campaign for Norman Lamb today

Norman Lamb has the endorsement of a heavyweight today. Frank Bruno, who is a great supporter of Norman’s work as health minister although he doesn’t support any political party, is visiting North Norfolk to campaign for him.

From the Eastern Daily Press:

Since meeting Mr Lamb during his time as a Health Minister, the pair have worked together on a number of initiatives to improve mental health support.

Bruno, who is not party political, is a long-time ambassador for people suffering from mental health problems and has spoken of his own experiences with bipolar disorder and will join Mr Lamb on the campaign trail.

The pair have worked together on a number of initiatives to improve mental health support.

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“As an MP, I’d find solutions” – a profile that shows why Elizabeth Riches should win North East Fife

There’s a super profile in The Courier of Elizabeth Riches, our excellent candidate in North East Fife. The reporter sent to follow her for the day was obviously impressed, saying that she is “full of charm and charisma.”

When I read it, I thought that this is definitely the Elizabeth I know.

Elizabeth is full of charm and charisma, chatting to everyone she meets, whatever their political preferences.

“You have to listen to what concerns people; individuals have their worries and there’s no point in pontificating about things that hold no interest,” she says.

“Some are worried about their children’s education and the fact Elmwood College can’t offer the courses it used to, or they might be concerned about lack of broadband.

“As an MP, I’d find solutions. This is a unique moment for the country. This election is probably far more important than any we’ll have for a long time and I would really make a difference to North East Fife.”

“I’ll use my experience as a teacher, councillor for the East Neuk and deputy leader of Fife Council to serve the best interests of the area.”

The article also has conversations with voters, many of whom are impressed with Elizabeth. What comes across, though, is the long record of service the people of North East Fife has had from its local councillors. What an incredible foundation of goodwill they have built.

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Let our actions do the talking on diversity

This election is all up in the air with just over a week to go and the key message going out to Lib Dems everywhere is target, target, target. I agree 100% with one caveat.

When I wake up (or perhaps more realistically; go to sleep) on 9th June I would like us to have more MPs. Whilst the number of likely gains is small in number, each one will be a massive boost to the party and the hard-won result of hours and hours of volunteers delivering, canvassing and promoting those candidates.

My one caveat however, is that I would be very disappointed if our parliamentary party was not more diverse. I know that hundreds of activists have been supporting many of our fantastic women standing for parliament in held and previously held seats; from Sarah Olney to Jo Swinson; Tessa Munt to Christine Jardine there has been a clear awareness of the need to ensure the Liberal Democrat MPs in this next parliament aren’t all men.

However, another element of diversity the party does not seem to be following through on, as strongly, is ensuring the ethnic diversity of our MPs. We have a very strong chance to elect one such MP in Amna Ahmad, the incredible candidate for Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park and who I have been fortunate enough to be campaigning for over the past four days. 

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WATCH: Tim Farron’s best bits from last night’s debate

Here are four of Tim’s highlights from the debate last night:

His opening statement

3 reasons to vote Lib Dem and warning against giving May a blank cheque to introduce Dementia Tax, nick school lunches and implement a bad Brexit deal without giving people a say.

The Bake-off moment

Taking on Paul Nuttall over demonising immigrants – and what makes a good immigration policy

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What we need from Tim Farron tonight

In just under two hours, Tim takes to the stage with representatives from 6 other parties for the tv debate. It’s the one and only time during the election that we will see all 7 parties represented in the one debate.

Theresa May has bottled it, which is no surprise as we have seen how awful she is when she’s unscripted or when something happens that she’s not expecting.  That moment with Kathy in OXWAB showed that she has no ability to listen to what she is being told or to properly empathise with people.

Jeremy Corbyn is showing up, which you have to give him credit for. He has a big job to convince people that he could be PM in just over a week’s time. It will be interesting to see what his line on Scottish independence is tonight. It has changed several times over the past few days, much to the discomfiture of Scottish Labour. He seemed to suggest that he would be happy as PM to talk to the SNP about having a referendum. This will go down like a bucket of cold sick in Edinburgh South where Labour’s only MP Ian Murray  is trying to defend his seat from both Tory and SNP onslaughts. The Tories won’t win, but they could stop him – and if they don’t think Labour will stop a second independence referendum, it does Ian Murray no good whatsoever.

Corbyn is also vulnerable to attack from Tim Farron, who will be after the moderate Labour Remain voters who are not, in the main, Corbyn fans. We can expect Tim to be reminding the audience that Corbyn whipped his MPs to oppose right to stay and membership of the single market in the Article 50 Bill and just stood and waved Theresa May towards the cliff edge. 

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Tory warnings about “bad Brexit” have one word too many

The latest Tory tactic seems to be to warn against a “bad Brexit” and to say that only they, if they get a whopping enough majority, can make sure we get a “good” deal. On that majority point, think of the last time you said to yourself “Oh, Merkel has a huge majority, we need to do what she says.” The point is that we go into these negotiations in a weakened position anyway. There are 27 EU member states and 1 of us. Who has the power here? The Tory brexiteers needn’t bother trying to blame the EU for a situation that they created.

Jeremy Hunt is the latest to talk of the dangers of Brexit going wrong and what that will mean for our NHS. In fact, if Brexit happens, it will damage our NHS on various fronts. The crash in our economy that would result if Theresa May’s extreme Brexit goes ahead would cost the NHS dearly. And today a report says that the NHS could stand to lose an extra half a billion if returning ex-pats came back to be treated on the NHS in Britain. This was entirely predictable.

That is just one problem of several highlighted by the Nuffield Trust:

According to the Nuffield Trust, it may not be easy to continue with this agreement after Brexit.
If all of these pensioners decided to return to the UK – a big if – they could be expected to fill 900 NHS hospital beds a year, it says.

The NHS would need about 1,600 more doctors, nurses and other workers to provide the care, it estimates.

Also, hospitals could end up short-staffed if migration of workers from the EU slows or stops post-Brexit.
And access to medicines could also become more difficult if the UK leaves the EU’s medicine licensing system.

So, we have a crashing economy, extra people to treat with fewer staff and restricted access to medicines. All of these are en entirely predictable consequence of any Brexit. It’s not exactly what was written on that bus, is it?

In response to today’s report, Norman Lamb said:

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Scottish Liberal Democrats to launch manifesto

Willie Rennie will launch the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ manifesto this morning at an Edinburgh mental health charity.

We will have the details later, but ahead of the launch he said:

Votes for the Liberal Democrats will stop another divisive independence referendum from the nationalists.

With the Scottish economy teetering on the edge of a recession, the performance of Scottish education dropping down the international rankings and mental health services failing to deliver, the last thing our country needs is another divisive and distracting independence referendum.

The Liberal Democrats are setting out a positive plan to invest in mental health and education. A modest penny on tax secures those.

We will protect jobs in Scotland by opposing an extreme Conservative Brexit and giving people the right to reject a bad deal.

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We need to tell people about our economic policy

As an Orange Book adhering Lib Dem, a big highlight of the reign of Clegg & Cable was a very simple, yet very effective thing – that our economic policy was clear, empathised, and well known. We knew where we stood, we knew where we were going, and quite frankly, the economic policy that we pushed in the coalition, reflected that fact. The Liberal Democrats were a party that knew how to manage an economy.

So, looking back at that highlight, I fear that, something may have been rather overlooked this campaign; our economic plan. Indeed, more importantly, what exactly it is. I mean, obviously we have one. In fact, according to Oxford Economics, we have the best one. So, for me, the question is simple – why aren’t we making a big deal out of it?

It is very clear to me, and to many people up and down the country, that the Liberal plan for our economy is worlds ahead of the Labour or Conservative ones. We have a plan for proper growth, for sustainable development environmentally, for treating small businesses with the high regard they deserve, and for ensuring that our spending plans are sensible, and above all else, fair. Yet, when we are covered in the media, very little focus is put upon this. It seems insane to me that we aren’t inundating the whole nation with the fact that when push comes to shove, we could, will, and can, make people better off. In fact, those in the whole bottom half of our income demography would be faring far better if we were the government.

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Jo Swinson’s election car-share

It is a truth pretty much universally acknowledged that East Dunbartonshire is one of the key battlegrounds and best hopes for a Lib Dem gain in the UK. Our Jo Swinson is fighting to regain the seat she lost to the SNP in 2015. I’ve been in the constituency twice this week and have been impressed by the number of Jo Swinson posters in people’s gardens. It feels much more visible than it did back in 2005 when she was first elected.

The Scottish Sun has done an election car-share type thing with her in which she talks about life in and out of politics – including her early days of campaigning back at school.

I tell you what I did crusade on at my school Douglas Academy. I was on the school council and one of the campaigns I ran was for uniforms to be changed so that girls could wear trousers if they wanted to.

“I didn’t particularly want to wear trousers but I thought it a matter of principle. I made my case about how it would be warmer if they could wear them in the winter.

“And I remember the assistant head saying to me quite pointedly, ‘Well it might be warmer than a very short skirt’.

She also talked about her experience working in the lingerie department of Marks and Spencer’s.

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New campaign poster highlights “Dickensian” Tory school meals plan

 

The Lib Dem focus this weekend has been attacking the Conservatives for their most controversial domestic policies – school lunches and the dementia tax.

We put out a poster that channels Oliver Twist to highlight the Tory plans to abolish provision of school lunches and replace them with breakfasts.

When Nick introduced the lunches policy in coalition, he made sure that there was some pretty detailed nutritional standards to go along with it.

Each week, pupils eating free school lunches get: five portions of fruit, five portions of veg, five portions of protein (meat, fish, eggs or beans), five portions of starchy food (at least one being wholegrain) and five portions of milk or dairy.

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LibLink: Paddy Ashdown: Tories’ Royal Marine cut plays fast and loose with UK defence

It makes sense that Paddy should write for the Plymouth Herald on defence given the city’s strategic importance.

He took the Government to task for cutting the Marines – about which he knows more than most people:

For more than three centuries – from Gibraltar and Trafalgar to Normandy and Afghanistan – the Royal Marines have epitomised those qualities. They have fought in more theatres and won more battles than any other British unit. In our nation’s hours of danger, they have been, as Lord St Vincent predicted in 1802, “the country’s sheet anchor”.

So the news that the Government is cutting 200 Royal Marine posts – at such a volatile time in world affairs – should concern us all. They are committing this folly in response to a crisis of their own making.

The cost of Conservative foolishness doesn’t end with the Royal Marines. They’ve cut personnel numbers, breaking their manifesto promise not to reduce the Army below 82,000. Troops on the frontline are deprived of basic equipment and combat training has been slashed, putting soldiers’ lives in greater peril. Warships sit idle at quaysides. No wonder top generals have accused the Government of “deception” over defence.

The Tories are very practised at talking tough on defence in elections. But look at the history: it’s always Tories who cut most on defence in government. It’s now clear that Mrs May will get back in because of the hopelessness of the Labour Party. But it would be very dangerous to give her a big enough majority to ignore us again.

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Norman Lamb “The best MP in the region”

“Can Norman Lamb hold on in Leave voting North Norfolk?” is the headline from a PoliticsHome article.

The constituency is profiled and this is what Norman has to say about it:

After four general election victories, can the region’s lone Lib Dem fend off the Tories and cling on his largely rural constituency for a fifth time? On the surface the signs are ominous. In 2015, his majority dropped to just over 4,000. In last year’s referendum, North Norfolk voted to leave the European Union by 59%. And while the Greens are getting behind Lamb, Ukip has pulled out of the race and urged supporters to vote Tory to “rid ourselves of our Liberal Democrat MP”.

But Lamb – who defied his party line and abstained on the vote to trigger Article 50 – says Brexit doesn’t come up on the doorstep very much and “the majority of people you talk to don’t mention it at all”. The clumsy Ukip intervention has galvanised non-Tories who “don’t like that sort of attitude and language”, he claims.  He is also finding it “very easy to persuade people who in the past voted Labour to support us this time”. And above all, he is optimistic that his personal connections with voters will win the day.

“In a way, this is a contest between the Conservative national message … and a growing sense that a Tory landslide is pretty much an inevitability. So do we really want a one-party state? And do people actually want to lose an MP who has a got a long track record of active campaigning?” he asks.

“Interestingly, as you go round talking to people on the doorsteps and in town centres and outside schools, a lot of people are saying ‘I will vote for you because of what you have done here or what you’ve done for our family’. Yesterday, someone said ‘You saved my daughter’s life’. It was a case of an eating disorder where they weren’t being listened to and I intervened on their behalf and got things moving.

“A lot of people say ‘We’ll vote for you, we want to keep you as our MP’. And this is a side of politics that the commentators often don’t see.”

“The best MP in the region”

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LibLink: Sarah Olney: Brexit undermines universities at every turn

Sarah Olney has written an article for the Times Educational Supplement talking about the difficulties facing universities as a result of Theresa May’s push for a hard brexit.

Citing Cambridge University’s assertion that Brexit poses a significant risk to our Higher Eduction sector, Sarah outlines this in detail:

Unfortunately, the Conservative government doesn’t seem to be listening. Theresa May has chosen to pursue the hardest and most destructive version of Brexit possible: taking us out of the single market and the customs union, and even threatening to do so without a new trade agreement with the EU. The government is also refusing to guarantee the rights of EU nationals  living and working in the UK to remain after Brexit.

The government’s hard Brexit policies and rhetoric risk driving away international students and academics. The number of EU nationals applying to British universities has already fallen by 7 per cent compared with last year, despite the government’s assurance that those starting this year won’t face higher fees after Brexit. Some 53 per cent of foreign academics are now actively looking to leave the UK, and 88 per cent say that Brexit has made them more likely to do so in future.

And what about the EU’s Erasmus programme? It gives 16,000 British students the chance to study abroad every year but the government has made no commitment to maintaining or replacing it after Brexit. Last year, the Liberal Democrats delivered a petition to No 10 and the European Parliament, calling on them to save Erasmus. This petition was signed by more than 10,000 people.

And contrasts the Lib Dem view:

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Why I’ve always gone to help in target seats

This is the 9th General Election in which I’ve been politically active. Let’s not think about how old that makes me! You can also add 4 Holyrood elections to that. I missed out on the first one because I was living in England and just about to give birth. That didn’t stop me running a committee room in Chesterfield on polling day, though. Nor did it stop me doing stuff for the Newark by-election that never was.

I’ve just been reflecting on all these campaigns and maybe I should write about each one individually at some point.

In each election, I have made sure that my effort is concentrated on target seats, even if that has meant travelling on a daily basis. The reason for that is that I’ve always been very aware that I know that what matters the day after polling day is the number of bums we have on seats in whatever legislature we’re in. I could not have it on my conscience to lose a key target by a few hundred votes while I’d concentrated on getting single figures in percentage terms in my home seat. Believe me I have seen that happen several times.

Building that momentum throughout the campaign needs extra help. I will be forever grateful to the wonderful people from across the East Midlands region who travelled several times a week to Chesterfield in 1997, or the Lothian people who travelled to help us in Edinburgh South in 2001 and 2005. Martin Garnett, who’s our candidate in Erewash again today, was part of that Chesterfield support team in 1997.

That help from outside ensures that can establish ourselves as the challenger, that we can out-campaign the opposition and put ourselves in a winning position. It means that we can talk to more voters and build that all-important impression of a growing campaign. Every single day of the campaign, extra people are needed to boost local capacity and sow the seeds of victory.

I would go as far as to say that if you are spending the majority of your campaigning time in a seat that is not a target, you are actually doing the party more harm than good.

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Brian Paddick writes…A gap has opened up and we need to exploit it

Following on from Theresa May’s promise of a free vote to lift the ban on the cruellest of hunting with hounds, allusions to country sports seems to becoming increasingly apt.  On Monday, it was alleged that she had “shot our fox” by changing the Conservative manifesto to include “consultation on an absolute limit on what people need to pay” for their own social care.  In fact Theresa May has shot herself in the foot.

If we had deliberately set an ambush for the Conservatives, we couldn’t have done a better job.  The Tories had already broken a promise in their 2015 manifesto by not implementing the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission.  Instead, what had been agreed across all political parties, to put a limit of £72,000 on what any anyone would have to contribute to their social care was deferred until 2020.  Even then, £118,000 of assets would be protected.

Instead, in the 2017 Conservative manifesto, the Tories say they would introduce a “dementia tax”, where all your assets, except the last £100,000, could be taken to fund your social care, including your home.  Those lucky enough to be amongst the 1 in 4 who need little or no social care would be able to pass all the benefits of a lifetime of work to their children, while the 1 in 10 whose social care costs exceed £100,000, could be left with little for their loved-ones to inherit.  Instead of society sharing the risk, those unlucky enough to get dementia would have to bear the whole cost of their care without limit.  In the face of mounting criticism, until yesterday, the Tories were “strong and stable” – when asked specifically whether there would be a cap on individual contributions to social care, the answer was a definite “no”.

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Labour and the Tories are talking about the IRA but, as ever, not about Ireland

The recent revelations about Diane Abbott’s support for Irish nationalists in the 1980s have not been particularly surprising. For many old enough to remember the horrendous violence and terror the IRA inflicted on people, such support is unpalatable; but we already knew that, as a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, she was likely to have shared his rigidly anti-West approach to world affairs. Criticism of the British State’s policies can of course be healthy, and indeed must be present in a functioning democracy. But in the pattern of Corbyn‘s criticisms there seemed to be something more extreme, an apparent dislike of the State that led him to become close to IRA leaders. The claim that he was purely concerned with peace is rather belied by the absence of his reaching out to any unionists prior to the creation of Stormont in 1998.

It is not wrong for the Conservatives and the national newspapers to be pointing out these things. Many people of voting age are too young to have experienced the IRA threat. But there is another reason that people should be aware of Corbyn’s perspective, and which the Conservatives are not highlighting: understanding Corbyn’s views is relevant to the situation we find ourselves in right now.

It is noticeable that, even recently, Corbyn has only condemned the IRA in the vaguest possible terms while pointing out that force was used by the State too. He believes in a united Ireland. And that is of course legitimate, but were he to become Prime Minister it would have potentially profound implications for Northern Ireland on account of Brexit, and would change completely the dynamic of discussions around the future of a border that has extraordinary political significance.

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 26 Comments
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